A/N: Alright, so I decide to type this today. I got so into this chapter that I kind of finished it. So here it is. I've been sick all weekend and normally I'd have worked but I just didn't go to work today. So here's to being lazy and not able to sleep. Also I had an Exam today and I ended the week last week with mostly tests, so I didn't have anything to do. I should be worried on how my Exam went, but being sick really makes you not care.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basket just what I did in this story.

Warning: More detail on deaths, not sure if it's rating should change or not, but you can tell me if it needs to be changed. AU, genderbending, and anything else I wrote in previous chapters (mostly prologue-maybe 4, can't remember exactly).

Chapter Eight

Mitobe had been a little lost since he spent so much time looking for Koganei. He'd actually only pause for a moment when something caught his eye, but that was all it took. Koganei had left him alone in a hallway with no real way of finding each other. He was usually a quiet person so this was his flaw when he went searching. Since they separated awhile ago he'd become more worried as the strangeness of the school started to pick at him.

"Mitobe," he turned to see his fellow club mates. He didn't realize when he ended up on the second floor or how long he'd actually been wandering.

"Where's Koga-cha?" Riko asked eyeing her fellow club mate. She hadn't been too happy with the outcome that's been going on around them, and just see the male standing alone added to her stress.

Mitobe went about his usual hand signs. They made no sense to those following, and they all wished Koganei was there. She was always his interpreter, but they often wondered how that came about.

They didn't really know what had happened in the next ten seconds. They only notice the sound of running, the breaking of glass, and a voice that was familiar to them. What they were looking at was something they didn't want to see.

Koganei was falling forward, the windows had broken from who knows what, and Mitobe was running to her aid. She landed in his arms as the rest of the group broke from their frozen wonder.

"Mitobe," Koganei looked up at the dark haired male who was usual silent, "I found you," she gave a slight smile. It was hard to show her usual demeanor when her whole body was in pain and slowly going numb to it.

Koganei looked at the rest of the group. Their expressions were filled with worry as they saw her. There were so many shard of glass, and not all of them were small either.

"Koganei," Riko asked with worry in her voice.

"Ah, Aida-san you shouldn't look…so worried…I'm fine," Koganei played with her smile. The pain wasn't as strong as the initial intrusion.

Mitobe looked down at her with worried eyes. She just kept smiling.

Koganei was starting to lose her strength as her body gave out. Mitobe moved to the wall and sat down while still holding her. Everyone could see the pain in his eyes as he didn't know what else to do.

"Mitobe…so kind…that's what…I…" her words were fading as the blood lose started affecting her. She wasn't able to see the people around her and the voices grew more faint as well.

"Koga-chan," Riko asked as she reached out. Her eyes widened as the colorful, and cheerfulness faded away. Mitobe cradled Koganei in his arms.

"What do you think?" the black haired girl walked forward, "wasn't the show spectacular? Eh, nobody liked it?" her eyes moved from one person to the next until landing back on Mitobe.

"Doesn't love have so many hardships? Isn't it so easy to break?" she continued asking as no one followed what she said.

"Takao-chan?" Kuroko asked stepping from behind Kagami. She had a scowl despite her normal emotionless state.

"Hmm, Kuro-chan? Why are you here?" Takao asked, "you shouldn't be here."

Kuroko continue to keep her scowl, "Takao-chan, what are you doing? Why do you find this fun?" Kuroko pointed at the two deeply wounded upperclassmen, one being dead the other wounded for his loss.

"Eh! Kuro-chan defending others, I've never seen that side of," Takao sneered. Her smile twisted at the pain she caused, "I think it's more fun to do this, don't you think? Coming here of their own accord, planning to understand when nothing is easy in the first place."

"What about you? Did you really forget? About him, about all of us?" Kuroko asked trying to find the answer she was being deigned.

"Hmm, what do you mean? There's nothing I've forgotten. I remember everything I need to remember," Takao smiled as she extended her hand to Kuroko, "you should be just like us, right Kuro-chan? Vengeful, because they took everything from us. Even in life, wouldn't it be easier to attack those who…" Takao couldn't finish as the surprising blow crossed her cheek. It surprised her to even have this occur in the first place.

"Takao-chan died here in this school, right? Why remain here after six years? Why remain here if you remember everything? Why?" Kuroko asked her expression showing how much pain she actually was in.

"Kuro-chan?" Takao asked, "eh, sorry." Takao took a step back. She didn't really know why.

"Can't you remember? Don't you remember?" Kuroko asked facing Takao fully, hoping so much that she would remember.

"Ah…" Takao looked away as her mind started filling with things she refused to bring up. Things she wanted nothing more than to forget. Then, the one person who make her feel so many kinds of emotions at once just appeared.

"Shin…-chan," she asked.

The group had stood around Kuroko, watching the exchange intently. They didn't actually know what was going on since their minds were preoccupied with their club mates.

"Takao-chan, did you forget what happened on that day? Between you and Midorima-kun?" Kuroko asked as Takao looked up. Her eyes seemed glazed over as the memories protruded her restless mind.

She remembered sitting behind the library door. There wasn't much left of the room aside from the pools of blood, the hanging student, and her own pain crushing her like a huge weight. It wasn't just the wounds she'd been given, but the guilt she felt. The pain she felt for what she'd just done, and the pain of being closed off from the rest of the world.

Pounding footsteps broke her from her self pity.

"Takao," the all too familiar voice penetrated the walls of the room. She was leaning against the door and knew that he'd try to get in. She only gave a sad smile, hoping that no one would break in.

"Shin-chan, there you go again," she smiled sadly, "worrying about someone you really don't care about." Her eyes filled with tears, but she held them back.

"Takao, what are you talking about? Are you going senile?" the voice grumbled with annoyance.

"Come now Shin-chan, I said it before. You've never called my given name, but aren't we supposed to be dating?" she huffed trying to keep her current situation clear from him.

"Eh! Are you still upset about that?" he asked getting even more angry than he actually was.

"Eh! You seriously haven't called each other's first name?" the voice belonging to the newest member of the student council huffed.

"Midorima-kun is slow," the voice belonging to one of her closest friends stated.

"Why do I have to listen to you two? It's not like you two have any right to tell me what to do," he shouted as she started giggling at the scene outside.

"It's fine, Shin-chan is just Shin-chan after all. There's nothing else we can do, right?" she smiled sadly.

"Takao, what's the current situation?" he asked returning to his main priority.

"Ah, not good. There's still a few of us left, but I don't know how much longer any of us can last," she lied as her eyes grazed over every fallen body around her. There had only been five people to start with in the room, but still.

"Takao, we'll definitely get you out," he said.

She kept thinking how much he didn't actually care. That all this was just to keep her happy and that he wasn't really happy at all. She definitely couldn't show him the state she was really in. She just couldn't help blaming herself if he feels the guilt that she's caused him.

She wasn't in a state that would kill her, but she knew she wouldn't be the same. Both legs had been lacerated at some point, and she only had the use of one arm left. She knew that she'd be useless anymore. Nothing could be fixed.

At her thoughts she couldn't stop the tears from falling, "Takao," the voice was even more worried.

Her hand grazed against one of the fallen window shard, it was long and jagged.

"Sorry Shin-chan," she whispered as she turned the sharper edge toward her. With a deep breath she forced the piece in, her breath catching at the sudden pain.

"Takao," the voice called out, "what are you doing? Takao? Answer me and say that you're alright?" the voice continued to call out.

"Good-bye," the piece was pushed in the last leg as her eyes watered, her breathing rapidly increased, and the voices became even more muffled.

"KAIRI!" the voice that was the loudest to her was the person she cared about the most. It surprised her, even as her life came to a close.

The memory stopped playing as she grabbed hold of the sides of her hair. She didn't like remembering the pain, she wanted nothing more than to forget.

"Takao-chan?" Kuroko couldn't only guess as to what she just remembered.

"He was always hiding how he felt, but I still loved him anyway. Although, I always thought he wasn't happy, and the only reason he agreed to my confession was out of obligation," Takao had tears streaming down her cheeks.

"And what, do you think it's alright to kill other's here?" Riko asked despite herself.

"Aida-san, you can't really tell a ghost or spirit what is right or wrong," Kuroko stated getting a huff from the older woman.

"Heh, you're right. It…may have been wrong, but still. I hate it. I hate seeing people like them, they are happy but unhappy. You can tell, can't you? How much they love each other, but they've never said it," Takao felt her anger spike up again.

"Do you really think Midorima-kun when out with you out of obligation?" Kuroko asked.

Takao looked at her, "Yes. I know I was annoying, I know that I was clingy. I just wanted to show him how much I loved him was all. But he wasn't happy, he never was. I'm sure that now he's happy with someone he actually chose. Right Kuro-chan? You can tell me," she said with a dark smile. Her malicious side returning.

"You weren't alive after that, so you wouldn't know," Kuroko stated.

There wasn't any sound coming from the room. The only thing that changed was the flowing liquid from under the door.

"Takao?" Midorima asked as he started getting nervous.

"Eh, Takaocchi?" Kise asked as she watched Midorima turn a paler shade then he was.

"Takao-chan must have done something, shouldn't we try opening the door?" Kuroko asked as her eyes remained firm on Midorima's back.

Midorima move to the door and tried opening it. It didn't open, his attempts lead him to use force. He didn't care if he'd get hurt in the process. He wasn't going to let anyone else die.

The sounds of cracking and the breaking of the door resounded. Midorima looked down the door and saw Takao. The shard of glass was puncturing the tip of her chest, scrapping across a very important vein.

Midorima went blank as he kneeled next to the limp body. He saw all the cuts, all the bruises, and the tears that had fallen.

"Midorima-kun," Kuroko stepped in.

"I did this, I could have stopped this, but I didn't," Midorima couldn't hide the pain and angst from his voice. It shook without tears falling.

"Couldn't we all?" Kuroko asked in her unemotional voice. Midorima felt anger surge through him as he grabbed her collar.

"Weren't you and Takao friends? Weren't you close? Why aren't you showing any emotion? Can't you even cry?" Midorima asked only getting blank blue eyes.

"Midorima-kun, you don't know anything. This whole cause, this whole tragedy. What do you think this was? A game? Even if we've lost so many, even people we care about, we have to finish. We have to stop the source of this," Kuroko stated slapping his hand away.

"Kurokocchi," Kise gulped.

"We're not dead yet, we couldn't save her but we have to keep trying. No one will be happy if we all die here," Kuroko kept her gaze locked with green ones.

Midorima ground his teeth together. He didn't know what to do.

"Aren't we all going to die anyways?" he asked returning to kneel next to Takao. He moved his hand smoothly and touched the glass shard.

"Midorima-kun, what are you doing?" Kuroko asked as he pulled the protruding fragment lose.

"I'll just make everyone's job easier then," he faced the sharp, blood covered edge at his exposed throat.

Takao's eyes widened, "he wouldn't do that. He definitely wouldn't."

"Do you really believe that with all your heart? Then why are you still here? Why can't you let your pain, your pity, and your mind go?"

Takao didn't know what to say. She was at a loss of words.

"Midorima didn't die then. We stopped him before he could pierce his own throat. We didn't want to see another friend die, and he's surprisingly doing well," Kuroko gave a soft, sad smile.

"R…really. Did he find someone else?" Takao asked.

Kuroko looked up at her, "no. He works all the time. There's so much he has to do, but I don't think he can forget. He definitely can't forget. I'm sure the one person he really did care about, was you, Takao-chan."

Takao felt the painful memories floating in between, "maybe I am making it difficult for him to move on. Is that what you're saying?" Takao asked.

Kuroko shrugged.

"Ah, so…do you call this a story from the inside?" Kagami asked only to get a smack on the back of his head.

"Ah, it still doesn't mean you can kill others," Riko stated still fuming about the incident just now. The fact that they were all having a conversation with a ghost never really crossed their minds.

"I've stained my hands before death, and I'll still stain them in death," Takao said sadly as Kuroko eyes her arms and legs as they started turn red.

"Takao-chan?" Kuroko asked.

"Hmm, looks like they are acting up again. The old wounds, and then soon…my death. This occurs more often now," Takao said.

"Death, does that mean you die every night?" Kagami asked becoming more curious then he'd been.

"Hmm, no. Not every night," Takao sighed as her eyes wandered over to the previous couple that she'd exacted her revenge on. She couldn't hold back her grudge, she couldn't stop her pain from pulling over her. She just didn't know what to do.

She watched, when no one else did, as the male pulled one of the longer pieces out of the females back. She couldn't help thinking back to Kuroko's story. With a quick movement she was holding back the arm that was going to pierce the glass into his body.

"Stop, please. Do you really want to die so badly that the person you love would be unhappy?" Takao asked as the group was taken by surprise at the sudden movement. They hadn't realized what was going to happen until she had stopped him.

Mitobe only looked at her in surprise, "you…should cherish your life and memory of her instead of giving up. I'm sorry I caused this, but you can't die here as well."

He didn't say anything as his hand loosened on the shard, "I'm sorry. This…isn't your fight, and yet you've been involved."

"Mitobe," Riko kneeled next to her fellow club mate. She couldn't help but feel like she let this happen. Like if she hadn't thought that coming here then none of this would have happened.

Mitobe reached up and patted her head to reassure her. It was the only way he could communicate with her.

"I'm sorry, to all of you. I let the past eat away at me and was grounded here. I can't say anything for what I've done, but I know I'm not the only one awake either. There are others who are just as angry. They won't be easy to stop and they won't be easy to put to rest. I can feel that they are around us, and there's no kindness from them," Takao stated.

"Huh, s…so there are other ghosts?" Kagami stammered.

"Yes Kagami-kun, this is a haunted place," Kuroko stated.

"Shut it," Kagami shouted out of spiteful anger and embarrassment.

"So, we're going to be face-to-face with the ghosts of the past, right?" Riko asked.

"Eh, I guess you can call us that, but who knows?" Takao said as she stood up, "but to warn you, it's not just the ghost here either. There was something in this school during that time, the thing that made us change like this. You should try to escape instead of doing something stupid."

"Eh, but we still have other people trapped here," Riko stated.

"Hmm, I think that one of your friends has succumb to just that fate. I wander how much longer will she last," Takao gave a smile at the thought as her form began to crumble and disappear.

"One of friends?" Riko asked starting to get worried again. She only knew that Izuki and the freshmen trio were left to find.

"Could something have happened to Izuki's group?" Hyuuga asked.

Meanwhile, Izuki was breathing heavily. Her face was growing pale and she couldn't help but think about what had happened. She didn't stop Furihata from attacking and killing someone else.

"What should I do? Why can't I forget it?" she asked as a voice carried around her.

"Little Bird, can't you fly away," the voice was haunting, just like her memories. Izuki covered her ears, trying hard to block out the sound, but the sound was resonating within her.

"Please, stop," she felt tears falling as she kneeled down hovering above ground.

"Do you think I'll forgive you," the memory continued to echo through her thoughts. They weren't her words, but she couldn't help think they would belong to her.

"Go away," her voice grew weaker and she couldn't help the pain from overwhelming her, "I didn't want to do it."

Final Note: So a longer chapter, I think it's because of the style I changed the past to. This was what I originally wanted to do when they thought or flashbacked, but it didn't work out. I just didn't know how to actually. If you like how I did it, I'll change the other chaptes to match it, and put it in as the way I orignially imagined it. That might take awhile though.

Thank you for all reviews, and thank you to all those who are following this story. It's really the first story i've been able to keep up with and update as much as I have. The story still has a way to go, but now you're getting to know more about the teikou side of the story! There will still be a prequal to this, just because it will be so much fun to write. You only got a glimpse of what happened to Takao, but I have such a great idea for that whole part of the story!

Ah, and I think that is it. I just love this story so much. I can't wait to get everything out and into the open!