Chapter 14 :
Akashi did what was told unusually obediently. He slowly and quietly stepped far away from Kuroko and sat down the sofa while the blue-haired man stayed in the same posture.
" Oh dear," Akashi looked at Kuroko and commented." I've sat down already, so could you stop pointing that gun at me?"
However, Kuroko's glare was just fiercer as time went by, like that of an experienced hunter, calmly reading the atmosphere and controlling an animal. It was not until a few minutes later that he replied:
" After you answer my queries, then I might put this revolver down."
And that statement broadened the smile on Akashi's face.
" 'Might' you say? So there is a chance that I'll get several bullets even if I do things correctly... as you tell me to?"
" Oh," Kuroko seemed not amused." There is a chance you can get some right now if you don't stop beating about the bush."
He lifted his eyebrows slightly at that, but the self-assured look on his face was unwavering.
" So? What do you want to ask me about?"
Once again, Kuroko did not answer right away. He moved from his current position by a few steps while his gun still pointing at the target.
" Instead of questioning you about the important matter, I will talk about what had happened in this mansion."
" Well, feel free to."
" First, let's discuss about your codes."
Kuroko stared at Akashi again and continued:
" Let me remind you the situation. After I borrowed your book, you had a group of... whoever they really were, lock me up. And the day after, I accidentally found out about the pages that were fused together and with the soft cover of the book, and on the cover facing inwards, there were numbers which were: 12345."
" Yes, you told me that but-"
" But you refused to tell me about them. So I stayed quiet. However, not long after that, on the very same day, inside the wardrobe, I mean the empty wardrobe," He emphasised the word 'empty'." There was yet again another series of numbers and in case you forgot, it was: 113247-678933-466732-132298-465781."
Kuroko halted to see the reaction on Akashi's face, but he just saw an annoying smirk.
" And you assume the codes are somehow related to me?"
" They are related to you because...it was you who created them."
" Then I would like to see your proof."
" Well, that's not essential. What's needed here is your true intentions, basically."
At this point, Akashi was impressed.
" Explain to me, then. How do those codes work?"
" All the codes were connected."
"..."
" The first one, if I think of it as cardinals, then I'll never be able to solve them. But the key here is to look at them as ordinal numbers."
" I'm yet to understand your point."
" The code doesn't work as one, two, three, four, five, but rather as first, second, third, fourth, fifth ( 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th). And as it was written on the cover, fifth was darker, meaning accentuation. So when I discovered this, I questioned myself and this is your first question:
1. Am I the 'fifth'?"
Kuroko came nearer to Akashi with the barrel directed to his forehead. And Akashi just asked:
" What made you think the code should work that way?"
" Because as I have said, it would link to the second one, since I actually solved the second one firstly."
" Even though the second one appeared to be more complicated?"
" The longer a code is, the more it is a giveaway. There are five groups of numbers. Each group has six numbers and in this case, it would be more sensible to view it as cardinals, seeing how many digits it has."
" What clue help you find the answer?"
" I can clearly see that there is a difference between them. Oh!" He exclaimed." Pardon me, I mean there are two differences between the first four groups and the last group."
" What are they?"
" Firstly, the amount of digits. 113247-678933-466732-132298 and 465781, there is one particular digit in the fifth group that the others do not have."
Akashi murmured the series of numbers and concluded:
" Is is 5?"
" Yes, it is." Kuroko agreed." And now, I'm going to analyse the second difference between them. That is the obvious repetition : 11, 33, 66, 22 except the last group which has no repeated number."
" I cannot see anything through those clues."
Akashi rolled his eyes, but Kuroko was not affected by that.
" I was the same, at first. But along with the first code 'somebody' gave me, I can confidently come to a conclusion."
The redhead intended to say something, but he decided not to as he was curious at how things were going.
" Seeing how it was darker or how there was only one of it, five was special, or rather, the 'fifth' one was speical. And what does it have that separates it from the first four? The fact that it is not 'repeated', or because it has something that the others does not have. And that is my second question, Akashi-san."
Kuroko regained his concentration after explaining and held the revolver more tightly which was a direct warning to Akashi.
" 2. What does 'it' have?"
And he received a burst of laughters from Akashi.
" And I can just say that I don't understand a thing you're talking about. But-"
He stood up from the sofa, to Kuroko's surprise and looked at him with great haughty, as if there was no gun pointed at him.
"- since I am such a kind person, I'm going to admit that it was me who wrote them."
" And so you admit you're a sickening person?"
" Pardon...?"
" You see, I have never said there were only two codes. There are in fact three codes. This morning, I returnned to my old room."
Akashi widened his eyes.
" And under a rug which I have never seen before. I've found this."
Kuroko searched in his pocket and pulled out a piece of very thin sheet and showed it to Akashi. Seeing Akashi was speechless, he carried on:
" How strange it was for you, a billionaire, to own such a cheap rug which was light. But because it was light and easy to be moved around, I managed to find this paper that has a matching colour of the floor. After I peeled it away from the floor, I found another code written on its face, the face that was facing downwards, to be precise."
"..."
" Do you want to or is it going to be me who explain the meaning of it?"
He asked and quickly, he averted his eyes to the paper to look at the code and then looked back at Akashi.
" (5). What a disgusting desire, Akashi-san. Clearly, 5 is me. 5 is being put around by brackets and therefore, it is trapped inside..."
Kuroko glared at Akashi and exclaimed coldly:
" HOW badly do you want me to be confined?"
"..."
" Or how badly do you want me to go berserk?"
Akashi looked down, refusing to meet the blue eyes that was filled with fury.
" The death of my father, the imprisonment and the dead maid. You set all that up!"
Kuroko angrily shouted and the hand that held the gun became shivering because of the overflowing emotions. But Akashi still remained silent.
" I was confused when you gave me an exact room. But you did that in order to have me remembered the dead girl, right? So that I'll get obsessed and crazy."
His voice was quavering as he wanted to know the truth. But Akashi did not budge.
" And as I ran my hand on the desk in the new bedroom, it was dusty. Why was that? Because you have prepared all of that for a long time... Why did you do that, Akashi-san?"
He called and called the redhead's name. But his voice was the only thing that vibrated in the air.
" AKASHI!"
He yelled and threw the gun away and ran towards the redhead. He gripped his shoulders in frustration.
" Why aren't you saying anything? Did you really kill my father... and burn our house?"
But he was pushed away, weakly. Tremblingly, Akashi walked past the blue-haired male and wandered around until he stopped before the fireplace which was opposite the sofa. He stood there with his face unable to be seen by Kuroko. And Kuroko, he went and picked the gun up. Striding towards Akashi, he aimed at him while stood right behind him.
" What's wrong with you? J-Just tell me. Did you-"
He was cut off.
" It was not intentional, Tetsuya...'
Akashi talked inaudibly. His voice was so small and weak. And not long after that, Kuroko, who was still holding the gun, heard something. A sob?
Kuroko was panic. He shook Akashi. But he was like that of a doll and fell towards the left, almost into the fire if Kuroko did not push him.
" Is he paralysed?"
A thought ran through Kuroko's mind as he stared at the figure on the floor. He was worried and decided to turn around and...
" Tetsuya."
He heard his name being called and turned to face Akashi. But then, he felt something. At first, it was numb. But not long after that, he felt a pain, an immense pain that got stronger and stronger. So utterly painful that he felt breathless and lost his own balance and fell backwards. What just happened?
He shakily moved his head to see his body, the place that was spreading that pain and saw red. The same red he knew and hated. Red that smudged his mother's face. And now, red was pouring out from his abdomen as the fire iron pierced him. He looked up and saw the same red who was smirking delightfully.
" A-Akashi..."
He tried to call that man's name, but it took him every strength to do that, so he had to lie there helplessly, while his body was quivering and he was harbouring his hatred towards the great actor, Akashi.
"To be honest, I thought it's going to take nearly a month for you to accuse me. But you got hasty, Tetsuya."
" W-Why?"
" Because you exceeded my expectation, Tetsuya. You figured out all the codes. Yet... it was not enough. Do you know why it was not enough?"
Akashi knelt down and sneered at Kuroko. He pronounced each and every word carefully and slowly so that Kuroko would not miss anything.
" Because it was not me who killed your father nor that innocent girl."
Kuroko widened his eyes and tried to ask. But he could not. Akashi walked away, towards the entrance, and never looked back. Kuroko heard the car's engine and understood. He understood his situation. However,...
However, Akashi was not different from a demon...
Under the starry night, the beautiful, luxurious mansion that worthed a fortune was soon lit. All the people inside it managed to escape, but one was left behind. That person was pierced and was unable to move or crawl. He waited. Not for anyone who ran to stop and help him, but to wait for an unknown trip to an unknown, faraway place. A journey that does not have a return ticket. He felt awful. The fear of himself, the fear of unknowness. They were indeed terrible.
As his lungs filled with carbon dioxide, he tried to open his eyes once again to see the sight. The ceiling was going to fall down as the fire was horrendous. He smiled at how ironic it was to see the thing he hated the most at his last minute.
Ignorance is bliss, they say. Had he pretended to know nothing, would things have been different? If he had walked another road, would the outcome have changed?
He did not know.
As he could struggle no more, his eyes started to close as his last vision was filled with the ruthless red. And he lost his consciousness, right before he spotted something else. Despite fragile and unclear, he saw an emerald green.
The game is not over yet.
The end.
I had great difficulty writing this, to be honest. My first intention was to have Kuroko died, but then, seeing there are still so many unsolved problems, I decided to write a sequel.
I know it is terrible to have a cliff hanger, but, I do not want to give you a half-hearted story. So if you can, read the sequel "Things we cannot foresee".