14: Moonflare

"Your brother came back, didn't he?"

"He just came, Kagami-kun. He didn't exactly came back if he hadn't been here before..."

Kagami Taiga of North Sicily rolled his eyes as he lie sprawling on top of Kuroko's sofa. The brat always had the best furniture around, as expected, though...

"Didn't look like much, though. Are you sure he's going to be someone of importance in our world? I mean, he didn't look like he could exact an omerta or anything." Kagami asked as he walked over to the tealhead's desk and sat on top of it, peering over the pile of papers. "Careful, Kagami-kun. He's an Akashi as well..."

"Who cares? The one we of the Garcia Famiglia are in contract with are the Kurokos, not the Akashis." The redhead shrugged. After all, it had been the main object of his attention for a while now.

Just... what did this brat do that managed to convince Alex and Tatsuya to give him a contract so easily? Akashi family's richness? Naah, the Garcias are wealthy themselves. There wasn't a need to rely on other people's wealth. Or... Kuroko family's trust?

They were an oriental family who managed to overtook the entire Sicily island at some point before. Under the leadership of Kuroko Tomoki a few generations back, they were famous for always lurking around, convincing the other monarchs of Sicily island that they will eventually overtake their island. Kagami had wanted to laugh at the irony, though. Because the Ten Dons of East had always been the most lax with their security, and then their mansion got overtaken in only a few hours by only three people and a dog.

Satou Jouran, Satou Chihaya, Kuroko Tetsuya, and their dog, Nigou. The newly-famous Phantom Quartet of the Black Manor. Kagami was one of the very few people who had seen all of them and didn't writhe off to die somewhere.

"I can take that as a personal insult to my heritage," Kuroko said with his usual soft and monotonous voice, a sign that he really didn't mean it, or care about it. "By the way, Kagami-kun..."

"Hmm?" Kagami asked as he idly threw a needle from his pocket to the bookshelf's direction. "Was it necessary to kill him?" Azure eyes looked up from his paper works slightly before idly looking back at it again.

Kagami laughed as he walked off from the desk and to the bookshelf, where a bloody corpse leaned on it like he was just napping. If one extracted all the needles across his body, maybe they'll have enough stock for a year. "Of course it's necessary, Kuroko. We need to show the world what will happen if you mess with the Kurokos, right?" This time, Kuroko was the one rolling his eyes.

"Please clean up the mess, Chihaya-san is out grocery shopping at the moment and she's taking Nigou with her. And Jouran-san is busy with Onii-sama, so-"

"Onii-sama? So he's not your brother then?"

Blazing ruby met with cold azure as they stared at each other. After what seemed to be a few minutes full of sparks, Kuroko shook his head and instinctively put his hand on top of a visible purple blotch. "I guess not..." But the smirk on his face made Kagami laugh, he knew that the purple mark visible there meant something, after all.

"And I forgot to tell you the reason why I'm here." Kagami took out his needles from the intruder with precise movements. Needles weren't exactly his forte, but he was skilled with it nonetheless. "Someone was in contact with Alex yesterday, said that he wanted to talk to the Kurokos regarding something." Kuroko looked up from his paper work, still not saying anything. "The name's Moonflare, recognize it?"

"...No, not at all. Are they from West?" Western Sicily was currently in the middle of an internal war to determine the new monarch, after all. "Nah, their main territory is not Sicily, it's Milan."

"Then what does that have to do with the Kurokos?"

"Apparently, this guy's been trying to track Akashi Tetsuya for a few years now. That should get you interested, right?" Kagami grinned before dragging the bloody corpse away from Kuroko's study. The tealhead watched him leave with a puzzled expression.

"Moon... flare..." He whispered as he turned his chair to face the endless blue sky. What could that be...?

He thought it was kindness to always show a smile to people who was on their knees, begging for their lives and family. But in actuality, everyone was dead afraid of him because of the very same reason. His careless appearance and the air of airheadedness and easygoingness... it all made him even more famous than he should ever be.

"Eeeeeh? So you have a daughter who's still in high school!" Ogiwara Shigehiro said with a grin as he looked over the man's files. "P-please! I-I'll pay for it, please don't take my daughter! She's the only one I have left!"

"Did you borrow my money because you're trying to make a living for her?" Ogiwara asked, and the man nodded frantically. "T-that's right! So please... SPARE ME!" The man shrieked like a girl as a red hot and sizzling iron was brought nearer to his face. "Kotarou-chan, stop it. I haven't said anything." Ogiwara said as he laughed. This man was practically order than him, but he sounded so much like a girl!

"Weeeell, too bad. Whose idea is it to borrow money from an underground loanshark and then try to make a living off it? Stuuupid!" Ogiwara rolled his eyes before leaning to his armchair. "Reo-san, can you get Eikichi-san? I'm getting bored with him." The leader of Sunflare company crossed his legs and put his hand under his chin.

"P-Please, Ogiwara-sama... I'll pay it... I'll pay it...!"

"Not happening. Goodbye, Tanaka-san, it was really fun." He smiled and waved his hand. Reo-san and Eikichi-san entered the room and dragged the man by his collar. Ogiwara rolled his eyes as he heard the man screaming and kicking, and possibly crying as well.

"Ughhhh. That should be the last one for today, right, Kotarou-chan?" Ogiwara turned to his closest subordinate, who nodded enthusiastically. "Yep, should be! Good work, Shige-chan." Kotarou handed him a glass of water with a smile.

"Anything else for today? I wanna go and hit up the basketball court before passing out on my futon." Ogiwara asked as he drank the water. "Well, you do have a plane to catch up. You're going to Milan for a very special meeting I've arranged for you!" His former senpai in Ritsumeikan beamed with a mysterious smile.

"By very special meeting... does that mean...?"

"Yep, you're going to meet Kuroko Tetsuya-chan! Though, it's as Moonflare's leader so be sure to keep your dignity, okay?"

But Ogiwara had stopped listening. He'd run away with a scream of 'woo-hoo!' echoing all over the building as he tried to pack up all of his stuff and go to Milan as soon as possible.

Ogiwara Shigehiro grinned. Finally, finally...

"Tecchaaaan!"

Pretty short and boring... and there's no Akashi... but, well. Stale chapters are necessary sometimes too, right?

Next chapter... OgiKuro fans, behold! AkaKuro fans... also behold! XD