Whispering Fireworks

Chapter 14

The morning sun peeked out from the tall trees of Kyoto. It was finally early morning, and the wind blew gently yet unrelentlessly. Streets of Kyoto were now crowded with impatient drivers whom were desperately trying to make it to work on time. The rest of the closed stores were now open, inviting their customers in with their alluring salesmen charm.

Kuroko and Akashi walked slowly down a sidewalk. Their murmurings were quiet and soft. Left over cold sweat clung to both their foreheads, which were wiped numerous times with their wristbands. Kuroko wrapped his jacket tighter around himself to block the icy wind. Akashi frowned with disapproval at the light clothing Kuroko chose to wear.

"Your stamina has improved greatly," Akashi commented, giving—more like forcing—his scarf to Kuroko. "It is still below average to what is expected of our team, but it has increased dramatically since your entering the Miracles."

Kuroko touched the silk scarf with distaste. "Somehow, the way Akashi-kun says that makes me irritated."

He gave a small smile. "I don't expect you to catch up to us, anyhow." His red hair tousled gently against the wind. "I'm expecting you to shape into a different player."

"I understand my differences, considering my lack of presence and unique ability, but I don't understand how I can be trained to support everybody." Kuroko stopped walking. He gave a small crease on his forehead, watching as the kids played on the playground of a local park. Even when it was early, there were a few kids willing enough to play in the cold.

Akashi had indeed taken him to a different place to train at one in the morning. The redhead changed into something more loose before showing him the rigorous training course. It was a short walk away from the house. It led them to a luxurious gym, but that was not where they trained. The location was behind the gym—a large, open field that had many courses and targets, made to maintain stamina, agility, and accuracy.

"The secret government built this especially for us," Akashi had said. "To avoid suspicion, civilians are invited to use this field, but there are special hours to which it is closed—for our use. We do not use this often, as the field does not correspond with my plans, but some of us, mainly Daiki, come here for extra practice."

It was a thrill and a rush to practice privately in the night with Akashi. There were no lights to light up the field, so Kuroko was forced to adapt to the obscurity. They sparred with each other, darkness their enemy and friend, and they competed: racing, targeting, skills; Akashi with no mercy, and Kuroko with the determination to beat him. In the end, they had trained so assiduously, the two did not realize sun had broken, and it was six in the morning.

"An invisible player," Akashi answered Kuroko's question. "Your first battle showed your potential, but it was no different from the others. I want you to be able to observe, Tetsuya, and change the tables around abruptly in our battles. To support us from the shadows, to take the enemy by surprise; only you are capable of this."

Kuroko opened his mouth as if to object, but only blew air out, creating a stream of hot air to the freezing atmosphere. He shifted his position so that he faced the small park. Akashi scrutinized him for a moment before urging him to move along.

Akashi pushed Kuroko forward, and they started moving again. "The others are already awake. Let's go before," he began, before he felt soft thump against his legs. The child crashed into Akashi and landed on his bottom against the rough concrete. Akashi turned his gaze toward the ground, and his heterochromatic eyes met wide, brown ones.

Before he could apologize, the child started wailing wildly. Akashi watched, astonished, as the little boy cried and screamed. His wails alerted almost everybody on the playground. Tears ran down the boy's chubby cheeks uncontrollably. Akashi clenched his teeth and and furrowed his eyebrows in agitation, as if he did not know how to deal with a child. Why the boy was crying was beyond his imagination; it was a simple fall, and he did not carry any scratches. Why was he crying?

Kuroko immediately bent down to the boy and placed a hand upon the boy's head. The boy jumped, not realizing there was another teen standing next to Akashi. He looked up to Kuroko with a watery gaze.

"Are you hurt?" Kuroko asked gingerly, offering a small smile of his own.

He shook his head. "N-no, Mister."

Kuroko shook his head. "Then, why are you crying? It's not good to cry for no reason."

"B-because," he thrust a finger towards Akashi. "H-he looks s-scary! He's going to e-eat me for bumping into him!"

Akashi was taken aback. He looked scary? Akashi knew he was taught to be intimidating to the team, but for a mere child to cry over his looks? He would never understand children. This child was not crying because of pain, but because of his looks! And to mistake him for a child-eating monster, no less! Where was the logic in that?

Kuroko tried hard not to laugh. Instead, he kept his face serious and lowered the boy's finger. "It's not good to point," he scolded gently. "And it's not nice to call someone scary. Akashi-kun is not going to hurt you."

His lip quivered. "A-are you sure, Mister?"

"I am positive." He stood up and held out a hand. "Can you stand?"

The boy took the hand and stood up with wobbly legs. He looked nervously between the two teenagers, but then turned to Akashi first. He bowed. "I'm sorry, Mister! For bumping into you and thinking you would eat me!"

Akashi did not even try to comprehend the situation. "It's quite all right," he finally said. "I apologize for knocking you down."

"And thank you, big brother!" he flung himself into the arms of Kuroko. The passer was barely able to regain his balance before falling.

He patted the small head. "Go back and join your friends." Kuroko gave the boy an encouraging push. They watched the boy run back to the playground.

"You're good with children," Akashi said lightly. They started walking again.

"And Akashi-kun is bad with them."

"Children do not understand me, and I do not understand them."

"Children are very easy to understand. After all, they are the most innocent."

Akashi thought back to his younger years. "Innocent, huh?"

They arrived to the house at approximately seven in the morning. When Kuroko entered, he was greeted by a scowling, narrow-eyed Aomine. The ganguro had his arms folded tightly across his chest, his legs spread apart shoulder-width.

"Where have you guys been?" he demanded, like a strict father would ask to his two rebellious daughters.

Kuroko blinked. Akashi ignored him, promptly taking off his shoes and setting them on the shoerack.

"Don't tell me you've been gone since midnight?" Aomine pressed again. Midorima watched, amused, but hid it by drinking his hot tea. Murasakibara looked on curiously.

"Since one, actually, Aomine-kun," Kuroko corrected.

"What?"

"Tetsuya and I were in the woods, performing intimate actions with each other through the morning. It was quite refreshing. Now cease questioning me, Daiki." Akashi passed a stunned and gaping Aomine indifferently to hang up his jacket. Aomine's eyes were bulging.

Midorima choked on his tea. Murasakibara tilted his head. "That was actually a funny joke, Aka-chin," he mumbled to himself.

Aomine spluttered, "H-he's joking, right, Tetsu?"

Kuroko stared blankly at him. "When has Akashi-kun ever joked, Aomine-kun? His words are absolute, right?"

"But, it can't be! No! No, no! No, get that image out of my head! Gross! What do you mean by intimate, Akashi? Don't tell me you and Tetsu are . . .?" Aomine moaned. He clutched his head with his eyes squeezed shut. A dirty picture popped into his mind.

"Have all of you eaten?" Akashi looked at the pile of dishes with disapproval. "And who is on dish duty this week?"

"We've all eaten but Kise," Midorima answered. "And Kise is the one on dish duty. He hasn't left his room since yesterday."

Akashi glanced down the hallway. "That's unacceptable. He cannot simply hold a ridiculous grudge because his safety comes first." He started down to Kise's room.

"Wait," Aomine stopped Akashi. He turned serious. "Let me talk to Kise."

The redhead eyed him. "Very well."

"Give him this." Midorima gave Aomine a tray of a simple breakfast. "You're probably the only one who can get through to him."

Aomine disappeared down the hall.

Akashi went back to serving himself and Kuroko the leftover breakfast. "Eat, Tetsuya. And finish it all."

This time, Kuroko didn't complain. After the grueling training, he was famished. In fact, the large portions Akashi had just served him looked very inviting. He grabbed a hold of his chopsticks, said a small greeting, and dug in. Akashi ate not long after.

"How many attacks from last night?" Akashi asked.

Murasakibara and Midorima looked towards each other. Then back to Akashi. "That's kind of the problem, Aka-chin. There were no attacks. At all. It stopped since last night."

"Not even any spies? Intruders? A one-on-one with one of our guards count as an attack."

"Nothing," Midorima shook his head. "It looks as if they withdrew everybody. The night has been unusually peaceful, the most peaceful in the last few months."

Now, that was strange. Nothing at all? Akashi would have believed this if it were a year ago, but ever since Haizaki started becoming more active, there was always some type of Hanabi activity. Were their sensors broken? Was their security system hacked? This seemed impossible, did it not?

"I will have to check with Kyoto soon," he murmured. "But I do believe this is the calm before the storm."

"Of course," Midorima said. "Haizaki would not surrender so easily."

"Yes, I agr—Tetsuya, do not even dare to throw that meat out."

Kuroko winced inwardly.

.

Aomine opened Kise's door without knocking. To his surprise, the light was on, and the blonde was sitting calmly on his bed. He was tossing a basketball up and down with controlled movements.

"Yo, Kise," he said lightly. The door closed. "Brought you breakfast."

"I don't want it," Kise replied. He looked at Aomine with the corner of his eyes. "So, the others don't think I'm enough to even get my own breakfast, huh?"

"Stop with the crap, Kise. You didn't want to get your ass our of bed to get breakfast, so here it is."

"So I'm not fit enough to know when I'm hungry and know how to maintain my health?" Kise resumed tossing the basketball. "Always the weakest, huh. A mere replacement is what you guys think of me, right? And it's not just this, but in basketball, games, practice—"

"Kise—"

"Even Kurokocchi surpassed me, is what you're all thinking. He's the one that can turn the tables around. Of course, he has his own ability and technique . . ."

"Kise—"

The blonde raised his voice louder. "All of you looked down on me from the start. Now I can't even be trusted to be able to defend myself. Do know how much that's messed up, Aominecchi? That's a serious wound to my pride." Kise's tossing with the ball grew more violently. "You all know the reason why Haizaki is targeting me; because I'm the weakest on this team, right? He's planning to trade me, but even he is expecting you not to comply to it. Now I need freaking protection and—"

"Will you shut up?" Aomine stomped over, knocked the ball out of his hands, and picked up Kise by the shirt. He snarled in Kise's face, "Don't you get it, idiot? We're adding protection because Haizaki is fucking targeting you! I don't really give a damn for his reasons for picking you, and I'm pretty sure the others don't give a shit either, but he's after you, so it's only natural to increase our guard around you." He gave Kise a hard shake.

"Stop being a spoiled brat! Akashi would order security to any of us if we were being targeted. But we're not being chased by Haizaki, and you're just going to have to fucking deal with it! I don't know why you can't get it through your brain, but it's probably because you don't have one!"

"No, you dont get it, Aominecchi!" Kise shouted. He gave a hard strike to Aomine's chest with his elbow, which made Aomine let go with a gasp. "Have you forgotten I'm the replacement here? I wasn't chosen to be on this team in the first place! Do you know how it feels like to be picked only because Haizaki was kicked out?" He turned and gave a hard punch to the wall. It vibrated throughout the house. "How it makes you so inferior to everyone? The beatings I had to endure because I was so weak was nothing you had to experience! And you guys don't let me forget I'm the weakest one on this team!" The last part was boosted with a shout.

He laughed brokenly. "I have no specialty. I'm not unique. I'm not the fastest. Or the smartest. Or the strongest. I'm a copycat. I depend on you guys, and I'm reminded of that everyday, damn it! I am nothing without you guys. That's the worst part, too. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to survive until now without the Generation of Miracles. And now this? This—this unnecessary protection? It just shows how useless I can be to this team."

Aomine, furious at the pathetic speech, stripped of his shirt and forced Kise to look at him again. "Look at this," he demanded, pointing to his chest where Kise elbowed him earlier. There was the start of a large, purple-ish bruise in the area. "Look at it! You hurt me. You hurt me. You are only one of the few people who can be fast enough to take me by surprise and damage me. Do you see it, Kise?"

He trailed his finger up to his collar bone, just a few inches above the bruise. "If you had hit me here with that strength, my collar bone would have been crushed, and I would not have been able to move for a few hours. And if you would have hit me here," he pointed to his throat. "I would have been unconcious, and Midorima would not be able to heal my internal bleeding."

Aomine pushed Kise away roughly. "This is just the beginning of your strength, and this is when you don't even unleash your ability. And if I could see the extent of your strength, Akashi can sure as hell can too, because his sight is way better than mine. So stop your sulking, and get your ass back in gear. We don't look down on you because we know your strength. And you know damn well it wasn't our choice to have Haizaki on our team; it was the government's. The security would have been for anybody."

Kise stayed quiet. He averted his gaze to the side, where his blond locks shadowed his face. His fists were clenched. Aomine gave a loud, exasperated sigh. He did all he could do. Without acknowledging Kise, he left the room and slammed the door behind him. Even then, Kise stood still.

"Did you get through to him?" Akashi asked. He was on the computer, typing furiously. He didn't look up to greet Aomine.

"Think so," he grumbled, flopping onto the couch.

"You guys were really loud~" Murasakibara commented.

"Yes," Kuroko agreed. "Is Kise-kun okay?"

The ganguro shrugged. "He'll get over it."

Akashi frowned at his laptop. A red warning kept flashing on his desktop. "This is completely strange." His skilled fingers typed quickly across the keyboard, but the warning would not stop blinking.

"What is it?" Midorima, Murasakibara, and Kuroko crowded to see the laptop.

Akashi dragged a few files to the trashcan before typing again. He was typing so quickly, Midorima could not catch what he was trying to do. "I'm getting a signal from my appointed leader in Kyoto," he answered. "It's the same transmission as we get for reports, but I can't accept it. The message is not coming through."

"Could it be he's using an independent line?" Midorima suggested.

"Independent lines are forbidden on my orders. All transmissions should be on a private, yet open line to record and to share the information between ourselves." Akashi paused his typing. "If he were, however, it would probably be due to the fact he feels threatened by Haizaki." He tried another approach, this time targeting a different line. It came through.

Akashi's leader of the first platoon popped onto the screen. The man looked agitated and wary. "Sir? I got through?" Unlike most transmissions, there was no busy background of men ordering trainees, or training obstacles. There was only a black background.

Akashi narrowed his eyes that told he was annoyed at the commander. "What is the meaning of this? Why are you using an independent line?"

"I'm truly sorry, Sir." He bowed to the camera. "I—I felt like this would be best. I am thinking Haizaki hacked into our systems. We detected no signs of Hanabi, so I thought it'd be safe to take precautions. In case Haizaki bugged our system, I called you through this line."

Akashi pinched the bridge of nose, feeling a headache coming. Kuroko looked at him, concerned. "What is the report?"

"I said there were no signs of Hanabi," he replied nervously. It looked like the commander did not want to speak at all. "That's because Hanabi did not leave any traces or set off our security or guards. But," he trailed off. His skin was getting paler by the second. Akashi grew impatient. "But there's an abandoned warehouse, east on Ayabe, Kyoto. We were wondering if we could use it as an extra lot to store our resources, so we sent a couple scouts a week ago. They never came back."

Akashi grew cold. "Why was I not made aware of this immediately? Are you failing your duties?"

"We didn't think it was serious," he quivered. "They were only lost, we thought, so we sent another batch of troops to the warehouse. They never made it back either."

Interesting, yet questionable. Kyoto troops did not make it back, and they did not even bother to signal for help before they—if it were true—perished? It did not matter how strong the enemy was, his men were trained to hold off long enough to send some sort of signal back. Either the commander was lying, or the troops that were sent died instantaneously the moment they stepped foot in the warehouse.

"Do not send anymore troops," Akashi ordered. He would have to see this for himself. "We will take care of it." He noted the blank background around the commander. "Where are you right now?"

He froze, then swallowed hard. "I—I'm sorry, Sir, but I have to go."

"Do not even think of—" The transmission cut off. Akashi looked at his laptop is anger and disbelief.

"Something's off about the message," Aomine grunted. "I doubt he used the independent line because he was worried about Haizaki. He didn't want us to trace his location."

"I agree, Mine-chin."

"Do you think he's corrupt?" Kuroko spoke for the first time.

Midorima pressed his lips together. "It's best to wait for now."

~Setting Skip~

The commander shakily closed his laptop. His hands were quivering so violently while his adam's apple bobbed up and down anxiously. He was still in his uniform, but it was dirty and ripped. Ugly, painful gashes decorated his body and arms.

A hard hand clapsed on his shoulder. He jumped and shivered.

"Good job, Commander," Haizaki whispered into his ear. "You led them right where I want them to be. That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"My family," he shakily said. "They're safe now, right?"

Haizaki chuckled. Toying with his victims were ever so fun. "Of course. I always keep my promises." He trailed a dirty finger down the commander's neck. "You on the other hand . . . I have no more use for you."

~Setting and Time Skip~

"Where did you really go, Akashi?" Midorima tenderly cut his meat into precise pieces. A pink ruler stuck out from his pocket—his lucky item for today. "And where's Momoi?"

"Satsuki went back to her hotel early in the morning," Aomine said to the second question. He stuffed all the rice and meat into his mouth without bothering to prepare it properly. He was hungry: there was food. Who would want to wait to eat when it was right in front of you?

"Akashi-kun and I went to go train. We both could not sleep." This time, Kuroko spoke the truth. He made sure to serve himself this time, not trusting Akashi's 'monstrous' portions for him.

"Oh," Aomine gave a sigh of relief. "So Akashi was lying."

Kuroko gazed at the ace with a look of mischief and amusement in his eyes that only Akashi could detect. He tilted his head, teal locks moving along with his movements. "Akashi-kun doesn't lie, Aomine-kun."

For the millionth time, Aomine spit out his rice and started coughing aggressively. Akashi shook his head at Kuroko, a smile struggling on his lips.

"What are we going to do, Aka-chin?" Murasakibara asked. "About what Sa-chin said . . ."

Akashi contemplated the question. "We can't do anything, yet. Not until we receive more informaton; how he plans to do it and when. He will most likely be proceeding with his plan after he receives one of us. It's safe to assume he prefers to capture Tetsuya." Kuroko stiffened. "And that his manufacturing activity is to build more advanced weapons for the wipeout."

He set his chopsticks down and poured himself some tea. His headache was not getting any better. "Our main objective for now is to explore the warehouse. There's a reason why it was mentioned. We'll leave in a few hours."

"It could be a trap," Midorima warned.

"Everywhere we go could be a trap, Shintarou."

"What about Kise-kun?"

As if planned, Kise revealed himself around the corner. The dining table grew quiet. Akashi looked at Kise expectantly. Aomine raised his dark eyebrows. Kuroko's face stayed the same. The silence dragged on for minutes. Kise shifted uneasily, the gears working in his brain. He gazed at Aomine before exhaling and breaking out into a grin. He strode in confidently.

"There are leftovers, right, Midorimacchi?" he said cheerfully. "Or did Aominecchi and Murasakicchi hog it all?"

Midorima pushed up his glasses with a calculating gaze. "There's more than enough for you. And there are certainly more than enough dishes to wash."

Kise grimaced at the piled dishes. He served himself and bounded over to the table. Giving an apologetic gaze to Akashi, which the redhead accepted with grace, he gave a swift kiss to Aomine's cheek, whispering, "Thank you." Then he returned to his original seat with interest.

"O-oi!" Aomine protested.

Kise ignored him. "So, what's the plan, Akashicchi? There's a warehouse?"

"An abandoned one," Akashi replied. "My troops are disappearing in that area. We'll be investigating there."

"There's only one abandoned warehouse in Ayabe," Midorima supplied.

"You and Tetsuya will not be doing much in this investigation." Akashi wiped his mouth with a napkin and waited if any of them would protest.

Kise showed no sign of discontent. He poured himself tea and grinned at Kuroko. "We don't have to do the dirty work, Kurokocchi!"

Kuroko, confused by Kise's antics, could only nod. "A-ah, hai, Kise-kun."

"We leave in a few hours. Take whatever supplies you think you may need." Akashi stood, dropped his plate to the pile, and disappeared out of the kitchen.

The Generation of Miracles all stared at each other.

~Setting and Time Skip~

The six of them unloaded from the van. Akashi scanned his surroundings warily before allowing Kuroko and Kise to step out of the car. Once unloaded, Aomine took the chance to analyze the large building in front of him.

The building was not tall, but wide. Like most warehouses, there was not a door for entering. Most had garage doors to haul large objects inside, but this one had absolutely no door. It was as if somebody ripped off the garage entrance and threw it away. What was left was a large, wide opening. Also, unlike regular warehouses, this one had four floors. While the building was not very tall, it was unusual to even have floors, other than ground level.

"No wonder this place was abandoned," Aomine grumbled. "Already it's creepy and weird."

"Enter with caution." Akashi twisted his weapon in his hands before securing it on his belt. "Look for any dead bodies or blood. Tetsuya, Ryouta, behind Daiki and Atsushi. Shintarou, guard at the rear end."

The six sneaked inside discreetly. Their weapons ready at their hands, they swept the area to detect any signs of danger. "Even with the outside light, I can't see the back," Aomine whispered. "I'm going to see where's the light switch." The ganguro disappeared from Murasakibara's side.

"Someone's here," Kuroko muttered.

"Oh?" Akashi could not detect any movement, besides their own.

Years of simply observing from a distance taught Kuroko to be aware of a human's presence. He could almost hear the soft breathing coming from ahead. Abruptly, the lights turned on, and they squinted at the sudden light. It was blinding, especially to Kuroko's blue eyes.

Murasakibara was visibly unhappy at the sudden light. "A warning next time, Mine-chin."

"Yeah, guys? That wasn't me."

Akashi jerked his head up in surprise. It couldn't be: there, up ahead, stood one hundred elementals. Their colored eyes that were the only thing that indicated their element glowed softly. While they looked very much human, they were anything but. Dangerous, lethal weapons sported their loose outfits, but the Miracles doubted they needed it. Earth's natural resources were their weapons. They did not move, but their stances posed to attack.

"Well," Akashi said wryly, twirling his dagger. "This was an ambush."

Author

Ah! Done.

Thank you very much for all the birthday wishes! I can't believe how many people wished me a happy birthday, and for that, I thank you :) Cursing is so uncomfortable for me, but, it fits Haizaki and sometimes Aomine.

Thank you to this one, special person who confessed my story could take their mind off of their family problems. I'm honored that my story could have such an effect on you, and I only hope it gets better. I finished this chapter so quickly because of you :)

I'd be most grateful if you were to leave a review (: It motivates me, and I do love getting feedback from the viewers.

~Virelei