ASDFGHJKL GUYS THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH and again I'm sorry for the late update. My boss is a bit strict which is understandable but that gives me only two days to write which is Saturday and Sunday TT v TT and that is beside the stuff I have to do for the upcoming Yuri on Ice Convention in the Philippines. Thankfully I have you guys cheering me and making my days better. Thank you very very much for supporting Kankan!

And for FionaEve-chan OMG YES I'VE READ THOSE FIC TOO, I like Beastly Call too very much! Though I wasn't a huge fan of Kikasa, I still read it and liked it very much! Also its Akafuri is very fluffy like bruhhh. After reading Beastly Call I actually wanted to write something along those lines but I haven't made any success yet. About MuraMuro I'm still trying to make a concrete story for them they MIGHT get a separate story after Kankan though for some reason *wink* since I did notice I often write them as an established pair ^^; I think my most favorite story was a story I read waaaaaaaaay back before I started writing, it's medieval AU which was sadly dropped by the author which inspired me to write. I also have my personal favorite It All Started With a Burnt Hand, Lion's Keeper and Just My Misfortune. Other than KNB I do like to ship other sports anime ahahahaha like Haikyuu where I totally dig TsukishimaXYamaguchi, KageyamaXHinata and DaichiXSugawara(AND MORE), I also like Yuri on Ice, I ship OtaYuri and Victuuri(I have a fanfic for them called Dreaming Alone which is currently on going), I also have Shizaya from DURARARA! I wrote Lycoris for it too since I missed the ship so much and I'm currently obsessed with the ship AbeShiya from Fukigen na Mononokean XD, TianShan pair from 19 Days(He Tian x Guan Shan).

Thank you for all our reviewers, lashayluv, Guest33 and Raelene1122 GUYS THANK YOU! I hope you guys will like this update! If you have any questions for me, or for any of my fics out here in ff or in ao3 you can drop it on the review, if you're shy or want to remain unknown you may just go drop by on my pm *wink*! Love you guys and hope you like it!

Chapter 14: Anemone

"Aomine?"

Aomine cracks his tired eyes open his eyes quickly falls to familiar face of his former spouse. Blonde hair that had grown quite long in the past four years tied in a lazy ponytail, a sad smile plastered in his lips accompanied with his sullen amber eyes. Aomine sighs and sits straight up from the hospital bench. Kise's perfume lingers in the dull air of the hallway.

"You should go home if you're tired. Did you come here right from work?" Kise asks as he shifts his eyes on the seat beside the dark skinned police officer where a duffel bag and his blue police uniform sit by. "You look awful, you should go home."

Aomine massages his temple feeling his head ache from his earlier position. When was the last time he had a decent sleep? Two weeks? No. Months ago. He couldn't help but regret those days, he wished he had spent more time with them, he wished he called them more often, he wished he didn't say those things.

"Can I just…stay?" Aomine says almost in a whisper.

Kise blinks at the other's words.

"I…O-Of course, why would you even have to ask me?"

Aomine sighs and runs a hand through his hair. In past few months he realized many things that his worthless sense of pride and ego blocked from his view. Kise sacrificed his dream to become a pilot when Aomine proposed to him right after getting his first job as a policeman, he could have flown to many places, met so many people, better, kinder, gentler people than he ever will, he could have become successful, he could have been in a better life but he chose him instead. He remained in Japan and continued his job as a model and actor, until he had the twins.

The pregnancy was not easy, Kise had to leave his job since he had a sensitive pregnancy. His body which he took so much care changed in uncontrolled ways. For months he carried two people in his body, growing each day. He didn't understand then his frustration or his anger, his burst of tears and childish demands. He never thought of looking his way or putting himself in his shoes.

And even as the twins are born, the gap between them grew further and further but he never was short taking care of them, he was never short of love for them even if he was for him.

Kise had been understanding but he didn't see that before, he didn't see the tears he had probably shed way too many times, the difficulty of saying goodbye to his kids every time Aomine had to take them again because the visitation is over, or the effort he gave in balancing his work and being a parent to two kids growing at the same time. He never looked at him and maybe that was why he never truly saw him.

"When they wake up…let's go to the aquarium."

"U-Us?" Kise asks eyes wide. "I-I mean uhm, o-of course they will like it and—"

"Us…as family." Aomine clarifies as he looks up at the blonde, "We've never went somewhere together, the four of us."

Kise's eyes widen at the other's words, his heart skips a beat for the first time in a long while. His lips tremble at the thought. He had lost count of how many times the twins murmured with a sad smile how they wish they could go somewhere together and all could he say to them was 'Momma and your dad doesn't have the same schedule so it would be quite difficult, you could understand that right?' he said those with a heavy heart. They were just children and it just felt like as if they were asking so much of them.

They made silly excuses like some naïve kids looking for a way to avoid something they didn't like. They pushed them to grow up too fast, to carry themselves when they were just so small just because they can't fix their own life.

Kise feels warm tears trickle down his cheeks from his eyes as Aomine looks at him with the softest expression since he asked him to marry him, since the man first carried in his arms his children. They had always been busy fighting, pushing each other, finding who is right or wrong.

"Y-Yeah." Kise says in between his sobs, "Y-Yeah w-we should."

Aomine nods and smiles back before reaching towards the other's hand and holding it for the first time in four years. Kise remains still as he tears stream down his face more. He wishes they have seen each other this way earlier, he wishes that he could have abandoned they have become proper adults earlier. He wishes this didn't need to happen for them to see how stupid they have become.

Aomine stands from his seat and pulls Kise to a loose hug allowing the other to bury his tear stained face in the crook of his neck. The other's warmth feels like a warm wave of the bonfire in the middle of a chilly forest. He didn't know how much he had missed this until he could feel that perfect size of his body against his, his gentle warmth and his soft scent that reminds him of summer.

His slender fingers holding unto the fabric of his shirt as if he is his lifeline—and maybe they are now each other's lifeline.

As the blond finally calms himself down he pulls away from their embrace and starts to wipe of the silly tears off his face. Aomine looks quietly at him, his bare face with no makeup looks very domestic to Aomine, not to mention his hair. Though his short hair made him look quite younger, his long hair always reminded him the image of Kise's sweat and tear stained face as he held in his arms Miharu and Maiha for the very first time.

"How's the others?" Kise asks.

Aomine shifts his eyes towards the room at the end of the hallway.

"…I can't say for sure." Aomine says. "We all are having a hard time."

Kise nods a gloom expression crosses his mind.

"Is…A-Akashicchi…?"

Aomine sighs and nods, ever since then Akashi had practically lived in the hospital. The other rarely left and when he does he will certainly be back just in two or three hours.

Since then he hasn't spoken to anyone.

It must have been hard to look both as his husband and son like this.

"He's in his room reading him that book again." Aomine says.

"Book?"

Aomine nods, "It's some fairy tale. I remember Maiha said before that was the kid's favourite story."

"Is that Lion?" Kise asks.

Aomine shakes his head remembering Maiha's exact words. Akashi and Furihata's son is indeed something, he expected it anyways being the son of two. Though often timid and quiet like Furihata, the other had some taste of things as strange as his father. The kid loves books, probably it is expected of boy who grew up with an author as a mother and a father who collected books like they were gold. However out of all the things he liked, that particular story is said to have taken him very well.

Aomine knew Akashi not as very well as Midorima or Kuroko, but it is not a secret that a part of Akashi's love for collecting books was a compensation and coping mechanism of his when his mother died, his mother whom he remembered most reading books to him. Though he collected them he rarely touched until he met Furihata.

Aomine never thought he would hear that title again, a book Akashi loved when he was young—or so Kuroko said—a fairy tale of prince and a boy. Normally fairy tales ends with a solid happy ending, with the protagonist overcoming evil and having their love sealed with a kiss to live happily forever onwards, but that wasn't what that book was about.

He remember when Kuroko told him about that, he stood in a book store which he was rarely ever found, and stares at the leather bound copy of the same title. Blame curiosity that he opened and read the book himself, and he was surprised that as a child someone would read such tragic story.

"It's Kankan." He tells Kise.

The blond blinks and tilts his head, "Did Furihatacchi wrote something like that before?"

Aomine shakes his head, "It's a book from when Akashi was young, supposedly his mother used to read it to him too when he was a kid."

"Oh, and now Hakuryuu-kun likes it too?"

Aomine doesn't know what to feel, somehow strangely that story resonates with them. He just hopes it doesn't exactly become like that.

Kankan was a story about a boy who was the only grandson of an Emperor of a massive empire. A war broke and the Emperor was caught and his Empire fell. His massive land were broken apart and taken by the kingdoms who joined forces to take it down. The Kings pitied the orphaned grandson of the Emperor but couldn't accept the fact that they will have to take him under roofs, the same blood of the man who had trampled over their flags too many times until one prince stood up to take the boy, a prince and only heir to the throne of a blooming empire.

No one questioned the young prince, thinking he must have taken a liking to the boy as he was a blood relative of the man whom the prince looked up to. The child remained under the roof of the prince and his care until friendship slowly blossoms between them despite the gap between their culture and personalities. However as they grew closer revelations come like a quiet storm, the kingdoms whom ruled the pieces of land of the former empire felt the resistance of the people growing slowly. Their hearts fuelled by the hope that the heir to throne of the fallen empire is still alive somewhere. They remained loyal to the crown and the Kingdoms realized the power the small boy held in his tiny naïve palms.

Soon movements from these Kingdoms stirs as they convinces the young prince to give them the boy knowing the child may become either a threat or their way to becoming the strongest kingdom. But the Prince whom had become fond so much of the boy couldn't think of ever giving him away, especially knowing how those people would use him and soon war broke between nations again.

The Prince in fear of the other's life decided to send him away with a promise of seeing each other soon as the war ends. They parted ways as they sealed their promise with a kiss in the cheek so when they meet each other again—if the war would take a long time—they would know each other with such a gesture only they know.

And days turned to week and weeks turned to months and months turned to years but the Prince never returned, until one day a carriage came for the boy with a letter sealed by the stamp of another Kingdom. He was taken to the ruins of the former palace where he and the prince lived, the place is empty and the proud flag of the Kingdom was tattered. In the middle of what formerly was the rose garden a familiar sword laid, its steel were slowly being rotten by rust and it's handle had way too many scratches in them.

The Prince died in the war, his young body sustained too many injuries and his health decline slowly. His death was slow and probably painful, and on his last day, he called one of his dear friends to take him back to the palace, and on that rose garden where they parted ways he laid down and hoped that the boy whom he loved dearly would come by even once before he drifts away. He waited until death came to take him.

"It's supposed to be a story of hope." Aomine says, "Though I…don't know how that story portrayed hope."

Kise blinks in confusion, if it was a story of hope it does sound like something they all need.

He smiles sadly and prays quietly.

.

.

.

"Give us another chance to be better parents."

…

"He's so small!" Aomine says with a giggle. Akashi stood behind his brothers as they peer over the small infant laid on the crib. Midorima stares at the day old Kuroko with big green curious eyes as if he was some sort of exotic animal. Murasakibara meanwhile held up a small rattle overhead to call their new brother's attention.

"Don't disturb Tetsuya." Akashi says, "We should let him be, he must be tired."

"Eh? But all he does is sleep!" Aomine says with a pout, "I wanna play with already!"

Akashi smiles, Aomine despite whatever other people said about him is a kind brother.

"Of course he sleeps very much, he's an infant and infants needs sleep to grow." Midorima says indignantly.

"Oh is that why Murasakibara grew so tall because he's always sleeping?" Aomine asks.

"I don't sleep too much." Murasakibara says with a frown.

"Now, don't fight in front of Tetsuya." Akashi says.

As if on cue the powder blue haired infant starts to sob in his crib making everyone's eyes widen.

"T-This is your fault Aomine!" Midorima says.

"M-Mine?!"

"You were too loud Mine-chin."

"W-Wha—"

While his brothers were busy bickering Akashi slips pass them and scoops the small life in his arms, Kuroko stops his sobbing and stares at his older brother with his sky blue eyes. He is quiet for a solid moment studying the red head's features before busrting into a fit o childish giggles, his chubby hands reaches to pat the other's cheeks.

"He likes Aka-chin."

"What?!" Aomine exclaims, "B-But he's my second, h-he's supposed to like me more!"

Midorima sighs, "Nobody likes you."

"Seaweed head!" Aomine exclaims at the second prince.

Akashi smiles at Kuroko staring at him, such small simple and fragile body, so dependent and vulnerable. This is what his father probably saw in him and that was why their father loved him most. Children are very…precious.

Akashi could almost taste the bitterness of the other consciousness' lust for Nash's blood on their palm, he tries to breath in as he calms themselves. Accepting the fact that Hakuryuu is indeed his made things heavier, if it was any other boy there wouldn't be much need for him to be concerned, but this is his son and someone has taken him.

Hakuryuu may not be exactly his son but surely the Akashi from the other side would feel and do the same at this situation. As he stood on the deck he couldn't help but look at his beloved standing before him in the red armor of their Empire. His short brunet locks swaying against the current of the wind. He somehow feels his heart swell at the image of a courageous mother before him. Furihata Kouki may be a kind and gentle person but he is the Mother of the Phoenix Empire.

There is probably no greater suffering than a mother to watch his son in the hands of a man whom he knew by heart could kill without batting an eye.

But Akashi Seijuuro is not the son of former Phoenix Emperor and Setsuna Kuroko for nothing—he wouldn't allow such thing.

"I can see them now." Takao says.

The dark haired priest stood beside Akashi looking towards the ship across them. Effortlessly the Hawk Child could see from a long distance, beside Takao, Midorima stands as his guard with a sword in his side and bow and arrow in his back.

"I can see…people scattered on the ground at the deck. There a boat escaping." He says.

"Who are in the boat?" Akashi asks, "Is it Tetsuya and Ryota?"

Takao shakes his head. "No, there's just some soldiers, the brown haired female minister Kagami-heika was with before, and…there's a kid who looks like…uhm…Aomine-denka and there's a baby too."

"An infant?"

Takao nods at Midorima's question.

"I'm not sure but they might be one of the kids with Jun."

Akashi blinks, wait why does something feels wrong about that?

"Ah! T-There's tiger too!"

"A what?" Midorima asks.

"I-It seems to be helping Kuroko."

"How about our enemies?" Akashi asks.

Takao looks further, his eyes slowly adjusts to the darkness. Slowly from the darkness he can see small boats approaching the ship where Kuroko and Kise stood. The boats don't have any light making them almost impossible to detect at such darkness. He turns his attention back to the deck and to his surprise he finds a man, blonde hair tall and bigger built, a distinctive marking in his neck can be seen and in his hand a boy.

"Oh my—" Takao gasps, "T-There's a man, he's holding a child, a-a boy—"

"What does the boy looks like?" Akashi says as Furihata turns towards them to listen, concern and panic paints the brunet's expression.

"Red hair, s-scarlet he's probably around Jun and Maiha's age—"

"No." Furihata says with a horrified expression. "P-Please tell me he's alright."

Takao purses his lips.

"I-I'm sorry I can't say."

Akashi feels his heart crushes as he saw Furihata almost curl to the floor holding his aching chest, his body trembles. The Emperor holds the brunet closer as he tries to calm him.

"Sei what if something happens to Hakuryuu! I-I won't—"

"No, nothing will happen to him." Akashi says holding the other with his firm hands. "We will get him."

Furihata nods. His expression turns cold and Akashi could feel a shiver running up his spine, the brunet's expression reminded him of his own mother when they were young and his father's enemies would threaten them as children. Like a sea, once calm, gentle and nurturing can also be a fearsome nemesis.

"I won't forgive them."

.

.

.

.

Kuroko swiftly dodges an attack before slashing the man's stomach with a quick movement. The man falls down to the floor with a thud, before Kuroko could even have the time to turn his head away he feels a presence approaching close, heavy footsteps of a heavy man, the scent of sweat is easy to distinguish from Kise's. He turns and docks down from the attack and stabs the man's thigh with his sword, the blade effortlessly pierces unto the flesh out. The man screams in pain as he lets go of his weapon in his effort to remove Kuroko's weapon. Before the man could touch him Kuroko pulls his blade out making the man fall to his back as he tries to stop the bleeding.

It is chaos, the sound of screams and the sword clashing against each other fills the silence of the night. The scent of blood is thick tainting the calmness of the sea breeze. Kuroko could hear the white tiger's roar from afar as he tears off the enemies one by one. Kise stands on the other side fighting skilfully which almost reminds Kuroko of his older brother.

The moon is rising higher on the sky as the night grows older. Kuroko could feel underneath his feet the incoming vessel, his brother is on his way.

"Your Grace!"

Kuroko's eyes widen as the exclaimation of one of their soldiers reaches his ears, he turns and finds the man stood between him and an assailant causing him to receive a stab in his side. Kuroko's eyes narrows, his blood starts to boil under his skin at the sight. Without another word he slashes the assailants hand making the bandit fall into his back screaming in pain and bathing in his own blood.

"Feel grateful, I shall end your misery now." Kuroko says as he steps forward and with a swift movement he beheads the man.

The soldier's eyes widen, though they knew their future Queen is cold, he had always been an image of grace and beauty, but now he looks like a winter blizzard drenched in red making all around him bow to his glory. The teal haired young man turns to face the wounded soldier and his expression soften.

"Thank you." he says. "I have been careless I must admit."

"I-It is my honor to protect Your Grace." The solider said.

Kuroko sees the White Tiger walks up to them. He then turns and holds his hand out for the massive beast.

"Take care of him for now." he tells the Tiger who simply licks Kuroko's palm.

"B-But Your Grace what about you?"

Kuroko shakes his head as he stands straight, his fine clothes stained with blood.

"What kind of Queen will I be if I fail to protect my people?"

.

.

.

"Kurokocchi watch out!"

Kuroko's eyes widen as he hears the strange sound of something swiftly moving in the air, looking up he sees lit arrows soaring into the sky towards the ship from the incoming naval ship.

"It's fine." Kuroko says with confidence. "Midorima-kun has never failed when he's aiming an arrow, never specially with Takao-san."

The bandits fell to their knees as blazing arrows hit them while the Kuroko, Kise and the rest of their people remained still. Nash who stands in the side gasps as he finds an arrow grazing his shoulder. The burn made him gasps in pain before he stares at Kuroko.

"You should know by now to fear a Lioness' anger when you take its cub."

Nash narrows his eyes at Kuroko anger crossing his features for a moment before his expression changes into a wide grin.

"Don't be too sure Prince."

Kuroko gasps as he suddenly feels a presence behind him, he turn as swift as he can and raises his sword to defend him but he is late. He sucks air as he feels the cold blade pierces in his side.

"Hello half-brother, missed me?"

Kuroko's eyes stares at the familiar face before him.

"H-Haizaki-k-kun."