A/N: Hello again~ firstly, thank you so so much for the favs, follows and reviews! *glomps everyone from the screen* You guys made my day as usual xD
Shiro: I'm dedicating this chapter to my newfound friend, reginefrance04! Happy belated birthday, regine-chan! Credits to her for the wonderful ideas and suggestions too~ \(^w^)/
Also, a million thanks to my dearest followers: 2Kay7, A Light That Loves Writing, Ageha Yume, Akakurolov4evr, Akakuro Hana, Akakuro Seiya, AkashiSeijuro105, AkemiMizuki, Alaskapuppy, Anki, Another observer of the world, AsunaxxXx, AyakiStory, Blukang Blarak, Booklover9477, Caseo, Chisato Morohiko, Elemental Nikki, Eru-time, Giggles217, Harukaze Sora, HeteroChromium, Hinasukichan, InuyashaVampire Knight, Iza Seitsuna, Jay Dawn, KazueHiromi, KillerCali02, Kuroko-Chan, Kuroko-Senpaille, KyuuKyuuMoo, L'uke-chan, Lilac-and-Teal, LostInMind93, Mafuyu Mia, Magnolia , MayNoYuki, Melody Yuna, Moonphantoma, Moonpuzzle, Naveesha, Pendraco, PennyBlu, PureProtagonist, Renkou-Tachii, Rin1730 , RinFantasy, SaM-nya, ShinseiShinwa, Shiro-chan1827, Shyee, SisterFreaks, Sustaitasister, SwedishDiva, Tehetehe, The-fujoshi-in-me, TheAlmightyMuffin, The Cruel Maiden, The Invisible King, Umi-Uma, VandQ, Ventus286, WhytLynx, Winfox, XXRUKAXX, Yaoipink16, YatogamiKushina, YuiSamaMikaze, Yuki-Hime-Aren-Walker, Yuu Hoshimura, animelovertillend, animexoxo21, baedaefeeeeels, belncaz, bookimp, chrissy23, defla, derpyme, dnvan-tuckr, emilie. fiil. thomsen, fanlover18, galia. 78, gloria. akowuah, hannefm, hikarusherizawa, iAddiction, iZUMi0715, kanade. akemi, kiramoriyabu, kkfyfe47, kurolover00, kurolovers, layla. nguyen200, lilmymyshem, melyco, miachi13, mimi-chan and ailing-chan, misachan360, miss quiet27, morukyuu, mousekid, mywinterwolf, notginnyweasley, pinkprincesa13, reginefrance04, sailormoon85, shuzo101, silver woman, siscarilia, soundlessAria, sozoushiyouXD, swaggityswaggeritserenjaeger, tomato freak, vanilla Pen, verday, xxxLucyxharemfanxxx, yunyunann, zephyrea, zoedapoey
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And of course a thousand thanks to you who are reading this fic right now! *hugs*
Seriously you guys are the best :')
Disclaimer: KnB isn't mine!
Chapter 21: Past and Future
Akashi opened his eyes just before the digital clock on the desk hit 6.00 AM. He removed himself from the bed in great stealth, careful not to wake the powder blue haired boy who was still sound asleep.
After briefly washing up, the exorcist buttoned up a dark long sleeved shirt over his toned body and slipped into a black coat afterwards. The redhead gently tousled his lover's ridiculous bedhair and captured the other's lips tenderly. "...ehm..." Feeling the bluenette stirred slightly in his sleep, Akashi carefully but reluctantly pulled his hand away from the soft strands of light blue hair, not wanting to disturb his lover's slumber.
Somehow, he felt strangely nostalgic whenever he looked into those crystal blue eyes of Kuroko. As if he had longed for his gaze, touch and taste for an awful long, long time. 'Now that he's mine, I shall never let anyone or anything take him away from me.' He was becoming more and more of a romanticist nowadays, wasn't he? That definitely did not fit his character of a cold and ruthless exorcist he was.
But, Akashi couldn't care less.
The young exorcist quietly exited the door to find a certain green head waiting for him outside of his bedroom. Midorima was holding a penknife in his left hand since it was his lucky item for the day. "Akashi, Sagittarius is in last place today according to Oha-Asa. May I remind you it'd be best if you bring your lucky item to the meeting today. A maneki neko." The water spirit spoke in a serious tone. He strongly believed that the redhead needed as much as luck he could get to compensate for his bad luck on that day.
"Shintarou, you know I don't believe in such things. Let us be on our way now." Akashi nodded towards the Kappa tersely.
"Very well then." Midorima habitually fixed the black-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose.
The two of them got into a black limousine owned by the Akashi family and were driven to a secluded area in the mountains, far from civilization. They were now heading for an annual meeting among exorcists and mediums.
Every year, all of the high levelled exorcists from distinguished families are gathered in one place to exchange information as well as to trade their youkai familliars and magic spells/talismans used in exorcising, finding new clients or targets and also forming alliances between families with a common goal.
"Kuroko Tetsuya, come back here this instance!" A voice echoed inside of the Akashi mansion in a commanding tone.
"Ha! Make me~" A playful voice answered back.
"It's just a little trim! I promise it won't hurt!"
"No way~ I told you I don't like anyone touching my hair!"
Tetsuya could be seen running away from the irritated redhead who had been chasing him for half an hour already, carrying in his hand a pair of red scissors. They had an important meeting tonight with heads of exorcist families and Seijuurou had to at least make the stubborn bluenette's appearance presentable.
The long haired bluenette sneakily hid himself inside an unused guest room on the second floor. He panted slightly after locking the door from the inside.
Why... why did anyone bother creating a tool which looked like a pair of knives joined together resembling that scary shear he saw the gardener use? Tetsuya shuddered at the thought of having the sharp metal running through his light blue hair. No way. Not even Seijuurou could make him surrender. Just no. He shook his head in disagreement.
Almost immediately, the bluenette realised he was not alone in the room he just entered. This presence felt like a youkai..! Tetsuya eyes wandered around the room carefully when he spotted something black at the corner of his eyes. A ball of black feathers perched on a wooden armchair. Sky blue eyes scanned the object with interest. The dark silky feathers looked so beautiful and captivating.
I want to touch it. Even if it's a youkai, dangerous or not. The bluenette's conscience in the end was overpowered by his reckless desire.
Unfortunately, the beautiful but defiant bluehead was not one to heed the saying, 'Curiosity kills the cat'. He brazenly held out his slender fingers and lightly touched a feather. In an instant, the feathery ball unfurled and underneath it revealed a tan skinned person with short navy blue hair and a black beak as his mouth. It was a Tengu! The said youkai spread out his two black wings at full strength while yawning sleepily.
The startled man staggered backwards due to the strong wind and accidentally hit the window behind him. The paper window was easily torn open by Tetsuya's weight and the poor bluenette was soon falling from the second floor. "Ah-!"
"Huh? Oi, you!?" The sound of paper shredding completely woke the Tengu up and he caught sight of the falling human before swiftly flew out of the broken window at full speed. The tanned youkai managed to scoop the bluenette seconds before he hit the hard ground. "Gotcha! What the hell were you thinking jumping out of the window like that? Are you suicidal or something?!"
"It's your darn fault for surprising me like that!" Tetsuya grudgingly yanked one of the tanned youkai's wings causing the Tengu to lose balance and soon both of them pummelled to the ground.
THUD!
"Crazy bastard! Are you trying to get both of us killed?!" The tanned youkai bellowed angrily at the blue haired man.
"Well, we die when we die." Tetsuya deadpanned.
"You cheeky little brat... lemme kill you right now and then." Came the irritated reply as the Tengu conjured out his large sharp spear and aimed it towards the fearless man.
Tetsuya simply huffed tiredly and tried to stand on his feet when he felt an indescribable pain on his right leg. "Ow!" The bluenette helplessly dropped to the ground once more. This is bad, his ankle seemed to be fractured. And now he had to face this spear-wielding madman in front of him.
Maybe getting a haircut from Seijuurou didn't sounded so bad after all.
"Heh, stay there and let me slice you up nicely." A malicious smirk formed on the Tengu's lips. The black winged youkai laughed evilly as he swung his weapon towards the bluenette at maximum speed.
Splash!
"Gyaah?!"
A waterball hit the Tengu directly in the face. The sharp point of the spear was stopped by a giant hand just before it slashed through Tetsuya's neck. The bluenette stared silently at the two new presences who walked past him towards the jerk of a Tengu that just intended to kill him.
'A Kappa and an Oni, aren't they?'
"Aomine, I've been searching for you and all this time you were going around killing innocent humans again?" Cold emerald eyes glared down the deep blue ones whose face was now wet with water. "Dammit, Midorima. You didn't have to drench me with that lame waterball of yours though!" The Tengu furiously wiped the droplets of water on his face with the back of his hand.
"Uwa, Mine-chin~ Is bullying the weak that fun~?" The tall purple haired youkai who was stuffing himself with a mochi patted the Tengu's head with his oversized hand before adding menacingly, "Aka-chin ordered me to crush you if you ever kill randomly again. I'll crush even you, Mine-chin."
"Tsk! Fine, I get it already!" The fuming tanned youkai slapped the Oni's hand away from his head. He then turned his head towards the bluenette still sitting on the ground, "You! What's your name? I wouldn't be in this bloody mess if it weren't for you, pipsqueak."
"Says the youkai who just tried to behead me!" Tetsuya could feel his blood boiling. What the heck was wrong with this winged youkai?! Just because he's a little bit tall and muscular than he was. Yeah, he'll admit having an inferiority complex regarding his body size.
"Why you shitty brat...!" The navy blue haired youkai snarled back.
"Cocky jerk!" The bluenette replied in an equally loud voice.
"I've been meaning to ask, but why are you not afraid of us, human?" Midorima or whatever his name was, suddenly asked the sky blue eyed man right before he engage into a bantering war with the Tengu.
"I'm used to it. Seeing and being chased by your kind, that is." Tetsuya said in an indifferent tone, looking so distant all of a sudden.
The Tengu, Aomine presumably, looked a bit taken aback by his revelation. Well, it wasn't a secret anyway. "Ehh~" The Oni hummed but kept on chewing the round colourful mochis from a paperbag he was holding. "Don't you hate us then?" The Kappa continued questioning the bluenette, his interest somehow piqued.
The three of them looked at Tetsuya expectantly, and almost patiently waiting for his answer.
Are they that eager to hear whatever reasons he might gave them? Why do they even care about a meager opinion from a nobody and unwanted person like him? Plus, the bluenette had always hated youkais for constantly making him run in fear for his life.
But if it weren't for them, then he might never would have met Seijuurou. If it weren't for them, then he would still be an outcast. And if it weren't for them, he would still be all alone.
"No, of course not. You guys made my life much more colourful after all!" Tetsuya said sincerely with a sweet smile. These lot didn't seemed like bad guys anyway (sans that barbaric Tengu of course).
The three youkais gaped in awe as they witnessed the beautiful human laughed softly. He was displaying something rare in humans. Sincerity. Honesty. He was also the first human to have said anything like that to them. They were in fact affected by his words. Deeply.
"Ah, Kuroko I finally found- wait, guys? What are you all doing here?" A smooth but exhausted voice could be heard from behind them.
"Akashi/Aka-chin." The three youkais searched for a suitable explanation but found none so they decided to just keep quiet.
Crap! It was Seijuurou. Tetsuya slowly turned his head towards the redhead with a sheepish smile. "Seijuurou.. sorry." The exorcist frowned slightly after deducing the current situation before flicking the bluenette's forehead with his index finger. "This is what will happen if you don't listen to me."
"...ow." The sky blue eyed man winced in pain and pouted sulkily. 'Darn, he can be so strict sometimes.'
Seijuurou instantly crouched in front of Tetsuya afterwards. "Get on."
"Huh..?"
"You can't walk on your own, right? Hurry up and get on." The red haired man eyed Tetsuya's swollen ankle with a knowing look. "Or there's always the bridal hold-" The bluenette immediately latched himself onto the redhead's back. No way he's going to be carried like a princess again. And especially not in front of these youkais. He'd die out of shame first.
Then, he heard a snicker from none other than the Tengu, an awkward cough from the Kappa and something that sounded like 'Uwaa~ Aka-chin's so nice~' from the Oni.
"Now, now. Don't go teasing Kuroko so much, you three. Let's skip the introduction for later. Midorima, can you come with me? Kuroko needs treatment." Seijuurou walked ahead carrying the red faced bluenette behind him who was hiding his blushy face at the crook of his neck. Kuroko could be so cute at times, he chuckled to himself.
All of them walked back towards the mansion in a comfortable silence.
Kuroko woke up shortly after. He had been dreaming again. And this time Aomine-kun, Midorima-kun and Murasakibara-kun were in the dream. But something told him that that was not just a mere dream but a short clip of the past. Whose memories were those then? Could it be they were his own? Impossible. Ah, he wondered why the nine-tailed fox was not in the dream just now. Maybe they'll meet up later, considering the knowledge that Kise-kun joined the GoMs later than everyone else if the past and future were truly correlated.
"Akashi-kun?" He noticed the other side of the bed was now empty. The redhead had already left. "You could at least wake me up before you go..." Kuroko pouted and rubbed his sleepy eyes. Nowadays, he was so used to having the red haired boy by his side, it felt like a part of him was incomplete whenever the other was not around. He didn't knew since when he started yearning for Akashi's gentle touches if given chance. The bluenette even felt that he had longed to be with Akashi for a very, very long time now. It felt like a dream come true honestly. "I don't know about you but I hope we'll always be together from now on, Akashi-kun." A blissful smile settled on his face.
Knock! Knock!
"Oi, Tetsu you awake? It's time for practice!" The bedroom door swung open shortly after. There stood the tanned youkai by the door as Kuroko sat up on his bed. "Aomine-kun?"
"Pfft hahaha! Your hair...! It's so ridiculous!" The Tengu continued chortling out loud while ruffling the wild sky blue hair affectionately. Kuroko sighed with a small pout. "Mou, you're laughing too much, Aomine-kun." Then, he examined the black winged youkai in silence. If he didn't knew any better, he'd say that the Tengu in front of him and the one in his dream just now were two completely different persons. But, Kuroko somehow knew that wasn't the case.
"Hurry up and get ready, sleepyhead. I'll wait downstairs." Aomine grinned.
"Okay." Kuroko nodded and smiled warmly at his friend.
"O-oi, Riko-san! Where the hell are you taking me, huh?" Kagami choked his words out as he was pulled by the collar by the small brunette with unbelievably superhuman strength.
"Ii kara, ii kara! Just follow me already!" Aida Riko was one of the founders of the Seirin Family, a new group of exorcists unrelated by blood with the purpose of saving both humans' and youkais' lives in need. Right now, both of them were walking past an old abandoned district where suspicious humans and malicious spirits alike were lurking around the corner.
"Teppei and Hyuuga-kun are carrying a secret mission outside of Tokyo today. Everyone else is busy with our clients' requests and all. Thank goodness I found you, Kagami-kun! Then I won't be going to that gloomy place alone, teehee~" Riko explained in one go while still pulling the reluctant red haired teen.
Kagami stopped abruptly. "Just lemme go already! Uhh, -dasai." The carmine eyed boy had trouble adjusting to the senpai-kouhai relationship. Why were the Japanese so particular about a year or two age difference?
"What's that, keigo?" Riko asked in a deadpan expression.
Kagami shrugged. He just had a bad, bad feeling about the place they're heading to. "I don't wanna go! I have someone I need to meet first!"
Riko sighed exaggeratedly. "But, we're already here!" Right in front of them was an invisible-like gateway guarded by two scary-looking youkais. Kagami let out a low growl in defense but was roughly nudged by the brunette.
"Entry pass." The youkai's voice was coarse and deep.
"Oh, right. It should be... ah, here!" Riko rummaged through her gray handbag and pulled out a small piece of wood with the family name and crest on it, decorated with a black and red ribbon at one end. Each head of the exorcist family will be entrusted with the plaque special for verification when attending secret meetings such as this one.
One of the youkais briefly inspected the wooden plaque and proceeded in activating the entrance to the meeting place. A double door suddenly appeared in front of them before opening with a loud creak. "You may enter."
Riko gleefully skipped through the door with Kagami tagging behind. The place was swarming with youkais and other strong presences. He could sense a foreboding. Something would happen soon. 'Wait just a bit, Kuroko. I'll come and get you soon.'
"Shintarou, did you say the Hanamiya family will attend today's gathering as well?" Akashi asked, looking slightly bored as they sauntered towards the main hall.
The Kappa gave a quick nod, "Yes. And according to Momoi's trusted network, the current head, Hanamiya Makoto, will be having a secret meeting today with other infamous groups nanodayo."
Akashi lifted an eyebrow. "What for?"
"The Phantom Heart. Sooner or later they will discover him, Akashi." Midorima fiddled with his lucky item of the day.
The two of them looked deep in thought for a while before the redhead finally spoke, "It is inevitable. I will have Tetsuya master his control of the Phantom Heart by the end of this week."
"But, won't that be too much of a strain to Kuroko's body?" The Kappa sounded displeased, or worried even.
"I've decided, Shintarou. He'll.."
"Mind if I join your conversation?" A saucy voice interrupted the leader of Miracles from finishing his sentence.
Both Akashi and Midorima immediately glanced up towards the owner of such voice. A tall, broad-build male their age was smirking impertinently at them with both of his hands shoved into his jeans pockets. Was he eavesdropping? How come they didn't even realised his presence until now?
"I'm interested to hear more about the person you just mentioned." He continued, giving off a very powerful aura.
Akashi coolly stared at the stranger before he swiftly snatched the penknife from the Kappa's hand.
"Oi, Akashi what are you-" Midorima looked alarmed. He had an inkling of what would happen next.
"A test." The shorter redhead flipped the knife open and sliced through the air towards the taller boy's face in a split second.
"Woah?!" Kagami barely dodged the sudden assault, a thin line of red slowly appeared on his left cheek. "The hell's your problem..?!"
"Shouldn't that be my question instead, Mr. Stranger? Or should I say, Hi no Kagutsuchi..?" Heterochromatic eyes leered into dark red ones.
To be continued...
Translations:
Maneki neko - lucky cat
Ii kara - Enough with it (or something that sounds like 'Alright, alright!')
dasai - shortened from kudasai (please)
Senpai - senior
Kouhai - junior
Keigo - Formal/Polite speech
Kagutsuchi (軻遇突智) - Japanese God of Fire. Kagutsuchi's birth, in Japanese mythology, comes at the end of the creation of the world and marks the beginning of death. In this fic, I let Kagami took the form of a fiery tiger rather than the usual human form. I'll explain more in the next chapter :3
A/N: ATTENTION!i!i! Okay, I have a confession to make. Originally, the time frame between the past and present was supposed to be a millennium not century. Since this was supposed to be a reincarnation fic not ancestors-great grandchildren one (which is why I didn't change their names actually). But, I changed it into a century at the last moment to suit the story. But then again, a hundred years seemed too short for both Akashi and Kuroko to be reincarnated, right?
So, I'll be changing the time frame back to a thousand years in the previous chapters or perhaps 500 years seems much more suitable? Do share your opinions and I apologise for such a silly mistake. Dx
Until next chapter! n.n Do fav and follow this fic if you like and don't forget to share your thoughts as usual~ ^3^
And of course I apologise for such a late update! (been so busy with my uni preparations and all, I died over and over again trying to finish this chapter no kidding x_x) I'll try updating a new one per week so please bear with me.. sorry again.. X'(
EDITED: OH MY GOD HOW DID I MAKE SUCH A STUPID MISTAKEEEE... (I was sleep typing or something *cries*) I changed Akashi's horoscope already. Thanks for the heads up guys! (/v\)