Chapter 25: Dark History

Later that night after having meeting members of the Uncrowned Kings, known to be a group of powerful youkais overshadowed by the Generation of Miracles, Kuroko was left to spend some time with them, exchanging stories and reading novels picked out by the avid reader from the nearest bookshelf, as the bluenette obediently waited for their leader's return.

Not long after, another member finally joined them, it was a man who appeared older by a few years than Kuroko, with slick black hair and slanted eyes that remained closed most of the time behind a pair of thin framed spectacles. He introduced himself as Imayoshi Shouichi, a mere observer, or as he liked to call himself.

'Hanamiya-san is taking a bit too long, isn't he..?' Kuroko's resolution began to falter a little, he began to question his decision. Perhaps it was a rather hasty decision to make but...

To learn of his ancestor's past, that was his initial mission. He needed to know why the Phantom Heart decided to seal his past memories. For that sake, he easily let himself to be brought to a suspicious place. He won't go back now, not without finding out what he wanted to know for so long. Curiosity was one thing, but, Kuroko had an inkling that his sealed memories would be the key to properly understand the mechanism of his powers, the true identity of Phantom Heart and its origin would be revealed.

Kuroko, exhausted from being around the rambunctious group of people, had fallen asleep on the armchair he was sitting on. The mystery book in his right hand soon slipped but was caught by Kotarou before it managed to fall to the carpeted floor.

The spiky haired blond didn't leave the bluenette's side ever since their first meeting, he was that attached to the kind hearted human.

Kuroko Tetsuya had succeeded in taking a place in everyone's heart without even trying, they concluded. He had that natural charm about him which made him hard not to be liked.

"He's such an angel... I can't believe he's the wielder of Phantom Heart..." Reo placed a hand on his left cheek, sympathetic dark eyes watching the sleeping boy, he started fearing for the boy's safety. Their leader, Hanamiya, had plans to make the Phantom Heart theirs, and those plans weren't the most pleasant in the slightest.

Nebuya glared at the feminine man, "Don't chicken out now, Reo. We need him for our long awaited plan after all. It's time to get our revenge against the Akashi Clan."

"Heh, besides, he's nothin' but a vessel, ain't he?" Imayoshi, with his thick Kansai accent, fixed his glasses, his sharp eyes peered open slightly. "We shouldn't get too attached to a mere object, Reo..." He gave a venomous smile, enough to send shivers down Reo's spine.

Reo and Kotarou flinched on their spots, Imayoshi as much they knew, was far too sly for his own good, to the point they had a hard time figuring what he's thinking with that intelligent mind of his. Nebuya said nothing, but scratched his head and groaned, "That's enough intimidation, Imayoshi. Hanamiya will be back soon, and we will execute our plan immediately."

As if on cue, the door clicked open and entered the leader of their group.

"Shall we begin then, gentlemen?" A very vitriolic smirk pasted across the raven's smug-like face. 'Victory is near. You will finally have a taste of your own medicine, Akashi Seijuurou.'

Hanamiya walked towards the sleeping bluenette, an exceptionally malicious smile forming on his lips. "It's time, Kuroko Tetsuya, for you to taste true horror."

Five hundred years ago...

A cold breeze ran over the sleeping bluenette's face, shaking him up to his wake.

Baby blue eyes fluttered open only to be met with a wooden ceiling.

'Where am I?' Kuroko wondered as he sat upright, feeling slightly lightheaded. The room seemed a bit old fashioned, a typical Japanese-styled bedroom, the floor lined with light green tatami, a built in closet and an oil lamp burning dimly not far from the futon he's sleeping in.

"Don't tell me, I'm in the past again?" Another rhetorical question escaped his lips. Rather than the usual dreams of his past memories, it would be more appropriate to say his body and soul were brought back to half a millennium ago, just like the time he first met Akashi-kun.

"Kuroko." At the call of his name, Kuroko snapped out of his trance and eyed the paper door of his room, a silhouette of a man standing outside could be seen, illuminated by the bright moonlight outside.

"Yes?"

"It's me, Seijuurou. Can I come in?"

Seijuurou? The adult one? "Y..yes."

The sound of the creaky door sliding open was heard shortly after, and entered a man with crimson red hair and a pair of red and gold eyes.

The adult-looking Seijuurou took a seat in front of the now seated bluenette. "Are you all right now?" He asked.

Kuroko gave a small nod, "Yes, I'm fine, thank you." Was he not supposed to be all right?

"You gave me a fright when you suddenly dropped to the ground." Seijuurou placed a hand, cold as ice, to Kuroko's ample cheek, "I thought my heart would stop."

Kuroko's expression remained unchanged from the outside, but on the inside stirred a turbulent chaos, he could just melt from the redhead's words. Akashi-kun would remained the romantic, sweet talker he was no matter what era they're in, the bluenette concluded.

Seijuurou noticed how quiet the other man was, no usual sarcastic remarks and playful smiles, staring back at him was just a meek and fragile looking young man. Kuroko must really be unwell, for him to stay silent for so long, which was definitely out of the norm.

"Do you.. hate us?" The red haired man suddenly asked causing a sky blue head to turn sharply to his direction. "...pardon?"

"Because of my family's greed. We - no - I, have cause you a lot of pain." Seijuurou's handsome face shadowed with guilt, sending a stabbing sensation to Kuroko's heart.

"Pain...?"

Time suddenly stood still, the redhead stopped his hand movement midway but surprisingly, Kuroko's own movement hadn't been restricted and he sat there wondering what on earth was going on now.

Another Kuroko-like person appeared from behind him out of nowhere, "Tetsuya-sama, as promised, I shall show you the truth you've been seeking. It is finally time, my master."

Kuroko gasped as his light blue eyes fell onto the man who looked just like him, almost as if it was his doppelganger. "Could you be... Phantom Heart-san..?"

The mysterious person kept silent and simply smiled. He gracefully hold onto the bluenette's hand.

All of a sudden, the ground shook terribly and Kuroko's surroundings became warped, almost as if he was being teleported to another time.

Akashi's Past

"Seijuurou. It's time you move on from your useless fling with that Kuroko Tetsuya." The head of the Akashi aka Seijuurou's grandfather, spoke sternly to his grandson in one of the many guest rooms, there were just the two of them sitting facing each other in that squared room.

Seijuurou half glared to the elder, he was not happy to hear such words. It wasn't official, but the redhead had just started seeing the bluenette after realizing their true feelings for each other. "Grandpa... I won't let him go. No matter what you and the rest of the family say." Just when he finally made Kuroko his, his damn family decided to stand in the way. He won't have it.

Akashi Seiji snapped, "What do you expect from that fruitless relationship of yours?! Not to mention, both of you are males! I won't accept such a disgrace to our bloodline, Seijuurou!" The old man breathed heavily, chest moving up and down erratically from the stress.

Seijuurou's voice pitched even higher, "I said no! The only way you can separate us is by death and death alone!"

Seiji looked surprised at this, tired red eyes settled into defiant heterochromatic ones. "Seijuurou, I thought of not telling you about this. But, it seems I can't hide it from you after all."

"Grandpa, what do you mean by that?" Seijuurou's voice trembled a bit, a sick feeling beginning to creep its way into his heart. What's the deal with this bad feeling he's having right now?

"Kuroko Tetsuya... He is the current bearer of the Phantom Heart."

Phantom Heart? The rumored massive form of spiritual energy, where the wielder will be able to control every youkai there was?

The older Akashi glanced away before continuing, "On the night of The Hundred Demons Parade, the day we will war with the Hanamiya clan, Kuroko Tetsuya will serve as our sacrifice. To secure our victory."

Seijuurou was rendered speechless before entering into a delirious state. "What...? What?! No...no...NO!" The hysterical redhead kneeled over to the floor until red bangs were touching the tatami, he refused to believe it. "Not him. Not Kuroko. No. Please, grandfather..." He pleaded, tears began trickling down his face.

"Seijuurou. You mustn't be swayed by such childish emotions. You are an Akashi, you must firm your resolution." Seiji stood up and looked down to the crying man, without a shred of sympathy in his eyes. "Winning is everything. Do not let a single thing get in the way, not even this 'love' you persistently believe in. Leave no room for mistakes, or else thousand lives shall be forfeited." There was no warmth in the old man's voice at all, no love or care, just a distant and authorative voice, commanding the young Akashi to obey.

The unbearably heavy responsibility he was to carry, the guilt weighing down his shoulders. At that moment, something inside Seijuurou broke. He felt numb. He felt detached from any form of emotion. Dual colored eyes lost their initial joviality and in an equally cold tone, he answered, "I understand."

A transparent young boy with powder blue hair shakily put a hand to his mouth, he couldn't believe what he had just heard. He had been in the room all along but the two Akashis could not see him, of course. He was just a ghost from the future, a wandering soul in search of the truth.

And he finally learnt of it. His ancestor was to be used as a sacrificial lamb, and at the end of it, Kuroko wished he didn't find out such a sad truth after all.

Too bad, it didn't end there.

"Ready to go now, Master?" The mystical being in the embodiment of his current wielder, softly asked, a hand extended to the bluenette who was in a muted shock.

Kuroko, looking slightly pale in the face, weakly nodded before taking the phantom's hand. That was when he felt the strange force pulling him in again, and he was warped to another place.

Midorima's Past

This time, Kuroko was brought to learn the other Miracles' pasts. The Phantom Heart briefly explained how everything that was shown just now happened simultaneously, almost as if a misfortunate shadow had been casted upon them at the same time.

First was Midorima.

In a dim-lit room, the green haired youkai was sitting beside a black haired woman who was lying on the futon, her face covered with a white cloth. She was no longer breathing but even without looking at her face, Kuroko could tell that she was an extremely beautiful woman.

Midorima covered his tear-stained face with both hands, quiet sobs and sniffles could be heard throughout the gloomy room.

"Kazuha... why did you have to leave me so soon..." Midorima lamented, the once straight shoulders shook as he cried. His beloved Kazuha had suffered from an incurable internal disease, a curse of the Takao family where the infected would die a slow, excruciating death as their life force was slowly suck out of them, an illness passed down from generation to generation.

"In case you're wondering, Takao Kazuha is the ancestor of Takao Kazunari, Midorima's current patient." The phantom explained and Kuroko nodded albeit unfamiliarize with the name yet.

"Why does it have to be you..." The greenhead asked but he heard of it once, how the head of the family had chosen Kazuha as the next bearer of the curse, with the excuse that the raven haired woman had poor health since birth anyway. However, the real truth was far from it. And Midorima knew. That the real reason his lover had to die was because she rejected the family head's proposal in order to be with him instead.

Consumed by grief and deep sorrow, Midorima reached a final conclusion. "Humans are wretched, selfish beings." His emerald eyes looked dead as he said this, Kuroko almost thought that Midorima was a completely different person at that moment.

So, in the past, Midorima-kun used to have a human lover. But regrettably, it didn't end well for the both of them. Kuroko was reminded of the cruel fact that there won't always be a happy ending to every love story. The bluenette slowly clutched his chest, feeling overwhelmed with great sadness for the Kappa. 'Midorima-kun...' He wished to comfort the heartbroken youkai there and then. But, it was not his place to do so.

"We must go now, Master." An emotionless voice floated into Kuroko's ears, hands intertwined yet again. Tired, he closed his sky blue eyes and allowed his body to be teleported to another location.

Aomine and Kise's Past

"Aominecchi, not too fast!" Kise complained as he struggled to catch up to the running figure in front of him, pacing at lightning speed.

Aomine smirked playfully, "Hurry up, slowpoke! Or I'm gonna leave you behind!" They were having their usual petty race through the forest which the tanned youkai thoroughly enjoyed very much. Kise wasn't a match for him, but he proved to be a fun challenger, someone Aomine felt completely comfortable with.

Kise whined immediately, "Mou~~~ Aominecchi, you big fat meanie-ssu!" Suddenly, Kise's nose caught a peculiar smell.

"Wait, Aominecchi! I smell something..! I think it's... a human child..?"

Aomine halted in his steps, "Really?" He took a sniff of the air around them, "You're right... But, something's wrong. There's another scent near the kid. A bloody smell."

Kise traded looks with Aomine as realization dawned upon them soon enough. It's the smell of a man-eating youkai! Both of them wasted no time in heading towards the direction of the child and possibly, the evil youkai.

By the time they reached the place however, it was far too late.

A young boy was being half-way devoured by a black demon with sharp claws and pointy fangs.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Aomine bellowed angrily and swiftly sliced the youkai's stomach open, red liquid splattered everywhere as the demon screeched in pain to its death and disintegrated into dust.

Aomine quickly snatched the boy up, shaking him slightly, "Oi! Hey, are you alright! Hang in there, kid! Oi!" The little boy, losing his lower half, went limp in the Tengu's arms. Kise almost retched at the horrifying sight. The poor innocent child!

"Ahhh! Kei-chan!" A shrill scream from behind them immediately brought them on their guards again. What was it this time?!

The mother of the dead child scooted back in fear, "A murderer... you're nothing but a monster!"

"W-wait... I didn't.." Aomine stepped backwards, his bloody hands shook terribly. It wasn't me!

Soon, all the other villagers joined in after hearing the commotion near the vast paddy fields.

"Get out of here, monster!"

"Murderer!"

"Heartless killer!"

"Go away!"

"Leave this place, evil spirit!

The villagers began throwing rocks, sticks and countless insults, determined to drive the black winged youkai away before another innocent life fall victim to him. They had hugely mistaken him as the killer!

Kise stood in front of the shocked Tengu in his effort to protect him. "S-stop it! Aominecchi didn't hurt anyone! It was actually - " A stone was aimed to the blond's face and hit him hard, causing the fox to yelp in pain. A line of red began dripping down from the cut above his forehead. "O..ow..."

Seeing Kise getting hurt in front of him, something inside of Aomine snapped, his thin thread of sanity finally broke into two. After that, Aomine saw red. Nothing else.

When the tanned youkai came to, he was standing in the middle of lifeless mutilated corpses, blood was everywhere and Aomine finally noticed that he, himself, had been dyed a gruesome red from head to toe. He glanced to his left to find a very frightened-looking Kise, trembling like a leaf. "Ao..mine..cchi..?"

Aomine released a shaky breath and smiled disbelievingly as he peered down his blood-stained hands, "I - I killed them all, didn't I..?"

Kise, still shaking from fear, slowly stared into those dark blue eyes filled with regret and remorse and an unspeakable melancholy. He wanted to say something, anything, to give the tanned youkai a peace of mind but Kise's voice failed him. He was too petrified, too scared to even utter a single word. Did he started to fear Aominecchi's monstrous strength?

"What do you know, Kise..? I am a monster... a disgusting, cold-blooded one." Aomine laughed mockingly but his sad expression betrayed him, "Heh, being strong isn't always a good thing. Just... Don't come near me anymore, Kise." Shortly after, he disappeared, leaving a very devastated blond all alone.

The nine-tailed fox's tears easily flowed down his face and he just let them, "...no, don't say that... Don't even joke about that... Ahominecchi. You're not a monster..." Kise said this, but what he'd just witnessed was the complete opposite. He could do nothing but continue bawling like a little kid, the person he respected and admired so much, the person he loved had just left him for good.

While others were able to achieve happiness together by being mutually in love, his would forever remained unrequited. And Kise sat there, crying his eyes out, blaming the cruel fate that seemed to have clouded over them.

Kuroko fell down on his knees not far from the crying blond, he could feel his heart hammering out of his chest, a nauseous feeling swelled inside of him from what he had just seen with his two eyes. 'Aomine-kun... Kise-kun...' He didn't know they carried such a dark past with them for all these years. Drowning in helplessness again, he began to doubt his mission in unravelling the concealed history. Could he pull through until the very end?

It was too much for the soft hearted boy to handle and the poor bluenette leaned towards his look-alike, a mere personification of a very strong power, for support. Anymore than this, then his heart... His heart would definitely break. "Phantom-san, I don't think I can - "

"Master, we're almost at the end of it. Let us be on our way now." The phantom, ignoring the bluenette's plea, mechanically gripped his master's clammy hand and they made their way to another memory in a flash.

Murasakibara's Past

"Muro-chin~ gimme five plates of dango~" A violet haired youkai waited impatiently for his snacks at one of the many coffee tables, his right cheek sticking to the top of the wooden table.

A raven-haired man with a beauty mark just below his left eye chuckled smoothly, "Now, now Atsushi. Where are your manners?" He neatly placed two of the sweet snack plates on the table the purple ogre was sitting at.

"Here you go. Wait, what do you have to say first, Atsushi?" Slender hand stopped the large hand holding a stick of dango from making its way to the entrance of the salivating mouth.

"Hnn~ thank you for the food~" Murasakibara then took a bite, the explosive flavors bursting in his mouth. "As expected of Muro-chin~ I love your dangos the most~" He drawled.

Himuro Takuya, owner of the snack store which Murasakibara always frequent, smiled beautifully. "I'm happy to hear that. Atsushi is my loyal customer after all." A pat to the lilac head, a goofy grin formed on Murasakibara's face. He loved Muro-chin so much!

Kuroko's lips curved upwards a little, relieved to see the past Murasakibara was doing just fine. The man he's with seemed like a kind and doting person, Kuroko thought. However, he could not shake the uneasiness from wiggling its way straight to his heart. Why did he feel that something bad would happen soon?

Without a warning, he was pulled into another time by the powder blue haired phantom, "I shall fast forward the time a bit."

"Muro-chin~ ten plates of dangos, choudai - " The oni stopped in his tracks when he noticed how dark the store was. There seemed to be signs of break and enter, the paper walls and doors torn to shreds, broken shards of glasses scattered across the floor as Murasakibara pushed through into the dango store.

"Mu - Muro..chin..?" He called out but no answer came. That was when the purple ogre saw traces of blood leading to the back of the store.

Wasting no time, Murasakibara quickly made way to the back yelling out the owner's name repeatedly. "Muro-chin, you here? Answer me~ Muro-chin!"

That was when he saw it; a man drowned in a puddle of red liquid, clutching his wounded stomach, breathing raggedly. "A...atsu...shi."

"Muro-chin!?"

Murasakibara rushed to the injured man and gently held him in his broad arms. "What happened? Muro-chin, why are you hurt?"

"Th - they wanted to get you. But, I didn't want that... Atsushi, you are not evil... Ergh!" Himuro coughed up blood as he struggled to speak.

"They...? They who? Tell me." Violet eyes glinted dangerously, gone with the childishness and frivolity. Murasakibara was absolutely furious. He'll kill them! He'll make them who dared lay a finger on Muro-chin pay..!

Himuro forced a weak smile, "You... mustn't.. vengeance would only... bring sadness.. Atsushi." The man slowly shut his eyes, his breathing became shallower until it stopped completely.

"Muro-chin..? Nee, open your eyes~"

"..."

"M - Muro-chin!"

"..."

"MURO-CHIN!"

That night, a very grief stricken Oni rampaged around the village his beloved human used to live in, and massacred every single villager, leaving no survivor at all.

'Even Murasakibara-kun... why...' Kuroko covered his face, he could no longer suppress the urge to cry. Unable to do anything else but weep, was he that useless? All this while, he felt nothing but negative emotions, grief, pain, sorrow, woe. "No more... please." His head felt heavy, his heart could just explode any moment now. He wanted to go back to his own time now, he wanted nothing but to embrace Akashi-kun so bad.

"Master, you mustn't back out now. This is the last but most important one. The true dark history." The little phantom suddenly changed persona, his icy blue eyes turned bloody red accompanied with a creepy smile. "Ikou."

"H - huh...? Who... are you?"

To be continued...

Sneak peek:

"Seijuurou?! What's the meaning of this!" Tetsuya cried out in disbelief as two men held each side of his arm tightly. "Unhand me this instant!"

"You are nothing but a mere...tool." The redhead spoke monotonously, his eyes were dead.

"What...?"

Tetsuya showed a broken smile, "In the end, even you decided to abandon me, huh?" Pearly tears dropped to the ground one by one. Tetsuya was harshly reminded that he was an unneeded existence. A hindrance. A disposable tool. By none other than his one and only lover, Akashi Seijuurou.

'So, be it Seijuurou. For you and your family's sake, I am more than willing to be your sacrifice.'

Tetsuya had given up on living.

Translations:

Choudai - please

Ikou - let's go

Note: I'm feeling a lot more better now so I could somehow finish this chapter (super tiring I tell ya!). So yeah... angst... (my greatest enemy yet) hopefully I manage to smoothly write one! In case it gets confusing, Kuroko was brought into the GoMs' past by Phantom Heart. But, the true identity of Phantom-san is actually..?

As usual, please rate and review? xoxo :3