A/N:
Its been a while, hasn't it? Ehehhehh...Sorry! I've been crazy busy, but I haven't forgotten about this story! Thank you to everyone who continues to read and support this fic, I really appreciate it! I hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think. :)
Walking into Maji Burger, Kuroko immediately spotted Kise. The blonde was surrounded by squealing girls practically worshipping him, and definitely inflating his already big ego. Stopping in his tracks, Kuroko's face was blank as he turned around and attempted to walk back out the door. Unfortunately, Aomine had already grown accustom to his actions, and caught the shorter bluenette before he could get far.
"Ah-ah-ahh…You're not going anywhere." The tanned male sighed, catching the bluenette by one of his arms.
A pout instantly appeared on the shorter teen's face as he helplessly pointed in the blonde's direction, absolutely exasperated. "Come on, Aomine-kun. Just look at him! I am in no mood to be hanging around that all day." Kuroko whined a bit petulantly, wanting cross his arms and stomp his feet like a child having a tantrum.
That sentiment may have been a crude understatement, and maybe even a bit unnecessary. It was clear as day with anyone with working eyes that Kuroko wasn't exactly in an amicably-dealing-with-Kise-Ryouta-mood, and it was even more apparent that he wasn't in any sort of mood to deal with anyone. Kuroko Tetsuya practically radiated tension, impatience, and barely veiled annoyance, so perhaps it wasn't the best time to be encountering Kise and his stupid, stupid fans.
Anxiously rubbing the back of his neck, Aomine wasn't sure what to say. He, himself, didn't really want to hang out with Kise when his fans were around, so he could understand where the bluenette was coming from. Any other day, he probably would have given in to his former shadow and walked right out of the restaurant, but he didn't have any other ideas to keep Kuroko's mind off of Akashi. Given the state the bluenette had been in earlier – you know, curled up in a ball listening to a sad love song marathon – he really needed a distraction. The best way for him not to think would be to keep his head occupied, and what better way to do that than to have Kise Ryouta talk your ear off?
Just as Kuroko was about to make another attempt to escape, the blonde spotted the two hanging around the front entrance.
"Aominecchi! Kurokocchi!" Kise exclaimed, looking positively gleeful and waving his arms erratically. The excitement on the blonde's face had Kuroko groaning, and making another futile attempt to slip away. Aomine, of course, latched tightly onto the bluenette's arm and pulled him close.
"Come on, Tetsu. I promise it won't be that bad. Look, you go over to Kise and I'll get you a milkshake. Afterwards we can talk about what we'll do, so just hold your horses, okay?"
Kuroko stared at the taller male's face long and hard, scrutinizing every little flinch. His gaze was intense and caused Aomine mild discomfort. Those eyes of his always seemed to see right into the tanned male's soul, like he was bare before the bluenette. Shivering slightly, Aomine cleared his throat.
"Hahhh…" Sighing, Kuroko shrugged his shoulders. "Fine. But it better be a large, and if at any point I feel like mauling that blonde baka, I will leave. Got it?"
Noticing the tone Kuroko's voice adopted, Aomine flinched. After knowing the bluenette for several years, he learned how to detect when Kuroko was playing around and when he was serious. The bluenette was all for messing around and having fun – even if it may not seem like he was – but when he was against something, everyone would know and respect his opinion. Even Akashi. The Generation of Miracles all knew what would happen if you pushed Kuroko too far, and believe Aomine, it wasn't pretty.
Lips set in a straight line, the tanned teen relented. Great, now all his pocket change was going to be gone because he had to get Kuroko a large milkshake. He had a strange inkling that he would be wrapped around the bluenette's little finger all day. Considering the mess he was going through at the moment, though, Aomine thought it was worth it. He wanted Kuroko to smile again, and if that meant he had to run himself ragged for a day or two, the taller bluenette would gladly oblige.
As Aomine walked off to get Kuroko's milkshake, Kise came running up to the bluenette.
"Kurokocchi! I missed you soooo much!" The blonde squealed, nearly strangling the shorter boy. Face turning blue, Kuroko had to slap Kise's arms a few times before he finally noticed and let go, one of his rings catching on the fabric enveloping the former's neck.
Gasping, the bluenette directed a small glare at the other boy. Tingles of pain shot through his neck, and unwanted memories threatened to resurface in his mind. Kuroko took a few deep breaths to calm himself before folding his arms across his chest and facing Kise. He simply stayed quiet, though, as he didn't trust himself to speak. Ever since Aomine dragged him out of the house this morning, Kuroko felt like he would snap at any minute, and it wouldn't be fair to Kise if he went off on him just for being his usual self.
Sensing Kuroko's tension, the blonde laughed awkwardly. His smile left his face a minute later, however, and he lunged for the scarf wrapped around the bluenette's neck. Yanking the long fabric away, Kise's expression was enraged.
"What the hell is this, Kurokocchi?!" He shouted, eyebrows low and nostrils flaring. Hearing his raised voice, the other patrons immediately went silent, and all eyes were on the pair.
"Is it a fight?"
"What's going on?"
"Isn't that Kise-kun?"
"Why is he talking to himself?"
The whispers were painfully loud in Kuroko's ears as he narrowed his eyes, not responding to the blonde's furious question. Aomine must have noticed the commotion they caused as well, because he quickly walked back over – milkshake in hand – and dragged his two former teammates out of the establishment. The tanned male thrust the drink into Kuroko's hands as he continued to pull them both down the street and away from all the piercing stares.
Wrenching his hand away from Aomine, Kise was still furious as Kuroko took a seat on a park bench and sipped at his vanilla milkshake. Noticing the scarf in the blonde's fist, Aomine put a hand to his eyes and sighed. Now he knew what Kise was freaking out about, but the real problem would be explaining what the hell happened, especially since he didn't know about Akashi and Kuroko.
Seething, Kise stood right in front of the bluenette. "What. The. Hell. Is. That. Kurokocchi?" He growled again, shocking both Aomine and Kuroko. They had never seen him this angry before, as if he was about to fly off the handle.
Kuroko's fingers subconsciously flittered along his marred throat, eyes getting a faraway look. When he was getting dressed this morning, Aomine had forced him to wear a scarf to cover up the furious bruises snaking around his neck. They had gotten worse and so much more pronounced against his pale white skin than the night before, and it seriously looked like someone had choked him out – especially considering one could count out each individual finger mark. The other injuries were easy enough to hide with his other clothes, but even a turtle neck didn't fully hide the choke marks. Aomine had nearly flipped his lid when Kuroko had come out of the bathroom, and only agreed to stop yelling if the bluenette wore a scarf all day.
Returning from his memory, the bluenette dropped his hand and glanced up at Kise. "Its nothing, Kise-kun." He dismissed, waving a hand flippantly.
That only seemed to rile the blonde up even more, as he surged forward and bent down to the bluenette's level. "That is certainly not nothing, Kurokocchi! You have somebody's hand on your damn throat!" He shouted. Turning on Aomine, he thrust a finger in the other teen's face. "And you! How the hell do you not care about this? Look at his neck! Its black and blue and I swear to everything holy once I find the bastard who did it I'll kill him."
"Calm down, Kise. I'm not happy about this either, but you won't be able to get anything out of Tetsu. I've been asking since last night when he came home crying-" Realizing what he was saying, Aomine immediately cut himself off.
'Shit. I said something I wasn't supposed to.'
He could feel the angry weight of Kuroko's glare like a knife in his back, and he dared not face the bluenette.
"He cried?!" The blonde shouted again, once more whipping to face the seated bluenette.
"You cried?!"
Choosing not to respond, Kuroko opted to slurp at his drink, icy eyes and blank face betraying no emotion. Honestly, he was just tired. So tired. The bluenette understood that Kise and Aomine were only worried, and he appreciated it – he did – but all he wanted was to lay down and sleep the whole day away.
A final, loud slurp fractured the tense silence, also seeming to snap everyone out of their own thoughts. Probably seeing that he wouldn't get anything out of the bluenette with the way he had completely built up a wall, the blonde turned back to Aomine. Curling a fist around the taller boy's shirt collar, he pulled him to eye level.
"What the fuck, Aominecchi? How could you let this happen? I know Kurokocchi is staying at your place, so don't act like you don't fucking know!" Kise growled, canines appearing beneath his top lip.
Smacking the hand away, Aomine leveled a deadly glare at his former teammate. "Step off, Kise. You don't fucking know what happened so don't even pretend like this is my fault." He snarled back, though with much less venom than the blonde.
He stepped toe to toe with the tanned male, shoving at his chest. "Why don't you make me, Ahominecchi? Even if I don't know what happened I certainly know that Kurokocchi shouldn't look like he almost fucking died, asshole."
Jabbing the blonde in the shoulder, Aomine's expression turned savage. "Back. The. Fuck. Up. Bastard." The taller male bit out.
The two glared at each other in silence, and the tension was palpable. Kuroko really wanted to know how things escalated so quickly, but there wasn't any explanation for stupidity.
Sighing, he rubbed at his temples as he threw away his empty cup. 'Ahh, good ol' adolescent hormones…' The bluenette thought facetiously as he stood from the bench and went to break up the meaningless fight. If he didn't do something about it now, he was sure that the two idiots would start a fist fight in the middle of this park. Of course, Kuroko couldn't let that happen; this was a family-friendly place. Things needed to stay PG. No violence allowed.
…..
Akashi peered impassively out the window, resting his chin on his fist. He had not moved from that position since he got up in the morning. The red-head was supposed to dine with his father for breakfast, but he told the maids to inform the man that he was not feeling well and then locked himself up in his room. Akashi wasn't sure he would be able to civilly sit in the same room as the man without shoving a butter knife through his eye. Even the thought of seeing his dad again was enough to make the red-head's breathing become labored and his blood pressure to sky rocket.
And yes, he says all this, but deep inside the anger he is afflicted with isn't directed at his father, but at himself. For being the biggest idiot to ever live. He let Akashi Masaomi manipulate him like a shogi piece and played along to his tune without even stopping to consider any other options. Sure, Akashi would never forgive his father for hiring some thugs to violate Kuroko, but the anger and resentment building up deep within his very being could only be directed at one person: Akashi Seijuurou.
*Knock**Knock**Knock*
Someone quietly rapped on the door, drawing the red-head's attention.
"Yes?" He called, curious.
"Young Master, the Master requests your presence in his chambers." A man answered steadily, even voice carrying through the heavy oak door.
'Tanaka…' His mind supplied as he turned away from the window. He took a moment before he responded. "Tell him I am unwell and resting in bed."
The man behind the door cleared his throat, obviously a bit nervous. "He requests your presence anyway, Young Master."
"Haahh…" Sighing, Akashi bit his lip. Would he really be able to see his father without killing – or at least seriously maiming – him? 'No, probably not…'
"Fantastic…" He grumbled, raking his fingers through his hair a few times. The red-head had been doing that a lot lately, probably a sign of stress, he noted.
How laughable it was for him to claim that he was stressed. After what he did-
Enough already! Akashi needed to stop moping over his horrible decisions and put that effort in fixing everything. Even if Kuroko wouldn't be able to forgive him – and he didn't expect the bluenette to, it wouldn't be fair – Akashi could at least make everything right. And even if he couldn't do that, at the very least he could make his father pay.
Standing up from his perch on the chair near his window, Akashi responded to Tanaka. "Very well. Tell him I'll be there shortly."
"As you wish…"
As the footsteps faded down the hallway, a spark ignited in the red-head's eyes that had been lost since he shattered Kuroko's heart with his own hands. He has had enough of cowering in his father's presence. It was time he stood up for himself, and for the things that he loved – the person that he loved. Akashi Seijuurou would bring his father to his knees, even if it was the last thing he would ever do.
Retrieving a small picture from his pocket, the red-head brought it gingerly to his lips. Closing his eyes, Akashi breathed out a bit unevenly.
"I swear, Tetsuya. I will make everything right. Even if you no longer believe me, I love you with all my heart…"
