Chapter 6: Final showdown

A/N
Hey guys! I'm alive! I'm so sorry to keep you waiting, I know it's been an eternity since I updated this fic but online uni was kicking my ass and since I was writing my bachelor's theses I didn't have time for writing anything else xD anyways, I don't want to bother you with my excuses so here goes the last chapter! Hope you enjoy! 3

Katashi gulped, now understanding that he made a huge mistake, he should have kept his mouth shut.

''Now. What do we do with you?'' Akashi said calmly. He knew Kuroko didn't like violence, but he was losing his composure little by little. He couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't do anything to this man who was now lying on the ground in front of him.

''Akashi-kun? What is going on here?'' Akashi lifted his head and looked in the direction of the well-known voice. Kuroko, accompanied by Kagami, Kise and Aomine, was standing a few metres away from them, looking bewildered.

There was a moment of complete silence when no one dared to move a muscle. Every single passing second felt like an eternity. When Kuroko and the rest arrived at the court, they had to take a few seconds to take in the scene that was happening in front of them. It didn't take a genius to figure out the basic concept, but there were still some questions that needed to be answered.

The first thing that hit them was Katashi on the ground. Judging by the bruise that was slowly forming on his face, they could assume that he was forced to the ground by one of their friends.

''Okay…not that I'm complaining, but I called the dibs on the first punch!'' called Aomine when he snaped out of the trance. Looking down at Katashi and seeing his shocked expression made his day a little bit better. Knowing Kuroko, he didn't want to say it out loud, but you could see the pleasure at his face. His declaration had a cascade effect because suddenly the rest of the guys seemed to regain their awareness of the situation.

Katashi was the first one who tried to move. Given the slight distraction caused by Kuroko, the thought of escaping crossed his mind. However, his attempt was quickly ruined by Murasakibara's foot that was still pressing him down. When he looked up, he was met with the giant's stare. ''Don't even think about it.'' Murasakibara whispered dangerously. ''You're moving from this spot over my dead body, are we clear?'' he added while raising an eyebrow, daring Katashi to make a single move. Contemplating if he had any chance of overpowering him, Katashi decided to stay down for his own good. When he took into consideration Murasakibara's advantages like his height or weight, he chose to stay put otherwise the next thing that could meet the pavement could be his face.

''What is….'' Kuroko locked eyes with Akashi. What he saw surprised him. He expected Akashi to be seeping with fury and hatred, but as soon as he saw Kuroko his eyes soften. Akashi still had his menacing aura surrounding him, but this time there was something else to it. Kuroko could feel the pure protectiveness in his look. Kuroko knew he should care about Katashi being forcefully held down as he wasn't a fan of violence, he knew that, but at that moment he could feel the strong emotions emitting from Akashi that made him feel at peace and safe. All he could do was gaze at his friends without the ability to say anything with Kise's arm still around his shoulders. Seeing Kuroko's stance, Akashi opted to speak up.

''Ryota, take Tetsuya away from here. I'll deal with this poor excuse for human being myself. He doesn't need to be here for this.'' He voiced and turned his back to them. He wasn't done with Katashi, not yet. He was raised to be always well behaved, to be able to handle any uncomfortable situation with grace, but he was still just a human. Human with emotions, though he was not always capable of expressing them properly as he was taught to keep any feelings in check not to appear weak to his opponents. Most of this was his father's work. Stand straight, keep your chin up, don't let anyone too close. Don't trust anyone. These words and so much more were still deeply engraved in Akashi's mind, but thanks to Kuroko and his persistency he was now slowly but surely letting go of these thoughts. He owed Kuroko so much for all his actions to bring him back to his usual self. He brought him peace. And now was his turn to return the favour.

Kise didn't need to be told twice. ''Come on, Kurokocchi,'' he started and gently tried to push Kuroko in the direction of the exit ''let's leave.'' But alerted Kuroko.

''No! No no no! Guys, let's just stop okay, please? This is getting way out of hands.'' Kuroko panicked. He cared about his friends more than anything, he didn't was for them to get into trouble because of this. Because of him. This was his problem and he needed to set things right before anyone would do anything reckless that they couldn't take back. ''This is my issue. Not yours. So please, stop. Murasakibara-kun, let him go.''

Murasakibara didn't move. His eyes were still glued to Katashi.

''Kuroko, you don't know what he said.'' Midorima said as calmly as he could. The words of that bastard were still ringing in his ears. ''What he said was unforgiv-''

''I can imagine.'' Kuroko sighed. ''Probably something to trigger you just so he could see your reaction. Just to get you mad. Though given the fact that he is now on the ground, I'm guessing he overestimated his own power and one of you snaped. Was that you Murasakibara-kun? You can tell me, I promise I won't get mad.''

Akashi chuckled at that question and Midorima just adjusted his glasses. ''Actually,'' Akashi smirked ''that was Shotaro.''

That gained everyone's attention. Midorima was probably their last guess. Can't judge a book by its cover they thought.

Murasakibara smirked and put more pressure on Takashi's chest. ''He just beat us to it. I was about two seconds away from punching him myself. And I'm pretty sure Aka-chin wouldn't be so far behind.''

Takashi took a sharp breath when Murasakibara pressed his foot down more firmly. ''You son of a bitch, that's enough! Get off me! You all are acting crazy! All of this for that dirty little slu-''

''Finish that sentence and you'll be seeing stars.'' threatened Aomine.

''Forget stars, you'll be seeing a baseball bat flying towards your face.'' joined Kagami. Aomine just leaned to him with an amused expression. ''You don't have a baseball bat.'' he whispered.

Kagami chuckled. ''I'd use a stop sign if I had to. I'm pretty sure I saw one on the street outside of the court'' he stated. Aomine just laughed lightly at that declaration. ''That would be a no entry sign btw.''

''You say tomato, I say mind your fucking business and shut the fuck up, Ahomine.'' that made Aomine smirk and he bumped his shoulder to his rival's. ''Fair enough.'' Their bickering was what made Kuroko ease up. It gave him a sense of normality for few seconds, it was so common for those two to be arguing about something completely ridiculous and pointless. Yet it was still something that made Kuroko always lightly smile and right then, that feeling of ordinariness what he needed the most. It made him realise that even though he was facing a situation, that he previously thought would be destroying for him and his friendships, nothing had changed in his friend's behaviour. The worst-case scenario became a reality and it made no difference. His friends were still ridiculous, they were still there with him and willing to stay by his side.

Kuroko smiled. Genuinely and with joy in his eyes. That made Katashi tense up. ''What are you smiling at, you idiot?!'' he yelled, his voice full of anger and irritation. He wasn't supposed to smile. He was supposed to cry and fear him. ''You're weak! You've always been weak and pathetic!''

These words did not sit right with the rest. Their fists were clenched, Midorima was getting ready for delivering another blow to his face and Kagami with Aomine were about two seconds from racing for the sign.

''I don't blame you for remembering me like that.''

The words that came out of Kuroko's mouth shocked everybody. They were getting ready to argue with him, but he beat them to it.

''I don't blame you because it is partially true. After what happened that day, I felt like I was broken. I felt like I was pathetic. I couldn't help my fried, I betrayed him. All I wanted to do was hide and forget everything that happened.''

''That wasn't your-'' Akashi started but was immediately interrupted by Kuroko.

''I know that it wasn't my fault. I know that now. It took me a while to realize that, I can't deny that, but. But I can see now that it was nobody's fault. It was just a series of unfortunate evets. We all had a lot on our minds, and we were just trying to figure things out. What happened was nobody's fault, it just happened, and we need to move on.'' He smiled at Akashi. He knew that the redhead was blaming himself for the outcome of the match. But Kuroko didn't blame him, not one bit. They were looking into each other's eyes for a few seconds before Akashi nodded his head slightly, signalizing that he acknowledged his words.

''Anyways, I don't blame you for seeing me that way. We only met once, and it was under were rough conditions. So, for you to see me as a weakling is understandable. But I'm not like that. One or even a few rough patches don't defy me as a person.'' Kuroko locked eyes with Katashi and his seriousness was visible in his voice. He took a deep breath before he could continue. ''I'd like you to leave. Don't ever contact me, just forget about me. I can't erase what happened, but I want to put it behind me and move forward with my life. I'd like for you to do the same.''

Katashi was ready to argue. How dare he resist him? This was not how it was supposed to be. ''You bastard…'' he muttered.

''I think it would be for the best if you made a run for it now. I have a certain influence on these guys but you're pushing it. And if you choose some poor words, I might not be able to stop them from kicking your ass or worse. Atsushi, let him get up.'' Akashi said as calmly as he could. He was still boiling with rage, but he was smart enough to stay back. Beating Katashi up would currently solve nothing.

Katashi considered saying something back but changed his mind abruptly when he took a good look at the guys. They were seriously ready to break some of his bones if he gave them a reason to. So, he just mumbled something inaudible and quickly got up from the ground. Glancing one more time at Kuroko before he bolted.

Kuroko let out a deep breath, happy that the man he feared so much was now out of his sight. He felt Kise's arms around him, giving him a tight hug. Aomine ruffled his hear and gave a knowing smile. The rest gathered around him, asking him if he was okay and how he was feeling. Kuroko just smiled at them. ''…thank you. For everything. It means a lot.''

They gave him a reassuring smile and nodded. ''No need to thank us. That's what friends are for. You saved all of us before so now it was our turn.''

It was fascinating how quickly the atmosphere changed. Everything seemed as it was before.

''Sooo, anyone up for food? I don't know about you guys, but I am starving!'' called Kagami and let the way towards Maji Burger.

''You're always starving!'' called Kise but followed him anyways. He kept his arm around Kuroko, the need to keep him by his side never left him.

''That's not the point! Now move it, losers!''

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

A few weeks later, everything was back to normal. All of them were playing basketball just like always, taking turns, forming different teams, and just having fun without a worry in the world. During their breaks when they were catching their breaths Midorima spoke to Akashi. The two of them were standing a few meters away from everybody, drinking water.

''To be completely honest with you, to this day I'm surprised you left that bastard just walk away. After everything we learnt he had done, I guessed you would gouge his eyes out.''

Akashi smirked. ''Now now, Shotaro. Who do you take me for? Do you really see me as someone who would just attack someone just like that? I'm offended.''

''Well, I know that you're not a violent person. But theoretically, I still felt like you would do something.''

''Theoretically something like finding out some things about his personal life since he gave us his full name? With my contacts it wouldn't be a problem to find out for example where he works and alert his boss about his dangerous and basically illegal behaviour and have him fired for starters. Or notify the police or stuff like that. You know, the basics.'' Akashi smiled and took a final sip of his water before putting it back in his bag. Then he started to walk slowly towards the rest of his friends to continue the game.

Midorima was briskly walking right behind him, redhead's words still playing in his mind. ''Did you really…?''

''Theoretically speaking.'' Akashi grinned.

''Theoretically speaking.'' Midorima repeated the words and shook his head. He expected noting lees of his friend. He wasn't gonna mention any of this to his other friends as it might make Kuroko uncomfortable, but he still couldn't help himself and let a pleased smile appear on his face. He believed destiny was never wrong and he knew that the bastard deserved everything he was about to get.
THE END

A/N:

Uff this is it! Hope you guys liked it!

I want to thank you all for reading! To be honest with you, there was a time when I thought I would never finish this, but your encouraging comments really motivated me and help me out! So, thank you all! 3

I have finally some free time on my hands so I'll be writing some other stories as well, I was thinking about some other Knb/Haikyuu preferably KuroKen/BokuAkaKuroKen or god knows what xD I tend to be kind of impulsive so we'll see what I can come up with.

If you have any wishes or suggestions feel free to let me know!

Stay safe! 3