Akashi P.O.V.
...
"Nande?!" Everyone shouted. Akashi nodded.
"Yup."
"I-Is it true?" Kagami asked tentatively, "Have we found him?"
"I'm not sure." Akashi shrugged, "But that's why I came here, I wanted to inform you that with Taiga, the GoM would be meeting with Ryota and supposedly Tetsuya. We will, of course, tell you the outcome of the meeting."
"Okay, but Kagami can only go after practice." Coach said, "Then he'll go meet up with you... wherever you're going." Akashi nodded.
"We'll wait for you at Maji's." Kagami nodded. Then they left.
[Time Skip]
Aomine was ordering a bunch as always. Murasakibara got a vanilla milkshake added to his large pile of sweets. Midorima ordered one burger and some water. Akashi himself also only ordered a burger. Akashi was looking around for an open place to sit. Then, he noticed a man wearing jeans and a black jacket.
The hood was up, but Akashi could see light blue hair peeking out of the hood. His head was bowed, so Akashi couldn't see his face. He was sitting at a table large enough to seat more than one person, so Akashi wondered if he was waiting for more people.
Then an odd thought struck him.
"Sumimasen." Akashi said, walking up to him. The man didn't react, so Akashi tried again, getting closer and louder, "Sumimasen, might I trouble you for your name?" The man ignored Akashi. Akashi could tell because he had been right in front of the man when he had spoken. Literally. Akashi's face was less than an inch away from the man's hood. Akashi had put his tray down on the man's table, not wanting to spill and waste food if he lost his temper.
Now Akashi was ticked off.
"Fool, answer me." Again, no response. Now, Midorima and Murasakibara had come over while Aomine was waiting for his food. Midorima put a hand on Akashi's shoulder. "I got this" was what the gesture said. Midorima walked up to the man and tapped his head.
The man jerked up in surprise, and the hood fell off. It revealed white around-the-head headphones on his head. The man had pale blue hair, and almond eyes that slanted upwards. They were beautiful. They were azure blue, a lighter shade than Aomine's. But they were... different. Aomine's flat dark cerulean disks. This man's eyes looked like you were staring at a fragment of the ocean. Clear and never-ending.
The man quickly pressed a button on the side of his headphones. He pulled his headphones down to hang around his neck.
"Ah, gomen, were you speaking to me?" the man asked politely, "My headphones are noise-cancelling so I can't hear you." Akashi's throat felt constricted. Why did this man feel so familiar, yet so foreign? What about him made Akashi instantly at ease, yet somehow... not?
"A-ah, hai, I was." Akashi managed to say after realizing that there was awkward silence, "May I trouble you for you're name?" The man tilted his head questioningly at Akashi and opened his mouth to answer.
"KUROKOCCHI!" A loud and obnoxious voice wailed, "I missed you-ssu!" Kise. Akashi whipped around in surprise... but he was too late. Kise flew past Akashi, Murasakibara, and Midorima at breakneck speed and attacked the man with a full-on bone-crushing bear-hug. Kuroko's eyes were wide before he collected himself and greeted Kise with nearly the same amount enthusiasm.
Akashi struggled to comprehend, causing him to simply blink at the bluenette. 'Tetsuya?' This man... was Kuroko? Midorima had the same reaction. His eyes wide and mouth agape.
"Kuro-chin?" Murasakibara muttered. Previously, he had been just standing off to the side. Now he was leaning forward to study Kuroko. Kuroko flashed him a wide grin.
"Akashicchi! Midorimacchi! Murasakibaracchi!" Kise cried out, still clinging to Kuroko, "You came!" Akashi nodded dumbly.
"Ah, well, before we get on the wrong foot..." Kise trailed off awkwardly, suddenly sheepish and serious, "Kurokocchi, please explain your condition right now." Condition? Akashi grew apprehensive, and he felt his stomach drop. Was there something wrong with Kuroko? No, that was a stupid question. There was obviously something wrong with Kuroko. So the more adequate question would be, "What was wrong with Kuroko?"
"Ah, right." Kuroko nodded, still smiling, "When I was 15, I got in a plane crash when I was flying to America from Japan. This accident led me to have permanent amnesia. I've been living in America ever since. Sorry." Amnesia? Kuroko didn't remember them?
"You don't remember us." Midorima concluded grimly. Kise wailed at how everyone was ignoring him. Aomine, having finally gotten all his food (the glutton), came over. He had heard the loud and obnoxious sounds coming from the man-child and had decided to shut it up for the staff.
"Yo, Kise! Shut up, will ya? You're bothering the others." Aomine nodded at the blonde. Then he realized what Kise was doing and he frowned, "Kise, you know you're manhandling that dude, right?" Kise wailed even louder.
"Aominecchi, I'm not a baka like you-ssu!" He cried, "And this is Kurokocchi-ssu!" Aomine's eyebrow twitched. Akashi sighed. Somehow, the aho had missed the fact that Kise had clearly said, "This is Kuroko." Honestly, sometimes his ex-teammates were so stupid. Aomine dragged Kise off of Kuroko and started yelling at Kise.
"... Are they together?" Kuroko finally asked. Akashi couldn't answer. This was just... overwhelming. Kuroko was back. After so many years, and totally different. Akashi had mourned Kuroko like he had died. In fact, to his friends, he might as well have. 2 years of nothing, no way to know what happened to Kuroko, or why he left, and now, he's back, like this. Wearing jeans and a T-shirt, headphones over his shoulders, much taller than Akashi, and with a mop for hair.
"No, Aomine does not swing that way." Midorima sighed, "Even though he was the best and handling Kise's energy level." Kuroko blinked at the blonde fake-wilting beneath Aomine's harsh tone.
"I see." Kuroko finally said. Akashi questioned the truth in that statement, but honestly, when you see this scene as an outsider, what can you do to understand? After all, there's a fine line between love and hate.
"Mine-chin was really good at handling Kise-chin when you went away." Murasakibara agreed. Akashi noticed Kuroko's lips pursing slightly.
"I apologize for making you worry." Kuroko gave them a lopsided smile that cooled the hairs on the back of his neck that he hadn't realized ha been bristling, instantly relax slightly, "But I have come back here with intentions to make up for my absence." Akashi studied Kuroko again. Perhaps Kuroko hadn't changed as much as Akashi had thought. Appearances and expressions aside, Kuroko was still the mild-mannered, deadpan, monotone quirky teen that Akashi knew.
"Hey, aren't you that man from a few days back?" Akashi jumped in surprise. Had Aomine seen Kuroko before? What had happened? Well, if Aomine's question was anything to go by, Kuroko had not given out his name.
Kuroko blinked, looking surprised. Akashi waited for his response.
"I believe so, yes." Kuroko said calmly, "Why do you ask?" Aomine have him a look, like, 'don't play dumb.' Kuroko just blinked at him blankly. Even though Kuroko's presence, however weak it was, offered protection and a sort of quiet calm that Akashi hadn't felt in a while, Akashi would be lying if he didn't say he felt nervous and on edge.
He hadn't noticed it before, but he had been feeling like this since he first saw Kuroko's eyes, the feeling steadily growing as he spent more time with Kuroko. Why? He wasn't sure.
Just... something was off with Kuroko. Something about him set Akashi off. There was a constant feeling of a small knife, sliding underneath his skin and skinning him. Was... Kuroko lying to Akashi? Akashi wasn't sure. Was this even Kuroko? Why was Akashi off-put by Kuroko?
Akashi was familiar with this uneasy feeling. He got it whenever a fellow Rakuzan student made a mistake and tried to lie their way out of it. It was a subconscious sixth sense trying to warn Akashi. But Kuroko has no reason to lie to Akashi. But Akashi knew his instincts never lied.
"Akashi!"
Midorima's voice cut through Akashi's voice like a hot knife to butter.
"Are you okay?" Midorima studied Akashi carefully. Akashi realized that he had been spacing out, and the others had continued the conversation without him.
"Ah, warri, yes." Akashi reassured them, seeing as they weren't convinced, he quickly thought up another excuse, "Just thinking about how to deal with some disrespectful first-years." Everyone shuddered, but they let it go. No one wanted to aggravate Akashi with just the thought of those poor nonexistent first-years.
Akashi noticed Kuroko looking at him more piercingly than the others. Akashi's unnerving feeling intensified. Kuroko didn't break his stare until Akashi returned it for a minute. Akashi didn't realize he had been holding his breath until he started breathing again.
It puzzled Akashi to no end. Why was he feeling like this?
