Chapter nine:
The return of Ryouta Kise.
''Aka-chin is late today.'' Murasakibara lazily complained, slouched all over the floor. They had once more agreed on meeting eachother at the gym. Akashi had texted them last night, giving the message it had been urgent, and if they were late, they would face concequences with the almighty red scissors. ''I suppose so.'' Kagami said, the tiny red-head had been freaking him out lately, he knew that Akashi wasn't fond of him, but appearently rejecting Kise had increased this grudge. If they really couldn't held back their urges, then Akashi might even be able to kill him and get away with it too. To be honest, they were the only ones present on time, which was, if you asked Kagami, highly unlikely.
Soon the door opened, and they expected the luring state that was Akashi, but instead, Kuroko entered, followed by Aomine that kept some distance. ''Kuroko, dude. So glad you're back.'' Kagami said, making the teal-haired player grin. ''Thanks. Aomine-kun showed me I have been taking some drastic methods by locking myself up. Then again, I only came here, because he promised me something.'' Kuroko said, pointing at Aomine. ''Kuroko..'' Kagami said, he didn't know why, but somehow, this group had fell apart more drastically then ever before.
''And because you're our friend, and we can't do it without you.'' Aomine said, making Kuroko nod. ''We should be able to defeat Haizaki and these menacing games.'' Kuroko said, looking at Aomine for confirmation. The dark-blue haired teen nodded. ''Kuro-chin does look better than before. We missed you.'' Murasakibara said. ''It's good to be back. Where are the others?'' Kuroko asked. ''Not here yet. Midorima and Takao are still on their way, maybe somewhat sidetracked, and I don't know where Akashi is.'' Kagami shrugged.
''Eh, Akashicchi isn't here? When he texted me, I thought he would be here as well.'' a familiar voice said, as he entered the door opening, making the four look up. ''Hi. Do you mind if I join in?'' Kise asked, as he offered a tiny wave. ''Kise!'' Aomine cheered, rushing over to ruffle the blond's hair and Kuroko nodded happily. 'Kise.' Kagami thought fondly. The blond looked good. More color on his cheek, and somewhat more happy, but then genuinly. Admittenly, he had missed Kise.
''What are those?'' Murasakibara asked, as he pointed to the bags Kise were holding. Kise sweatdropped, as he said, ''Well, the weirdest thing ever, not counting the body switching accident.'' he said, as he eyed Aomine. His manager hadn't quite forgiven him with the Mai-accident. ''I was at the grocery store, getting something to drink, when I had a craving for a snack. It all became a blurr, and before I knew it, I had spend all of my salary on these snacks. Obviously, I can't eat them by myself, so feel free to take some.'' Kise said.
'Oh right, he doesn't know yet.' Kagami thought, but it had been the most positive urge thusfar. ''I'll take this.'' Kuroko said, who took something from the back and rushed off to a more secluded area. ''Hey, give that back, I wanted that.'' Aomine chased him right away, leaving a puzzled Kise. 'This urges thing is hilarious.' Kagami thought, before his stomach rumbled. Before he knew it, he was chasing after Murasakibara for some food as well.
Midorima, who just entered the hall, stared at them weirdly, as Takao rolled over the ground, laughing at the very scene. ''What is going on?'' Kise asked him, when he spotted the green-haired player, who had no clue as well. ''Akashi isn't here?'' he asked instead, and Kise shook his head. ''Give me that!'' they heard Kuroko shout, chasing after Aomine, the loudest that they ever heard the teal-haired teen say. ''No way, get something else.'' Aomine snickered. ''Is.. that Kuroko?'' Midorima twitched a few times. ''Seems so. We should stop Kagamicchi and Murasakibaracchi before they overeat themselves again.'' Kise said. ''Nah.'' Midorima decided, those two idiots would never learn from such mistakes.
It took a while before the teens stopped behaving like toddlers, their stomaches were filled as they sat down, and talked some. But in the end, Akashi never did show up. Instead of bestowing the Generation of Miracles with his presence, he had ended up sending Ryouta a text. ''Hey, I recieved a message from Akashicchi!'' Ryouta suddenly exclaimed. ''You don't say.'' Takao said, as he snatched the phone.
''Dear friends.'' he read out loud, ''I've somewhere I need to go for the time being. I still expect you to meet up every day. Remember that my orders are absolute. My eyes and ears are everywhere.'' ''Mou, why did he ask us to meet in the first place, if he isn't going to be here?'' Ryouta said confused. ''I don't know. Better do keep meeting up, who knows what happens if we don't.'' Aomine said, gaining some weird looks.
''What?'' he asked, raising his eyebrows. ''For you to show up to regular practice is too much of a hassle.'' Kuroko said, to which Takao added, ''Seeing someone like you take responsibility is weird.'' Kise shook his head, Aominecchi was plenty responsible for plenty tasks, if you asked him. ''Do you really think this is Akashicchi making this message. It seems... off.'' Kise added. ''I guess so, seeing that the switching thing is over. Maybe he had the urge to go somewhere, and seeing that we can't stop those in the second phase-'' Kagami was shutted when Takao wacked his head.
''What the hell dude, that hurts.'' he scowled before he spotted Kise giving him a stern look. ''What do you mean by second phase, Taigacchi.'' he demanded to know. 'Oh crap.' Kagami thought, but to be fair, the blond still looked more cute than angry if you asked him. ''Idiot.'' Midorima scolded, as Kise kept glaring at him. ''I ehr, guys, help me.'' he squeecked, but Takao shook his head, ''Did this one yourself, bud.'' he said, and Kuroko helpfully added, ''That's what you had coming.'' Aomine, the asshole, just cackled.
''Ehrm, you rembeber that you blacked out when you bought those snacks? That was an urge, and the second phase, or so I understood, means that you are unable to not act on those.'' Kagami said. Kise nodded, taking the information in. ''Why keep it a secret?'' he asked. ''Because the former phase had almost costed you your life. I want to protect you.'' Kagami said, before pointing at the rest. ''I want all of you to be save, and seeing that the g.o.m is too occupied with the rivaliries of the past, I need to help you.'' he added.
''Oi, don't drag me into this.'' Aomine scolded. ''Wait, you knew?'' Kise asked, and the bluenette couldn't help but let out, ''Oh shit.'' As they argued, Kuroko whispered to Kagami ''Nice save there.'' Kagami couldn't help but smirk, the past hour they had at least seem closer then ever before. ''We should keep this up, this is fun.'' he heard Murasakibara say. ''Well, what is stopping us? Akashi even requested us to keep meeting up.'' Kagami said.
''True.'' Kise said, who was holding Aomine in a headlock, and even Kuroko had to admit that an hour of this a day didn't seem to bad. ''We should invite Aka-chin as well, though.'' Murasakibara said, implying that Akashi wasn't really gone. ''We can text him daily.'' Kuroko add. ''Could we invite Haizaki-san as well?'' Kise asked, gaining very weird looks.
''Did you actually snap at the hospital? Why would you want to invite him?'' Takao asked. ''I don't mean 'Haizaki', but the real Haizaki. I mean, he only got picked because he had a grudge against us right? That is because we always rejected him. At the hospital, I felt kinda lonely. Hadn't Aominecchi and Akashicchi come daily, I would've felt left out too.'' Kise explained. ''You hate Haizaki most of all.'' Kuroko said.
''I know, but that was in the past, right.'' ''It's not safe. Haizaki often still becomes possessed, and it possessed you before as well. It could easily switch over if we start making choices like that.'' Aomine said, thoughtfully. ''I suppose you're right, maybe I was just being silly.'' Kise said, still feeling a little bad. ''Let's go and get some burgers.'' Kagami offered, as Aomine and Kuroko nodded. ''I've somewhere I've got to be.'' Murasakibara said, and Midorima wanted to say no, but Takao told they would join in. ''Kise? Wanna come too?'' Kagami asked. ''Sure, sounds nice.'' Kise said, as he followed suit.
Akashi stared at his phone a few times. ''Will do, give you updates when neccasery? Will you be back soon?'' Is what the blond had texted back. 'Good. If they stick together, this can't get to them.' he thought, laying the phone besides him, as he rested his back on his bed. 'Be back soon, eh. Don't think I can do that.' he thought, shutting his eyes. 'Things were much easier back then. I could neglect it back then.' Akashi thought, as he remembered the old days. 'Taiga, you just had to come and make things more difficult.'
His phone buzzed, and he picked up. ''Yes?'' he said, and Murasakibara's gruff voice asked, ''Everything alright?'' ''Just fine.'' Akashi replied. ''Kise-chin showed today. If possible, you can come tomorrow as well. It'd be nice to play basketball, rather than these dramatic situations.'' Murasakibara said. ''I'll see what I can do, but I don't make any promises yet.'' Akashi said. ''Okay.'' Murasakibara said, as he hang up. Akashi stared at his background of his phone, before he said, ''Sorry, I can't face you like this.''
The group enjoyed their meal, and for even though Taiga ended up paying for all of them, he didn't really mind. To be fair, it would have been nice of Midorima had warned him that that scrawny boyfriend of him was equally matched to his botomless pit. It was heartwarming to see that Kise and Kuroko were getting along as well, merely eating a measely two burgers, but at least it seemed like they enjoyed them.
He watched as Aomine seem to be more engrossed in his phone. He smirked as he asked, ''Had the urge to look up porn, Ahomine?'' The bluenette gave him a weird look. ''Not really, and gross that you ask that, pervert.'' he retorted. ''Kagami-san doesn't seem to have any manners. Though, that is something that should've been plenty obvious by now.'' Kuroko deadpanned.
''Nandeyo, he never had them.'' Midorima agreed, savoring the burger as he put it in his bag, Kagami figured it was probably his, or someone's lucky item. Oha asa had some weird objects when it came to fortune telling. ''If you must know, Bakagami, I was looking up how urges exactly work, and how to resist them.'' Aomine said, neclecting to tell that he was looking up something for Kuroko as well.
''Wow, that's really clever.'' Takao said, wondering when Aomine had gotten so involved in stuff. ''So, how does it work?'' Kagami asked. ''I'm still reading, I was only looking it up, you know.'' Aomine said. Kagami nodded, before looking at Kise, who was chatting animatedly with Takao, and couldn't help but smile. The blond just seemed so happy. Kise noticed him staring and their eyes met for a faint second, making them both blush. ''Everything alright?'' Kagami asked, and Kise nodded. ''It's good to be back.'' he replied, and Kagami couldn't help but say, ''It's good to have you back.''
Author's words:
Slowly, we're heading to the core of Akashi's 'issue'. Anyone who can tell already? It's nice to have Kise back, because I really like writing his character. Takao will become a large role as well, because, Takao doesn't the same issues and offers a different view of point.
Please read and review.
