Title : Regression
By: revenanttrickster
Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basket is owned by Fujimaki Tadatoshi
A/N: Hello everyone! Waiting for the next chapter? Well here it is! My surprise :D The long awaited Akashi chapter! Thanks: samijackson, BrokenBlackCat, LovelyAria, xXoAnonymousoXx, sHirou, miki565, KurokocchiTetsuya, Crossroader32, Heaven0Leigh, XxDeadSkiesxX, AnimeAngelChick, Booklover2526, Taku Yonomichi, x10TIMEx, kikigirl4321, Ciel D'or Serendipite, gypsydancer529, DeathEmpress23 for the reviews. Enjoy!
Chapter 6: The Red Knows…
"It seems everyone is here," said Akashi Seijuurou, captain of the Generation of Miracles and currently Rakuzan High School basketball club, while looking at the Seirin team and his former teammates in Teikou. He was wearing his school uniform and his right hand was holding his bag while the other one was in his pocket.
"Aka-chin~" the purple haired center greeted his former captain and looks like the only one out of them who was happy to see him.
"Atsushi," Akashi greeted back and eyed the former members of Teikou basketball team. "It looks like all of Tetsuya's former teammates are here. What a coincidence," said Akashi although the way he said it seems like it wasn't a coincidence at all. He walked towards the group. "It's been a long while since I've seen everyone together."
"What are you doing here Akashi?" the green haired shooting guard asked.
Akashi turned to his former vice captain. "The same reason as everyone else, I'm here to see Tetsuya. We have something to talk about."
"Like what?" it was Aomine's turn to ask.
The red head glanced at the ace of the Generation of Miracles. "That's between me and Tetsuya, Daiki." He stared at all of them and his eyes settled on the coach of Seirin basketball club. "Aida-san, may I know where Tetsuya is?" he asked. "And I'm afraid I have to take him away from your practice. Though it looks like you're done with your practice," he said when he noticed the Seirin team was wearing their school uniform.
Riko started to sweat. "Um, about that…Kuroko-kun is…"
"What happened to Tetsuya?" Akashi asked while looking intently at Riko.
"Th-That is…Kuroko-kun…" the brunette tried to say but couldn't form any coherent thought when the red head's heterochromatic eyes pierce through her soul.
When Akashi realized that he won't get any answer from the young coach, he turned to his former pink haired manager. "Momoi, where is Tetsuya?"
Momoi was startled when the red haired captain called her name. "Akashi-kun, um, about Tetsu-kun…" she tried to explain but couldn't do it so she had no choice but to use her trump card. She pushed her blue haired childhood friend forward in front of the captain of Rakuzan basketball team.
The blue haired teen was shock when his childhood friend pushed him abruptly, after regaining his balance, Aomine whirled to his manager. "What the hell? Satsuki!"
The pink haired clasped her hands together and closed her eyes as if praying (in a way, she was). 'I'm sorry Dai-chan!'
'May you rest in peace Aomine (Aominecchi/Mine-chin),' everyone prayed for the blue haired soul silently.
Aomine doesn't know how or why but he could sense what everyone was thinking. He started to open his mouth to lash out his anger at them but stopped when he heard his name being called by the red head.
"Daiki," called Akashi, he was starting to lose his patience because no one was answering his question and he hates it when he doesn't know what's happening.
The blue haired ace of Touou Academy slowly turned around to face his former captain. He started to sweat in bullets when he saw the red head was losing his patience. He may be brash, arrogant and most of the time doesn't care what anyone says about him but if there was a person (aside from his mother and at times Momoi) that can make him obedient and scared, it was Akashi Seijuurou, though he won't admit it out loud. And he almost forgot Kuroko, he may be most of the time apathetic and emotionless—except when playing basketball—but when he got mad (and this rarely happened), he's much more scarier than Akashi. He should know, he had a taste of it once and he swore he won't make the same mistake again. He also found out that the only thing that could calm the phantom sixth player down was vanilla milkshake (GoriGori-kun soda can be used as a substitute as well, which they found out when Kise made the shadow angry). But that's another story.
"Daiki," Akashi threateningly called the blue haired attention back from his thoughts.
Aomine gulped nervously when he heard his former captain's tell-me-now-or-I'll-kill-you tone. He sighed in defeat. "Akashi…You might not believe me but Tetsu…Tetsu turned into a…kid," he finished lamely. "And he, uh, apparently doesn't remember any of us."
"…I see," was what the red haired captain only said.
All of them didn't know how to react to that. Akashi looked so calm about the situation; he wasn't even a bit surprised at the impossibility of it. Either he was good at hiding his emotions or nothing could ever surprise him.
The red head's eyes wandered, looking for the phantom player that turned into a kid. "I'm going to ask again and I expect one of you to answer. Where is Tetsuya?"
"H-He is, um, with Kagami," the point guard of Seirin stuttered in reply.
The power forward of Seirin jumped in surprise when he heard his name, he had his back turned so that the captain of Rakuzan wouldn't see the teal head boy he was carrying (who was currently sleeping quietly), and he turned around to face the red head, who immediately settled his eyes on little Kuroko.
Akashi was eyeing the cute sleeping teal head kid. He had to admit, he looked just like the passing specialist of Teikou only a kid version of him. "How did Tetsuya become a kid?" he asked still watching the boy.
As it was his fault, the center of Seirin answered him. "I bought vanilla candies that the shop keeper told me that it was special and that it can turn a person into a kid. Kuroko accidentally ate one of those candies and this was the result."
After hearing his explanation, the red head glanced at Kiyoshi for a moment before taking out his cellphone from his bag and started dialing. Everyone was curious on who Akashi was trying to call. Unfortunately, they only heard him say vanilla candy and the address of the candy shop near Kiyoshi's house, much to their dismay. Though they were wondering how Akashi knows the address of the candy shop but none of them dared to ask him.
Being the usual nosy that he was, Kise couldn't help but ask, "Akashicchi who did you call?"
"No one," Akashi vaguely replied and pocketed his phone. He, once again, stared at the kid version of the phantom player of the Generation of Miracles. "How long has he been asleep?"
Kagami felt that the red head was specifically asking him, so he answered, "Not for long. He fell asleep for a few minutes before you came in."
"He was tired after playing with me~" the purple haired center happily reported.
"Good job Atsushi."
"Hmm~" Murasakibara hummed at the red head's praise and returned to eating his snacks.
The captain of Rakuzan team started to say something, only to be interrupted by Kagami's voice.
"Kuroko?" the dark red haired power forward asked when he felt little Kuroko shift in his arms.
The teal head boy clutched Kagami's shirt before slowly opening his eyes, blinking the sleepiness away. Kuroko didn't know why (he only just fell asleep and he was still tired) but something was telling him to wake up and so he did. When he opened his eyes, he looked at Kagami (who was silently asking him what's wrong) before his eyes drifted to everyone and finally noticing the red haired stranger, which for some reason, felt familiar to him. Little Kuroko kept staring at the red haired teen and Akashi stared right back.
Everyone's eyes were glued at the staring contest between the phantom and emperor of the Generation of Miracles. They silently gasped in astonishment when little Kuroko held out his tiny arms to Akashi. They were torn between worrying for the teal head's safety and their fear of the so called emperor.
The ace of Seirin tried to hold back the teal head kid in his arms but Kuroko, much like his older self, was stubborn and tried to reach the red head futilely. Little Kuroko was starting to get antsy and whimpered, "A-Aka…Aka…"
All of them froze when they heard what Kuroko just said. They were speculating if the teal head remembered the Rakuzan captain or he only just said that because of Akashi's hair color.
Akashi noticed that the teal head boy was close to tears and took a few steps towards him. "Just give me Tetsuya, Kagami-kun or he might start crying."
Kagami also noticed Kuroko's expression and has no choice but to acquiesce to the teal head boy's request and hand him over to the red haired captain.
Once he was in the red head's arms, little Kuroko finally settled down and goes back to staring at the teen. He was mesmerized at the heterochromatic eyes that were gazing at him; he never met anyone which has a different eye color in each eye like him before. The teal head boy put his left hand at the red head's face. "Aka…shi…(1)"
Everyone in Seirin team gulped anxiously at Kuroko's action, they were amazed at his brazenness to the feared former captain of Teikou, who knows what the red head might do to their passing specialist. Whereas the members of the Generation of Miracles weren't a bit worried since they know that Akashi will take care of Kuroko just like how he always take care of them when they were in middle school (though at times he could be scary). They also knew that their emperor captain always treats the phantom sixth man special. After all, he did discover Kuroko's ability of misdirection.
"That's right Tetsuya," the red head said. "That's my name."
Little Kuroko cutely tilted his head at that. "Your name?"
The corner of the red head's lip lifted slightly. "My full name is Akashi Seijuurou. You can call me by my first name, Tetsuya."
"Un!" the teal head boy was ecstatic and nodded his eagerly. "Then, can I call you Sei-nii?"
The red haired captain couldn't help it and smiled at little Kuroko. "Yes, you may," he affirmed and ruffled the phantom's hair.
The teal head boy giggled and nuzzled closer to the red head.
Watching the moment between his mentor and former captain, Kise was jealous that little Kuroko like Akashi more than him. "That's not fair Akashicchi! I want Kurokocchi to call me by my first name, too!" he complained. "Like calling me Ryouta nii-chan or Ryou nii-chan or even nii-tama! Being called by little Kurokocchi so cutely like that~" Kise tried to imagined and was lost in his own thoughts, oblivious to how everyone gave him weird looks.
Kagami gave the blond ace a flat look. "That's the reason why Kuroko called you a pervert, Kise."
"Stop calling me that, Kagamicchi!" Kise wailed in protest.
All of them ignored the blond copycat's annoying whines.
On the other hand, Aomine took a step closer to the ace of Seirin and whispered, "Oi, Kagami is it true? Tetsu called Kise a pervert?"
Kagami nodded. "Yeah, it took a while before Kuroko let Kise near him. Actually, he's the only one out of you Generation of Miracles that he didn't like at first. Even Midorima had a better luck than him."
Aomine found a new respect to his former shadow. "Even as a kid, Tetsu is smart." And Kise what you're getting is called karma. You shouldn't have insulted Tetsu when you first met him in middle school.
Kagami agreed with the blue haired. "I know."
Meanwhile, the red haired captain and the kid version of the phantom player were lost in their own world (they tuned out Kise when he opened his mouth). Out of all the visitors that kept coming in the gym, it seems like Akashi was the only one little Kuroko felt comfortable with. The teal head boy doesn't really know why but he felt safe and protected in his arms, like nothing bad is ever going to happen to him if he was near the red head. He snuggled closer to his Sei-nii, wrapped his arms around his neck and burrowed his face at the hollow of the red head's neck.
Akashi let out a tiny smile; he was feeling a sense of contentment and satisfaction of seeing the cute expressions little Kuroko was making. He knows that Kuroko isn't the type to cuddle or show affections through touches, he was always blunt and honest. That's why he was a bit stunned at the teal head boy in his arms right now since he was the opposite of the Kuroko he knew. He also felt smug that little Kuroko likes him out of everyone else even Aomine, his former light. Though he knows that he's competing with Kagami in being the little phantom's favorite person. He decided to do something about that as soon as possible.
Everyone paused when they saw the unbeatable captain of the Generation of Miracles smile. This was the first time they saw (except for the Generation of Miracles themselves) the red head smile. They don't know what to say or how to react; they were terrified to interrupt the moment between the little phantom and the emperor.
Of course, the red haired captain knows that everyone was watching him, they were lucky that his cellphone began ringing before he could reprimand them. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and answered the call. He didn't say anything and just listened to the voice at the other end of the line. After getting the answer he needed, he put his phone in his pocket and looked at his former teammates and the Seirin team. "I know how to turn Tetsuya back to normal."
"What?!" everyone shouted in unison, to say they were shocked was an understatement. 'How did Akashi managed to do that!'
Riko couldn't believe it. "H-How?"
"I ordered one of my father's subordinates to ask about the vanilla candies that Kiyoshi-san bought," Akashi responded.
They did remember that he said vanilla candy and the address of the candy shop when he made a call although they were still wondering how anyone could have understood the situation with just that information. They instantly realized that the Akashi family and its subordinates are also frightening just like their master.
Akashi ignored the intriguing looks he was getting and explained how to revert Kuroko to his normal self. "Anyway, the candy's effect will vanish on its own so there's no need for any antidote." Everyone sighed in relief for that. "The only problem is—"
"What?" the power forward of Seirin butted in.
The members of the Generation of Miracles gave him pitying looks because they know that what their former captain hated the most is being interfered.
The red haired captain of Rakuzan glared at Kagami. "Don't interrupt me and you'll find out."
The dark red haired ace of Seirin gulped in fear and meekly nodded his head.
"As I was saying," Akashi continued. "The only problem is that the candy's effect lasts for seven days, which means that Tetsuya will stay as a kid for a week."
"A week?" Koganei asked in bewilderment.
"But how about school and his family?" Hyuuga asked, concerned for his underclassman. "Won't they be worried if Kuroko didn't show up for a week? Or are you saying that we should tell them about Kuroko's situation?"
"You don't have to worry about that," the red haired captain said. "I already notify your school about his absence. Also, I already told his parents that he'll be staying with his classmate for a week so they won't be looking for him."
'Since when?!' everyone silently asked in alarm, but of course, they didn't dare voice out their thoughts. Nonetheless, they were amazed at Akashi's influence to even notify a school he isn't even attending, as well as informing Kuroko's parents.
"Um, Akashi?" Kiyoshi tried to get the red head's attention. "You said classmate, but where would Kuroko stay?"
"He could stay with me!" the small forward of Kaijou enthusiastically volunteered. He wants to dressed up little Kuroko in cute outfits (or even dresses), he could take pictures, too. And besides, he's positively sure that his older sisters would love the phantom kid.
"As if!" both Kagami and Aomine vehemently rejected his idea, they have inkling on what the blond was planning to their shadow.
Momoi raised her hand. "What about me? Tetsu-kun could stay with me. I could cook for him!"
Every one of them blanched when they heard that. 'You'll only kill him!'
"No!" Riko interjected. "Kuro-chan will stay with me! And he'll like my cooking more than yours!"
'You're no better!'
"Hmph!" Midorima pushed his glasses at the bridge of his nose. "It's better if Kuroko stays with me. My family will take care of him and he'll learn much more with me than any of you fools."
'That's what you said but you're going to teach him about Oha-Asa, aren't you?!'
"Ah~ I want Kuro-chin to stay with me, too. But there's no more space in our house," Murasakibara grumbled.
'Then, don't join in their quarrel!'
"Shut up! Kuroko/Tetsu will stay with me because he's my shadow!" both Kagami and Aomine shouted in unison, joining in the fight. They both whirled at each other for that.
"Huh? Don't talk big Kagami! I was his light first!" Aomine threateningly yelled.
"That was in the past, before you discarded him! I'm his light now!" Kagami retorted.
'That has nothing to do with this!'
"No! Kurokocchi will stay with me!"
"What are you talking about Ki-chan? Tetsu-kun will stay with me!"
"Huh?! Kuro-chan will be going with me!"
"I'm much more suitable to stay with Kuroko."
"Kuro-chin~"
"Tetsu was still my shadow!"
"Kuroko is my shadow, too!"
Akashi had enough of their senseless argument and glared menacingly at all of them. "Enough. Stop with your nonsense bickering. Everyone will have a turn of taking care of Tetsuya. We'll let Tetsuya decide on who he will stay with first."
The red haired captain looked down at the teal head boy in his arms who—without him noticing—actually fell asleep (how he fell asleep in the midst of all those shouting, no one knows). As much as Akashi hates to wake the little phantom up considering he was sleeping peacefully, he has no choice or everyone will resume their stupid squabble. Akashi gently shook the teal head boy up. "Tetsuya, wake up," he quietly called.
Little Kuroko slowly opened his eyes, showing those beautiful cerulean color and looked at the heterochromatic gaze of his Sei-nii.
The red head gave the boy a small smile. "I'm sorry for waking you up Tetsuya," he softly said while rubbing Kuroko's back soothingly. "But we need your help."
Little Kuroko blinked. "Help?"
Akashi nodded. "You parents as well as your grandmother left, they have some business to take care of. And so, they asked us if we can let you stay with us for a week."
Everyone gaped at the captain of the Rakuzan basketball team and his ability to create a perfect lie in such a short time.
"Otou-sama, Okaa-sama and Obaa-sama left?" the teal head boy asked.
The red head nodded his head again. "Yes, for a week," he confirmed. "Because of that, we're letting you decide on where you want to stay for the night."
"Then," little Kuroko shyly looked up at Akashi. "Can I stay with Sei-nii?"
Akashi sighed in regret. "I'm sorry Tetsuya but I can't take you with me. My father asked me to take care of some of our businesses so I'll be busy for a few days and won't have the time to take care of you." He really hated his father right now for his inexplicable bad timing, he'd rather take care of little Kuroko than meeting some associates of his father or handling some paper works; still he was happy that Kuroko chose him first.
The teal head boy looked so crestfallen at the red head's reason; he was really looking forward to spending more time with his Sei-nii. "I understand," he said forlornly.
The red haired captain patted little Kuroko's head in comfort. "It's okay Tetsuya. You can pick someone else."
Kuroko nodded at Akashi. With his finger in chin, he looked at all of his nii-chan and nee-chan, deciding on who he will stay with for tonight. It wasn't that hard for him and quickly made up his mind. "Kagami-kun!" the teal head declared, pointing at the ace of Seirin. "I want to stay with Kagami-kun!"
"Yosh!" Kagami shouted triumphantly, Kuroko chose him out of everyone else especially that Ahoumine (there's Akashi but that's an entirely different matter). He grinned at the teal head boy and gave him a thumbs up. "Don't worry Kuroko. I'll take care of you."
Everyone (except for the Seirin players) wanted to beat the crap out of Kagami's self-satisfied face. But they held back or little Kuroko would start crying and as a consequence might hate them and they really don't want that to happen. But it doesn't mean they won't voice out their disapproval.
"What?!" the blond copycat protested. "Kurokocchi, why do have to pick Kagamicchi? Choose me instead!"
"That's right. That Bakagami isn't fit to take care of Tetsu, he might neglect him or something," Aomine added.
"I don't want to hear that from you!" Kagami objected.
"Stop it," the Rakuzan captain coldly said. "Tetsuya already made his decision. We should respect his wishes."
The three aces immediately quieted at the red head's rebuke.
"With that decided, Tetsuya will stay with Kagami Taiga tonight," Akashi said and turned to Seirin's power forward. "Kagami-kun, you will ask Tetsuya later on whom he wants to go with tomorrow so you can inform that person. That person can pick Tetsuya up at your place in the morning," he instructed and regarded everyone else. "The same procedure applies when Tetsuya chooses anyone of you. Do you understand?" Everyone nodded at him.
The red head gave all of them a dark look. "And if by any chance, something bad happened to Tetsuya," he said and gave them a sickeningly sweet smile that promises a world of pain and torture. "You will answer to me. Got it?" Every one of them once again nodded furiously but this time in terror.
The red haired captain of the Generation of Miracles checked the time on his watch. "It's getting late, we should go home. Tetsuya needs to rest." He put little Kuroko down and knelt at the boy's height. "Are you okay Tetsuya? If you feel tired just say so."
The teal head boy shook his head. "I'm fine Sei-nii."
The red head's left hand came up to caressed little Kuroko's cheek tenderly. "Be a good boy, okay Tetsuya?"
The little phantom nodded his head determinedly. "Don't worry Sei-nii. I'll be a good boy."
The Rakuzan captain ruffled Kuroko's hair, stood up and turned to his former teammates in Teikou. "We're going ahead. Say your goodbyes to Tetsuya."
The blond copycat of Kaijou took the initiative and proceeded to hug the adorable phantom. "Kurokocchi, why didn't you pick me?! I don't want to say goodbye to Kurokocchi!" Kise protested and rubbed his cheek with Kuroko's. "Kurokocchi~ Kurokocchi~"
Noticing that the teal head boy was getting uncomfortable, the blue haired ace of Touou pulled Kise away by his collar. "That's enough Kise. Let the others have their turn," Aomine said and patted his former shadow in the head. "Bye Tetsu."
"Bye Aomine nii-chan!"
Kise tried to reach his beloved mentor but Aomine dragged him away. "No! Kurokocchi~"
"Bye Kise nii-chan!" the little phantom waved at the wailing blond.
Just like Kise, the pink haired manager of Touou hugged little Kuroko to death and cried, "Tetsu-kun! Why did you have to choose Kagamin over me?! I can take care of you!"
"Momoi, you're suffocating Kuroko," the green haired shooting guard of Shuutoku spoke. "Let him breathe."
Momoi pouted but let go of the teal head boy. "Bye Tetsu-kun!"
"Bye Momoi nee-chan!"
Midorima patted little Kuroko on the head as a goodbye.
Kuroko smiled at the green haired teen. "Bye Midorima nii-chan!"
It was the purple haired center of Yosen's turn and ruffled the little phantom's powder blue hair. "Bye Kuro-chin~. Let's play together again~"
"Un! Bye Murasaki nii-chan!"
Akashi patted little Kuroko on the head, too. "I'll see you soon, Tetsuya." He turned around and started to walk away with the rest of the Generation of Miracles following suit (or in Kise's case, being dragged away).
"Bye Sei-nii!" Kuroko said and waved at their retreating figure.
The Seirin basketball team breathed a sigh of relief when the members of the Generation of Miracles left the school gym. Even if they weren't playing basketball, the Generation of Miracles still give off an aura of supremeness when they were together. They guess that's one of the reasons why they're the strongest basketball team in middle school, the feared and undefeatable Generation of Miracles.
"Man, my heart is still beating faster," Koganei said clutching his chest.
"I don't know whether to be relieved or be bothered that all of the members of the Generation of Miracles came here on this day," the point guard of Seirin worriedly said. "Just the day that something happened to Kuroko."
Kiyoshi smiled at him and said, "Well, there's no helping it. As the saying goes, 'The Miracles are drawn to one another'(2)"
"I told you there is no such saying!" Hyuuga snapped at the so called Iron Heart.
Riko sighed at her team's antics. "Stop it. You heard what Akashi said. It's time to head home."
"Okay!" everyone agreed with their coach.
The dark red haired ace held out his right hand to the kid version of his shadow. "Let's go Kuroko. We're going home."
Little Kuroko looked up at Kagami before taking the teen's hand. "Un! Let's go home Kagami-kun!"
… Everything.
Notes:
(1) Akashi - Little Kuroko doesn't know Akashi's name when he said this. He said Aka (red)because of Akashi's hair and Shi (commander/ruler/king etc.)because he can feel the superior aura that Akashi gives off.
(2) The Miracles are drawn to one another - Kiyoshi did say this on KnB Kiseki no Shiai when Murasakibara appeared on Seirin's (as well as Shuutoku, Kaijou and Touou's) training camp. Hyuuga's response to Kiyoshi is more or less the same, too.
A/N: Yay! We're now done with the first phase! It's time for the second phase to commence! But first...
Next: Omake 1: Vanilla Milkshake - On the way to Kagami's apartment, the pair stopped to eat at Maji Burger. Kagami bought little Kuroko's first vanilla milkshake.