Kagami's legs screamed out in pain. Figuratively, of course. Kagami's arms ached in ways he didn't know was possible. And he still wasn't done. Kagami rested his palms on his knees and tried to catch his breath. As much as he dreaded the practice after the five minute break, Kagami knew that winning the Winter Cup was just the beginning. Sure, they may have won, but that didn't mean that they could just slack off. No, they'd have to work very hard to keep there spot.
Hence why he was fuming. Kuroko was not at practice. And Kagami could feel his rage simmering just beneath the surface. 'Where is Kuroko?' was what the redhead was thinking.
"Kagami, you look terrifying." Hyuga's voice jolted Kagami into reality, "Why are you so mad?"
"Captain!" Kagami shouted, "Kuroko is not here! I'm not even sure he went to class!"
"Eh? Really?" Kagami sweat-dropped at his captain's obliviousness.
"Where the hell is that damn bastard?!" Kagami shouted at no one. The whole team had looked at Kagami in surprise at his outburst. Who wouldn't?
"Stop yelling!" Coach snapped at Kagami, "Kuroko is probably fine, so you don't need to yell over nothing!"
"Probably?!" Came the cries of the whole team.
"You think he's sick?" Furihata asked.
"Call Kuroko." Koganei suggested, "Did you think of that?"
"You can call him after practice!" Coach yelled loudly, "Back to work, boys!"
"Hai!" And everyone continued their workouts. But Kagami couldn't focus. He still practiced as hard as he could, but his thoughts were always stuck on Kuroko. What if it was more than just sick? What if Kuroko had been seriously hurt? Or worse? These worries swirled around Kagami's mind. Restlessly making Kagami antsy and irritated.
At last, practice was over. Kagami changed and rushed over to his back and yanked out his phone. Kagami flipped it open and called Kuroko.
"Pprrtt..." Kagami waited expectantly for Kuroko to answer, but nothing came from the other side.
"Kuroko, you bastard..." Kagami muttered furiously. He tried calling again, but to no avail. 'Why was Kuroko not answering? He usually answers as soon as possible.' Kagami thought.
"Is Kuroko answering?" Kawahara asked.
"No, the bastard." Kagami replied. Everyone in the room was staring at their ace, who was seething with rage. 'He looks scarier than when he got subbed out during his first Too match.' everyone thought.
"Why don't you go over and check on him?" Coach suggested, "If you're so worried." There was nods from everyone on the team.
"Just ME?" Kagami shouted. Wasn't the rest of the team going to come, too?
"Hai." Hyuga replied, "Me, Izuki, Koganei, Mitobe, and Kiyoshi have a group project to work on, and since Izuki hasn't met up with us in a while, we have extra work to do."
"Besides, it's probably nothing." Koganei added, "And we all have school work."
"Yeah, you're probably right. Hey, does anyone know where he lives?" Kagami asked. Everyone looked at each other. Awkward silence filled the gym.
Hyuga sighed, "So that's a no then, right?"
The others may have been unworried, but Kagami refused to shrug off his partner's absence as a passing sickness, or something even pettier. If that were the case, then Kuroko would have called, or sent a note. Kuroko was not one to cause unnecessary panic among his peers.
"Who would know where Kuroko lives?" Coach wondered aloud.
"What about Akashi?" Furihata suggested tentatively.
"Okay, I'll call him on the way home."
Kagami changed and walked out of the gym, the last one out.
~Time Skip~
He was sitting at Maji's Burger, unable to think clearly from the worry. He pulled out his phone and dialed Akashi's number. Kagami hoped the Emperor was in a good mood, Kagami had gotten scissored once, he didn't need to get scissored again.
"Moshi Moshi." Akashi answered the phone on the fourth ring.
A/N: Is "Moshi Moshi" right?
"Akashi!" Kagami greeted him loudly, "I was wondering if you had Kuroko's address."
"And why do you need that?"
"Er... Kuroko didn't show up to practice today, and I wanted to make sure he was okay."
"Meet me at Maji's."
"Hello, Taiga."
"Akashi!" the Kagami cried out, whirling in his seat quickly to face the Emperor, "How did you get here so fast?" Then Kagami noticed the other Miracles. "Wha- What are you all doing here?!" Kagami asked after settling down and scanning the group, "And where is Kise and Murasakibara?"
"I was in fact going to call a Kiseki no Sedai Meeting, and I know how much the others like Maji's Burger, so I just happened to be in the area. Ryota did not respond, so I intend to punish him greatly. Atsushi said he had to study with Tatsuya for an exam, so I let that slide." Akashi said indifferently, ignoring the shivers of fear and piteous faces while stopping Aomine from shouting out, "But you said Tetsuya is missing?"
"Uh, hai." Kagami said, "No one knows where he is." The others frowned.
"It is unlike Kuroko to skip practice without notifying you." Midorima thought aloud, "Once, he and Aomine even tried to ditch, but Kuroko told Akashi about it."
"Do you know where he lives or not?!" Kagami yelled, but he was laughing on the inside.
"Yes, I do." Akashi looked at Kagami coolly, but you could see some irritation in his eyes. He motioned for Kagami to follow him, and Kagami complied. They walked out of the restaurant together. Kagami didn't even get any food. The group boarded a train for about 10 minutes. Kagami was staring at the Emperor. After all, no one sees the heir to an extremely well-known and renowned business company riding on a public transportation.
After they exited the train, they walked down the main street for about five minutes. The group just walked in silence. No one really knew what to talk about, and Akashi didn't really mind the silence. They were walking behind small one-story houses now. The sun was starting to set by the time they came to Kuroko's house, so no one was walking down the sidewalk. There were less streetlamps too, and thus the street was darker than the main street.
Kuroko's was simple, a brown roof and tan walls, it had a porch and an awning. But what was really strange was that the door was open. The whole house dark, and packages sat in front of the door.
"This... is his house?" Kagami muttered, "It's so plain... yet it screams 'Kuroko'..."
"Baka!" Midorima snapped at him, "Focus on the bigger picture!"
"For once, the Oha-Asa freak is right." Aomine said darkly, "Tetsu is not nearly irresponsible enough to leave his house in this state."
"O-Oha-Asa f-freak?!" Midorima shrieked in outrage.
"Tetsuya is not one to be so irresponsible." Akashi agreed, "Something is wro-" Akashi was cut off by a low growl.
GGGGGRRRRRRR...
Two large dark brown... things came out. They were as big as Murasakibara with broad shoulders and huge hands. They were furry, and they had what looked like the head of wolves. They were snarling and snapping. They had red beady eyes, and swiveling ears. Their tails were swishing slowly. Their hind paws were more lupine like than human. Their teeth long, jagged, and white. Their fingertips were black like eagle talons, and just as sharp.
"What the hell?" Aomine whispered to the others as quietly as possible, "What are they?" Aomine had not meant that to come out as a whisper, but he couldn't raise his voice. His fists balled, but that was in an effort to keep his hands from shaking.
"Follow my lead." Akashi said in a low voice, ignoring Aomine. Akashi slowly slid into a crouch, and, making as little sudden movements as possible, crept away. The Kiseki no Sedai followed along without hesitation. The Kaibutsu lowered themselves as well, now on all-fours. They prowled forward, and Akashi froze.
Kagami watched with horror. His cynophobia was kicking in, and was making his legs weak and his heart beat fast. There was a discomfort in his chest, one that can be classified at anxiety. His throat constricted, and he was finding it hard to breathe.
"Shintaro, throw your lucky item at them." Akashi ordered Midorima in a low voice, "As hard as you can."
Midorima suddenly flung a small black sphere at the Kaibutsu. When the sphere landed, it hissed and smoke started to burst out of it, quickly shrouding the Kaibutsu. The Kaibutsu yelped in surprise and backed away.
"Run!" Akashi hissed at the other Sedais. They shot off, the Kaibutsu unable to follow because their noses were too full of smoke. When they reached the brighter main street, the paused and let themselves actually think through their situation.
"W-what were they?" Midorima stuttered, staring down the road they just came from (Those goddamn athletes weren't even out of breath). Midorima would be lying if he didn't say he wasn't scared. His hand were shaking, and his heart ready to burst from his body. But in his mind, he was blessing Oha-Asa for saying that Cancers might need a minor smoke bomb (don't you worry how he got the bomb, dear reader).
"Werewolves?" Aomine offered, his voice slightly higher than usual.
"Ahomine, werewolves don't exist." Kagami snapped at him.
"Then how do you explain those things, BAKAGAMI?" Aomine shot back at him.
"Enough, Taiga, Daiki." Akashi glared daggers at the two, making them gulp, "I do not have the patience of Tetsuya nor the willingness to let you two be." Aomine and Kagami glared at each other once, probably with an expression along the lines of, We'll finish this later. Midorima rolled his eyes at their antics, but said nothing to aggravate the two.
"Akashi, do you have an explanation for us?" Midorima asked instead.
"...no." Midorima could hear the hesitance when Akashi admitted it. That was terrifying, knowing that someone who had power over the government had no idea what was going on.
"Those things were at Tetsu's house." Aomine didn't continue, knowing that the others would understand.
"Does... this mean that..." Kagami couldn't continue. His throat was still tight, and his legs still numb.
"No, they had no blood on them." Akashi said, "Tetsuya would not go down without a fight."
"Yeah... yeah, you're right." Kagami sighed, "This trip has raised more questions than it answered."
"Yes, but it's too late to find more answers now." Akashi agreed, "We'll split up now, and meet in the morning."
"Uh, Akashi, not to burst your bubble or something but... tomorrow I have school." Kagami said.
"I don't care." Akashi said firmly, "Come to Maji's or not, it's up to you, just make sure to tell your coaches that you'll be out for the day. Come by 7."
"'Kay." Aomine took it in stride, not even shocked by Akashi's demands anymore. Once you've stuck it out with the Emperor for over 3 years, you get used to him.
"Wha-" Kagami was interrupted.
"Are you defying me?" The Sedais furiously shook their heads behind Akashi's back at Kagami. Their faces clearly said, 'Don't aggravate him further, BAKAGAMI!!!'
"No..."
"Good." Akashi turned to the others who'd breathed out a sigh of relief, "Until we meet again."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Thank you for reading so far! If you like it, please say so! I am currently working on the next chapter so don't worry. Unfortunately, I'm that kind of person who starts something, gets some great idea, then doesn't complete either for a while, so sorry if this story takes a long time. Ja, until next time!
~PhantomShadow1115