ASDFGHJKL WELCOOOME BACK EVERYOOOOONE! We're back with an updaaaate! OMG it's been a while and I'm supeeer sorry again for taking long to update, I got buried with the pile of anime and TV shows to watch, not to mention school *sighs* I dont know how am I even aliveeee~~ But don't worry I wont leave MtKB hanging, I'll do my best to thread this till the end! And also, massive thank you to everyone who reviewed last update Ern Estine 13624, TheRandomSekihanFan, psychobubbles, and Guest! OMG you guys are sooo awesome, and also thank you to everyone who left a follow and fav! I hope you guys are liking the story so far, and dont worry since MtKB will have a massive difference with LION-*winks* Furi is not in danger, ooor maybe *chuckles evilly* Also since almost most of my KnB fanfics had the GoMs as brothers, siblings or at least two of them are, I will definetly change that here. And as I mentioned in the previous author notes before, we will pave the way of how the plot of the KnB series progressedd so they would meet the GoM in the order of how they met them in the show, and when I mean meet I mean Akafuri will come on the last-BUUUT fear not since I have a bias for it you will already know what exactly Furi is to Akashi but just a tiny bit only-the rest will be explained when the time comes.
Anyhow I will leave you with that for nooow, and I'm suuuper excited to write the next xhapter, since I wanna go get to reveal the Akafuri since lots of you guys had been asking 'how come Akashi doesnt recognize Furi from the photos in the newspapers?' we'll get to that very verrry soon. But for now, let's reveal the essence of Akashi in the whole story, are you REAAADY? ASDFGHJKL, here it is!
PS.
REVIEEEW PLEAAASE *puppy eyes and cherry pies*
Chapter 16: ALIVE
"Furihata look out!"
Gasp, Furihata felt his whole body went rigid as the black sedan came screeching towards him. He had never been the lucky sheep in the herd, however he had never thought he would die on the day of filming their music video. Bracing himself for the impact and silently apologizing to everyone who will be inconvenienced of his death today he closed his eyes.
SCREECH!
Knitting his eyebrows Furihata felt the hot bumper of the car nudging in his knees—there was no force, he didn't even felt any pain. It was as if time stood still for a moment, and he cracked an eye open, his eye saw the car had come to a halt perfectly just a breath away from him. Well maybe he wasn't entirely unlucky. Furihata bowed his head to the occupants of the car, his mind quickly reeled itself, he cant be distracted today, he gotta run, if he stay still Kagami and the rest would think he's injured—and he isnt.
"I'm sorry!" Furihata exclaimed as he sprinted towards Takao who was staring at him with wide eye. He placed his hand in prayer and bowed apologetically as the figure behind the tinted window in the backseat. To his surprise, he found the window reeling down.
"Are you alright?" Furihata heard Takao asked.
Before Furihata could turn to answer Takao's question, the man on the passenger seat removed his black tinted shades, and revealed the heterochromatic eyes he swore he'd never forget—
"What are you playing?"
The boy who was standing in front of the full length window stopped. His hair was like the color of sunset, it was bright red. The boy turned to face him for the first time since he had started being his lessons with Furihata's parents. Furihata couldn't help the gasped of awe escaping his lips as he found the boy's eyes glowed as he stood behind the light showering from the window. The other was the color of the morning sun while the other was the color of the setting sun.
"Sound of an Angel" The boy answered. "Who might you be?"
"I-I am…I am F-Furihata Kouki."
"My name is S—"
"Furi!"
Furihata blinked himself off from his reverie as Takao grabbed both of his shoulder and forced the brunette to look at him in the eyes. "Furi, are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah." Furihata answered as he heard the car's engine start again and drove away.
"Let's go." Takao said as they walked towards the parked van.
The door opened with Aida Riko smirking and gesturing them to come in.
"Don't glare at me!" Aida said as she threw her hands in the air.
The four boys sat in her office sweating profusely, Kagami was practically sprawled in the loveseat like a starfish, meanwhile Takao had downed his third water bottle, and Kuroko was wiping his sweat with a white towel, Furihata was quietly drinking water wondering what their manager is exactly saying. Well surely if they weren't so tired from running and performing simultaneously she might have been right, they might have been piercing her with their eyes.
"I am never doing that again." Kagami said not moving in his position.
Aida shrugged as she picked up the papers in her desk, "Well I got what we need."
"You mean torturing us?"
Aida glared at Kagami and threw a paper clip at the crimson haired vocalist, "Shut up, you'll be kissing my toes when you see the end results."
"Ew!" Kagami exclaimed bolting up. "I don't want to wish to kiss your ingrown!"
"Kagami-kun you are gross." Kuroko said as he glared at the other. "You and your insanely long limbs are insufferable."
"Hey! I got you out!"
"I can perfectly bust my way out."
Takao smirked at the two while Furihata smiled awkwardly—they're at it again, the two thought in unison.
"Oh please save the love quarrel later you two." Aida said causing the two to shut their mouth and inevitably blush in embarrassment. The brown haired manager flipped through the pages of the paper in her hands. "So we got about the one-third of the music video since we were interrupted in the middle of the performance. Anyhow, tomorrow we'll have the rest of the video filmed."
"Please don't throw us in a crowd like stuffs toys thrown into a crowd of kids." Furihata said sheepishly.
Aida laughed, "Oh, no, we're going to have the real deal."
The four swallowed a forming lump in their throats, for some reason that didn't sound very convincing.
.
.
.
The next day…
Furihata blinked as he stare at the set, it didn't seem like a small budget at all. There were lights getting adjusted here and there, there were four camera men as he can see it, they were all having a conversation with a man wearing a baseball cap, Furihata guessed the man is their director. He turned and he found his lips twitching, he had never tried acting before and he wasn't sure if he would do any good.
He looked at his clothes, he was dressed in an all-black outfit, a black fitting pants, a dark blue shirt under a black hooded jacket. He didn't even understand why he had to join as well, unlike the other three was the most average looking, he didn't even know if he would look good in the camera frame. Furihata turned and found Kagami practically wrestling with their make up artist, he had been refusing to put on anything since they got there. Takao is probably still getting dressed.
"You look nervous."
Furihata practically jumped out of his flesh as he found Kuroko by his side with his big blue eyes staring at him. Kuroko looked like a doll in his dark red shirt over a black cardigan that reached down his thighs. He was wearing a black skinny pants and white sneakers. He looked composed unlike the brunette.
"I-I am." Furihata admitted. "I-I'm not sure what to do, w-what if I-I make become a burden for everyone, I-I don't know how to move in front of the camera."
Kuroko gave him an understanding smile, "Just don't look in the camera unless you need to."
"T-That doesn't c-comfort me at all."
Kuroko pursed his lips, "If it makes you feel better, let me tell you something."
"What is it?"
"I'm scared of cameras."
Furihata stated at Kuroko for a whole one minute, "What?"
Kuroko gave a fond smile, "But not when you are all with me."
Furihata's eyes widen at the teal haired boy's confession.
"The flashes of camera and the sight of it make me very anxious. It reminds me of…things." Kuroko said. "But when I am with everyone, I don't feel that frightened anymore. I'm not afraid of anymore, because I know Kagami-kun, Takao-kun and Furihata-kun has my back."
Furihata felt a blush creeping in his cheeks, Kuroko had thought so much of them like that. The teal haired musician smiled fondly at Furihata. "You'll do just fine."
"No!"
"Alright whatever, damn it!"
The two turned towards the source of the commotion, the makeup artist threw her hands up in the air in defeat. Furihata laughed quietly as he found Kagami and his eyebrows knitted in a scowl. He looked good in a black muscle shirt and the dark denim jeans. His hair was styled looking slightly dishelved. He looked like those guys you see in some kind of romantic action movie. Furihata turned to Kuroko and found the teal haired musician averting his eyes away from Kagami.
"Uhm uh…hi." Kagami said awkwardly as walked towards them scratching the back of his neck, Furihata mentally laughed at the taller male's inability to hide the blush in his cheeks.
"H-Hi." Kuroko replied with an obvious stutter in his words.
Furihata eyed Kagami suggestively while smirking. If it wasn't obvious enough, Furihata would say the two had a thing going on between them, especially after that issue with Aomine. Somehow they look a bit awkward but at the same time they look comfortable with each other.
"Whoa, keep your hands to yourself man."
Kagami's eyes widen as he found Aomine coming from behind him and practically skipping towards Kuroko and smugly putting an arm around the teal haired musician. As if it was an automatic response Kagami growled at the tanned skin male, what on earth was he doing in their shoot, and he was being overly comfortable with Kuroko. Furihata who was between them tried to pacify the crimson haired vocalist to no avail.
Kuroko sighed and turned to Aomine who was grinning at Kagami. The scowl however faded from Kuroko's lips as he saw the new light in the blue haired idiot next to him. Somehow, it occurred to him that he had sorted things with Kise causing a small smile crack in his lips.
"What the fuck are you doing here?!" Kagami growled at the other like an angry animal.
Aomine backed away from Kuroko raising both his hands in the air, "Whoa put a leash on your pet Tetsu."
"You deserve his anger, Aomine-kun." Kuroko said as he walked towards Kagami and placed a hand over the other's arm silently telling the other that it was alright. Kagami looked at him hesitantly but Kuroko gave him a miniscule smile and shook his head. "It's alright."
"Wow, you like have this ESP connection as well?" Aomine joked.
"Shut up aho."
"Wow creative there bakagami."
Kuroko sighed, "How old are you two, five years olds?"
"Hey I didn't start it!" Aomine said in his defense.
"But what exactly are you doing here anyways?" Kuroko asked.
This time Aomine smiled and tipped his head pointing behind Kuroko. As soon as Kuroko turned to look behind him he found himself getting snuggled by a tall blonde guy.
"Kurokocchi!" Kise exclaimed loudly.
Kuroko sighed in expiration as he wiggled himself out of Kise's arms. The blonde was smiling widely with a huge bouquet of blue lotus. Kagami raised an eyebrow at the bouquet. It was the same thing he gave Kuroko when he first attended Kuroko's performance.
"Congratulations!" Kise exclaimed as he attempted to sneak another bone crushing hug again from the teal haired musician who effectively dodged it by pressing himself closer to Kagami. Kise smiled at the sight and chuckled lightly.
"What are you doing here as well, Kise-kun?"
"I am your number one fan!" Kise exclaimed with too much energy Kagami swore would put the sun to shame. Kise was like a kid in a sugar induced high. Kise giggled before presenting Kuroko the bouquet. "Congratulations Kurokocchi! I heard you were making your first MV today!"
Kuroko gave a small appreciative smile before taking the flowers from Kise's hand.
"They're pretty."
"I got your favourite of course!" Kise said proudly.
Kagami raised an eyebrow at Kuroko, "That's your favourite?"
Kuroko blushed as he remembered Kagami bought him the same bouquet when he first came to watch Kuroko's performance. The teal haired musician meekly nodded at the question making the three overseer smirk.
"It's Kurokocchi's favourite flower, it means rising above from adversaries, it meant strength and courage." Kise elaborated as he found Kuroko's blush slightly getting darker. He was obviously smitten over Kagami. "It's not a very popular choice of flower since they are usually given and used in Buddhist temples."
"W-What? Seriously?" Kagami asked completely baffled.
"You didn't know?" Kise asked.
Kagami shook his head, before scratching the back of his head, "Uh, I-I didn't…"
Kise and Aomine briefly exchanged looks and smiled.
"Anyways, I'm also had to say sorry for how I acted last time." Kise said before bowing his head to the three. "I understand I was a bit of rude then."
Kuroko shook his head, "It's nothing. If there was anyone who was rude then it was Aomine-kun."
Kise laughed out loud as he heard Aomine gasped at the cold blank and frank comment of their former band mate. His words were as cold as a bucket of ice poured raw into Aomine. The teal haired boy didn't even bother to sweeten the words.
"You could have said it a bit nicer Tetsu."
"I have no talent with such Aomine-kun." Kuroko said placidly. "And?"
The two blinked, "And?" Aomine asked confused, "What do you mean and?"
Kuroko's facial expression quickly fell and his teal blue eyes were staring hardly at the two, they were cold and there was a slight tinge of what seems like rage in them.
"There is something else that you want me to hear, yes?"
Kise sighed and looked at Aomine nodding. This was the right time—
…
"All done!"
Takao blinked at his own reflection in the mirror, he looked…well, better, the dark bags under his eyes from drawing and making manuscripts overnight were gone, and his hair looked like it has gotten straight out of a salon. The female makeup artists giggled as she started putting her things back in order, she praised Takao for having such nice features to work on. The raven haired bassist could hardly agree, he didn't peg himself to have any nice features, he thought his face were typical.
Takao stood and looked himself at the mirror, he was wearing a V-neck black fitting long sleeves shirt, with white stripe on each of the elbow of the sleeves paired with a black fitting ripped jeans. He had never looked so ready to rock until today, he chuckled at his owns thoughts.
"Ah, Takao-san you have a visitor." Takao blinked as he heard the makeup artist said, turning to where the woman is, he found her standing by the opening of the tent, grinning and giggling next to a familiar tall young man.
"S-Shin-chan?"
The makeup artist giggled even more at the nickname making Midorima scowl at him.
"I'll leave you two alone." She said as she bowed her head and excused herself from the room.
Midorima sighed and welcomed himself, typical of the man. Midorima was wearing a white dress shirt and a khaki pants making him look very much like himself, cold, sophisticated and…charming. Takao cleared his throat at his thoughts, no, Midorima Shintaro may be a very talented guy but after knowing lots about him, charming should be on the last part of Takao's list of words to describe the man. But those pants and long legs were very…
"I hope your pea size brain was not blown by the wind this morning." Midorima said cutting Takao from his trance and waking the raven from his daydream, yes, because the true Midorima Shintaro is ten times much of insensitive than his daydream version of.
"What got you here?" Takao asked sighing.
Midorima stared at Takao for a good half a minute before Takao felt his cheeks flaming under the inspecting emerald green eyes. Damn him for liking the way those green eyes reminds him of the luscious green bamboo groves, they are not pretty at all.
"I have heard there was almost an accident during the first shoot of the video." Midorima said plainly.
"I-It wasn't me." Takao said, his voice stammering, he hope Midorima would get a hint that staring at people wasn't the best way of getting answers. "F-Furi a-almost got hit but he's okay."
Midorima hummed quietly before finally letting his eyes off from the other, he looked fine indeed, he wasn't limping or anything…not that he cared though. It wasn't what exactly what he went there for anyways, right? The tall green haired young man looked around the makeshift dressing room, it did scream Takao in it with the mess.
"You're not here to ask me what happened on the shoot, right?" Takao quickly said. He didn't know what made him say that, he just knew Midorima wouldn't simply slip in to ask him that. He is after all an artist as well, news fly quickly around, he could have known that they were alright if that was what he wanted. "Is this…is this something about Kuroko?"
Midorima raised an eyebrow, something was weird at the tone of voice Takao said, somehow it sounded strained.
"No." Midorima answered quickly, why did he felt like he wanted to defend himself? Was that…an accusation?
Takao creased his eyebrows together and stared at Midorima, "Then what?"
Midorima shifted his eyes around the room as if ensuring no one else was there before speaking, "The brunette that you introduced to me, that drummer, how long have you known him?"
Takao felt like a fish that was pulled out of the water, wait, Midorima Shintaro is interested in Furihata? Takao suddenly felt his throat went as dry as Sahara. Did he went here to ask him about Furihata? Something bitter stirred inside Takao, despite all the things he realzed upon meeting Midorima Shintaro, he was still the man that Takao admired most. He wanted him to see him in eye level. But now that they were that way, it felt like it wasn't yet. Midorima was now looking at someone else.
"Takao?"
Takao blinked again, "W-What?"
"You were spacing."
Takao was about to answer when he felt Midorima's bandaged fingertips grazed his cheek, his eyes widen as the taller male settled the hand there, his palm against the soft skin of his cheek. "You don't seem to have a fever." Midorima said as he retracted his hand with a frown. "If you are nervous, I must remind you that this is only the beginning if you wish to become the greatest rival of the Generation of Miracle's popularity."
"I-I am not nervous." Takao huffed and stepped back. "W-What was your question again?"
"The drummer, what was his name again?"
"Furihata Kouki?"
Midorima nodded, "Yes, that Furihata Kouki, how long have you known him?"
Takao paused for a second thinking, "Not very long, a few years. I met him back when I was in college. He is a year younger than me."
"He is your…junior?"
Takao nodded.
"What else do you know about him?"
Takao titled his head in the side, it was really starting to bother him the way Midorima seemed too interested with Furihata.
"His family is in-line with music."
"Are they musicians?"
Takao nodded, "Furi's father is a pianist and his mother plays traditional music."
"Do any of them knows how to play a violin?"
Takao raised an eyebrow and answered, "Yeah I mean I think so, I heard his family owns a private music school for—"
"Children?"
Takao pursed his lips looking at Midorima in the eyes, "Yeah, that. How did you know that?"
Midorima bit his lower lip as he crossed his arms over is chest in contemplation.
"Shin-chan how did you know?"
Midorima exhaled rather loudly as he looked again at Takao, "Has he mentioned about someone, a childhood acquaintance of some sort?"
"Uh…why are you asking me this?"
Midorima sighed, "It is important."
"You didn't answer me, Shin-chan."
"I think Furihata Kouki is the child I saw then."
"You were…childhood friends with…Furi?" Takao said, the words felt heavy in his lips somehow and it stirred something bad in Takao's chest. However the feelings were quickly washed away by Midorima's usual scowl.
"Your sense of reasoning is off." Midorima said, "No, that is not what I meant. Back then I visited a friend during his lessons, and I saw him with a child, I think it is Furihata Kouki."
"And so?"
"And so that boy is—"
...
"Akashi is planning something."
Kuroko furrowed his eyebrows at the mention of the name, "Is this…is he the one who urged you to release the song?" he asked the tanned skin musician who nodded as an answer.
Furihata creased his eyebrows and looked between the two, "Akashi…?" he asked in a low voice, the name sounded familiar.
"Why would he do that?" Kuroko asked, his voice low and threatening.
"You know why." Aomine answered.
"What, to mock me?"
Kise shook his head, "No, he wants you to admit that you cannot function without any of us."
This time it was Kagami's turn to find rage, he frowned and shifted his eyes from Kuroko to the two. There was clear indication of some kind of bad blood between Akashi. Kagami remembered that guy, he was the leader of the band back then, the guy with the strange heterochromatic eyes. Unlike Kuroko's usual reaction with the rest of the mention of the names of the Generation of Miracles, the mention of Akashi's name elicited a different Kuroko Tetsuya. He usually was full of regrets and fear but when it was Akashi, Kuroko was a warrior who would rather risk his whole garrison just to defeat the man.
Clenching his hands into a fist, Kuroko stared right in Aomine's eyes-
"Tell him…watch me."