Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basket is owned by Fujimaki Tadatoshi

Pairing: AkaKuro

A/N: Thanks to my reviewers: innocence-creator, miso-misi, Narutopokefan, Anglo-Chan, maybe143, Kichou, KanikiKyon, EclipseKuran, Neither of them, Sadistic Crimson Angel Akashi, angel of neverending darkness, Assasin8, Ayusa, fostinefoli, deadlycute17, KurokoTetsuya101 and 3 Guests. Thanks to the favorite and follow alerts as well!


Second Night: The Revenant's Phantasm


Kuroko groaned as he slowly opened his eyes, blinking away the fogginess of sleep. Seeing the unfamiliar ceiling, he slowly sat up and his eyes wandered around the room he was currently at, drinking in the grandiose décor, the expensive furnishings, the big four-poster bed with a cover of vermilion color, the large window showing the dark, starry night outside and even the soft velvet couch he was laying at.

He pursed his lips. He wondered where he was—

Kuroko stopped and suddenly remembered his last vision of crimson hair and eyes before passing out. No, he didn't pass out, he was knocked unconscious.

Aside from the actual abduction itself, he was surprised to be detected and even got captured considering his weak presence. He didn't have that many friends which, of course, also meant that he didn't have any enemies (it was one of the perks of being unnoticeable), that could be behind this. He always kept a low profile that he was practically invisible to others. And judging by the sensation of being stalked since yesterday night, he knew that this wasn't an ordinary kidnapping either.

Kuroko's eyes scrutinized the lavished room. Being held hostage for a ransom was totally out of the question, not that he or his family were rich to begin with. He tried to feel if there were other presences in there with him. Sensing that he was alone, he was about to stand up when he heard a voice.

"Good evening."

Kuroko blinked and then suddenly his captor was now sitting in a chair across from him, watching him intently with his ruby red eyes. Giving no outward reaction, he was still shocked to find someone in the room so fast without his notice and he was pretty sure he didn't hear a door being opened. He was certain he was alone in the room just a few seconds ago.

"I'm sure you're wondering where you are," his captor said.

Kuroko frowned. "No, I was wondering why you kidnapped me."

"Straight to the point, I see."

Kuroko watched the red haired stranger. Regardless of the calm exterior and relax posture, he still emitted a dark, powerful and dangerous aura and Kuroko knew that this man was not someone to be trifled with. Despite of all of that though, he still felt safe in the other's presence even if he was his abductor and have the feeling that the red head wouldn't try to harm him. Kuroko wondered why he felt that way.

His thoughts were interrupted when his kidnapper spoke. "The reason why I took you is because you caught my interest."

Kuroko coolly regarded the red head. "And kidnapping me was the only way to get my attention? Don't you think that's a little bit drastic?"

Kuroko saw the red head's lips twitched up in an amused smile. "Getting only your attention wasn't adequate enough, I suppose."

"What do you want from me?" Kuroko asked. There must be something important of a reason more than interest that the red head had abducted him.

The red head stared at him for a moment before standing up and walked towards the window. "Do you want the truth or the lie?" he asked with his back to Kuroko, watching the twinkling stars in the dark sky.

"What do you mean?" Kuroko asked, confused at where the conversation was going. When he didn't receive any reply, he sighed and opted to answer the question. "Normally, people would pick the truth, right?"

"Normally, yes," the red head nodded, turning to him. "But what about you, what would you choose?"

"To ask that kind of question, it only means that the truth would probably be something out of the ordinary or something unfathomable," Kuroko guessed.

The red head smirked. "Perceptive, I like it." He moved towards Kuroko without breaking eye contact and sat beside him. "Would you like to know the truth?"

Kuroko couldn't answer. He suppose he could say yes but for the red head to even give him a choice, it only meant that the other valued his opinion since the red head could just get what he wanted from him forcibly. At the thought and before he could stop himself, he asked, "Do you want sex?"

The red head stared, blinking at him in probably surprise at his bluntness before flat-out chuckling. Not the reaction Kuroko was hoping for, but it was probably a good thing since it can only mean that that wasn't the reason why the red head wanted him. "So you didn't kidnap me for that?"

The red head shook his head, amusement still visible on his face. "Though now that you've mentioned it," he said and trailed one finger to Kuroko's left cheek, "I might consider it."

Kuroko swiftly backed away and cooled his expression before embarrassment could set in. "Then please pretend I didn't ask that."

"Too late," the red head said, a smirk splayed on his lips.

Kuroko cleared his throat and pretended to ignore what happened. "Back to the matter at hand, what did you mean by the truth?"

The red head turned back to his serious expression. "I am a vampire and I captured you because I want your blood," he said point blank.

Now, it was Kuroko's turn to be surprised. Did he just hear it right? Did his captor just said he was a vampire and that he wanted Kuroko's blood? He must have heard wrong. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"I'm a vampire and I want your blood." No, Kuroko didn't heard wrong. The red head actually said that he was a vampire.

Kuroko closed his eyes tightly. "This must be a dream. This is just a dream," he whispered to himself, hoping that it really was a dream because hearing about vampires existing was just too unreal but the red head's voice completely shattered that.

"I'm afraid this isn't a dream."

Kuroko opened his eyes and clashed with ruby red ones. "You're lying."

The red head raised an eyebrow at him. "I did let you choose between the truth and a lie and what I just said was the truth no matter how improbable it was."

Kuroko regarded the red head in a new light and became slightly wary of him. "So you really are a vampire and not just delusional?"

"Considering that I've been alive for a long, long time and remembered every single detail of it, yes I'm sure that I am vampire and not mentally deranged," the red head answered and to prove his point showed his fangs to him.

Seeing the fangs, Kuroko's heart thudded wildly against his chest. Feeling anxious, he hastily stood up to paced back and forth. He could feel the red head—no, the vampire—watching him calmly. "You're a vampire and you want my blood?" he asked.

"Yes," the vampire frankly said.

Kuroko stopped pacing and turned to the vampire. "So you took me here, wherever this is, to drink my blood and kill me?"

"Who said about killing you?"

Now, Kuroko was getting confused. "But I thought you took me here to drink me dry, didn't you?"

The vampire looked at him in mirth. "I could but I wouldn't be able to enjoy your blood more if I did that. I like to savor your blood if possible."

"So I'm going to be like your personal blood bank."

"Not the way that I would put it but yes, you could say that," the vampire said. "Don't worry, in compensation, I'll take care of you and your needs."

Kuroko once again paced. "In short, you're going to pamper me like cattle until you decided to butcher me."

"How morbid," the vampire commented.

Kuroko paused to glare at the vampire, who seemed entertained by the whole thing. "I'm glad you find amusement in all of this."

"Well, you are quite amusing," the vampire shrugged.

Kuroko sighed and tiredly flopped down on the chair that the vampire previously occupied. He looked at the red head dejectedly. "Why me?"

The vampire stared at him for a minute before leaning forward. "Because your blood is one of a kind, Kuroko Tetsuya; couple with your weak presence, you are an extraordinary human."

Kuroko didn't know whether to be shocked that the vampire knew his name, or his weak presence, or described his blood as odd; maybe all three. Since the vampire was stalking him, of course he would know about his low presence and the blood was pretty much self-explanatory. But his name, how did the vampire get a hold of that?

Kuroko's thoughts must be quite obvious in his expression as the red head smirked and explained. "It was simple really. I followed you on your way home; your last name is on the house's name plate. Vampires have advance hearing so I could hear your mother calling you by your first name. And you already know that I trailed you to your school and teachers do check their student's attendance."

Kuroko berated himself for not thinking of that sooner. He, once again, sighed and rubbed his temple wearily.

"Akashi Seijuurou."

He looked at the red head and blinked in confusion. "Eh?"

"It's my name," the vampire said. "I figured since I already know yours, it's only polite to give you my name."

Kuroko was surprised. He never thought the vampire would introduce himself. "Are you sure it's fine to give me your name?"

"Of course," the vampire said, confidence oozing from him. "You and I both know that you can't escape from here and from me so whether you know my name or not doesn't matter. And besides, we'll be living on the same roof; it's inevitable that you'll know my name."

The vampire did have a point. Kuroko realized that he couldn't escape from him, not yet at least. There might be a possibility that an opportunity to escape might come for him so for now he would just have to wait. He didn't know what would happen to him there but he swore to himself that he would get away when he got the chance.

Kuroko's train of thought dropped when the vampire said, "It's pretty obvious what you're thinking."

"It's not like I'm trying to hide it or anything," he said, shrugging. "Anyone in my situation would think of the same thing."

The vampire clasped his hands together on his lap. "Except that you're calm and accepted the situation with ease. Most would be hysterical especially when they found out that vampires exist and would beg for their lives to be spared."

"It sounds like you've already done this many times," Kuroko noted.

The red head smirked. "Actually no, I haven't. Humans are very easy to read, a few praises here and there and you'll have them at the palm of your hands in no time. Persuading them is remarkably easy."

"Persuasion…" Kuroko trailed off and gazed at the vampire in understanding. "That's the reason. You drink their blood and persuade them to forget about it or you."

The vampire smiled in satisfaction. "You're sharp. And yes, persuasion is one of the gifts of being a vampire."

Kuroko narrowed his eyes at the vampire. "If you can persuade anyone to drink their blood, why do you need me?"

"As I've stated before, your blood is exceptional."

Kuroko sighed in defeat. He knew that no matter how hard he tried and insisted on asking the same questions over and over again, the vampire would just evade it in a vague manner and turn the conversation in circles. He knew that all he could do was to go along with the vampire. For now, at least. Kuroko returned his gaze back to the vampire. "Why are you telling me all of this? Why don't you just drink my blood right now?"

"I want to," the vampire admitted, his red eyes glinting dangerously, "but not yet and because I want you to know. That's all there is to it."

No, it isn't, Kuroko thought but didn't pursue more. "I…" he started and took a deep breath, gathering all his courage, "I know that I have no chance against you nonetheless I'm determined to win my freedom back. I'll win no matter what."

The vampire paused at his words and then smirked before moving towards Kuroko; his right hand clutching the back of his chair and the other on the armrest, leaning closer to Kuroko. "I changed my mind. I want you."

Kuroko tried to back away at the vampire's closeness but it was useless since there was no more space to lean back in his chair and Kuroko finally sensed the feeling of being trapped. He glared at the vampire. "You want my blood, you mean."

The red head smiled and tipped his head closer to him. "Well, yes, there is that. But I want you," he said and leaned closer to his ear to whisper, "I want all of you."

xXx

Akashi watched the change in Kuroko's expression from wary to confusion and then finally to understanding. He backed off when Kuroko gently pushed him away. Kuroko sighed and then curiously stared up at him. "What made you changed your mind?"

Akashi fought off the urge to smile at Kuroko's impassiveness. Here he was revealing his interest to him and not just for his blood and Kuroko was taking it all in a stride as if he was always propositioned like this. "Your resilience, love," he answered.

Kuroko furrowed his brows in confusion at the endearment he used but seemed to disregard it. "That's a very shallow reason."

"Maybe so," Akashi agreed. "But I'm certain that I will find more reasons in the days to come."

Kuroko narrowed his eyes. "Just so you know I will make my stay here difficult for you."

"I expect you to," Akashi said, smirking. "If anything it will make my day very entertaining."

Kuroko glared at him fiercely. "I am not for your amusement and I'm not the type to give up. I will find a way out of here," he said and stood up, walking towards the door.

Akashi grabbed Kuroko by his waist from behind and muffled the surprised gasp Kuroko let out. "I already said it, didn't I? Struggling is futile. I advise to just accept your fate, my love," he whispered to Kuroko's ear.

Akashi smirked in amusement that instead of fear and despair, he felt Kuroko's indignation and ire flowing from him. He removed his hand from Kuroko's mouth when he tapped it so he could talk. "It is not fate when I've been taken against my will," Kuroko said, irritation lacing through his voice.

Akashi chuckled. He tilted Kuroko's head to the right baring that smooth pale neck and he could see his pulse throbbing swiftly. Oh, how he loved to sink his fangs to taste that sweet, sweet blood but he could wait. He was widely known for his patience after all.

Instead, Akashi pressed a light kiss in Kuroko's neck. He smirked when Kuroko stiffened up in his hold. "…Or maybe it was your destiny to be taken by me," he said, continuing their conversation as he placed soft kisses down Kuroko's neck. Not caring of the nails digging hard on his arm as he was more focused on Kuroko's sudden labored breathing. It didn't hurt anyway.

When Kuroko didn't respond or more like couldn't form any coherent thought, Akashi let out his fangs and slightly grazed Kuroko's neck with it. He closed his eyes in appreciation when Kuroko shivered in both fear and pleasure. "How responsive, my love," Akashi whispered to Kuroko's ear and with his right hand covered Kuroko's closed eyes.

Unbuttoning Kuroko's uniform, Akashi continued his ministrations and kissed Kuroko's neck all the way down to one exposed shoulder. He gently bit Kuroko's shoulder careful to not draw blood. He almost groaned when Kuroko gave an unrestrained moan in response. He was close to biting Kuroko and to finally taste his sweet blood when the door suddenly burst open.

Akashi felt Kuroko snapping out of his trance and struggled to break free from his grasp but he held him tighter.

"Akashicchi, are you there? We're…back…"

Akashi regarded his companions' shocked expressions. Kise had his eyes widened in surprise and was probably close to fainting. Aomine had his jaw dropped open in disbelief. Murasakibara stopped eating the potato chips he was carrying. And Midorima dropped the lemon—must be his lucky item for the day and saw that even his glasses were skewed.

Akashi glared at them, willing for all of them to go away.

Kise was the first to come out of his shock and seemed to get what Akashi's glare meant as after a hasty "Sorry for disturbing!" the door was then shut closed, leaving him and the frozen Kuroko inside.

Akashi sighed at the interruption and reluctantly released Kuroko from his grasp. He raised an eyebrow when Kuroko didn't move and seemed to be rooted in his spot. He walked in front of Kuroko and almost smiled at the chilling and cold glare that he received. "We'll continue this discussion some other time, love."

Akashi smirked when Kuroko's glare got colder. He reached out one hand to gently caressed one soft pale cheek and then grabbed Kuroko's chin to looked deeper in those beautiful sky blue eyes. He stepped closer to Kuroko until their faces were only a hair's breadth away, their breaths mingling together. He smiled when Kuroko seemed unfazed at their closeness.

"I would like to spend more time with you, love, but it seems like my companions are waiting for me," Akashi murmured, his lips slightly brushing against Kuroko's.

"Then, you should let me go," Kuroko whispered back.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that. So sleep for now, my love."

As soon as he said that, Akashi's eyes glowed and watched as Kuroko's eyelids slowly fluttered close but he saw the defiance burning in those sky blue eyes before Kuroko passed out. He caught the unconscious Kuroko and carried him to his bed. He carefully put down Kuroko and tenderly ran his hand through to those soft teal locks. And after kissing Kuroko chastely on the lips, he made his way to the door.

It was now time to explain about the new sudden changes to his coven.