Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basket is owned by Fujimaki Tadatoshi
Pairing: AkaKuro
A/N: お 誕生日おめでとう 赤司征十郎くん! I made it in time for Akashi-kun's birthday. So many b-days today like Kaneki-kun and Arima-san (but why is Sassan's birthday on April 2?).
Thanks to my reviewers: yoshan-chan, booklover1209, Kottori, Shinigami Ou, Hasuki-chan, silver woman, AngelTricks, fanlover18, Lithium HK, Swtazngrl5, Knight Yuuki, Assasin8, bright oblivion of abyss 09, ghostgal07/ghostgal008, Sweet Monster, CloudCarnivore, KurokiTh2, EclipseKuran, Lily Fenton Phantom, Dark Cat Food Lover, Naeme, Everlasting Snow Princess, strawburricake, KurokoTetsuya101, Jinx craft, DarkAlchemistAssassin, xeyuxe20, EchizenRyoma, The Crimson Red Rose, anon1123 and Tamani. Thanks for the favorite and follow alerts, too.
For the life of me, I can't write action scenes. I'm hopeless at it. I'm so sorry. (What am I going to do for the next arcs?!)
「First Descent: Arc I」
Eight Night: A Convergent Assault
Today was going to be an unusual day.
That was the first thing Akashi thought of as he started his day. Though his morning was relatively normal like the days before, he couldn't shake the sense of strangeness that kept stirring in his very being.
It seemed he wasn't the only one though.
Midorima was stricter than usual and kept glancing at Akashi as if he was going to disappear at any moment or just waiting for orders—for what—Akashi didn't know. Or wait, Akashi takes that back, he did know but it wasn't yet the time.
Aomine was oddly high-strung and kept to himself and didn't even get into any argument with Kise (or more like Kise's babbles were drifting through him like air). He only responded to Kuroko though more subdued and most of the time with only grunts, sighs or by nodding and shaking his head.
At least Kise and Murasakibara were acting normal. This bizarre behavior didn't pass Kuroko's notice, of course but Akashi distracted him enough to just leave it alone.
At Kuroko's request, Akashi accompanied Kuroko to the library after their breakfast and exchange books recommendation to each other and he only found out their tastes were almost alike. This turned into a few heated but enjoyable discussions about their views and opinions on each book. Akashi had a hard time to admit it but it was the most fun he had in a long time (except when he was sparring with his coven or just plain fighting at all) and he could see Kuroko felt the same way.
After handing Kuroko books Akashi thought he would like, both of them settled in the couch side by side, a book in each hand. Akashi's thoughts were far from what he was reading though as he had a lot in mind. Kuroko's presence let him settle somewhat but it still didn't erase his anxiousness.
"Is there something wrong Akashi-kun?"
Akashi blinked and snapped out of his musings as he turned to Kuroko beside him. He stared at Kuroko and made a mental note to himself to never underestimate Kuroko's perceptiveness and his penchant for figuring things out so easily. "Nothing is wrong, love," he said evasively. "Why do you ask?"
"You seem to be deep in thought," Kuroko answered. "If it's something that can make you worry, I figured it must be bad."
Akashi gave Kuroko a soft smile as he caressed Kuroko's cheek with his thumb. "No need to worry, my love. There's no problem I can't fix."
Kuroko just looked at him with an unreadable expression on his face and Akashi wondered what he was thinking about. Akashi's train of thought dropped when he felt his cellphone vibrating. He fished it out of his pocket and read the message, narrowing his eyes at the content. "I have to go, love," Akashi said and straightened up while simultaneously forming plans and strategies in his head.
"Akashi-kun?" Akashi paused and looked back at Kuroko. "Please be careful."
Akashi didn't know who was more surprised between them as judging by Kuroko's face, he seemed to blurt those words out without thinking. Akashi wouldn't admit it but his chest warmed at Kuroko's concern since it had been a long time that someone was worried about him (his coven didn't count). Kuroko didn't even know what Akashi was about to do—no, he might have an idea and understood that he couldn't pry for more.
Akashi leaned forward and cupped Kuroko's face tenderly, rewarding him with a kiss on the forehead. He wanted to capture Kuroko's lips for a soft and passionate kiss but he knew Kuroko wasn't ready for that.
Not yet, anyway.
"I will. I'll come back to you, my love. I promise," Akashi vowed.
After one last look at Kuroko, Akashi made his way out of the library and onto his office. "Shintarou, Daiki," he called while walking, knowing full well that they could hear him wherever they were. "Get ready. You're both coming with me."
He opened the door to his office and using a secret panel, one side of the wall opened up and revealed a hidden room. He stepped inside and his eyes wandered around the array of weapons displayed. He first went to a small cabinet and retrieved a pair of black leather gloves. He then picked a couple of knives and a silencer gun, arming himself.
Akashi didn't need weapons but he prided himself to always be prepared at all times because he knew sometimes unpredictability may occur and he couldn't be caught off guard. Also, by using weapons it eliminated the possibility of any connection to anything supernatural when an incident might happened and human police started to investigate. Not like he couldn't covered it up with his connections but it was better that way, less was better.
After getting prepared and had given Kise and Murasakibara specific instructions, Akashi met up with Aomine and Midorima at the front door. "Be vigilant," he ordered succinctly. He knew them for so long that they knew what to do without him guiding them. "Do what you think is right."
Both Midorima and Aomine nodded; their faces devoid of any emotion. "Roger."
xXx
Midorima eyed the shining full moon in the dark night sky contemplatively.
On edge, his hold on his rifle tightened for a second before returning his focus back on his mission. He glanced at the bag to his side where an insanely amount of silver bullets were stored. Contrary to popular belief, silver bullets worked on vampires and not werewolves (and there were no such thing anyway), normal silver bullets only weaken a vampire, not killing it.
But the silver bullets Midorima (and his coven) used were pure and untainted thus a deadly poisonous weapon against vampires. He didn't know how many times he asked Akashi on where he got the bullets or even perhaps the one who made it. But his leader was tight lipped and refused to answer his questions so he just left it at that.
Midorima didn't like using silver bullets when it came to normal missions since he thought it was a waste but orders are orders. Considering the tense aura of Akashi, disobedience wasn't up for option. Adding their main objective for tonight, he had no qualms using every last piece of his silver bullets just as long as they were successful.
But…
Midorima eyed his target on the scope of his rifle before pulling the trigger, hitting the vampire squarely on the chest instantly killing it. He surveyed the quiet surrounding of the neighborhood calculatingly, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.
He might not have Akashi's uncanny ability to predict things nor Aomine's keen sense when it came to danger but he knew deep in his gut that something bad was going to happen.
In any case, all Midorima could do was to be on the lookout. It was he was best at.
xXx
Something was wrong.
That was Aomine's instinct kept telling him over and over again as soon as he arrived at his designated location. His eyes narrowed when he caught a vampire sneaking at the back of the house. Quietly, he jumped behind the vampire and swiftly plunged his stake through its heart before the vampire could do anything. He blankly stared at the vampire's corpse that was quickly cracking like stones and turned into ashes, scattering over the wind.
Swift and discreet, fast and silent. That was how Aomine always worked.
He sensed a lot of vampires in the vicinity but he knew they were all small fries. He snorted at that. No matter how many numbers the enemy brought if they were all this weak it was nothing to be concern about. He could easily kill them all by himself without breaking any sweat.
But still, Aomine couldn't shake this feeling of wrongness.
His instincts were always spot on and it never led him astray so it made his guard up and was acutely aware of everything around him. He silently cursed Akashi for not telling anything about this mission except for the main reason why they were there. That guy really liked to keep everything to himself.
Aomine's eyes trailed on the house in front of him and sighed. He took his handgun from the holster on his back and trailed it to his left, firing it without any hesitation. He didn't even glance at the vampire he just killed, knowing it was turning into dust.
At once, he dashed forward and threw his stake to the right, hitting another target spot-on. Without any hesitation, he did backflip when an arrow was shot where he was previously standing and fired his handgun up at a tree where the shot came from. He crouched down and elbowed the man coming up behind him and gave an uppercut to the man's chin.
Aomine stared down at the unconscious human body and clucked his tongue. If their enemy was hiring humans to do their bidding then this wasn't an ordinary mission. Most of their enemies were the showy type and like to assert their power with destruction.
But this time it was not.
Silencer guns, the precision in the enemy's movement, and the human soldiers; it was a covert operation. The enemy knew they were coming. No, that wasn't right. They expected them to come.
Fucking hell.
All of this was just a show; the enemy wanted to see how they fight against numbers, to study their skills. Whether their attack was successful or not, the enemy wouldn't lose anything just foot soldiers.
But if Aomine's side lost, they would lose everything. Akashi more so.
"Where the hell are you Akashi?" Aomine hissed as he blended himself with the shadows and waited for his targets to come.
xXx
Akashi watched as Aomine and Midorima killed every vampire and knocking humans unconscious that came their way as he perched on a rooftop of some house. Tall trees helped him camouflage as he waited for his turn to show up. He really hoped they wouldn't need his help but he knew in his gut that he would join the two sooner or later.
He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and concentrated hard as he sensed the number of vampires moving and human hearts' beating wildly. He sighed in frustration. He couldn't sense a vampire strong enough to be at least some kind of leader to this group.
Either Akashi was losing his touch and couldn't sense them which were highly unlikely or they were better at hiding than what he gave them credit for.
Or maybe…
Akashi's eyes snapped to Aomine's direction, he couldn't see him but he was familiar with Aomine enough to know he was losing his patience. Aomine must have figured out what was happening. He also didn't like it, being in the defense but he had no choice. He would dance to the enemy's tune for now but once he got the chance. They would regret having him and his coven as enemies.
Drawing his handgun from his holster, Akashi fired it twice and killed the vampires from Midorima's blind spot. It seemed the enemy didn't want any kind of attention which was good odds for them. Any disruption in a neighborhood would be hell for either side.
Akashi wondered what the enemy's objectives were for doing this. He knew the obvious reasons but considering their actions, there was something off about it. He didn't even like that the enemy knew about them. He was very cautious in his actions and he wasn't careless. The only possible conclusion was that he had a traitor in his midst.
Decades of peace apparently dulled his vigilance and missed some careful steps. He should have let his coven handle it or at least someone he trusted rather than the people who worked for him. Humans were fickle beings after all and those who were truly loyal were rare.
And now he was paying the price of his negligence and his coven and most importantly, Kuroko, were being dragged into it.
Akashi abruptly tensed when he heard sounds of glass breaking, eerily echoing throughout the silent neighborhood.
Then, all hell broke loose.
xXx
Aomine quickly evaded to the side when he saw something being thrown at him and the noise of shattering glass broke him out of his reverie. He whirled around and noticed the smoke enveloping inside the kitchen. You have got to be fucking kidding me, he angrily thought. A smoke bomb?
Aomine wasted no time and kicked the back door open, hastily running inside. He halted when he saw a raven haired man and a teal haired woman trailing behind in the hallway. The man opened his mouth, to ask Aomine what he was doing there perhaps but didn't get the chance when he grabbed hold of them and pushed them down the floor. "Duck!" he yelled.
In an instant, firing bullets resonated inside the whole house, destroying everything. A few seconds of silence came before another round of bullets showered around them. Aomine looked down at Kuroko's parents, who looked visibly shaken. "Listen," he said with urgency in his tone. "I know you don't know me but I'm asking you to trust me right now. You'll do everything I say if you don't want to die, okay?"
The man stared at him and asked. "You're one of Akashi-san's men, aren't you?"
Aomine blinked and turned to Kuroko's father. "You know Akashi?" he asked and then shook his head. "No, never mind. Now's not the time but yeah, I know Akashi."
When the firing paused, Aomine hurriedly helped Kuroko's mother to stand up and then urged them to move out of the hallway and up the stairs. He steadied Kuroko's mother when she tripped on the stairs once the gunshots started again. He wasn't worried since the bullets weren't firing at them, it must be Midorima and Akashi.
Sensing vampires inside the house and close to them, he gestured for Kuroko's parents to be quiet and to crouch down while he silently continued climbing, readying his gun. A blur to his left alerted him and quickly fired, promptly making Kuroko's mother to scream.
Aomine jumped and upon landing fired his gun again twice while his left hand threw a spare wooden stake behind him. He blew a relief breath when the coast was clear. He turned back to Kuroko's parents and signaled them to follow him.
They both stared at the vampires' corpses that were turning into ashes. "What—" the man said but Aomine held out a hand to stop him.
"Sorry, can't explain right now. We don't have time," he answered the unspoken question. Seeing as one of his gun's magazines was almost empty, Aomine quickly reloaded it. He ignored the fear in their faces while he did that.
All of a sudden, Aomine's senses prickled and a cold shiver went through his body. Without any warning, he immediately pushed Kuroko's parents in the closest room and he followed suit, barricading the door with the bookshelf. He huddled them closer to him with his back to the door and then a loud boom shook the whole house.
A tense silence ensued and then Aomine pushed off the books that fell on him as they all cough, waiting for the dust to disperse. Akashi will have a hard time cleaning this mess up, was his wandering thought.
"Shouldn't we try to escape?" Kuroko's father whispered when after a few beats of apprehensive silence no one was coming to get them.
Aomine checked for his weapons as he answered. "Not yet. A lot of enemies are waiting to ambush us outside. Let's wait for Akashi to finish them all off."
"But we can't just stay in this room," Kuroko mother's said, speaking up for the first time. "We're sitting ducks here."
Aomine stared at Kuroko's parents thoughtfully. Both of them were scared and confused but he could see the hidden strength in them. As expected from Kuroko's parents, he guessed. "Don't worry," he reassuringly said. "I'll protect you both. I've handled worse than these guys."
"Is there anything we can do?" Kuroko's father asked. "You can't fight and defend us at the same time no matter how strong you seem to be."
"Good point," Aomine nodded and handed one of his pistols. "Here. Do you know how to use it?"
Kuroko's father took the gun, checking it. "Well, it's been a long time since I've held one. But I think I can manage." He paused when he saw the silver bullets and looked up at Aomine. "What are you?"
"I knew something's wrong with that guy," Aomine heard Kuroko's mother irately muttered under her breath, making him chuckle.
All of them froze when they heard the barrage of bullets outside coming from both sides. Aomine took out his stake and unconsciously flipped it over his hand. "You've met Akashi, right?" he said, distracting them from what was happening outside and saw them nodding. "What did you thought of him?"
"A kidnapper."
"Mysterious."
Aomine tried to hold his laughter at the woman's answer. "Aside from the obvious, did you sense something unusual about him?"
"He's not human," they chorused.
Aomine blinked. "Wow, you're as blunt as Tetsu."
That seemed to snap them. "Is Tetsuya-kun okay?" Kuroko's mother asked, worried. "He's not…he's not…"
Aomine shook his head. "Tetsu is fine. He's perfectly safe and nothing is going to happen to him," he said. "And you're both right. We're not really human. Here's a quiz, can you guess what we are?"
They seem to catch what he was doing and decided to play along. "You're obviously not a ghost since you're corporeal," Kuroko's mother answered. "Wait, you are some paranormal creature, right?"
"Yup."
"So that leaves youkai, angels, demons, gods?" the man guessed. "There are also werewolves, fairies, witches and vampires, too."
Aomine grinned when he heard the last one and showed his fangs. "We're vampires," he announced, waiting for them to scream, gasp or faint in shock. Too bad it didn't happen though as both of them just stared at him and nodded in acceptance. "Wait, that's it? No screaming, violent reactions or even fainting?"
Kuroko's mother glared at him. "This isn't the time for us to faint. We'll process that information after this is over," she said and crossly pointed a finger at him. "But mark my words and tell this to your boss. He owes us an explanation. Don't forget that."
"Loud and clear," Aomine said, gulping. Kuroko's mother could be very scary when she wanted to be. Like son, like mother or was it the other way around? He almost jumped in surprise when his phone vibrated in his pocket and took it out. "Okay, Akashi said we can escape at the back."
Kuroko's father helped his wife to stand up. "Is Akashi-san alone outside?"
"Nope, he's with someone. Though he could handle all of them by himself," Aomine explained. "But considering the circumstances, Akashi needs to finish this off fast before the police arrive."
"Is it Midorima-san?" the man asked and Aomine nodded, a bit surprised that they also knew Midorima. "Will our neighbors be fine?"
"They're not stupid to drag people into this mess," Aomine answered. "We do want to keep hidden and out of society's scrutiny though right now they're not doing a very good job about it."
Aomine led the way downstairs and into the kitchen for the back door he kicked. Gesturing for them to wait, he looked out for any remaining enemy and when the coast was clear, he stepped outside with them following behind him. "Akashi prepared a car for you to escape and to drop you off at one our safe houses," he instructed. "We'll handle the rest."
Hearing footsteps coming up from their side, Aomine fired his gun without looking and motioned Kuroko's parents to run and followed them. "Don't stop running!" he shouted when they encountered three vampires up ahead. Fast as a blur, he staked a vampire in his chest and fired his gun to another. He blinked in surprise when the last one, who was close to shooting him, was shot in the chest.
Aomine looked back at Kuroko's parents. "I've still got it, huh," Kuroko's father said, gun trailed at the vampire he just shot.
Aomine grinned at that. "Sounds about right," he agreed. "Let's go so we can wrap this up." He was so focused on safely making their way to the car that the shout of his name coming from Akashi somewhere immediately snapped him into moving.
Either it was instinct, experience or another matter entirely but without any conscious thought, Aomine placed himself in front of Kuroko's parents to shield them. The sound of a gun firing off repeatedly from a distance was the only thing he could hear and then a sharp, blinding pain came from his stomach overcoming his senses. Kuroko's mother's scream of fright rang loudly in his ears as he coughed up blood and the wound on his torso was bleeding furiously. He hoped Midorima or Akashi got the son of a bitch who did this to him or there would be hell to pay.
"Daiki!"
Aomine looked up and saw Akashi reaching out to steady him before he could fall over and inspected his wound. "No exit wound," Akashi muttered. "Take out the bullets Daiki and put pressure on it." Aomine sluggishly did as he was told without any question.
Akashi turned to Kuroko's parents and checked if they were alright. "I'm sorry for putting you into this predicament, Ryuuji-san, Miyako-san."
"It's not your fault Akashi-san," Kuroko's father—Ryuuji—said and his wife, Miyako, snorted for that. "Though I hope our next meeting will be more pleasant than this."
Akashi nodded. "That would be preferable."
"I don't care when I'll see you next Akashi-san," Miyako said, crossing her arms over her chest, "just as long as I get to Tetsuya-kun again."
Aomine gave a weak laugh as he leaned heavily against Akashi and his eyesight was getting blurry from the loss of blood. "Hey, there's someone who didn't fall for your charms Akashi," he mused. "Sounds like you have to grovel to your future mother-in-law."
And as soon as he said that, Aomine passed out.
xXx
"He's an idiot," Midorima muttered as he strode over Akashi, Kuroko's parents and the unconscious Aomine, having heard what Aomine said. "Everything is clear Akashi but we need to leave now. The police and ambulance will be here in less than seven minutes."
"I need blood," Aomine murmured in his sleep.
"Is he okay?" Miyako asked, staring worriedly at Aomine. It seemed she wanted to reach out and touch him but held back in uncertainty. "He saved us many times now."
"Daiki will be fine. He just needs blood," Akashi reassured her as he passed Aomine to Midorima. "Shintarou take Daiki home while I escort Ryuuji-san and Miyako-san to the safe house."
"Are you sure?" Midorima asked as he laid Aomine down on the ground and applied first aid on him, his eyes narrowing slightly when he checked the wound. "He lost too much blood. I could take him to the hospital."
Akashi silently regarded Aomine before nodding his head. "I'm sure. The mansion is closer than the hospital and he needs to be treated as soon as possible."
"Are we just going to leave my house in ruins?" Ryuuji cut in, holding his wife close and passed Aomine's gun to Akashi. "We're going to get a lot of questions."
Akashi and Midorima stared at each other before his leader turned to Ryuuji. "Don't worry Ryuuji-san. I'll take care of this. I'll explain later but for now we need to get going."
After saying goodbye to Kuroko's parents and listening further instructions from Akashi, Midorima carried Aomine on his back and left the wrecked Kuroko household. He passed the getaway car they've planted before since he could run faster than the car even if he was burdened by Aomine's weight. Plus, a car driving away from the scene was too conspicuous.
Midorima swiftly jumped from roof to roof and hoped Aomine would hold on. He and Akashi gave no indication as to not worry Kuroko's parents but Aomine's wounds were dire. The silver bullets their enemies used weren't as strong as theirs but getting shot by four of them was too much to handle even to someone as strong as Aomine.
"You smell weird Midorima," Aomine weakly mumbled.
Inwardly relieved that Aomine was feeling fine to joke around even if Midorima wasn't sure if Aomine was awake or asleep and hallucinating, he said. "It's the gunpowder, you idiot. You smell like it, too though your blood is overpowering it."
"Are you going to drink my blood? Because, man, don't do it. I don't like you that way."
Midorima couldn't help but snort at the comment. "Rest assured Aomine, I won't drink your blood even if I was dying. As if I'll bind myself to you."
"Aren't you—"Aomine broke off and groaned when his wound was jostled. "Aren't you already bound to someone?"
Midorima sighed. "Yes, I am. Thirty years ago Aomine or have you forgotten? You were there at the ceremony."
"Oh yeah," Aomine slurred and silence followed that Midorima thought Aomine was out cold until he spoke again. "Do you think Akashi will bind Tetsu to him?"
Midorima was silent for a few minutes before answering, not expecting the sudden inquiry and from Aomine of all people. "It's too early to say. Maybe he will, maybe he won't."
"I wish he would. I like Tetsu. He would be good for him," said Aomine. "Better than him."
"That was a long time ago Aomine."
"Yeah, I know. Just saying. I don't want to see Akashi that way again."
Midorima sighed in agreement. "You're not the only one," he said. "Kuroko is different."
He could feel Aomine nodding his head. "He is. I hoped Tetsu will stay with us forever."
Midorima knew Aomine was asleep when he heard his steady breathing as he continued his way to the mansion more rapidly. "I hope so, too," he whispered to the quiet, serene night.
xXx
Kuroko was walking towards his room to settle for the night when he heard a commotion downstairs. Wasting no time, he sprinted down the stairs and into the foyer and almost fell down at what he saw; Aomine injured, his clothes covered with blood and Midorima supporting him. "Aomine-kun!" he shouted and ran towards the vampires.
An arm grabbed Kuroko from behind, stopping him before he could touch Aomine. "Hold on a sec Kurokocchi," Kise said, trying to calm him. "We need to get Aominecchi to the infirmary first."
Midorima led the way after handing Aomine to Murasakibara with Kuroko, who grasping Kise's hand tightly, following right after them. Murasakibara put down Aomine in one of the beds and tore down his shirt, staunching the blood flow while Midorima rummaged at the drawer supplies.
"Is he going to be alright?" Kuroko asked, his hand going white as he clutched onto Kise's hand.
Kise moved a stool near the bed and motioned for Kuroko to sit down. "Aominecchi will be fine Kurokocchi," he comforted. "He's strong and Midorimacchi will make sure that he's okay."
Kuroko gently took Aomine's limp hand in his, silently praying for him to get well. He was startled when he heard Midorima cursing; he wasn't the type to swear. "What's wrong Midorima-kun?" he asked, concerned.
Midorima moved to the bed and started dressing Aomine's wound. "Aomine needs blood. He can't start healing if he doesn't have blood and he lost too much already."
"What about those blood bags?" Kise suggested.
"We're out of stock—"
"What?"
"—and the next batch will be delivered tomorrow morning."
Murasakibara handed a fresh bandage to Midorima. "Can you call someone to deliver blood now, Mido-chin? Or, you know, call one of our feeders?"
Midorima sighed as he put pressure on Aomine's wound. "It will take hours to get the blood here and the closest feeder we have is two hours away."
"It's fine," Aomine grunted, surprising them and then exhaled heavily. "We can just grab someone and persuade him to forget."
"It's the middle of the night Aominecchi. There's no one awake at this hour except maybe for some drunkards but then their blood isn't good enough," Kise babbled.
Aomine let out a frustrated sigh and glared at Kise to shut up before looking at Midorima. "You could have just left me there Midorima, with those people and blood around."
"Don't be stupid Aomine. There are too many witnesses," Midorima snapped. "Taking a sip to one or three people isn't enough to heal your injury. And no matter how strong you think you are, you can't compel all those people. And besides, Akashi ordered me to take you here."
Kuroko squeezed Aomine's hand between his giving some sort of comfort. "Where is Akashi-kun anyway?" he asked.
"Cleaning up the incident."
"What incident? What happened anyway?" Kuroko demanded.
Midorima turned to him. "Kuroko—"
"Tell me," he insisted. "And don't try to lie to me Midorima-kun. Just tell me, please."
Midorima regarded him for a moment before sighing in defeat. "Alright, I'll tell you but promise me to stay calm and let me finish, alright?"
"I promise," Kuroko nodded.
"Your parents were attacked Kuroko," Midorima revealed and raised a hand when Kuroko opened his mouth. "Don't worry, they're safe now and Akashi personally escorted them to a safe location. The enemy's number were more than we anticipated so the fight turned into a messy one."
"When you say enemies," Kuroko interrupted, he couldn't help himself, "you mean, vampires?"
"Yes," Midorima nodded and said no more as he focused his attention back to the injured Aomine. His tense shoulders were enough for Kuroko to discern to drop the subject off.
Kuroko has so many questions waiting to be answered but he had Aomine to prioritize over. In any case, if something bad really did happen he knew Midorima would tell him immediately and since he didn't, Kuroko had no choice but to believe his parents were really safe.
For the time being, Kuroko needed to concentrate in helping Aomine and he knew he was the only one who could help him. "Aomine-kun, drink my blood," he offered and everyone gaped at him like he had grown two heads at his suggestion.
Midorima regarded him carefully. "Didn't you hear what I just said Kuroko? One person's blood isn't enough to heal Aomine's wounds. There's a high possibility that he might kill you if he tried."
"I know," Kuroko said. "But you said before that my blood is different so maybe it could cure Aomine-kun faster than a normal blood does. We won't know unless we try." He turned his gaze to Aomine's hazy ones. "And also, I trust Aomine-kun not to kill me."
"Tetsu—"
They all jumped in surprise when the door burst open revealing Akashi, his ruby red eyes glowing eerily as he watched Kuroko. Kuroko fought the urge to shiver in fear at the vampire's blatant fury coming off him in waves. He knew how possessive Akashi could be when it came to his blood but desperate times called for desperate measure and either Aomine drank his blood or he would die. He couldn't let that happen when he could do something about it so he had to set Akashi's feelings aside for now.
"Akashi-kun—" Kuroko was cut off when Akashi was instantly by his side. "Akashi-kun, I need to—"
"I know," Akashi whispered. He hugged Kuroko from behind, nestling his face on Kuroko's hair and the vampire's anger seemed to dissipate when he touched him. Akashi eyed Aomine seriously. "Control yourself Daiki."
Aomine blinked. "Akashi, I don't—"
"Daiki."
Aomine closed his eyes and nodded. "Okay."
Kuroko was relieved when Akashi gave his consent. "So do you need to drink on my neck or…?"
"Your wrist is fine Tetsu," Aomine quickly said, glancing at Akashi behind him and Kuroko wondered what kind of face Akashi was making. He offered his left wrist to Aomine and he couldn't help for his pulse to throb quickly when Aomine's breath ghosted over his skin as he took hold of his wrist. "Sorry about this Tetsu," Aomine mumbled before sinking his fangs on his skin.
Kuroko gave a silent gasp and couldn't hide his wince as the vampire sucked his blood. There was something that felt different as he fed Aomine his blood; either because it was Aomine and not Akashi or the place where they feeding from or something else entirely, Kuroko didn't know.
His musings came to a halt when he heard Aomine moaning as he continued to drink on his wrist. As Aomine's grip on him gets stronger, Kuroko felt energy leaving out of his body. He weakly leaned against Akashi, the vampire's arms on him the only thing keeping him up. He was glad Akashi was holding him or he would have fallen over.
"Daiki, stop," Kuroko heard Akashi ordered with a warning in his tone. "Daiki!"
Kise and Murasakibara immediately grabbed Aomine and forcibly pulled him away from Kuroko. Akashi quickly took his wrist, licking up the excess blood dripping and sealed his wound. Kuroko sighed tiredly in Akashi's arms and it took everything in him not to pass out.
"Crap! Tetsu, I'm sorry!"
Kuroko turned to Aomine who didn't seem pale anymore as Midorima inspected his injury. It seemed his blood worked like a miracle when Midorima said that Aomine's wound was healing nicely. "It's alright Aomine-kun. I'm glad you're fine now," he weakly smiled at Aomine.
"Yeah, you're blood works wonders Tetsu. And it tasted really, really delicious…" Aomine trailed off when he looked at Akashi. And Kuroko could feel Akashi's grip on him getting tighter.
Midorima cleared his throat. "I think it's best if we take you to your room Aomine so I can monitor your condition there. Kise, Murasakibara bring Aomine to his room while I go get more supplies," he instructed before leaving and the two vampires wasted no time and carried Aomine despite his protests that he could get there by himself.
Kuroko closed his eyes when they left and he felt Akashi lifting him up in his arms. "I'll take you to your room," he heard Akashi murmured. He hummed in agreement as he was too tired to move. The trip up to his room was silent as both of them had a lot in mind, probably about the same and different things.
Akashi maneuvered Kuroko so he could open the door to his room and gently placed him down the bed, brushing his bangs away and caressing his cheek with the back of his hand. Kuroko opened his eyes and gazed at Akashi. "Talk to me," he whispered.
"Your house was destroyed," Akashi straightforwardly said and Kuroko tensed at the information. "Using my connection, this incident will be brushed under the rug so your parents won't be investigated. I talked to them and recommend moving some place safe. At first, they were adamant but they eventually agreed. We'll let things cool off first before they could relocate."
"I want to see them."
"No, not now," Akashi shook his head. "You'll put yourself in danger if you did."
Tiredly, Kuroko sat up and moved out of the bed to stand and ignored Akashi's insistence to let him rest. "I have to see them," he said, almost to the point of begging.
"You can't, Tetsuya," Akashi insisted. "You'll just jeopardize their safety and location if you keep demanding to see them. They're safe now and nothing and no one can harm them. That should be enough."
"No, it isn't! You expect me to stay calm and obedient after telling me my parents were almost killed and that my home is gone. I have to see with my own eyes that they are really safe and alive."
"And just like I said, you can't. I assure you that they are safe," Akashi said, composed and patient while here he was, getting frantic. "Do you trust me?"
"No, I don't."
As soon as he said those words, Kuroko wanted to take them back. It was a knee-jerk reaction. He knew that a part of him trusted Akashi—trusted them.
Akashi paused, surprised at Kuroko's words before schooling his expression to an unreadable one, his crimson eyes that were full of warmth before was nowhere to be seen and were replaced by cold ones. "At any rate, you have no choice but to believe in my word regardless of what you think."
Akashi moved to leave, his hand on the doorknob before looking back at Kuroko once again. "And before I forget, I won't have to remind you of doing something stupid like escaping to see your parents now, would I?"
Akashi left without waiting for his response.
He didn't need to. They both knew the answer to it.
Kuroko sighed and wearily sat on his bed. Then, he prayed.
Q&A CORNER!
Q1: Out of my pure curiosity, I might have missed this in the story but it seems as if Akashi's darker personality has yet to show (( and by that I mean we have seen him mad and possessive but we have yet to see his snapping point )). Is there a specific reason for that? (AngelTricks)
A: That's because Akashi is still far from his breaking point. After living for so long, he knows how to be patient for just about anything. He has full control of his emotions (except for now when he's with Kuroko, in a good way of course). But you'll see Akashi snapping in Arc II and I'm sure you can guess why.
Q2: What Arc and or Chapter should I expect the attack on Kuroko? (AngelTricks)
A: I don't have a specific chapter yet but it will be on Arc II.
Q3: What so special about the snow room Akashi was talking about with Kise? (fanlover18)
A: There's nothing special about the room per se. It's more because of its symbolism.
Q4: WILL HANAMIYA MAKOTO BE DA VILLAIN?! Oh oh or will it be HAIZAKI?/Is the villain in the story either going to be Hanamiya or Haizaki? (Lithium HK/Sweet Monster)
A: No comment, sorry. If I answered that, it's like giving away the story. (And to Lithium HK, you're 2nd question was answered in chapter 6.)
Q5: Is the mansion they are living is divided into blocks or section or something? Or was it just for the room? (Kuro-kun, you sure looks like a snow with that soft blue hair and eyes and kind hearted and captivating yet can be very destructive.. Such a coincidence indeed.. Say hi to Akashi for me..) (Knight Yuuki)
A: (Omg, can I just like answer this with an I don't know?) Okay, they live in a mansion and the bedrooms are on the 2nd floor and rooms have their own name. Akashi, Midorima and Kise live in the right wing while Kuroko, Aomine and Murasakibara are on the left wing. Library, kitchen, dining room, parlor, ballroom and the infirmary are on the first floor and Akashi's office and the drawing room from chap 4 are on the second floor. (Omg, please don't ask me for a floor plan, I can't do it.)
(Kuroko: Thank you, Knight Yuuki-san. It's the first time I've been compared to snow though. And I'll pass your greetings to Akashi-kun.)
Q6: Do the elements have something to do with powers they have but haven't been talked about? Kise said he picked the rain room because it felt right, and I feel like you wouldn't have listed the elements of the rooms they all had unless they meant something... Or it could've just been something cool and fun you thought up! (Assasin8)
A: Even though this a yes or no question, I can't answer since I will give away too much. (Ugh, what's the point of Q&As if I can't answer? Why did I do this? orz)
Q7: When will Takao, Himuro, Nijimura & Mayuzumi (since they're also my favorite KNB characters) had an appearance? What about Hanamiya & Haizaki do they have roles in the story? (ghostgal07/ghostgal008)
A: I can't really say when since it's a spoiler but all of them will show up, just not at the same time (well some of them do). And they all will have important roles, some more than the others.
Q8: Is Tetsuya's blood related to the fact that he chose the snow room? (strawburricake)
A: In a way, yes, it's has to do with Kuroko's blood. He instinctively picked the snow room without knowing why.
Q9: ...When will Tetsuya and Seijuro "do the DO" in this fic? (strawburricake)
A: That will be a long, long while. But for the record, I won't really write love scenes, only just leading up to it and then do a fade to black. There's going to be make-out sessions though. But never say never, I might write a love scene on Arc VIII since it's a pivotal moment/scene in that arc.
Q10: I'm getting a feeling Kuroko has ice/water powers while Akashi has fire powers. But Kuroko is a human so it's weird and that is where his special side comes from? (KurokoTetsuya101)
A: ...Um...you see...that's because... Omigosh, I can't do this! I'm so sorry! *runs away*
Q11: Why ice room for Aomine? I just find it odd. Isn't it just the same as Kuroko's snow room? Was that intentional, too? (xeyuxe20)
A: It was intentional. The ice room has a darker color than the snow room, just like them.
Q12: Will Momoi be here? And does she have a crush on Tetsu like in the tv? (EchizenRyoma)
A: Yes, Momoi will show up specifically in Arc III like most of the characters. Not really a crush but she's really, really fond of Kuroko.
Q13: Does Kuroko have a past with some other vampire? (anon1123)
A: Nope, Akashi is the first vampire Kuroko met.
A/N: Next update will be on Dec. 25 (GMT +8) or maybe on the 26th, it depends really. Happy holidays everyone!
