Hi. :D
Sorry for the late-ish update, I was in a sort-of slump. But eventually, I got around to writing chapter 3.
forgotten disclaimer: Coverpic and KnB shall be mine when Riko learns to cook.
Kuroko walked away from Akashi until he was sure the other could not see him, and broke into an all-out run, heading for the small log house in which he lived. Silent tears ran down his pale cheeks, darkening his black kimono even more as the drops fell and slowly was absorbed into the rough fabric. He ran until he could run no more, and stopped under a small oak tree next to a small river.
Kuroko crumbled onto a heap under the tree and wiped tears from his eyes. He didn't understand these tears. Why was he crying? There was nothing to shed tears for. Monsters shouldn't be able to cry. Crying was a human emotion, and human was only one of the many things Kuroko could never hope to be.
Why was I remembering that?
Unwanted memories bubbled up from its deep, hidden place of his heart, and no matter how much he pushed it down, no matter how hard he fought them, they overpowered him until Kuroko gave up and let them surge over him like a tidal wave.
Kuroko sat by a river, reading an ancient-looking book that was frayed at the old leather corners of its cover, which read, 'The Encyclopedia of the Most Mysterious and Sought-Out Creatures'. His eyes passed over a description of a fairy and stopped at 'Youkai'.
'Youkais are creatures of the underworld, the offspring of demons,who prey on humans' blood. Most youkais cannot be distinguished from normal humans until they have shown their true self, which may make them one of the most dangerous creatures on this earth. Not many have been sighted, although legends passed down from generation to generation indicate that there are still youkais walking the earth. Youkais normally do not come out at daylight, and prefer to hunt in the dark of the night when they have an advantage over their prey with their night-vision. Only some youkais are pureblood demons. Most of them are the results of sexual activities between a human and..'
He stopped reading and stared into the flowing waters of the river beside him. The water twisted his reflection, convoluted lines forming an inhuman, grotesque face. Quietly, he whispered to himself,"Like the monster I am.. The river always tells the truth."
Suddenly, a voice spoke back at him."My mother told me no one is a monster, so you can't possibly be one. The river is lying to you." A face popped up next to Kuroko's own reflection, smiling at him.
He stood up so fast that he lost his footing and fell into the shallow river. Shocked by the sudden cold of the water, Kuroko sat there, stunned, blinking rapidly. Meanwhile, the owner of the voice panicked and pulled him up and out of the water, askig him,"Are you alright? Oh gods, I'm really sorry I scared you. Are you really okay?"
Kuroko came back to his senses and shook the boy's hand off roughly,hastily taking a step back and glaring at him in a defensive manner. "What are you doing here?"
The boy only looked mildly surprised at Kuroko's hostile attitude."Hey, I just wanted to see what made everyone so unwilling to go into the forest. But, there's nothing here, and I saw you, so I just decided to say hi."he smiled.
Kuroko only narrowed his eyes and turned his back on him, sitting down and staring once more into the river. "Go away."
Instead, the black-haired boy just sat down next to him, and asked,"Do you live here?"
After a moment of silence came the answer,"Yes."
The other's eyes widened. "Wow, really? That's so cool!" Kuroko balled his fists." Everyone says that no one can live here because it's too dangerous, but here's proof that it'sㅡ"
" They are right." Kuroko cut off the boy's ramblings sharply." It is too dangerous."
The boy just stared at him for a moment, and said,"But you live here, right? I mean, if you can live here, everyone else should be able to, and then we won't have any more food shortages! This is great! Now we can all eat meat and live comfortably!" the boy continued,"But it's so weird. If this place is habitable, why would no one come here? We could have had land, meat, fresh vegetables, timber, everything, yet the adults of the town refuse to do it. I should tell them about this and convince them to move here!"
"You will do no such thing. I only live here because-" Kuroko bit back his own words. He swallowed and repeated,"It's too dangerous."
"Oh come on, don't ruin my joy. Besides, you'll have neighbors then. You must be lonely living here!"
He exploded,"No!" Kuroko stood up and shouted at the other boy, who just looked up at him in shock. "No one can live here, no one! Its not worth it, not, not, not! This place is cursed!" he yelled, trying to get his point across to the idiot who wandered into his home.
"W-what? I-I don't get it. If you live hereㅡ"
"Don't you get it? Go ask your elders about the legend of this forest. I'm the reason why none of your villagers ever come here! "he all but screamed at the boy, who shrank back."It's my fault that you are starving in the winters because your hunters are too scared to go for the animals here!" Kuroko sank to his knees, sobbing," It's..my fault.. All of it...mine.."
Thick tears that he had held back for many years fell from his eyes, and he buried his face in his knees, rocking back and forth. Even if he'd lived for a long time, Kuroko was undoubtedly still a young boy inside, needing comfort, friendship, and love. But he couldn't stop crying when he thought about what would happen to this boy if he remained here any longer, what he himself would do to the boy, unable to control his inner demonic self.
So it came as a surprise to him when he felt him sit down next to him and wrap his arm around Kuroko's thin, shaking form. The tears came harder and faster now, the comforting gesture reminding Kuroko of a woman's smile, her warm embrace, back when he still believed he was human. The other murmured softly to himself as he patted the shaking Kuroko's back. When the sobs ceased, he said,"My name is Ogiwara. Ogiwara Shigehiro. What's yours?"
A moment's silence dragged by as Kuroko swallowed and tried to remember his name in his haze. It had been a long time since anyone had bothered to ask him that question.
"Kuro..."
Ogiwara tilited his head at the whispered answer. Why would anyone name their child with the color black? His question was answered the the other said, "Kuroko. My name is Kuroko. Kuroko Tetsuya."
Ogiwara grinned, and exclaimed,"Well then, it's nice to meet you, Kuroko!"
Kuroko raised his head slowly and looked at the grin on Ogiwara's face. He stared in wonder at the boy crouched in front of him. He was the first person in years to not run away, screaming, back the way they'd come. He struggled to remember how to work his facial muscles into a grin, and managed a tiny twitching of his lips.
"It's nice to meet you too, Ogiwara-san."
"Oh, come on Kuroko. Call me something other than that thing with the annoying -san at the end. Something like Shige or even just Ogiwara or whatever. Makes me feel so old!" Ogiwara said, walking through the woods with Kuroko. Kuroko thought about it for a moment, and settled on,"It's Ogiwara-kun then."
Ogiwara pouted sarcastically."You're always so formal, Kuroko. Oh, and I wanted to ask you, do you want to come over to my house tomorrow? There's lots of fun things we can do, like this thing called basketball!It's totally awesome!"
Kuroko turned eerily white in the face, and looked down. After a while, he answered,"..I'm sorry, I don't think I can. If they catch us, they'll kill me, as well as you and your family. I do not wish to bring that kind of misfortune to your family."
Ogiwara did not step back."Its okay, no one will see us. My house is at the outskirts of town!"When Kuroko did not answer, he tried again." Besides, you can do that disappearing act, can't you?"
"Misdirection." Kuroko corrected him, but Ogiwara could see his reslove faltering. He gave him a push."I'll get you some more books to read-I have a lot at my house. Not to mention that my mother makes the best vanilla milkshakes in town..."
Kuroko broke down."Oh, all right then,"he said."but if we get caught and executed, please don't blame me for it."
Ogiwara grinned."Alright then!"
Kuroko opened his eyes, touching back down into reality. He sighed and looked at the roots of the tree he was currently lying on. On it, one could make out the tiny scribbles of a word, easily able to be mistaken for mere scratches.
'friends'
Kuroko's blue eyes turned down, their bright cyan tone now a dreary gray color. He was sitting near the very spot where he had made his first friend. He bit his lip, hoping that the sharp pain would hold his tears back. The words had been done with a small pocketknife, far from suited to carve wood. It had taken both of them many days to carve that one small word into the tough oak; the letters were far from neat.
"This is the proof of our friendship!"
Sighing, Kuroko stood up to head back to his home, where his cute puppy would cheer him up. He looked back at the letters one more time, and made a decision to go look for that readheaded boy and tell him that he was sorry.
He would not make the wrong decision, not again.
"Shintaro, I need to tell you something." out of all four rowdy teenagers, Akashi decided, Midorima could be trusted to keep a secret. He was serious and loyal, unlike one loudmouthed Kise or Aomine, who didn't have a metaphoric filter in his mouth to keep him from blabbing about everything.
"What is it, Akashi?" Midorima questioned him when they had stopped a few metres away from the rest of the group.
"It is about the time I went into the forest," For a second, Akashi debated whether to tell Midorima or just keep everyone in the dark, and decided to just spill."What Kise told us is true. Or most of it is."
Midorima was silent. He mulled over what Akashi had said, and in a doubtful tone, asked,"Are you sure, Akashi? It might just be another boy tricking people into thinking he's a demon."
Akashi's eyes flashed."You know that I do not joke, Shintaro."he warned."Besides, I am very sure he's not from our town. I know each and every person here. Also.."
"Also?" Midorima prompted.
"There was a mysterious aura around him. Like he wasn't human. I've learned to trust in my instinct. I am sure he is a different entity."
Midorima nodded."And what do you want me to do about it, Akashi?"
"One, keep silent about this. Especially from Daiki and Ryouta. If word gets out to them, everyone in the town will know about this in a matter of hours. Two, I'd like you to come with me to the forest tomorrow. I am curious to see why that boy is such a big threat." Akashi looked at him imperiously."You will, will you not, Shintaro?"
Inwardly, Midorima gulped. He knew he had no choice in the matter. He looked back at his friends, now arguing heatedly with each other, and then at the forest, looming behind them, and then back at Akashi's face. With one bandaged hand, he pushed his glasses farther up his nose, and nodded.
Akashi smiled. I will find you, Tetsuya, and get to know you better. I know you aren't the dangerous monster that stories make you out to be.
He looked at the forest, thinking about what kinds of mysteries were hidden in the depths. After all, I am absolute.
this feels rushed. I don't want the story to be rushed, but I keep writing like that D:
I'm trying to set my quota for 3k words for next time, so it might be a while before I actually update.
Please point out mistakes, English is not my first language.
Please review? :D..
