The Crumbling Surface

Pairings: Aomine/Kuroko, Kise/Momoi

Rating: M

Summary: Kuroko Tetsuya disappears right before graduation, only to return fifteen years later without having aged a single day.

Chapter 3 : The Zoo Fire

That night, Aomine dreamt of an old conversation he had with Kuroko. Essentially, it was merely a re-enactment of an old memory- a scene taken from a film reel.

"Have you ever heard of the Horii Zoo fire?" Kuroko sat across Aomine as they did their homework.

Aomine was stuck with a math problem that had nothing to do with zoos or fires so Kuroko's question was of little importance to him.

"That's a weird question to ask. I'm not the type to read about zoo fires, so...no, I have not heard of the Horii Zoo fire." Aomine glanced upwards so his eyes could meet with Kuroko's. He had a sly grin on his face. Aomine enjoyed annoying Kuroko with his obliviousness to things like that.

Kuroko sighed. "Such an unnecessarily long answer. You could've just ended it at 'No'."

"Unnecessary? You're the one asking about zoo fires. Who gives a shit about these things anyway?"

"Me. That's who." The smaller boy replied curtly. "It's true not many people care about kangaroos and monkeys dying. But I care, is that so wrong?"

Aomine snickered and shook his head. "You sure are something."

The Horii Zoo fire was never brought up again. The dream ends and Aomine wakes up finding himself regretting the things he had said. If had known better, he would've given Kuroko a different answer. Even beasts deserved to be mourned.

He got up from the spare futon he slept on and checked to see if Kuroko had awakened. The boy was still sound asleep. It was as if this person had drowned out the outside world's noise, sleeping at the bottom of the ocean.

"How is it there, Tetsu?"

At exactly four 'o clock in the afternoon, Kuroko Tetsuya was finally freed from his long dream. Aomine who was peeling apples beside him watched as the young man's eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight that seeped through the window curtains.

"Tetsu..."

Kuroko turned to look at the man who called out his name. "Mister..." He whispered. "...please don't kill me."

It was hard to say what happened in the fifteen years that Kuroko had disappeared and it was even more frightening to imagine or speculate what transpired in that span of time.

"I won't kill you." He reached out to grab Kuroko's small hand.

There were a lot of things Aomine wanted to ask but he knew this wasn't the right time to do that. He had an inkling that Kuroko didn't quite remember who he was. In the span of fifteen years, a vicious fire must've consumed his memories. Yes, that must've been it.

"Listen, Tetsu..."

"Tetsu?"

"Sorry. I meant Kuroko." Aomine straightened his posture. "I used to be a cop. I can help you get to the person who did this to you. You probably don't believe me now, but I'm a good guy. I don't have a badge with me, but I'm pretty sure I can show you something that can prove just that. Do you want to see papers or..."

"Papers would be nice, but if it makes you feel any better, I'm not scared of you. Not any more at least."

"Why?"

"What would you gain from this? I doubt I have anything on me that you wanted for yourself, and you don't seem to be the kind of person who'd abduct people just so they can entertain themselves." Kuroko stirred his coffee. "Also...I think I remember you a little bit. The truth is, my memories of the years I lived before I turned sixteen have been hazy...but I have a feeling you and I knew each other very well, possibly more than just school mates or even classmates."

Aomine's chest tightened, Kuroko's words were more than just comforting. "I guess you could say that..."

"Aomine-san, do you think the passage of time is incredibly unfair?" A question out of nowhere. "How long as it been since I've been missing? Five years? Ten?"

"Fifteen years, to be accurate."

"When I was abducted, they made sure I couldn't tell the flow of time. Being unable to tell from day and night was the first thing to alter my perception of time. After that, my body slowly adjusted to that and refused to grow. I'm still stuck in limbo. I've had little experience in life, and I'm empty as ever." The smaller man began to massage his temple, Kuroko was getting headache just from recalling what his life had been like for the last fifteen years.

It must've been traumatic for him, that much Aomine knew. If he brought Kuroko to the cops, they'd be pulling apart the knots forcefully, relentlessly barraging Kuroko with questions he would've preferred left unanswered. Any normal person would think that it'd be best to let the police handle this mess, but Aomine knew that whoever brought him to Kuroko wasn't about to let things end so easily. He had to know who he was up against.

"It's okay Kuroko. You don't have to force yourself telling me this. You can give me all the details when you're feeling better."

It was ten o' clock in the evening and Kuroko was taking a shower.

Aomine was on his laptop looking into the owners and co-owners or The Evergreen hotel. Being somewhat an unknown hotel, information was scarce. Unlike most hotels though, it seemed like a place that enjoyed its anonymity. He didn't want to ask Kuroko too many questions and took it upon himself to look it up on the internet.

Back then, Aomine always associated the internet with porn. Those were the days. He used to come home from work and furiously fapped to busty, fake blondes getting nailed by fat salarymen with censored faces. It was better than paying for sex or forcing yourself to get into a relationship just for the sex. He did it before, and he was never going to do it again.

"Thank you for everything Aomine-san." Kuroko stepped out of the bath donning Aomine's clothes that were all too big for him. He looked even more delicate than the Kuroko Aomine used to play basketball with. Was it because he was now perpetually suspended in time?

As Aomine aged, Kuroko stayed the child he was fifteen years ago. It was cruel. The passage of time was indeed cruel. Everyone was corrupted. The more he looked at Kuroko, the more he understood. He was up against someone who wanted to prepare for the heavy onslaught that was adulthood. The boy had become a window to the past.

Aomine struggled to find the words to describe the bizarre experiment that this mysterious figure performed on him, on Kuroko.

"Aomine-san, have you heard of the Horii Zoo fire?"

Notes: A slightly shorter chapter this week. Once again, thank you for the words of encouragement. I'm pretty happy some people find this creepy. That must mean I'm doing something right. Kuroko's past is still a mystery, and the so-caled 'boss' is still unknown. The complicated circumstances of Kuroko and Aomine's relationship is becoming more and more fun to write. I enjoyed writing Kuroko mostly because he has a gentler voice and presence than Aomine.

This is kind of like a second chance for Aomine to set things right, but at the same time- he has to face the people who abducted Kuroko and understand their reasons. I wish I could say more, but I'm a little tired. Have comments or questions? Fire away!

P.S: The Horii Zoo fire is a real event where 300 animals died. :(