"This is the place?"

"It is. If I remember correctly, he lives on the top floor in apartment 401,"

"Alright then. I'll trust your instincts on this,"

Fast forward four minutes, and Kagami Taiga opens his door to receive the shock of his life.

"A-Akashi?!"

The boy outside the door briefly greeted the taller redhead, "It's been a while."

They hadn't seen each other since Kuroko's birthday which was a couple of months ago.

"What are you doing here? And who the hell is she?" Kagami was not interested in formalities. Given the fact that 'the' Akashi Seijuro was standing outside his door when the two weren't on familiar terms, he saw no point beating around the bush.

"This is Yamada Akari. If you could allow us in, I'll explain what's going on," he replied leaving no room for the taller boy to refuse.

Grumbling something to himself, Kagami stepped aside to let the Emperor pass before shutting the door.

The girl, he saw, seemed familiar but he wasn't sure why. Hating the fact that nearly everyone he knew was aware of where he lived, he seriously wished to move location.

When he stepped into the lounge, Akashi had already made himself comfortable on the cushions while the girl was fidgeting awkwardly on the side.

"So what the hell is going on for you all people to visit me?" Kagami asked, not caring if he sounded rude.

"Before we begin, can you show him the photo, Akari," Akashi nodded to the girl and she hurriedly fished out the polaroid from her pocket and handed it to the confused teen.

"What's this?"

Akashi didn't answer the question and instead asked, "Do you recognize anyone from the picture?"

"Ha?" Kagami directed his eyesight towards the photo and saw three women and a man standing together. His eyes zeroed in on one of the ladies and shock overtook his features.

"This...is my mom. Why do you have a photo of my mother?" Kagami's eyebrows were scrunched as he looked at Akashi and the girl with a suspicious gaze.

Contrary to what Kagami was expecting, Akashi let out a sigh and muttered, "It seems I was correct. Kagami Taiga, this might be hard for you to believe but you and I are cousins. Our mothers, along with Akari's mother, were sisters. They are the three women in the photo."

Kagami was baffled, "What?! But...there's no way. My mother was an only child."

"Was? Is she..."

Kagami thinned his lips and replied, "She's dead now."

At that, Akari and Akashi shared a look and the two turned back to the taller teen.

"A-Ano, K-Kagami-kun, right? If it's possible, do you remember the exact date your mother died?" Akari asked in a timid voice.

"Why the fu-"

"Kagami," Akashi glared sharply.

The teen bit back his words and gave a short reply, "October 21st, nearly seven years ago."

Akari let out a sigh and Akashi, for once, had a troubled look on his face.

"What?"

"The thing is...it appears our mothers all passed away on the exact same day, at the same time," answered the Rakuzan captain. He clasped his hands together and continued, "Kagami, what if I told you that our mothers' deaths were not all they seemed?"

Kagami didn't like where this was going. Though he never mentioned it, Kagami was close to his mother when he was little. He loved her even more than basketball and her death was something he never forgot.

When she died, all his attention was directed to basketball as a distraction in hopes to ease the pain. This was something he never told anyone. And now, all his memories of his mother and her illness were brought to light again.

"What are you saying?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

"I – We, Akari and I, have reason to believe that our mothers' deaths were intentional," Akashi stated calmly.

He was half expecting the redhead to flip out and start shouting profanities but instead, Kagami went silent.

A minute passed before Kagami finally opened his mouth, "Why? How would you know?"

"You might want to sit down for this. It's a long story,"

Kagami was told the entire story and theories from beginning to end. And when Akashi finally finished, the boy was left utterly stumped.

This information was far too much to process in one day. First, he learned that he was related to 'the' Akashi, then he found out his mother's death may have been intentional, and lastly, he realized these two were prepared to do whatever it took to find out the truth.

"I still don't understand though. Terminal illnesses can't just be injected into a person, right?" Kagami argued.

"I know but don't you think there's something off about this?" Akari countered. "And the letter... clearly states they were trying to suppress it. You can't just suppress illnesses either."

Kagami sighed and rubbed his face, "I need food after all this shit."

As if on cue, the was a stomach grumble from the sole female in the room and the shorter boy. Akari blushed with embarrassment while Akashi merely stared at Kagami as if daring him to say something teasing.

Kagami withheld a snicker and said, "I guess I'm not the only one. Since you two are supposedly my 'family', I'll make us dinner."

"That...would be much appreciated," Akashi answered.

Akari nodded in agreement and an hour later, the trio sat at his coffee table each having a plate of tonkatsu with rice and cabbage. Kagami's cooking was excellent as always and satisfied the hunger of his companions.

Akari offered to help clean up and Kagami didn't refuse her offer leaving the girl to wash the plates. Meanwhile, Akashi sat at the table re-reading the letter of Akari's mother and the other documents she brought with her.

"Akashi,"

"Seijuro. Call me Seijuro, Taiga,"

Kagami blinked and narrowed his eyes before saying, "Seijuro, you know very well how much of a long shot this is, right? Where the hell are we even going to begin investigating? Are we even suited for this? Why not hand it to the authorities?"

"Tell me Taiga, do you honestly believe the so-called 'authorities' would do anything about this? Right now, this is all based on gut feelings and theorization. The police can't and won't do anything if we don't have proper evidence to back up our claims,"

"But why are you so sure their deaths weren't a coincidence?" Kagami pressed. "I just don't see how the hell..."

"I thought we went over this already," Akashi let out a sigh. He understood where Kagami was coming from since there really wasn't much to go on with the given information. In addition, they only had Akari's word for it. Even the letter could have been handwritten by her and they wouldn't know.

But then again, what would Akari gain from doing all of this? Nothing, from what Akashi could guess.

"Our fathers would be our best bet of finding out anything but..."

Yeah. Neither Kagami nor Akashi could confidently say they were close to their dads. This was something they both had in common – fathers who practically neglected them despite giving them everything they wanted.

Akari overheard their conversation from the kitchen and once again, she felt guilty for bringing this burden on them.

'I'm sorry you two.'

In the midst of the silence, there was a sudden knock at the door.

"You were expecting visitors?" Akashi asked.

Kagami frowned and replied, "Not that I know of. Who would it be?"

He stood up from the cushion and walked to the door before opening it.

"Who-" he paused and stared wide-eyed at the two men in front of him. One of which he knew very well.

"D-Dad?"

The man had black hair and an intimidating face. It was easy to see where Kagami got his features from.

"It's been a while Taiga," the man replied with a sad smile.

Kagami was stunned. Why was his father here all of a sudden?

"Father?" Akashi's shocked voice made Kagami realize the other man that arrived was none other than Akashi's own dad.

"Seijuro," the man greeted. His voice was a lot colder than Kagami's dad's.

"It seems that you three have already found out," Kagami's father sighed. "We were hoping you three wouldn't discover each other until you were older but now, it appears we have no choice."

"Wait a minute, you knew Aka- Seijuro was here? With Akari?" Kagami asked, his voice full of disbelief.

"I think it would be best to discuss this inside," Akashi sr. said. "You never know if they are listening."

Okay, who the heck was 'they'?

Kagami let the two middle-aged men inside and soon, the males and one female were gathered together around Kagami's table.

Akari was visibly nervous as she was constantly twiddling her thumbs and biting her lip. Too afraid to make eye contact with anyone, she kept her gaze firmly planted on her lap.

A clearing of a throat made her look up and she saw one of the older men – the nicer looking one – give her a smile as he said, "You must be Akari-chan. Your mother and father always talked about you when you were a baby. I can't believe how much time has passed."

"Y-Yes? Ah, is that so? I'm sorry but they never mentioned you," the girl replied.

"I figured as much. Frankly, we never planned to let you three know of each other's existence until the time was right but it seems we miscalculated," Kagami's father, Hiroshi, rubbed his chin with a sigh.

"What do you mean dad? What exactly is going on?" asked Kagami impatiently.

Hiroshi gave a look to Akashi's dad, Masaomi, who frowned and muttered, "Your son is just like you. Always demanding for answers immediately."

"I could say the same," Hiroshi raised a mocking eyebrow, "However, in regards to the situation, I think it's better if you explain."

"Hmph. Very well," Masaomi crossed his arms and glared at the three teens. "Do you three believe in vampires?"

The three; "...Eh?"

"Straight off the bat huh," Hiroshi snickered.

"Shut up and let me talk,"

Hiroshi raised his hands, backing off and letting the other man speak.

"This may sound like a fantasy or whatever fictional stories you've heard but vampires have existed since the beginning of mankind. You might be thinking I've gone crazy or this is some kind of a sick joke but it's not,"

Even the poker-faced Akashi couldn't help but give his father an 'are you out of your mind' look. Kagami was too dumbfounded to say a word and Akari smartly kept her thoughts to herself.

"What the hell do vampires have to do with our mothers?" Kagami blurted out.

Masaomi gave the boy an irritated look, "I was getting there. You see, vampires have extremely strict laws that have been passed down for generations. Those who break these laws face lethal punishment. Your mothers were sisters – triplets belonging to a high vampire clan. And each of them broke one of the most sacred vampire laws which ultimately led to their deaths."

"If what you say is true, what is the law that they broke?" Akashi asked.

Hiroshi and Masaomi looked at each other for a moment before the former finally spoke.

"That is...the most sacred law of the vampires is to never fall in love with a human and bear their child,"

The three teens sucked in a breath – stunned.

Kagami wanted to say something but his father held up his hand and stopped him.

"Before any of you start, it is not your fault nor our fault that your mothers had to die. This is what they told us long ago. It was they who were willing to give up their lives so that their children can live. So I want neither of you to blame yourselves,"

"B-But they..." Akari's eyes were watery.

Akashi felt a lump in his throat and he struggled to say the next few words, "I still find it hard to believe all of this is true. This is 'vampires' you're referring to. How can-"

"I understand your concern Seijuro and to prove to you we are not mad in the head, we will have to wait till midnight,"

"Uh, midnight? Why?" Kagami raised an eyebrow.

"The reason brings me to the next part of what you ought to know. You see, you three's existence is a threat to vampires. Especially to those who despise hybrids between humans and vampires. In a way, it's similar to your mothers'."

Akashi asked, "How so?"

"It is rare for more than one child to be born between vampires. It's even rarer and nearly impossible for vampires to produce triplets. Unlike humans who reproduce easily, there is a whole ritual a vampire must follow in order to birth a child. In this way, your mothers became of high value to the bloodsucker community."

Hiroshi took over from Masaomi.

"Another thing you should know is that vampires have special abilities. Essentially, they have what you would call superpowers. Your mothers were discovered to have had their own different abilities but for some reason, when your mothers were put together, their abilities doubled in strength,"

"Their triplet bond is said to have been the cause for it. And because of that, they became highly sought out vampires as many other clans wanted to possess all three of them for power. However, they ran away because they didn't want to live like that anymore. And that's when we met them," Masaomi continued.

"And you fell in love," Akari breathed.

"Indeed. They had told us what they were before we married and we accepted them. And then, they all ended up pregnant in the same year and they knew that once you were born, it would only be a matter of time before they died."

"But why?"

Hiroshi looked at his son and answered, "Because, vampires are able to track who has had a child in their bloodline. After your mothers' family found out they had children with humans, they placed a curse on them."

"Then the terminal illnesses..." Akashi started.

"Yes. That was the curse. From what we were told by your mothers, curses can come in all sorts of forms, and in this case, it came in form of terminal illness,"

Akari spoke up in a flustered tone, "But in the letter from my mom, it said something about suppressing the curses. What did she mean?"

"As I've implied, your mothers were powerful vampires. But even more so when they were together. In order to ensure they had some time with you, we all stayed close in order for them to use their bond in suppressing the curses."

"But..." Masaomi's eyes darkened, "One day, we were attacked. By warriors from your maternal family's clan. They came with the intention of killing you three but your mothers managed to hold them off. That attack made them realize that staying together put you three at risk because their bond was strong enough to be sensed by the family's bloodline."

"So they separated to break the connection," Hiroshi finished, "And you can guess what happened then."

"They couldn't suppress the curse further," Akashi mumbled.

The room eventually descended into silence – no one knowing what to say.

It wasn't long before Akari realized they forgot to address one issue.

"A-Ano, you said you would prove to us your words at midnight. What exactly does that mean?" she asked trying not to sound timid.

"Ah yes. Midnight...uh," Hiroshi seemed unsure and he looked to Masaomi, "You don't happen to own a spare warehouse do you?"

'Warehouse?' the teens thought.

"I do for your information," Masaomi said and pressed his lips together in a thin line.

"What do we need a warehouse for?" Kagami asked scratching his head.

At that, Hiroshi smirked and responded, "Your awakening of course."