DISCLAIMER: I don't own KnB.
Furihata browsed his camera's gallery with a smile. The photos he captured never ceased to alleviate the stress he got from his multiple part-time jobs he was juggling.
It had been his dream to become a photographer since he was a child. Different scenery fascinated him－whether it be nature or the view of the busy city. Random shots even amazes him, like stolen captures of animals, daily activities, shots of different kinds of people... things like those.
Unfortunately, he wasn't able to achieve his dream to be a professional one.
As of now, he works as a photographer for a small newspaper company. They don't require a degree in the field there. Somehow, Furihata thinks he attained his goal partly.
The thing was, what he had to capture were subjects... too much for him. The miserable ones, for example. Sometimes, he would be required to take photos of those unfortunate victims of calamities, how a large fire reduced the homes of the families to ashes, or worst, he would have to be present on emergencies especially if it meant a big scoop.
Furihata had captured enough amount of lifeless bodies, and not once did they make him immune to the sick feeling he would have every single time.
He thought of quitting once, but for some reason, he was torn between leaving the job he never enjoyed and abandoning his hopes up to get into the career of photography.
He had been off from the job right after another shots of dead bodies found at the port earlier that morning. There were two victims whose fronts were sliced open. According to the police, the weapon used was most likely a katana. There were no more currently leads about the incident and the suspect.
At least the beautiful sky was always present to be his subject. Whatever time of the day, it never failed to be breathtaking. The photos he have of them serve as an oasis.
He planned on capturing the sunset that time; right at the very moment where half of the sun had hidden behind the hills. He was already stationed on a high area, providing him a perfect view of the horizons.
Furihata placed the camera on his line of sight, angling for a moment and adjusting the lenses. His finger hovering at the button when he caught a glint on the left down corner field of the vision given to him by the camera.
He retracted it for a moment, letting it hang on his neck when he walked closer at the railing. Peering below, he had seen nothing but a bunch of trees at first.
Then there was the glint again.
No matter how hard he squinted his eyes, he couldn't make out anything at all. The sun was almost down that was why the place lower than him was bathed with the shadow of the hills. Furihata found himself more intrigued at the glint than the sunset he was supposed to capture.
Giving up on squinting, he decided to use his camera instead. The zoom property of it would at least give him a multiple times better view of below.
He got a hold of his camera, swiveling downwards. It was blurred at first and then it began getting clearer.
Furhihata's jaw dropped at the scene.
There below, was a man knelt on the ground, hands and feet were bound, and his mouth was covered with a duct tape. The display of fear and pleading for life was unmistakably present on his eyes. Gulping to himself, Furihata edged his camera towards the right side, hands shaking slightly as to what he might found there.
It was a redhead in a fancy black suit whose arm was hovering mid-air. Furihata found out immediately the source of the glint.
A scissors. And by the looks of it, they were sharp enough inflict deep cuts.
Or kill.
Furihata's whole body trembled, breath stopping for a while the moment the redhead's arm snapped downwards to stab one eye of his prey.
Click.
The momentary flash of the camera made Furihata's eye closed tightly.
He went aghast at what he accidentally did.
The silence around the area was deafening that he could hear his own heartbeat thundering mad.
Did I just captured a murder scene?!
Furihata found his palms wet, and his face sweating bullets. He didn't know what took over him, but instead of running away, he looked once more at the scene.
But this time, the redhead had his head craned at his direction, eyes watching him intently.
When the man's face showed a dangerous smirk, Furihata began fearing for his life.
"That's very uncharacteristic of you to hand the bastard to the police," Aomine muttered when Akashi slipped at the passenger's seat.
"I don't like staining my precious scissors with a pig's blood," the leader said, keeping the red scissors in his breast pocket. "This pair is my favorite."
Aomine snorted. "We've been doing that kind of job for how many years already." He started the engine. "What exactly is the matter?"
Akashi left Yoshimura alone at the forest clearing, unconscious, limbs still tied, and mouth sealed. With him was the recorded confession he had earlier after Akashi made him choose between easy death and torture. The former choose none, begging for his life but revealed all of his dirty works nonetheless, including his black market business of internal organs retailing. Before Akashi had left him and his drugs to be found by the authorities themselves after unanimously sending them information about the suspect, Akashi had him interrogated first.
"Who injured my comrade?" Akashi asked.
"T-That man?" Yoshimura stuttered. "H-He's the one w-who killed my men! A-And... A-And left me and those four unknown guys alive!"
"You're not answering my question." Akashi frowned, pupils dilating. "Who hurt Shintaro?" he pressed as he stared coldly down at the man.
The tied man almost choked on his own spit. "M-me," he whispered, close to breaking down into tears. "P-Please! That was a self defense."
"Self defense, you say?
"You'll regret saving your life then."
"I was in the process of gouging his eyes, a souvenir for Shintaro at least," Akashi stated, reasoning Midorima might found them useful in the future (lucky item, maybe) while Aomine mumbled something along the lines of why the hell would Midorima like those; his level of freakishness is not on par with yours. "Unfortunately, I was caught."
"Wait... What?!"
"I'm caught."
"By who?! And how?!" To say Aomine was terrified is an understatement.
But of all people... Akashi? Really?
"I have no idea as of now about his identity. But I'll surely find it out whoever he is."
"You're too calm about this, aren't you?" A sigh. "Well, you can surely handle that." Aomine stared at the road. "Anyway, Murasakibara said Midorima already blinked his eyes open, but only for a few seconds and no further movements aside from that."
Akashi nodded. "It's a good sign. For the meantime, you take his duty to collect the tributes. It will be due tomorrow. I'll inform Alexandra about you." The blue-haired man groaned at that. "How about Taiga? Has he returned?"
"Nothing was said about him."
"Is that so."
Aomine looked at Akashi briefly. "What's wrong with him, anyway? He's sulking the whole day like a teenager. What an idiot."
Akashi's eyes softened, uncharacteristically, as Aomine noted.
"Taiga will be back. I'm sure of it."
It was at nightfall when they arrived.
And Kagami was at the front door, arms crossed and waiting for the two.
The taller redhead cleared his throat, gaze far of at the right side of him. "W-Welcome back."
Akasi and Aomine halted their steps, mildly surprised.
"You came back," was Akashi's only reply before smiling sincerely.
Kagami refused to make any eye contact, beet red from embarrassment. "Of course, I would."
"What, you done crying?" Aomine asked gruffly.
"Who's crying, you idiot?!"
"You." Aomine grimaced slightly when he noticed Kagami wearing an apron. "You got even lamer. The hell."
"Lame?! I'm the one who cooks your fucking food!"
The blue-haired man waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. I get it. Is the dinner ready, mom?" He snickered.
Akashi watched in sidelines as Kagami growled and the two began their verbal retaliation. The leader shook his head, entering the house without them noticing.
"Kids."
TBC