Lovely Jewels

Arguments and a Little of the Past

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

Akashi's Power Profile -

1. Emperor's Eye - used to mark an enemy as ally(blue) or foe(red); also can tell how a person will move before he moves

2. Control over Heat - cause things to set on fire; can warm things/people up or drain warmth

3. Telepathic - Can converse with other members using the mind

Haizaki's Power Profile -

1. Ash Storm - cause a storm of ash to fill battle area; ash can cut lungs if inhaled

2. ? (Will be introduced later! Want to take a guess?)

3. Move Interference - Throws specific ash at opponent, if ash stops opponent, opponent loses the ability to do whatever move that person was about to do for a certain amount of time depending on how strong they are

Kuroko found his throat too dry for him to speak and all he could do was grimace at the pain of having his hair roughly pulled. He could feel the wind pick up, whipping his loose hairs around his face. The dust skimming against his skin was becoming more than annoying brushes. They were starting to hurt.

"Come to watch the show?"

Kuroko pushed against Haizaki's hand, eventually causing the gray-haired male to let go. He fell to the ground with a thud, but Kuroko moved himself to a crouching position. His head rose slowly to see Akashi before a kick to his ribs sent him sprawling back to the floor.

Akashi's expression hardened, seeing Kuroko get kicked. His heterochromatic eyes slowly moved to stare Haizaki head on. "I'm here to grant your death wish, Shōgo." He eyed Kuroko for a brief moment, taking note of his labored breathing.

"That's cute, Seijuro," Haizaki retorted. He threw his hands out to the side, causing ash to storm on top of the building. "I hope you can hold your breath," Haizaki called out while laughing. "Or else you might lose your precious lungs."

Akashi smirked, already having marked Haizaki with his Emperor's eye. He followed the red aura easily through the mist of ashes. However, he did realize that Haizaki was right about one thing. He would have to hold his breath, for inhaling the ashes would certainly cut up his lungs.

Kuroko crawled to the edge of the building, pulling his shirt over his nose and mouth. The swirling ash had created small scratches on the skin that was not covered and they were beginning to sting. His blue eyes tried to spot either Akashi or Haizaki, but failed in his attempt. He winced in pain and bent over, slowing curling into the fetal position. Akashi, I need to help him…

Akashi heated the air around him, causing the ash to soften and form clumps with each other, falling onto the ground. He wanted to draw out the time he would cause suffering to Haizaki, but there were other pressing matters at hand. His eyes flashed and he began to drain the heat from Haizaki. Smiling with amusement, he watched the red outlined figure of Haizaki fall to the ground. The ash around him was becoming less dense.

Haizaki's eyes were wide as his body shivered uncontrollably. He smiled to himself though when he felt Akashi's presence near him. He centered his focus and in one swift movement shot ash directly at Akashi.

Akashi easily dodged the attack. "Enough with the games Shōgo." Akashi muttered darkly. His eyes deepened in their two separate colors as he continued to pull the heat out of his opponent.

Haizaki forced himself the meet Akashi's steely gaze. "Games?" Haizaki asked in a sarcastic tone. He spat on the ground before narrowing his eyes. "I don't play games." Haizaki's gaze darted toward the side while a confident smirk appeared on his features. "You shouldn't either, Seijuro, if you want to protect that weakling."

"Argh!"

Akashi whipped around to see Kuroko becoming engulfed in a cloud of ash. He immediately began rushing over, ignoring Haizaki. "Don't breathe, Tetsuya!" The ash shot out in spurts at him, which he easily softened. He spared a glance over his shoulder to see Haizaki run away.

"You better be more careful, Seijuro!" Haizaki called as he ran away. "I'll be more than happy to take away the one you love like you once did to me."

Akashi shook his head and using his heat as armor, pushed through the cloud of ash surrounding Kuroko. Although his mind fought to relive memories triggered by the gray-head's words, he pushed them down. Now was not the time to revisit the past.

Kuroko's lungs burned as he continued to hold his breath. The sharp bits of ash created small cuts on his skin that stung with almost unbearable pain. His skin began to feel a comforting warmth as the wind died down and the ash stopped scratching him. His sore body was pulled into a strong embrace.

"Tetsuya, breathe."

Kuroko let out a loud breath before sucking in air, but he began to cough. He held his arms close to his chest as he tried to soften his coughing but to no avail. His lungs were burning and he could tell that Akashi was holding him tighter. He opened his eyes a bit to see Akashi's concerned expression.

"A-Aka-"

"Shhh, Tetsuya," Akashi interrupted while picking Kuroko up and then standing. "Hold on, I will bring you to Shintarou." He started running across the buildings as fast as he could, relying on his super human powers.

Kuroko closed his eyes, not even being able to give Akashi a nod. He felt cool wind blow against him, but Akashi's body kept him warm. He fought against the darkness that was encouraging him to fall into. Kuroko wanted to stay awake. He needed to make sure that Akashi knew he was all right.

Akashi slipped into the apartment after a few more minutes of avoiding others and sneaking along the shadows. He called out to Midorima, giving the order that the greenhead was needed now. Kuroko shifted in his arms a bit, causing the redhead to look down with worry. He hurried to the couch and laid Kuroko down just as the apartment door slammed open. Akashi looked up to see Midorima rush into the living room, sweat dotting his face.

"Akashi-san," Midorima said, catching his breath. His gaze moved to Kuroko and he quickly pushed up his glasses before walking over. He quickly scanned Kuroko's body, noting the many small cuts scattered around his pale skin.

Akashi stepped back and supervised Midorima's work. His heterochromatic gaze constantly flitted towards Kuroko's face to see the light-blue head wince every now and then. As Midorima begin unbuttoning Kuroko's shirt, Akashi watched with mild interest.

"His ribs aren't broken, that's a good sign," Midorima commented quietly. He held out his hands and over Kuroko's body as they began to glow. "He'll still be sore after this, but there will be nothing else to worry about." Midorima slowly took his time finishing up healing Kuroko's body, knowing that he was in for some sort of punishment once he was done.

You're right, Shintarou.

Midorima visibly flinched. However, the tension was broken when Kuroko reached up and weakly grabbed Midorima's hand. Midorima looked down to see Kuroko give him a very faint smile. The greenhead forced himself to stop an incoming blush. He slowly pulled away his hand before standing up.

"I'll leave you two alone for a while," Midorima stated quietly. He proceeded to make himself scarce, feeling that Akashi was beginning to get irritated.

Akashi let out a small sigh, watching Midorima leave. He slowly moved his gaze to Kuroko only to find that the other was obviously avoiding his stare. He suppressed a smirk and walked closer to the smaller male. "Tetsuya, look at me."

Kuroko refused and tried to move away, ignoring the strain it was causing his body. He managed to get to the edge of the couch in a sitting position before bravely looking up to meet Akashi's slightly annoyed face. His gaze dropped to the floor seconds after seeing the heterochromatic eyes. While maintaining a straight expression, he whispered, "I'm sorry."

The two words were faint, but Akashi easily picked up on them. He pressed his right hand against one of his cheeks and closed his eyes. Akashi knew that Kuroko felt that the entire situation was his fault…and it kind of was…but it was also the Kiseki no Sedai's fault as well. "You don't need to be, Tetsuya."

Kuroko looked up again at Akashi's words. His mouth was set into a frown. "I am in no need of your pity, Akashi-san."

Akashi arched a brow. "I don't believe I was offering you my pity." Yes he could tell that Kuroko regretted his actions, but he was not one to pity another. No, he expected that person to accept their responsibility and move on. Akashi stepped back and leaned on the arm of the other chair. "And if you are as sorry as you seem, Tetsuya, don't sneak out to see that idiot redhead anymore."

Kuroko's brows immediately furrowed. "Don't call my friend an idiot," Kuroko bit out slowly. If Akashi was getting irritated, so was Kuroko. "At least he takes the time to value our friendship." Kuroko had no idea where those words came from. He internally winced, wishing he thought more before he let those words go.

Akashi's eyes flashed red and gold respectively. "What are you trying to say?" He crossed his arms, doing his best to keep his temper in check.

"I'm saying," Kuroko started as he bravely looked up to stare Akashi straight in the eyes. "That you, someone who's been absent for so long, is in no position to judge someone you don't even know." Kuroko held Akashi's gaze, silently daring the other to do something. He clenched his fists in his lap, wondering if him being blunt this time was pushing the limit.

In a flash Akashi had Kuroko pinned against the back of the couch. The redhead predatorily hovered over the trapped light-blue head. Kuroko let out a small gasp of surprise, but otherwise maintained his blank expression.

Akashi let an angry grin run across his lips. "Are you sure you two are just friends?" He leaned in closer to Kuroko, causing the light-blue head to press further back into the couch. "Are you sure you're not letting him fuck you?" With each word Akashi let drop out of his mouth, the temperature went up a degree. Everything around him was close to spontaneously combusting.

A loud slap resounded around the room. Beads of sweat dotted Kuroko's forehead as he stared accusingly at Akashi, leaving his hand in the air where it had met the redhead's face. Akashi left his head looking off to the side as he eyes began to glow.

"Tetsu~ya," Akashi crooned in a voice laced with danger. Jealously and anger slowly enveloped his mind to the point where formed thoughts were incoherent ones. All he could get from his mess of thoughts was that somehow, his Kuroko was in some sort of relationship with the other redhead.

Kuroko's eyes dilated in silent fear as the heat around Akashi became unbearable. He used his hands to push against Akashi's chest, causing the redhead to finally look down on him. Kuroko froze as his hands began to burn. Suddenly the door slammed open, followed by yelling that he could not comprehend. His mind was too focused on the deadly glare that Akashi was currently sending him. He couldn't move even as he felt his skin beginning to burn.

"Kuroko!"

Kuroko blinked as he was suddenly enveloped into a cold darkness. He blinked and blinked once more, but all he saw was black. However, everything was cool, soothing his obviously flushed skin. Kuroko finally noticed that arms were around his waist when he felt them squeeze himself to the person behind him tighter.

"Akashi-san!" Midorima shouted as he roughly shoved the redhead to the ground. I am going to get it later… Midorima thought after he committed the action. He watched as Akashi blinked and shook his head, the glowing in his eyes gone. "What do you think you were doing?" Midorima asked in a quieter, but still stern tone. "I almost fainted from the amount of power you were shooting out."

Kise stared worriedly from behind Midorima. He looked at the blackened couch before returning to watch Akashi. Murasakibara walked forward, gently pushing Midorima aside and knelt beside Akashi. For once the giant had no treat in his hands.

"Aka-chin, let's go for a walk, ne?"

Kuroko felt a rush of cool wind breeze over his face as he was greeted with the sight of his room. He took a shaky step forward, but his leg buckled and he began to tumble to the ground. However a strong, tanned arm caught him before he could complete his fall.

Aomine carried Kuroko to his bed before gently setting him down. He looked around and sat in the chair next to Kuroko's desk. The two met each other's gaze, one questioning with fear, the other weakened and worried.

"A-Aomine-san," Kuroko stuttered. Tears filled the corners of his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. He rapidly blinked them away in slight irritation.

Aomine let out a tired sigh. Being in Akashi's presence when he was sending out such threatening waves of power sucked the energy out of him. He almost was unable to pull Kuroko into the shadows. "Akashi was just very concerned, Kuroko," Aomine finally stated.

Kuroko remained quiet, taking in Aomine's words, but failing to understand their meaning. He stared at Aomine's chair instead of the actual person, losing himself in his thoughts.

I'll be more than happy to take away the one you love like you once did to me.

Kuroko's eyes widened a bit. He shifted on the bed and pulled his knees to his chest. "Did Akashi-san do something to Haizaki-san, Aomine-san?" The light-blue head returned his gaze to his guardian.

Aomine nodded slowly, unsure of whether he should tell Kuroko or not. "It happened a long time ago, though," Aomine began. "To start off, the Haizaki family used to be one of the guardian families."

Kuroko frowned a bit and tilted his head. "Why aren't they one now?"

"The Haizaki family betrayed the Guardian Alliance by sneaking information to the Planaedian Order," Aomine answered promptly. Sensing that this was going to take a good amount of time to explain, he rested his head on his hand.

"Haizaki fell in love with a member from the Planaedian Order afterwards."

Kuroko nodded his head for Aomine to continue.

"The time traveler of that time was being targeted by the Planaedian Order and Haizaki's lover was sent to retrieve the time traveler," Aomine continued, making sure that Kuroko was following. "We were in charge of that time traveler at that time too and you know what we had to do."

Kuroko shook his head. "You killed her."

Aomine nodded. "Akashi saw her right when she was about to attack the time traveler. He burned her right there and then." Aomine pressed the heel of his hand against his eyes. "And it was just Akashi's luck to have Haizaki there watching the whole thing."

Kuroko knew that when you loved someone so much, losing him or her was like letting a big part of yourself die. "But I am not Akashi's lover, he shouldn't be worried about any thing of that sort."

Aomine gave Kuroko a weak smile. The light-blue head was so naïve. "Haizaki will tear away anyone close to Akashi. I don't think it matters if their lovers or not." But Akashi's really possessive too, Aomine stated in his head. "Akashi will protect you at all costs, but," Aomine said, pausing to let him think of the most appropriate way to explain this to Kuroko. "He gets mad and uh…touchy easily when it comes to you." Aomine hurried into his next sentence. "So I what I mean to say is that Akashi may have scared you today, but he would never hurt you."

Kuroko looked down at his knees. He admitted that Akashi had frightened him, but he was finding it hard to believe that the literally fiery redhead would never hurt him. He opened his hands and looked at the palms, expecting them to be blackened. However, the skin was unscarred.

"See," Aomine said.

Kuroko slowly nodded. "Thank you, Aomine-kun."

Aomine looked surprised at the new use of familiarity with his name. He let out a small smile. "No problem, Tetsu." His expression turned more serious. "But you shouldn't go running off on your own. I'm sure Akashi almost had a heart attack when Haizaki attacked you, though he would never say it."

"I understand," Kuroko said, reluctantly complying.

Aomine stood up, looking at Kuroko's door for a moment. He finally turned back to Kuroko. "Come on, let's go downstairs. I'm sure Midorima wants to do a check up on you again."

Kuroko moved his sore muscles and pushed himself to the edge of the bed. He slowly placed his feet on the ground and stood up. His ribs did not hurt as much as before, but they still complained with some movements. Aomine watched the light-blue head carefully, noting the movements being made. Kuroko warily looked at the door, some fear still apparent in his eyes.

Aomine easily read Kuroko's expression. "He's not here. Murasakibara took him out." He watched as Kuroko's shoulders drooped with relief.

Kuroko shakily walked forward and opened the door to reveal none other than Ryouta Kise.

"Kuroko!" the blonde wailed and promptly proceeded to glomp the shorter boy. "Are you okay? Did Aominecchi do anything perverted to you?"

"You're the pervert here!" Aomine yelled crossly as he pried Kise off of Kuroko.

Kuroko watched with silent interest. He flashed a small smile very quickly before letting it disappear. He was beginning to see that staying in the apartment wouldn't be as boring as he had perceived it to be.

Big thanks to those that have followed, favorited, and alerted!

Personal thanks to:

hitomi65 - Look! Awesome reviewer! XD

Shadow of an Echo - Your reviews never fail to get me into the writing mood! Thank you! You've helped to take away some of my guilt! *smiles* I'm relieved and really really happy! Ah, I found a couple of them hard to write because they were kind of away from the plot, but I'm glad you like them! I think it's a good break for me too! I see Midorima as a healer too! And maybe Akashi will be a bit more lenient with Midorima this time... I really do want to involve them more, so keep an eye out! Yes! Takao is an amazing character for Midorima! I think I'm going to have to say "thank you" more than a hundred times to repay your kindness!

Guest - Here is your update! Enjoy!

EclipseKuran - Here's the next chapter! Thank you for the good wishes!

MissSexyRain - Haha, I should make a scene for our two redheads fighting over Kuroko! Thank you for the review!

And now we learn more about Akashi's and Haizaki's past!

Here is my update for the week! Last week was pretty hectic with the video editing that I was forced to do, but I'm happy with how the result came out! Plus my group got a hundred!

You guys are seriously awesome! I'm going to get more busy with state coming up, but I keep feeling the strong urge to write for you guys! I'm enjoying writing this story and I hope you guys are having fun reading it!

I'll work on this week's chapter and hopefully have the update ready by next week! Thank you again!