Lovely Jewels
Strains and Tensions
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Haizaki's Power Profile -
2. (the missing one) Memory Stealer - upon touch of the temple of the head, takes a memory(ies) and then steals it; replaces the memory with a twisted one; can be undone if affected person believes the memory(ies) are not true
Kuroko stirred slightly and slowly opened his eyes. Dim light streamed in, but it did not blind him as bright light would. He hears something shift beside him and rubs his eyes.
Akashi allows himself to lightly chuckle. "Your hair looks like a cow has been at it all night," the redhead states, reaching out to finger a particularly long piece of hair. He smiled a bit when Kuroko weakly pushed away his hand.
Kuroko's expressionless, yet obviously still tired eyes, met Akashi's gaze. The two stayed still as a comfortable silence envelops the room. However, when Akashi began to lean closer, Kuroko pulled away. The light-blue head turned to look to the side, suddenly remembering where he had gone.
Those fingers had caressed Momoka's hair, Kuroko thought. He hid his irritation and carefully pushed off his futon's covers. "I went to the past," Kuroko said, speaking as if he were talking about the weather. He got up, paying little attention to the fact that he was now in pajamas.
Akashi slowly nodded, already predicting that the past was easier to travel to than the future. His heterochromatic eyes watched Kuroko move to the door, sensing a feeling of unease coming from the light-blue head. It was like Kuroko was telling him, You're dirty. Don't touch me.
Kuroko, raised to be polite in all situations, looked behind him to see Akashi staring back at him before saying, "I'm going to go see the others and maybe make breakfast if Midorima-san hasn't already." He started to open the door and then paused for a moment. "Please see yourself out of my room."
Akashi got up as soon as Kuroko disappeared into the hallway. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. What did you see Tetsuya to make you act so? Although he had a strong urge to catch Kuroko and pin him against a wall to get answers, Akashi was smart enough to let the light-blue head have some space. He sent off a quick message to Midorima to tell him that he was going scouting to check on the barrier and that he better make breakfast.
"Thank you, Midorima-san," Kuroko said, bowing his head slightly as he took the breakfast Midorima handed to him. He looked up to see that the greenhead was a bit flushed and his hair was damp.
"It's just my duty," Midorima replied stiffly before turning to go back into the kitchen. He pushed his glasses up his nose, angrily cursing Akashi for interrupting his bath time. He sneakily looked over his shoulder to make sure that Kuroko could carry his food, however, since the small boy's body might still be sore from his traveling.
Kuroko walked away with a knowing expression before stopping at the door that led to the garden. The sun had risen above the horizon and was shining its peaceful and warm light over the garden. Since it was still early in the morning, the light wasn't blaring. The serenity of the garden tempted him and he made a choice to eat outside this morning. He sat down at the base of a tree and stared up to see the tree's long branches sway in the wind. The leaves whistled quietly as a gentle breeze danced through them. He slowly picked up his bowl of rice, noticing that he was still shaking and tried to prevent any spillage from happening.
"Midoramicchi!" Kise called out as he raced around the corner, almost bumping into the green head. His eyes were wide and alert as he met the greenhead's gaze. "The barrier is being attacked in the north and south. Akashicchi is taking care of the south so we need to go to the north."
Aomine came up from behind Kise to join the group. His expression showed more irritation than usual. "You guys go. I have to stay with Tetsu."
Kise looked at Aomine with slight surprise. "Eh, Aominecchi?" The blonde furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
Midorima pushed up his glasses with his carefully taped fingers before brushing past the two. "Hurry, Kise. Murasakibara is already half way over there." He looked over his shoulder to give Kise a look before leaving.
Aomine reached out and ruffled Kise's hair a bit. "It's fine. Just go." He watched the blonde's face carefully, trying to pinpoint why he was feeling so distressed.
Kise nodded, but pouted a bit. He pulled away from Aomine's hand and ran off, not forgetting to throw a wave over his shoulder. Aomine watched for the few seconds that Kise was visible before turning to go find Kuroko. He was sure that the other lighter-blue head had no idea about what was going on.
Kuroko placed the now-empty bowl back on the tray that Midorima had given him. He let out a sigh and patted his stomach, too full to move back into the house. His eyelids slowly drooped down, limiting his vision. The sun's light was beginning to stream down brighter and the parts that reached him started to warm his skin. Kuroko moved his hand to clutch his chest, still confused about the feelings stirring inside of him regarding the redhead.
Haizaki let a smirk form across his face as he watched the defenseless time-traveler sit alone, entirely vulnerable. He snuck through the brush, decreasing the space between them. The other Planaedius members were busy distracting the Kiseki no Sedai, but the whitehead still felt the presence of one left over. Keeping that fact in mind, he stood on the other side of the tree of where the time-traveler slept, listening intently to the soft breathing the smaller male emitted.
Haizaki silently crept around the trunk of the tree and knelt beside Kuroko, who was lost in the worlds of his dreams. His eyes held a malicious glint as he reached out to touch Kuroko's temple. "I hope you have the sweetest dreams," he whispered, letting his ability wreck havoc in the light-blue head's mind.
Kuroko felt a sharp pain shoot through his body and he scrunched up his face, feeling himself become conscious once again. He heard chuckling beside him and he squinted an eye open to see Haizaki towering over him. "H-Haizaki-san?" Kuroko muttered and then fell forward, gripping his head as images flashed before his eyes.
"No! Testu!"
Aomine dashed forward with the intent to seriously injure Haizaki, but the whitehead dodged and jumped to the side. Aomine stood protectively over Kuroko who was writhing on the ground. "What the hell are you guys up to?" he asked with a growl.
Haizaki just smiled and held up his hands in mock defense. "This has nothing to do with the Order," he answered. "I just wanted to give Seijurou a gift."
Aomine's eyes flashed blue and shadows began to form around the whitehead. Haizaki jumped out of the shadows' grasp easily while having his hands firmly placed on his pocket. He nimbly landed on a rock and looked up to glare at Aomine.
"Let's not play today, Ahomine," Haizaki stated with scorn lacing the tone of his voice. With that said, he back-flipped off the rock and darted away from sight.
Aomine watched to make sure that Haizaki was gone, knowing that he would not be able to go after him, before kneeling down to pick up Kuroko. The small boy's body was shivering and his eyes were tightly shut closed. Sweat droplets formed on Kuroko's forehead, resting awhile before slipping down his pale face.
"Testu," Aomine called out, his brows furrowing. He noticed that Kuroko was mumbling something, but he could not make out the words. He stood up fully with Kuroko secure in his arms and ran into the mansion, looking over his shoulder to make sure that no one was following. Midorima, get your ass here now!
Kise threw the last Planaedius member to the ground with a sickening thud. He looked up when he sensed a troubled feeling coming from Midorima. Murasakibara lazily turned as well. Midorima's eyes flashed green and suddenly the three were sprinting back towards the mansion.
Aomine laid Kuroko on his futon, relieved that the light-blue head was no longer struggling. However, Kuroko had not opened his eyes, nor had he spoken a comprehensible word. Aomine stood up with a sigh, not used to these types of situations and wondering when the others would be showing up. He gulped nervously, hoping that Akashi wouldn't go all nuts again. His thoughts were broken as footsteps sounded in the hallway outside the room. Midorima appeared at the doorway, followed by Kise and Murasakibara.
Midorima walked into the room and immediately knelt down beside Kuroko. He wordlessly outstretched his hand, making it glow, to scan Kuroko's body for injuries. "He's unhurt."
Aomine gritted his teeth. "I know, but that bastard Haizaki did something because Tetsu was squirming when I got to him." He brought down a fist on Kuroko's desk, causing it to crack. Aomine flinched when a pale hand covered his fist.
"Aominecchi," Kise said quietly, worry obvious in his golden depths. He watched as Aomine looked up to meet his eyes. "It'll be alright."
Aomine sighed and opened his fist so he could take Kise's hand in his. The blonde replied with a lopsided smile. Midorima had been analyzing the data he could retrieve from Kuroko's head condition. He was picking up on something weird, but could not pinpoint the abnormality.
At that moment, Kuroko slowly opened his eyes. Kuroko gripped his head and slowly rose to a sitting position. "M-Midorima-san?" he asked quietly.
Midorima pulled Kuroko's hand away from his head and looked the light-blue head in the eyes. Something was off, but it was making itself unknown as of now. "Yes, you fainted it seems. Do you feel pain in a particular place?"
Kuroko noted the dull throbbing in his head. It wasn't too painful, but it was definitely there. "Just my head," Kuroko replied, turning to look at the others in the room. An unfamiliar nervous feeling draped around him as he found that something…someone was missing here.
Midorima shook his head before pushing up his glasses. He was at a loss and irritated by it. His eyes scanned Kuroko's head once again. However, the sound of Kuroko's door sliding open broke his train of thought.
"What is going on?" Akashi demanded, looking very ticked as he eyed the occupants of the room. His heterochromatic gaze fell upon Kuroko, softening a bit.
Kuroko's vision pulsed as he laid his eyes on Akashi. The edges of his vision darkened and terrible nightmarish memories flitted through his mind. In his mind he saw Akashi with an evil smirk, approaching him with the intent to hurt. Kuroko pushed away from Midorima, his eyes wide now with apparent fear.
The Kiseki no Sedai froze in shock at Kuroko's reaction to Akashi. They were thoroughly confused and Kise immediately bent down to comfort Kuroko. Akashi moved further into the room as well, trying to get a better look at Kuroko.
"No! No!" Kuroko cried out, uncharacteristic for his usual self. The sight of Akashi scared him out of his wits. "Get away from me!"
"Eh, who?" Kise asked, not knowing whom Kuroko was referring to. He stopped himself from touching Kuroko, but stayed by his side. Out of his peripheral vision he spotted the blurring of the blankets surrounding Kuroko.
Akashi's eyes flashed, sensing the familiar pull of the time-traveler's power. He quickly shook his head. The other members felt the fluctuation of Kuroko's power as well and all were aware that if they did not stop him, Kuroko would be thrown into the throes of time travel.
Murasakibara pushed Kise out of the way and pulled Kuroko's arms away from himself. "Kuro-chin? Calm down," the purple-headed giant said, trying to sound calm.
The wind picked up in the room and blue flashes of light began to surround Kuroko. "Stop!" Kuroko shouted, covering his eyes once again.
Midorima, ever the observant-one, looked over his shoulder to give Akashi a panicked look. Akashi-san, it's you. You need to leave.
Aomine picked up on Midorima's message. He edged towards Akashi, looking back at Midorima to make sure that he had heard right. Akashi, let's go.
Akashi gave the two a look of disgust, but found himself trusting them nonetheless. He reluctantly turned, fighting the urge to run and pull Kuroko into a strong embrace. What did I do, Tetsuya?
Aomine and Akashi left the room, leaving the rest of the members to calm down Kuroko. Midorima looked at the quickly aging wood in contact with Kuroko's range of power. This section of the house was sure to fall apart if they couldn't get through to Kuroko.
Kise looked side-to-side nervously. "K-Kurokocchi? Uh, he's gone, Kurokocchi!" Kise said, pushing through the weak barrier that Kuroko had put up to grab the smaller male's shoulders.
Kuroko faintly heard those words, but visibly began to relax. The blue light around him began to vanish and the wind died down. He opened his eyes and through blurry vision looked up at Kise's concerned face. "Gone?" His body was drained and his mind too exhausted to continue to function. He fell forward and into Kise's chest, losing himself to darkness once again.
Midorima and Murasakibara looked at the two before looking at the space where Kuroko had been affecting. The wood framing of the room looked ready to fall apart. Midorima made a mental note to get that repaired.
"Take him to my room," Midorima told Kise. "I'll monitor him throughout the rest of today."
Kise nodded and easily picked up the light male. He walked past the other two and exited the room. Murasakibara was on high alert, but his face wouldn't give that expression away.
Akashi quickly reentered the room. He gave Midorima a hard stare. "Tell me."
Thank you for all the support!
Personal thanks to:
Shadow of an Echo - Haha, I do like them butterflies! Awwww! Thank you so much! I was hoping she wouldn't be too much a sudden intrusion! I appreciate your words a lot! And nah, I would never do that since the Kiseki no Sedai is too cool for my OOCs! :) Yes, I like it when I can make Midorima work through his tsundereness, haha! *sighs* I know this is definitely not very good for a come back, but not writing for a long time...has really affected my writing. I hope you still like it!
telletha - Thank you! I'm sorry that this chapter is short too! I'm glad you liked the omakes though! Thank you again for your kind words!
hitomi65 - Thank you for the review!
jessyjasmine7 - I'll continue writing! Thank you for supporting me!
Airka Yumeko - Haha, it was funny! I actually laughed out loud, thank you! Thank you for your support! I'm happy you are enjoying the story!
MissSexyRain - Yes, yes it was! Hopefully he will! Thank you for your support!
Tennu - *throws one of many of Kuroko's shirts at Tennu* Haha, thank you! I'm glad you're interested and please put that shirt on! Thank you for the support! :)
sakuraadesu - Thank you so much! I hope you like this chapter!
Thank you everyone for being INCREDIBLY patient with me! I'm so terribly sorry! This past month has been HECTIC!
I had two state conferences one week after the other, but the good news is that I made it to nationals for one of them! But handling the conferences and
writing was impossible for me, so I'm so sorry! I just really wanted to get this one chapter out, and I apologize for its mediocre-ness (and probably many grammatical errors)! Ah, but thank you for all the support
too! I hope this chapter was satisfying!