Greeting everyone!
This chapter is coming out later than I expected but these days, so many unpleasant things, especially on FF, happened to me that somehow put a damper on my writing motivation.
Everyone, please understand a writer needs inspiration to write and when inspiration for this story hasn't come, it is very difficult to got the story moving. Despite me having come across many occasions of rudeness, I still couldn't believe how can a person be so rude that it makes me wanna cringe. After I updated the second chapter of Indigo Dye, that person sent a PM, ranting to me "Why are you updating the AoKaga shits, not the AkaKuro stories?" and going on to lecture me how disgusting AoKaga shipping was. Furthermore, that person pushed the button too far by accusing me of plagiarizing idea of crossing KnB with NiseKoi, because there is story KiseKoi with also the same theme but with different shipping.
I can take negative reviews because I know everything in life has 2 sides: if there are positive reviews then there must be negative reviews. However, I won't tolerate people criticizing my interest and my dignity. How could I plagiarize the idea when my story "This crazy fake love" was published a long time before "KiseKoi"? I'm perfectly aware of the fact that the majority of KnB fandom don't favor Kagami and hate AoKaga shipping, but instead prefer AoKise. However, I have my own right to choose what I like, what I write. I respect every shipping because the fan has their own reason to ship it; heck I think every shipping is beautiful in their own way. But why can people not respect my preference and choose to bash it in front of me? All of this makes me sad, really sad, to the point I can't think up any funny thing to write my story.
I'm sorry, everyone, for bursting like this in front of you. I just need someone to share my anxiety. Every time I was about to give up, I always read your comments and it somehow spurred me into working. Thank you, everyone for your continuous support.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke for it belongs to Fujimaka Tadatoshi.
Enjoy the story. R&R,plz.
Chapter 11: Time to "lure" the little lamb
It was a beautiful evening: the sun was shining radiantly, birds were chirping happily, flowers were blooming colorfully and butterflies were flying or chasing each other to do whatever butterfly-know things. Yes, it was a perfect canvas of picturesque nature beauty that inspired countless Teiko students to- if they were esthetic- paint pictures and make poem, or –if they led a normal mundane life-simply skip joyfully and chat blissfully
Well, that was until someone came into the picture. Birds' singing came to a halt and was replaced with crows' cackle; flowers that were about to bloom closed its petals out of fear and students were scrambling away as far and as fast as possible. What exactly just happened?
Walking gracefully while exuding the dark aura that blatantly screamed "I'm pissed and don't you dare get close to me because I'm badass", Akashi- the mighty vice-captain of Teiko basketball team was currently making his way to the gym, where his fiancé was supposedly waiting for him to arrive. Poor his little Tetsuya, who must be waiting there in the gym all alone, sulking in the corner of the room ("I won't be alone, Akashi-kun and please stop deluding yourself", the redhead could hear the bluenette saying in his mind but quickly flushed the voice down to the toilet of the unnecessary). Thinking about that made the heart of young master of Akashi house filled with sadness and fury. Now that he thought about it, if it hadn't been for the Vice president's incompetence, he would be walking with his fiancé, hand in hand, to the gym now. If it hadn't been for that buffoon's idiocy, he would be drowning his Tetsuya in the flood of kisses somewhere in the secluded bush, where nobody would notice them and then he would… And what crazy thought just crossed his mind? No no no, much as he loved to ravish the small boy (why the heck could he hear the background screaming "Pervert"), he was still an heir of the great Akashi family and thus, having the duty to keep his gentleman image til the end. Therefore, he would refrain himself from such sinful desires as kissing and making-out. Moreover, such was his fiancé's innocence that Akashi preferred to keep it that way until both of them were at least 16 years old. Yeah, it would be considered a sin to defile Tetsuya's holy body now! Maybe he should go to the church to confess his sinful desire and ask for salvation for his soul raging with teenager hormone.
When his secretary hurriedly came to ask help from him, Akashi had thought it was something urgent and serious, which turned out to be some tiny mistake in the Accounting Book that made the expense larger than it was supposed to. After that, the Vice president and the secretary dare to give him their awkward smile, expressing how embarrassed they were for not noticing the detail, which instantly earned them Akashi's super death glare of death for bothering him at such an inconvenient time. And then, the redhead left, as coolly as when he arrived, leaving two guys mourning loudly "Oh, Akashi-sama, please glare us more!". Tch, masochists these days!
Eventually, Akashi arrived at the gym, with a burning hope-or delusion- of seeing his Tetsuya crying in the corner, only to be disappointed to see his teammates' sweaty forms, running around desperately under Nijimura's ear-deafening command. One thing that Akashi liked about Nijimura was that he proved to be a reliable trustworthy captain that possessed an aura compelling others to follow his orders. Despite his nagging personality and rather superior way of talking, the raven was always concerned about his teammates' well-being, fitness and academic performance. Had it not been for Nijimura's constant restraint and surveillance, Haizaki, a regular player whose skills Akashi acknowledged yet whose personality Akashi hated the most, the gray-haired teen would have been kicked out of the team for his tendency of scoring low on tests, causing troubles with delinquents and being bitch-slapped for cheating on girls. To sum it all, Nijimura was a great leader blessed with great basketball skill and overflowing charisma. And the rainbow captain's good points, unfortunately, ended there.
To continue the analysis of Nijimura's quality, allow Akashi to mention his demerit point. Ever since Kuroko made his debut in the basketball team, Akashi had witnessed Niji-who-cares being a little too clingy and touchy with the small bluenette. Call him possessive but how should he react when his fiancé was often talked and touched by a much older man (note: Nijimura was a year older than both of them)? Let's go through the available options, shall we? Legal action: sue him for his pedophilia… nah, too much hassle. Occupational hazard: his crotch being hit by basketball flying with the speed of sound…nah, too hard. Hellish punishment: push him into the pot of boiling oil… nah, too hot. Divine punishment: being squeezed by a free-falling elephant…nah, too sweet. After the painstaking process of analyzing the appropriate punishment for Nijimura, Akashi finally decided to use his iconic death glare for the time being, giving him the chills every time the rainbow-fucking-nyan commited that creepy pedophilia act on his little innocent fiancé. The main course could wait until Akashi had come up with some sweet punishment exclusive for the pedophile. Oh, revenge was so sweet, Akashi smirked creepily! If he had a mustache, he would be twirling it with his index finger right now. Maybe he should grow a moustache.
So engrossed in his thought, Akashi failed to notice that his facial expression had caused some players to move away from the scene, for the sake of their fragile hearts, and that the target of his punishment, captain Rainbow-mura, making his way fearlessly to the now dangerously smirking emperor of terror. Gulping nervously, the raven cleared his throat to capture the attention of the redhead, who immediately snapped out of his trance and narrowed his eyes at the subject of his previous thought, and began the conversation.
"Uh, Akashi, may I ask why you look so…eh… happy with all the smiling, grinning…eh…or smirking, whatever you define your expression?", Nijimura asked nervously. Sometimes his underclassman's behavior just greatly puzzled him.
"Oh, was I even smirking? As if I care", Akashi let his eyes roam his captain's body, from head to toes, and felt his eyes twitch irritatedly. To his annoyance, he could somehow see why Kuroko was amazed by this guy. Sure, this guy was tall- what the hell did he eat every day to get that tall- but Akashi was still in his puberty; who knew, one day, he might be taller than even Murasakibara! Sure, this guy looked attractive but didn't Akashi look gorgeous- he was so gorgeous that dogs shied away when catching glimpse of him, just like the legendary Chinese beauty Xishi, whose beauty was so extreme that fish shied away in shame. Sure, Nijimura was one capable charismatic captain, but one day, when Akashi had overthrown…eh taken over the position of captain, he was gonna show his fiancé how incredibly awesome he was when standing at the front, leading the team while holding Tetsuya to his chest in one arm. Overall, Nijimura might be a great catch of a captain but Akashi wasn't too far behind. Akashi was totally certain that one day, he would eventually surpass Nijimura and become the mightiest, sexiest and strongest captain in the galaxy, no scratch that, make it universe; aliens would never be able to compete with his super ultra awesomeness!
Upon seeing Akashi's intense stare at him as if there were something on his face, which was totally not, Nijimura couldn't help but feel intimidated by the sheer pressure emitting from the shorter one.
"Akashi, could you please stop staring at me? It makes me feel awkward", Nijimura scratched his head sheepishly. "By the way, I think it will do you good to smile more often. Scowling like that won't get anyone to like. I was able to get this handsome due to smiling a lot", was the raven's friendly suggestion.
Akashi continued staring at Nijimura for a minute before a smile bloomed creepily slowly on his face. It was an "angel" smile-totally classic, beautified by a dark halo, a murderous intent and gleaming pair of evil eyes that told him to get prepared to be sent to heaven or hell by the power of imaginary laser beam. It was so fallen-angelic that the black-haired captain nearly wetted his pants in fright. Fortunately, Nijimura wasn't a professional aura reader, or else, he would die from having a heart attack by continuous shockwave of "Die, you insolent fool", "Rot in hell, you narcissistic sleeze of a captain." "Are you implying anyone as Tetsuya and that I am not as handsome as you?", Akashi thought angrily.
"How about now, Nijimura-senpai~? Is this smile good enough?"
"YOU CALL THAT A SMILE. IT IS EVEN SCARIER!", the raven internally screamed, but he chose not to say that out loud. Though he himself is Akashi's upperclassman plus captain, sometimes the redhead just plainly freaked him out with that intimidating pressure of his whenever he said something unpleasant to the reahead.
"Eh… I think it's…eh… Oh, is Kuroko going with you? I don't know whether it is because of his invisibility or him not having arrived, but I haven't seen him since the beginning of practice". The black-haired captain mentally hi-fived himself for thinking of such a good distraction.
As expected, upon hearing his fiancé not having arrived, Akashi quickly composed himself and took a quick look around the gym for any sign of the bluenette just in case Kuroko was here but his weak presence prevented people from noticing him. No matter how much he strained his eyes, the redhead still couldn't find the mop of teal hair among the basketball players and after 5 minutes of searching both in the court and the changing room, Akashi could be certain to an extent that Kuroko wasn't in the gym. Akashi had seen with his own eyes Kuroko going the path the led to the gym; Kuroko even told his fiancé he had thought of some new co-ordinate play with Aomine and couldn't wait to test with the tanned teen, however, the bluenette was not in the gym right now. Where could the bluenette have disappeared to?
-o0o-
Pink sakura petals danced in the wind.
Pink sakura petals fell to the ground.
The scenery was painted with the light cherry color, blended with a hint of soft sunshine and gentle breeze beginning the season cycle.
Spring was here and everyone was happy.
However, among that endless pink color of spring, under the canopy of an old sakura tree, a young petite boy could be seen crying miserably, alone in his own world.
Nobody was gonna comfort him, the boy bitterly thought and continued weeping, hoping crying would somehow make things better, but to no avail. Wishful thinking would always remain wishful thinking.
The poor young one cried and cried until his eyes were red and puffy and his tears had dried out, yet the sadness didn't fade even a bit. At that point, he could do nothing but stare listless at the green grass meadow scattered with pink petals, and closed his eyes out of exhaustion from crying too much.
That was when he felt something soft touching his cheek and gently wiping the tear stains. It felt kinda nice, like the touch of his mother's hand. Thinking his mother had found him, the boy opened his eyes, only to be taken by surprise that the one standing before him was not his parent but a boy he had never met before.
"Why are you crying?", the stranger asked.
The crying boy didn't answer but instead, he took a quick look of the appearance of the other. The other was about the same age as his, had red hair and was wearing a red-striped shirt. However, his assessment was cut short as a question rose up in his head and before he knew, he had already said it out loud.
"You can see me?"
The stranger looked a bit baffled by the question. "Of course, I can see you. It's not like you're invisible or anything. But it's very rude to ask back when you have already been asked, you know. So why are you crying?". The redhead gave out the handkerchief, gesturing the crying one to receive it.
The boy was bewildered. Someone could actually notice him; even his parents had a very tough time noticing him. However, he quickly pushed aside the thought and accepted the handkerchief with a nod.
"I cried because I was sad", the boy wiped the tears and snot off his face, his eyes refusing to look into the other's.
"Then why were you sad?"
The previously-crying boy didn't answer. This boy was a stranger and Daddy had warned him to stay away from strangers because they might kidnap him. Therefore, there was a chance that this guy might pretend to be friendly and when he was distracted, the guy would render him unconscious and take him to some abandoned warehouse, like in the movie he watched yesterday.
Hence, the young boy remained silent, hoping that the stranger would go once he got bored. Nevertheless, as if reading his mind, the boy wearing red-striped shirt said, "Hey, don't ignore me. I'm not a bad guy. Bad guys are the one giving out candy. But I don't have candy so I'm not a bad guy."
And the staring competition went on with the boy refusing to speak. Finally, the redhead relented and let out a sigh.
"Why don't we start with the introduction? What is your name?"
The reign of long silence continued before the boy decided to answer.
"People usually call me Tet-chan… What's your name?", the boy timidly asked.
"My bad, I should have introduced first. My name is…"
-o0o-
As consciousness slowly came back to him, Kuroko's senses started working to take in his surroundings. Though his eyes were close, he could feel himself lying on the floor, judging from the smooth hard cold surface and hear people's whispering. An unpleasant pungent smell of detergent and cleaning soap assaulted his nose as he respired, which reminded him of the brand his mother usually used for cleaning. The bluenette tried to move his hand to cover his nose but then realized that his two hands were being tied behind his back.
The more he came back to the harsh world of consciousness, the more splitting and uncomfortable his headache became. What just happened to him? One moment he was walking to the gym and the next thing he knew was that a cloth was pressed to his nose and then, he fainted before catching glimpse of his assailer. Wait a second, why did he faint? Could it be someone was using tranquilizer? If that was so, then why did he do that?
After a few seconds of lying helplessly, Kuroko came to the decision that he needed to attest the surroundings through his own eyes; at least that way, he would be able to have some answer to his questions: where he was, who had kidnapped him and maybe why he was kidnapped. He slowly regained some control over his tightly shut eyelids; however, he couldn't quite open them as if they were stuck shut with super glue.
When Kuroko's eyes finally opened to small slits, he could vaguely make out the silhouette of two people standing, conversing with each other.
"Are you sure this is the right guy?", a feminine voice spoke up.
"I'm totally sure. The short one with teal hair, who always goes with Seijurou-sama", another girl answered.
At that, Kuroko shut his eyes back at once. If he pretended to still be unconscious, it was likely that he could get some more information about this kidnapping thing.
"Hey you, how come he doesn't wake up now? It's more than half an hour already. Are you sure you put the correct amount into the handkerchief?"
"Don't ask me. How should I know? I did everything as you instructed and don't stand there and blame everything on me, you bitch", a masculine voice said rudely.
"So what do we do now?"
"We're gonna wait for him to wake up and then, you know what we have to do, right? After all, time to "lure" the little lamb." That person flipped his phone open with an evil smile that enticed the others to smile as well.
It was more of a statement than a question. Moreover, it was spoken with a dark tone, akin to sinister, that sent a chill down Kuroko's spine and the bluenette knew better than to believe that these kidnappers were doing this for a prank. What were they planning to do to him? But on top of that, who were they?
-o0o-
After checking the gym once more to make sure his eyes didn't miss his fiancé, Akashi pulled out his cell phone and dialed quickly Kuroko's phone number, which he had memorized ever since the bluenette gave it to him on his second day of living at Akashi's house. There was signal on the other side but his fiancé didn't pick up, and after ten beeps, Akashi pressed the button "Cancel" and dashed quickly out of the gym to find the bluenette, ignoring the worried call of his captain. His intuition was telling him that something must have happened to Kuroko and he was totally certain about it; after all, he was always right.
However, where should he begin his search? The last time he saw the bluenette was when he walked down the main path, so he had better start from there. As he walked along the road, the redhead carefully cast his eyes over the surroundings, checking any trace or clue that could help him in his investigation. Being cautious as ever, Akashi dialed his fiancé's number once more, only to hear the beeping sound on the line.
Just when he was about to cancel his call, his ears registered Kuroko's familiar ringtone-"You belong with me", which the bluenette had once mentioned it being exclusive to only Akashi, playing nearby. With his hearing and seeing senses heightened to the maximum, the red-haired teen performed a quick scan of the scene, not leaving behind any details until he arrived at the source of the ringtone. And there, lying on the ground was undoubtedly Kuroko's phone- Akashi recognized it quickly due to its unique "Vanilla Milkshake" keychain. Picking it up, Akashi examined it carefully and saw the application "Reminder" was being used with the words "Toufu sou" having typed incomplete on the screen.
That certainly brought up more questions. If Kuroko wasn't present at the gym then he must be somewhere else; then how come his phone was not with him but lying on the ground, flipped open with function "reminder" being used? To the best of Akashi's knowledge, Kuroko was far from being careless and forgetful; despite living with the bluenette for only more than 1 week, Akashi was pretty sure Kuroko took great care of his belongings, always kept them in correct places and used them appropriately. Therefore, how could a person like that let his phone drop to the ground while still using it? At this point, the redhead came to only one conclusion: something must have happened to his fiancé and this "something" was by no means a pleasant thing. But then, where could Kuroko be right now? And what should he do now that the only means of contacting the bluenette was not in its rightful owner?
As the redhead's mind was still jumbled with thoughts about what he should do now, Kuroko's phone suddenly rang, signaling an incoming call. Normally, Akashi would have ignored it and gone on with his own thinking but that day, by some unknown forces of deities that Akashi was totally grateful to, the redhead chose to answer it.
"Hello", Akashi spoke, his voice unexpectedly stiff and hoarse.
"Hello, Akashi-sama. We are calling you, by the order of our Mistress, to assist you in your search of Kuroko-sama", a dark voice spoke up at the other line.
"Wait, who are you?"
"Who we are is not important right now, but we are always with you, even if you have never seen us". Akashi's eyes widened at that outrageous statement. "Anyway, you need to hurry up because Kuroko-sama is now in grave danger."
TBC
My initial plan was to end the whole kidnapping incident in this chapter but somehow it got out of my control. So who kidnapped Kuroko? Who was on the phone talking with Akashi?
The next chapter will be out soon. And also to commemorate the birthday of this fiction (woa it's nearly a year), a new story will be published and it will be called "Love diary towards Marriage: Darkness"*Surprise* with a different settings including lots of ecchiness, naked guys, compromising positions.
So, until next time, my dear readers!