A/N: Last one for a bit. Enjoy.

02.
Midorima

When this caterpillar weaved its cocoon, it ensured it would protect him from hungry predators.

But with every string silk he put into weaving it, it slowly killed him.

When the cocoon was made, he died.

.:.

Midorima had a problem: he was unlucky. No matter where his parents moved, and no matter how much of their money they spent, he was bullied relentlessly. He never blamed it on his arrogance or his inability to keep his head down and mouth shut. No, he blamed it on his luck.

He soon became obsessed with following horoscopes and ensuring he had his lucky item with him at all times in order to put a stop to his unluckiness. That somewhat stopped the bullying, but that was mostly because his bullies had found bigger and better things to do. Like join a gang.

Gangs were sprouting up again and many worried Japan's youth would act like the violent generations that came before them. They were right.

One day, his horoscope quoted a very famous statement that changed his world entirely: "when in Rome, do what the Romans do." He read this following a nasty confrontation with some gangsters on his way home. That day was the final straw for him. He had enough of being beaten up, of seeing his mother's eyes brimming with tears, and his father sadly shaking his head before going to the medicine cabinet to get the first-aid kit.

That explained why, instead of heading to school, he was crossing the street and heading to the abandoned warehouse his gang resided in. This explained why he only ever went to school to do test. This explained why a handgun, hidden in his coat, was pressed against his chest.

"Am I late?" he asked, sitting himself down on one of the love-seats. Everyone was there, looking somber. Of course they were, two days ago several of their own had been killed.

"No," Akashi said. Then, he leaned forward and said, "Okay, we're going to do it."

Kise's eyes grew wide. "Today?"

Akashi nodded.

Midorima leaned back, closing his eyes briefly. His brain was screaming at him to get out of there, to tell them they could go off and have fun killing themselves in a stupid, trivial gang fight.

"You all ready?" Akashi said. "There's no holding back once we do it. It's now or never."

He opened his eyes and stared at Akashi with determination. He would do it. He would kill whoever Akashi wanted him to kill, no question asked. It didn't matter that every lie he told his parents was like a jamming a knife into his heart. It didn't matter that his teachers all hated him, or pitied him. It didn't matter that his classmates thought he was throwing his future away.

Money couldn't buy him protection, but this did. Being here, with them, ensured he was safe. No matter how stupid and dangerous being here was, it kept the ones who tormented him away from him.

He'd be damned if he let that kind of protection slip through his fingers.