Authoress' Note: Let me confess one thing: Yes, I actually kinda love S and M, but not that much and my stories all have the same theme of "abuse Kuroko, then the GOM especially Akashi will rescue him, then the Seirin will come as extras, Akashi will say cheesy things, Kuroko will face a lot of difficulties" but that's what I want my stories to be filled with. It's still up to me, right? Besides, I am original, I have my own ideas and I leave a part of myself in each story I make. It's up to you if you'll read my fanfictions or not, and no, not all my stories are the same. There's the 'A Crazy Story', 'Tell The Clock to Stop Ticking' and some others I did not mention.

I'm not angry! Hahaha, just explaining things. Love yah guys!

Sorry for the late update! I made a mistake and updated 'Tell the Clock to Stop Ticking' instead of updating this first. And since it's our finals, I kinda, you know, need to review even though I don't know what that word means. XD

Loving "Hakkenden"! One of my faves! Haha, just sharing.

Here's a new chapter to show my love for my dear readers and reviewers!

PLEASE REVIEW, pretty please?

The Girl who wants to be free with her witty ideas,

LFMH021

"Butterfly Effect"

Kuroko yawned and stood up from his bed and started fixing it.

The loud knocks on his door snapped his eyes open. "Tetsuya?"

He opened the door right after hearing his brother's voice outside the door. "Yes, Onii-san?"

Takumi waved an envelope and placed it on top of his palm. "A letter for you. It has no sender so I have no idea whom it came from. But surely it's not a death threat."

The older teal-head leaned on the wall as he opened the letter and read its' contents.

The fifteen words Kuroko read inside the letter broke his heart into pieces and his knees trembled ad gave away in an instant and he fell on them. "No…"

"T-Tetsuya?! Are you alright? Tetsuya, what was it?"

As his brother continued asking what happened, the letter's contents continued replaying in his head and tears started to pour down his cheeks as he clutched the letter.

Dear Tetsuya,

I left to Europe last night. I'm so sorry. I love you.

-Akashi

Leaving like that, without telling the reasons why, without any pre-farewell, without any personal goodbyes- Kuroko's mind was filled with questions as he kept the letter the red-head sent him inside his wallet all the time.

A day passed, and as awkward as it already was, Ogiwara was still acting the same with him. The latter was still laughing, chatting, and playing basketball with him normally as if nothing happened, and somehow the teal-head was glad about that.

"EARTH TO KUROKO!" A loud tiger-like voice shouted right at his left ear which surprised the spaced out phantom player. As he got back into reality, he realized that his teammates were staring at him oddly and some of his kouhais were even worried about his condition. He blinked and found Kagami beside him, one eyebrow raised. "Are you back in the present now?" He demanded.

Kuroko blinked and nodded. "Yes, I am. I think my mind just took a full navigation around the Earth few seconds ago. Too bad it didn't have any camera with it to take pictures." He replied and stood up to stretch.

"I'm really gonna kill you soon, Kuroko, you know that?" Kagami threatened and smacked his "shadow's" head.

"I think I've heard you say that a billion times already, Kagami-kun." The teal-head admitted and removed the t-shirt on top of his jersey. When he felt a menacing aura from behind him, he couldn't help but turn and found their coach holding a paper fan and her aura was as dark as…as I don't know! It's just too dark and scary, Kuroko backed away instantly. "I-I'm so sorry! Y-You can resume practice now!" He gasped and raised his two hands.

"RESUME!" Riko quickly announced and the game which he never knew started, resumed again.

"You've been spacing out a lot since a day ago, Kuroko. Did something happen?" The red-head beside him queried in pure curiosity as he spun a ball on his index finger.

A long gap took him before he was able to answer, "…Nothing."

"What's with the long gap?!" Kagami gasped and sighed, "Something did happen. Have the Generation of Miracles known about this thing that just happened?"

Kuroko shook his head. "No, they don't. The only ones who know this problem of mine are me and my older brother. Besides, even if I tell you…" He trailed off as he petted Nigou who was sitting on the bench as if he was some new and back-up member.

"Even if you tell us what?" Kagami prompted.

Kuroko shook his hands and readied himself as Riko instructed them to enter the game now. "Even if I tell you it…I'm sure nothing would be done."

Riko asked for a substitution and the two separated teams.

"You won't know the result until you try." Kagami grunted.

He got no response from his partner and he couldn't help raising an eyebrow at that.

He bent to be at the same level as Kuroko and stared at the latter's not so emotionless face. He frowned upon seeing…depression masking the teal-head's face. "For the three years we've been together—I've never seen you so undecided and this affected. That is very rare; I almost want to take a picture." Kagami commented and shrunk down Kuroko even more.

"Ow, ow, ow, Kagami-kun, that hurts…" Kuroko complained.

"OI, YOU OLD KUROKO, COME BACK AND REPLACE THIS STUPID ONE, WILL YOU? The Kuroko I know is always decided and sure of what he is going to do next. He's full of ideas and always ready to take risks; Kuroko does what he needs to do—He's not like you. He's not like this one I'm talking to right now- who looks like a coward and who looks like he's a fragile glass. COME BACK, OLD VERSION OF KUROKO WHOM I WAS JUST TALKING TO YESTERDAY!" Kagami grunted.

It was like a bucket of cold water was thrown into his face and he finally was able to compose himself. "….That's right. I need to take risks. That's who Kuroko Tetsuya is." He mumbled and hand-chopped Kagami's side which made him back away because of the impact a little–"OW!"—and saying, "Nice, Kagami-kun."

"Yes, well, I just tend to be cool when I- KUROKO, YOU BASTARD! I almost forgot that…that HURT! Get back here!" Kagami growled in pain as Kuroko stole the ball from one of this opponents and made a quick phantom shot. "You asshole!" Kagami laughed and took the ball next.

~LFMH021~

"Hey, Kuroko, what are you doing? We just got some rest after living in hell and playing for almost an hour and a half, why don't you take a rest first?" Kuroko's red-head partner demanded and poured the water on his head right after gulping few gulps of it.

The said guy was pressing buttons on his mobile phone right after they were given ten minutes break and texting was never Kuroko's style, so it made Kagami wonder what was really going on.

"Kuroko, what—" Kagami started but quickly shut his mouth upon seeing impatience in his partner's face. Just what the hell happened?

After two minutes, the teal-head sighed and turned, this time, towards his "light" and politely mumbled, "After dismissal, would you be free to accompany me to Maji Burger?"

Because of the sudden question, Kagami couldn't help gasping, "W-Where did this suddenly come from? Besides, what—" He was cut off when Kuroko's eyes turned into the eyes he used to had when he was unsure what tomorrow would be when his life was in danger every day. Kagami almost forgot that only two years passed since. He sighed and finally replied, "Fine. I will come with you, but I want you to tell me everything later. Got that, Kuroko?"

The said guy nodded. "Thank you, Kagami-kun…And thank you for staying with me from the start until this very instant."

The red-head blushed a little and instinctively threw his empty bottle of water at Kuroko, who instantly tapped it back and it hit his "light" right at his forehead.

"OW!" Kagami growled.

"SHUT UP!" Hyuuga and Riko yelled and Seirin's ace abruptly shut up. Kagami swore that he just saw Kuroko's shoulders shake a little before the teal-head headed towards the court.

~LFMH021~

Scrolling the texts he missed to read earlier when he was in class, Kise frowned as he saw Aomine's text. It was blank and it was…empty. Yeah, a very nice description.

"Aominecchi is so weird sometimes." He mumbled and snickered.

Upon being so careless with his surroundings, the blonde bumped into someone and because of the built of the one who bumped into him, he surprisingly almost fell on his butt. He blinked and looked up. "WAAH! Murasakicchi~!" He exclaimed upon seeing his former giant middle school teammate right infront of him. Behind the violet-head was Himuro and the copycat was warmly greeted by the dark-head.

"Ah, Kise-chin~ It's been awhile~" Murasakibara replied and turned his head towards the same store they were standing right infront of. "Were you summoned too~?"

Kise laughed and nodded. "By Kurokocchi, right?"

The center player nodded and took a bite of his pocky. "Mm, it's weird that it's Kuro-chin who's summoning us…so should we go in now~?"

"I bet we should because I think I'm seeing rainbow-colored hairs inside at the back part of the food chain…?" Kise reluctantly muttered.

"Yosh~ Let's go in now~!" The violet-head exclaimed and pulled Kise inside the store by pulling on his left ear. Himuro tried stopping him, but when the dark-head saw the laughing faces of the two, he zipped his mouth shut and followed after them.

Awkwardness, though, filled them all, when they all gathered at one long table and sat across one another and the one who summoned them sat at the farthest part of the table. The teal-head's eyes were staring at nothing, it was almost like his eyes didn't reflect anything at all; his complexion was paler than usual and it looked like his mind was already flying elsewhere.

To break the awkward silence they were enduring, Aomine threw a crumpled paper at the blonde's face. The copycat was hit right at his face and when he was about to protest, he saw something written on the paper. It said, "START THE CONVERSATION, IDIOT, OR WE'LL DIE OF SILENCE!"

Kise gulped upon seeing everyone's expectant eyes at him.

Ok, here goes…

"Anou…why did you call us here, Kurokocchi?" Kise mumbled as he looked around and found himself, Aomine, Midorima, Murasakibara, Himuro, Takao, Kagami, Ogiwara, Hyuuga, Kiyoshi, Izuki, Tsuchida, Koganei, and Mitobe inside the Magi Burger and surrounding the teal-head. It was an awe to see the fifteen of them being in one store and in one long table in any circumstance it would be.

It surprised them more when Kuroko looked up and suddenly announced, "We're going to Europe."

"…" The right part of the table sat stunned.

"…" The left part of the table sat surprised.

"…" And the ones standing were taken aback.

"WAIT-WHAT?!" Everyone else exclaimed in shock.

"W-W-W-W-W-What have you eaten, Kuroko?!" Kagami demanded. "Why are you asking this out of the blue?! You've been acting strange since this morning, tell me what happened, you bastard!"

"Acting strange?" Takao echoed and inspected Kuroko and nodded. "Hm, he does look kinda different today. What happened, Kuroko-kun? Is your tummy achy or itchy? Want me to scratch it for you and—" Before he could even finish, Midorima, who was beside him, filled his mouth with a large amount of fries which almost choked him to death.

"You did know what happened yesterday, right?" Kuroko mumbled and accidentally met Ogiwara's bright eyes. The former quickly looked away, though and continued which ached the latter's feelings. "Since…Shige-kun said some unexpected things, Sei-kun started acting distant. More distant than he ever did…and he continuously received text messages which irritated him but he couldn't seem to ignore them, so as an alibi he used those messages to avoid meeting my eyes…I thought it was because of what just happened, but then this morning…" He trailed off and all of a sudden he turned quiet again like his mind just replayed a painful memory.

"Kuro-chin?" Murasakibara asked and ruffled the teal-head's hair.

"…This morning I received a letter. A letter that told me that Sei-kun just left for Europe. He said that he's sorry. And that he loves me. Ironic…but it's the truth. He left last night and he probably arrived there already." Kuroko finally answered.

"B-But, Kuroko, Kuroko, Kuroko, Europe is BIG!" Hyuuga protested. "It's so big that there's only 1% possibility we'll find Akashi Seijuuro."

Kuroko sat in his seat in silence.

"Well," Ogiwara interrupted which caught everyone's attention. "I'm an optimistic person and I think that as long as the percentage I'll find or achieve something has not reached 0% yet, there's still hope." He pointed out and slurped his soda. "Don't you think so too? Just like in the games we play, as long as there's still time left, there's still hope for winning."

Everyone looked at him and blinked before agreeing finally.

"He's got a point." Kiyoshi agreed and smiled. "Go with the flow, guys~ We can do this."

As one after another started to agree with the idea, Ogiwara's heart beat became faster when he saw Kuroko's eyes at him. He was expecting that the teal-head would look away, instead the latter smiled at him and mouthed, "Thank you, Shige-kun."

Because of this, Ogiwara's cheeks burned and his face turned into a ripe tomato.

"..Ok, let's say we already said 'Yes' to your idea…How are we supposed to fly there when we couldn't even afford going back to my own house with the allowance I get." Koganei muttered.

There was a little silence until the members of the Generation of Miracles started laughing as if they heard some kind of joke.

"W-What's so funny?! How dare you laugh at your own senpais?!" Hyuuga growled and almost began devouring them with his sermons when Kagami suddenly picked Kuroko up and cut in.

"For those wondering how we'll get in Europe with these many a people—I think you're forgetting that he's with us and that all the members of the Generation of Miracles are from prestigious families. Prestigious, I repeat." Kagami explained and ignored Kuroko's protest to put him down.

Hyuuga and the other seniors' jaws hanged open with the unexpected news especially when Takao started elaborating and enumerating what kind of family they all came from.. When Aomine tried touching Izuki, they – all the senpais from Seirin- faded into ashes.

"You killed them." Midorima stated.

"NO, I DIDN'T!" Aomine guiltily shouted.

~LFMH021~

"W-wow…we're actually here…" Tsuchida mumbled right after they set put on the land of Europe, which they only looked at from magazines or television before.

"Yup, we're here." Hyuuga, who was also dumbfounded, agreed.

Right after they stepped into the airport, three men wearing formal clothes bowed right before the Generation of Miracles' members. "We have heard that you sacrificed some of your games, and sacrificed some of your time to be with us until you find someone you're looking for. We're your guards who would be with you all the time as your parents ordered us. I'm Ukama Yahiro, please remember me as the one with the mark in my neck. This one with indigo hair is Sakuma Miroku. And this one with scar on his left eyebrow is Marukawa Shoji. It's nice meeting you, Young Masters."

"We'll be in your care." The rainbow-colored hair guys replied.

"It's scary how popular and rich they all can be when they're already prodigies in playing basketball." Koganei commented as he watched the scene he never expected to witness before him.

"Some people just have it all." Ogiwara sighed and scratched his head. He had noticed something about Kuroko and he didn't know if the others had noticed such occurrence as well. The teal-head had been looking around since they'd stepped out of the airplane. And it worried him how vulnerable the phantom player was, right now without Akashi by his side. This was also when Ogiwara started questioning how close the two really was and noticed how jealousy took over him at such thoughts.

He took a deep breath and approached Kuroko before tapping the latter's shoulder. "Oi, relax."

Kuroko looked quite surprised at first before he composed himself and his features turned expressionless again. He replied the other with, "Thank you very much, Shige-kun. Everyone, please follow after these three. They will show us where we will stay as we stay here. And I would also like to remind you to start enhancing your English speaking skills, because not everyone here can understand Japanese."

With the grievous news, everyone else who didn't speak English, started sweating.

As they were chatting animatedly when they were walking towards the van they would use, Kuroko sensed something so familiar and something so odd to him. A reason why he suddenly turned, but found nothing. He blinked and frowned.

"Tetsu?" Ogiwara asked as he caught up with the teal-head he surprisingly could see.

The phantom player shook his head and looked up at his former best friend. "It's nothing. I just made a mistake, that's all. By the way, Shige-kun, thank you for accompanying us here although I know you're uncomfortable being with the members of the Generation of Miracles."

He was surprised to received a hand-chop on his head as a reply. "Are you some kind of an idiot?" Ogiwara demanded and grinned. "It's fine, it's fine, besides from what I can see—they're not the same monsters they used to be back then. I think they've changed. And…I told you yesterday haven't I? I like you and I'm willing to do anything if it's for you."

The two stared at each other for few moments in awkward silence until Ogiwara's face turned beet red and he looked away first. "I-Idiot Tetsu! Say something, will you? This is so embarrassing for me."

Kuroko blinked and responded, "But I don't know what to reply." It was an honest answer and he took some time to think, before adding, "I'm not really that used with someone always saying he likes me…and saying he's willing to do anything for me in person…so I'm quite speechless. I don't know what to reply, yet I am so glad our friendship wasn't ruined with all these things happening around us. Thank you, Shige-kun. I'm so glad to know I have someone like you by my side." It was a sincere speech and Ogiwara stood in awe as Kuroko gave him a reward of a sweet smile he rarely gave to others.

The dark-head blinked thrice before grabbing his old best friend's wrist and dragging the latter towards where the others were heading. "We cannot afford to get lost now, so stop this embarrassing chit-chat and let's start searching for your precious Seijuro Akashi."

Kuroko nodded and then looked at the hand which was circled around one of his wrists. He blinked and somehow he started feeling quite tingly.

"Tetsu, you alright?" Ogiwara queried as he noticed the silence which started to envelope the teal-head again. "I told you, haven't I? I'm sure that that bastard is fine and—" He cut off his own sentence upon realizing that the latter was staring at their intertwined hands. He gulped and was about to pull away when Kuroko smiled and shook his head. "Are you sure? I mean…"

"It's not like we're doing something so unforgivable…besides you're a very special friend, Shige-kun. A reason why I couldn't seem to avoid you even if I must." Kuroko pointed out.

Tetsuya…

With the sudden whisper he heard, Kuroko's eyes widened and he halted.

"Tetsu?"

Tetsuya.

"S-Sei-kun?" Kuroko mumbled in disbelief but got no reply this time. "Sei-kun!" He whispered a little louder this time, but still had no reply. He clenched his free hand and gritted his teeth. "Sei-kun…"

Ogiwara took a deep breath before patting Kuroko's head. "Let's go. You need some rest." He suggested and guided Kuroko into the front seat of the van. I think it's time for me to make him forget Akashi.

~LFMH021~

Akashi flipped the page of the documents he was holding and went out of the airport right after greeting the guest he never wanted to see.

"Well, aren't you hardworking, Seijuuro Akashi?" The most awaited guest they were supposed to be with since a week ago, commented in English.

"I don't think it's something to be surprised of. I am an Akashi after all. We're known to be hard workers and to never make any mistake. Don't be to amazed, Mister Hatori Shuichiro." Akashi stated and glared at the gray-colored hair and eye man behind him.

"Let's go. You need some rest." He heard a familiar voice murmur softly to someone. He turned and frowned upon seeing something teal and dark going inside a dark-green van. He removed the glasses he had put on earlier and ran towards the sidewalk. He narrowed his eyes and assured himself that he really saw something so familiar inside that van that just left.

"Is something the matter, Akashi Seijuuro?" Hatori mumbled.

"There's none. And stop calling me with my full name. I will call you Hatori and you may call me Akashi." Akashi responded and closed the folder of documents he was given with.

"Oh? Can't I call you Seijuuro instead—"

"Cut it out. No one is allowed to call me Seijuuro except my father and Tetsuya." Akashi made sure he made emphasis on the last name he just spoke of.

"Tetsuya? As in Kuroko Tetsuya? Ah, I see now. The rumored phantom player of the Generation of Miracles. How convenient of you, isn't it? To love and be loved by such an innocent person. Now I just started to get interested with him…" A pair of scissors unexpectedly passed through his face's side and he was sure droplets of blood started to pour on his cheek.

That surprising action didn't make him terrified; it made him grin even more. "Oh my! Looks like I really need to be careful. Shouldn't I? I really should be, especially when I've taken a liking in something an Akashi possesses."

"He's not a thing. Stop referring to him as 'it'." Akashi pointed out. "You will not mess with Tetsuya, besides he's at Japan, and that's it."

"Why do I have to listen to you? You're just the son of your father and someone who chose to run away than say goodbye to the one dearest to him. You're nothing but a coward, and I am so disappointed at you for that. I suddenly pity Tetsuya Kuroko for being left behind." Hatori sarcastically responded and laughed when he saw the reaction he was expecting from the red-head: a wince.

Akashi just controlled himself as they entered the car which was assigned to pick them up. Because of the silence, the driver sat silent as Hatori sat with a smirk on his face on the back seat and Akashi chose to sit beside the van's driver as he glared at the documents he had in hand. He almost wanted to burn them if only it would not make the car explode.

~LFMH021~

"Waah, I'm tired~" Koganei sighed as he finally was able to sit on a real and fluffy couch after being outside and roaming around for half a day without rest.

"Yeah, me too. All I wanna do right now is lie on my bed and sleep all day long." Tsuchida agreed and stretched his arms in the air.

"Speaking of that, since some guest rooms are still closed in this villa, we chose who are roommates are through lottery…I picked Ukama Yahiro-kun…who was it you picked?" Kise mumbled in curiosity and gulped as Aomine glared at him.

"I got Kiyoshi and Izuki with me." Hyuuga replied.

"I'm together with Mitobe and Tsuchida~ Lucky~" Koganei celebrated.

"Atsushi wasn't the one I got…It was Takao-kun." Himuro stated and wiped the remains of the parfait Murasakibara just ate on the violet-head's cheek. "Gomen ne."

Murasakibara shook his head and replied, "I don't think it's anyone's fault. Besides, I was partnered with Marukawa Shoji. Kinda weird~ I don't even know who he is…"

"Atsushi." Himuro sighed and gestured towards the lime-head with a scar on his left eyebrow. "This is your roommate and one of our guards, Marukawa Shoji."

The violet-head made an eye contact with lime-eyed but with no interest with people like the latter, the former continued eating instead.

"No one, I mean no one, is allowed to sleep with the same room as Shin-chan, but me! But unfortunately, I got Himuro-kun and Shin-chan got…what was your name again—Ah! Sakuma Miroku, right? " Takao stated as he asked for confirmation from the indigo-head before them, and then elbowed his partner, who just scowled back at him.

Kagami glared at Touou's ace and grunted, "I got Aomine among them all, damn it!"

"As if I wished for that, Bakagami!" Aomine defended.

"Stop calling me Bakagami, Ahomine!" Kagami countered and the two's fight just continued on.

"We're together." The two remaining bodyguards muttered in synchronization.

"Does that mean…" Hyuuga mumbled and looked at Kuroko and Ogiwara. "You're partnered together?!"

Both nodded as if it was something so unimportant. And the others just sweat dropped and refrained from asking one another what Akashi would do if he found out about this.

"I wanna sleep, Kuroko. Can't we rest yet?" Kagami complained.

The teal-head blinked and politely smiled. "Yes, of course. We can start searching again after about three hours or more. I think I've exhausted all of you enough." He suggested.

Kiyoshi observed their phantom player and couldn't help to ask, "Don't you get tired of looking for Akashi, Kuroko?"

In the middle of sipping his tea, the teal-head halted and slowly looked at his senpai, who had a very serious expression on his face, which anyone rarely saw being portrayed by their always-happy-go-lucky founder of the Seirin Basketball Team. Kuroko placed his teacup down on the table and sighed. "Well…I am getting tired of going round and round. But, what am I supposed to do? I don't know how I would live without him."

"You can, can't you? You'd lived your life after Teikou without him by your side." Ogiwara added and raised an eyebrow.

Kuroko smiled bitterly before replying, "Yes, I was able to live without him right after I resigned in Teikou, but I lived in total fear. Those times I was not with him, I felt so vulnerable, so incomplete, so…so…lonely." He murmured and stretched the rubber band he found out of nowhere. "He was someone who was so intimidating, that's why no one couldn't seem to ignore his presence and sometimes I have asked myself of what my life would be if I chose to be his light someday. Will I be called a prototype again?"

"Kuroko…" Koganei whispered.

"But it doesn't really matter if he ever called me a prototype sixth man. As time passed by right after that game, I started to understand that he was an Akashi and that's how an Akashi thinks: that he's always right and must always be right. Didn't you notice?"

"Noticed what?"

"He changed." Murasakibara interrupted and sipped his lollipop. "Aka-chin changed a lot~ He hanged out with us more often now than before~ He usually smiles and laughs now~ He plays basketball with an enjoying expression~ And…he does not look down that much on others now…Aka-chin changed since Kuro-chin arrived~"

"Now that you mentioned it…" Hyuuga mumbled in total awe.

Kuroko held his painful hand, which was struck when the rubber band he was holding earlier snapped into two and hit his left hand painfully. "I don't know if I am as essential, but I think I will not be here with you without him. And knowing he left without telling me…makes me feel so abandoned…The questions: 'What did I do?', 'Was I not good enough?', 'Had he grown tired of me?', 'Had I troubled him so much already?' always popped into my head when I look at the letter he left me. It became more painful when I realized that he wrote the letter himself and the paper he used was the kind of paper I loved. I don't know if he's mocking me or he's just pure cruel."

Silence enveloped them for a minute before Aomine complained,

"We've been searching for him for almost four days now, asking for his whereabouts, asking if anyone knew him, but all they answered was, 'I don't know, we're so sorry.' And I'm so pissed right now. Some of them obviously know something, but just pretended to be innocent. Urgh! This is the reason why I hate the Akashis for being too famous." Kuroko took out the letter he had from Akashi and re-read its contents.

"I want to travel to Europe even just for few days…" Kuroko suddenly mumbled, which surprised the red-head beside him.

Akashi rolled from the other side of the bed and faced him before caressing his cheek. "Hm? And where did this suddenly come from, Tetsuya?"

"I don't know. I just blurted it out of nowhere." The teal-head honestly answered and shut his eyes as he felt the red-head's hand's warmth on his cheek, which had always been a comforting gesture for him.

"I think that's a wish too easy for us to grant…" Akashi commented. "As you can see, we're from pres—"

Kuroko shook his head and snuggled at Akashi's naked chest. He closed his eyes again after reopening them for awhile and replied, "I don't want to travel just to travel. I want some time for us. I want to be with you, and only you, for even just a week. I know…It's quite impossible with how busy you and I are…but it's not bad to wish right?"

It was a statement Akashi never expected and he couldn't help himself from hugging the teal-head tightly in affection as he felt Kuroko lean more against him. He never felt so trusted and loved. Akashi smiled in secret and kissed Kuroko's forehead after awhile. "Thank you for entering my life, Tetsuya."

"Mmm…" Kuroko responded and unconsciously held hands with the one beside him: Akashi, who seemed as contented as he did. And that was when both soundly slept beside each other, carefree about the world they lived in.

He clutched the letter in his hand and mumbled the words, "Sei-kun, you idiot…"

With such words going out of his mouth, the others decided to keep quiet and just glanced at one another. Looking for someone, who seemed to be purposely hiding, was never easy. Especially to a person like Kuroko, who had experienced enough just years ago.

After a minute of silence, someone suddenly rang the doorbell, which surprised everyone, and made Aomine and Kagami jump in surprise.

"I'll get it." Ukama volunteered, stood up and headed towards the door.

"I think you two are too scaredy-cats. Must be a reason why people call Kagami-kun a tiger and you, Aomine-kun, a panther. Two big yet easily afraid cats." Kuroko teased and shook his head in mock disbelief.

"S-SHUT UP! I-It's not my fault if I'm like this, right? I was born like this!" Kagami, who was obviously guilty, defended.

"B-Besides, I'm sure there is also something you're afraid of, Tetsu!" Aomine growled.

"He does have one." Midorima cut in.

"Eh?" Takao exclaimed.

The green-head sipped his tea and mumbled calmly, "He's obviously afraid of Akashi."

Everyone else looked at each other and started laughing with the obvious fact Midorima pointed out. It was a fact that they had never noticed themselves.

"Young Masters, a fine gentleman has come saying that he knows the whereabouts of Akashi-sama." Ukama announced as he entered the front door and smiled back at Kise, since the former smiled at him first.

In a second, the basketball players were at the door, which surprised the two guards who were left in the living room. "Really?" Kagami asked, obviously suspecting the visitor to be a liar.

The man, who looked like he was from a very prestigious family since his car, which was a BMW, parked outside and his clothes were made from the finest linen, removed his hat and revealed his appearance. He had gray hair and eyes. He was as tall as Aomine. He had a nice body build, which was obvious even with the thick layers of clothing he had on. "I'm Hatori Shuichiro. I'm actually the cause why your dearest friend, Akashi Seijuuro, suddenly left from Japan to go here. I am also a basketball player in this country of ours and a national player. At the same time, I am the son of the owner of a lot of malls here and since we're talking about business here, I was able to see a blindspot at Akashi's mall here in Europe and decided to bankrupt it about a month ago. After finding out about this, the older Akashi sent his prodigal son here to fix the problem and try to negotiate with me…but it seems that he's failing, so I might as well continue bankrupting their other branches and even ruin their reputation."

"So? Why are you here? Besides, are those things to be proud of?" Kise complained and pouted.

"Well, as I said, I am the cause of why he came here and if I decided to stop what I'm doing to the malls I hold between my palms right now, then he will be set free and he can go back home. At the same time, their family's name won't be ruined and they can save their malls, which are obviously the source of their livelihood." Hatori repeated and grinned.

"Hm~ Let me guess~ You wanna make a deal with…us?~" Murasakibara interrupted.

"You're terribly right, my dear friend." The gray-head replied and bowed to Kuroko, who looked so dumbfounded with the sudden formality. "Surprised? You weren't expecting me to see you instantly, were you? Anyway, I am willing to give Akashi Seijuro back to you and set him free from all the problems I gave him… in one condition." He paused, straightened and stared at Kuroko and smiled warmly. "You do look innocent and adorable. I'm so enchanted to know that someone like you still exists."

Kuroko remained impassive and replied, "What condition are you offering me, so you will set Sei-kun free?"

"Truth be told, I'm not interested with guys, so please be relieved about that matter. But, there is something very odd I want you to grant." Hatori assured and placed one hand on his hip.

"Please hurry up—"

"I want you, Kuroko Tetsuya, to never go back to Japan, to stay here…. Along with that, I want you to… to be part of our team, Golden Elites, from now on until forever." Hatori enumerated and smirked.

"W-W-W-W-W-W-What?!" The others reacted as Kuroko just stared back at the gray-head, contemplating the decision he would do any minute from now.

"If you'll deal with it, then approach me and shake my hand. If not, just turn around and slam the door. So, Kuroko-kun? Deal or No Deal?"

"NO. KUROKO, NO!" The others shouted in desperation as Kuroko just continued in staring at the gray-eyed before him.

~LFMH021~

Akashi was separating different documents from one another when panicked knocks surprised him. He took a deep breath and responded, "Come in."

The doors opened and one of his secret messengers, whom he ordered to scatter around that area to tell him news he should know, approached him after securing no one but Akashi would hear and see him. "Young Master, I have news you must definitely know."

"That's rare. Pray tell me what news that could be." The red-head replied and continued re-typing documents on his laptop.

The messenger gulped and murmured it, "Kuroko Tetsuya and some of your friends have arrived in Europe just few days ago."

Now, that caught his Young Master's attention, which caused the latter to halt and look up. "What?" He gasped, and cursed, "Crap."

A/N: I know, no cliffhanger for this chapter, huh? I just do not know what to write right now, so I beg your pardon.

I'm so sorry, once again, if I'm late. Just finished our final exams and we're free, so expect more updates often from now on.

PLEASE REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! I need inspiration! XD

Anyway guys, here comes the Sneak Peek:

SNEAK PEEK:

"Oi, Kise, where are—" Aomine quickly covered his mouth and hid behind the curtain as he sneakily peeked on the two familiar figures outside.

"I mean, how long has it been? Ten years? Geez, Yahirocchi!" Kise exclaimed and pouted.

What surprised the blue-head was when the Yahiro Usama laughed and ruffled the blonde's hair. "You idiot, that hurts, you know? I mean I haven't forgotten you and then you just forgot me like that! With how close we were when we were kids, I couldn't help thinking about you at times, Ryouta-baka!"

"Ouch! That hurts! Stop messing my hair, it takes me three hours to fix that!"

"WHAT? Three hours?!"

The two then looked at each other dumbly and laughed in sync. "Bullshit." He mumbled, and then hesmirked, clenched one hand into a fist and punched the glass window with all he got. It shattered, but the dark-head didn't even care and strode towards his and Kagami's room.

"A-Aominecchi...?"

~Setting Skip~

"Have you seen, Shin-chan?" Takao asked to Mitobe, who was passing by. The latter blinked and pointed towards the backyard. "Ah, the basketball court? Gotcha~ Thanks." He replied and ran there. "Shin-chan!" He called and blinked twice as he saw not only Midorima on the court but also Miroku Sakuma. "…Shin-chan…?" He whispered in disbelief.

"Like this?" Miroku queried as he held one basketball over his head.

"No, relax your hands and their angel should be like this or else the ball will not reach the ring."Midorima scolded and demonstrated the right position of the hands to shoot a three-pointer.

The indigo-head imitated the green-head and threw the ball after taking a breath. It swiftly went inside the hoop. "Yes!" He exclaimed. "I got it after five tries. I can say you're a great teacher, Midorima."

"No, I'm not." The green-eyed retorted and shoot one of his special shots.

"WHOA!" Miroku gasped and clapped his hands. "You're amazing."

And Takao just backed off as he realized that he just saw a light blush come out from Midorima's cheeks and he was pretty sure it was not because of the heat. "Well, shit." He cursed and laughed humorlessly.

~Setting Skip~

Himuro snickered as he saw what snacks he put on the tray he was holding. It was funny how he was able to get used to his partner's childishness. But it didn't really bother him, it was actually the only way for them to be together.

He was about to knock when he realized that the door was an inch open. Just right when he was about to call for the violet-head—he heard Murasakibara talk, "Maru-chin, what's that?"

Himuro peeked in and noticed the colorful lollipop the lime-head was holding.

"Ah, a lollipop. I bought it yesterday. Why? You want it?"

"Can I~?" The violet-head sweetly mumbled.

Marukawa chuckled, sat beside the violet-head and removed the crumbs of cookies on the latter's cheeks. "Alright, here you go, but brush your teeth afterward. I don't want to see you crying because of toothache later."

"Okay~" Murasakibara replied and didn't complain when the lime-head patted his gently, a gesture only Himuro was allowed to do so.

The said guy silently closed the door and went back downstairs. His smile was now gone and no one could seem to approach him.

A/N: I gave you a long sneak peek as an apology for updating late. Missed Tetsuya? Nah, wait for the next chapter. –wink-