AN: GAH FOEDSJFCDS I AM SO SORRY THIS IS SO LATE! I WROTE THIS OVER A MONTH AGO BUT I COULDN'T SUMMON THE WILL (and time... depending) TO EDIT IT! I feel so bad, I will try not to let this happen again ;-; thank you all for waiting. Akakuro stuff in this chapter but the beautiful blossoming of their relationship will take time. I can't believe the number of reads this has... you guys are too good to me TuT
Kuroko's internal alarm clock effectively woke him up from his slumber, although Kuroko didn't get much sleep. Thoughts of Kuroko's dear dead brother continued to plague his mind even though the day of his passing was over a week ago. Kuroko couldn't shake the feeling that Mayuzumi's death was his fault. Kuroko was the true holder of the Gem; if only he would have gone first to be tested Mayuzumi would still be alive today. This was his entire fault and there is nothing to be done about it. It felt as if Kuroko's heart was glued down to a deep abbess known as sorrow and slowly sinking lower and lower into it.
How did his sister Satsuki view him? Kuroko knew that she wouldn't hate him but did she hold their brothers death against him? Did she blame him? Kuroko would understand if she did, Mayuzumi's death was his fault after all.
The last few weeks had been utter chaos to say the least. Kuroko had lost his brother and had somehow managed to invite a possible Gem holder, Aomine Daiki and the Prince of Hell to his home. Things seem to be going great! Note the sarcasm.
There was little time to despair though. They had a mission. With this in mind Kuroko managed to roll himself off his bed and get ready for the day.
After having countless sleepless nights Kuroko was starting to get rather groggy. Angels and Demons didn't need sleep but that's not to say they shouldn't have it. They wouldn't die or anything but they still felt fatigue so sleep was recommended.
Now wearing the Teiko high uniform, Kuroko proceeded downstairs to meet his sister and head off to school.
"Tetsu-kun good morning!" The already awake pink haired girl sang as she hugged the male.
Kuroko knew she was still shaken over their brothers passing but she put up a happy front. It was her way of copping and as she thought 'lessening my burden on others'.
"Good morning" Kuroko responded.
A silence followed. Nothing felt complete without the third member of the family. In the back of their minds they felt, no, wished that the ghost boy would suddenly appear out of nowhere as he usually had.
"Let's head off to school then! We have a big day ahead of us with Dai-chan and Akashi-kun" Momoi chirped with obviously forced energy.
"Let's go then" Kuroko spoke in a slightly upbeat tone as well.
The two made their way to school without much chatter. The silence was as choking as not being able to breathe. None of the two wanted to destroy the silence so they just let it hang, growing harder to destroy by the second.
Nothing of importance really happened at school that day. The only thing Kuroko really noted was the fact that Aomine was not at school. Would he be coming to the angel's house for the project later? Kuroko texted Momoi about it, to which the female texted Aomine, the answer was yes.
Akashi was at school today. Kuroko and Akashi had some nice easygoing conversations, nothing extreme. Kuroko was finding it odd and somewhat frightening how at ease Akashi put him at. 'Akashi is a demon', Kuroko had to remind himself whenever the male would grace Kuroko with his calming reassuring smile.
When Kuroko and Momoi arrived home the bubbly girl clapped her hand together.
"Aomine-kun and Akashi-kun are coming over in an hour! Aomine is a suspected holder and Akashi is Desire's bearer so we need to be on our toes. We have to find out all we can about Dai-chan while not drawing any attention to ourselves lest, Akashi figure out who we are."
Kuroko nodded. "We need to make our house as normal looking as possible."
"I got some snacks in the fridge if Dai-chan wants any and I think we have enough food from when I tried to cook last…" Satsuki pondered.
"I am going to go hide any books from Heaven." Kuroko stated.
"Good idea! Remember to clean them out from… Chihirin's room too" Momoi's voice cracked as she spoke. No matter how much they tried to hide it their brother was always on their mind. They were a tight nit family. They were triplets, born together and they thought they would live and die together…
Kuroko looked to his feet before heading upstairs to clean out his books.
As Kuroko rid Heavenly books from his room he began he recalled that Akashi seemed to notice a change in him since Mayuzumi's passing. Kuroko was not one to be read like an open book and yet Akashi could so easily see something was bugging Kuroko.
Kuroko didn't know whether that scared him or made him… happy? The fact that his enemy could see through him was scary and yet Kuroko wasn't scared. Akashi though intimidating seemed to have a gentle nature. Cunning and clever indeed but true to his words as well. Kuroko was taught as a child that demons were merciless killers. Akashi didn't seem like that at all. Then again, demons are known for being masters of deception.
Still, Kuroko enjoyed Akashi's company and planned to watch how things play out on their own. Akashi always seemed to make Kuroko smile even when he himself didn't think it was possible. Akashi respected Kuroko's space and thoughts. Dare Kuroko say, Akashi seemed to truly care for his well being.
Kuroko lightly smiled at the thought.
Would this all change if he knew who Kuroko truly was?
Kuroko pulled the last book from Heaven out of his shelf. A good half of the books had been robbed from the wooden shelf. Kuroko gathered the books and hid them in his closet, thinking the closet was an appropriate hiding spot. Why would Akashi need to go in his closet after all?
Wiping a bead of sweat from Kuroko's forehead with his forearm, Kuroko headed to Mayuzumi's room to clear his bookshelf of heavenly books.
Kuroko stopped dead at the door. Although Mayuzumi had only lived in this room for a few days the fact remained that this was the deceased angel's room. With a shaky hand Kuroko reached for the doorknob.
Ding dong
The bell chimed throughout the house, startling Kuroko.
"I'll get it!" Momoi shouted as she skipped to the door.
Kuroko looked to Mayuzumi's room. Surly Akashi wouldn't go inside, right? Deciding that he wouldn't and seeing as there was no time to clean it, Kuroko left the room untouched and headed to the door to greet his guests.
"Welcome~!" Momoi greeted as she opened the door.
"Welcome" Kuroko greeted as well.
Akashi and Aomine stood at the door. 'Strange, they arrived at the same time' Kuroko pondered for a moment.
All at once the world came crashing. Like an unexpected bomb dropping, like a building collapsing, like being thrust into a black hole, the world came crashing. Kuroko's heart skipped a beat before sinking into a deep dark void. Momoi's face drained of colour till she became as white as a sheet and her pink eyes widened till they could widen no more.
"Greetings to you as well" Akashi politely greeted, oblivious to the turmoil the two angels were facing.
The two angels barely processed what Akashi was saying. Their attention was directed not to the demon but at the dark skinned male standing behind him. Taking the away the ability to utter a single word was Aomine, the royal crest of demons coloured in the demon prince's shade of red proudly displayed on his cheek.
Momoi's eyes began to tear up immediately after the initial shock faded and reality reared its ugly head. How could this have happened?! Momoi was with Aomine all the time! She was close to him, closer than Akashi, so how could he have gotten enough evidence on Aomine to conclude that he was indeed a bearer when Momoi herself could not?
'This can't be happening', both angels thought as the world around them started to spin. They had lost a holder to the demons. They were losing this race. Every second was filled with a barrage of negative and every second
Kuroko's mouth laid slight agape. His heart erratically pulsed till he could hear the pulsing loud and clear through his ears. Kuroko knew Akashi was a demon sent to find the holders but some how knowing that he actually took action was painful. Akashi wasn't the kind guy that he seemed to be, that was just a front. Behind the curtains this is what he had done. Kuroko's chest tightened at the thought as he attempted to slow down his frantic breathing.
Mayuzumi had scarified himself for the sake of their mission and so far Kuroko and Momoi were failing that very mission.
"Is something wrong?" Akashi asked innocently, unknowing the amount of panic the angels were facing at the moment that ironically enough he caused.
Momoi hung her head, unable to figure out how to deal with this crazy situation.
Suddenly she whipped her head up and smiled big bright smile. "Oh nothings wrong! Please come in."
Momoi then skipped away with fake trembling happiness.
Kuroko clenched his fists at her fake happiness. Somehow her smile made this all the more heartbreaking. Kuroko had to keep himself together so he kept a straight face and gestured for Aomine and Akashi to come inside. Averting his gaze from Aomine's cheek Kuroko hung his head, covering his eyes with soft blue locks.
This couldn't be reality. This was a mere nightmare was it not?
Aomine shrugged and let himself in, Akashi followed in close suit. Kuroko lead the two of them to the living room where Momoi sat with a fake happy smile. The guests and Kuroko took a seat and soon an awkward silence dawned over them. Momoi and Kuroko exchanged worried glances while Akashi sat with a suspicious look on his face. Aomine was about to open his mouth when the sound of his phone ringing buzzed off.
Aomine flipped his phone on and quickly shut it off.
Akashi, Kuroko and Momoi's gaze drifted to Aomine waiting for an explanation.
"Uh it's just my friend Kagami. Well he's not my friend more like my teammate" Aomine explained nonchalantly.
Momoi's dead eyes lite up, Kagami! Kuroko was Kagami's guardian! Kuroko lightly smiled at the name. "I've heard about him. Do you know what class he's in?" Kuroko inquired.
"Doesn't matter, he's not in the country right now. He's in America" Aomine brushed off.
"Oh" Kuroko responded dejectedly.
"If you don't mind can we get to work?" Akashi requested.
Kuroko nodded and gestured for Akashi to follow him to his room. Akashi entered Kuroko's room and took a seat on his desk's chair while Kuroko sat on his bed.
"You have a very lovely room," Akashi praised
Kuroko felt a small smile creep up at Akashi's kind words "Thank you"
Although Kuroko was in a state of panic nothing would be gained by worrying about such things now. For that matter if Akashi were to somehow catch on to Kuroko's worry he may discover things that he shouldn't know. Due to all these facts Kuroko set aside all other matters in his life and focused on the task at hand, working with Akashi for a school project.
"I thought about it and I think writing about Tanabata would be best. For a presentation we could act out the tale itself" Kuroko suggested
"All right, I find that agreeable. I take it you know the tale in that case?" Akashi inquired.
"I grew up in another country so I am a bit rusty on it to tell the truth" Kuroko lied
"I as well…" Akashi spoke in a gentle tone. "Here let me get out my laptop" he added.
Kuroko watched as Akashi gracefully opened his laptop bag and turned on his computer. How the man managed to move with such grace no matter what he seemed to be doing was beyond Kuroko. Was that a custom in the demon realm or something?
"Do I have something on my face" Akashi mused with a smirk as he noticed Kuroko's staring.
Kuroko's face remained indifferent but if you were to squint you would see a light blush dust over his pale cheeks. By no means did he mean to stare but Akashi tended to captivate Kuroko's attention. Whether it was his pleasant smile or his refined way of speech or perhaps even his alluring ruby eyes, something about him captivated Kuroko.
The angel mentally slapped himself for thinking such things. For the last time Akashi was a demon and this kind gentle front wasn't the real for the umpteenth time.
"I just finished reading this passage on Tanabata, would you like to take a look" Akashi politely offered.
Kuroko nodded as he walked to where Akashi sat. Akashi moved from his chair to the floor so the smaller male could use the computer. Kuroko took the seat but a small frown soon overcame his blank features.
"You don't need to sit on the ground, you can sit on my bed." Kuroko informed the male.
"Are you sure I don't want to feel I am imposing anything?" Akashi spoke in a melodious voice.
"You aren't." Kuroko answered
"Alright then" Akashi breezed as he got up and moved to Kuroko's cloud like soft bed.
As Kuroko read Akashi regarded the male's back. Kuroko had a petit figure but it wasn't as though he was bare bone. Kuroko looked like a doll to Akashi, with his big eyes, fair skin and powder blue hair. What drew Akashi to Kuroko wasn't the male's body alone though, for his mind and personality was one that Akashi found to be very unique.
Always surpassing his expectation. Constantly keeping Akashi thinking and analyzing while somehow still calming him. Kuroko was a very interesting human and as it turned out, Akashi liked interesting people.
Akashi smiled to himself as he thought. The male enjoyed Kuroko's company and that in itself was another reason to be interested in him. For a moment Akashi's mind deemed this feeling to be what people called 'liking' a person but the prince quickly dismissed the thought. To Akashi, Kuroko was just a human who didn't know who he really was therefore they were just fake friends.
So why was it that whenever Akashi was in Kuroko's presence he couldn't help but feel at ease? To see Kuroko's small yet cute smile always made the prince feel as though he had done good. Who said demons of desire don't desire positive things?
"Akashi-kun I don't quiet get this" Kuroko asked in a puzzled tone.
"Hm" Akashi hummed as he proceeded to where Kuroko was.
Leaning over Kuroko's shoulder to see the computer Akashi's hair tickled at Kuroko's cheeks. Kuroko's mind seemed to turn to jelly at the close proximity between the two of them. Kuroko could feel the warmth of Akashi's chest against his back and although Kuroko under no circumstance should be thinking this, Akashi's warmth set Kuroko's heart to fire.
Akashi leaned in closer to get a better view of the computer causing Kuroko to blush. At this angle Kuroko could see down Akashi's shirt and although dark, Kuroko could tell that this man was very well built. Despite the amount of mental slaps Kuroko was giving himself he couldn't seem to get his mind to focus. Wasn't he the holder of restraint? Why was desire overtaking him? Kuroko swallowed, he could smell Akashi's sent from this close. Akashi smelled of a rich soothing sent that reminded Kuroko of a crisp night.
As much as Kuroko feared to admit it, he enjoyed this sent far more than he should.
"What is it that you don't get exactly?" Akashi inquired, promptly waking Kuroko from his daze.
Kuroko claimed his rapidly beating heart as he summoned his voice to speak "I don't get how one can instantly fall in love as they did in this tale."
Akashi chuckled at Kuroko's innocent question "You are thinking of true love. Love may be felt at any given moment but for it to become true takes time. Sometimes love at first site leads to true love and sometimes not. Love is strange that way and sometimes you don't even know when you are in it."
"Akashi-kun you should be a teacher, you make things easy to understand"
"I'll take that as a compliment, thank you."
"To summarize Tanabata is the celebration of Orihime and Hikoboshi meeting, the stars of Vega and Altair. The Amanogawa, the Milky Way, separates them. Orihime's father Tentei introduced the two because Orihime sad and lonely but once they were together they started to neglect their duties so he split them up and allowed them only to meet on 7/7. On 7/7 they couldn't cross the Amanogawa so magpies carried them across." Kuroko summarized
"Sounds right" Akashi nodded "For the play do you want to be Orihime or Hikoboshi?"
"How you pick a number from 1-10?" Kuroko suggested
"4" Akashi answered
"You are Hikoboshi and that means I will be Orihime. Even numbers were Hikoboshi and odd were Orihime." Kuroko explained
"Perhaps I should play Tentei too seeing as Hikoboshi and Tentei have less interaction compared to Orihime and Tentei?" Akashi pondered
"That's fine"
"Good" Akashi softly smiled.
Kuroko felt his cheeks heating up so he quickly darted his gaze from Akashi. What is going on with him today?
"I'll work on the informative part and you can work on the presentation script. Sound fair?" Akashi planned.
"Yes" Kuroko agreed.
A pleasant air filled the room for a moment like a warm sun ray on a gloomy day.
"Wait I took some notes during class about the format they want this written in let me get it." Kuroko remembered as he retrieved his binder from his book bag. Kuroko brought his binder to his desk, opened it, clos-
"Ow!" Kuroko winced, snapping the binder rings on his fingers. Kuroko's heart began beating fast in embarrassment and he quickly turned to Akashi.
Akashi held the back of his hand to his mouth to suppress his laughter. Kuroko admired the expression on Akashi's face and soon forgot about his embarrassment. The prince gave small smiles and chuckles here and there but rarely laughed. For that matter Kuroko couldn't recall ever seeing Akashi laugh. It saddened Kuroko that Akashi was muffling his laughter, Kuroko wanted to know how it sounded.
When Akashi had settled down he opened his eyes and quickly realized that what he just did was very out of place.
"My apologize I hope you can excuse me." Akashi apologized. Kuroko really was a strange human. Akashi himself couldn't recall the last time he had laughed like that. Kuroko seem to allow Akashi to express emotions he himself didn't even know he was capable of.
With Kuroko's poker face and his clumsy action it was hard not to laugh.
"Here let me see your finger" Akashi attempted to redeem himself.
Bringing Kuroko's snow-white hand into his own, Akashi examined Kuroko's finger.
Kuroko was once again visited by Akashi's comforting warmth. How the Prince of Hell managed to have such comforting warmth was a mystery to the angel. Kuroko's gaze drifted to Akashi's concerned eyes and once again, Kuroko found himself captivated.
"I am fine" Kuroko stated flatly and for the umpteenth time suppressed a blush, a rapidly beating heart and butterflies.
The moment was completely shattered by Kuroko's room door flying open. "Hey Tetsu-kun come down we are having a snack!" A female voice sung.
"EHHHH? WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING?!" Momoi exclaimed covering her mouth and pointing her finger in shock.
Then Kuroko and Akashi realized how odd they much look right now with Akashi examining Kuroko's hand and Kuroko slightly blushing. Kuroko kept a blank face as he retracted his hand and Akashi quickly straightened up. They were both just slightly disappointed for some odd reason they couldn't fathom.
"Your brother injured his hand" Akashi calmly stated an explanation.
"It's not that bad" Kuroko spoke under his breath as he glared at his somewhat red finger.
"Oh, right." Momoi answered awkwardly, somewhat embarrassed for her outburst earlier. "Yeah so there are some snacks downstairs that this hostess prepared!" Momoi added.
"That's kind of you. What do you say Kuroko, should we go?" Akashi turned to Kuroko
Kuroko nodded and the three of them went downstairs to the sharp pristine looking living room. Aomine was already there, sitting on their white leather couch eating chips. Momoi took a seat beside him, across from her sat Kuroko and Akashi.
The moment Kuroko saw Aomine reality dawned on him once again. Akashi caused Kuroko to forget what was really transpiring outside of his room walls.
Every dream must end when at sunrise and now the reality of this situation was that sitting here are the bearers of Desire, Restraint, a fragment bearer of Reason and a royal angel. None are as they seem. All of them wear masks of lies, they are all fake with fake emotions towards each other. Are these feelings really so artificial?
AN: "Take the blue pill and live in blissful ignorance or take the red pill and reality will be shown." That's what I was thinking as I wrote those last lines. Remember to review and all so I know people actually want to read this. ^o^
By the way, if any of you have a tumblr and want to pop me a follow, my URL is littlegh0stgirl