CHAPTER 5: DECOY
Sorry for the very late update, minna. It was graduation season and as you can imagine my time was consumed by practices, final submissions, tear-filled farewells and the graduation itself.
But now I am officially on summer break! Hopefully I can finish this fanfic before summer ends because based from what I've heard from college my time will be filled with crying over looming deadlines and drinking enough caffeine to power a small town.
On another note, have you guys seen the Extra Game update? Never have I hated a fictional character so much til Team Jabberwock came along. I am totally rooting for Akashi and his Engrish speaking!
On another another note, better get your tissues and paddle boats out for the waterfall of tears about to emerge. Teiko Arc has just begun. *cue sounds of a million fangirls hearts shattering*
On another another another note, what do you guys think of the new cover photo? Sorry for my lame editing skills. The pictures don't belong to me.
Thanks for your patience guys. Here's a long chapter for your wait. I hope you enjoy. Read and review! :)
Disclaimer: This author does not own Kuroko no Basuke.
Ten minutes after Akashi's items were thrown over the bridge, a van and a black SUV were crossing the same bridge.
Himuro looked at his computers scanners as they drove over the bridge. "We're heading in the right direction. This is where the GPS signal tracked down Akashi's phone."
Murasakibara peered outside to look at the water below. "They didn't throw it overboard, did they? Aka-chin loved that phone."
"They probably did, along with his weapons," answered Kasamatsu. "The last thing Kirisaki Daiichi wants is kidnapping an armed man, more so an armed Akashi."
"But don't you think it's kind of reckless?" Kise piped in from his position on the floor next to Kasamatsu," Akashicchi is going into enemy territory without weapons or back-up."
Kasamatsu whacked him on the head, causing Kise to almost stumble into Himuro's chair.
"You're speaking as if you don't know what Akashi is capable of. He volunteered to be the decoy, remember? He won't just dive into something without knowing its consequences."
"Kasamatsu's right," Himuro added," I don't like seeing our boss captured either, but it's part of the plan. Akashi can divert Hanamiya's attention while we infiltrate their base and locate Kuroko. Have a little more faith in him."
Kise stayed quiet and inwardly wished Akashi luck.
KANAGAWA PREFECTURE
Kirisaki Daiichi Family Headquarters
Wednesday, 3:30pm
Akashi was looking at an office building.
Well, it looked like any other ordinary office building, but there was this aura around it. Akashi could only compare it to the aura Kiseki HQ had the first time he set foot on it-a commanding aura that spoke of power.
Yamazaki shoved him from behind, prompting him forward. Akashi shot him a piercing glare. Hostage or not, he had to show these ruffians exactly who they were dealing with. To his satisfaction, Yamazaki paled a little before jabbing the gun at his back. Right. Akashi was the weaponless one here. He should be the one scared of them. (Akashi almost laughed at that thought.)
He had to give Kirisaki Daiichi points for location. Their base was located at the quieter part of Kanagawa. Hardly any vehicles were on the road and the few people present at the site paid no attention to the suited men heading for an ordinary building. To an outsider's point of view, they were just a group of employees heading together for work.
They entered the building and Akashi instantly knew something was off. The lobby was spotless, the tiles shined, the furniture was brand new and the flowers in the vases looked as if they came directly form the florist minutes ago. No sound was heard except for the whirring of the small CCTV camera on one corner of the ceiling.
Everything looked clean. Too clean. It was like nobody inhabited the place at all. It was just an empty building set in the middle of nowhere.
"It's quiet, right?" It was Seto, the one with the forehead mole, who spoke. "Kirisaki Daiichi is smaller compared to Kiseki, but what we lack in numbers we make up in skill. A large number of deadweights has nothing on a selected group of individuals."
"We were chosen based on our talents," Furuhashi added. He was the one with the dull eyes. "Hanamiya is strict when it comes to picking members. If you don't meet his standards you don't stand a chance. Even if you somehow make it to the family once you fail even one mission, you're removed from the 'spider's web'."
Akashi's eyes landed on the lone camera in the corner. He could almost imagine Hanamiya on the other side, watching him with a smug, little smirk on his face at the success of capturing the opponent's king.
Akashi pressed his fingers to his palm, keeping his emotions in check. He wanted nothing more than to reach out through that camera, grab Hanamiya by the neck and force Kuroko's location out of him. He wanted to do it so badly, but he knew he had a role to play, and now was not the time to act out of the script.
So with a small intake of breath to calm himself down, he followed his captors to the room where he would soon meet this Hanamiya Makoto.
Nijimura looked at the main screen of the control room. A map was displayed on it with a blinking red dot that signaled Akashi's location. The tracker was previously placed on Akashi's phone, but since that was literally swimming with the fishes it was fortunate that he placed a tracker on the knife he had given Akashi.
"Do we have a live feed of the location?" he asked Momoi.
Momoi displayed four different camera angles that showed Kirisaki Daiichi HQ. It was unimpressive and small for a mafia family of their caliber, however it didn't catch unwanted attention. No one would ever suspect that the building would hold a dangerous crime syndicate.
Nijimura saw something on the corner of one camera. "Zoom in to that spot over there."
The camera's shot was grainy, but there was no mistaking the car parked directly across Kirisaki Daiichi HQ. It was the same one Himuro and Murasakibara saw took Akashi.
"Transmit the address to the team and get me a blueprint of that building."
Himuro's PDA beeped with an incoming message from HQ. He looked at it and saw the coordinates for Akashi's location.
"They found him. Atsushi, turn left at the next intersection."
Mutasakibara maneuvered the van per instruction and signaled for the SUV to follow them. The SUV contained the rest of the team with Takao as the driver, Midorima in the passenger seat and Aomine and Kagami were cramped together at the back.
Takao looked at the map displayed on the small screen of the car's dashboard. They were nearing Akashi's location. Only a few more minutes and they'll be right behind Kirisaki Daiichi HQ. He looked to his aide where Midorima was looking outside the SUV's tinted windows.
"You alright, Shin-chan?"
"Hm?" Midorima briefly glanced at him. "I'm fine," he said before looking back outside.
Takao returned his attention back to the road and the taillights of the vehicle in front of him. Midorima had been acting weird since they left the center, weird in the sense that when he looked at Takao he'd get this deep, calculating look on his face like he was waiting for Takao to do something. What that something was Takao didn't know.
But now was not the time to figure it out. They have a rescue mission to take care of.
The two cars came to a stop in the alley behind Kirisaki Daiichi HQ. Midorima and Takao got out first and scanned the surroundings.
"All clear," they announced.
The rest of the team tumbled out of the cars and huddled around Himuro and the computers, blueprints appeared on the screen with a red dot blinking on it.
"This is a blueprint of Kirisaki Daiichi HQ. As you can see here Akashi is currently at the top floor." Himuro pointed at the fifth level of the building's blueprints where the red dot was placed.
Nijimura's voice crackled through their earpieces," Listen up. Here's our plan. Kasamatsu, Kise, Aomine and Kagami, proceed to the top floor to extract Akashi. Use any means necessary just get him out of there. Meanwhile, Himuro, Murasakibara, Takao and Midorima, you four find Kirisaki Daiichi's control room. Himuro, hack their system and find out where they're keeping Kuroko. Does everyone understand the plan?"
"Are we enough to take down Kirisaki Daiichi?" Takao asked," There's only eight of us and who knows how many of them."
"I already sent a support team after you. Hyuuga and his team will arrive in a few minutes."
"Hyuuga?" Kagami asked. He and Kuroko used to belong in the same sub-family as Hyuuga before they got moved to the main family.
"Hyuuga has a score to settle with Kirisaki Daiichi. That's all you need to know." There was some history underneath there, but no one questioned any further. "Just sit tight' keep your guard up and wait for them to arrive."
"Nijimuracchi, shouldn't we move in now?" Kise suggested. "The longer we stay here, the longer Akashicchi will be in their hands."
"Kise, I know you're worried. I bet all of you are. Heck, I'm worried too, but we don't know what's waiting for us the moment we enter that building. It's better to be safe than sorry. Plus," there was a hint of amusement in Nijimura's voice," This is Akashi we're talking about here. Kirisaki Daiichi would think twice before doing anything to him."
That alleviated everyone's concerns, part of it anyway.
"Okay, stay put until Hyuuga and his team-"
BANG!
There was something unsettling about Hanamiya. It was like that poem he read about the spider tricking the fly into coming to his web. Only in this case it was Akashi who was the fly.
"Akashi Seijuuro," his voice was silky and confident with a mocking tone to it. Akashi hated it. "It's nice to finally meet you."
Hanamiya extended a hand out, but Akashi barely glanced at it, choosing instead to look at his eyes. They were black in color and possessed a certain spark which reminded Akashi of Imayoshi Shoichi, one of their data analysts and an all-around creep.
Hanamiya clicked his tongue, slightly annoyed at the disrespect.
"Good," Akashi thought to himself. "I'm not here for pleasantries, Hanamiya. I'm here to take back what rightfully belongs to Kiseki."
"Impatient one, are we?" Hanamiya gestured to one end of the conference table. "Please take a seat first."
Akashi had been taken to a conference room at the top floor of Kirisaki Daiichi HQ. It had a floor to ceiling window on one side where Hanamiya stood, the light giving an unfitting glow to the man. He sat down with his back turned to the window and Akashi wondered how much force it was going to take to break the window when you throw a person out of it. He didn't realize he was spacing out until Hanamiya cleared his throat. Akashi held back a smirk. Hanamiya had no idea the redhead was planning his murder just now.
He noticed that there were only two chairs at the table. One for him and one for Hanamiya. The other four remained standing. Seto was now the one pointing the gun at him. Furuhasi and Yamazaki stood guard by Hanamiya. Hara walked over to the windows and popped a stick of gum in his mouth.
Akashi sat across Hanamiya who placed a cheek on his palm, observing Akashi thoughtfully. He calmly stared back, making his own observations. Most people would have fainted from the sheer intensity of Akashi's gaze, but Hanamiya remained unfazed, he even looked amused.
"I've never seen a person with heterochromia before. I've seen pictures of course, but seeing it in person," Hanamiya leaned forward, linking his fingers and placing his chin upon them," It's...fascinating. Is this the Emperor Eye ability I've heard about from Haizaki Shougo?"
Akashi scowled. Of course. Leave it to Haizaki to expose his ability to Kirisaki Daiichi. Akashi hated that term. Emperor Eye. The name was coined in by another mafia family who believed that Kiseki can see the future which was why they were always able to counter any attack against them. Many have tried to take down Kiseki and so far none of them had been successful. The secret behind this so-called foresight lied in the Miracle System developed by Aida Kagetora. It held everything they needed to know about other mafia families-their history, their members, strengths, weaknesses, etc. Can it see the future? No. Akashi merely analyzed the data, along with Riko and Momoi and built their plans from there.
In short, there was no Emperor Eye ability. It was only the Miracle System and a group of excellent strategists.
Hanamiya was still looking at Akashi, awaiting an answer.
"I apologize, but I cannot answer that question," Akashi spoke levelly, barely masking the hatred in his voice.
The corner of Hanamiya's lips twitched and his eyes flickered momentarily at Seto. It was a small and easy to miss movement, but Seto got the message loud and clear. He turned off the safety of the gun and pulled the trigger.
BANG!
BANG!
There was no mistaking it.
A gunshot.
The team immediately crouched and took cover, hands reaching for their weapons.
"Shit! Where'd that shot come from?" Nijimura cursed when he heard the shot through the earpiece, so did Riko and Momoi who pulled up the camera footage of the Kirisaki Daiichi HQ. They zoomed in and saw one of the windows cracked from where the bullet exited.
"The shot came from the top floor!" they announced, panicked.
Nijimura felt a wave of concern wash over him. It wasn't part of the plan, but he wasn't taking any chances.
"Change of plans. Go inside now! Find Akashi and Kuroko ASAP. Failure is not an option. Are we clear?"
"Yes sir!" Multiple voices shouted at once.
"Riko, call Hyuuga and the support team. Tell them to step on it."
"Of course."
Nijimura focused his attention on the live feed of the building. He'd never imagine Akashi as someone who'd easily get hurt, which only made his concern increase tenfold.
BANG!
Akashi stared in slight shock as Seto lowered the gun from where he had aimed it at the window and fired the shot. The other members of Kirisaki Daiichi were unfazed by the sudden action, in fact it seemed like they were expecting it.
"I don't think you understand the situation, Akashi. You're in my territory, under my rules. I will get those answers from you one way or another. Even if it means adding more players to the field. Your team managed to track you down, didn't they?"
Akashi's scowl deepened. So that gunshot from earlier was just to draw his team inside earlier than planned.
"I'll take that as a yes," Hanamiya glanced at his members. "Hara, Seto, Yamazaki, Furuhashi, go to your stations. Give the Kiseki a warm welcome."
Three of them nodded and left the room. Seto remained, gun pointed at Akashi.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing, Hanamiya?" he asked.
Hanamiya frowned at him. "Do you not trust me, Seto?"
Seto backtracked. "I-it's not that, boss! It's him I don't trust."
Hanamiya looked at Akashi and gave him a smirk. "I can handle him just fine. We're gonna have a nice chat. Just the two of us. Now leave."
Seto fixed Akashi one last look before handing the gun over to Hanamiya and exiting the room.
"I think you should start talking Akashi." Hanamiya fiddled the gun in his hands. "Next time it would be you instead of the window."
And done! Now if you'll excuse me I have some sad songs I need to listen to. Bai bai minna!
In the next chapter, Kiseki enters Kirisaki Daiichi HQ, unaware that Hanamiya has already laid down the first spider web. Akashi sees a difficult obstacle ahead of them and races against the clock to help his team. And what does Hanamiya really want from them? Tune in next chapter!
Next chapter...
Chapter 6: Infiltrate