A/N:

05/10/17: Chapters 1-6 has been edited. There are some changes made here and there, and many things have been added. For those who have read this story before, I would suggest a re-read so that you will not be confused by the sudden changes.

Warning: This chapter is short.

That aside, please enjoy.

Akashi trailed his fingers over the large spread of documents around him. Quickly glancing through them one by one, making sure to not overlook anything, he completely ignored the mess Aomine and Kise were causing not too far away from where he was.

It took some time, but they had managed to find Hanamiya's dungeon.

But Hanamiya would never be so careless as to leave important information out in the open, even if it's in his own private space. Akashi had first found hints of what Hanamiya had planned to do hidden within completely unrelated documents. Therefore, he ordered everyone to search through everything, even those that may seem irrelevant. Which of course, increased the amount of effort they had to put in.

Even so, from what they had gathered so far, they found out that Hanamiya had wanted to make a contract with the Key; with a promise that he would provide a soul necessary for the Key to activate.

To say Akashi was surprised was an understatement.

He had never known that the Key was in fact a sentient being. The history of the demigods did not mention anything of that sort, merely calling the Key a tool created by the gods. Akashi did not know how Hanamiya had gotten such knowledge of the Key that no one else knew, or whether the Key really was sentient.

Kuroko was not here, Akashi could not test out his findings.

Akashi raised his head, eyebrows furrowing as he watched Kise fling a thick file at Aomine's head. Those documents…they have not been looked through yet, have they? He didn't find any mark on it to indicate that it had been read through. Akashi did not care if they wanted to fight each other using the unnecessary documents, but he would not allow them to carelessly fling around what may be the answer they needed!

Akashi growled softly, focusing on the thick file about to collide with Aomine's head. The file froze in midair, just two inches away from Aomine. Both Kise and Aomine turned towards Akashi at once, and the dual irritated expressions on their faces simultaneously melted into one of fear. With Akashi still levitating the file, they immediately dashed away to their respective positions; quietly and obediently going through the documents.

With a little huff, Akashi set the file down on a nearby table, silently entrusting the task to Midorima. Midorima looked up from where he was flipping through another file, glanced at the black file that Akashi had placed beside him, and then returned back to his reading. Though he did not say anything, Akashi knew Midorima would do as he had asked.

The only one that was not present here was Murasakibara. Akashi had sent him on an errand to try and temporarily stall Kuroko. He could not stop him in a battle, but since the fuel for Kuroko's power was the chaos within the hearts of people, if Murasakibara managed to calm some of the madness Kuroko was causing, it would at least buy them some time.

And also, Kise and Aomine was bad enough. Asking Murasakibara to stay and look through all the documentations would be equivalent to sentencing him to death. For both him and Akashi. To be honest, dealing with a sulking Murasakibara was too much for Akashi. It wasn't that he couldn't handle Murasakibara, just that it was too tiring.

So he had sent Murasakibara away with a job that would fit him best.

Softly exhaling, Akashi looked down once more and began his dreary task of going through all the documents spread out before him.

This was taking way too long.

They did not have much time before Kuroko decided he no longer wanted to play around and instead, chose to single-handily cause a full-scale war.

Akashi knew that should the war happen, it would result in total annihilation of both humans and demigods.

"That is something that must never happen." Akashi hissed softly. "I won't allow it!"

His declaration seemed to resonate within those present, and they were more fired up than before to find a way.

Yes, they will stop him.

They had to.

Kuroko twirled around in the air, enjoying the way the human king before him was trembling in fear.

"What's wrong? Why have you not made your decision yet?" Kuroko asked.

The king opened his mouth, only to stutter so badly that Kuroko couldn't understand him.

"Hurry up." Kuroko ordered, now irritated with the king. "All you have to do is agree. I will provide you with everything you need. If you agree to this war, you will gain many benefits, Human King."

"Y-y-y-you… You are a slave, aren't you? I've never seen you before. Where did you come from?!" The King roared, his fear momentarily dissolving into rage. "How dare you, a mere slave, run around as you please? You may have a characteristic of a strong demigod, judging by that hair and eye colour of yours, but don't forget, we are strong enough to fight evenly with you!"

Kuroko blinked.

"You? Fight evenly with me?" He repeated.

"Yes! We have the best opponent for a disobedient slave like you; the Otrok!"

Kuroko froze for all but a second, before he broke out into laughter.

"You're talking about those toys? Alright then, I shall show you a little bit of my power, since you look like you'll need to see it with your own eyes in order to believe it."

Kuroko turned his head, and immediately spotted an Otrok running towards the King. How convenient.

"Look carefully, okay?"

Kuroko lifted a hand, palm facing upwards. He bent his fingers, touching thumb to his middle finger.

Once the Otrok was within five paces away from where the king was, Kuroko's lips quirked up into a little smirk, and then he snapped his fingers.

Instantly, the Otrok exploded into little pieces. But that wasn't the end, those little pieces flying in the air exploded once more, until there was nothing but ashes remaining.

Satisfied, Kuroko lowered his hand and turned to face the utterly shocked king.

"Do you understand now?" He asked, his voice soft and gentle.

"Why… How…"

The king babbled on, seeming as though he was about to have a mental breakdown.

"Didn't I mention it earlier? I told you that I'm different from the rest of the demigods. That's why, don't you think my offer to you is actually really good? After all, you want power too, right? If you were to go to war with the neighbouring countries, secure your victory, you can either choose to take them as a vassal state or completely erase them off the earth."

"Erase? Erase an entire country?" The king gaped at Kuroko.

"Of course. I'm capable of something as simple as that." Kuroko smiled at the king. "So? Isn't it a good offer for you? Especially since I will be helping you."

"Well… That's…"

"Quickly make your decision, I don't like waiting too long."

"But something of this scale, I have to consult my advisors. What's more, to receive assistance from a slave is…"

Kuroko growled.

He lifted a hand, and attacked the area around the king as a warning.

The ground trembled violently with the aftershocks, causing the king to lose his footing and he fell with a cry of surprise.

"Hurry up!" Kuroko snarled.

The king's eyes widened with great fear, overriding all other emotions.

"I-I…"

Kuroko suddenly flinched, immediately dodging to the left. The attack just missed him, and the human king was barely able to roll away from it in time.

Kuroko whipped around, and there, Murasakibara was glaring at him.

Kuroko's eyes narrowed.

Murasakibara was glaring at him, yes. But the source of it was not anger or hatred. In fact, there was a strong feeling of sadness behind it.

Kuroko clicked his tongue.

What an annoyance.

It would have been better for Murasakibara to fall, to become consumed by hatred.

Because that would allow Kuroko to grow even stronger.

"What do you want?" He spat out.

"Kuro-chin is not Kuro-chin. I don't like it." Murasakibara said.

Kuroko blinked. "…What?"

But immediately after, his eyes lit up with understanding. "Ah, I see. So in other words, you're saying that because I'm not your 'Kuro-chin' anymore, so you want to kill me?" Kuroko's eyebrow raised, looking very amused. A relaxed, large grin formed on his face.

Murasakibara shook his head.

"No. That's not it. Kuro-chin is still in there, right? I want to bring Kuro-chin out."

Kuroko stared blankly at him for a moment, and only when Murasakibara's words had registered did his expression change into one of annoyance and he growled out, "What a fool you are. Kuroko is me, there's no one else. The person you seek is me!"

"No, you're wrong. You're not the one I want."

Kuroko's annoyed expression abruptly disappeared and instead, he sliently studied Murasakibara for a long moment. Then, he said, "Well, I don't mind if you wish to fight. We can determine a winner between us by the one who manages to survive until the end." Kuroko smiled, shrugging one shoulder casually. "And if you die, I will be glad to consume you."

Murasakibara frowned.

"…I really don't like you."

"Then hurry up and come at me. Fight me."

Murasakibara grunted. Akashi probably would not scold him for fighting, right? He did give specific instructions to never become angry while in the presence of this Kuroko, because it would only make him stronger.

Then, a simple fight should be alright.

Because though Kuroko was not Kuroko, the person before him; that appearance and that voice, they were all Kuroko's.

Murasakibara did not want to hurt Kuroko.

"…Okay, I'll fight."

Kuroko grinned, his eyes wide with glee.

"Good! Then, I will let you have the first move." He said.

Murasakibara nodded, and their fight commenced.