False Information

Chapter Four

'Tetsuya—'

The ones who stood in that room littered with debris refused to turn to the male who lay in the center of all of them.

'Tetsuya— please don't tell...'

He swallowed.

'If he asks, tell him...'

... ...

'I'm not the person you're supposed to be asking.'

Kuroko could remember that line so well, echoing in his head like an unceasing verse of a song with no tune. It was irritating at how he felt the world seemed to be tilting as he sat there in the white room and thought to himself. He was quite sure these words uttered to him twice did not come from the two former co-organization members that he had just met, but they were the words that came out of the mouth of the person he was looking for.

Akashi Seijuro did not want to be found.

Or, at least, Kuroko thought as he watched the stars twinkling above him, that he had to go through all lengths to find where the other male is. "I'm not the person you're supposed to be asking" can also mean that he had to find the right person to ask. Who that person was depends on who Akashi decided it to be.

Kuroko was quite hurt as he thought of the fact that his friends knew where Akashi was. Though he knew that if his friends decided to keep the information to themselves, there must be some reason as to why they would do so. And the reactions on Aomine's and Momoi's faces as Kuroko asked them his question confused the light blue-haired male. Now, all he wanted to do was find and see the red-haired male even more.

He had been following anything Akashi ordered him since he could remember. Now, he set in his mind that he would find the missing red-haired, longing to see the male who had been away from him since the fall of Teiko.

Whether Akashi wanted to be found or not.

So the following morning, he knocked on the door of Aida's office. There was a soft voice saying "Come in" from inside and Kuroko twisted the knob to enter the bright office.

"Oh, Kuroko-kun," Aida greeted after she looked up from her papers. She smiled amiably. "What brought you here?"

"I'm requesting a leave, Aida-san," Kuroko said without a beat. As usual, he chose to be direct.

If Aida was surprised, she only showed it by the slight raise of her eyebrows. "Is this related to the matter you talked with Momoi-san?"

Kuroko stared at her, searching her eyes.

"Aomine-kun and Momoi-san left late at night yesterday," Aida informed him, moving her soft brown eyes back to her papers. Kuroko found that she was only signing announcements to the town. It was probably about the first-degree vampire that attacked them yesterday. "Momoi-san was crying when she ran to Aomine-kun after she talked to you in the white room. If you don't mind me asking, what happened back then?"

"I asked her a question," Kuroko said. Aida looked up from her papers, waiting for Kuroko to continue. He knew her attention was piqued at his sudden indirect reply so he opted to answer clearly to have the business finished. "I asked where Akashi Seijuro was."

"Akashi Seijuro?" Aida said, searching her thoughts. Her eyes had darkened.

"He was my former captain back in Teiko," Kuroko said. He pondered if he should continue, but Aida was already speaking.

"Is this the reason why you suddenly want to ask for a leave?" Aida questioned. This time, her eyes were hard, like she was reprimanding. "You know you're a new member of Seirin and the resident vampire of the organization. Asking for a leave so early on your membership to the organization would be very difficult."

"Then I'll quit the organization."

Aida shot him a surprised look, instantly mixed with anger for the threat. A daring move was just sent to her by a new member of her organization. "Kuroko-kun—"

"I'm not Teiko's property to be given away, even if it is for the safety of Tokyo and Japan," he said. It was also a common knowledge that when Teiko fell, its core members decided that they would join the organizations surrounding Tokyo to help in suppressing the area that vampires hold. Aomine and Momoi went to Touo. The rest of them went to Kaijou, Shuutoku and Yousen. Kuroko went rogue for a while before joining Seirin.

"You're a Japanese, Kuroko-kun," Aida stated. She was angry, the light blue-haired boy knew, even if the only tell-tale sign was her slight frown. "The safety of the country and its people is our priority. You're being selfish if you quit your organization for your desires."

Kuroko was getting desperate, only showed by the slight crease on his pale forehead. "Aida-san..." He cleared his throat, softening his expression. Why was he getting desperate? Akashi Seijuro was the strongest vampire he knew. He was a cool-headed strategist, a successful leader of their group — not until that sudden attack in their headquarters.

But he couldn't remove the worry in his chest. Akashi said that he would meet up with Kuroko after the attack. But the red-haired male did no such thing. In fact, Akashi did not make contact to him after that — for fifteen years. Kuroko waited for the red-haired in those long years before deciding to join Seirin a few months ago.

Kuroko touched the edge of his lips with two fingers absently. He put his hand down when he realized what he was doing and stared straight to Aida's eyes.

"Akashi-kun is a very important person to me," Kuroko said. "I have to go and see him."

The door of the room opened and Hyuuga entered.

"Boss..." Hyuuga stopped whatever he was going to say when he sensed the heavy tension in the room. He looked at Aida and Kuroko, and back.

"If you would excuse me," Kuroko said, bowing slightly before turning away fast to leave the room.

"Hey, Kuroko-kun...!" Aida went to call but Kuroko was already closing the door on her. Hyuuga looked at her questioningly when she only sighed.

"What's up with Kuroko?"

"He's asking for a leave."

"Already?"

Aida looked at Hyuuga. "Kuroko-kun said he wanted to meet with Akashi Seijuro."

"Akashi Seijuro?" Hyuuga paused. "Do you mean the last captain of Teiko?"

Aida nodded in response. She rubbed her temples. Suddenly, the phone of the office rang. But she ignored it for a while in favor of finishing her talk to Hyuuga.

"But isn't he already...?" Hyuuga asked, confusion on his face.

Aida shot him a look. "You know what Momoi-san told us after she gave us that information."

She pinched the bridge of her nose. Placing her hand on the phone receiver, she gave Hyuuga one last sentence before answering the phone.

"We shouldn't tell Kuroko-kun that Akashi Seijuro is already dead."

"Ah, Kuroko!"

The small boy looked to see a cat-like male waving at him.

"Koganei-senpai," Kuroko greeted. He smiled, also seeing the silent male behind Koganei. "Mitobe-senpai."

"Have you seen Kagami?" Koganei asked.

"He's probably sleeping in our room," Kuroko replied.

Koganei glanced at Mitobe, who in turn pulled a phone from his pocket.

"Please give that phone to him," Koganei said, as Mitobe handed the phone to Kuroko. "We found his phone in the first attack from yesterday. Fukuda tried to fix it but the thing's completely soaked. So here's the new standard release of phone for him."

Kuroko weighted the phone on his palm. It looked almost exactly like his or anyone's in the organization, a plain white flip phone with black, light blue and red straight on its cover. But only Kuroko's had the gold shield-shaped sticker of Teiko.

Almost anything they owned had been branded of the organization where they come from.

"Yes, I'll give this to him," Kuroko said. He bowed slightly before turning away.

"Ah, wait, Kuroko!" Koganei said. Kuroko turned to him briefly as the cat-like male began to speak again. "Another thing. Aida wants to give you this letter."

Koganei handed Kuroko a light blue envelope sealed by Seirin's logo. It was the usual one the Seirin members would receive: a mission letter.

"She wanted to give it to you but there was an emergency earlier today," Koganei continued. Mitobe smiled, nodding. "Yep, as Mitobe says... something about Rakuzan being attacked this morning. But no matter, news has it that it was a small internal attack and was suppressed immediately so the main city is safe. Aida and Hyuuga are going there for some meeting with the other leaders of the other vampire hunter organizations this afternoon."

Mitobe nodded. His smile disappeared then.

Koganei hit him on the head.

"You shouldn't say such things, Mitobe," he told the taller male.

Kuroko frowned a little in confusion. "What did Mitobe-senpai say?"

"Ah... What, indeed...?" Koganei laughed uncomfortably.

A phone rang. Mitobe handed his phone to the cat-like male. Koganei flipped it open.

"Ah, Izuki...?"

Koganei bowed slightly towards Kuroko, excusing himself. Kuroko turned to Mitobe when Koganei left. And the light-haired boy was surprised to see the rare frown on the taller male's face.

"Mitobe-senpai...?"

Mitobe squeezed Kuroko's shoulder as if in the act of condolence. And then the taller male left, leaving the other boy confused at that last gesture.

A/N:

What am I doing...? Where in the world is this plot going?!

So, yeah, it's one hell of a week coming so update will take a while.

Reviews? :D