Chapter Four: Aomine

It wasn't unusual for Aomine to sleep in, in fact, he was often found sleeping around even in the middle of the day, so when he woke up at twelve o'clock he didn't notice anything wrong at first.

Only after he'd brushed his teeth (toothbrush decorated with a puppy that looked suspiciously allot like Tetsuya #2 on the end), and set about making coffee using the specially designed coffee pot decked in chibi's of GoM that Momoi had somehow obtained for his birthday present, did he notice the lack of noise.

Not that he was claiming Momoi was always noisy (alright, so perhaps he was), but she always got up before him, always, and, usually, she'd be sitting at the table, drinking a glass of…well…whatever she felt like having that day, while reading the newspaper, or she'd be sitting in front of the TV, flipping through channels, or she'd burst out of his room complaining on how horrid it smelt, all sweat and rotten left overs. Which, of course, was not his fault; the room had always smelt like that, even before he'd moved in.

"Momoi?" He called questioningly, while blindly heading toward the fridge, when he received no reply he felt a spark of panic, but shrugged it off, Momoi was a big girl, she was more than capable of handling herself.

Sighing, he grabbed the milk and closed the door, only when he turned away, back toward the counter, did he notice a flash of yellow, deciding to make himself a bowl of cereal first, he swiftly dumped out the remaining contents of his cereal bag, making a mental note to buy some more later, then poured the milk into the awaiting bowl bellow.

Turning around he finally read the note.

"I'm meeting with Midorima-kun, make sure you eat something, otherwise I'll offer you're services to Akashi-kun for the next week, Love ya, bye."

Frankly, he didn't quit like the notes contents, nor did he like the mystery that clung to them. For Momoi had refused to speak with any of the other members of the Generation of Miracles for the past couple of weeks, and last he checked, she wasn't going to any time soon either. Not only that, but he was certain Midorima had changed his cell number, due to several prank calls that just got a tab bit out of hand, and Momoi wasn't particularly too concerned about asking for the new one, so that meant Midorima had called her...or the house phone.

And the only reason the shooting guard would bother calling at this point and time was for something of importance.

But then why wouldn't Momoi wake him?

Sighing, Aomine began to eat his cereal, staring blandly at the fridge. Despite what other's thought, he was pretty smart, and there was no way he was going to allow his team mates to go about involving themselves in something without him, especially when they dragged his Momoi into it!

Coughing, Aomine looked over that thought again and smiled. Throwing the now empty bowl into the sink, he shrugged on his coat and headed for his car (for it seemed Momoi took hers). Getting in he adjusted his mirrors, but stopped, halted by the fluttering image of Tetsu, blank blue eyes staring at him from the back seat as his small hand came up and pointed forward.

"To the library." was the soft whisper that, if it belonged to any other, would have sounded like a joking command. Aomine offered a sad smile to the mirror, before tearing his eyes away from the image and turning to the road. Taking a deep breath he dispelled the memory, that's right, today's the day that…

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"So," began Takao, who'd adopted a thinking posture, "you want us to go over what it is we, ourselves, know about ghosts?"

"Or, basically, what we've heard about them, yes."

"But how would that help?"

"If we list off the things we already know," Midorima interjected, "then we can commence our search from there."

"Ah!" the point guard cried, "so what you're saying is that it isn't that there is no information, it's that we're looking in all the wrong places?"

"Essentially."

"Oh," called a voice from behind, "then let me help."

Startled the three turned to find Aomine lounging languidly against a bookshelf, eyes staring at them in question and challenge, as if expecting them to turn him away.

"Aomine!" Momoi cried, jumping up, "what are you doing here?"

The Forward shrugged, before explaining that this was really only luck, considering he'd actually had several destination's in mind, but wasn't sure which one they'd go to. Sighing the three agreed to fill him in, as they couldn't very well turn him away (not when he could pester Momoi for the answers latter, and none would blame her for giving them to him either).

Surprisingly, he took the news rather well, though he was—rightly—annoyed with Kise and Murasakibara for keeping it a secret. Though he did pose a good question, "what if they don't know?"

"Eh?"

"Well, alright, so Kise not knowing about Tetsu's whereabouts is kind of stretching it, considering he's more of a stalker then Midorima."

"…" the shooting guard glared, accidentally adjusting his glasses with his middle finger.

"But what if they don't know everything? Or, as is more likely, what if Murasakibara doesn't know everything?"

Momoi's eyes brightened, "that means—"

"We could ask Murasakibara for confirmation."

After agreeing upon the idea the four turned back to their original idea, and began listing off the things they knew, mostly, it was the same lame stuff they'd read in the book's, however, one thing, stated by Takao, and cemented by Aomine, caused chills to go down all their spines.

"I've heard, that sometimes, if those left behind grieve enough, the soul of the departed will be trapped, forever unable to rest."

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"Murasakibara-kun," Kuroko called, kneeling down before the giant's resting figure, "Murasakibara-kun, you have to wake up, it's almost seven, soon it'll be too dark for you to go back."

The giant simply grumbled and turned away, causing Kise to roll his eyes, "Kurocchi~" he called while skipping up behind the ghost, "just let him be, come, come I'll head to bed early too."

Kuroko blinked, tilting his head to the side, before floating behind the model, following him into his room, and waiting by the door while Kise changed.

Soon dressed in nothing more than his boxers, Kise plopped down on his all too fluffy bed (that Kuroko felt secretly jealous of), and gestured for the ghost to sit on the edge while he jumped under the covers. "Ne, Kurocchi, could you tell me a story?~"

It had become something of a nightly ritual for them, though when Kurko asked why, Kise simply declared it was because he loved listening to the ghost's voice. Though Kuroko was certain there was more to it than that, he didn't complain, though he did find it ironic that he wound up talking far more now that he was dead, then he ever did alive.

Sighing, the ghost took a big breath, more to collect his thoughts than anything else, and began to weave his tale.

"The wind, you see, was a very, very lonely thing, although it cried, and played all day, although it sang and danced, and fluttered and pranced, the wind was never, ever, truly seen, nor was it truly understood. For while people heard the winds songs and cries, they could not understand the words, and while the people felt its playful tug and soothing touch, none would ever acknowledge its presence. Though the people claimed to know the wind and its way's, they never truly understood, but one day a strange sound, not like the wind, but echoing, and in its language, resounded in the air. Curious the wind danced toward the sound, and found, much to its glee, another being, quit like it, descending upon the singer, the wind asked upon the beings name.

The being had no way to reply, for it had no name, though it did declare that the people, the humans who made it, called the being a wind chime. Curious, the wind asked for more detail. For humans, creatures who could never understand the winds language, never understand the winds nature, couldn't possibly make sure a being.

The wind chime shrugged, the only thing it truly knew, was that it could only speak, only move, when the wind was near. Playfully, upon hearing this, the wind drew away, and watched from a distance as the being fruitlessly tried to call for it back, for the chime had no voice, not without the wind. Laughing the wind returned, it had never had any friends before, none at all, and while it loved to brush through hair and fur, while the wind loved to play tricks and sing and dance, it never stayed around one human long enough, or one village long enough, to know how to treat one.

Their relationship, from then on, was a strange one, and sometimes, when playing with the chime, the wind would be having far too much fun to control its powers, thus knocking the poor thing to the ground many a time.

Then, one day, when the wind came to visit, the chime was no longer there. No longer in the window, awaiting its arrival. At first the wind thought the chime was playing a game, but after some time searching it recalled how the chime declared it could not sing, nor move, without the wind near.

Which meant only one thing, the humans, who made the wind's friend, who'd placed the chime at the window, had moved it. Concerned, the wind rushed through the village, or perhaps it was a town? The wind was never truly concerned, not with time or human dwellings. Only when it reached the center of the village, where a fire blazed, did the wind find its friend. Alas, with the wind being so near, the chime's voice returned, and all it could do was scream and scream as the fire turned it to ash.

In a frenzy, in despair, the wind rushed toward it's friend, pushing all away, controlling not it's power nor emotions, alas, the fire, gaining strength from the wind, only pained the chime more, and by the time the chime's voice no longer was in existence, by the time the wind calmed, the village was destroyed, the fallen remnants of houses impaling all humans within the area.

Crying and alone, the wind was a very, very lonely thing."

Kise stared, eyes dropping and mouth tilting in a small frown, "Kurocchi~" he began, letting out a yawn, "what type of story is that?"

"One that makes you think."

"Think?" Kise's eyebrows scrunched together, "well, I'm glad the human's all died in the end, it was their fault the chime died."

Blue eye blinked, a tab bit sadly, before Kuroko lightly patted Kise on the head, "that is one way to see it, yes, but the wind was also at fault, for not controlling itself."

At Kise's questioning stare Kuroko elaborated, though Kise's grip on his wrist (for Kise had somehow gained the ability to touch him) would not allow him to move away into a more comfortable position, "The human's had created the chime in hopes to please the wind," Kuroko moved in closer, placing a finger to Kise lips before he could interrupt, "however, all they saw was, upon making the chime, the wind had become harsher, it came more often, blowing and nearly toppling over numerous things, causing havoc, and every time they'd go to check up on the chime, it would be on the floor. Who wouldn't think, in such circumstances, that the wind hated them? Hated the chime? For the wind was a very, very lonely thing, that none could understand."

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A/N: wow, this wound up being far longer than expected, however the little story Kuroko told does have some foreshadowing for the overall story…kind of. Eh, well, I hope you liked it anyway. I just couldn't get the idea of Kuroko telling Kise a bedtime story out of my head, and this is what came of it.

Anyway, as usual, one review and I'll update.