Kagami awoke in the dusk of early morning but he wasn't alone.

It took a moment for his groggy eyes to focus on and recognize Kuroko's face, not even a foot away from his own, and he jumped in surprise. He was laying on his side, facing the other boy who was in the same position but reversed so that they were pointed towards one another. Kagami was unable to stop the blush that creeped across his cheeks and he wondered when Kuroko had crawled into bed with him. Or why, for that matter.

Groaning softly, Kuroko stirred and opened his eyes. He smiled gently at Kagami as he snuggled deeper into the mattress, looking as content as could be. "Good morning,"

"M-morning," The red-head responded slowly. He had no idea what to think about this situation but somehow it felt right. Shrugging off his surprise, he smiled back at his teammate. "Are you hungry?"

"Very."

"I'll make us some breakfast," Climbing out of bed, Kagami made his way to the kitchen where he set about making a lovely meal for the two of them to share. In no time at all, everything was ready and he called for Kuroko.

There was no response.

He called again and waited but as the food started to cool Kagami decided to go get him since he'd probably fallen back asleep.

"Get up, Kuroko! Breakfast will get cold if -" He took but one step into his bedroom before stopping dead in his tracks. Kuroko lay sprawled across the bed like a puppet with its strings cut and the once pristine sheets underneath him had been stained almost completely black. Kagami's eyes roved over the scene, looking for the source of it all, but it didn't take long to figure out.

Kuroko's face looked like it had been mauled, deep gashes running across his forehead and cheeks. At the center of the mess that was once a familiar face were two gaping holes where his eyes had been, gushing blood almost like a fountain. And stretched across his lips, the only facial feature that didn't seem to be damaged, was a gruesomely joyous smile.

Starting awake, Kagami stared sightlessly at the wall across from him. He'd broken out in a cold sweat and his heart slammed painfully in his chest. A dream?

The adrenaline slowly eased off and, sighing, Kagami rolled over only to come face to face with Kuroko. Or at least, he thought it was once Kuroko, his face now twisted and contorted in agony as if he'd died from excruciating fear alone.

Kagami screamed as he sat upright in bed. Frantically looking around himself, he was relieved not to find Kuroko – or anyone else for that matter – in the room with him. He clutched at his chest for a moment, willing his heart to calm down. It had been a dream, he reminded himself over and over again. Kuroko was undoubtedly still asleep at his house, a fact Kagami was somewhat envious of now. There was no way he was going to be able to fall back asleep after that.

Kagami slowly got out of bed and made his way towards the kitchen but as he passed through the living room something gave him pause. He slowly turned to look at what had caught his attention only to find the entire Seirin basketball team strewn about with their lifeless bodies covered in crimson blood.

He stared, unable to comprehend the sight before him and then, as if being controlled by some invisible force, each and every one of them bonelessly sat upright. Their heads lolled against their shoulders and their arms hung useless at their sides. Some of them had been stabbed or gutted where others looked like they'd been burnt.

Then, in perfect harmony, their mouths fell open and SKREEEEEE, SKREEEEEEE

Kagami gasped, his eyes shooting open. He stared, frozen, up at the ceiling as he panted heavily, his heart suddenly feeling weak in his chest. Was he awake for real this time? Oh god, he didn't think he could handle another scene like that.

Slowly glancing down at himself, Kagami felt relief wash over him at the sight of his vampire costume. He was awake, he was certain of it.

Sitting up, the red-head took a moment to gather his bearings. What an awful sequence of nightmares – and it didn't take a genius to figure out what had caused them. So much for Kuroko's sure fire method of alleviating his fears. Damn. Kagami was going to strangle that boy when he saw him.

A quick glance at the clock reminded him of morning practice and he rose to go take a shower. After turning on every light in the apartment, that is.

(****)

Storming into the gym, Kagami picked Kuroko's vibrant hair out of the crowd and made a bee-line for him. He was going to have a word with him if it was the last thing he did. He'd been so certain last night about how transferring the curse to someone else would just magically ease all of his fears that Kagami had actually believed him but now look at him! He was practically jumping at his own shadow and it was entirely Kuroko's fault!

But when Riko turned to look at him with a worried expression on her face, he lost some of his steam. He'd been so focused on telling Kuroko how badly his plan had worked that he hadn't even realized that everyone was gathered in a circle together. What in the world were they doing?

"There's Kagami!" The female coach shouted, surprising him even more. His apprehension only doubled when everyone hurried over to him as if he were a hero returning from a long journey or something. Just what the hell was going on? "You're late!" Riko shouted, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"S-sorry? I forgot to set my alarm last night, I fell asleep as soon as I got home." Looking at everyone's weird expressions, Kagami fixed them all with a glare. "What are you all doing?"

Riko and Hyuga exchanged glances but it was the bespectacled boy who spoke at last. "Fukuda and Kawahara didn't show up for practice this morning. Or rather, they haven't yet. We thought something was wrong since it was well past the scheduled time but since you showed up, they might as well."

"Why did you run off like that last night, Kagami? We were worried about you but then it got so late that we just couldn't wait for you to come back anymore." Riko said, sounding both hurt and worried. "You should have told us you were alright. We had no idea what may have happened to you!"

"I-I'm sorry," Kagami said, fidgeting uncomfortably. He didn't like the uncertain tone in her voice, not at all. "I didn't mean to worry you like that. By the time I got home I was so exhausted I practically passed out."

Riko glared up at him for a moment longer before turning on Kuroko. "You're responsible for this too! You were with him, weren't you? Why didn't you text me saying he was alright?"

Kuroko seemed to hesitate uncertainly before answering. "I was also tired and the thought didn't cross my mind. Please forgive me everyone. It wasn't my intention to cause you concern."

With a 'humph!', Riko crossed her arms over her chest. She was far from happy, that much was obvious, but she didn't make any more fuss about the subject, much to Kagami's relief. He wasn't sure if he could handle one of her headlocks after the morning he'd had.

The team waited ten more minutes before deciding to practice without Fukuda or Kawahara and the day seemed to progress as normal except for that god awful skreeee sound playing on repeat in Kagami's ears.

That and the fact he kept catching Kuroko surreptitiously glancing around himself. Just what the hell was his problem?

(****)

Another chapter down! And finally, I'm getting some feedback from you guys. I was worried for a minute there that you all hated this story which was a little disappointing because there don't seem to be many stories of this sort for the KuroBasu fandom. But yes, like I said last chapter, we're getting into the meat of the story now and things will only go down hill from here. That being said, use your better judgment. If you don't like disturbing imagery or you don't want to think about your favorite character dying a horrible death then you may not want to continue reading. Shit WILL hit the fan and if you're not prepared then it just might take you down with it. Until next time!