Well, first things first.
"goes and bangs head into a wall"
I'm so sorry about the last chapter! I should've known when I went too far! I'm so sorry! I apologize to everyone (and to some people again) for the subtext in that last chapter! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm really really sorry! I'll be sure to keep better track of what I write in later chapters!
I'm gonna be really, really busy for a while, so please forgive me. I just realized all the flaws in my writing as well. "sighs"
(By busy, I mean "slowly breaking under the requirements of a major turning point in life". Expect chapters to increase slowly around the end of November.)
The day of the wedding had approached and now Kuroko and Kagami had a good four hours to kill. Kuroko was busy checking over his suit for anything that might need some last minute repair, and Kagami more or less said that Kuroko was being too paranoid.
"Kagami should check his suit as well."
Knowing full well that Kuroko probably wouldn't just let him brush it off, he groaned and got up to drag his suit out of the closet. After a minute or two of inspection, Kagami noticed something strange.
"Hey, Kuroko? The cuffs here don't have any buttons. Only holes. You think something happened?"
Kuroko immediately had a sinking feeling as he had an inkling of what Kagami might have done, but he hoped he was wrong.
"Did you bring cufflinks?"
"Cufflinks? What're th-!" Kagami let out a rather unmanly shriek as a clothes hanger whistled through the air by his head, spinning in a large arc. He sucked in a breath as he saw the hanger chip out a bit of the wall. For a moment, he was extremely afraid of the boy standing in front of him. Luckily for Kagami, Kuroko managed to calm himself down relatively fast. He began wondering what he could do for Kagami, when all of sudden, a bout of apathy hit him.
He sat down in a chair by the window and lolled his head lazily towards the landscape. For some reason, he just didn't feel like doing anything. When was the last time he felt like this? Moments like these should be treasured by someone as serious as himself.
"Kagami can just go and ask the other guests if they have any extra cufflinks."
"You're not going to help me?"
Kuroko responded by humming nonchalantly and looking away. Kagami swore and ran out of the room. After a few minutes passed by in blissful peace, the humid air and hot sun outside became rather stifling and warm to Kuroko, and he dozed off. He vaguely dreamed of people dressed in black running across a stage, first following Aomine dressed in chainmail, then deserting Aomine to run after Kagami who was in plate armor. The two dueled for a bit, with the people in black helping each actor switch between weapons that for some reason eventually turned into Voids?
Kuroko woke up when a weapon from each of them slapped him in the face and he woke up groaning. He was definitely reading too many fantasy novels nowadays.
"Oi! Kuroko! Wake up!"
Kagami was already in his suit. A steel cufflink gleamed on each of his wrists. So he had found some.
"What happened?"
"You aunt says something bad just happened and you need to come down, now; all dressed."
The night sky outside jolted him to his senses and within minutes he was in his suit and sprinting down the stairs with Kagami. They hopped into a relative's car and arrived on scene before Reya came charging out at them both.
"The ring-bearer can't come on time," he gasped, "so Fumiko wants you to be it instead."
Kuroko just stared at Reya. Kagami had never seen this kind of blank out in Kuroko. He waved a hand in front of Kuroko's face and jumped as Kuroko bat it away.
"You do know that some people will be absolutely furious? Do not forget grandpa."
"Screw that!" Reya blurted. Kuroko was surprised at the burst of emotion from Reya. The man reached forward and grabbed Kuroko by the shoulders.
"If my fiancé wants her nephew to be the ring-bearer, then dammit all-that nephew is going to be the ring-bearer! You're an amazing kid from what I've heard from Fumiko and I fully plan on spoiling you once I'm your uncle. I will not let this stupid, ax-crazy family treat you like trash! If you're not the ring-bearer, Fumiko's going to be sad and this is her fucking wedding. Get your priorities straight!"
Kuroko and Kagami had no idea how to respond. Eventually, Kuroko weakly mumbled something along the lines of 'yes', which was followed by a chokehold of hug by Reya.
He's like Hyuuga-senpai in clutch mode, Kuroko thought warily.
Reya ran him over the entire schedule. He was going to go up the aisle last, right before Fumiko, and wait to the side with the others. After the pastor announced for the rings to be brought, then Kuroko would do so. Simple enough.
He stared in shock however as Reya pressed two bands of gold into his palms.
"Maybe Reya-san should give them to me right before the wedding, or maybe fake rings- these are expensive!"
Reya ignored Kuroko's last attempt to slide his way out of his new role in the wedding. Eventually, Reya left them both, and Kuroko stood there silently with two rings in his hands.
"K-Kagami…"
He had never heard Kuroko's voice falter so fearfully like that before. He sighed and grabbed Kuroko's head, forcing it down.
"You always overthink things! It's not that hard is it? And if your family tries to mess with you, we'll scare them off, alright?"
"Yes…"
Kagami noticed that shred of doubt still there on his teammate's face.
"For god's sake; this isn't like you at all."
"The wedding… is only thirty minutes away. And I must carry the rings symbolizing their eternal bond to the altar."
"Eh, Kuroko? You alright?"
"I need some time alone."
"…Okay then. I'll see you at the ceremony then."
He reluctantly stayed still as he watched Kuroko wander off. The worry in him increased as he saw Kuroko nearly run into a tree. How was he going to explain to the team that its Phantom Player had died during a wedding running into things?
Kuroko walked and walked until he was somewhere on the farm that he didn't recognize. He checked his watch. There were only twenty minutes left until the ceremony. He needed to hurry over. After another ten minutes of walking, he was finally near the orchard. He really needed to run over to the ceremony now. He hoped he wouldn't look too disgruntled or out of breath when he got there. He would have to enjoy himself later when they ate in the orchard. The glimmering candles on the tables that made the flower petals and hairpins on the table sparkle also lit up the entire area like small suns strung on lines. The light was beautifully warm and welcoming.
The entire little plan all got shot to hell when he saw Takaya and a few other burly relatives approaching. He tried to run, but screamed in a desperate bid to attract attention. To his intense distaste, a rough hand covered his mouth and muffled any sound coming from his mouth. Before he knew it, he was ferried over to the barn and the door was locked shut. For a while, Kuroko stood there, silent. Then he started planning his escape.
Kagami knew something was wrong when Takaya appeared with his posse looking extremely self-satisfied and confident. For one, Kuroko wasn't here at the ceremony. He found that hard to believe. What he could believe, was that Takaya had stowed Kuroko away somewhere. He contemplating punching in Takaya's face again, but he clenched his fists, took deep breaths, and for once, thought through and realized that beating up people at a wedding was not the best thing to do. Right now, he needed to find Kuroko. Already, the entire procession had gone on and now everyone was just waiting for the ring-bearer. Takaya began shifting uncomfortably in his chair and Kagami realized that the freak didn't know that Kuroko had been reassigned as ring-bearer. Technically, he had more or less ruined the wedding by locking away Kuroko.
"You have two choices," Kagami mumbled under his breath, "tell us where Kuroko is and look like an idiot, or keep quiet and ruin the wedding just to save your own skin."
Unsurprisingly, Takaya chose the latter. Before Kagami could even leave his seat to look for his friend, Kuroko's mother stood up, marched over to Takaya, and backhanded him.
"Where is my son?!"
Takaya stared at the woman. There was a collective gasp of air from the whole audience.
"Why would you even care about that thing?!
His question received only another slap in answer.
"For the last time, where is my son?"
"… In the barn."
The voice was tinged with defeat and utter bewilderment, as all that he had perceived about his relative was shattered.
"Thank you. Kagami-kun, will you come help?"
"Y-yes!"
An old man that Kagami assumed was Kuroko's grandfather left his chair to stand in front of them.
"Apologize to Takaya."
She gazed at her father with pity and hate.
"I will not. Tetsuya is your grandson, and you treated him like trash. If you will treat family that way, than I have no obligation to be kind to them as well. I've subjected to your whims for far too long, and have let Tetsuya get hurt in the process. I will not be a coward anymore."
"You won't be alone," Kuroko's stepfather announced and stood by his wife.
"Ah, mother, father, what are you doing? Grandpa, stop scaring everyone. Takaya, it's not nice to joke about people being locked in barns."
Kagami snapped around his head so fast that he felt a stab of pain run up his neck. Kuroko was standing right at the front of the aisle, his clothes slightly disheveled but otherwise unharmed.
"Um, Kuroko, I don't think you can talk your way out of this."
"It was worth a shot. Everyone, please sit down and if you can, try to ignore everything that just happened. This includes my own family. We are here to celebrate a wedding, not gawk at some minor family drama."
Minor?! Kagami thought incredulously, Your mother slapped Takaya twice in front of all the guests! And do you seriously think we're all going to just ignore this?!
"Um… We're not idiots, y'know," a heavily makeup-ed girl said scathingly to Kuroko.
"And how does that affect what I just said?"
She shut up. Kuroko seemed to have steel in his voice. His presence was extremely low, but Kagami couldn't help but think right now that those faint traces had been enhanced as much as possible.
"I want this wedding to continue peacefully, and for everyone to enjoy themselves. If you have any concerns, deal with them afterward."
Amazingly, everybody did exactly that. The rest of the ceremony passed without a hitch, and Kagami was staring at everything all wide-eyed and surprised.
"How'd you do that?" he whispered as they were in their seats.
"You mean telling everyone to ignore all that happened? Nothing. People don't want to be involved in things that are detrimental to them, and being caught in a family spat is detrimental I would say. All you have to do is give them a little push."
Kagami looked at Kuroko with a barely tolerant expression.
"I'm surprised you still even have faith in humanity."
"That is what basketball is for, right?"
He mulled over the words a bit, than gave a rather unhappy look.
"True enough."
Those words had been enough to be his mind at peace, but he felt that Kuroko led a very sober state of living every single day. Basketball was probably the only thing in his life that actually made him feel alive and not a zombie.
A thought began nagging at him.
"How'd you get out of the barn?"
"Ah, that…"
-o-o-o-
Apparently, Kuroko had scrounged around the barn and found a rope ladder. He used one of the large ladders already there to climb to a roof top window, and then carefully dragged up the rope ladder to fling out the window. He climbed down the rope ladder and was out. Luckily the rings hadn't been taken.
-o-o-o-
"That sounds so boring."
"It worked."
Chapter complete!
I'm sorry, I just didn't know how to continue the story on without everything blowing up in my face.