"Oh Midorimachi! Why we have to go? It's soo late!"
"Just take your boyfriend and get other there."
Against Kise's ear, the dial tone rung and he sighed. Why did Midorimachi have to be sooo annoying? Couldn't he just give Kurokochi the message? And what was it anyway? What did Akashi want to tell him NOW?
Sighing, he put the phone back and dragged his feet over to were Aomine was lying casually on his couch.
"Come on, we have to give a message to Kurokochi."
"What? Now? Can't it wait till the morning?"
"No. It's from Akashi or something." He moaned, " Midorimachi won't even trust me with it!"
"I wonder why." He smiled sarcastically
"Just get up."
If it was from Akashi, it was important, so even though he wanted to complain and continue watching TV, he got up and went to get the car keys.
"Hey! You have to wear a coat! "
He walked out, ignoring him.
"AOMINECCHI! Stop!" And grabbing his own coat, Kise rushed out after him.

"We're here." Aomine announced and Kise got out, slamming the door.
"Oh come on, look I'll wear the coat, alright?" He said, grabbing the one Kise had brought earlier and running after him into Kuroko's building.
"See?" He said, running in front of the pouting blond and his expression quickly changed,
"Oh! It looked so GOOD on you! I knew it would! " he said pulling his arm into his, making Aomine become the one pouting.

When they finally got the Kuroko's apartment they were dismayed to find that the lights were all off. They banged on the door, in case he was asleep, but it quickly became obvious he hadn't come home.
"Hum, maybe he's with Kagamichi, humm?" He laughed with a wide smirk, dragging Aomine to the next level were Kagami's apartment was, just to find the same thing.
"Neither of them came home." Aomine stated, barely moving his face while Kise's quickly changed from annoyance and confusion to a huge, bright grin filled with all the ridiculous possibilies even the biggest anime fangirl would find challenging to beat.
"Oh! What if they confessed their feelings to each other on the bus stop and missed it and had to walk home together? Or, or what if they ran away together or… what if one of the got hurt and the other carried them to a hospital or…"
"I really think they'd just call an ambulance." Aomine said emotionlessly as usual, but he couldn't help but smile as he looked down on Kise's enchanted face, even if he did have a weird obsession with his friend and rival getting together.
"Aominecchi! You have no heart!"
" I think you know I do." He grinned, but quickly stopped, Kise saw it though, even if he was the only one who could.
"This is probably just a wierd Seirin, late night, training program or whatever, let's go there." After all, their school wasn't too far from here.
Kise huffed and followed him down the hall and into the car again.

As they pulled around the corner to where Seirin High was located, they were shocked to see lights coming from the top of the hall were they played basketball.
"Told you." Aomine said as he pulled into the car park next to the hall.
Still frowning from being proven wrong, Kise banged on the hall door until a small brunette opened it with a flash of anger.
"KAGAMI! WHAT TIME DO…"
"Ugh…?" Kise stepped back from the Sierin coach who seemed scarier and less girly than ever. Aomine placed a protective hand on his shoulder.
"We need to talk to Kuroko." He declared dryly.
Frowning up at the two boys, she shook her her,
"He's not with us. They were training a while from here and they never came back, I suppose they just went home, I told them to come back here though…" she grumbled
"What?" Kise asked, his voice serious for a second.
"Neither of them are at home." Aomine insisted, barely looking at the people gathering people below of the Seirin team was now at the door.
"Do you think they're still training?" Izuki asked
"No," Kiyoshi answered, walking out to the cold, "it's too dark."
He stood there and Riko followed him. His hands on his hips he looked up at the sky. The city lights were so bright that you couldn't see the stars, but it helped him think.
"Do you think their okay?" Riko whispered to him.
"They don't have their phones…what if Kagami's ankle got hurt…what if they're out there in that street, all alone…" she trembled, thinking of her first years she'd kicked off the bus and told to do duo training alone.
Kiyoshi's hand patted her shoulder and he laughed,
"They'll be fine! Those idiots probably just missed the bus they were so into their training and are walking…"
A quick bark interrupted his laughter and the pair swung around to see little Tetsuya #2 racing up behind them. Limping slightly, he was out of breath and looked incredibly happy to see the recognised faces.
"What the hell?!" Kiyoshi stammered as Riko ran to pick up the little pup,
"How did you get all the way over here?!" She exclaimed. Examining his bloody paw, a little glass had got caught in it.
"Oh my god, you ran all the way here with this?" Her heart was racing, as was the rest of the team who was looking over her shoulder. The dog started barking manically,
"Wheres Kuroko, Number 2? " hearing his master's name, he started yapping and barking and growling all at once. He'd never made such a noise in his life.
"We have to go." Kiyoshi ordered, pulling Riko and the pup towards his car.
"Wait for us!" Kise shouted, pulling Aomine's arm with him.
"YOU'RE not coming" Riko hissed.
"Yes we are!" Kise replied stubbornly.
"No!"
"We don't have to…" Aomine mumbled,
"We HAVE TO!" Kise yelled,
"Alright, alright…" Kiyoshi yelled, "We don't have time to argue, just get in." And he opened the car door, climbing in the driver's side and sped out without giving Kise enough time to even get in his seat properly.

"It was here, right?" Kiyoshi asked Riko beside him, as she got out of the car into the dark, deserted street. Her heart started to race even more as there was no sign of life anywhere. Not even a basketball.
In her arms, Tetsuya no. 2 suddenly came awake and jumped out, yelping slightly as he fell on his injured paw, he started limping desperately towards a shop. The four followed him until they saw a shop…the window was smashed and glass sparkled around them in the night.
"Oh my…" Riko started, barely able to breathe she was fixated on the mess.
"Did you run all the way from here with this glass in your paw?" She followed the others into the shop were the puppy was barking and clawing at a large, grey metal door.

"R-Riko… Riko, come here." Kiyoshi stammered.
She didn't want to. She saw them squinting through the little window in the door and gasping and crying and she didn't want to see! Kiyoshi turned around, tears glimmering in his eyes. "Riko, come here."
He came over to her, walking slowing like he was about to faint, and pulled her arm over the door. Before they'd even gotten over there an ear piercing scream was let out by Kise. It was like he'd just seen a monster or ghost. He fell back and Aomine caught him, his own eyes still fixed on the little foggy window, larger and more emotional than Riko even thought possible for the tanned male.
Suddenly, Kiyoshi let go of her and he rammed his fist against the door, pulling at the handle in a shocked rage.
"Stop it." Aomine said sullenly, with a push that looked like no effort at all, he shoved Kiyoshi to the floor and unlocked it, then pulling the handle down properly, hauled it back. Breathing quickly, Kiyoshi helped get the heavy thing open while Kise, still crying desperately, squeezed in, shivering in the cold, and fell to his knees again, screeching even louder when he saw the blue faces of Kagami and Kuroko.
"Hold this." Aomine ordered Kiyoshi as he went in beside his boyfriend, gasping himself, he looked away and dragged a shaking Kise out.
"STOP IT AOMINECCHI!" He blubbered, but the stronger boy just continued to take him out of the freezer. When he let him go, Kise tried to crawl away before collapsing on the floor of the butchers shop, shaking and crying and screaming in pain. Aomine's usually harsh expression fell awa as he pulled Kise back into his arms and hugged him. "He'll be okay." he whispered, "They beat you, they must be strong! But you got to stop crawling around on the glass and call an ambulance, you got your phone?"
Kise had stopped crying and was staring into Aomine's deep eyes, transfixed on his soft expression. He nodded and still being rocked by Aomine, he fumbled around in his pocket until he got his phone.
"Good! Now just sit here and call an ambulance, okay?"
He nodded again and Aomine walked back over to were Kiyoshi was saying practically the same thing to Riko.
"It's okay, it's okay, they'll be okay." He whispered as silent tears tore down her face
He was softly patting her short hair while she stared at the floor, silently crying.
"But…but it's my fault!" She stuttered
He continued comforting her while his own expression looked like he was trying to believe it himself.

Aomine walked into the freezer, and kneeled down beside the pair.
Looking at Kagami, he saw that he wasn't wearing his jacket…Kuroko had it on! Wrapped around the little blue haired boy more than once, Kagami had sacrificed himself to save him. He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding in and silently thanked Taiga, he saved little Kuroko.
As his own eyes started to feel the sharp cut of tears, he felt a hand tap on his shoulder.
"We have to get them out of here." Kiyoshi calmly reminded him and what might've been tears quickly dried up.
"Ok."
"I'll take Kuroko."
"Fine."
Kiyoshi was surprised, he didn't expect Aomine to actually agree to help Kagami, he thought he might even just want to keep him there…but something was changed in his face suddenly, was it, respect?
What a stupid idea, he laughed at himself, Aomine? Have RESPECT for anyone other than HIMSELF? Impossible.
He almost laughed at the mere thought but as his skin brushed against his first year's ice cold head any possibility of humor vanished from his mind.
He lifted Kuroko up, he was wrapped in Kagami's jacket as well as his own. He could barely contain his own tears, but he walked out anyway, being sure to walk with his back to Kise and Riko.

Aomine's skin twitched as he felt the cold body in his arms. He was heavy, but with all the emotion he didn't even know he had swelling up inside him, he didn't get bothered by the weight. His rival's back was almost stuck to the wall though, his skin practically bare in only a thin basketball tee and shorts, it didn't take a genius to figure out his fate was much less hopeful than Kuroko's…thanks to his sacrifice."

He noticed Kiyoshi deliberately turn his back to Kise and Riko, who were looking at the floor as they held the huge door open, their breathing shaky and did the same. Outside, the approaching sound of sirens almost upset him. He didn't know why. Maybe he just didn't want to ask the question.

Will he live?