Betrayal In Its Most Simplest Form

Chapter 7

Akashi had carried Kuroko back home that night. Midorima followed closely behind, busy with talking to his captain and apologizing profusely for missing practice. Haru had been sent home, reluctantly, since he was not looking forward to meeting his wife. Seirin, who did not get an answer from neither Akashi nor Midorima, went home angrily.

Kuroko sighed in Akashi's arms; his body unconsciously moved closer to the warm chest. The red head kissed the clammy forehead.

When Shintaro opened the door, the three were greeted with the rest of the Generation of Miracles. Mursakibara, Kise, and Aomine all rushed at them, their questions jumbled together at once:

"Is Kurokocchi okay?" Kise wailed.

"Aka-chin! What happened to Kuro-chin?"

"Damn it! Of course something happens when I'm alone with Tetsu."

Akashi ignored them and walked past the tall players. They scrambled out of their way to make a path for the silent teen. Kuroko's head flopped against his shoulder. "Shintaro, please open the door," the red-head requested in front of his bedroom. Midorima obeyed. He turned the door knob and pushed open the door to the bedroom. Automatic lights turned on when they stepped in the room.

Kuroko was set under the bed covers gently. Midorima had given him a numbing ointment so that his back wouldn't bother him during the night. Akashi tucked the blankets tight under Kuroko's chin, knowing it would be a cold night. Then he ran a hand through the messy, teal hair and kissed his forehead tenderly.

Satisfied nothing would bother Kuroko (except, maybe nightmares), Akashi turned around to greet the Generation of Miracles members crowded at the entrance. "You will be quiet for tonight," he warned. "Tetsuya has had a long day, and he is not to be disturbed. All of you go to the living room. We will discuss there."

Everyone shuffled away from the red-head and turned into the living room. Only Murasakibara stayed behind with Akashi. "Aka-chin," he whispered as the said boy closed the door cautiously.

"Yes, Atsushi?"

"Can—can you make me something?" the taller mumbled. "Since my training menu was extended, I left late when I heard about Kuro-chin. I didn't get to eat. And I'm out of money to buy snacks."

A smile came onto Akashi's face, but he clucked his tongue. "You should not be eating snacks when you're hungry anyway, Atsushi," he lightly reprimanded the purple-haired as they walked together to the living room. Murasakibara pouted but sullenly agreed. He rolled his eyes, "But since you carried out your training menu fully . . . Yes, I will make you something."

The tallest in the room smiled widely. "Thank you, Aka-chin!"

"In fact, are you all hungry?" He received nods. "I might as well make something." Akashi sighed deeply. "Daiki." The quivering teen snapped his head up at the sound of his name. "Come with me."

Everyone gave the tanned player a sympathetic look. He nervously stood up from the couch and followed the red-head into the kitchen. The kitchen floor felt cold to his bare feet, but it cleared his frozen mind to think of some arguments to defend himself. Warily, he looked around the simple-looking kitchen. More specifically, he looked for sharp objects. There's a knife near the sink, Aomine observed, I better stay clear of that. But what was most deadly was the mocking, black pair of scissors that sat right next to the microwave. It glinted evilly.

Akashi struggled to say composed when he saw his "underling's" expression. Daiki was obviously horrified at the thought of being alone with him in the kitchen. As he should be, since he had many activities planned out for him in the upcoming days. After all, it was partially his fault Tetsuya managed to escape and get hurt.

"Daiki," he murmured. He reached over to turn on the stove to a high temperature. "There should be a plot in the cabinet next to you. Please hand it over."

"P-plot?" Aomine stammered.

Akashi tilted his head. "Plot? No, I said 'pot'."

No, he definitely said plot! He's plotting something, probably my death. Cold sweat ran down Aomine's back. He did what he was told and handed the pot into Akashi's waiting hand.

Their time in the kitchen was silent, except for the occasional orders of cutting the carrots or bringing out some ingredients. To Akashi, the silence was comfortable and satisfying. To Aomine, it was suffocating and awkward. Finally, just as the miso soup was almost ready and the rice was served nicely in small bowls, he finally spoke, "Do you agree that today's happenings were completely your fault?" He asked it casually, as if he were talking about the weather.

"Completely my fault?" Aomine's left eye twitched in both annoyance and fear. "No! It's Tetsu's fault, too! He should have used his damn brain and listened to all of us!"

Akashi made a small sound, it was between the sound of disapproval and agreement, and turned off the stove. A delicious aroma drifted around the kitchen. "It is true Tetsuya disobeyed me. However," he glanced at Aomine briefly from the corner of his eye. "It is your fault for giving him a chance to go against my orders. Who was it, exactly, who decided to take a nap while guarding Tetsuya?"

Daiki's face warmed. "M-me."

"And who was it who let Tetsuya escape from my home and go to practice, and then waited an hour after to inform me of this?" He walked passed Aomine to grab the bowls for the miso.

The scolded teen had his face flushed his anger and embarrassment. Damn! Why did he think a nap was harmless? It was obviously not when you were apparently guarding your shadow of a teammate who practically had the presence of a ghost. "All right, it was me," he admitted exasperated. "What's your point?"

Akashi finished serving the last of the miso soup and set the bowls on the tray. "My point, Daiki, is that I have talked to your captain and convinced him to quadruple—"

"Quadruple?" Aomine shouted. A pair of scissors flew by his ear dangerously before planting itself to the wall behind him. He squeaked.

"Quiet. Yes, quadruple. Your training menu will be four times as much for the next two weeks. And," Akashi held up his hand when the blue-head was about to protest, "you'll be tending to all my house needs for a week. Meaning you will come here after your training and do the multiple household activities I will be planning for you. Also," he emphasized so that Aomine wouldn't interrupt. "This."

Akashi pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to his former teammate. Aomine took it, unfolded it, and read it out loud: "Thank you for generously volunteering, Aomine Daiki. As you have applied, your volunteer hours for Yoshiro's Kindergarten will be from 1-4 PM on the weekends?" Aomine lowered the paper with a gaping mouth. "You can't be serious, Akashi!"

"I am. I'm sure working with younger kids will make you think about anything but napping." He smiled at the shocked teenager. "I have heard Yoshiro was known for their . . . troublemakers."

Aomine blinked hard and stared wide at Akashi's serious face. He wasn't really going to do this, right? Akashi wasn't that evil, right? It was all a joke, right? He groaned internally. Now having faced his sentences, he would much rather have Akashi stab him with scissors. He was horrible with little kids, and the red-head knew that.

"Come on, Akashi, I'll do the rest, but I'm not volunteering for a kindergarten!" he protested.

"Oh?" The hetero-eyed teen glanced at him while setting the tableware on the tray. "You would dare go against my orders?"

Aomine remained silent.

"I'm starving," Kise said excitedly. "Uw-a-h, Akashicchi is such a good cook! Itadakimasu!" The blonde grabbed his chopsticks and greedily ate a mouthful of rice.

"Itadakimasu," Midorima said politely and ate with small portions. He had just finished wrapping his left hand again, for good luck.

Murasakibara didn't even comment before he shoved most of his food in his mouth, his cheeks slowly growing into that of a chipmunk. Akashi had to tell him to slow down and eat in smaller bites.

Aomine sulked in a corner, barely touching his meal. Both he and Akashi had come back into the living in, a sullen expression on the taller and a satisfied expression on the shorter. The Generation of Miracles were only glad Aomine was alive. "Neh, Mine-chin?" Murasakibara tugged on his shirt.

The said boy turned with a glare. "What?"

"Are you going to eat that?" he mumbled, pointing at the untouched miso soup.

Teiko's previous ace sighed and shook his head. "You can have it."

Atsushi's eyes lit up like a little kid. He immediately dived for the soup and rice, half of its content already in the large, waiting mouth. Akashi shook his head and waited for his old team to finish their meal, or meals for Murasakibara.

"Ah," Kise sighed and flopped against the couch. "I'm stuffed!"

"Thank you for the meal, Akashi," Midorima said.

"Thanks, Aka-chin!"

"Hm," was the only reply they received. "I assume that you now want to talk?"

"Yeah," the blonde nodded vigorously. "What happened to Kurokocchi? Did he," Kise stopped in mid-sentence to swallow, "Did he get hurt, again?"

It was Midorima who answered the hesitant question, "No, Kuroko did not get hurt, again. Though his wounds did reopen from early exercise. His injuries couldn't take the movement, yet."

"He disobeyed me," Akashi muttered. The Generation of Miracles winced. "Kuroko Ibuki was there when I arrived."

This information was awarded with horrified gasps. As mentioned before, they all knew who caused Kuroko's pain from day to day. The name was unfortunately branded into their brain. The woman who looked so much like her son, but lacked so much personality-wise was forever imprinted in their mind as a memory.

"Neh . . . I just noticed," Kise said. "Kuroko Ibuki . . . Isn't Ibuki a male name? And isn't the name 'Ibuki' usually a surname? Why would Kurokocchi's mother have Ibuki as her given name?"

"Yes," Akashi agreed. His slender fingers tapped against the low, dining room table. "I noticed that awhile ago, too, when I studied the most influencing woman in Japan." A cold smirk curved on Akashi's lips. "This is all part of my plan."

~Setting Skip~

Kagami and Riko silently slipped through the office door. In their hands was a thick, blue folder, the name Kuroko Tetsuya imprinted in large letters on the top right corner. Both of them made a mad dash down the hallway. Through the double doors, a silver car was waiting for them in front. Junpei Hyuuga sat in the driver's seat.

"Did you guys get it?" the second year asked as Kagami slipped in the back seat and Riko went to the front.

"Yeah," Seirin's coach waved the folder in his face. "Piece of cake. The lock was easy to pick."

"If I get in trouble for this," Kagami muttered, "I'm going to drag you two down with me."

Hyuuga changed gears and smoothly drove out of the school's parking lot. "Relax, Kagami. We won't get caught. Not with Riko on our side."

Kagami wasn't reassured.

Soon they all arrived at Kagami's large complex. The rest of Seirin's basketball team cluttered around Kagami's door, waiting for the three to come and unlock it. They had all received the text and cancelled their plans to meet on their free day. After all, the occasion was important.

"Don't break anything," Seirin's ace warned and opened his apartment complex's door. They ran inside.

After seating arrangements were settled, and Kagami made tea for everyone, Riko presented the thick folder in the middle of their circle. She sat down with it. "Are you sure we should do this?" Furihata asked nervously.

"Of course," Teppei said. "If the Generation of Miracles won't tell us, then we have to find out ourselves. We have the right to know about Kuroko."

Everybody else agreed.

Shortly after, pieces of Kuroko's life were revealed to them. His middle school grades, the activities and clubs he had joined, his records, and his report cards. One report card caught Riko's eye. "Take a look at this," she announced. She had Kuroko's last year of middle school report card in her hands. In the commentary section, Kuroko's homeroom teacher made many comments. "Lack of presence," Riko read aloud. "Sometimes difficult to locate him. Good grades. Comes in everyday with injuries, though."

"This has been happening since middle school?" Koganei cried.

"Look, all of the other report cards mention some type of injury!" Kagami reported.

Riko continued to read out the comments: "Has started interacting with Shogo Haisaki. Part of basketball team. Bad influence?"

"Shogo Haisaki," Teppei repeated. "Why does that sound so familiar?"

"I don't know," the coach of Seirin said. She set the report card down and grabbed her phone. A frown was on her face. "But we're going to look him up and find him."

(I'm sorry nothing much happened in this chapter! But I need the plot to be set up now, and it's starting to develop nicely :))