Sorry this took so long~
This is betaed by Hayasaka Shion-san~ (good for you, because sometimes, grammar fails me)
mj: World-building is fun. But complicated. Haha. Butt. I should stahp and reply seriously. Thank you, it's much appreciated and I'm happy that you're liking this XD
Guest: I believe this is the first time I've made someone speechless. This called for a celebration. /pulls out confetti. As always, plot before romance (or romance tied into plot) I like putting in really subtle hints of it XD
"VM" stands for video message.
Disclaimer: Insert witty disclaim of KnB here
Chapter 20: Challenge & Contemplation
The dull blade shot forward, but Kagami lifted his heavy legs and narrowly dodged to the side. A slightly sharp pain resonated from his cheek, and a second later, the redhead found that a thin crimson line was trickling down and dripping to the floor.
"What are you doing!?" the Fighter asked, though the other didn't seem to care about what was being said to him–not even in the slightest. The only response Kagami got was the same as what he had said earlier, repeated over in an almost incomprehensible murmur and drowned out by the sound of displaced air. The scissors were once again raised and Kagami had to work on dodging the barrage of attacks carried out by this stranger, making sure he wouldn't have a new hole forming anywhere on his body.
It didn't make much sense to him; Aomine was much faster and stronger, and Kagami had done a pretty good job at dodging most of his blows, so why was he having such a hard time with this guy? Judging by his equipment, he was probably a Mage, so it made even less sense. The taller man found himself being pushed back at an alarming rate as he maneuvered away from the scissor's blades again and again.
Aomine and the other members of the GoM that were present watched the two redheads; confused as to why this turn of events was happening, they could only gawk and stare at the high-speed exchange. The first to snap out of his stupor was Midorima, who cursed to himself before running after the two. Akashi had been in the process of stabbing his weapon through the air, aiming for Kagami's neck but only drawing some blood from his shoulder.
When the green-haired man reached the two, he grabbed onto the smaller man's arm, stopping him from trying to plunge his weapon into straight the other's head; he could feel his muscles strain against the force of the interrupted blow and tightened his grip. Akashi tried to struggle and continue his pursuit of Kagami's life, and in his craze he swung the weapon backwards, knocking the pair of glasses his guild mate had been wearing to the ground.
"Stop this, Akashi!" Midorima spoke commandingly,"calm down!" and it seemed to be loud enough to permeate through the haze of fury clouding the Elf's mind.
When the others in the guild caught up to the trio, both redheads had finally stopped moving and were breathing heavily–one from exhaustion, the other from rage.
Feeling the Sorcerer's arm finally go lax, Midorima released his hold of the pale wrist and watched it fall to the former's side. The redhead looked down, not moving until suddenly-
Snip.
The sound continued, and locks of scarlet red hair fell for the second time that day.
"Akashicchi!? What are you doing? D-did you hate my haircut that much!?" and, "Oi, Akashi!" were said, though the cutting didn't stop for another minute or two. When Akashi finally looked up, his hair was shortened a great deal and styled perfectly, but disregarding these facts, no one could deny that this was exceptionally eccentric behavior–especially coming from someone like him.
The furious expression that had overtaken him earlier was replaced by a slightly cold gaze, and he turned to Kagami who flinched in anticipation of another attack.
Instead of that, however, the Mage standing in front of him just smiled a very gentlemanly smile which greatly confused Kagami to no end. Akashi cleared his throat, and in that moment, it seemed like the nearly-murderous assault he'd just perpetrated hadn't happened at all–Kagami almost thought he could've been hallucinating if not for the fresh cut wounds he'd just received all around.
"I apologize for the sudden outburst", the heterochromatic-eyed man spoke calmly while handing Midorima his scissors back. The green-haired man began to sharpen them to a fine edge once more (they were his lucky item, after all).
"Haa!?" was the only noise Kagami make; he was unable to articulate due to the events that had transpired just moments ago. When he finally found his voice he angrily shouted, "What did you mean about this weapon!? Why did you attack me?" while reaching for Akashi's collar. Unfortunately for him, he was interrupted by his ass being literally kicked and his body slamming to the ground.
A second later, he was squirming furiously to try escaping the terror of what the Japanese call "Sasori-gatame".
Also known as a Scorpion Death-lock.
A young woman stared down at him, eyes glowing wickedly when she said in a lighthearted and sweet tone (though hell could be seen in the background), "Why weren't you waiting at the restaurant? We had to wait and look for you, you idiot! Then when we got into Izuki's range, we found out that you're just fighting some random dude and then being attacked by another. The least you could've done was won!"
"He...H-help", the big redhead managed to choke out as he raised an arm in mercy to his other just-arrived guild members. They shook their heads, not wanting to enter the warzone for fear of their limbs and pride, along with the fact that Riko had already given them a fair-share of verbal abuse during their tiger-hunt.
"You jerks!" Since the air in his lungs was nearly non-existent, he glanced at them to send the telepathic message. They all turned away even though they felt sorry for the redhead; it couldn't be helped when Riko's wrestling holds were involved. The torture lasted a full half-minute, and it was enough to make Kagami want to give up on any attempt moving for the rest of the day–especially after all the other intense work-outs he'd already gone through.
When the brunette woman was done, she removed herself from the unmoving body on the ground and patted her hands against each other.
She turned toward Akashi with a bright and warm smile. Taking a second to study the others closely, she questioned slowly, "You guys… are Generation of Miracles, aren't you?"
The redheaded man returned her expression with his charming smile and replied, "Indeed, I am flattered that you have heard of our name. Allow me to introduce myself properly; my name is Akashi Seijuurou, the founder and leader of this guild."
"I'm Aida Riko, and the members present are part of our guild, Seirin. Our guild-master isn't here right now, so in the meantime, Hyuuga here is taking his place," she informed, pointing toward an averagely tall man with spectacles. She extended a dainty hand and continued, "It's a pleasure to meet you. I see you are already acquainted with one of our members."
Akashi grabbed her hand, and the two exchanged a very firm and professional handshake. Kuroko thought he was watching the affirmation of a contract in a very important business meeting and not an arbitrary meeting between two guilds.
The Cleric broke away from the two who, even though had happy grins plastered on, seemed to be caught in a fierce mental battle in which both sides would not back down. He walked toward the other redhead on the ground and began to cast a high-level healing spell–one that helped alleviate exterior wounds and fatigue as well as damage done to HP.
Kagami was confused as a glowing magic circle appeared below him, enveloping him in a white light and slightly pacifying his aching muscles, tendons, and making his health bar shoot back up to full capacity.
When the feeling came back to his legs, he immediately jumped onto his feet, perplexed (though when has he not been?). His guild didn't have a Healer of any kind, not to mention anyone with a spell that potent. He concluded that the other party must have had one, though when he looked around, the only people he could see that classified as Mages were the two still locked in a death-grip handshake.
He jumped and let out a surprised grunt when he felt something touch his shoulder.
"Are you okay?"
That voice... it sounded familiar; he was sure he'd heard it before…
Turning around, he came face-to-face with a pale bluenette who stared up at him with wide, ocean-blue eyes.
"K-K-Kuroko!?" he stuttered, back and arms automatically hunched up in an apprehensive and surprised stance, "what are you doing here!?"
"I am a member of this guild, Kagami-kun."
The members of their respective factions turned their attentions on the two.
Aomine looked back and forth between this unlikely pair, "You two know each other?"
A few feet away, a pair of yellow and red eyes narrowed slightly. "Is that true, Tetsuya?"
The Cleric craned his neck in their general direction and blinked once before replying, "Yes. He has recently become my neighbor in real life."
"Hmm, I see," Akashi nodded.
The seven members of the Seirin guild that were currently in the map glanced at each other before a certain cat-like man pranced around the short bluenette and looped an arm around Kuroko's neck. He then began to talk about their guild's recent ventures and toils, too quickly for the Cleric to understand him completely coherently.
To the side, Riko (whose stalemate with Akashi had finally ended) gave a small, genuine grin and laughed, "If you were there, you should have said something!" before she too walked toward him. Of the people there, the only Kuroko could not recognize was a man with spiky hair and small yet wide eyes. He was a member that wasn't there when he'd first met them in the outskirts of Tolucini.
"Eh? You know these people, Kurokocchi? Oh wait, aren't these the one from that VM!? Don't tell me they're trying to poach you again!"
"You can relax", Riko declared while mussing up Kuroko's sky-blue locks, "he already gave us a definite answer the other day."
Kise sparkled and sang, "So you'll be staying, right?"
"Yes, Kise-kun. Also, I would appreciate if you did not do this, Koganei-kun, Riko-san", said the Cleric as he tried to free himself out of the teasing gesture and head-hold. "Sorry, sorry", they said before snickering a bit at his hair, which now resembled the kind a hardcore shounen manga protagonist would have. Perhaps he should start carrying combs around–thanks to the new patch, he was sure they'd have them.
Then Mitobe actually pulled a comb from his inventory and handed it to the victimized Elf, who took it graciously with a faint smile and polite, "thank you".
A few paces away, Izuki's first words upon arrival were said when he looked at Midorima and his now knife-edged scissors. "You are looking… quite sharp today–a cut above the rest", he had punned (though this was his first time even seeing the Bowman). Hyuuga then proceeded to tell him in a despondent and detached tone, "Izuki, go buy some pork buns–and never come back".
A moment later, with a metaphorical light bulb above his head, Kagami suddenly exclaimed, "Oh yeah! We never got to finish our match!"
Aomine's mouth was shaped into a confident smirk, "Let's go!"
As the Beast Fighter marched forward, however, a rough hand grabbed onto one of his furry ears and stopped his advance to a lurch.
"Where do you think you're going? We have other things to do." Hyuuga sighed.
"But I haven't finished this fight yet! Just give me fifteen–no–ten minutes!"
"Listen to your senpai, brat", came the reply.
Riko slapped his back, and the redhead was sure an angry rose-colored hand print had appeared underneath his cloth equipment. "Give up Kagami. I've already scanned these guys, and right now, they're way out of your league. Try again when you're at least the same level".
From her, the argument was sound.
"Besides," she kicked one of his still-tired calves, "you aren't even in your best condition."
Kagami winced at the pain but held his ground, refusing to fall again even though one of his knees had caved. "But-"
Her eyes once again flashed, "You still want to fight?"
"N-no."
Behind him, the GoM's resident Paladin held a hand to his stomach while hunched over, uncontrollably laughing at the redhead who'd turned rather meek under her satanic gaze.
He shut up when the woman turned her glare toward him.
"Well, it was nice meeting you, but we have some other matters to attend to", the brunette woman announced cheerily as she started walking away. She only turned back once with a smug look to say, "We should meet again; next time, at the Winter Cup". The rest of Seirin followed her lead, though Kagami kept glancing back every few seconds until they finally left the vicinity of the map, left unsatisfied after being unable to finish his match with tan-skinned man.
Aomine began eating one of the burgers he couldn't finish earlier. "Tch, teriyaki is way better."
"Hmm? Did you say something, Aominecchi?"
"Nothing. Anyways, why were you guys doing here?"
"We could have asked you the same question, although we already know the answer. Obviously, we came here to find you since you were taking too long", Midorima expressed in that "I-am-above-you" tone of his.
Away from the three taller members, Kuroko approached Akashi from the side. The redheaded male seemed to be thinking about something; a hand was placed on his chin in a thoughtful manner and his eyes were closed.
"Yes, Tetsuya?"
The golden left eye opened up and returned his unfaltering stare.
"Akashi-kun, could you please tell me what that was earlier?"
He crossed his arms. "Specifically?"
"I aware by now that you are smart enough to comprehend my question fully, but what I want to know is why you attacked Kagami-kun; there was no reason for you to do so."
Akashi smiled that usual well-practiced, cordial grin of his.
"If I need a reason, then it was merely a test. It's not very often that we would find a guild with members who potentially rival ours, and I wanted to experience his strength for myself."
Though this sounded almost ridiculous, it also seemed to hold a hint of truth. There was definitely something else though–some much larger problem underlying this entire scenario that Kuroko could not yet understand. Something the redhead was hiding deep beneath the surface of appearances and indecipherable falsehoods that he seemed oh-so adamant on holding his words to.
But the bluenette would not pry.
He has come to believe the other Mage had his own motives for this that may not be appropriate to speak about in this world, along with the fact that he knows he would not be able to win in a psychological bout. Kuroko was closer with this man than he first suspected he'd become and respected him highly, but in no way was he close enough to be able to get the redhead to talk, and so he left it at that. Perhaps in time he'd get his answer, but for now he'd quietly observe.
Their guild leader opened up a dimensional gate back to town, and the five entered to appear in the town square where they found Murasakibara handling some kind of marsh-mellow candies and Momoi sitting next to him. They both looked up at the rest of the group.
"Aka-chin, Kuro-chin, do you want some?" the Berserker asked, holding out the crinkled bag. They both declined the offer. When Kise tried reaching for one, his hand was slapped away by the giant who said, "Kise-chin, that's bad. You aren't supposed to take it when I didn't say you could."
Undoubtedly, the blonde wept.
Beside the purpleheaded man, their pinkette Spy smiled prettily, "I checked your locations and you weren't at the guild, so I thought you'd appear here". Dusting herself off, she hopped to a standing position from the side of the mountain. "We have a match in about an hour, shall we go do some last-minute training?"
Later that day was another total victory.
Saturday: May 5, 2038. 6:20 P.M.
Three men from the Generation of Miracles walked, pacing around on the far left side of the island where they'd just beaten the map's boss. No, it was not our usual yellow and blue trio; right now we're focusing on some of the other members of our lovely brigade.
Midorima opened his mouth to try to speak–to ask a similar question as what Akashi had received from Kuroko earlier–but was interrupted by Murasakibara stating a random fact of his day.
"Hey Aka-chin, today I got candy from Muro-chin."
The redhead cocked his head a bit toward the other's face. "Who is this 'Muro-chin' you speak of?"
One of his ears twitched and he seemed to be thoughtful for a second, but then he replied simply, "I met Muro-chin earlier today… hmm… Muro-chin is Muro-chin. Just like how Aka-chin is Aka-chin". The smaller man smiled and reached up to pat the other's head, who bent down to meet him.
Watching this scene (something he'd already seen several times before), Midorima could only think, "I will probably never understand Akashi's comprehension of this man."
A few moments later, he finally brought up the question successfully: "Why did you attack that Swordsman?"
Green eyes observed the redhead gritting his teeth and tightening his grip around his staff as they continued to tread forward. "The weapon that man was holding… it should not exist here, and so I lost myself for a second. I've already realized that the person behind all this should be rather obvious though, now that I can think about it clearly. There's only one man I know with enough gall to attempt something like this; he's probably the one responsible for today's hair stunt as well."
Now conscious of the situation, Midorima nodded. "I am aware you were angry, but you attacked a bystander indiscriminately and almost exposed yourself to the others. And be more careful even if your pride takes over, I don't want a repeat of what happened when we were younger. You aren't alone here." His eyes had narrowed, but his glare was more anxious than annoyed.
"I know, and this will not happen again. Also, I won't make the same mistakes as I did when I was an adolescent. I've become more capable and have realized my responsibilities already."
The redhead stopped walking.
"Thank you, Shintarou–for being concerned about me. I'm sorry for having given you reason to."
The green-haired man turned his head. "I wasn't particularly worried about you, it's just that it would've been troublesome to go through something like that again."
Out of nowhere, a Pocky stick was shoved into his mouth.
"Mido-chin is a tsundere", Murasakibara stated, chomping through a few pieces of his own.
The Pocky was spit out. "For the last time, I. Am. Not. I am a grown man, not some puerile high school girl heroine from a plot-less, clichéd, and overrated shoujo anime series."
"Hmmm, when have you been watching those kind of things?"
"I don't watch them willingly! My sister forces me to!"
Murasakibara gave him a skeptical look as if he didn't believe that statement. "I bet you secretly like them… and you seem like the type to tear up at the sad parts."
A light tinge of red overtook the Hunter's face. "T-that's not true! I do not cry over such trivial things!"
Akashi could not hold back his soft laughter. "So you do like them", he contributed, watching the other's ears grow a shade darker.
"What? No! What part of me looks like I'd enjoy something like that, Akashi?"
"Everything."
"Mido-chin is fun to tease~"
The green-haired man huffed. "Argh. I've had enough of you two. Anyways, since we've talked about earlier and it's passed the afternoon, I'm leaving. Goodbye". His hands motioned for the menu screen to open and he quickly pressed the "log-out" option without waiting for a reply.
"Perhaps we should retire as well, Atsushi. Would you like to join me for dinner? I believe we're having French cuisine tonight."
"I'll go, I'll go~ I'll be there in ten minutes."
The purple-haired man logged out as well.
Before following, Akashi looked out into the landscape, watching the sun start to set over the low mountains surrounding the area and the nesting night-time monsters start to emerge from their hiding places.
The world he'd created.
"How nice it would be…" he mused to himself, "if things could just always be this simple."
.
"Are you sure you would like to quit game play?"
"Yes"*
"No"
.
"Yes"*
"No"
.
I've said this before, but I always write author's notes and other small details right before uploading. If anyone ever wants to suggest better title names for these chapters, I'm open to it because my brain is stupid.
Author is stupid.
Author is sorry.
Author will go bang head on wall now.
As always, criticism, comments, and suggestions are all appreciated and will most-likely be answered and I hope you've enjoyed this chapter.
GPS' head hurts. Goodbye~