I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN TWO MONTHS I AM GOMEN. /craisinuglywayandbegsforforgiveness

Even though I estimated three weeks TT^TT I tried, I really did. But then life got in the way. I hope I'll be able to post a little more quickly though. The season for the sport I joined just ended so I'll finally be free on weekdays again. I think the quality of my writing dropped from not doing the do so long.

KnB ain't mine and stuff and I don't claim it does. Hopefully everyone knows that by now.

Chapter 25: Conflict & Resolution

Sunday: May 13, 2038. 12:13 P.M.

Just a bit after twelve the next day, Kise returned with good news to tell Kuroko:

As it turned out, he was not the father.

Reportedly, the woman and her soon-to-be husband had now narrowed down the suspect to two other persons who fit into the timeframe. The couple probably should have made sure it was Kise before freaking out and telling him, but nevertheless, Kise was relieved albeit somehow slightly disappointed at this outcome. He never voiced that to anyone though. He himself forgot about it shortly after anyways.

And so Kise and Kuroko sat across from each other at the table, awaiting the arrival of Aomine who said he'd be there at twelve. Of course, the dark-skinned man was late as usual. Judging from the usual patterns, Kuroko guessed the other wouldn't arrive until at least another fifteen-or-so minutes passed.

After a few minutes of silence–Kise did basically nothing while Kuroko had been reading a recently-released installment of a novel he'd been anticipating–the bored blonde branched off to a topic besides the pregnancy scare and curiously asked about Kuroko's (non-existent) love life. The pestering went on for a good minute, forcing the older man to de-materialize his book and address the blonde. When Kuroko answered in a drab tone that he had never dated, Kise had looked so taken aback that the former almost felt like he should have taken offense. At least until Kise's shock burned out and was replaced with worked-up sentences about setting him up with some people he knew, most of them women from Kise's private university.

It took three minutes of jumbled chatter before the blonde reached: "Oh, I know! Kurokocchi, you could date one of my sisters or something! Here, I can show you pictures of them! I uploaded them because Aominecchi said he wanted to see but you should take priority! I think you might be their type too because most of my family prefers the cute type."

Kuroko was about to voice some protest but before Kise could open up a picture window, a snicker came from behind them, surprising them both.

"Heh. So you've got sisters?"

blink.

blink.

Ka-boom.

"Haizakicchi, when did you get here!? Wait, the guild window said you weren't even online!"

"Offline mode and Stealth, dumbass. Man, it would be so easy to kill you in a PVP if I can sneak up on you this easily". It would have sounded so much more sinister and threatening if Haizaki hadn't fallen on his butt when Kuroko pulled his chair away as he tried to sit.

Kuroko: 1, Haizaki: 0.

The silver-haired man spouted rants and death threats for a minute or so before he finally calmed down and got back to the subject they had been talking about. "So, sisters?" Haizaki asked, ignoring the previous embarrassment and the slight ache in his rump.

"Yeah, I have two of them, older", Kise replied, trying not to let the remnants of his chuckles escape, "do you want to see?"

"Are they hot?"

"Haha... Aominecchi asked the same thing. Err, I guess they're good looking, especially since we're related and stuff and share the same DNA, but you guys really shouldn't ask me if I think my siblings are hot".

Kise flicked his finger a few times before making his in-game screen visible to the other two. While Kuroko didn't have much of a sense of beauty when judging others, he did suppose that they were rather attractive from a neutral standpoint. This happened when he met Momoi too, so because this is Kuroko, you people should be able to tell that they were gorgeous.

On the screen were two women with their arm interlocked, both of whom held a visible resemblance to Kise (well, they're all Kise but I think you know what I mean). One of them was just shy of Kuroko's height with mid-back length hair, peachy skin, and several moles which were noticeable on her neck, even through her cascading locks. The other had slightly shorter hair, more wavy than curly, and was taller by a good half-foot with heels on. She gave a "big-sister" type aura so Kuroko assumed she was the eldest. Both women displayed the signature honey-blonde hair color that their younger brother, along with most of the rest of the Kise family tree, had.

From behind Kise's right shoulder, Haizaki squinted at the screen and made that particular "hmmm" sound. The one a person makes when they're trying to remember something that might or might not be of extreme importance. With an indistinct amount of uncertainty, he pointed toward the presumed younger sister and questioned, "Was she a model or something too? I don't know why, but she looks really familiar".

Kise's answer was, "Her? No, no, she was never a model. She is working toward becoming a designer though. Maybe she looks familiar because I look like her".

"No; it's not that. It's something else," Haizaki spat, inching a bit closer to the screen as if the shorter distance would give him the revelation he was looking for. "Do you have any other pictures?"

Kise flipped through a couple of the slides until Haizaki told him to stop at one that was less recent. In it was a woman with chocolate-brown hair and thick-rimmed spectacles. From her face, Kuroko assumed her to be a Kise, but the hair just totally threw him off; it looked out-of-place and just plain unnatural for someone of their family. Off to the side, a caption read, "04/20/36, First day of University~!"

Before either of the other two men asked, Kise explained, "This is still my sister, but at the time I was starting to become really popular so she decided to adopt an alias so people wouldn't ask her about me. Oh, but then she got tired of it sooner or later and stopped caring 'cause it was too bothersome".

Haizaki stared so fixatedly it looked like he could melt the screen with just his glare–though if you'll allow me to say, it's not the only thing hot about him. Ahem.

"Name," he said.

"What?"

"Tell me her name!"

"Umm… that's kinda creepy dude…"

"I'm not after her, I just want to know!"

After one last quizzical glance, Kise informed, "Her name is Shizuka but she used to use the name Morinaga Kaori".

A short silence enveloped the room, only to be broken by Haizaki seconds later.

"I knew it! Fuck! Fucking damnit Akashi!" he started, followed by various other outbursts of obscene profanity along with violent furniture abuse. One of the new chairs became short a leg and a half, and the heavy mahogany table gained several nicks and a dent or two. After rampaging in the guild, the silver-haired player then proceeded to storm out, slamming the door once again–this time so hard that the hinges rattled loose and a bit of the wall cracked off.

In the room, Kise was effectively... bewildered. He had partially feared for his life just now; Haizaki was always angry but never quite so feral. "Um, Kurokocchi, do you know what just happened?"

"I am going to follow him", Kise heard from the door before it was gently shut.

"Huh? AHH! Wait for me, don't leave me behind!"

Kise and Kuroko stalked the Thief's trail to an area outside the city they'd been in, Aeternus. The island, Kuadoryvm, was comprised of four main cities, which doubled as ports, and a bunch of smaller towns and villages that littered the island between them to serve as checkpoints and rest stops.

Two or three maps away, Haizaki finally turned around and yelled at the two to stop following him. It was directed toward Kise since he couldn't see Kuroko at the time and was just guessing the shorter man was tagging along. Either way, the man with gray hair was still seething and looked ready to commit what would probably be considered a heinous felony in real life.

Kise needed a few seconds to prepare himself and ignore the glower sent his way, but eventually concern won over reluctance and he asked, "What was that just now? Is there something wrong with my sister?"

Kuroko heard a loud crack sound out and a shower of leaves fell from the tree above them. It was Haizaki who punched the tree.

"None of your business! Piss off!"

"It is my business though! Shizuka's my sister!"

"God-fucking-shit-damnit! Looking at your girly-ass face just pisses me off! Why did he even date that bitch?"

Attempting to be civil was failure, as you can see. And confusing, because Kise didn't understand what kind of nonsense the other male was spewing.

Haizaki started to stomp toward Kise, who was about to tell him off for being such a douchebag. That is, before the silver-haired man sent out a hard, no-holds-barred punch that landed straight on his jaw and chipped a tooth.

The blonde only took a second to recuperate before returning the favor, though his fist only nicked Haizaki and he was thrown back onto the ground by a kick to the gut. Both Rogues pulled out their weapons and closed the distance between them.

While Kise was a great fighter, at this point, his skills only went so far when pitted against Haizaki. Not only was the Thief a higher level and more experienced at combat, he also had a weapon which could negate all the skills he used by stealing them–Kise had to avoid using his most of his. Then there was also the fact that Haizaki didn't mind fighting a bit dirty and ruthlessly. He wasn't above kicking up the dirt or spouting out threats and taunts that riled the blonde up and made him impulsive.

Around ten minutes of fast-paced exchanges wore both players off, though Kise was obviously more affected by the end of that time. His breathing came out laboriously, sweat covered every inch of his body, and even his HP was down to about a third, yet the onslaught never let up. It was only a matter of time before the Thief had the other pinned to the floor, dagger charged with a skill, ready to deliver a determining blow. As much as Kise struggled, he could not break the wooden bindings around his wrists. All he could do was chafe them trying.

Amidst the hectic battle that had broken out, Haizaki had completely forgotten that Kuroko was still there somewhere. He activated his skill, but before he could drive his bloodied blade into Kise's chest, a beam of darkness shot at him from behind. Being as worn-out from fighting and focused on killing as he was, the attack hit its target perfectly, stopping the assault and sending him flying forward. Now he was reminded.

With fervent animosity, Haizaki changed his target. He sought the Cleric out. If there was one thing Haizaki had learned of the smaller man, it was that his priorities always went to helping his teammates.

Two seconds later, he found Kuroko kneeling next to Kise, helping to undo his bindings.

Haizaki dashed forward and pulled the Magic-user off of Kise, who had been too late in warning Kuroko that the other had seen him. With one hand holding his dagger and the other around Kuroko's neck high in the air, Haizaki snarled, "you should just stay out of it". The constricting feeling around Kuroko's neck tightened further, and though he wanted to reply, he couldn't even breathe. While trying to struggle out of the other man's grip, Kuroko's vision became an unsettling haze along with his mind. He could still faintly hear voices–he wasn't sure whose they were or if they were actually just thoughts–over the blood rushing through his head.

What seemed like an hour for Kuroko was only a few seconds for Haizaki. The Cleric was sure he was about to pass out from the asphyxiation, if that's even possible. His vision had already reached that point–blacked-out I mean–and an unpleasant numbing sensation was starting to spread across his entire body, leaving him unable to even flail.

Without warning he hit the ground.

Most of the grass broke Kuroko's fall, but he still scraped himself on a few rocks protruding from the dirt. In comparison to a few moments ago, however, he much rather preferred this. The sharp stabs on his skin helped some of the feeling return, and soon enough he found his vision and control over his limbs returning.

The air was warm, unbearably hot really, scorching him from all angles.

A fire.

As the bluenette's sight came back, he located where Haizaki was sprawled out on the ground, a familiar figure unexpectedly looming over him.

The Cleric tried speak, but his throat still felt strained and the words came out cracked and unintelligible. From behind him, Kise, whose bindings had been burned off by the surrounding fires, approached and said two things: "Akashicchi! What are you doing here?" to Akashi and, "Are you okay?" to Kuroko.

While Kise helped Kuroko up, the addressed redhead shifted his head to face them. "I came because it seemed peculiar that the three of you to be at this map for so long."

It didn't quite answer the Bandit's question, but he took it anyways since Akashi had focused his attention back on Haizaki, who'd taken the brunt of his attack and was singed all over. "Tetsuya, would you mind healing these two and yourself? And I'd also like to speak with you and Ryouta."

The Cleric obliged, casting one of his best AOE healing spells to bring their HP back up to sufficiency. Once he finished, Akashi commanded Haizaki, "go". With that simple word, the Thief took his leave. To where, neither Kuroko nor Kise knew–the man was using offline mode again–yet they assumed he was still lurking somewhere, still angry, waiting for Akashi to finish his business with them.

"What did you want to talk about?" Kise asked, rubbing at the marks Haizaki's spell left on him. They were a bit raw and bloody but actually felt much better than they looked.

The Sorcerer pulled out his guild warp-orb, prompting the other two to follow suit. "I'll inform you once we get back", he replied, "in secrecy."

They appeared in front of their stronghold–in the courtyard surrounded by tall walls which were the main defense in case of intruders.

"But I thought our guild wasn't a neutral zone", Kise stated, eyeing the building.

"It is now. The news was announced right before I arrived. Due to a multitude of complaints, all guilds are now neutral zones," the redhead responded. Although Akashi's tone wasn't all that different, Kuroko thought he heard a bit of disdain or contempt leaking into his sentences; but it was strange considering this was a good thing for their guild. What would Akashi have to be unhappy about? Or were Kuroko's tired eyes and ears just playing tricks on him?

Kuroko's guildmates walked into the door, and he was about to follow when he noticed something placed at the side of their guild.

A box…?

"I take it that Shougo made this mess… He isn't really a bad person. More like misguided. I hope you two don't hold any grudges against him..." Akashi trailed off, starting again with, "Did you wait long, Daiki?"

On the couch was Aomine, de-materializing a screen of what seemed to be a bikini-clad woman and propping himself into an upright position. He yawned and stretched before grunting in reply.

"You're late again, Aominecchi!"

"So whad'you want to talk about?"

"Don't ignore me!"

"Hey, where's Tetsu?"

Akashi looked around. "Strange; he was right behind us just a moment ago."

The door creaked loudly, bringing the three men's attentions to it and their missing guild member who walked in.

"Oh, there you are. I thought you got kidnapped for a second," Kise laughed, suddenly stopping when he noticed was Kuroko was holding. He pointed at it and made a questioning noise.

"I found this…" the shorter man stated, "…a puppy."

In the box Kuroko held, a black-and-why dog, presumably a husky, poked its head out and panted with the excitement that only such a creature could have. Kise picked it up and cooed at it, "It's so cute~! I didn't know we had animal NPCs!" followed by, "wait… doesn't it look familiar?"

"AHH, that dog looks like Tetsu!"

"Holy crap, you're right! They have the same eyes!" the blonde yelled, putting the canine next to Kuroko's head so he could compare. "It's like another Kurokocchi!"

At the table, Akashi seethed, eyes growing wide. But he forced himself to calm down despite the foul mood he was in. No one seemed to notice his disposition, which he worked to quickly push away.

"Sit," the redheaded man commanded as he ignored the fact that Kise was fawning. "There is something I need to tell you three. I've already told Shintarou and Atsushi, though some one will need to inform Momoi-san for me."

Aomine raised a brow. "Why don't you just tell Satsuki yourself?"

"I was–Ryouta, I'd implore you to stop playing with that dog and listen–I was about to get to that", Akashi sighed, resting his hands on the table, finger interloped. They tensed a bit before relaxing once again. What their guild master said next came as a shock for the three.

"I will be leaving the game."

Kise abruptly stood and was about to say something, but Akashi interjected and began to elaborate on what he said. "I won't be leaving permanently–perhaps about a month-or-so at the most. Until then, Shintarou will be acting as the temporary leader in my stead. Nothing will change besides my absence."

"What will you be doing, Akashi-kun?" Kuroko inquired, holding the puppy he found near his chest.

"Nothing you have to concern yourself with. Just something from my work."

Something to do with this game then?

Kise began asking more questions, which didn't go very far since Akashi's answers were either vague or cryptic. It only went on like this until the grandfather clock chimed the quarter and Akashi got up to leave. Kuroko guessed Haizaki was still waiting.

It was only when the other Mage had already left that Kuroko remembered he had other questions to ask–he still hadn't gotten to the matters about his staff. The memory was still rather recent in his mind, and his items were still sitting in his inventory. He wondered if now would be an okay time to send a PM.

"…-cided that his name is Nigou!" Kuroko heard through his thoughts.

"Whatever. Can you just stop talking?"

"How mean!"

In the next five minutes, Kuroko would receive two important notifications. The first one was sent to all three players in the room as mail, and it read:

"I forgot to say earlier, but that dog is strange. I would like you to watch it. And Tetsuya, I've heard about your weapon from Shougo. I'd suggest you research your items a bit."

-Akashi

After reading, Aomine asked, "Hmm, what happened to your weapon?"

"It is a long story", Kuroko explained. He began to tell it anyways; or at least a more concise version of it.

Meanwhile, Kise was examining "Nigou". Showing the pup to the other two, he questioned, "there's nothing wrong with him right? He looks pretty normal to me. I wonder if Akashicchi just dislikes dogs or something?"

Technically, Kise was right about the shorter man disliking dogs, but that had nothing to do with what was wrong with it. And indeed, there was something terribly, terribly wrong with it–Kise found out what soon after he spoke. The surprise made him choke a bit, and his two guildmates who previously paid him no heed turned to look when he yelled, "Nigou–he's not an NPC… he's a p-player!"

To ensure Kise wasn't just hallucinating, both Aomine and Kuroko checked the dog's status indicator as well. Unless all three of them were starting to go insane, the husky pup was definitely registered as a player of the game; and they weren't insane for the most part.

It wasn't a monster's red, an NPC's yellow, or even a familiar's blue. It was green. Green like healthy grass or a granny-smith apple. Green like, I don't know, a lime. These analogies are probably quite pointless considering you probably know what the color green is, but the point is that the indicator was the color that was reserved for players. Specifically Human players, because, until now, no one had ever heard of an animal being logged-in to a VR.

"Is it just a weird glitch or something? Maybe this is supposed to be a monster," Aomine proposed, picking up the creature with one large, rough hand. It bit him, and, once the Warrior let go, leapt across the table to Kuroko's arms.

Kuroko welcomed the creature–to which Kise squealed, claiming they were "adorable"–and replied, "I think he is real. But either way, we have to take care of him."

Aomine groaned and face-palmed, dragging his hand slowly down his face. It wasn't that he hated animals, it was just that he wasn't good at taking care of them. Especially when it came to the small ones.

{Kise has invited you to join Generation of Miracles}

"Would you like to accept?"

"Yes"*

"No"

The panel appeared in front of Kuroko and Nigou, yet it shouldn't have been visible to any other players besides the furry creature. Someone had deliberately modified it so that they'd be able to see, but for whatever reasons, none of them could figure out. It didn't help that Akashi was suspicious, in Kuroko's opinion, as well. His mind crossed the thought that perhaps Akashi had been the one to do it, but it didn't make sense considering the redhead genuinely looked as if he knew nothing of it.

His blue eyes watched the screen. Taking Nigou's paw in his hand, Kuroko pressed the "Yes" button.

{You have joined "Generation of Miracles"}

{Nigou has joined "Generation of Miracles"}

The dog let out what sounded like a happy bark, so Kuroko left him to Kise who started to gush more.

All this was after the first notice that the members of this guild received. After some relative peace, the second one would be:

{Haizaki has left "Generation of Miracles"}

I wonder if anyone noticed that this is the twenty-fifth chapter. Ni (2), Go (5). That was actually an accident but it works out anyways.

Oh Kise, why can't you just start making out with Kuroko already?
Don't mind me, I've just had a slash deficiency for the last two months. It's the lack of Tumblr.

Bye ya'll. Hopefully the next chapter will actually be faster.

Thanks for reading~