a/n= Dum dum dum! I am back after four months of hiatus! First, I'm sorry for the long wait guys. College is so busy and I've been making so many friends in the last two months. But recently, I realized I need to sharpen my rusty conversational skills...
Anyways I want to inform you that I don't continue this story for two months not because of:
1. Writer's block = I have everything in mind
2. College = partially, but I have plenty of free time
3. I'm lazy
This hiatus is intentional.
Yes, you read it I purposely did it. FOR FUN.
Not really, it is relevant to the plot.
Flame me and hate me for it. This hiatus is intentional and it is relevant to the plot. It will be four weeks to the final chapter, probably by the end of December, so stay tuned!
Please enjoy! I suggest you re-reading the last chapter because I kind of did something new with the flow to make it interesting and spark the return of KMHM with a bang!
Please R&R! Reviews are well appreciated!
Four months had passed since then.
It was already spring – tiny and pastel sakura petals rained from the tree barks, gracefully landing towards the concrete marble tiles. One by one, they signaled the opening of a new season, and for some, a closing chapter to their stories.
Standing under the vivid colored tree was a short, red-haired young man whose body was hidden under his thick graduation robes. As he merely shifted his gaze behind the school gate, he watched hundreds of enthusiastic freshmen flooded the Teiko Middle School. He could hear a wild exchange between two primary school graduates about entering the Teiko Basketball club.
"Hey haven't you heard?" the shorter guy with auburn curly hair grinned at his more reserved friend. "They say this is the place where the Generation of Miracles graduate!"
His friend, who looked disinterested initially, lifted a brow. "Really?"
The short guy nodded his head with his grin. "I swear! We should aim to be like that Rico-chan! Who knows we will be the next 'Miracles!' "
Rico heaved a deep sigh and slapped his friend's shoulder. His lips formed a gentle smile. "Yeah let's do it Ken-san, but can you please omit the 'chan' from my name?"
As the tousled, crimson haired young man watched the two freshmen chattered, he uttered a snort. Crossing his arms, he shook his head with an aloof smile. The thought of those two young naive freshmen standing on the same level as him made his ribs itched with laughter. They haven't taste the compelling nature of Teiko Basketball club. He was sure these two freshmen would sign out of the club after one practice session or two.
"What are you doing here?" the shorter boy raised a brow at the demanding deep voice calling for his presence.
He turned around and flashed a pristine smile at the taller male behind him. "What is it, Shintaro?"
The four-eyed boy straightened his glasses and pulled the corners of his lips to a firm line. He shuddered inwardly. "We should go back to the auditorium for the graduation ceremony. What are you doing here?"
"Just going to get some fresh air. You should stay here for a bit." Hearing the captain's somehow composed response, Midorima nodded, warily approached the short captain and stood beside him in silence.
Silence reigned between them, except the muffled exchange of giggles and conversations coming from the background. Can't bear with this chilling silence, Midorima pinched his lips and spoke bluntly.
"Are you sure about this?"
The red-haired male acknowledged him with a slight movement on the shoulder. "It's for the best."
"But..."
"Silence, Shintaro."
Midorima opened his mouth to say something, but he immediately took it back when he saw the appraising look from the red-haired's eyes. In spite of their differences in height, Midorima managed to take a few steps back to make distance between the emperor.
As the two males stood in silence, a shorter guy with messy, baby-blue haired marched along the sidewalk, the graduation robes swayed to and fro by the wind coming from the west. As he ambled towards the school gate, he had a friendly exchange with some freshmen and wished them good luck before he proceeded. He walked passed the two male standing under the sakura tree. His deep blue eyes glinted with hope towards the future as he confidently stride towards the school gate.
Meanwhile, the crimson-haired male turned his head over his shoulders and stared at the departing bluenet. His blinked, his dual colored iris blazed with mixed emotions.
"See you around, Tetsuya."
As Seijuuro smiled at the departing feature, his face twisted into a grimace as a sudden, sharp sensation shot up to his chest. Gripping his graduation robes, he clenched his teeth as he moaned in pain.
"Shut the fuck up, you piece of crap!"
In spite of the crude words coming from his lips, a bead of tear prickled from the corners of his eyes. He hated it; it was not his heart breaking, it was Akashi's, and as his host, he could do nothing but to accept and swallow these emotions.
After all, Seijuuro owned this body now. Kuroko passed him without any hint of recognition.
One month ago:
Teiko vs. Meiko high: 111-11.
An orange-haired boy from across the court stared at the score board in disbelief. Knees collapsed to the floor, he ran a his hand across his hair and grabbed a fistful of it before he started crying. As his cries echoed throughout the court, the other members of Meiko high rushed towards the weeping boy and looped their sweaty arms around their trembling friend.
"Get a grip, Ogiwara!" one of his teammates barked at the weeping boy, but on the corners of his eyes, tears of shame and devastation trickled down his cheeks.
Across the court, the Generation of Miracles watched the mourning team with a scoff. In the middle of the group, a crimson-haired male stood tall and proud while crossing his arms. He flicked his gaze towards the scoreboard and smirked.
"Nice job guys," he spoke to his team members. "It was a really fun game."
Aomine shrugged. "Best game ever."
"Yeah, I'm hungry." Murasakibara added.
As Seijuuro marched out of the room with a confident smile, a sudden spark of anger exploded in on his chest and pulled Seijuuro to the ground. As blood rushed to his head, the crimson-haired male sunk his nails into his throbbing temples, groaning in pain.
"Akashicchi!" Kise exclaimed and rushed to the captain.
"Oi, Akashi!" Murasakibara followed after him.
But Kise and Midorima's worried voices were drowned by the vehement conflagration in his mind. In other words, Akashi's wrath.
"How could you!?"
"He was Kuroko's best friend!"
"Look at what you've done!"
"You only destroy!"
"Give back my body please!"
"I beg you!"
As Akashi's incessant cries rang on his ears, Seijuuro roared and started his teammates.
"Then tell me what you want!" Seijuuro's eyes flew wide in anger. "What can I do? I do this all for your fucking sake!"
As Seijuuro barked at his inner self, Kise and Midorima witnessed the scene in horor. As they traded horrified glances, Kise involuntarily took a step back and muttered.
"Is Akacchi talking to himself?"
"Perhaps." Midorima nodded, his eyes fixed on Akashi. "He has been doing this for a while now."
Kise's eyes flew wide at Midorima's words. After a moment of apprehension, Kise nodded with his lips tight. "I agree with you."
While Midorima and Kise discussed Akashi's condition, Seijuuro's rage had shimmered the moment he heard the bargain he exchanged with Akashi.
"I will give you my body forever, in one condition."
"What do you want?"
"I want you to perform memory hypnosis on Kuroko."
If Akashi was a person, Seijuuro would lunged at him and threw him across the wall hard enough to form dents all over. Fiery sparks crackled inside him as he begrudgingly digested Akashi's words.
"What the fuck? You have made me do your shit and now you want me to erase his memory?"
"We need him to forget everything. The pain we caused. The things he had gone through. The trauma he faced. I can't bear it just by thinking of it."
"Akashi..." Seijuuro tilted his head downwards.
"Please, you want it too, didn't you?"
Seijuuro considered that decision for a moment, and truthfully speaking, he believed it would be better for Kuroko to forget all the events in Teiko as well. Seijuuro couldn't see Kuroko living to carry such burden on his shoulders.
After a moment of consideration, Seijuuro headed towards the infirmary Kuroko was at and knocked the door.
Two months ago:
Seijuuro and Midorima were performing passes around the court until Kise appeared behind the door and called for the little captain.
Scowling, Seijuuro wiped the sweat off his brows with his shirt. "What do you want, Ryota?"
Kise flinched for a moment, but he quickly shrugged it and fiddled his fingers with a guilty smile. "I'm sorry Akashicchi. I can't come to practice today."
Seijuuro turned his head to the side. "Why?"
"Well, I kinda have some photoshoot for my next model magazine." Kise's voice faltered as Seijuuro's cold gaze made his knees tremble. "I'm very sorry. I will try to come on the next practice!"
Kise knew Akashi wasn't in the best mood recently- the practice sessions were getting critical, expectations bars elevated for the Generation of Miracles, and to add insult to the hardship, Aomine and Murasakibara skipped practices lately. The blonde thought he had just asked a death wish from the temperamental captain.
"It's all right Ryota." Kise's eyes flew wide at Seijuuro's calm tone. "You don't have to come to practice necessarily. You just have to show up for matches."
Kise couldn't believe his ears and added. "What?"
"You don't misheard Ryota. Now go."
Kise looked stunned for a moment before he turned back and bolted out of the basketball court. As his footsteps drummed against the ground, Kise peered behind his shoulders and saw Kuroko sitting by the lake slurping a vanilla carton of milk. Excited to see his cute senpai, Kise waved at the bluenet but was unfortunately ignored.
Kise was informed that Kuroko came late to practice lately. Additionally, Kise often found the bluenet sitting by the lake behind the school, staring at the emptiness.
Kise knew they were in the imminent danger of falling apart.
Three months ago:
"I'm very sorry Akashi-san!" a bruenet with thick four framed-glasses bent his body downwards in an apologetic manner. "I don't mean to dump all my work to you! Next week the Biology Club will run an exhibition so I need to take care of that."
Inwardly scoffing, Seijuuro casually flipped the pages of the thick paperwork before flashing a good-natured smile at the class captain. "It's all right Tamura-san. I understand your circumstance. I will finish all of this by tonight."
Hope and relief replaced Tamura's contrite eyes. He thanked the red-head with another firm bow. "Thank you for your understanding Akashi-san! I'm very glad to have you as the vice captain."
Seijuuro's lips hooked into a smile. "My pleasure Tamura-san. Your comrades are probably waiting for you in the Biology Room. Please go now."
After having a few friendly exchange with Seijuuro, Tamura rushed out of the classroom and disappeared into the hallway. As Tamura's rapid retreating footsteps faded, Seijuuro counted one to ten before heaving a deep sigh before he muttered. "Go fuck yourself."
To add the burn to his prickling irritation, a new voice echoed in his head which ignited resentment into his heart.
"Don't blame Tamura-san for that. He has been planning the Biology Exhibition since three months ago."
Seijuuro's jaw dropped before he knitted his brows. "Nobody ask you, coward."
"Would you stop calling me that? You should be grateful for inheriting my body." Akashi's voice remained calm in spite of the insult against him. "Even after everything you had done..."
Seijuuro's jaws hardened and he snapped. "This is all for your own good! You are afraid to disappoint your father! You are afraid to lose the Generation of Miracles! I'm just doing what you are supposed to be doing!"
He didn't heard Akashi for a long moment before he heard a soft whisper that nearly choked him with tears.
"I don't like this way...at all."
The sharp ache gnawing his ribs unconsciously pushed Seijuuro's knees to the ground. As he yanked the hem of his shirt to ease his agony, small droplets of sweat dropped to the ground along with his tears. Seijuuro didn't care whose emotion belonged to whom; he acknowledged it.
Seijuuro didn't like his ways either, but the image of weeping Akashi in his bedroom kept crossing his mind. He didn't want Akashi to lose everything he held close. That's why Seijuuro decided to take over the dirty task and helped Akashi regained his position as the next successor of the Akashi family and the captain of Generation of Miracles.
Akashi didn't like his ways, but the host (formerly human) had no other choice.
Deep down, Seijuuro could still trace Akashi's frustration. Akashi battered Seijuuro's chest ceaselessly in daily basis, and Seijuuro could do nothing but to feel and accept the bitter anguish.
Seijuuro knew he had gone too far; he believed this punishment was necessary.
I'm such a fool. He sighed inwardly.
Suddenly, the small knock on the door snapped him from his reverie. Seijuuro looked up and saw Kuroko standing by the doorway.
Before Seijuuro could collect his footing, Kuroko rushed to the kneeling male and pulled Seijuuro into his arms. Eyes widened in fear, Kuroko gripped Seijuuro's shoulders like an anchor.
"Akashi-kun! Are you all right?" Kuroko's voice was trembling, his deep blue eyes polluted with agony.
Seijuuro's misery vanished instantly the moment his ears caught Kuroko's voice, but then the sudden bitterness flooded over his chest and made him taste bile in his tongue. Akashi's frustration. Not only Seijuuro messed things up, he also took Kuroko from Akashi as well. Seijuuro knew his plans would hurt Kuroko in exchange for Akashi's self-image.
"T-Tetsuya," Seijuuro stammered and clasped Kuroko's trembling fingers. "I'm fine."
Seijuuro slowly stood up, using the nearby chair as support. When Seijuuro firmly returned to his feet, Kuroko's fingers slowly leave Seijuuro's shoulders.
"Akashi-kun, there is something I want you to know."
Seijuuro creased his brows and acknowledged it with a firm nod. "What do you want to say?" his voice was weak.
"Murasakibara-kun start skipping practice lately," Kuroko spoke curtly, his hands rolled into fist. "The same goes to Aomine-kun. Kise starts to be absent too."
Seijuuro squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the cold sting prickling his chest. His actions officially turned tables for the team, but that was necessary for Teiko's victory and Akashi's image.
In expense, he needed to give up Kuroko's happiness. It was necessary, but hurting Kuroko was the last one Seijuuro wanted to do.
Because he loved the bluenet. The same goes for Akashi.
It was the least willing thing to do, yet it was prominent and consequential decision.
"Let them." Seijuuro nodded with a slight wave on his hand. "As long as we gain victory like this, we will be fine."
This time, Kuroko clenched his teeth and grabbed Seijuuro by the collar. His eyes glowed with blazing anger.
"What are you talking about?" his voice was shaking, in contrast with his fierce expression. "What exactly happened to you Akashi-kun?"
Seijuuro swallowed before speaking. "I just realized in order to improve our performance, we need to let our friends enjoy the things they do. If they enjoy skipping practice, I guessed it was necessary for their growth, isn't it?"
Seijuuro went silent for effect. Slowly, Kuroko took a step back and broke away from Akashi's collar.
"You have changed."
With that curt response, Kuroko wheeled towards the door and strode out of the room. Without turning back, Kuroko slid the door closed behind him.
Seijuuro expected to hear Akashi's zombie-like cries, but all he heard was silence.
When Seijuuro didn't know what to feel and Akashi refused to feel anything, Seijuuro felt numb for the first time.
It was empty, yet it was good.
One month ago:
Right on the next day, Murasakibara encountered Akashi.
At first, he kindly asked Akashi if he was able to skip practice like Aomine, but things went rough when Akashi started chastising and lecturing the tall male about the team's morale. Obviously unhappy at Akashi's attempt for trying to stop him, Murasakibara pulled his lips into a scowl.
"I'm already strong," Murasakibara drawled, his brows furrowed. "I don't need practice."
Stifling a gasp, Akashi instinctively jerked his feet backwards. Before he could collect himself, anger roiled in his chest like a wave and he blurted out.
"What are you talking about, Murasakibara?" Akashi growled, his eyes gleamed with fury.
Yes! Show that bastard what you're made of! Seijuuro cheered within him. Akashi's lips stretched into a twisted smile.
At this point, everyone in the clubroom acknowledged the ongoing tension. Some regular members silently filled out of the room, leaving nobody but the members of the Generation of Miracles. Coincidentally, Aomine appeared on the doorway. He was ranting to fetch his Mai-chan book in the clubroom, but he lapsed into silence the moment he was immersed into the hot environment.
"Akashi-kun, that's enough!" Kuroko yelled.
Akashi shifted his gaze towards the bluenet. Spikes of anguish seeded inside his heart when his eyes fell upon Kuroko's crestfallen expression. Usually, hope twinkled behind Kuroko's baby blue eyes, but today, Akashi saw nothing but gloomy despair.
After shifting his gaze back and forth from the sad Kuroko, angry Murasakibara to his confused teammates, Akashi closed his eyes and mumbled to the persona underneath him.
"Sei," he whispered, his voice barely faltered.
Seijuuro responded after a long moment. "Are you sure?"
Akashi nodded.
"I'm not going to do this, Akashi." Seijuuro sounded hesitant.
Akashi shook his head.
"You have to."
"I am going to do this my way, Akashi."
"Please."
"You're not going to like it."
"I know."
After a long moment of silence, Seijuuro finally replied. Akashi could see an image of Seijuuro clenching his fist.
"Fine. Say your goodbyes."
Nodding, Akashi looked at Kuroko and approached the bluenet with heavy footsteps.
Kuroko noticed the defeated expression on Akashi's face. Gulping, the bluenet uttered his name.
"Akashi, what is happening?" his voice was croaking as if he was ill.
Akashi slowly ran his fingers across Kuroko's plump and soft cheeks. A few soft and slow touches later, Akashi broke away from Kuroko's cheeks and smiled.
"Goodbye."
After resisting his tears, Akashi swiftly darted towards the court and grabbed the basketball. Murasakibara noticed Akashi's quick movements and tailed after the red-head male. As the two males battled their wits on the court, the rest of the Generation of Miracles watched the match with bathed breath. It only took ten minutes for them to see the outcome of this match. With the huge height gap, the outcome was obvious.
"I'm going to win Akacchin." Murasakibara drawled, his eyes looked down on the fallen figure in the middle of the court.
Akashi slowly regained his footing and growled. "I'm not going to stop here."
"Weak." Murasakibara spat.
Akashi tilted his head downwards to hide his darkening expression. He mumbled.
"Now, Seijuuro."
Seijuuro nodded.
Akashi grinned for one last time and yelled. "Then I leave it all to you!"
Then everything went white.
The moment the red-head figure rose from the floor and stole the ball from Murasakibara, he sped towards the ring and performed a perfect alley loop. Murasakibara gritted his teeth in anger. He followed after the red-head male, but his eyes met Akashi, his knees pulled him to the ground.
Murasakibara was frozen on the floor.
"Akacchi..." Kise was the first one to react. "What was that?"
"Did Murasakibara just fell?" Aomine uttered in disbelief.
The crimson-haired male broke into a wild chortle and turned towards the rest of the Generation of Miracles.
"Greetings all, my name is Akashi Seijuuro."