a/n= Hello guys! I am back! And trust me, the finale of this series is close to closing its curtain! I want to apologize for the slow updates, but the truth is I was having writer's block how to execute this 'intermission' chapter. This chapter is shorter than the previous chapters tho.

So I want to know what you guys think of what will happen in the last 2 chapters through the review :D Please R&R! Reviews are well appreciated!

(Please read the end of the story for additional A/N)

After pouring the steaming liquid into a porcelain mug, Midorima warily handed it to Kuroko. The bluenet looked at it with a dazed expression. Whether he questioned at the recent events occurred or Midorima's sudden hospitality, Midorima couldn't tell. If it was the latter, Midorima begrudgingly asked himself the same thing.

"Thank you," Kuroko said wearily. "I don't need it."

Without a word, Midorima took a sip at the rejected drink and squinted. Sheer bitterness billowed his tongue, paired with an icy feeling dreading on his ribcage. He had been holding these feelings for the past hour; there seemed to be no end to it.

Just like a domino, one problem overlapped another, and in the end, it knitted a tangled maze nobody could ever escape. Kuroko's memories, Akashi Seijuuro's rampage, and worse of all, Takao's death – two hours, fifteen minutes and thirty five seconds ago. Then, Akashi's suicide episode appeared before Midorima could grief and blink the tears away from his eyes.

However, the green-haired male kept his face calm and composed, controlling his emotions in the midst of this turbulent times. "I'm sorry for what happened, Kuroko." he simply said.

Kuroko pursed his lips before he spoke. "It's not your fault."

"We should have informed you." Midorima stated.

Kuroko's lips cracked into a forced smile. "I never blame any of you. In fact...blaming myself."

Midorima raised a brow, familiar with the bluenet's tendencies to put everything before himself. "You don't have anything to blame for."

Kuroko yanked a fistful of his hair and broke into a strained sob. "If Akashi or Seijuuro never tried to protect me from getting hurt, none of this would have happened! If I am strong enough, they don't have to go all the trouble and fight among themselves!"

Midorima watched Kuroko's chest frantically rose and fell. Beneath those frail shoulders bore great burden anyone could ever imagine. Even though Takao was far from existing, their relationship were authentically loyal and genuine – there was only one Takao, whereas in Kuroko's shoes, there were two people who happened to be one person at the same time.

Midorima heaved a sharp intake of breath before he spoke. "Akashi Seijuuro protected you out of their selfish will, in fact you should be grateful, not guilty. You will end up wasting their efforts."

Kuroko shifted uncomfortably and shot a faded look at the four-eyed. "Then Midorima-kun, tell me what should I do..."

The sight of Kuroko's torn expression stung Midorima's heart. Kuroko's unwavering adamant attitude diminished into apparent hopelessness that turned the bluenet into a nearly lifeless string puppet. Gingerly, Midorima pulled his cabinet. Right before his icy fingers reached a certain object from container, the door flew opened.

A tall red-haired male with a pair of bunny shaped brows stood before them with curled first. Kagami.

Two figures materialized behind him. Yellow and blue haired. Kise and Aomine.

"Kurokocchi! You're awake!" Kise exclaimed, tears prickled from the corners of his eyes.

"If you wanna doze off, don't make us worry goddamit." Aomine added with a crook smile.

Kuroko blinked for a long moment. "Kise...and Aomine?"

Midorima pulled his lips into a thin line and said. "Don't attack him all at once. He still needs time to remember everything."

"We lied to him," Kagami hissed. "Since Teiko and the end of Seirin. Akashi fucked around with his memory twice and we acted like we are okay with everything! Someone tell me... who in the world came up with this stupid idea in the first place?"

Kise and Aomine traded glances. Their eyes shifted from each other, Kuroko, Kagami and finally Midorima. Their eyes drilled at the four-eyed male for a long moment before Kagami exploded into a raging fit.

Grounding his jaws, Kagami flounced towards Midorima and grabbed him by the collar.

"The first time I found out about the bullshit ordeal was in the first practice match with Kaijo." Kagami gritted his teeth, his seething breath fanned Midorima's face. "Kise begged us not to tell Kuroko about it. I never knew it was your plan, Midorima!"

Midorima's passive face unaltered, lips remained pursed. "I am just doing what Akashi asked me to."

Now it was Kise's turn to interject. "You always obey Akashi! He was our captain, but that doesn't mean that he is always right! Why didn't you have a say in this?"

Aomine crossed his arms and added. "That makes you no different than a puppet."

With that, Midorima leveled gaze flew wide with mirth. His fist kissed the wall.

"Puppet?!" Midorima roared. "Who are the puppets of Akashi? It is all of you! Back then when Seijuuro commanded for victory, both of you stopped coming to practice, yet still scoring relentlessly on the court. You're doing what Seijuuro wants you to do!"

Aomine snapped back at him. "You still practice and follow him like a dog. Kise and I were just tired of all the bullshit!"

"I practice for my own sake!" Midorima hollered, his face bloomed with red with rage. "I am not as talented as you. I am not as tall as Murasakibara. I am not a great copycat like Kise. My accurate shoots are fruits from my relentless practice. I don't treat Seijuuro's ego as an excuse to become selfish just like him. Everyone of is the same, except Kuroko."

"Then if you really value Kuroko as the person he was, then why did you have to keep him in the dark?" Kise shot back.

Midorima shook his head in disbelief. His fingers rattled as he spitted out the words. "Don't you get it? It is for his sake. Kuroko has bear enough pain watching our downfall, and honestly, what Seijuuro was doing is reasonable. However, his second attempt erasing Kuroko's memories is unncessary. The reason why I decide to do this is..."

As Midorima's words trailed off, tears ran down his face. The beads escaped from his lower chin. Kise and Aomine remained silent. Their faces dejected like a guilty puppy. Kagami, acknowledging the heat of the situation, rubbed Midorima's shoulders and tried to keep his voice even.

"I understand your attempt," Kagami said slowly. "But I believe we could just stop lying after the final match in Rakuzan."

Midorima said nothing.

In the midst of the tensing silence, a new voice protruded the forming walls between them.

"That's enough. I won't let people argue for my sake anymore."

Every eyes directed to Kuroko, who regained his footing and seemed to collect himself mentally to one piece.

"I am very sorry if I burdened any of you in any way," Kuroko said calmly, tranquil returned to his eyes like running currents under a river. "Each one of you is doing everything to protect me, so it is my turn to return the favor and settle this once and for all. I am going to heal Akashi Seijuuro."

Panicked, Kagami shook Kuroko's shoulders. "You just regained your mental state Kuroko! There is no way you can do it now."

Kuroko offered him a stiff smile. "Hush, Kagami."

Kagami smirked and leaned his frame against the wall. "Heh, amnesia or not, still the same old stubborn guy I know."

Aomine and Kise shared a brief chuckle at the light change of mood. Even Midorima sunk into his chair and heaved a relieved breath, smiling softly.

"Akashi Seijuuro told me last time – the only way I can help them is to 'kill or heal' them. I need to solve the riddle and see which Akashi wants which."

The room went silent for a moment. To Kuroko's surprise, Kise was the first one to put his thoughts on board.

"Then isn't it supposed to 'heal' Akashi and 'kill' Seijuuro? Since Akashi is technically the owner of the host and Seijuuro is...how to put it formally, well parasite? I don't mean to say Sei is a real parasite, it's just a technical term I can think of..." Kise grinned sheepishly.

Kuroko smiled at Kise. He was glad to see that Kise's psychological understanding had improved since dealing with Aomine. He decided to save the celebration for later and continued. "That's what I thought of Kise-kun. At least until the last three months before Seijuuro returned."

Kagami's eyes went wide. "Then that means..."

Kuroko smiled, a fleeting sadness drifted inside his eyes. "Seijuuro is the one who write the letter to meet me. Seijuuro always cared about Akashi's condition, that's why he needs my help. On the other side, Akashi hated himself for relying Seijuuro too much, to the point he wants to get rid of himself."

"Kill Akashi," Midorima chanted. "Heal Seijuuro."

Kuroko agreed. "Precisely."

A few hours later:

Kuroko and Kagami stood by the balcony on the hospital rooftop. Eyes staring at the fleeting sky, Kuroko extended his arms and saw his fingertips blended in with the sky, the sunlight filtered from his fingertips. As a serene smile emerged on his lips, Kuroko closed his eyes while pondering on his final decision.

"Hey Kuroko," Kagami's voice pulled him from his trance. "Can I ask you something?"

Kuroko regarded Kagami's question with a grin. "Sure what is it?"

Kagami kneaded his temples with his thumb before he whispered. "Kill Akashi and heal Seijuuro...is that what you really want to do?"

"Yes." Kuroko answered Kagami without hesitation.

"Is that what you really want to do?"

"Yes."

Kagami raised his voice and clenched his fist. "Oi, think it straight! This time when you ask the other one to disappear, it will be gone for real!"

Kuroko looked taken aback, but he chuckled and rubbed his chin shyly. "Of course, that's the part of the plan right?"

"But I mean, eliminating the original owner of the body, is that what you really wanna do?"

Kuroko said nothing.

The silence permeated longer for a while. As the wind's rustles and Kuroko and Kagami's even breathing melted into the scene, Kuroko turned to Kagami and winked.

"Nobody really gets it huh..."

"Heh?"

Kuroko marched towards the door, and before he twisted the handle, he turned back to Kagami with a smile.

"Don't worry, I will make sure a happy ending." Kuroko smiled. "Do you trust me, Kagami-kun?"

As Kagami watched Kuroko left the balcony, he stared at the disappearing figure. Kuroko Tetsuya was ambiguous and stubborn, a peculiar mixed of trait possessed by one person. However, that's what made Kagami liked him.

"I trust you, Tetsu."

Kuroko's fist rapped Midorima's door until Midorima excused him.

As Kuroko closed the door behind him, Midorima pulled his cabinet and rummaged its content. "Are you ready now?"

Kuroko nodded. "Yeah. You told me you have the 'stimulus' to affect their disappearance."

Midorima fished a red mask from his cabinet and handed it to Kuroko. "Remember this?"

Kuroko gasped inwardly. It was the white mask that he bought and painted red for Akashi and Seijuuro. Kuroko wanted to question Midorima why did he had it with him, but he knew now was not the right time.

Kuroko's fingers smoothed across the abandoned gift and put a hardened smile. "This will work, Midorima-kun."

Midorima closed his eyes. "Good luck Kuroko. Whatever happens, we trust you."

Kuroko nodded. Before the bluenet left, Midorima's voice halted.

"Do you know what you are going to do?"

Kuroko turned back to Midorima with a smile and held out the mask confidently.

"I just need to choose right? Akashi or Seijuuro?"

With that, Kuroko left the hospital grounds with a firm decision in mind.

A/N= This is nothing relevant really. I just want to do a little promotion for my college event because I was required to XD so you may skip this one if you're not interested reading it, or if you're creeped out.

Are there any Indonesian readers here? If you are, I would like to invite you guys to a college event held at my college, it's like an anime/Japanese exhibition club like a typical anime festival with booths, maid cafe and stands etc. This event is open for all and I would like to expand more customers, so if you visit places like Comicon and AFA, you may be interested. If you are interested, you may PM me or anyhow.

Sorry for the marketing/promotion; I am just doing this for my college hehehe.