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the search;
After the first time Kuroko visited Aomine, he had been more cautious of his surrounding, less paranoid but more awkward. After what Akashi told him , of how he had been gone for hours when it was just minutes in the attic, Kuroko had also grown both suspicious and unworldly towards Aomine himself. Today would be his second visit to the tailed boy. Three days have passed.
At ten o'clock in the evening, Kuroko found himself sitting in Aomine's bed— which surprised him since it seemed like the bed hadn't gotten old—creaky but just… weak, as if the bed itself was alive and that the whole attic was breathing. Aomine was sitting by the window, catching fireflies with his eyes, waiting for Kuroko to talk since he has no intention of opening up any topic. It was Kuroko who visited anyway. Just like the old times.
"I need a drastic change in my life." Kuroko suddenly said and Aomine shot him a look full of suspicion.
"Shouldn't I be the one who have to wish for something like that?"
"I see." He said, "You are mad about something."
Aomine's tail illuminated through the darkness.
"Mad? You didn't show your face for three days." There was a hard feeling on his words.
"I thought I could visit whenever I want to?"
"I was just being polite, you dumbass. Of course I didn't mean it! You have to visit the attic every day."
"Visit the attic, or visit you?"
"Both! Good god, do you even know how irritating you are at the moment?" But before Kuroko could answer that one... "Apparently, NO. And that makes me more irritated."
"You don't need be so upset. I know you want to be released from those chains. I even feel guilty just by breathing here."
"I don't know, Kurokochi. With my age, it's getting difficult to trust people."
Kuroko raised an eyebrow "Kurokochi?"
There was a slight but sudden movement in the attic, the walls shook for a second and had gone before Kuroko could process what had happened, an earthquake? he thought. But that didn't really trouble him, what felt odd was…
"Cut the crap, Kise. I didn't get old."
A voice, very much similar to Aomine spoke.
"What…" Kuroko leaned closer to source of the voice— which was surprisingly very near him, he tried standing up from the bed he was sitting at but all he felt was the pillow as he fell on top of it. In a flash, another boy was above him, pinning him to the bed. It seemed like he jumped down from the ceiling, just like Spiderman. He became still, and not long after, Kuroko was released from the hold. Aching, he sat up from the bed.
"Tetsu, you are so easy to fool." He heard Aomine speaking, and when he opened his eyes, there were already two people looking at him. Of course there was Aomine, but the other one… the tall one who wore a normal high school uniform looked tremendously unfamiliar to him. His haired was blonde, with his deep round eyes carrying a blue shade. A human… or at least, that was what he looked like at the moment. "Couldn't you even tell that that wasn't me?"
"So this is Kurokochi, eh?" The young man said, a hint of true mischievousness written all over his face; a smirk dancing through his parted lips.
"And what do I owe you for this visit?" Aomine asked the student, an air of familiarity settled upon the two of them.
"I'm Kise." Said the boy, pulling out a hand from his pocket for a handshake. Kuroko stared at it and then to Aomine. The tanned boy had a lack of reaction so Kuroko took Kise's hand and shook it.
"Uh… nice to meet you?"
"Nice to meet you too and sorry for tricking you earlier. I have a habit of copying Aomine's hideous appearance."
"Oi idiot, answer me when I'm talking to you," Aomine complains, "And what do you mean by hideous?"
"Oh Aominechi's mad. Perhaps we should stop ignoring him now."
"How did you know about Aomine?"
As those words fell from Kuroko lips, Aomine and Kise stopped bickering and looked at him with measuring stares. They both shook their heads and Kise seemed troubled— frowning as he did so. He just met Kise, who has the ability to change his appearance, Aomine who has a blue glowing tail—definitely out of this world and yet Kuroko remained calm.
"Told you he's always unfazed."
"Crazy, you mean."
"That too."
"And weird."
"Yeah."
"I am right in front of you, you know."
"Kise's a human, by the way. Perfectly normal." Aomine announced to him, "But he can change his appearance, transform his face."
"And you're saying that he's a human…" Kuroko muttered when the words 'transform his face' sunk in on his mind. But then again, everything associated with Aomine was strange; this guy was probably included on the Things That You Still Don't Know About cluster.
"I met him after I was confided in here." Aomine started. "I think he was hired to clean the attic— everyone else backed out, but this guy's the only one who took the job. Surprisingly, he was able to see me."
"I thought he's just a huge stuff toy but when I tried to put him in a box, he bit my hand."
"You touched my butt, you ingrate. That's harassment."
"I was lifting you." Kise deadpanned.
"Whatever." Aomine rolled his eyes. "He lives on the light house near the cave— by the beach, if you know where that is."
"I know that." Kuroko nodded, remembering the day Akashi got lost on the cave but he didn't say that out loud. "But the light house was… abandoned, right? No one lives in there." His eyes found Kise's. And when he stared at them, he can see the water swirling… he shook his head.
"It's not that no one lives in there, you guys are just clueless. I'm surprised no one had ever noticed me exc—" Kise stopped, his word left hanging in mid-air. "E-except for Aomine." He continued. In return, Aomine looked at him unbelievably, almost glaring but just sighed in the end.
"Yes, of course, except for me."
"But I thought you can't leave the attic," Kuroko asked, brows furrowed together.
"During full moons, I can. Didn't I mention that last time?"
"No, you didn't."
"Oh… my bad. I guess I forgot." He stuck his tongue out.
"It's not even funny." Kuroko snapped, annoyed. "And here, I was so worried and guilty; I thought you can't leave the attic at all and it's my entire fault."
Aomine suddenly got quiet and Kise sensed the heaviness of the situation. "Geez." He tapped Kuroko's shoulder and forced him to sit on the bed again.
"Life is full of secrets and lies, Kurokochi. So when you get screwed over, don't act surprised. Although, Aomine might have reasons…" He shot Aomine a look of knowing and the latter caught that.
Aomine glared.
"Don't Kise." His tail waved furiously. "Just shut the hell up." He mouthed and he knew Kise understood that even without the sound of words.
Reluctant and helpless, Kise sighed as to feign his defeat.
"I just want to release him from here." Kuroko muttered lowly, casting sideway glances at Aomine who remained determinedly quiet.
"I know." Kise told him. As an outsider to this matter, this was not his problem and it shouldn't be enough to concern him. The problem, rather, was that he seeks for something that Kuroko has and without him, it would be impossible for Kise to achieve. So he chose to get involve but he would remain as quiet as he could for the objective he was carrying must remain hidden. He smiled.
"I am aware of the situation, Aominechi told me everything." He said as Kuroko gave him a curios look, more concerned at the -chi he always adds on their names. He really is innocent, Kise thought and doubted if Kuroko was really the person Aomine often talked about. "And I am here to help you out."
The faint moonlight escaping from the window lit Aomine from the left, falling across his face and tracing the delicate curve of his forehead and nose. The air then shifted. The window was left slightly open— enough space for them to smell the expanding fresh air that carried plenty of moisture. It was raining hard above. Aomine shivered.
Before continuing their conversation, Kuroko got up from his seat and closed the said window. Drawing the curtains down, Kise gave him a questioning look yet even without being answered, his eyes softened, unnoticed.
"I just…" Kuroko stuttered. "I just thought Aomine might dislike the rain since… he's a cat." He said slowly afterwards. There was something intimate about his manner of speech that others could not hear.
"Your concern is much appreciated." Aomine said to him, too formal that Kuroko had to wonder if he was being sarcastic or not. Too bad the small smile on the latter's lips was too serene for Kuroko to notice.
A branch with green leaves still attached smacked into the window. A gust of wind followed, and its roar resonated for some time. Almost without thinking, Aomine winced at the sound.
"Alright." Kise broke the seemingly awkward atmosphere. "Apparently… we are dealing with things called Ayakashi—mysterious, inhuman entities, invisible to the vast majority of people living today. There are many types of these spirits, from those that possess people to those that possess objects and buildings, even those who take the form of human beings and animals. One of them is a certain creature called 'Okami'."
At the mention of the name, Aomine's eyebrows furrowed.
"Okami?" Kuroko repeated as he sat himself down on Aomine's bed. Aomine sat on the floor, his tails on his lap, as the three of them formed a mini circle; the usual never-melting candles that burned with blue flames illuminated the most part of the attic.
"The Japanese calls her the goddess of the sun. Usually, she takes the form of a huge wolf and lives on a spiritually powerful mountain; significantly higher in rank than simple spooks and goblins."
"So," Kuroko says, "you're saying that she is real too?"
"Unfortunately, yes. And for some reason… she was also sealed on this very attic." Kuroko didn't miss the lack of enthusiasm on Kise's explanation.
"Was?" He asked.
Kise shrugged. "We don't know the exact details but it is certain that she was once confined in here for a very long time. When your great, great, great grandfather bought this house, he sort of put random spells, wards, and seals around the whole place, without even knowing what they were for. I think it's kind of a trend back then anyway." Kise smirked, seemingly amused at the idea. "With that, he had accidentally trapped the goddess on his attic and of course, your grandpa had no idea of that— after all he can't see the likes of Okami. You know, unnatural beings. And Aomine here…" Kise turned to him. "Would you like to continue the story instead?"
Kuroko wanted to ask how Kise knows about these but Aomine sighed rather loudly and continued where Kise left of . His face was etched with extreme reluctance though and his pair of yellow feline eyes remained unblinking. He fixed his gaze to Kuroko, and just then, his eyes grew calm like the surface of a cold ocean and Kuroko could feel no emotions on them. They were very quiet eyes.
"I already told you the part when I followed you, right?"
For a moment, Kuroko felt like he would get sucked into Aomine's eyes. He averted his gaze and looked down, Kuroko could only nod.
"Well I'm sorry for not telling you in the first place, I kind of lied last time too. Don't get mad, I know you have the right to know but I just don't want to talk about it. Well, listen now okay? Here's the detailed version of it."
He drew a deep breath. Kise rolled his eyes. He sort of gets annoyed when Aomine wants to be serious.
"Okami, she's a real awful goddess by the way, you have to remember that— she transferred her imprisonment curse on me. Ten years ago, when we were at the attic, she saw me and I saw her. Just like my current state, she has a chain but it was attached on her neck instead, more like a leash since she's on her wolf form. Apparently, she was strong enough to transfer the curse but not powerful enough to break the spell entirely which leads us to the current situation."
Kuroko couldn't help but think, he wasn't familiar with this kind of well… peculiarity. Quite a bizarre condition yet on the back of his mind, someone was telling him that this was all real. After all, didn't he once think that reality usually depresses him? And that he needed fantasy worlds and escape on them?
"There is a way to unlock the chain though." Kise, after staying quiet for a while, spoke. "Okami only appears during summer. If you can see Aominechi, then there's a high possibility that you might be able to see Okami too. You can see me when I changed appearance, right? Usually when I do that, normal people would not be able to see me at all— it's like I disappear completely. Yet you did. I know there are human who are spiritual enough to see the ayakashi, but they are very rare nowadays. ou might even attract Okami at this point."
"Attract her?"
"She fancies young men who can see her wolf form and once you laid your eyes on her, she will be able to sense it. She will come to you too, eventually. It will be an easy task to find her."
"Sounds like a plan." Tetsu is too calm for this, Aomine though. "Then Kuroko asked, "How will I know if she's near?"
"You'll hear a song. Do you know the Nursery Rhyme of Another Summer?"
Kuroko shook his head. The rain continued to pour down. Aomine once again fought a shiver down his spine.
"It's a very distinct music piece. You'll just know it is that the moment it begins playing. When I first saw her, I heard it clearly in my head too. It starts off with the sound of children laughing." Aomine told him, eyes hovering over one of the lit candles, blue flames scorching. Then you'll see the memory of the worst thing that had ever happened in your life, was the sentence left unsaid.
"The louder the song is… the farther Okami is to you. The weaker it sounds… the nearer she is." Aomine continued. "She uses this to trick humans; she feeds on them by the way. Especially during full moons."
Kuroko's heart soar a beat higher at the thought, somehow it scared him, and the fear seeped on to the depths of his being. His bones creaked and shrieked each time he thinks about it.
"W-why didn't I see Okami back then?" He asked Aomine. "Ten years ago, I was at the attic too, and I can see you."
"You didn't see me, right?" There's a quick flicker of sadness on Aomine's eyes that Kuroko failed to notice. "You momentarily stopped seeing me. I don't know how it happened but I guess it was good thing you didn't laid your eyes on that beast."
"Since Okami is the only one who knows how to break Aomine's chain, it's inevitable not to seek for her guidance." Kise said casually, as if the whole talk about Okami and her bad man-hunting habits were nothing to him. "There's still a month before summer starts though."
"Are you really human, Kise?" Kuroko asked then, growing suspicious of why he knew all about this… when he's just a mere human, wasn't that what Aomine said? Well, Kuroko himself is a human too… but that's not the case in here.
Kise blinked and blinked again, a soft chuckle escaped from his lips.
"I knew there are lots of reasons why you asked me that but believe me, I am only a human… just like you." He said as if to emphasize his last word. "You..."
"Fine." Kuroko had said nothing more.
"Aren't you going to ask?"
"Not really. I just figured out that it is none of my business. Human or not, you are still going to help me, right?"
"Glady."
"But seriously Kurokochi," Kise almost whines, "Why would you even try and help Aominechi? I mean, it's dangerous enough to threaten your life and no offense… you guys are nothing but childhood friends, right?"
"It's because we are friends that I am doing this." He made sure Aomine could hear this. "Isn't that reason enough?"
Just as those words parted from his lips, Aomine sunk on the floor; his back hitting the hard surface and was just looking at the roof of the attic wherein his chain was linked. It creaked as he moved his foot. He was trying to conceal a smile and failed. Both Kise and Kuroko stared at him.
"Didn't I tell you, Kise? He's as crazy as hell."
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