Love you guys!

Chapter Eleven:

(Author: To absorb this chapter more, try listening to Yuki Kajiura’s: My Long Forgotten Cloistered Sleep. Thank you.)

Akashi sat beside the sleeping teal-haired teen and took the latter’s hand. He caressed each finger and smiled after feeling their smoothness.

He lifted it near his lips and kissed it.

Kuroko mumbled a, “Mmm,” before rolling to the other side.

Akashi chuckled before fixing the phantom player’s messy hair. “I missed seeing his bed hair.” He muttered to himself and grinned.

It’s already 8 in the evening and Akashi decided to not let Kuroko go back home until 5 pm of the next day. He caressed the blue-head’s cheek and caught a glimpse of the bandage around his wound in the chest to stomach. And also the bandages around his bruises in his arms, legs, neck and shoulders. Even he, Akashi, himself, never thought Tetsuya would survive such tortures with all those wounds and pain.

He intertwined their hands and stared at the blue-head’ pale complexion. “You must have waited for a long time, Tetsuya.” He murmured and touched his left eyelid. “Truth be told, I was glad I chose and decided to use this eye as replacement of the older one—with this, I can use my Emperor Eye more and can fully enhance them.” He added and leaned over to kiss the blue-head’s forehead.

The small movement woke the blue-head’s senses and his eyes half-opened. “Hmmm…?”

Akashi released the phantom player’s hand and laid beside the latter. “It’s me, Tetsuya.”

“Ah…Sei-kun…” The blue-head murmured, still in daze and half-asleep.

“Do you want to eat anything?”

“Mmm…”

“Want curry?” The red-head offered.

Kuroko fully opened his eyes now and nodded. “That sounds good.”

Akashi snickered before standing up and putting on his slippers. “Then, just wait here and I’ll just bring your food here.”

The blue-head nodded and stared at the leaving figure of his former captain. He looked at his wrists and remembered the days after the accident two years ago. He couldn’t get over the fact that he what he experienced wasn’t just a dream and decided to cut himself, but Akashi had always caught him and stopped him, and lastly he was being punished by being a starting player on their practice game the next day against a stranger team.

Slowly, he coped up with dealing with people and decided to enter Seirin.

It was a good decision. Meeting a dense Kagami and supportive teammates was something he always wished before the first day of High School started.

He touched his bruised arm and winced.

“Do your injuries still hurt?” Akashi asked, coming with a tray of food.

Kuroko sat up and bit his lip before shaking his head. “Not really.”

Akashi raised an eyebrow before poking the blue-head’s forehead.

“Ow…” Kuroko mumbled.

“You must never lie to me, Tetsuya. I am absolute and I know when someone’s lying, so better stop trying.”

“I’m sorry…”

“And one more thing,” Akashi added. “Make a promise.”

“A promise?” Kuroko repeated after he swallowed the food in his mouth.

“Yes. A promise that you’ll never lie to me. An oath.” Akashi clarified.

Kuroko blinked before looking away. “Lying is part of my life, Sei-kun.”

“It is, when you’re with other people, but remember, that you don’t need to do the same with me—I know the whole truth, Tetsuya. There’s no reason to hide anything to me. Vow it.”

With trembling hand, Kuroko raised his right hand and murmured the words, “I vow not to lie to you, Sei-kun.”

Akashi knows that it’s a hard deal, but it’s the only way for the blue-head to [try] never to lie to him and always say the truth. With that, it’ll be easier for him to think of a way to help the teal-haired teen.

Kuroko finished the food in his plate and was about to get back in resting, but Akashi stopped him.

“Not yet, Tetsuya. You still need to finish your dessert and then drink your medicines as pain reliever.”

Kuroko covered himself with the blanket. “No. I’m already full. I might vomit if I eat more.”

Akashi smirked. “Seriously? The food I gave you is only 1/8 of what Kagami Taiga eats. That’s why you never grow up bigger.”

The last sentence was a taboo sentence. Kuroko frowned. “You’re one to talk. You’re just 2 centimeters taller than me.”

“At least, I’m still taller than you.” Akashi countered.

“Compare your height with Murasakibara-kun’s.”

Akashi frowned. “And what do you mean with that?”

“You can’t even reach his level. We’re just the same, but I already accepted it, but you, you still hate being called shorty.” Kuroko added.

Akashi frowned more. “That’s because being small is in our gene, so they have no right to call me that.”

“Hn. At least, they are just being honest about you being short.” The last sentence was also a taboo sentence for Akashi.

Akashi huffed and pinched Kuroko’s cheeks.

“Mmmmnnnnn!” Kuroko gasped.

“The only one who can counter me like that is you, Tetsuya. Amazing. Let me reward you with a painful pinch.” Akashi mumbled and pulled Kuorko’s cheeks more.

“Waah…Sei-kun…” Kuroko tried removing the red-head’s hands in his cheeks, but in the process, he accidentally moved and his wound and bruises suddenly became very painful. He flinched and froze.

“Tetsuya?”

“T-They hurt…” Kuroko mumbled and touched his chest.

“…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—“

“No, it was also my fault. Anyway, I am already full, so I won’t eat those anymore. Lastly, to finish this argument, we’re not short—they are just tall.” Kuroko declared.

Akashi couldn’t help chuckling. “Oh goodness, Tetsuya, you are a wise lad, oh you really are.” He mumbled.

Kuroko just blinked his expressionless eyes.

The next day, as Akashi, himself, decided to go to school; Kuroko is left alone in the red-head’s house.

The teal-head stood and faced his reflection in the whole-body mirror of the guest’s room. He unbuttoned his shirt’s buttons and touched the scar in his chest. It’s covered with bandage, but he can still the feel pain.

“How will I play against them after that incident? How will I be Kagami-kun’s shadow, if once again, I’m afraid to face anyone except the ones who saved me? How can I be Kagami-kun’s shadow if I couldn’t even face him?” He muttered to himself.

He then looked at his wrapped-with-bandage head. “Me against the world. The latter will win, of course.” He added and stared at his pale image. He then placed his palm on the mirror. “The least I can right now is to vow to myself to never cry again. In private maybe, but never before someone again—especially Sei-kun.” He murmured and looked at the ground.

Setting Skip…

“Are you ready, Tetsuya?” Akashi asked to the teal-haired teen beside him in the back seat. They just arrived infront of the blue-head’s house.

“I have to, even if I don’t want to.” Kuroko replied, opened one of the backseats’ door and went out.

Akashi followed after him, but even if the phantom player arrived before their house’s gate, his trembling hands and fingers don’t want to push the doorbell’s button.

The redhead sighed and pushed the button, himself.

“But, Sei-kun—“

“Nothing will happen if we’ll just stand here all night long. You need to face them, what’s the difference of this time to next time?” Akashi stated and lifted his head when the door opened and Kuroko’s mother opened the gate and hugged the blue-head.

Akashi flinched upon seeing Kuroko wince with pain with how tight his mother hugs him. But the blue-head didn’t complain about it, anyway. He’s not that kind of person.

“Oh, Tetsuya, I missed you! How are you? Are you alright? How’s school? Why weren’t you answering your cellphone? Did you receive my messages? Were you lonely when we were gone? Your dad’s asking a lot of questions.” Nuriko Kuroko said without breathing.

“So are you, Mom. I’ll answer them one by one: I’m fine. Second: Yes, I’m alright. Third: School’s fine. Fourth: Because my battery was exhausted and since my cellphone is one of a kind, without my very own charger –which I obviously forgot—I will not be able to use it. Fifth: Yes, I received your texts you sent me the days when my battery’s still full. I do not know what to answer to the last one.” Kuroko replied with his usual emotionless tone.

“Ah…so who is he?” Nuriko glanced at the still Akashi.

“He’s Akashi Seijuro, he was my former captain in Teiko Middle Basketball Club. He let me sleep with him when…I was doing some project.”

Nuriko frowned. “Another thing, why is your head bandaged? What happened?”

“I fell on the stairs when I was hurrying to school yesterday and I hit my head. I was hurried to the hospital after that and was advised to bandage it because it bled.” He mumbled, lying.

“Lastly, why were your friends in school looking for you?”

Kuroko gulped.

“Uh, that might be because I go home early, I also pick Tetsuya from school early. And like he said, his battery’s out, so he wasn’t able to tell his teammates that he’s skipping their practices.” Akashi filled in with a fake smile.

“Ah, I see.”

“What’s taking you so long, Nuriko?” A husky voice growled.

Both the mother and son stiffened. Akashi narrowed his eyes. I think I can guess who that person might be.

A guy who looks like Takumi Kuroko appeared.

“A-AH, S-Sei-kun, this is my mother, Nuriko Kuroko—I think you’ve met her before…and my father, Kazuhiko Kuroko…” Kuroko introduced with shivering tone.

“I see.” Akashi murmured.

“So, you’re finally home, huh.” Kazuhiko mumbled. “Go inside, both of you. Tetsuya, you’re in lot of trouble.”

Kuroko was forced to go in and Akashi was forced to watch the blue-head’s hair being pulled by his father to go inside more rapidly.

Nuriko padlocked the gate. “I’m so sorry for my husband’s attitude.” She apologized with a bitter smile.

“Why don’t you just divorce him?” Akashi asked bluntly.

Nuriko gasped before looking away. “He’ll surely kill the kids if I do that. My family helps a lot with his business, so he wants us to stay together as family. If I divorce him, he’ll surely do something bad to the kids due to anger and for revenge.” She replied.

Akashi didn’t bother to reply.

“I gotta go.” Nuriko excused and went inside the house.

The red-head went inside the car, opened his laptop and searched for the words: ‘Kazuhiko Kuroko’ and then ‘Helden Nomaki’.

He opened some articles and read them while the trip’s ongoing.

Akashi found no unusual information until he got into a website that he couldn’t access. He suddenly felt uneasy, so he did a trick and hacked it.

His eyes widened.

Helden Nomaki. 45 of age and currently living in Narita, Japan. He has a bad background since High School for his weird hobbies. He’s a genius, but he doesn’t use it for good things. What others know is that he’s just researching to invent something others have not done, but the truth is…He’s using teenagers to get what they let out when having sex and then uses them for his experiments. He loves using boys in the age of fifteen to twenty. He loves experimenting and using a poor boy he let his servants kidnap. Some teenagers were said that died because of being used by him.

Type of teenagers he kidnaps; uses and experiments with: good-looking, obedient, innocent-looking, afraid of him, easily-aroused, good in the bed

Akashi bit his bottom lip. “This is bad.”

~LFMH021~

Kuroko was released with a lot of force by his father. Nuriko gulped and was forced to sit beside his older son, Takumi. The latter stopped, typing, saved the file he’s working on and narrowed his eyes. They both stood up when Kazuhiko glared at them.

“That red-head boy where you stay over at…what is his name?” Kazuhiko queried.

Kuroko gulped. “…Akashi Seijuro, father.”

The name made Kazuhiko narrow his eyes. “An Akashi huh...Tell me something I don’t know; are you, perhaps, kind of attracted to that red-head who has such sharp eyes?”

Kuroko stared at his father with blank expression.

“’I’ll take that as a yes.” Kazuhiko stated and stood up from his seat. He approached the phantom player and raised his chin, so their eyes would meet. “From now on, you must not approach and let that red-head talk or come over to you again, or else.”

No. Not this kind of condition. Not this.

Kuroko frowned. “You’ve took everything away from me. You’ve let me feel pain, sadness, loneliness, darkness, emptiness and even took my mother and brother’s love for me because they are afraid that you’ll hurt them because of it. Please, I’ve had enough.” Kuroko politely replied.

Nuriko and Takumi stood speechless.

Kazuhiko gritted his teeth before pushing his son on the ground. “You bastard! Remember this day, Tetsuya. Remember this day. Do what I asked you or else we’ll transfer to USA, so you two will never see each other ever again.”

Kuroko’s eyes widened. “You can’t do this to me, father.”

“Oh, I can, Tetsuya. I can. I repeat, avoid talking or even meeting with that Akashi Seijuro or else we’ll relocate to USA and forever to stay there, and another thing: we might as well find you a wife there.”

“No…” Kuroko murmured.

“Understood the condition, Tetsuya?” Kazuhiko demanded.

The teal-haired teen covered his eyes with his bangs before standing up. “I understand, father. I will avoid Akashi Seijuro from now on.”

“Good.”

Right after that, Kuroko grabbed his duffel bag and went to his room and locked it.

“Kazuhiko—“ Nuriko started.

“Shut up or I’ll hit you, woman.” Kuroko Kazuhiko grumbled.

Nuriko shut her mouth.

Takumi shut down his laptop and closed it. I wonder what happened with his head, arms and ankles…Tetsuya, what truly happened to you?

“Don’t you agree with me, Takumi? I’m right about Tetsuya finding something else to do right?” Kazuhiko asked to the glasses-boy – Takumi Kuroko.

Takumi placed his laptop inside its case. “I don’t know, father. Sometimes, I wonder how Tetsuya could cope up with it, but I think you’re being too much of a dictator. I was just shutting my mouth, but not this time.” He fixed his glasses.

“You—You’re also against me now?!” Kazuhiko growled and was about to grab his oldest son, when the latter slapped his hand away and glared at him with the same eyes he has.

“You taught me to fight, father. You taught me martial arts when I was younger, this time, I will use them against you.” Takumi stated with cold tone.

Kazuhiko cursed before heading to the master’s bedroom and slammed the door shut.

“How long, mother?” Takumi mumbled. “How long will you turn your back on your own son? You know what I noticed when you were gone?”

“W-What is it?”

“He was happier. He was greeting me with a little smile in his lips. He even competed into the Winter Cup with his school’s basketball club and won. Yes, he’s happy when you two are not home. I also noticed that he never hated me, know why? It’s because I still cared. When you fought and he got abused, I secretly treated his wounds. Sometimes he still teases me with the word ‘tsundere’. I love him, I just show it with my own ways. But you two? I wonder.” He mumbled.

Nuriko stood with teary eyes.

“I’m going to prepare him some soup and other food to eat. He’s become paler. I think knowing you two are home made him lie that he’s making a project. I know when he’s lying, he averts his eyes, but why am I saying these things anyway? You don’t care, anyhow.” He added and went to the kitchen.

Nuriko fell on her knees as tears poured from her eyes. She covered her face with her hands.

“Truth always hurts.” Takumi murmured and started to boil some water. “But, lies hurt more.”

~LFMH021~

Kuroko winced as he tried to finish bandaging his chest. He’s having a hard time wrapping it around his body. “Ugh…” He groaned.

“You could just ask me to help you, right, Tetsuya?” a familiar voice asked from the doorframe.

Kuroko’s eyes widened and he turned to only find his older brother leaning against the doorframe and his arms crossed.

“O-Onii-san, please don’t scare me like or I’ll get angry.” Kuroko mumbled.

“Wha--?! You do that to me everytime you appear from nowhere!” Takumi complained and then he laughed. “You were just teasing me, weren’t you?”

“Maybe?” Kuroko replied.

Takumi playfully punched his younger brother’s shoulder. “You idiot.”

Kuroko’s eyes brightened. “Onii-san, why…” He trailed off.

Takumi wrapped his arms around his brother. “I’m sorry, Tetsuya. I’m so sorry. I didn’t stand up for you these last 16 years and then, you still consider me as your older brother. I’m so ashamed of myself. The days you were gone missing…I knew that something bad happened, and as I typed like a robot….I realized that I’m such a stupid person to let father harm you, to let him abuse you. One time, you tried to reach for me for help, but I turned my back on you…I’m so sorry…I’m so sorry.” He whispered.

Our phantom player hugged his brother back. “How could I stop considering you my brother when you were just afraid of being hurt? I would never forget the moments you stayed with me and treated my wounds when I was injured. Thank you, Onii-san…”

Takumi smiled and took the bandage roll on top of the table. “Let me help you with that.” He muttered, wrapped the bandage around his brother’s body and covered his scars. “What happened? Where did you get all these injuries? What truly happened Tetsuya?”

Will telling him the truth help me? Maybe…? Then, I must not mention about Isshin Toshita; he’ll be heart-broken if he’ll know his best friend’s one of our enemies.

So, Kuroko gave him a brief explanation. After his injuries were treated, he put on his uniform and picked up his bag. “I’m going now, Onii—Onii-san?”

“Are you sure you still want to continue attending school, Tetsuya? You could just home school, you know, and then Mom and Dad will go back after two weeks, so you can peacefully study at home. Why don’t you try?”

“No, Onii-san.” Was Kuroko’s immediate answer.

“But, Tetsuya—“

“I’ll be fine, just see.”

Takumi frowned. “Fine, I’ll let you go to school. Just be careful, alright?”

The blue-head nodded.

“What about Akashi Seijuro?”

Kuroko’s heart thumped loud. “I…I need to obey father. I’m sure he has assigned someone to spy me if I truly obeyed him. I don’t want to avoid Sei-kun, but I need to or else father might also hurt him and I don’t want that…”

“If that’s really your decision, then I cannot disagree with you. Just be careful on the way.”

Kuroko nodded again, feeling a little happy knowing that someone in his family still believes in him. “Thank you, Onii-san.”

Takumi smiled and patted his younger brother’s head. “You’re always welcome.”

~LFMH021~

Kuroko stared at his classroom’s door.

He exhaled and opened it. No one turned his head.

I forgot that I possess such low presence…

He sat in his seat and opened a book.

“W-Wait, am I just hallucinating or are you really here, Kuroko?” Kagami gasped.

He looked up from reading the book he brought and found a bewildered red-head. “Hello, Kagami-kun.” He greeted.

“What ‘hello’?! Where were you? What happened to you?” Kagami asked without breathing.

“Calm down, Kagami-kun or you’ll collapse. My battery was out when you tried calling me and I was just in Sei-kun’s house. He picked me right after dismissal few days ago and I wasn’t able to tell you that I would skip practice that day. The days afterwards…I got a fever and was advised to stay at his house for a little while.”

“Sei-kun…?” Kagami repeated.

“Akashi Seijuro-kun.” Kuroko clarified and turned the pages of his book.

“We have practice later, so better attend, alright?”

Kuroko nodded. “I understand.”

Kagami patted the blue-eyed boy’s head. “Few days from now and we’ll face Awase Gakuen High School. I’m excited, ‘bout ya?”

Kuroko’s eyes narrowed. “Perhaps.” He mumbled which mad ethe red-head raised his eyebrows.

What a weird reply from him. Kagami thought. “Sir is here. I’m going back to my seat.”

The blue-head nodded, closed his book and greeted with his classmates.

“Never meet with Seijuro Akashi again or else we’ll relocate to USA and find you a wife.”

“Never lie to me, Tetsuya. You must never betray and lie to me. Promise me that.”

He looked outside the window and glanced at the blue sky. Whom between them should I obey? Who?

~LFMH021~

Kuroko blinked before opening the door of their gym.

The members of Seirin basketball club were busy practicing shooting and dribbling, so they didn’t notice his entrance. Once again.

He went to the locker room and changed his clothes into jersey and went back to the court.

“First year on my right side, second year on my left side!” Riko shouted.

Everyone assembled and went to their designated places.

She role called. “…Kuroko Tetsuya?”

“He’s still absent?” Izuki asked.

“I think.”

“Uhm—“ Kuroko started.

Kagami grabbed him. “He’s right here.” He shouted and pointed at his shadow.

All the other members looked at the red-head and then at the blue-head being wrapped with one of his arms. “EH?!!! Kuorko?!” They gasped and examined him like he’s a ghost that resurrected from heaven or something.

“Are you really Kuroko?” Koga gasped.

“I am.”

“Waah! We missed you! Kagami told us everything, but we didn’t expect that you’ll attend today’s  practice!” Riko hugged the blue-head and almost squished him.

“…Ca…Cannot…bre…breathe…” Kuroko gasped for air.

Riko released him. “Oops, sorry about that. We just missed you.”

“We just missed you…”

The words touched Kuorko’s heart. He made his usual emotionless expression then bowed. “Tank you very much.”

“Huh?” His senpais mumbled and then lifted their hands. “Glad to have you back.”

Each of his teammates high-fived with him.

“Thank you, Hyuuga-senpai for keeping what happened yesterday.”

“It’s no problem.”

“You too, Izuki-senpai.”

“It’s nothing.”

“And you too, Kiyoshi-senpai.”

“Nothing to thank me about.”

~LFMH021~

Their practice ended at exactly five pm and the freshmen, once again, won against their senpais having the light-shadow duo back.

“That was such an amazing match!” Kagami shouted and stretched right after they went out the men’s locker room for changing their clothes back into uniforms.

Kuroko sat on the bench and took a deep breath. “That was exhausting.”

“Hey, Kuroko, want to come with us to Maji Burger? We’ve not done it for awhile now.” Hyuuga offered.

“Uhm, I’ll—“

“Kurokocchi!!!!” An annoying—I mean, familiar voice shouted.

They all turned and found Kise running towards the phantom player. When he was about to jump to Kuroko, the latter quickly stood up and step aside, so the copycat landed on the ground.

“Waah! That’s harsh!” Kise grunted.

Kuroko narrowed his eyes. “What…are you doing here?”

“We’re here to pick you up, of course. After what happened few days ago, we can’t let you go home alone.” Kise slipped.

“After what happened few days ago?” Riko repeated, raising an eyebrow.

Kise received a pinch in the cheek from Akashi as he placed him behind him. “Yeah, he was hurrying back home and tripped. The reason for the bandage around his head.” Akashi filled in with a fake smile.

“Ah.”

Izuki, Hyuuga and Kiyoshi silently sighed in relief.

“You idiot.” Aomine grumbled at Kise’s ear.

“G-Gomen…”

The emperor looked the teal-haired teen. The latter instantly looked away.

“Tetsuya, wha—“

“I-I’m not going to go home with you five for today. W-We are going to have an important meeting about defeating Awase Gakuen at Maji Burger. You can go back home without me.” Kuroko lied.

Akashi narrowed his eyes. “Hm….Is that true, Riko Aida-san?”

Riko flinched with the tone of the smaller red-head. “I…Uh…” Her eyes caught Kuroko’s pleading eyes. She took a deep breath. “Yeah, it’s true.”

The owner of the emperor eyes clenched his fists. They’re obviously lying…but why? Why, Tetsuya?

“Can’t you just tell him about it tomorrow at your practice?” Midorima suggested.

“I have missed a lot of meetings, so I have to catch up with them. I’m so sorry.” Kuroko bowed.

The second years nodded at one another and went out of the gym one by one. The freshmen decided to follow behind their senpais. The light-shadow duo being the last ones to go out.

Kagami went out first, the blue-head behind him.

Kuroko didn’t raise his eyes to meet Akashi’s and passed by his former teammates.

“Kuro-chin, are you avoiding us?” Murasakibara asked, his tone sad.

Kuroko turned. “No, I’m just in a hurry.”

“You rotten liar, what are you hiding from us?” Aomine demanded.

“I’m hiding nothing.” Kuroko replied.

“You may have deceived your teammates, but not us. Did you father say anything to threaten you, Kuroko?” This time, it’s Midorima.

“No, he said nothing to threaten me. Like I already said, I’m just in a hurry and experiencing a lot of stress.”

“Kurokocchi!” Kise grumbled. “Kazuhiko Kuroko said something, didn’t he? Tell us! Kurokocchi!”

Kuroko gave the yellow-head a glare. “I have nothing to inform you. If ever something new happened inside the house, I’m not obliged to tell you everything, right?”

Kise was astounded with how cold the blue-head’s tone has become.

Akashi’s eyes turned darker with the unusual attitude Kuroko’s portraying.

The blue-head was about to pass by him, as well, but he caught the latter’s wrist and turned him. “Tetsuya.”

Kuroko quickly averted his eyes elsewhere.

“I thought you promised me to never lie and betray me? You know that you must never break a vow you made with me.”

“Let me go, Akashi-kun.”

“And we’ve already agreed upon you calling me Sei-kun. Tetsuya, tell me what’s happened.” Akashi urged in.

“Let. Me. Go. Akashi-kun.” Kuroko repeated.

Akashi didn’t comply. “No.”

“You promised me as well to never to let anyone harm me again, but the way you hold my wrist right now hurts, Akashi-kun. Please let me go.” Kuroko tried to pull his hand away.

Kuroko stiffened when his phone suddenly vibrated from his pocket.

He put down his chopsticks, stopped from eating and excused himself from Kagami-kun’s accompaniment.

He went to a corner. “Hello?”

“Tetsuya.”

“F-Father…”

“I believe you still remember the deal we made yesterday.”

“Yes, I still do.”

“I add another condition upon it.”

“W-What…?’ Kuroko mumbled, bewildered.

“It’ll be better if you push that red-head away, avoid him and be cold towards him, anything, just push him away—he’ll only ruin your life. He’s a son of some prestigious person, we can’t mess with him. If you do not comply with this, I’ll hire someone I know to do it—I’ll let him do what he needs to do in a way he knows.”

 “No…You don’t mean…”

“Of course, I’ll let him hurt your precious Akashi Seijuro as long as I separate you two.”

“No..You can’t.”

“I can, Tetsuya, I can. Understand my terms?”

Kuroko’s eyes darkened with sadness. “Yes, father. Just don’t harm him.”

“I’ll think about that.”

“You’re obliged to obey me, Tetsuya. From the moment you agreed to do our oath, you’re obliged to comply with my orders.” Akashi snapped.

“LET ME GO!” Kuroko shouted and forcefully pulled his hand away which made the members of the Generation of Miracles gasped and freeze. “I’m sorry, please excuse me.”

Kuroko quickly kept the same pace as his current light.

Akashi stared in astonishment at the disappearing figure of the blue-head.

“Akashicchi, we—“

“Go back home or just go wherever you need to go.” Akashi ordered.

“But, Akashi—“ Aomine started.

“Go or I’ll pull your eyes out from their sockets. I’m not kidding so, scam!” Akashi yelled.

The four looked at one another, nodded and left one by one.

Akashi gritted his teeth, went inside his waiting car and looked at the picture of the former Teiko members which is inside his wallet. He touched where the teal-haired teen is, and unexpected angry tears escaped his eyes. “Tetsuya…why? Why? Damn it.” He cursed and crumpled the picture in his hands.

~LFMH021~

A car stopped beside Kagami and Kuroko.

The passenger’s seat’s window was rolled down and an older version of Kuroko appeared.

“EH?” The others gasped.

“Onii-san, what are you doing here?” Kuroko mumbled.

“Onii-san?! He’s his brother?!” The others repeated. They all received a smack in the head afterwards.

“Know your manners, idiots!” Riko shouted.

“I’m here to pick you up. I encountered your red-head friend’s car and I saw him glaring at nothing. Perhaps…you’ve done what you were forced to by father?”

Kuroko made no reply.

“I thought so. I’m here to pick you up, you still need some rest. Don’t try saying ‘no’ because I’ll force you in.” Takumi threatened.

Kuroko sighed, bowed at his teammates. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He excused, went inside the passenger’s seat, closed the windows and let his brother drive him wherever he plans to. “Onii-san, does the world hate me?”

“Huh?”

“I’m trying my best to be a good boy, but why does the world still hate me?” Kuroko murmured.

“Sometimes, you just need to experience some things first, Tetsuya.”

“Have I not experienced enough?”

Takumi has nothing to reply with.

“I don’t want to avoid him. I don’t want him to hate me. But why? Why does this need to happen to me?” Kuroko mumbled.

“I don’t know, Tetsuya. I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

Kuroko stared at the picture of Akashi which is inside his wallet. “He hates me now. He truly does…”

“I’m so sorry, Tetsuya.” Takumi mumbled. “By the way, Tetsuya, Isshin wants to meet us tomorrow, after your dismissal, will you be available? I hope you can be, he’s a nice person and you two will surely get along well.”

Kuroko gulped. “I—“

“I hope you can be available.” His brother rarely makes a request, does he has the guts to say ‘no’?

“….Yes, I’m available.”