CHAPTER THREE:

As Kuroko began to gather the empty plates to wash the dishes, the doorbell suddenly rang. She turned, but was stopped by Akashi, who offered to open it instead.

The red-head proceeded to the front door, took out the keys and put on his slippers as his groupmates decided to take some rest and ended up sitting on different couches in the living room. Must be the newspaper. It's time for that anyway. He opened the front door and was about to greet their usual postman when sharp eyes and dark-head faced him.

He blinked as Nijimura Shizuo raised a hand as a greeting as he grinned a little. "Hey. Can I eat there today? This is so near from where my previous target lived at, so I proceeded here."

Akashi closed the door and after three seconds, opened it again.

Nijimura frowned. "What?" He demanded.

Slowly, realization hit Akashi's head, and he forcefully closed the front door before locking it with the keys.

"Akashi? Hey, Akashi? Open the door!" Nijimura shouted from right outside the door. He could knock it down just by the way he knocked on it. It was as if it was Murasakibara, himself, who was outside and banging.

Kise peeked from the living room. "Akashicchi? What's up? Why bang the door close?"

He mouthed, "Nijimura."

The yellow-head frowned. "What?"

He gritted his teeth and tried again. "Ni-ji-mu-ra." He even emphasized each syllable but the copycat still didn't get it, which was why he ran towards the living room, took out whatever paper he could get hold of and a pen before writing rapidly on it. He raised it up.

That was why every member of the Generation of Miracles started to panic.

"What are we supposed to do?" Midorima whispered.

"Is he still outside?" Aomine half-whispered and half-shouted.

Murasakibara slowly, while a pocky was between his lips, approached the windows and peeked. "WAAAH!" He gasped and ran behind Midorima. "Niji-chin's outside…! He was glaring at me!"

"Good thing the curtain somehow hid us." Akashi murmured. "Where's Kuroko?"

"Still in the kitchen, ssu." Kise replied.

"The curtains there are open widely!" Midorima gasped.

"SHIT!" Aomine growled and ran towards the kitchen. There she was, just finished washing the dishes and was now just drying her hands. "Kuroko!"

The teal-head blinked and turned. "Yes?"

"Come here! Quickly! And duck!" The dark blue-head grunted.

The girl did so and approached the five. "What's the matter?"

"Remember Nijimura?" Akashi queried.

Tetsumi blinked. "Of course I do. We were just talking about him awhile ago."

If it was not a life-and-death situation, the others would have probably already laughed for the embarrassed expression Akashi showed. The latter composed himself. "Anyway, he's outside—"

"—OI! YOU FIVE! YOU'RE DEFINITELY IN THERE! LET ME IN! HOW DARE YOU SHUT ME OUT!" Nijimura growled outside.

"—And we certainly need to hide your presence or else we'll be dead meat. And I assure you, you won't like to see that." Akashi resumed.

"Hide? Where?" Tetsumi murmured.

"Yeah? Where?" Murasakibara agreed.

"I WILL SHOOT THIS DOOR DOWN IF YOU DON'T OPEN IT AFTER TEN SECONDS! I TELL YOU, I WON'T BE AFRAID TO FACE THE POLICE IF EVER THEY COME HERE! I'M FINE WITH IT, BUT ARE YOU?! YOU HAVE TEN SECONDS, YOU FIVE!" Nijimura threatened.

Kise gulped in anxiety. "Ugh! Hurry, Akashicchi!"

"10!"

The red-head took a deep breath and quickly explained his plan, "I will hide her, which means I'll be with her until Nijimura leaves, while you four try to distract him and make him leave."

"9!...8!"

"What if he goes on wherever you're hiding?"

"We'll do—"

"7!"

"—our best to hide while you guys—"

"6!"

"—try to distract him or prevent him from gaining at us!"

"5!"

"We'll go outside however we can if necessary!" Akashi panted.

"4!"

"Now go!"

"3!"

"Yes!" The remaining four replied as Akashi and Kuroko ran to the basement as quietly as they could.

"2!"

"Hurry!" Akashi hissed as he opened the storage area where he and Kuroko will hide.

"1-"

Kise quickly opened the front door, and grinned widely. "SORRRRRY~ Nijimuracchi! We were preparing you a surprise that was why we closed the door. We weren't supposed to call you for it until later."

Nijimura's eyes were obviously disbelieving.

Anyone could almost see the cold sweat drop on the copycat's forehead. "Now, now, Nijimuracchi, don't say you don't believe me, ssu?"

"I don't." The dark-head bluntly responded.

It was as if Kise's heart just cracked into pieces with his leader's reply. He took a deep breath and yelled, "Midorimacchi, still not done yet, ssu?"

Midorima shouted back, "I'm done, nanodayo."

The blonde sighed and grabbed one of Nijimura's wrists. "Come, come!" He persuaded and winked at Aomine behind the former.

The blue-head nodded and let the door a little open, not so obviously, just in case the two really needed to run outside.

"Oi, Aomine, you comin'?" Nijimura yelled from the dining room.

He stiffened and ran towards the dining room. "I'm coming! Just removed the dusts from the mat since Midorima nagged me all day yesterday about it."

"It was because you were being so unclean, Aomine, nanodayo. Don't blame it on me, nanodayo." Midorima rode as he secretly motioned for the other to head to the dining hall as well so their plan wouldn't be busted.

Nijimura eyes sparkled both in surprise and happiness. "WOW! You cooked these?"

"Nah, we bought all of these for you! After all, you're being so kind to us! We're also supposed to make some banners and tarpaulins for you as a sign of gratitude but it seems that you arrived earlier than we expected!" Aomine lied.

Lying was common to the latter that it almost seemed so real.

"Since you came into all the trouble, I shall partake into your offer!" The dark-head exclaimed and sat on one of the seats. "Itadakimasu!"

I wonder how the two are doing…

Tetsumi looked up at the red-head. "I think I can hear them just chatting at the dining room."

The red-head frowned in confusion. "You can hear them?"

"Well, my ears and my observant eyes are my specialties." The teal-head murmured.

Akashi raised an eyebrow and smirked in amusement. "Oh? If you're one of us, I think you'll be very useful. Especially with this so-called misdirection you possess. It's just that—" He cut himself before he could spout more shit.

The phantom girl smiled slightly. "I can almost know everything you wanna add. Let me guess, it should be: 'It's just that you're supposed to be our last target, whom we failed to kill. Since it's my responsibility, I need to hide you instead of use you. I would have done the latter if I could. Too bad you'll be much of a baggage of ours instead.' Am I right?"

The a-little-furious eyes Akashi snapped at her made her stiffen.

"W-What is it?" She stammered.

Akashi opened the storage area and tried to breathe in the good-enough air of the basement, which had their cars, their spare guns and some other garbages in it. He frowned and turned a little at her. "That was not what I was planning to say."

"Then what was it? Tell me."

He took a deep breath and then exhaled. "It's supposed to be—"

"I'm so stuffed! Now, now, don't hide it! Where is Akashi, our dear, dear great leader? I need to ask him some things." Nijimura announced from right above them.

Both looked up at the ceiling as if it was a one-side mirror and they could see him through it.

"Ah! A-A-A-Akashicchi's currently out a-and—"

"Out? But he was the one who opened the door first, right?" Nijimura suspiciously interrogated.

"Shit…" Akashi cussed.

"Uh….Uh…" Kise started.

"He ran outside to get the tarpaulins we were talking about, nanodayo!" Midorima filled in. "He told us to entertain you while he was out. He said he would be out for about an hour or so since the tarpaulins and banners for you are not done yet, nanodayo. He actually wanted us to tell you to wait until tomorrow for the main feats and celebration, nanodayo."

"Midorima-kun can actually lie." Tetsumi mumbled under her breath in surprise.

Akashi smirked. "Shocking, isn't it?"

"Then, I shall wait for him instead! I have no errand to attend to." Nijimura enthusiastically announced.

"NO!" The four gasped.

Akashi clicked his tongue. "That reaction of theirs would surely raise his suspicions even more. Come here, Kuroko." He whispered and took the clothes he put inside his bag earlier before running. He unfolded the red hooded long coat and then took a pair of boots. "Also put this on." He then took out a black wig, which was about eight inches longer than her original hair. As quickly as possible, they put each on, and tried to cover her all up. "Done."

Tetsumi blinked and looked up. "How do I look?"

"The original is always the best." Akashi blurted out.

The bewildered two stared at each other in shock.

"You four are definitely hiding something! It smells so fishy around here. Hm, let me guess. This game is called life-and-death hide-and-seek, isn't it? Alright then, let it begin!" Nijimura shouted.

This declaration broke the pair in their stance and made them ran towards the other stairs, which led them to living room instead.

Nijimura turned when something moved on the corner of his eyes. His suspicions were confirmed when room on the living room shut. "Gotcha! I thought so! You guys are definitely hiding something!"

Aomine ran towards the closed room and blocked it. "No! You can't! This is our house!"

"But I have a right to do so!" Nijimura grunted and shoved the blue-head away.

He kicked the door open and saw a figure ran towards the connecting door towards the room beside this one. "Damn it!" He sighed and ran towards that door again but it was locked. Triple-locked even.

"Urgh!" He snarled and ran outside the room and headed towards the other one. He opened it and found no one.

He heard steps heading upstairs. "You guys, quit it!"

Kise, chuckling, shrugged his shoulders. "We're out of this game! But we are on Akashicchi's side."

"You five!" Nijimura hissed.

The other three ran upstairs and pushed Akashi and Kuroko inside the first room on the right as Kise distracted Nijimura on the staircase.

"Hurry!" Midorima snapped as they ran towards the first room on the left instead. The green-head took a deep breath and did his best to look determined to not let the dark-head pass on this one.

It was a good thing Nijimura was so frustrated he fell on their trap.

"Get out of my way!" The latter growled and pushed open the door on the left and found no one. He looked around and almost turned the bed upside down when he heard rustled outside the room. He ran outside and found Akashi running to the terrace. He gritted his teeth and ran after the red-head.

"Hurry." Akashi hissed and pushed Kuroko up the stairs.

As Tetsumi arrived towards the balcony of the last floor of the mansion Nijimura emerged to the terrace and threw one his shoes at Akashi, who was behind the teal-head. "You get down here!"

"He hasn't seen you yet, has he?" The red-head murmured.

"No." Kuroko assured and dragged Akashi towards the living room of the third floor.

"Akashi!" Nijimura growled as he went up the ladder of the terrace to the balcony.

Panting, Kise and Aomine arrived first at the same floor and pretended to go inside one of the rooms as the Midorima and Murasakibara blocked the two rooms at the third floor as decoys. Akashi and Kuroko slowly and quietly going downstairs using the secret staircase on the master bathroom of the third floor.

Out of breath, Nijimura cracked his fingers in annoyance. "This has gotten too far. This is the last floor and you have nowhere to hide anymore, Akashi. Face me, this instant!"

Murasakibara stuck his tongue out. "You will never catch him! Bleh!"

Midorima made the best teasing pose he could make. "Guess you're no match against Akashi after all."

"How dare you!" Nijimura grunted. He frowned as he heard footsteps inside the room on the right. He kicked it and saw Kise watching Television inside it. "…What the-?!"

The blonde, looking as innocent as ever, looked up as he switched channels. "What's up, Nijimuracchi? It's almost 'The Amazing World of Gumball' now. You want to watch with me?"

"Urgh!" Nijimura growled and ran towards the other room. He gasped when he heard moans and groans coming out of the dekstop's speakers.

He looked closely only to find Aomine watching porn, in full-screen, with this room's desktop.

"Ahhhh….."

"Mmmnnnnnn…."

"Unnnnggggg…" moaned the girl in the video.

"WHAT THE FUCK, AOMINE?! Can you at least lower the volume down?!" Nijimura growled as his cheeks reddened.

The blue-head turned then grinned. "Eh? Are you sure? Why are you getting hard down there then? You sure you want me to lower the volume down, Nijimura?"

"AOMINE!" The dark-head demanded so loudly even Akashi and Kuroko, who were now almost on the first floor, almost turned deaf.

Akashi shook his head in bemusement as Kuroko just covered her mouth to stifle her small laughter. She was almost on the last step to freedom when she stepped onto her coat and almost slipped. It was lucky enough that the red-head caught her, but unfortunately, he hit the small vase on the table beside the staircase in the process. It crashed and made such noise.

"Well, crap." Aomine cursed.

Nijimura frowned and ran towards the stairs. "Akashi, you're downstairs, aren't you?

"Shoot, run!" The red-head gasped and the black-head heard footsteps running towards the front door.

Frustrated, he finally sat on the railings of the staircase and slid downstairs with the help of it.

Right after safely arriving at the first floor, the front door shut open, one of the cars' engine started and it rapidly drove away.

Giving up, the dark-head fell on his butt on the ground. "Damn, that sure is Akashi. If it's about strategy and running, he's the best on it. Guess I need to admit now that I'm only good at setting traps and making my targets fall into them. But right now, you guys were definitely better at me." He panted.

The remaining four walked downstairs as if nothing happened.

"Well, let's just say we learned from the best." Midorima said.

Nijimura raised his eyes, smiled proudly and then shrugged. "Well, that's a relief to know."

"You giving up now? Because, let me tell you, we can just call Akashicchi and tell him to continue running as you chase after him. It's easy for him, after all, ssu." Kise warned.

Nijimura rolled his eyes and waved the matter away. "Whatever. I don't care anymore. Besides, this isn't the first time you guys made me do this. I guess, you five are just having a little fun to cheer yourselves up and decided to use me again. Geez, when will I ever learn not to fall for you guys' traps? Ugh, I give up! Tell Akashi I'm going home after about half an hour and I will not pursue him anymore."

Murasakibara took the cellphone from Kise's hands and called a certain red-head.

~LFMH021~

As Akashi parked infront of Mai Burger, his phone rang in his pocket. He grabbed it and looked at its' Caller ID.

"Who is it?" Kuroko murmured.

"It's Atsushi." He replied and pressed 'Answer.' "Yes?"

"Aka-chin?"

"It's me, Atsushi. Something the matter there? Where's Nijimura-kun?"

"He's still here but he gave up. He's chatting with us right now. I'm actually in the kitchen grabbing some snacks. He said he wouldn't pursue you anymore. He thought we were just messing with him again for the third time. He promised to go home after half an hour or after forty-five minutes~ How 'ya two doin'~?"

"Well, that's a relief. We're doing fine. We're right in front Maji Burger. I'm going to buy foods to eat later as rewards for you guys."

"YAY! Alright then! Bye~" Murasakibara bade and hung up.

Akashi stared at his phone before returning it in his pants' pocket. He leaned his head against the headrest and sighed. "We're safe."

"We are?" Tetsumi questioned and finally smiled a little as the truth sunk into her brain. "Finally, no more running."

"That was why you're relieved? No more running? That's why you smiled? No more running? Wow, you're really one unique and weird girl, Kuroko." Akashi commented in exasperation. "And here, I thought you're relieved because you get to hide than to be back there."

"There? Oh, you mean back to my family?" She whispered and her bright eyes earlier had now turned a little darker than usual.

"Is it a taboo topic? I can take a hint."

She shook her head. "It's not really a taboo topic, besides, they're all still alive. It's just that I don't even know what 'family' meant. Ridiculous, I know, but yes, I truly don't."

"I actually get what you mean." The heterochromatic eyed responded. "You might have the literal family, but you never felt like you have a real family. Must be tough." He added before opening the driver's door. "Let's head towards the park. It's almost sunset anyway. To think it's already 4:53 in the afternoon. Just how long did we run away from Nijimura-kun?"

"We started eating at about 1:14; we chatted as we ate so we actually took about 45 minutes which was why we ended eating at about 2 or 2:15; and then I washed the dishes for about ten minutes which was why we actually started the whole thing just before three and ended at about four. It was a long IT Game."

"I'm amazed at how you calculated all of that without wearing a watch." Akashi whispered as he glanced at her thin wrists that held not even one accessory.

Kuroko blinked, look at her wrists, and then smiled. "Well…" She began and spun around before leaning forward against the railings before the sea.

He blinked in surprise when she started singing as she shut her eyes.

"I close my eyes and feel myself fly

a thousand miles away.

I could take flight but would it be right

my conscious tells me stay."

She reopened them and continued,

"Duty means doing the things your heart may well regret."

"In my dreams, I'll be free."

He stood beside her afterwards as he stared at the same sky she was staring at. He decided to stay silent. She would speak if she wanted to, she could also keep quiet and he had no objections upon it.

It astonished him when she chose the former.

"It was a song from Barbie. It's one of my favorite songs among all of Barbie's songs. It's called 'Free' from 'Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper.' It has a great story and great songs. Childish, isn't it?"

"I thought you didn't know, but I have no say to it. After all, I need to admit, I sometimes, still watch cartoons along with Ryouta and Atsushi when we have spare time."

She glanced up at him. "Oh? This, I should not spread?"

"Oh, please don't." Akashi sounded so insincere.

Silence enveloped the two of them.

"Akashi-kun?"

"Yes, Kuroko?"

"Remember when we were inside the basement earlier and I said some things, which I know, made you mad?" She murmured awkwardly.

Well, shoot, she remembered. "Yes, what of it?"

"You were to say something when Nijimura-san's shouts interrupted us. May I know what those words are? I would like to hear them and know them. If it won't be of any inconvenience to you."

"You're asking me so nicely, I don't think I can say no." He grunted and then shut his eyes to remember the exact words he had on mind earlier. "'It's just that you're supposed to be our last target, whom we failed to kill. Since it's my responsibility, I need to hide you especially because everyone has taken a liking towards you. I didn't intend to use you as a ransom or anything. I just want you to know that we're hiding you from them because we don't want to hear you saying you want to die ever again. Somehow, we had decided to protect you instead of killing you.' These are the exact words I was supposed to utter awhile ago."

He reopened his eyes only to find her staring shockingly at him. He blinked and looked at his back just to make sure Nijimura hadn't found them. There was no one behind him and nobody was too close to be of any sort of any danger to them, so why was she staring at him like that?

"Protect me?" She shakily echoed.

"Since we don't want and we will never have our freedom back, we decided to protect you after assuming that you're someone they'll never let go easily."

"I—" she began but then covered her mouth. "I-I'm sorry."

He glanced at her sidewards. "It's alright. I won't force you to open up to us that easily. After all, we tried to kill you early in the morning."

She shook her head. "I knew from the very start I saw you guys that all of this is not what you wanted, so I trusted you."

"Which was kind of foolish for you." He sighed and then took something out from the bagpack he had on since they started running away from Nijimura.

"Akashi-kun…?"

He took out a flowery paperbag, medium in size, and pink in color and handed it to his companion. "Open it."

She accepted it hesitantly before opening the paperbag. Her eyes widened a fraction as she saw a rainbow-colored, rose-designed bracelet inside it. The bracelet had a center piece, which she assumed was true gold. "When did you have time to—"

"It's actually mine. When our master find us, this was inside the bag I held. It's girlish so I never wear it. I think it suits you more, after all. We all agreed upon it before falling asleep when you were cooking lunch. Oh, by the way, no refunds, no exchanges."

She smiled and wore it. It suited her skin color. "It's beautiful."

He opened his cellphone and dialed a number. After two rings, he pressed 'Loudspeaker'. "It's time now."

"Alright, ssu!" Kise shouted.

"In three~!" Murasakibara announced.

"One!" Aomine started.

"Two." Midorima stated.

"Three." Akashi added.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The five members of Generation of Miracles greeted, and through the screen, grinned at her.

She bit her bottom lip to prevent herself from crying and smiled. "…T-Thanks, guys. Really, thanks." She whispered shakily.

She could never hide that this was the best birthday she ever had.

But she knew it was too good to be true.

Because every after she laughed in happiness, were also the warning for the upcoming sadness and pain.

A/N: Let me end it with that since the next chapter contains so much drama and suspense. I'll leave these for next chappie~ Hihihihi!

Hope you enjoyed it even a little! :D

PLEASE DO REVIEW TO COMPLETE MY DAY! : )