F-Finally Update for Fic: Waiting, Chapter 13 (Kagami/Kuroko; Pg-13)

[lunaryu]

Waiting
Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke
Rating: T/Pg-15
Genre: Drama/Romance/Friendship
Pairing: Kagami/Kuroko

Summary: In which Kagami is sent back home to Japan because of health condition. He sees the GoM match and falls for the most invisible guy's play on court. He just can't wait to play basketball again, so he can stand in the same court as that amazing blue haired boy.

Disclaimer: Fujimaki Tadatoshi owns Kuroko no Basuke
Warning: shounen ai (soft yaoi), AU and AR, language, possible spelling mistakes and grammar errors, etc...
A/N: Alright, guys... here's the very long-awaited chapter. Sorry for taking so long to update! *hides away*

Chapter 13: Because It's You


Kagami was suffering.

Yeah, he certainly was because he need to go to the bathroom and yet he couldn't because his ankles were still chained to a wall-or was it a pipe? He wasn't sure since he couldn't see. Damn blindfold!- and his hands were still bound together behind his back. In short, he was totally helpless.

"Hey!" he tried to call, but no one seemed to be around since there was no answer. "Fuck, seriously? Guys? Anyone?" he tried more loudly, but it was to no avail. He couldn't even hear any noise besides the steady drips of water somewhere to his right. Kagami sighed. "This sucks," he grumbled then, trying his best to will his bladder to hold on. It didn't last very long. "Somebody, I need you to come here and untie me, please! I need to take a leak!"

There was a bang on the distance, probably from the metal door and "Shut up, brat!" a shout. Good. At least there was someone.

"Hey, Mister! I need to go to the bathroom! Unless you want me to pee in my pants, I suggest you let me go long enough to do my business!" Kagami shouted back. Exactly how many meters was the door from him anyway? The voice sounded…far.

"What a noisy kid!"

There was a sound of the door being slid open again and heavy footsteps were heard slowly approaching Kagami. "Toilet," Kagami deadpanned.

"Patience," the guy's voice was quite light, a tenor, and he spoke in smooth American English without any accent. For some reason, Kagami felt that he had ever heard that voice somewhere before, but he chalked it up as his memory recalling at the time when the leader of the kidnapping group spoke to Kagami before. It was a different voice than the leader, but Kagami might have heard him speaking to the guy.

Kagami could feel him looming over him, a tug on his ankles that indicated the guy pulling the chain, probably releasing part of it so he could move. "Stand up." He ordered.

"Hands," Kagami bargained as he was standing up. "I can't pee with only my legs. Or what, you want to pull my pants down for me?" He internally cringed at the thought. He didn't wish for those guys hands anywhere near his stuff, or he would sue them for sexually harassing him, a minor.

"Being sassy will only get you hurt. Stop demanding so much." His voice was stern even though it sounded calm as he pulled Kagami to walk forward. "I'll open your blindfold and release one of your hands, but I will still take a hold of the rope on your other hand, so don't even try anything funny. Don't open your eyes until you're inside the bathroom or I swear to God I'll scrape your eyes out."

Kagami muttered 'Who's demanding so much now?' and got a light whack on the head for that. He groaned rather painfully, but not as painful as the leader's hit earlier. Though, it was still not nice because he was unable to nurse his abused head with his hands still tied together. He cursed internally at the man, not wanting to get hit anymore. He really should keep his mouth shut.

They stopped moving at some point and he was shoved into some kind of small smelly room, most likely the bathroom. "Close your eyes," the man instructed and Kagami nodded as he did. He could feel the black cloth being removed from his face and then the rope from one of his writs. He heard the man stepped back and closed the door. "You've got three minutes. Hurry up."

"Three! That's just cruel!" Kagami immediately protested as he opened his eyes and turned around to face the door.

"Two," the guy said, somehow sounding smug.

Demon!-Kagami wanted to yell, but he only gritted his teeth in absolute rage as he hastily fumbled with his fly to zip it off, pulled down his boxer to get his stuff out and then relieved himself.

"Done yet?"

"Hold on a sec! It's not even one minute!" Kagami complained as he hurriedly grabbed a tissue and cleaned himself before he washed his hand at the basin.

This is crap! I hate this! Why doesn't this bathroom have any window for fuck sake?! I need to find a way to free myself up! I need to-

Kagami paused his train of thought as he felt something bulging from the side pocket of his jeans. He wiggled it out and stared at hi cell phone in stunned silence. What the hell?! I've still had my cell phone all this time?! Are they all idiots?! Who in kidnapper's right mind lets the kidnapping victim keep his cell phone for heaven sake?! They are so AMATEURS!

Wait a second. This could be it. Realization dawned on him and Kagami immediately hid the cell phone on his back pocket and let its tip out slightly for easy access if he had a chance to make a phone call. First he needed to know his location, then he could inform the police of his whereabouts to get rescued.

I'll definitely get out of this place no matter what!-Kagami vowed silently as he knocked on the door twice. "I'm done."

"Close your eyes." He did and he could hear the door being opened, feel the cloth slid back to cover his eyes and his hand be pulled and tied together once again behind his back. He didn't put up any fight as he was brought back to his spot and once again chained into the pipe or the wall, or whatever it was.

Now I just have to bid my time and look for information…

~Kagami x Kuroko~

Kuroko was running to Kagami's house.

Yes, he left the dome as soon as he picked up his fallen cell phone and then proceeded to dash out to catch the train before he got off at the nearest station to Kagami's house, and then he ran again like a crazy cat.

Kagami-kun… Kagami-kun…! Kagami-kun!

When he arrived at Kagami's neighborhood, he spotted some patrol cars in front of Kagami's house and two policemen stood by its entrance. He immediately approached them. "Um, excuse me," he called, but they didn't seem to notice him.

Kuroko reached at the officer's hand and pulled at his uniform. "Excuse me, Mr. Policeman." He felt a faint satisfaction as the dark haired policeman jumped.

"W-what?" He looked confused as he finally looked down at Kuroko's face. "Boy, since when have you…?"

"I apologize for surprising you, but what is going on here?" Kuroko gestured to Kagami's house.

The officer cleared his throat before asking. "And you are…?"

"Kuroko Tetsuya. I am Kagami-kun's… I mean, Kagami Taiga's friend. This is his house. What happened?" Kuroko was very worried.

"Ah…" the officer glanced at his partner, apparently hesitating before making up his mind. "We're sorry, Kuroko-kun, but there's a report of kidnapping from this house this morning. The caretaker, Yamamoto-san claimed that Kagami-kun hadn't come home since last night and he received a threat and a demand for ransom from the kidnapper via telephone this morning."

"Kidnap… Kagami-kun is kidnapped?" Kuroko's knees wobbled. He felt faint and needed to hold onto something, so he leaned on the wall to support himself.

"Are you alright?" the officer showed him a concerned look.

"I-… how did that even-? Last night?" Kuroko covered his mouth.

"What is it, Kuroko-kun?" One of the officers, the brown haired one, asked, his tone inquisitive.

"I-… he was just with me last night. He took me home a little before seven," Kuroko said, covering his mouth. "Are you saying that he was grabbed after escorted me home?"

"It's possible. Did he act strange when you were together?" the officer asked further. "Like maybe a little paranoid or restless?"

"No, we were just on… on an outing to a game center and an amusement park. Nothing was odd. I mean, we did not really check our surrounding whether or not someone was following or watching us," Kuroko answered dutifully. "Will he be okay?" He was very anxious now. "Is there anything I can help?"

"We don't know for certain, but we are doing our best to get him back," the brown haired officer said reassuringly. "It is best if you go home for now, Kuroko-kun. We will call you if we need more information about your outing last night." He patted Kuroko's shoulder and Kuroko could only look down at his shoes, feeling incredibly useless.

"Alright…" Dejectedly, Kuroko went home. He indeed knew that he wouldn't be able to help with anything after all. However, right before he set foot inside the train station, his cell phone went off.

Kuroko fished out his phone from his pants pocket and noticed that it was Akashi calling. He didn't really want to answer, but he had an omen that Akashi would punish him if he ignored his call and he didn't want to deal with that on top of feeling like shit at this moment, since he was upset for Kagami's safety.

Kuroko sighed deeply before pressing the answer button. "Hello."

"Tetsuya, where are you? You didn't come back to the bleachers and you weren't in the locker room. What are you doing?"-there was an edge in Akashi's tone and if Kuroko didn't know better, he would think Akashi was concerned. But he knew Akashi wasn't like that. He was a practical short of person after all. He was probably annoyed that Kuroko disobeyed his order.

"I am on a train, on the way home," Kuroko answered quietly after he got on the train.

There was a short of derisive noise from the speaker. "At least report to one of us if you want to go home early. Kise is panicking that you're gone without notice, Midorima is grumbling because we have to find you. You're inconveniencing us by acting on your own like this."-Akashi was scolding him despite his even voice.

"I apologize. It will not happen again," Kuroko said, intending to hang up the phone quickly before Akashi noticed something, but he was too late.

"What happened, Tetsuya? You don't sound like yourself,"-Akashi asked and Kuroko imagined there was a slight frown on Akashi's brow.

Kuroko debated for a half minute whether he wanted to share or not, but Akashi took the choice away from him when he continued.-"It's not about that new friend of yours, is it? Because I have to remind you that he is our opponent, Tetsuya. Do not get too attached to him."

Kuroko closed off, perfectly knowing what to say. "Whether I want to get attach to him or not, it is not your concern, Akashi-kun. Besides, I do not think he will join his team in the next match… if there is a next match for his team. Did Shōei win the match?"

There was a pause in their conversation and Akashi answered.-"No, they lost to Seitou. Their play in the next half was rather sloppy. I don't know what was going on, but they seemed distracted and apprehensive about something."

"I bet…" Kuroko muttered in under tone.

"Tetsuya, I'm not sure of what is happening with this team, but I will be upset if I have to bench you because you are not in your top condition."-Akashi said.

Now he's threatening me? I don't think we'll lose even if I'm not there, though. Aomine-kun is taking care of that, isn't he?-Kuroko wanted to retort so badly, still absolutely bitter because Aomine had abandoned their partnership. Still, he didn't because he still wanted to play. He still wanted to win their match together as a team and he would be damned if he was benched because of personal matter like this.

"Alright. I'll come early for the match tomorrow," Kuroko replied, not alerting Akashi of his turmoil.

"Very well. Be careful on the way home,"-Akashi advised.

"Will do, Akashi-kun. See you tomorrow," and he hung up. Kuroko sighed and leaned his forehead against the glass window of the train, looking at the dark scene of the tunnel wall.

Kagami-kun… I hope you're alright….

~Kagami x Kuroko~

"Hey, Mister Kidnapper, are you there?" Kagami called urgently. His stomach had been rumbling for the past hour. He was so damn hungry he couldn't even think properly. He knew he had to find a way out, but without sustenance whatsoever, it was very difficult for a glutton like Kagami to survive. "I'm really, really hungry right now. I will die if I don't eat anything!" he warned.

There was no answer from the people that had caught him. Kagami let out a suffering groan as he squirmed slightly to find a position that could ease his stomach for a bit. Still, he absolutely had to eat. His stomach was caving. He seriously required something to stuff it down. He bit his lower lip. It stung, and he could taste the iron from the place he had bitten, but he didn't care. He was so hungry he could eat his own flesh.

Alright, hyperbolic, but it was possible for Kagami, especially if he was in extreme hunger. He hadn't reached that point yet, but if he was pushed too hard and too long without eating, he most definitely would. "Mr. Kidnapper!" he yelled with all of his might. Might as well created a ruckus so somebody outside would hear him.

There was a sudden screech of the door being slid open, then a bang and- "Would you shut the fuck up! Are you seriously trying to get yourself killed?!" -the infuriated hiss from the previous man, the one in charge of keeping Kagami locked up.

"I'm hungry…" Kagami whined. No, yeah, he did. Pride be damned. His stomach need was more important.

"For fuck sake you're such a high maintenance! I begin to think that kidnapping and keeping you locked up is more hassle than the purpose of this kidnapping itself," he scowled as he stalked up to Kagami. Yep, Kagami heard him stomping, so he knew.

"Then you can let me go anytime and I won't be bothering you anymore," Kagami suggested, not expecting anything, but it didn't hurt for trying.

The man snorted scornfully. "I am not an idiot, kid. You're pushing your luck there," he slapped the top of Kagami's head, more gently than Kagami had thought he would, and his tone was more exasperated than angry, so maybe… maybe he was successfully bonding with the man.

Look at that. Aren't I awesome? It's not even a day yet and I'm beginning to grow on one of the kidnappers-Kagami was honestly surprised. He didn't know he had such skill. Or maybe… maybe not all those kidnappers were douche bags and assholes. Maybe one of them actually wasn't a bad guy at all, but he was only caught up in this situation.

Kagami sighed as his stomach roared again and the kidnapper cracked and laughed at him for that obvious demand. "Seriously, your stomach sounds like a dinosaur," he continued laughing.

"That's right. It's a dinosaur running rampant inside my stomach, so you must understand my need to eat to calm it down. I'm dying here. Please let me eat," Kagami mumbled, pretty embarrassed for his desperation.

Kagami heard a long sigh from the man. "Fine. I'll get something for you to eat. Just be quiet. Not all the men here are as patient as me, you know. They will rough you up if you're too noisy."

Another warning was thrown. Kagami didn't know why the man was doing this. He could seal Kagami's mouth with duck tape or some cloth if he simply wanted Kagami to shut up. He didn't actually have to oblige Kagami's antics after all. Yet for some reason he did. Was it important for him that Kagami was okay at some extent?

"Why are you doing this?" Kagami finally asked after the man came back with some breads. He said he could only find that around the place, but Kagami wasn't complaining as long as it was edible. The amount wasn't enough, but it was much better than nothing.

"Doing what? Kidnapping you?" the man asked between his own bite. Kagami could hear him chewing. He must have taken the liberty to eat as well.

"That too, but… this, you aren't obligated to take care of me too, right?" Kagami bit the bread from his plate, only with his mouth since the man didn't let him use his hand to eat.

"If you die, it will create more problems for us," the man answered, somehow tersely and Kagami could actually detect something weird in his tone.

Nervousness? No, it's more like… discomfort.

Kagami decided to try his luck. "The man before… he didn't hesitate to hit me at all. You're… different from him," he commented.

"I can hit you if you want me to," the man replied drily.

Kagami chuckled. "That… that's the driest joke I've ever heard," he shook his head before taking another big bite of his bread, chewed it quickly and swallowed it in one go.

"You think I'm joking?" Kagami could imagine the man raising his eyebrows.

"Well, I'm confident that you don't actually like violence. No body actually does after all," Kagami shrugged. "You're probably just somehow caught up in something dangerous and couldn't get out or something…" He mumbled the rest quietly and the man didn't give anything away because he became still.

There was a few minutes of uncomfortable silence and Kagami could almost hear some voices outside the room before the man spoke again. "You should just pray that your father complies with our demand, and you will come home unharmed… much."

"That supposed to cheer me up?" A bead of sweat rolled down Kagami's cheeks as he faced the man incredulously.

"At least you'll live," his tone was dismissing, but Kagami could almost hear a silent promise that he would be okay.

A small secret smile bloomed in Kagami's face. "Will it trouble you if you tell me what my father has done to earn your… you and your friends' wrath?"

"We aren't friends," the tone went rigid, colder, and Kagami thought that he would get angrier, but the man only huffed. "We just work together for the same purpose."

Kagami paused for a moment before repeating his question. "About my dad's work…"

"He's monopolizing the trades. He put out our business with cut-throat ruthlessness. He shouldn't have done that. He violated the ethic code of businessmen." Again, the man's tone went icy and Kagami shivered as he could feel hatred from the man's voice. It didn't inform Kagami enough of the nature of his father's business though.

"It's not something illegal, is it?" Kagami tried harder and the man snorted at that.

"The way he does it, it might have been," the man said cryptically.

"What do you mean?" Kagami dreaded the answer despite his curiosity. He wanted to know, but was afraid to find out at the same time. He didn't want to hear that his father had been involved in criminal activity, but these guys kidnapped Kagami for making his dad give up his business. Maybe it was some kind of corporate war?

"You'd better off not knowing," his answer was too ominous. It made Kagami think of the worst.

"Try me," Kagami challenged, but before the man could say anything, the sound of sliding metal door caused Kagami to jerk up in surprise, upsetting the balance of the plate and creating the clattering sound.

"It's time to negotiate. Bring the boy. We'll move from here since the police are trying to locate us." Another male voice, a different kind from the first man and the second spoke. This one was heavy and tense and Kagami knew the situation just got worse.

Shit. I haven't tried the cell phone yet… Huh? Wait, isn't my cell phone implemented with GPS system? If I can somehow call home with it, the police will be able to track my whereabouts through the system, right? Yosh.

"Stand up, kid," the man said and Kagami followed the order without protest. A plan formulated in his mind as he was led to somewhere else.

~Kagami x Kuroko~

Kuroko went home with a heavy heart. He was also exhausted both physically and mentally because of not only the match but also Kagami's kidnapping. He was still worried sick, afraid that Kagami might have been injured or worse.

"What should I do…?" Kuroko hid his face behind his palms, tense and restless on the couch. He wanted to do something to help, but the officer said there was nothing he could do about it because he was just still a child and his indeed didn't see anything weird last night.

How could the kidnapper do something so horrible like this? What did Kagami-kun do to deserve this?-Kuroko shut his eyes and bit the inside of his cheek, totally aggravated.

"I'll remember you…"

Kuroko didn't want to think about it, but Akashi's words at that time… No, it cannot be. Even Akashi-kun won't do something as horrid as kidnapping people… He's too smart and too careful to do something as risky and as restless as this. This has nothing to do with basketball or anything like that. It is more likely that it has connection with Kagami-kun's wealth. After all, Kagami-kun's family is quite well off. It is all about money. The kidnapper just wants some money in exchange of Kagami-kun's life.

God, Kuroko hoped that that was the case. Because, if Akashi had any the slightest thing to do about it, Kuroko swore he would do anything to make him pay.

Just sit and wait without knowing anything like this is terrible. I want to do something… anything at all…!-Kuroko stood up, paced back and forth in his living room for a minute or ten. By the time he collapsed once again on the couch, his feet were aching.

He sighed deeply, closed his eyes and slumped at the backrest. "Kagami-kun…" Another sigh escaped from his thin lips before he opened his eyes once again, determination shining in his eyes.

Kuroko grabbed his cell phone and wallet before he went out. Maybe if I walk around the neighborhood, I'll find something or someone that witnessed the crime last night.

And so, he proceeded to check out the street around his house and greeted some of his neighbors to ask if they saw anything strange last night. Unfortunately, most people were inside the house at such times and some of the office worker hadn't come home. The elderly also didn't notice or hear anything odd.

When Kuroko walked rather further away to the direction of the temple, he saw a black mini van passing the road. At first, he didn't think anything of it, but then he caught the sight of its plate and frowned as he couldn't see the number on it. He blinked and looked upward at the black-tinted window and couldn't help feeling rather suspicious.

Surely, an entertainer agency vehicle was still obligated to put license plate number on their car, right? Then that was almost certainly not any agency vehicle. Black minivan without license plate roaming around residential area? Very suspicious.

Kuroko took out his cell phone and called the police to report the suspicious car. Just to be save, he took a photograph of the vehicle and then proceeded to follow it. Luckily, it ran in slow speed, so with a little run, Kuroko could catch up. He was careful not to be noticeable as he tailed the car. Well, not that he needed to struggle much because he was hard to notice in his usual state anyway.

Approximately 15 minutes later, he saw the car turning on the road junction and went into some kind of contractor site. Kuroko slowly approached the site and saw a metal board hanging on the fence that indicated that the site was abandoned by the developer because the company went bankrupt. It was a few years old already, seeing the rust on the metal.

Kuroko called the police once more to update the status of the suspicious vehicle that he reported some minutes ago. The responder told him to stay put and not to approach the car because it could potentially be dangerous, but even though Kuroko said 'okay' to the officer on the phone, he went in anyway.

As long as I am be careful and stay under the radar, it's going to be okay-he thought, having enough confidence on his lack of presence to spy whoever it was driving the car.

Kuroko followed the tire-track on the soil ground that led him to some kind of building, probably a storage unit because it was in long rectangle shape and there were some doors on it. He saw the car parked on the far corner of the building and stealthily, he approached it to find out to which door the driver had entered.

He walked soundlessly to the first door and conspicuously stuck his ear on the metal door. There was no sound from the inside. He slowly moved to the second door. It was the same. Then he progressed to the third, fourth, fifth, and as he was about to move to the sixth when he caught a sound from the fifth.

Kuroko stopped mid-moving and put his ear closer to the door once again. There were muffled voices from the inside, very faint and low, and he caught words in English a few times that he somehow understood.

"…the deal… sign up… kidnap… murder…"

Kuroko caught himself before he could gasp as he heard the last English word that he could understand what the meaning was. Someone said murder there, (murder means to kill, right?) and there was kidnap word too.

Could it be… these people are the one that kidnap Kagami-ku-!?

"Hmph!?" Kuroko widened his eyes as something covered his mouth and a sweet smell hit his nose before he could panic and his consciousness started to waver. He felt his body losing its strength as he collapsed, but before he hit the ground, a hand caught his body.

Oh no…!-Kuroko's eyelids felt very heavy, but in his last effort to stay awake, he caught a glimpse of shocking blue hair and a pair of light blue eyes just like his own and before he could really lose his consciousness, his mind whispered to him in disbelief.

But that was impossible, because the only person in this whole world who had such hair color was-…

Dad…?

And then everything went completely dark.

End of Chapter 13

Tbc…

A/N: Um, yeah, there's no excuse for posting it so freaking late. I know *sigh*. I'm kinda unmotivated these days to write fanfic, even though some burst of ideas come out of nowhere and then I get this amazing inspiration, when I get down to the actual writing… T_T Let's say I don't know how to put the plot down as smoothly as the thing in my head *another sigh*. Well, the suspense still continues. This story will probably end in two more chapters. After that, I'll try to concentrate on making 'Beyond the Light, Behind the Shadow.'

Chapter 14

Chapter 12