Update Fic: Beyond the Light, Behind the Shadow Part 2! (GoM/Kagami; Pg-15)
Beyond the Light, Behind the Shadow
Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke
Rating: Pg-15/T
Genre: Supernatural/Romance/Humor/Horror/Mystery/Drama (pretty much anything can go in here)
Pairing: main Kagami Taiga/Kuroko Tetsuya, slight GoM/Kagami (yes, because Kagami is an angel and he deserves to have GoM harem *lol*), and a lil bit of GoM/Kuroko
Summary: In which Generation of Miracle is a group of supernatural detectives with special abilities and Kagami is their special client. Kagami never thought in million years that he'd let himself believe in the dark forces. But, dire situations call for desperate measures. Of course, craziness ensues.
Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke is not mine.
Warning: Totally AU, supernatural stuffs, shounen ai/yaoi, some horror and badly made humor, probably bloody at some parts, foul language, etc…
A/N: Sorry for the wait guys. Here's part 2. ENJOY!
Part 2
Huh?-Kagami slowly opened his eyes and immediately realized that he was surrounded by the darkness. Where am I?
Kagami felt uneasy with the unfamiliarity of everything around him. What's going on? What kind of place is this? Where's everyone?-He tried to call someone, anyone, but his voice was exceptionally high and he abruptly realized that it was his voice from when he was still a kid.
"This… was my voice before I underwent voice change," he mumbled, very baffled, as he reached for his throat and noticed that his hand was also smaller. "But, how…?"
"…-mise…"
Kagami jerked his head upward as he heard a voice. "W-who is it?!" He yelled, rather freaking out now. He looked right and left, up and down, trying to locate the source of that disembodied voice.
"…-promise, okay?"
That voice was also high, a child's voice and it was kind of familiar. No, it was very familiar. He knew he had ever heard it before, but Kagami just couldn't pinpoint whose voice it was.
"…-here, …be waiting for you."
Kagami felt something cold brush his pinky and he yanked his hand away in fright instantly, and when he looked down to check what it was, he found skeletal fingers grabbing at his wrist…
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
#
Kagami sprang up from his restless sleep in a very loud, terrified scream. Midorima hurriedly moved to his side, reached for both of his arms and squeezed them in place. "Hey, easy, Kagami. You're alright. You're at home," he murmured calmingly. Kagami was still panting, his pupils dilated, and his expression was still unfocused. He looked very afraid, sweat practically running down his entire face.
"Kagami-kun?" Now, Kise also knelt beside the couch where Kagami had been laying on earlier, hesitantly reaching out to him, possibly trying to call the red head back to reality. "Hey, it's okay. We're safe here," he said, finally touched his shoulder and looked at Kagami's eyes reassuringly.
Gradually, Kagami's fast shallow breath was slowing and a few minutes later, he seemed aware of his surrounding once more. "W-what… what happened?" He looked confused, disoriented, but at least he saw both Midorima and Kise, unlike earlier when his eyes were open, and yet he didn't see at all.
"You passed out," Midorima informed, "-because of exhaustion and lack of sleep." He looked at Kagami's eyes closely, making sure that Kagami catch on his explanation.
"Pass out?" Kagami sounded surprised.
"You don't seem to be running a fever, though," Kise held Kagami's chin up and pulled his face to look at him before he rested his forehead on Kagami's. "Yep, temperature is normal." He nodded right after he pulled back.
Kagami's face flushed slightly, his expression conflicted for a moment. Midorima lifted one of his eyebrow, secretly amused at his adorable reaction. Apparently, Kagami was a shy guy.
"How are you feeling right now? Any dizziness or fatigue?"
Kagami turned to face Midorima again, shaking his head slightly. "Just tired," he exhaled soundly. "I feel like… I've forgotten something important…" he grunted pensively.
"What were you dreaming about just now? You screamed so intensely when you woke up," Kise stood before taking a seat beside the now sitting Kagami who rested his face on his palms. Midorima also moved slightly away to give him space and seated himself on the single couch on Kagami's other side.
"There was… darkness around me. It was hazy. I could see some kind of site, but it was dark and I couldn't make out the shape. And… and there was this… voice." Kagami paused, taking a deep breath.
"Voice?" Midorima narrowed his eyes. Did the 'presence' communicated with Kagami? Through his dream?
"Yeah," Kagami put his hands down, looking very perturbed. "I think… I think I know that voice. It's familiar… a child's voice. I know I've heard it before, somewhere… but I can't remember whom it belongs to."
"What did the voice say to you?" Kise looked very intrigued and interested.
Kagami closed his eyes, remembering. "Something about promise and- and 'here' as in 'that place' and-…"
"…be waiting for you…"
"Who is waiting for whom?" Midorima blinked once as Kagami distractedly said it.
"I don't know." Kagami shook his head again, essentially calmer, but he still looked rather skittish. "That voice said it. I got a feeling that it's for me, but… I'm not sure." Then his face paled slightly.
"There's more, right?" Kise urged, apparently noticing Kagami's further anxiety.
"Um," Kagami visibly swallowed. "And there was a… a skeletal hand, clutching at my wrist." He absentmindedly circled his right wrist, as if he could still feel the sensation.
"Skeletal hand, huh?" Midorima's thought ran back to his card. Hopefully, it didn't have anything to do with Death, but just in case, Midorima would take more precaution.
"It's just a dream, Kagami-kun. You're safe with us here. We won't leave you alone." Kise smiled at him sweetly and Kagami seemed grateful at his comforting presence.
"Hey, Kagami, do any of these words mean something for you?" Midorima then handed Kagami a list of words, to take Kagami's mind off of his dream as well as to gain some inside information from Kagami's perspective. After all, it was the keywords of the Minor Arcana Card that he dealt for fortune telling earlier. Some of them must have had some kind of connection to Kagami's current problem at some point.
Kagami took the list and scanned the content. He blinked once and twice as he seemed to catch some words that he associated with his life right then. "Painful separation… competition… naivety… one-sided charity…"
"Those four words?" Midorima narrowed his eyes and Kagami nodded.
"Those words remind me of something immediately," Kagami reflected.
"Would you mind telling us what they remind you of?" Midorima asked and Kagami shook his head.
"For painful separation, it reminds me of the time when I was a kid. I lived in Japan until I was seven before my parents whisked me away to Loss Angeles. I had a lot of friends here at that time, and when I moved, I had to part with them, so it was very hard for me at first. Well, eventually I adapted well with new life abroad, but sometimes, I kinda miss them, my childhood friends here, very much. Though, now I barely remember their faces and names." Kagami looked apologetic when he said that.
"What about competition?" Kise asked.
"Ah, I'm a competitive person, so I often crave for a rival to compete with. I played basketball now, so I compete in high school basketball tournaments," Kagami nodded resolutely.
"Naivety?"
"People tend to call me dense and super naïve. I don't know why," Kagami shrugged.
"One-sided charity?" Midorima asked further and this time, Kagami made an uncomfortable sound at the back of his throat.
"Uh… some girls in my school offered to… you know, with me, but I kinda feel that such thing is unnecessary and too much. Besides, that shouldn't be a charity, and I don't really appreciate to be some kind of object to… uh, you know." Kagami stammered, his cheeks pinking and he looked very nervous. Besides, there were too many 'you know' in his speech. He seemed highly embarrassed.
"Ah," Kise chuckled, apparently understanding what Kagami said. Midorima frowned, quite in the dark then, not catching what Kagami meant.
Kagami cleared his throat. "Anyway, do they have something to do with this problem now?" He made an inquiring face at Midorima.
"It should, but I'm not sure anymore if this is about you at all," Midorima muttered lowly, distastefully eyeing his pouch where his cards were stored. He wasn't even close to understanding his card reading at all. What did that have any to do with the phenomenon in Kagami's house anyway?
"What do you mean?" Kagami furrowed his brow.
"Nothing. Does 'Death' mean anything special to you?" Midorima continued and Kagami sent him a weird look.
"Uh, I don't want to be anywhere near it so soon?" Kagami was apparently unsure of his own answer because his tone was asking.
Of course Kagami would interpret it that way. I should have known. No wonder people call him naïve-Midorima shook his head slightly, rather exasperated.
"Never mind."
"But… isn't Kuroko-chi late? It's almost five o'clock." Kise looked at his watch, frowning slightly.
"Oh yeah. Where's Kuroko?" Kagami looked around, probably trying to locate the bluenet's presence.
"He went to check on something in the library," Midorima supplied.
"What something?" Kagami looked curious.
"The history of this house, Kagami-kun!" Kise readily answered.
"Eh?"
~GoM x Kagami~
Kuroko was having trouble with his finding.
Kagami's house itself was relatively new. It was only ten years old and none of the family that lived in the house previously encountered any strange phenomenon. "It is a normal mansion." Kuroko sighed, clicking the image of the mansion before he spotted the link to the contractor that built it.
There was no death, no accident, no nothing. What in the world happened there after Kagami moved in? Maybe it didn't have anything to do with the house at all. Maybe it was Kagami that was haunted… or cursed. But there was nothing around Kagami when he was in the office, or when Kagami was in the house with Kuroko, Midorima and Kise. Kuroko would notice after all, since Kuroko could see.
"The presences are scattered around, not concentrated on Kagami," Kuroko mumbled and he clicked Google to look for the history of the land, back to the date before the mansion were built.
His search result about the land was that it was a piece of abandoned land. There was nothing special with it. Kuroko let out a deep sigh once again. "Maybe it will be faster if I ask them myself…" He mumbled lowly. Closing the window, he logged out of the computer and walked back to the receptionist.
"Excuse me, do you have any record on the abandoned land near Ginza before the mansion was built?" he asked the librarian and she was rather surprised at first, apparently for suddenly finding him in front of her, but then she nodded after composing herself.
"All the public record of the land are stored in the storage room at the third floor, locker number five," she handed him a key after he signed his name, dated his search and wrote down his purpose on the form.
"Thank you," Kuroko smiled politely before he moved to look for the hard record of the land upstairs.
When he arrived at the storage room, Kuroko had to hold his breath because the dust was so thick. He guessed, no body needed hard copy anymore when they had soft copy in the computer. But sometimes there were many old records that were purposely kept out of the soft copy to avoid bad press or scandal. Kuroko knew it was a long shot, but it didn't hurt to check them as well, just in case.
As he opened the right locker and took the complete, thick record of the land, Kuroko furrowed his brows slightly when a sheet of paper slipped and fell down from the clip. He bent down to pick it up, but upon seeing the strange letters, he blinked. "What is this thing doing in the abandoned land record?"
The thick file in his right hand was a script of the land purchase from the country, except, the part of the new owner of the land was left blank. "Strange…" Kuroko then eyed the sheet in his left hand. It looked like a charm. The letters were in Bonji (1) for earth sake, and there was some kind of weird symbol at the top. Maybe it was a Buddhist charm to ward of book worms or something? Kuroko wasn't sure. Charm wasn't his forte. He could ask Midorima later, since the green haired boy knew a lot about it.
Kuroko set the paper-like-charm aside before he concentrated on the record on his right hand. He read it carefully and made a note about the detail of the purchase. He checked the company that owned the land now, but he couldn't find it in any hard record. He was bemused before once again, he checked for the digital record downstairs, and yet nothing.
"This is very odd…"
Giving up, Kuroko filed the record back to its place and then returned the locker key to the librarian. Next, if there was no digital or hard record of the land, he was obliged to check out the grapevine.
It was almost four when Kuroko found an old house. Well, at least the house which owner was still there after all these years, before the mansion was built until now, that is.
"Excuse me," Kuroko saw a little girl on the lawn and he had to call her several times until the girl realized he was there. "Hello," he waved at her.
The little girl had shoulder length dark brown hair, tied into twin pig tails, one on each side of her head. She wore a cute pink dress with sakura pattern on the chest and skirt parts. She looked no older than six.
"Can I help you, niichan (2)?" she asked. Her voice was inquiring, but polite and so cute.
Kuroko smiled. "Is your mother or father home?" he asked. She shook her head. "Your grandmother?"
"Baachan (3) is here. She is inside," she nodded in affirmative.
"Can I speak to her?"
"Of course," she smiled cutely. "Niichan, who are you?"
"My name is Kuroko Tetsuya, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, Kuroko-niichan. I'm Mihara Yuuna," the little girl opened the gate and let Kuroko in after they shook hands.
"Yuuna-chan, ah, can I call you Yuuna-chan?" Kuroko knelt in front of her.
"Okay, then Yuuna will call niichan Tet-chan," Yuuna grinned and Kuroko chuckled at the way she laughed and her general cuteness.
"Yuuna-chan is adorable," he praised, ruffling her hair gently.
"Really?" Yuuna blushed, looking very happy at the compliment.
"Positive. Now, can Yuuna-chan bring niichan to baachan?"
"Alright, follow me please." Yuuna agreed wholeheartedly and escorted Kuroko to the living room of her Japanese style house. "Please sit down, Tet-chan. I'll call for baachan first." Kuroko sat on the red cushion at the low table on top of the tatami in seiza. With such traditional living room, it seemed appropriate to be formal, especially in a stranger's house.
Kuroko didn't have to wait for too long as several minutes later, someone joined him in the living room. "Maa, it's been awhile for me to get such a young guest." The old lady with grey hair tied into a nice bun behind her head, wearing formal red floral kimono, entered the room and sat on the pillow seat across of him, smiling friendlily. "What can I do for you, young man?"
"I apologize for disturbing your free time, Mihara-san. My name is Kuroko Tetsuya from Ki. Se. Dai. I have a few questions I'd like to ask you regarding the mansion that was built ten years ago on top of the abandoned land near this place." Kuroko greeted courteously before he proceeded to state his objection and the old lady seemed taken aback for a second.
"What is it that you want to know?" Her tone was still polite and nice, but Kuroko detected a caution in there.
"Why is the land abandoned?"
~GoM x Kuroko~
Midorima opened the door when the bell on the mansion rang.
"Welcome home," he said and Kuroko chuckled.
"Not our home, Midorima-kun."
"It's our momentary base, since we can't leave Kagami alone." Midorima shrugged. Kuroko tilted his head aside, seeming to catch on something.
"Did something happen?"
Midorima was silent, contemplating for awhile before answering. "We've got a Poltergeist earlier," he decided to share.
Kuroko raised his eyebrows rather high for that. "Is Kagami-kun alright?"
"He passed out for awhile from lack of sleep and exhaustion, but other than that, he's fine," Midorima informed.
"But Poltergeist? So soon after we started to investigate?" Kuroko sounded skeptical.
"At first we thought it was an earthquake, but then… there was rapping and knocking. You didn't feel any shaking ground when you were outside this mansion, did you?" Midorima checked and Kuroko shook his head in confirmation. "Then it was most likely a Poltergeist."
"Any moving object?" Kuroko asked again.
"Aside from the misplaced things that Kagami told us, no. Only the rapping and the knocking," Midorima pushed his glasses up his nose bridge.
"Add the foot steps that Kagami-kun heard before, then the phenomenon is escalating," Kuroko murmured lowly. Midorima had to strain his hearing to hear it. "Is it because we're here, or…"
"How about the house history?" Midorima decided to change the topic before they started to speculate whether or not they made the phenomenon worse because he didn't want to think about that.
After all, Ki. Se. Dai. Was pro. They shouldn't be wondering about such thing because they were trained to prepare for the supernatural occurrence and to finish the problem efficiently without or with only minimal damage.
"There's nothing alarming about the house itself, but… apparently, the land where the house was built is problematic." Kuroko turned serious now and Midorima was somber seeing his expression.
"Let's talk inside." Midorima closed the door and they proceeded to walk to the living room where Kise and Kagami were waiting.
#
"So, there are nine criteria of Poltergeist occurrence. Moving objects-levitating or thrown or just moving by itself-, disappearing or misplaced objects, strange scents and odors, electrical interference, knocking or rapping or other strange noises, opening and closing doors, physical contact -getting touched, pushed, scratched, etc-, and then the change of temperature of the moving object -it will be warmer-, and last but no least the breaking things, like glass or windows shattering by themselves."
"Wait, I've got some of those criteria happened to me," Kagami frowned.
"Yeah, the noises, the misplaced things, and you getting touched in the bathroom, and the rapping, knocking and footsteps… it's definitely a poltergeist, Kagami-kun," Kise nodded apologetically.
"But, why me? Why this house?" Kagami scowled, feeling even more worried at finally getting some information. This wasn't the information that made him happy at all. "Do you mean that whatever did this isn't human?" That was the scariest part. He hated something that he couldn't explain with logic.
Supernatural doesn't make sense, but then what can explain these things other than that?
"Some experiments prove that half of the causes of Poltergeist phenomenon are human, especially teenage girls with unstable hormone and psychology during high stress or any people with latent psychic ability. Hypnosis method can prove if someone causes a Poltergeist, but sometimes, Poltergeist can occur because of… other beings." Kise explained.
"Like ghosts…" Kagami made a face.
"You don't believe in them, you said?" Kise stared at him with a curious look.
"Well, I am the type that can't believe what I can't see," Kagami shrugged.
"But you did see something, didn't you?" Kise inquired further and Kagami looked the other way. Because he did see things. Things that didn't make any sense. That shadow in his peripheral view, those pair of dark eyes and-
"…be waiting for you…"
Kagami clicked his tongue and scratched his head, frustrated. Why the fuck did I dream about something like that?!
He could still feel the phantom sensation of being grabbed by that skeletal hand. He shuddered and shivered in fright as he remembered it, those bony white fingers gripping his wrist, the ice-bucket cold feel on his skin...
"Do you-… do you think the ghost wants something from me?" Kagami had to gulp once before he could ask, because he couldn't fathom what he could have done to deserve this kind of scary experience. He didn't remember doing something remotely bad enough to cause someone to hold a grudge on him, moreover for a ghost to make his life miserable.
"Well, I don't know. Most living people can't communicate with the dead with 'speech' so sometimes they send signal via supernatural occurrence. Maybe they do want something or maybe they are just being mischievous. Sometimes they are just lonely, and maybe want some company, but… they can be dangerous too for the living." Kise looked rather sad as he spoke, as if he was speaking from personal experience.
Kagami wanted to ask what happened to him that he chose this job, but he didn't have a chance as Midorima entered the living room. "Kuroko is back."
"Kuroko-chi? Where?" Kise's eyes turned shiny and Kagami just blinked as he finally saw the bluenet walking quietly just a little bit behind Midorima.
"Hey," Kuroko greeted Kagami and gave him a small smile which for some reason made Kagami self conscious.
"H-hey," Kagami nodded at him while Kise practically threw himself at Kuroko who immediately dodged that the blonde bumped Midorima instead.
Kuroko promptly ignored Kise's wailing ("Kuroko-chi, so cruuuuuel!") and Midorima's chiding ("Shut up, Kise! And get off me!") and opted to sit beside Kagami on the couch. "How are you doing, Kagami-kun? I heard you fainted earlier?"
"Oh, yeah…" Kagami flushed, rather embarrassed for being lame and totally pathetic for passing out. "I'm fine now, after some sleep…"
"Supernatural phenomenon can be exhausting after all, especially for mental stability." Kuroko reached his hand to Kagami's, grasped and squeezed it lightly in a comforting gesture.
Kagami flicked his gaze at their joined hands and punctually blushed harder. Kuroko's hand was very warm and it felt really nice on his still cold, clammy one. "Thanks," Kagami murmured, smiling contently. He was glad that they were here with him. Even though he only knew them for a few days, their presence there was helping him deal with what happened with his life.
Kuroko widened his eyes slightly and was silent for a moment before saying, "Kagami-kun has a very nice smile."
"Eh?" Kagami blinked, a bit surprised.
"I like Kagami-kun's smiling face," Kuroko gave him another smile, more prominent, more gently, and it made Kagami squirm with a sudden warm feeling blossoming inside his heart. Kuroko looked extra cute when he was smiling like that.
"Kuroko-chi, what about the house record?" Kise suddenly dropped his weight on Kuroko's back and Midorima tapped Kagami's shoulder, distracting him from staring at Kuroko and Kise bickering (or Kise whining and Kuroko making a dry comment).
"Here, Kagami," Midorima offered something inside his fist.
"What?" Kagami opened his palm and blinked when Midorima dropped a small greenish charm in the form of magatama (4) with two little bells dangling on the knotted red string at the tail.
"A protection charm," Midorima looked at his eyes and Kagami couldn't help moving his gaze from the charm to Midorima's own, noticing how long his eyelashes were and how beautiful Midorima's eye color was. It looked like a pair of twin emeralds, his gaze deep and thoughtful, and wow… They were very mesmerizing.
"T-thanks," Kagami stuttered slightly, not knowing why he felt strange around these people.
Anyway, those three were indeed extra ordinary. Each of them had something that was very attention grabbing, like Kise with his pretty face and lean body shape, and Midorima with his mesmerizing eyes, long lashes and elegant pianist's fingers, and then Kuroko… Kuroko who was hard to notice at first, but when he smiled, he seemed to bring spring in his heart.
And the three of them are helping me solve my problem…-Kagami closed his fingers around the charm. The bells were ringing nicely while he was bringing it to his chest. He smiled softly. He couldn't help feeling very content having them around him, feeling very safe despite the oddity that happened to his life.
~GoM x Kagami~
"So~, about the record?" Kise inquired and Kuroko nodded.
"Alright, now I am going to explain what I know about this house," Kuroko started. "First, I checked this mansion record since it was built ten years ago. There was nothing remotely strange happening in this house since it was built, until after Kagami-kun moved in. The previous owners didn't experience any supernatural occurrence whatsoever, so this building isn't actually the problem. I figured it must have something to do with Kagami-kun."
"With me?" Kagami widened his eyes.
"I believe so. However, if that had been really the case, then I would have noticed, since I actually can feel presence and see things that want to be seen. The fact is, they probably want to be seen, but not by me," he explained further.
"Then… they want to be seen by…"
"Kagami, right?" Midorima finished Kise's sentence.
"I believe so." Kuroko nodded.
"Wait, what is this presence you're talking about?" Kagami looked confused.
"Some people call them spirits, Kagami-kun. If you believe in the afterlife, human spirits should cross over after their bodies perish, but sometimes, their feelings are very strong and attached to this world or to someone in this world that their spirits are unable to leave or rest in peace. Those spirits, if they are attached to a building, a specific place or a land, they became Jibakurei or earthbound spirits. These kind of spirits cannot leave the place they are attached to. On the other hand, spirits that are attached to people cannot leave the people they are attached to, but they can move around as long as the people they are attached to do not stray too far away from them."
Kagami looked queasy as he tried to digest all the information. "Okay… so, is this earthbound spirit or… spirit that's attached to me?" he seemed dubious as he asked.
"Well, besides those two kinds, there is the third kind that is a little bit… special," Kuroko admitted and Kagami frowned.
"There's more?" Kise was surprised, even outweighing Kagami. He knew about earthbound spirit and spirit which was attached to people, but it was the first time he heard about the third kind.
As expected from Kuroko-chi. He's so informative. An expert of spirits from Ki. Se. Dai.-Kise secretly smirked as Kuroko continued his elucidation.
"This type of spirits are not only earthbound, but also attached to people."
"What? How does that even work?" Kagami seemed very puzzled.
"They are earthbound, Kagami-kun. They cannot leave the place. However, they are not actively haunting the place unless a specific criteria is met."
"A specific criteria as in…" Midorima wondered loudly.
"The people they are attached to have to set their foot in those spirits' territory first to wake them up."
There was a brief silence in the room before-
"You mean I cause them to activate?" Kagami set an incredulous look and Kuroko nodded solemnly.
"It seems that is the case. Because these spirits here… they never disturbed anyone before Kagami-kun came a long. These spirits had been quiet for years. They are the type of spirits that as long as the people they are attached to do not set food in their resting place, they are dormant, asleep, completely inactive." Kuroko finished.
Kagami gaped, seeming unable to perform words to express how he felt about this. Kise whistled in awe and Midorima made a noncommittal noise.
"You said that the land itself is the problem," Midorima then suddenly spoke and Kuroko blinked.
"Oh, right. This is information that I acquired by asking around, people that have been living around the land of this mansion in a long time even before the house was built. Before, this land was an abandoned land. It had been for a long time. There's no record of why the land is abandoned, but the elder people said this land was barren since they were aware. There was a record of the land being purchased privately 50 years ago, but the name of the owner that purchased the land was never mentioned in any record. There was a company name though, Nohin Corporation, but when I checked what kind of company it was, there was no such company in reality."
"A dummy company that purchased an abandoned land? How suspicious…" Kise frowned.
"Yes, it is strange, indeed, so I dug a bit deeper after I asked around the neighborhood. The law firm that took care of the purchase of the land was still around, and I went there to ask if there was any record of the land owner. They said they had it, but it was not a private corporation that owned the land, but this country." Kuroko's eyes glinted slightly in revelation and Kise gawked at him in shock, while Midorima raised both his eyebrows.
"The dummy corporation is actually this country?" Kagami's eyes bulged out at that.
"That's the conclusion I drew after that, indeed. So the question is, why did Japan purchase a piece of an abandoned land under dummy corporation name?" Kuroko inquired as if he were giving a quiz.
"Because the country tried to hide something sensitive or classified in that land and didn't want to be held responsible in case that something is exposed or causing trouble," Midorima conjured and Kise was a little bit affronted.
"Really, the government again?" Kise hated to think that they had to deal with the officials. After all, most Ki. Se. Dai. members had at least one unpleasant experience dealing with those sticks in the mud. If it hadn't been for Akashi, they might have been captured and being made into lab rats or something. Especially for Kise, because his ability was quite… fascinating to be studied for science, obviously, even though Kise's capability was far from science.
Or maybe it is indeed science, just… not yet understood by society in general.
Kise didn't realize that he made a face at his own thought, but Kuroko apparently was perceptive enough to call him on it. "Do not worry, Kise-kun. I do not think they want to be involved in this particular case. After all, they have gone to such extent to hide their association in the land purchase. Besides, we are as official as they are now, thanks to Akashi-kun. We are working under independent company after all," he said while facing his way, giving him a reassuring nod.
"All right. I just don't like hearing the 'G' word," Kise pouted, rather annoyed. Though, he quickly noticed that Kagami stared at him and Kuroko with questioning eyes, apparently interested in their strange conversation, but he didn't say anything as Midorima filled in the silence soon enough.
"So, looking for the root of the problem of this land will be quite difficult then, especially if we have to seek answers from those officials." A scowl made an appearance on Midorima's face.
"Well, that is unfortunate, but we do not really have to do that, actually." Kuroko shrugged faintly. Midorima looked at him somberly and Kise immediately caught on the hidden message between Kuroko's gesture and Midorima's expression.
"Are you going to do it, Kuroko-chi?" Kise broadened his eyes a bit, rapidly feeling quite excited because it was very rare for Kuroko to actually volunteer to do what he was about to do. Clearly, because the 'ceremony' was quite mentally and physically exhausting for the bluenet.
Kuroko smiled thinly at him. "I need a space for doing it, though," he said, and without further ado, no question asked despite Kagami's obvious confusion, they proceeded to do just that.
~GoM x Kagami~
"What is he going to do?" Kagami couldn't help asking, perplexed, as he stared at Kuroko sitting Indian style in the middle of the living room, both arms resting on his thigh, back straight, but he seemed to be quite relaxed. Kise, Midorima and Kagami were in the corner of the room, at least twenty feet away from him, sitting on brown cushions, and observing Kuroko attentively.
"Séance," Kise answered, grinning. "Kuroko-chi's specialty."
"Séance?" Now Kagami frowned, rather alarmed. That word sounded dreadfully ominous after all.
"It's Kuroko's unique ability. He was born with the power to see and communicate with spirits. So, it's natural that he can call them to gain information. Séance is Kuroko's gift. He can perform a ritual which let normal people see them too." Midorima explained to Kagami.
"But, isn't calling and communicating with spirits extremely dangerous?" Kagami paled and couldn't fight the cold shiver wreaking havoc through his body. It was honestly scary and frightening because he remembered some horror films containing such activities and it never ended well for the characters, particularly for whoever thought it was fun playing with such things in the first place.
"Yes, well… for amateur, it is. It's a lot like Kokkuri-san (5) after all, but in Kuroko's case, he doesn't need any media to do it because he can see and talk to the spirits like he does to the living people," Midorima assured.
"True," Kise nodded repeatedly, making a point of supporting Midorima's assurance. "Besides, the shadows are fond of him. He'll be fine!" he added enthusiastically.
"The shadows?" Kagami furrowed his brow deeper, more confused than reassured.
However, Kagami had to hold down his curiosity to get more answers of what Kise meant, because something began to happen around them. He could physically feel it. The room temperature was gradually dropping. It was obvious because he slowly felt very cold without reason even though it was summer and then the light on the ceiling started to flicker while those phantom foot steps were unexpectedly heard. Kagami gripped at the jeans on his knees tightly, body tensing and rigid at the abrupt onslaught of terror inside him.
They're here!-Even Kagami himself didn't understand why he knew it. But he had a very bad feeling about it and he was in the verge of grabbing Midorima or Kise to hide behind them, and yet he couldn't move a muscle. He was too afraid to move.
Kagami was startled when he felt someone's hand on his. He looked down at the hand and then upward at the owner. "It's all right, Kagami-kun. Kuroko-chi is a pro at this. No harm will come to us, I promise." Kise beamed and clutched his hand strongly and Kagami gulped once before nodding, pulling a tight smile up.
"Okay…" He decided to have more faith in these people.
Awhile later, the foot steps that seemed to walk around the house stopped and something...-Kagami wasn't sure what it was- like smoke or fog, seeped through the gap between the door and the floor. Kagami had to will his body not to bolt right away at the dark smoke-fog filling the room bit by bit, until it became very thick.
"What the hell is that?!" He wanted to shout in mortification, but what came out from his mouth was an under toned, high-pitch like squeal which was frankly very embarrassing coming out from a guy as big as him, but shame was the last thing he was worried about at this moment, because that smoke-fog was still growing bigger and thicker inside the room and it was almost suffocating sitting duck inside it.
"Hold out your amulet I gave you earlier, Kagami," Midorima instructed coolly and how the fuck can he be so calm about this situation while Kagami was freaking out!?
Still, Kagami obeyed him despite his internal breakdown, frantically nodded and scrambled around his pocket to retrieve the charm to hold it close to his heart once again as soon as he found it. The ringing bells were helping, but his heart still pounded so hard and fast in his chest, and perspiration wet his face and clothes. Though, he held on. Shaking badly, yes, but he believed he could take this experience until it was through.
The smoke around started to concentrate into several lumps of formless globs before gradually, they started to shape into recognizable forms. They didn't exactly look like people, but Kagami could make out the outline of limbs, the main bodies and what looked like the heads, albeit still badly deformed.
Then the general view started to clash with the still flickering light, giving out the shape of white bony skulls behind the curtain of black smoke-fog figures. Kagami gasped and clapped his mouth shut seeing the horrendous sight. He couldn't bear the view, so he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, willing them not to chatter.
"So, you are finally here. It is an honor to meet all of you. I am Kuroko Tetsuya and I have a few questions I would like to ask you."
Kagami could hear Kuroko's voice, serene and shooting. He didn't know what caused that effect, maybe his even tone, but somehow, the suffocating feeling inside him was slightly abridged. However, it was short-lived because Kuroko's nice voice was quickly followed by drizzling, croaking noise and then hissing, as dry as leaves in autumn and as cold as ice in winter and he just knew those noise weren't possibly human, because they caused his body to shiver unpleasantly.
"Is he speaking to them?" Kagami whispered, eyes still perfectly shut, his voice quivering.
"Yes, Kagami-kun. Sssh," Kise tightened his hold on Kagami's hand and he completely welcomed the added pressure to distract his mind from the horror.
"Huh… so this land is your resting place, I see." Kuroko's cool voice was heard once again. Kagami couldn't identify the words spoken by those scratching, croaking noises that seemed to come from those spirits, but he was determined to listen to Kuroko's words, trying to understand better. "Since Heian Period?"
There was a rustle from somewhere beside Kagami. It was probably Kise or Midorima changing position.
"Why are you not resting now, then?"
Once again, those disturbing noises filled the room and then there was a long pause before-
"You do not know what caused the stir?"
Kagami still tried to concentrate to battle his own fear to open his eyes. He could do this. He could-
The rustling sound was heard once more, louder this time, before something clammy grabbed Kagami's right wrist and then he was suddenly yanked with a force so powerful that he was actually dragged aside more than two meters. "Ack!" He couldn't help yelping in shock and pain as his chin hit the floor quite hard.
"Kagami!"
"Kagami-kun!"
Midorima and Kise hastily reacted in surprise as well, shouting loudly while standing, and then hurriedly moved to Kagami's side once again. Both looked alarmed as Kagami was slowly sitting up to nurse his abused jaw, groaning.
"Are you okay? What happened?" Kise asked, looking fairly worried.
"I don't-… something yanked my wrist…!" Kagami then raised his right hand, inspecting his wrist as his other hand was still stroking his hurting jaw. There were some distinct bruises in a form of fingers starting to form on the inside of his wrist. "What the heck…?!"
"Let me see," Midorima opened his palm and Kagami hesitantly showed his hand. Midorima frowned as he saw the reddening mark. "This is worse than I thought…"
"Midorima-chi," Kise called and both Midorima and Kagami turned to face him. Kise pointed at something on the ground and Kagami gasped while Midorima widened his eyes as they saw it.
It was the magatama charm that Midorima handed to Kagami earlier and it was on fire.
"What the-?!" It was a rock and it was on fire! How the hell did that happen?!
"What's going on?" Kuroko then showed up, apparently abandoning his ritual to see the situation in Kagami's party. He looked considerably pale, several beads of sweat adorning his face.
"Kuroko-chi! What about the Séance?" Kise seemed surprised as he looked upward at the slightly panting bluenet. He seemed tired.
"It is done. They were pulled away by something earlier," Kuroko's brow furrowed slightly. "I do not really know what happened, but it seems that… there is something more sinister than those spirits here," he informed as he knelt, paced his breath, before then inspected Kagami's wrist which was still in Midorima's palm.
"What do you mean by something sinister?" Kagami gulped fearfully, feeling his bad omen worsening somehow.
"Spirits don't usually react so violently if they aren't strong," Kise mumbled.
"It means there's something strong and hostile in this house," Midorima confirmed and Kuroko nodded at him, looking concerned.
"Yes, and from my and the other spirits' conversation just now, I knew that they were supposed to be asleep here, but they were stirred awake by something, probably that hostile spirit, when Kagami set foot in this house for the first time. Roughly two years ago, I presumed?" He turned to Kagami for confirmation and Kagami nodded. "Then our problem is only with that hostile spirit. Unfortunately, I could not see the true form of that spirit earlier. I am afraid we need more preparation to draw that particular spirit to the front line if we want to remove its presence from here."
"Will we have to resort in doing jorei (6) to the spirit?" Kise asked, seeming even more bothered.
"I hope it doesn't have to come to that, but this spirit is particularly invested in Kagami-kun," Kuroko pressed his lips together in determined look. "If this spirit comes to harm him, we do not have any choice but to remove it forcefully."
"Kuroko-chi…" Kise looked sympathetic and Midorima softened his expression as he looked at Kuroko as well.
"Um," Kagami said, trying to gain their attention, and it worked because the three of his guests then turned to face him. "So… what happens now?"
"Well…" Kuroko stared at him for sometime, up and down, apparently considering something that made Kagami a bit uncomfortable. "It will be quicker if we have Kagami-kun as a bait to fish that spirit out, but seeing what it just did, I do not think it is worth the risk," he said, sighing.
"Then we should just put something else as a replacement for the bait, right?" Kise grinned and both Kuroko and Midorima looked at him with some kind of silent approval. Kise's grinned widened while Kagami stared at those three in confusion, totally lost at their eyes communication.
"What do you mean by replacement?"
Kise just winked at him as he proudly made a peace sign. "My special ability is handy for something like this."
"Eh?" If it was possible, Kagami got even more bewildered at such cryptic explanation.
~GoM x Kagami~
The next day, Kagami was asked to wait outside the house while Kuroko and Midorima prepared something inside, in the living room. Kise was suspiciously missing from the morning and afternoon assemble, and both Kuroko and Midorima only said that the blond was preparing his own role in the 'whatever they were doing' activity.
"What are they doing inside, I wonder…" Kagami paced back and forth near the living room window. Once in awhile he glanced at the rectangle glass just a few steps from him. The curtain was drawn closed, so he couldn't see what was happening on the inside, but he was also very curious despite being scared of seeing something horrendous like what he saw yesterday, or experienced something awful like being yanked by supernatural force. He still shuddered as he remembered that event.
Kagami sighed deeply now. He looked upward and spotted three ventilation holes above the window and since his curiosity won over his fear, he decided to take a peek. Kagami looked around to find something that he could use to be a stepping stone so he could reach the ventilation hole. He settled with a crate that he found near the shed that was used as the storage room at the backyard. He dragged it in front of the window and then stood on top of it before reaching up at the ventilation and gripped the edge with both hands and all fingers.
Kagami pulled himself upward and took a sneak-peek inside.
There was someone in the middle of the room, standing on some kind of a circle with strange letters surrounding it. His back was on Kagami and he wore a red hoodie and his posture was lax, completely at ease. At first, he thought it was Kise judging from the height, but the thickness of his body was wrong for Kise. Kagami somehow felt familiar seeing that form, though, so it must have been someone he knew.
Huh? Where did I see him again?
Storing the question at the back of his head, he looked around more and found Kuroko at the guy's side outside the circle and Midorima on the guy's other side. Kagami tilted his head slightly to see further, but nothing seemed to be out of ordinary except the circle in the middle of the living room and the guy.
"The preparation is set."
A tiny voice that Kagami recognized as Kuroko's said and then-
"Bring it on."
Huh?-Kagami widened his eyes as he heard that voice. That low tenor, rather husky voice. After all, it was a very familiar voice, a voice that he heard everyday… every time, when Kagami himself spoke.
When the hooded guy turned aside slightly, Kagami was able to see his face and-
"HUUUUUUUUUH?!"
Almost popping his eyes out of their sockets aside, how shocked do you think he was when that face turned out to be Kagami's own face?
End of Part 2
Tbc…
Additional Notes:
1)Bonji: Old Japanese letters
2)Niichan: Big brother
3)Baachan: Grandmother
4)Magatama: a green stone in the shape of yin or yang
5)Kokkuri-san: Ouija Board, amateur spirit calling ritual
6)Jorei: exorcism, to purposely and forcefully remove spirits from things, places or people
A/N: God, it took me forever to make this chapter. I could only write some sentences down per trial to update since I have so little time these days to write fan fic. I wish I had more time, but this even pushed it too far. It seems I won't be sleeping tonight *sighs*
Well, any thought? Sorry if this seems rushed. I thought it through as best as I could, which answers and climax will be written in part 3. I wanted to finish this ASAP so I can go back to plotting for my other fics.
Part 3
Part 1