UPDATE! Signal 4 (Aka/Furi, Kaga/Kuro, Ao/Kise, Mido/Taka, Mura/Himu, Pg-15)

[lunaryu]

Signal
Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke
Rating: Pg-15/T
Genre: Drama/Family/Romance (no humor this time, sorry! >_<)
Pairing: Akashi/Furihata-main, Kagami/Kuroko, Aomine/Kise, Midorima/Takao, Murasakibara/Himuro

Summary: There's a reason why Kagami was sent back home to Japan. Akashi pulled some strings? Or was it his family? Why does Furihata get involved in this craziness? Will Akashi give his blessing to all the GoM members' new 'partners'? This is the conclusion. Akashi's 'eyes' are there for a very important reason, not just for basketball.
Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke belongs to Fujimaki-sensei. Luna only plays with the characters~
Warning: AU, slight oOC, language, yaoi, OCs alert (for the family members), Akashi (and his family *lol*), etc…
Beta: tora-chan38. Thank you sooo much! I couldn't have done this nicely without your help!

A/N: Uh… I don't know what to say. All I know is this chapter turned rather unexpected even for me… Well, I'll just let you readers decide for me then… Oh! And your WONDERFUL reviews from the last chapter really made my day (if only I had time to reply them *ugh*). Thanks a lot for all the faves and alerts too! Saa, enjoy this new chapter!

Signal

Part 4



Furihata was staring at the café in front of him.

The brunet was staring and just that, staring. He didn't make any move to enter the café from his spot even though Akashi was strolling inside casually as if he owned the place.

Akashi noticed that Furihata didn't follow him a moment later, so he stopped and turned around to look at the shorter boy with a raised eyebrow, as if he were asking him what he was doing standing still while making such a ridiculous face like a fool in front of the café.

"Um… this shop is… that place where you can buy a cup of coffee if you have at least 1000 yen* on you, right?" Furihata was sweating profoundly. He couldn't even pronounce the name of the café right since it was in foreign language.

Strălucitoare de Viață (1). From what language was that?

"Is there a problem?" Akashi asked eloquently as if he were the normal one.

"Uh…" Furihata was gulping and twitching hesitantly. Akashi did realize that he… they were high school students, right? There was just no way that an ordinary guy like Furihata had enough money to buy a cup of coffee from the café in front of him, let alone to buy anything else on the menu.

They could buy ten cans of coffee from the vending machine for a single cup of coffee in that café after all.

Akashi seemed to read his mind (or expression, but Furihata wouldn't be surprised if Akashi could see inside other people's heads since he already could see the future movement of his opponent with his eyes anyway) as he smiled slightly.

Furihata honestly didn't know if Akashi was looking down on him again, but there was something different in the way he spoke to him. "Money isn't an issue. Hurry and get in. You are obstructing the way by standing there unmoving," the redhead gestured for him to move and Furihata didn't have enough balls to object despite the unsettling feeling in his stomach.

"I don't think I will be able to order anything in this place. Why can't we settle down at the more…normal café?" Furihata decided to ask after they sat down at the table near the stage. Yes, the café had a live-show stage for a band or a recital to perform. There was an actual grand piano on it, damn it! High school students shouldn't hang out in a place like that!

Moreover, most of the customers inside the store were foreign people, adult foreign people. This was getting too intimidating for Furihata's comfort.

"This is normal café," Akashi said in a dismissing tone as he gestured for the waiter to come to their table.

"Uh, but…" Furihata cringed as Akashi gave him a warning look. He immediately shut up with teary eyes as the waiter arrived.

Akashi then ordered something which, again, Furihata wouldn't be able to pronounce without any practice. Then when the waiter looked at Furihata with expectant look, the teen stiffened, not knowing what to do.

"He'll have the same as me," Akashi said with a small smile to the waiter.

"I will process your order then, Seijuurou-sama. Please wait for a moment," the waiter said before he bowed slightly and went off to place the order.

Seijuurou-sama? Using his first name? What a familiar way to call a customer. Is Akashi a frequent customer or something?-Furihata wondered and then gasped as he remembered that Akashi had ordered on his behalf without even consulting to him first! What if Furihata didn't like the drink? Or worse, couldn't pay for the order?

Apparently, Akashi really could read his expression very well because he shook his head at the horrified expression Furihata had set. "I said money isn't an issue here. Would you stop looking so foolish?"

Furihata snapped his dropped jaw shut and looked at Akashi's calm face awkwardly. F-foolish, really?-but he didn't dare to complain on that of course.

They were quiet for a few moments until Furihata couldn't stand the heavy silence anymore and decided to make a small talk. "Uh… are you… a frequent customer in this café or something?" he started.

"You could say that. But, it is more about my family being the benefactor of this café when the owner built it from scratch until it became the most prominent café in this country," Akashi answered, not looking at Furihata as he seemed to choose to observe the people inside the café.

Of course it'd be something like that…-Furihata's sweat dropped. He was an idiot to not expect that kind of answer.

"So, you chose this café because you will get a discount?" Furihata tried to lighten the mood by joking around a bit.

"Of course not; it is simply because the coffee at the low-class cafés doesn't suit my taste," Akashi smirked leisurely.

L-low class…-Furihata felt rather depressed just by hearing such degrading words about other cafés.

Well, Furihata wasn't exactly a coffee fan since he hated bitter beverages. The brunet would choose tea or milk over coffee, but he did enjoy some lattes or cappuccinos once in awhile in some ordinary cafés. It wasn't fair to regard those cafés as 'low-class' just because Akashi's tongue was too delicate to enjoy the menus there.

"You… have you never gone to an ordinary family restaurant with your family?" Furihata asked tentatively, trying not to pry or anything, but he did feel rather peeved at the way Akashi looked down on things he probably had never tried.

Akashi was silent for a long moment at that. His eyes turned rather nostalgic for some reasons. "I have…" The redhead answered surprisingly a positive remark while lowering his gaze. He seemed to reminiscence about something wonderful because his expression softened slightly.

Furihata's heart skipped a beat again. Holy fu-! Even Akashi Seijuurou can make such expression?!-he really didn't see that coming. M-more over that expression is kinda…

Furihata didn't know what happened, but his heart was beating rather hard and fast against his ribcage as he saw it, his face heating slightly, totally astonished. Well, who would blame him? All this time, Furihata always thought that Akashi was like a cold-blooded human weapon, but… apparently, he was wrong.

Furihata honestly didn't know what Akashi was thinking when he made such gentle expression, but it must have been something very dear to him. Because that expression was very wonderful… he should definitely smile like that more!

Akashi seemed to notice Furihata's stunned silence and his amazed stare; so once again he set his unreadable gaze on him. "Did anyone ever tell you that you are such a boring person?" He asked and those familiar words stabbed Furihata in the chest.

"Uh… some people have said that before…" Furihata felt like crying again because those some people included his crush. But since he was used to such comments by now, he quickly recovered. "Akashi-kun… ah, may I call you Akashi-kun?" He almost forgot that he just couldn't address Akashi as he liked. Maybe he should put -sama at the end of his name?

"Oh, right, where are my manners? I forgot to ask your name as well," Akashi chuckled slightly and nodded swiftly after that to answer Furihata's question. "Akashi-kun is alright. What about yours?"

"Ah, it-it's Furihata Kouki," Furihata was surprised that Akashi wanted to know his name at all.

"I see. It's Kouki then," Akashi casually addressed, making Furihata wince.

Suddenly using my first name?-Furihata was slightly bewildered. Not even his teammates called him by his first name yet!

"What?" Akashi raised his eyebrows in response to another one of Furihata's strange expression.

"Um… I'm just… rather surprised. Somehow, Akashi-kun is not like what I always thought he was…" Furihata said slowly.

"Ooh? And what kind of person did you previously think I was like?" Akashi seemed interested as his dichromatic eyes glinted vaguely.

Furihata gulped. He wanted to avert his gaze, but those dangerous eyes seemed to have a hypnotic force that kept his sight from straying. It was captivating, as if he couldn't defy Akashi's order as long as he was trapped in those brilliant, endless mismatched pools.

"Are you turning mutt now?" Akashi's voice brought Furihata back from his reverie with a little jump from his seat and a surprised squawk.

"S-sorry, uh… right, what I thought about Akashi-kun was… umm," Furihata was choosing his words again, not wanting to offend Akashi too much despite his actual thoughts. "I thought you were rather, um… cold a-and stoic, err… and a little bit heartless…" His voice was getting quieter as he went on and it was only slightly above a whisper at the end.

Akashi didn't seem mad as he regarded the answer. "Well, you weren't exactly wrong," he said as if it was very amusing instead, his eyes still luminous.

"No, but… if you were really like that, you wouldn't make those expressions…" Furihata argued slightly.

"What expressions are you talking about?" Akashi asked with easy smile.

Furihata was surprised at that. Didn't Akashi notice? "Well… for once, you made a gentle look, and if you were heartless, you wouldn't get angry by people's insults…"

Akashi raised his eyebrows again. "Who said I was angry?"

"But… you were angry at those thugs, weren't you? F-for mocking your… you know," Furihata shrugged. He didn't want to mention something that related to height in front of Akashi, but he was also starting to feel confused at Akashi's unexpected reaction.

Akashi smirked at that. "I told you. I was bored. I just wanted to play with them," he licked his slightly chapped lips and somehow, his face turned rather sadistic, causing Furihata to shiver when he saw it.

Right… he is a psycho! I almost forgot!-Furihata's tears almost welled up again. He was feeling very scared, but he suppressed it with sheer will power so as not to humor the red haired teen in front of him, because he would definitely take pleasure in making him cry, damn it!

"Uh… s-so what brought you in town, Akashi-kun…?" Furihata asked again, trying to change the direction of their conversation since he was sure it would turn into something scary if he didn't. And he reaaaally didn't want to know what Akashi had wanted to do to those thugs if Furihata hadn't interrupted them earlier.

After all, Furihata did see the scissors. Ugh.

"Changing the subject?" Of course Akashi would notice something as obvious as that. Furihata did look away this time, sweating profusely. "You are actually scared of me, aren't you?" The redhead threw the brunet a sardonic look.

"I-I told you it wasn't you especially," Furihata denied. "It's your…"

"Aptitude, yes, but aptitude is influenced by how a person thinks, so it's the same as the person itself. You are just sugar-coating your words," Akashi said knowingly and somehow, it got on Furihata's nerves. Akashi stopped talking as the waiter came with their… Akashi's order and put two cups of original black coffee on the table.

Akashi smiled at the waiter regally and the man smiled back politely. "We apologize for the wait. Please enjoy your time. Do you need anything else?" he asked. At the shake of Akashi's head, he bowed again before he excused himself.

Why is the waiter more like a manservant in a kingdom than a waiter in a café?-Furihata couldn't help wondering again at the keigo and the very polite way the waiter tended to Akashi.

Akashi looked thoughtful as he stared at the waiter's back for a moment. Then his gaze fell back to the cups on the table and he smirked. "Jeez… what people would do for a price," he laughed lightly before he suddenly slapped the cups away and let them shatter on the hard surface of the floor, much to Furihata's shock.

"W-what are you doing, Akashi-kun?" Furihata shouted in an undertone, very much horrified. He couldn't help paling as the activity around them halted, and the air in the room suddenly chilled for a moment. The hushed whispers and confused stares from the other customers on them were very uncomfortable.

"Excuse me, Mr. Customers. Are you alright?" Another waiter, different from the one that tended to them earlier, came to their table.

Mr. Customers?-Furihata was confused at the sudden change of addressing. But more than anything, he was disturbed by the sudden change of mood and attitude Akashi showed. Why did Akashi waste the coffee and the cups so suddenly?

"I apologize," Akashi said, holding the back of his hand. "My hand slipped. I will pay for the broken cups. Can you bring the same order to my table?" he asked politely and he used a soft tone to boot.

Furihata was perplexed. He didn't understand what was happening. A moment ago, Akashi was amused, the next he seemed thoughtful and then he suddenly looked disappointed, then this, and now he was back to his strange polite manner.

Akashi was so volatile. He was unpredictable. Furihata wouldn't be able to have a decent conversation with him without freaking out!

"Relax, it was just a little disturbance," Akashi said as he seemed to notice Furihata's mortification.

"W-what disturbance?" Furihata couldn't help stuttering, his heart thundering because of the fright. He must have been very pale at that moment.

"Well, ordinary eyes won't be able to see it," Akashi smiled again, strangely at ease as the waiter came once again to bring the new cups, then cleaned the mess on the floor. At this time, the other customers seemed to have already resumed their activity and once again ignored their table. Plus, Furihata had some minutes to compose himself.

"Please excuse the inconvenience. Enjoy your drink, Mr. Customers," the waiter smiled more casually and friendlily now before he quickly stepped away.

Furihata immediately noticed that again. "Strange… the way he talked was different from the first one. And he addressed us as Mr. Customers instead of your first name. Is he a new guy or something?" he couldn't help mumbling that out loud.

"Oh, I'm impressed," Akashi suddenly said, eyes alight again, catching Furihata's attention.

"Of… what?" Furihata was a bit wary at the way Akashi looked at him.

"It seems that you are not just some ignorant buffoon like Kagami Taiga. You actually possess a tiny bit of observational skill. Although your deduction skill is rather dim," Akashi praised. Well, it sounded like he was praising him even though there was an insult inside it as well.

"Well, sorry if I'm dim," Furihata muttered lowly, sulking slightly, but not for long because he got to see the amused smile again. Seriously, Akashi was puzzling him. His actions were mystifying. He couldn't comprehend his thoughts, and he just changed the subject again, didn't he?

Furihata sighed. He suddenly felt very tired. Dealing with Akashi Seijuurou was taxing his mind and stamina for some reason. No, he knew perfectly well why. Akashi was the kind of guy who liked to confuse people and play with their minds.

"So… what happened just now?" Out of curiosity, Furihata asked again.

"I don't have any obligation to tell you. Moreover, I don't want to tell you," Akashi said with another smile that didn't reach his eyes as he brought one of the cups in front of his lips before sipping the black coffee. He seemed to enjoy the coffee scent as well as he relished in the comforting bitterness of the dark colored liquid.

Furihata looked at his own cup, frowning slightly at the extra imaginary wall that seemed to materialize between him and Akashi. He took the cup and slowly sipped at the coffee. He choked in disgust, almost spitting it back into the cup, but he held on and gulped down the very bitter beverage.

"You can't handle black coffee," Akashi stated as he smirked. He seemed to have expected that and Furihata was kind of annoyed that the taller guy knew, but ordered the bitter coffee for him anyway. Akashi chuckled as he shook his head again and waved his hand to the waiter.

The same waiter from previously came with a smile. "What can I do for you?"

"Can you bring us sugar? My friend can't really handle the bitter coffee," Akashi asked.

"Alright, do you want me to bring milk as well? It will lessen the strong flavor," the waiter offered.

"That will be very nice," Furihata said, covering his mouth and slightly wheezing with a bead of perspiration rolling down his cheek.

"Alright, please wait for a moment," the waiter excused himself politely to bring the order.

Then it was silent again between Akashi and Furihata before the shorter boy attempted another conversation. "In the end you never told me why you are in Tokyo today," he scratched his cheek as he said it, not looking at Akashi.

"Is it that strange that I am in Tokyo on a Sunday morning?" Akashi asked.

"Well, no, not really. But… sitting alone in a deserted park was," Furihata answered while playing with the spoon beside his coffee cup. "You said something about waiting for your… minions? What's with that?" It was weird using minions to refer to friends, but… for Akashi, it might have been the right term.

Minions instead of friends… How sad is that?-Furihata didn't know if he was feeling sorry for Akashi's friends or for Akashi. After all, if Akashi referred his friends as minions, it could mean that the redhead didn't have any friends, right?

"Well, look at that. You were actually listening to my words," Akashi smiled again. It was kind of annoying that Akashi was making this harder for Furihata. "Indeed. Some people were being disobedient, so I thought that reminding them of their places would be good," his smile turned into a sinister smirk again and Furihata had a very bad feeling about this.

However, before Furihata could comment on that, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He slapped his pants pocket in surprise before he took his cell phone out. "Uh, sorry, I have to take this," he said as he saw Coach Aida's name on the caller ID.

Akashi didn't bother to say anything as Furihata stood and went to the area near restroom. He pushed the answer button and was hurriedly greeted by Aida's energetic voice.

"So slow, Furihata-kun! What took you so long to answer the phone?!"

Furihata's sweat dropped. "Coach, your voice is too loud," he sighed deeply. "I'm sorry. I was with someone just now, so…"

Furihata hadn't finished his line when Aida spoke again. "Never mind. Anyway, make sure to stay home for the day. I just got a text from Kuroko-kun that Akashi Seijuurou will be in town. He said something about GoM missing his calls and Akashi will probably be up to something no good, so Kuroko-kun asked the team to be careful today. It's best to stay home so we won't run into him."

Furihata paled at that. It's too laaaaate!-his mind whirred at the mention that Akashi was up to something bad and connecting the dots between 'some disobedient people' and the fact that Kuroko was extra cautious about GoM's missed calls was not very difficult.

Akashi Seijuurou was in Tokyo for another gathering between the GoM members.

"Furihata-kun?"-Aida's voice sounded confused because Furihata hadn't said anything to respond to her news.

Furihata whimpered, his heart sinking. "Coach… it's too late. I was already captured by Akashi Seijuurou," he said while crying pitifully.

"WHAT?!"-Aida screamed at the phone so loudly that Furihata thought he would be deaf after receiving that blow. "Oh my God! Furihata-kun! Hang in there! We'll rescue you ASAP!"-then she hung up without waiting for another reply.

"Hurry…!" Furihata whined before he closed his cell-phone and put it back inside his pocket again.

Furihata turned around to walk back to the table, but he was surprised to find that Akashi Seijuurou was on the phone as well. His expression was stoic and Furihata couldn't read lips, but Akashi said something, frowning slightly, before he went back to his stoic look again as he closed his phone and put it on the table.

"Sorry about that," Furihata said as he sat in front of Akashi.

"Change of plan," Akashi suddenly said as he slowly stood.

"Eh? W-what happened?" Furihata blinked in confusion.

"Go home." Akashi ordered suddenly.

"Huh?" Furihata tilted his head aside, bewildered.

"Go straight home, Kouki. Don't go anywhere else today," Akashi turned very serious at this.

"E-eh? But why… so sudden…?" Furihata didn't understand.

"If you value your life, do not question me and do as I say. Go home." Akashi's tone dropped slightly and coupled with his killer stare, it was seriously terrifying, so much that Furihata shuddered, frozen to the bone.

"A-alright, I'll… I'll go straight home…" Furihata didn't know what happened, but Akashi's mood just turned to the worst it seemed. And those eyes and tone… he wasn't bluffing. Furihata would lose his life if he didn't do what Akashi said, either by Akashi's own hand or something else. Anyway, since danger was approaching, Furihata needed to run away as soon as possible.

"Good." Akashi pulled a credit card out from his wallet and signaled the waiter to give them the receipt. He ended paying for Furihata's share even before they finished the coffee.

Furihata was walking away from the café while Akashi was staying inside even though the redhead didn't seem to want to continue his drink as well. It was a rather weird experience really. He quickly texted Aida that he was let off safely and she didn't have to send a rescue party. Aida sounded relieved when she called him again right after his message. She also ordered him to go home immediately.

"What the hell happened just now?" Furihata couldn't help but mutter in bafflement.

Akashi looked grave when he suddenly told Furihata to go home, as if he knew something bad would happen. Change of plan? What was that phone-call about? Anyway, Furihata was totally bemused. This was definitely the weirdest day of his life.

Well, let's just follow the Coach's order to stay home today…-Furihata mused as he walked home. When he passed some buildings at the Ginza shopping district, he saw some bodies laying around in the dark alley, groaning and moaning painfully with bruises here and there.

Furihata immediately recognized the guys because of their unique clothes. Huh? Aren't they the thugs that were messing with Akashi-kun this morn-?!

Furihata yelped in shock as a pair of red eyes appeared from the darkness of the alley. He covered his mouth not to actually scream like a victimized girl in horror movie because really, that would be just super embarrassing. Well, to his defense, it was really scary.

Those pair of eyes slowly materialized into a person, a tall young man, quite handsome actually, but definitely intimidating. And he glared at Furihata, so the boy just immediately ran away because he really had had enough of getting involved in something like that.

Shit! Today brings nothing but trouble! Is today my unlucky day or something?!-Although he didn't scream like a girl, Furihata definitely shrieked inside his mind as he continued running down the road straight home, not looking back out of fear that he might be chased after.

Luckily, Furihata arrived home in one piece, but he still locked his front door and dashed to his room before he locked his bedroom door as well, ignoring his mother's scolding for running inside the house and that he should announce if he was home or something along that line. He didn't care. He just wanted to hide in his room. Just in case.

Furihata was panting and wheezing when he flopped down on his bed weakly, not even taking off his coat first. He looked at the ceiling while calming his racing heartbeat and irregular breathing pace. "Really… what a very odd day…" and he repeated it over and over like a chant until the image of those enchanting dichromatic eyes receded from his mind.

~Akashi x Furihata~

Kuroko brought Aomine, Momoi, Kise, Midorima, Takao and Murasakibara inside Kagami's apartment. They immediately saw how warm the atmosphere was between Kagami, his mom, and Himuro, who were holding each other like a real family.

Kagami noticed when they came in and slightly pushed his mom's hand away so he could greet the group. Setsuna and Himuro immediately stood as well to greet Kuroko's party.

"Wow, Taiga has made so many friends in a year! My son is impressive," Setsuna ruffled Kagami's hair fondly with a wide sparkling smile.

"Mom!" Kagami flushed slightly, looking embarrassed and troubled as Aomine snickered and Momoi giggled at that, Midorima muttered lowly that they weren't friends and Takao whistled slightly, saying Kagami could look adorable too. Murasakibara just stared silently and Kuroko gave them a small smile.

"Uh, guys, this is my mother, Kagami Setsuna," Kagami then introduced his mother to the group and then turned to face his mom to do the same for his friends. "Mom, from the left after Kuroko they are: Momoi Satsuki, Aomine Daiki, Kise Ryouta, Midorima Shintarou, Takao Kazunari and Murasakibara Atsushi," he pointed at them one by one to show who was who.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Kagami," Momoi bowed slightly and politely and the others mimicked her as common courtesy.

"Maa, Momoi Satsuki-chan, huh? Such a nice young girl, and you are very pretty too!" Setsuna said with an excited friendly smile. Momoi blushed slightly at the compliment and thanked her shyly.

Aomine snorted at that and Momoi elbowed his side. He almost yowled in pain at her jab, but he just held his abused side while trembling. Setsuna set her eyes on Aomine at the movement. "Wow, such a fine young man. That tan skin looks very good on you. It's your natural skin color, Daiki-kun?" she asked.

"Eh, err… yeah. Mostly because of the sun, though," Aomine said awkwardly, trying to speak politely, but he fumbled with his words.

Setsuna chuckled at his attempt. "Don't worry about language. Use the one you are comfortable with. Oh, and just call me Setsuna, by the way. Mrs. Kagami makes me sound old," she said quite amusedly. Aomine looked kind of troubled and embarrassed at that.

"You are old," Kagami muttered and Setsuna kicked his shin in retaliation. Kagami had to crouch down on the ground to hold his painful shin after, while Himuro was laughing ruefully at him.

"This one is Ryouta-kun, huh? Ooh! You are really handsome and charming! A model? Aww~, such beautiful hair and skin! I'm jealous!" Setsuna said rather enthusiastically while staring sparklingly eyed at Kise.

"Ah, such words from a beautiful woman like you are wasted on me, Setsuna-san," Kise gave her his most charming model smile and Setsuna actually squealed slightly.

"Aww~! Ryouta-kun is such a tease!" She slapped Kise's back so hard that the model winced slightly at it. Takao outright laughed at this view.

"Setsuna-san is a very interesting person!" the Hawk-Eyed point guard was still chuckling as Setsuna turned to face him.

"It's Kazunari-kun, right? You are quite charming too. Your smile is very nice," Setsuna said.

"Thank you, Ma'am!" Takao grinned widely.

"Jeez, Takao, where are your manners?" Midorima gave his boyfriend a disapproving glare before Setsuna set her eyes on the tall shooting guard.

"Shintarou-kun, right? You have such long eyelashes and your face is beautiful too! Ah, and those glasses… do you like studying too? You look very smart for some reason," Setsuna praised.

"Uh… it's, it's not a big deal…" Midorima flushed slightly, stuttering. Somehow, he seemed unable to act arrogant about it because Setsuna looked very sincere when she complimented him.

"Ahaha, Shin-chan turns reeeed!" Takao teased and Midorima scowled at him in annoyance. Setsuna giggled slightly.

Setsuna then turned to the tallest member of the group and stared at the purple haired boy in awe. "Wow… you are so tall… and so handsome to boot, Atsushi-kun, right? Must be tough walking around with that height, the doors in Japan are quite short after all," she continued.

"Yes, it is troublesome sometimes," Murasakibara said, looking bored.

"But, Kagami and Setsuna-san resemble each other, ne?" Momoi couldn't help mentioning. Setsuna seemed distracted from her awe at Murasakibara's height as she turned to face Momoi again.

"Well, half of his looks and personality came from me after all, except for his height. That was from his father," Setsuna giggled and the others laughed slightly as well, except maybe Midorima who only huffed out a soft chuckle and Murasakibara who tilted his head aside, looking puzzled instead. "Well, then. I will let you youngsters play alone. Taiga, don't do anything I wouldn't do, okay?" She winked at her son.

"There's nothing you won't do as long as it's amusing for you," Kagami grumbled, pouting slightly.

"Ah, Setsuna-san," Kuroko called her while reaching out to grab her arm before she could walk away. She turned slightly to face Kuroko.

"Yes, Tetsuya-kun?" Setsuna asked, smiling gently.

"Umm… actually, we need to speak to you, if you do not mind," Kuroko said slowly and politely, rather serious as well.

"Okay…?" Setsuna seemed to notice when everyone went quiet at that and somehow, they looked tense as well. "What's wrong?" she looked concerned now.

Kuroko was amazed at how perceptive Setsuna was. In a way, she was like Kagami, but even more sensitive to people's feelings. Kagami was dense most of the times, but when it counted, he was always the first one to notice too. He must have gotten that amazing skill from this woman.

"Actually… we are kind of in trouble," Kuroko said and Setsuna looked alerted at that. "We have made a very dangerous person angry, and now… Momoi-san is in danger, so if it is not a trouble for you, will it be alright to leave her in your care for today? At least until we can apologize to that person," he continued.

Setsuna stared at Kuroko in silence for a moment, her gaze calculating and contemplating before she nodded. "I will watch over her, but I wish you would give me a little more detail about this 'dangerous person'. If it is too much to handle for high school boys, I'd like to help you guys as well," she said kindly afterwards.

"Ah, there will be no need for that, since he is one of our friends… sort of," Kise said in Kuroko's place shaking his head and smiling reassuringly.

"Your friend… sort of?" Setsuna pried deeper. Kise seemed to unable to explain further without saying too much.

"Uh…" the blond scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Idiot," Aomine muttered slightly, sweat dripping from the back of his head.

"It is our friend from middle school. We all, except Takao, attended the same middle school," Midorima explained.

"We were in the same basketball club as well," Aomine added.

"At some point we were called the Generation of Miracles," Kise piped in.

"Ah!" Suddenly Setsuna exclaimed. "Oh my…! You guys are the miraculous rainbow Taiga had mentioned in his email!" she said with a surprise look. Kagami face palmed and Himuro chuckled at the name.

"Miraculous… rainbow?"

Takao instantly doubled over, laughing hysterically at the faces the GoM members (except Kuroko, of course) had made. Kuroko just sighed deeply while the other guys, and even Momoi gave Kagami evil glares in various levels. The worst was from Midorima since Takao was still laughing like a maniac.

Kagami could only look away after he uncovered his face, seeming unable to look them in the eyes as he looked rather embarrassed as well.

"Ah, sorry about that," Setsuna seemed to realize that she had somehow upset the GoM with her words, so she amended quickly. "But, Taiga really admires you guys, he couldn't stop talking about you when we chatted," she giggled at that.

"Mom!?" Kagami protested indignantly while the GoM blinked once before they smirked.

"So… Kagami-chi is our fan, huh?" Kise giggled as well.

"Shut up, Kise!" Kagami barked, blushing darker.

"After all the talks of bringing us down, really?" Aomine grinned teasingly.

"You too Aomine! Shut your mouth up!" Kagami's face was burning bright red now, and his voice pitched higher in embarrassment.

"Hmph, even Kagami can be tsundere," Midorima commented while pushing his glasses up with his bandaged fingers.

"As if you could talk!" Kagami barked and gave the green haired boy a very exasperated glare. Takao's laugh escalated at this moment, finding the tsundere comment hilarious as it came from the tsundere Midorima himself.

"Kagami is reeed," Murasakibara didn't seem to want to lose at this 'mocking Kagami' race, so he added to the teasing even though he still looked bored.

"Aaaaargh! Not you too, Murasakibara!" Kagami groaned loudly in another protest.

"Guys, please stop teasing Kagami-kun," Kuroko felt rather amused actually, but he took pity of his boyfriend's misery for being the subject of his ex-teammates glee and reminded them once again that they needed to focus on their problem first.

"Right, sorry," they all shook their heads and went back to serious mode.

"Anyway, Akashi-kun is a person we should not have made angry, but we did, albeit accidentally, and-" Kuroko continued on, but Setsuna held her hand up suddenly, effectively stopping Kuroko's speech.

"Hold on a second. Go back again. Who are you talking about now?" Setsuna looked curious.

"Akashi-kun," Kuroko said slowly and unsurely, blinking once.

"Akashi… do you mean… Akashi Seijuurou?" Setsuna asked, her eyes widening.

"Yes… do you know him by any chance?" Kuroko asked back, curious.

Kagami looked surprised. "Mom, you know Akashi Seijuurou?" He asked in disbelief.

"Oh my… oh dear," Setsuna put her palms on her cheeks, looking astonished and slightly speechless. "To think that you guys are having such a predicament with the Akashi family…" she continued, looking very troubled.

"W-what is it? Do you know him or not?" Kagami was getting impatient with his mother's confusing reaction.

"Well… I didn't think you had to know before, but since you have met each other and know each other to some point…" Setsuna muttered slowly before she looked at Kagami's face thoughtfully and meaningfully. "Taiga, you have asked about my mysterious family that I was reluctant to tell you before, right?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Kagami frowned, seeming to get even more puzzled.

"I only told you that my family was so strict that they wouldn't let your father marry me, but there was more to that. Ours status' were also very far from each other. Your father was only an SP at that time and I… I was one of the daughters of a very prestigious and big family. That family… was the Akashi family," Setsuna said seriously.

The room instantly went still at that. The temperature dropped several degrees as the silence stretched for several seconds before Kagami could react with an "Eh…?" His eyes widened to impossible size while the others were stone-cracked.

"That's right, Taiga. My name before I married your father was Akashi Setsuna. I have a sister, a younger twin sister that inherited the Akashi family's legacy after I eloped with your father. Her name is Akashi Kurenai. Akashi Seijuurou is the name of her eldest son."

…

…

"That means… "

Kagami Taiga and Akashi Seijuurou are cousins?!

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH ?!" the collective exploding screech from the occupants of the room was enough to shake the apartment building so extensively that the neighbors thought there was a sudden local earthquake in Tokyo.

~Akashi x Furihata ~

Somewhere in a recreation room at a beautiful, big, wide Japanese style house in the Tokyo area, a stunning woman with long scarlet hair tied in formal bun that was decorated with various sparkly hair ornaments and wearing a formal kimono made from high class material was playing shogi by herself with a smile on her face.

"Fufufu, hurry and come back home to mother, Seijuurou-san…" the woman moved one of the shogi piece gracefully, her visible golden right eye that wasn't covered by an eye-patch glinting slightly as the piece in her hand took over the king piece on the board. "I got you," she whispered and her smile turned into a slightly devious smirk.

~Akashi x Furihata ~

Akashi was sitting at his table alone, looking at the dark liquid in his cup with a focused mind. He kept his eyes trained at the ripple of the liquid as he stroked the cup slightly, trying to compose himself.

It was indeed surprising that Akashi actually felt disturbed, but he had only came by to Tokyo to give his minions some warnings and a little bit of punishment. Who would have thought that she would catch the news about him coming back to Tokyo?

Akashi didn't want to trouble his father for this matter because his presence in Tokyo was temporary today, but that phone-call just now was ruining his mood. His left eye twitched slightly and throbbed uncomfortably. It wasn't painful anymore, but the dull annoying throb he occasionally felt there when he was bothered was thinning his patience.

"She has eyes everywhere,"

Akashi tensed as someone slid to sit at the empty seat in front of him, the one that Furihata had previously sat on. He slowly put his cup of coffee down on the table and looked upward at the person who was slouching rudely in front of him.

"You do realize that it's impossible to escape her eyes when you are in town, don't you? That's why you chose to attend a school at Kyoto, right, Seijuurou-oniisama? (2)" the guy asked. The young man had the same scarlet hair as Akashi, but slightly longer, he was also taller and looked older than Akashi and a smirk was vaguely spread across his lips.

Akashi gave the man a deadly glare and he visibly flinched, but somehow he wasn't faltering, which pissed Akashi even more. "What do you want, Soujirou?" he asked coldly, not yet releasing his terrifying dagger glare at the (actually) younger man.

"Soujirou? What's with the sudden formality? Why don't you call me Jiro-chan, Sei-niisama?" Jiroichi asked, smiling deviously at him despite the perspiration on his face that betrayed his confident look.

"Why are you here?" Akashi repeated his question, not intending to humor the guy. He was trying to be patient because like it or not, this guy was his younger brother and he didn't want to resort to stabbing him in the eye since Soujirou wouldn't be able to dodge his attack like what Kagami did, if he decided to piss Akashi off more than he already had.

"Maa, don't get angry, Sei-nii. I am just delivering a message from mother. She said she wanted to see you so please go home," Soujirou mimicked a woman's voice at the end of his sentence while picking up his tone into high pitch.

It was very irritating. Akashi itched to splash the coffee all over Soujirou's face just to ruin his brother's smirk. Oh, Soujirou was deadly wrong if he thought Akashi would let it slide for him to act like a total fool in public, in Akashi's presence to boot, without any retribution. He would definitely punish the guy later.

"Today I only came to Tokyo to meet some minions. I do not have any intention to stop by the main house," Akashi said coldly.

"Ah… I will get punished if you don't stop by. Please? For your cute little brother's sake?" Soujirou resorted to begging now, puppy eyes and all, which looked more nauseating than cute. He was a twisted boy who took pleasure in being punished after all, so to contradict what he said, Soujirou must have wanted Akashi to get lost as soon as possible and go far away to Kyoto, or Okinawa if it was possible.

Akashi sighed slightly. "Alright, give me three more hours and I will stop by the main house to say hello to mother," he said slowly.

"Aww~, Sei-nii is a softie as usual," Soujirou looked disappointed.

"Now go. Mind your manner and speech in public, Soujirou. Don't embarrass the Akashi family name with your tactless act. And clean the blood stains on your clothes. They do not suit your look," Akashi said, looking back at his cup of coffee evenly.

Soujirou laughed lightly at that. "Sei-nii, you are very cool as always. I just love that side of you," he was still chuckling before he drank the coffee that was left by Furihata earlier and then stood to do what Akashi said. "Come home quick, Sei-nii. Let's play together again… I learned to play basketball just for you, you know," he said. His gaze still lingering at Akashi's features until it was impossible to crane his neck further as he reached the entrance of the café.

Akashi sighed slightly. "This has turned for the worst."

End of Part 4

Tbc…

Additional Notes:

*1000 yen: approximately $10

1)Strălucitoare de Viață: from Rumanian language, meaning 'shining life'.

2)Niisama, niisan, niichan, nii: big brother.

A/N: Umm... please don't judge. I know Akashi was supposed to meet the others in this chapter, but somehow the scenes just kept expanding and everyone started talking and when I realized, it had crossed my usual word-limit... T_T. Ugh, sorry, I was so focused in Akashi's family background... and have to introduce two more OCs: Akashi Kurenai (his mom) and Akashi Soujirou (his little brother; I know, definitely uncreative since Seijuurou and Soujirou sounded similar, huh?) *lol* And the shocking fact is OUT! Who would have thought, huh? Kagami and Akashi, really? *lol* (That's me. Sheesh, how I LOVE making twist in my plot).

Anyway, con-crits are always needed. Seriously, please do because I need some improvement.

Part 5
Part 3