Betrayal in its simplest form

Chapter 14

Kagami scratched his head as he looked down at his vibrating phone. It was from an unknown number. He had just come back from practice—Kuroko was still missing—and was on his way home, when his phone vibrated in his back pocket. He didn't recognize the phone number, so he was hesitant in answering. But, being Bakagami, he still pressed the green button, "Hello?"

"Kagami Taiga," a familiar, cold voice washed over Kagami. He furrowed his eccentric eyebrows to remember the voice. "I am Akashi Seijuro, former captain of Kuroko Tetsuya. I believe our first encounter was not exactly pleasant."

Akashi? Akashi—that sounds familiar. "Wha—you're that scissor-crazy kid!" Kagami suddenly shouted.

"Scissor-crazy?" Akashi said dryly. "I only attempted to stab you because of your disobedience."

The tall red-head sweat-dropped. What was he, a dog? "How did you get my number?"

"You don't need to know."

Kagami swallowed and took swift glances around from where he was standing. "What—what do you want? Why'd you call me?"

"You're interested in Kuroko's past, are you not?" The question made Kagami freeze. "No, not his past, particularly, but what we're hiding from you. You've been conducting research on his mother."

"How do you know this?"

"Don't question me," Akashi cut in. "Come to this address immediately. I'll be waiting."

Kagami listened to the following address, quickly grabbing out a pen from his bag and writing it on his hand. When he took a second glance at it, he widened his eyes. "Kyoto?" he yelled. "I am not going to somewhere so far this late!"

"If you think your need to know of Tetsuya's situation is not as urgent as I had thought, then I find no need for you to come."

The red-head quieted at the words. All of his curiosity would be sated just by coming to Kyoto. Kuroko's, his partner's, situation of abuse would be revealed easily, and the scissor-crazy kid would tell him. Isn't this too easy? Just a day or two ago, Kise threatened me. It was too easy, but the urge to know what was going on was stronger than his natural instincts. "Fine," Kagami said gruffly. "I'll be on the next train."

"The next train is departing in six minutes." Akashi sounded amused.

"What? Damn it!" Kagami suddenly tightened his hold on his basketball bag and started sprinting. The train station wasn't that far. "You better wait for me, you shri—I mean, Akashi . . . san . . . please." His voice wavered at the end, remembering his 'polite words' at the last minute.

"Your manners overwhelm me," Akashi said, bored. "I expect you here by eleven at night. Any later than that, I won't permit you into my house."

Kagami was about to retort until all he heard was the dial tone in his phone. He looked at it in disbelief. "What the hell? He calls me at night, expects me to come to Kyoto in a few hours, and then freaking hangs up on me? Damn it, Kuroko." He angrily shoved his phone in his bag. "You hang out with weird people."

The sprint to the train station was short but tiring. He had to wait in a long line to buy his last-minute ticket (it was time for people to go home from work) and realized he had no money on him, except for his emergency card. With the worst luck, he had to get out of line, go to a machine to extract the money, and get back in line at the back. By the time he rushed onto the last train, the doors were closing on his heel.

Since not many people were going all the way to Kyoto at this hour, it wasn't as crowded and cramped as the other trains. Kagami dragged himself to an empty seat and collapsed tiredly onto it. His bag rested to the seat next to him. It was 7:30 in the evening right now, and it took about three and a half hours to reach Kyoto from Tokyo. He would barely make it on time.