Falling In Love 20 Times [AkaKuro]

Chapter 6: A Chance Not Given

Akashi coughed at the smoke that infiltrated his lungs.

He was getting red-eyed from the dust particles and was starting to sweat profusely. Everywhere he looked, red flames came into view and he avoided them the best he could.

When he finally made his way to the stairs, he noticed the steps were unstable and some were already affected by the fire. He furrowed his brows in concentration and slowly made his way up to the eighth floor, the stairs creaking under his weight.

'Tetsuya will live this time.' The red head finally arrived at the eighth floor, a determined glint in his heterochromatic eyes. 'A chance. I just need a chance.'

A high pitched whine reached his ears and he recognised it as Nigou's. He rushed to Kuroko's apartment's door, but stopped when he saw the door already getting burnt to a crisp, leaving only half of it.

Carefully, he squeezed past the opening and looked around before hearing the whine again. Looking at the direction of the noise, he saw Nigou lying tiredly by the couch, his body limp and tongue lolled out.

"Nigou...?" He ran over and picked the big husky up into his arms, inspecting its body and finding a fatal burn mark on the dog's chest.

"What the hell happened?" He asked himself and Nigou flicked a ear, making incoherent noises. The red head adjusted the dog in his arms, before turning to exit the room.

All of a sudden Nigou let out a sharp bark and Akashi looked up, jumping out of the way just in time for a piece of the ceiling to miss him by an inch.

"The whole place is coming down." He took brisk but cautious steps to the stairs once again. "And fast."

Making his way down the stairs, the red head was just about to go down the steps to the third floor when he heard a loud yell of terror. Running to the windows, he peered outside, ignoring the fire around him when he saw a man outside wearing a black jacket, the hood pulled over his head as he approached the reincarnate.

"Tetsuya!" Akashi barked out in alarm, picking up his pace and moving down the stairs in a hurry. Finally making it down to the first floor, he ran outside. "YOU. Get away from Tetsuya." He growled and the stranger froze before grabbing the rim of his hood and pulling it down further so Akashi couldn't identify who he was.

When he spoke, his voice was muffled. But something about it was...off. "Ah, if it isn't Akashi-kun."

"How do you know my name." Akashi demanded, taking bold steps towards the stranger. A knife came into view as he was now about only two feet away from him, and he narrowed his eyes dangerously. "What the fuck do you want with Tetsuya."

The man tutted and seemed to chuckle under his breath. He held up the knife and threatened to bring it closer to the reincarnate's neck, who gave Akashi a sad look. "Akashi-kun, no--"

"Quiet." The stranger told him. "Akashi-kun, you know how the reincarnates have to go, do you not?"

The red head's eyes widened. "Reincarnate? How--"

"It's against it all." The man continued, and brought the knife even closer to Tetsuya's neck. "Don't stop me."

"Akashi-kun, go." The reincarnate smiled at him, tears welling up in his eyes. "I want to protect--"

The knife was brought down, and the next thing Akashi knew, all he could see was red; the colour very much similar to his hair.

"STOP!"