Nine Lives

16. Accept

"Why did you do that?"

Kuroko stands in the doorway of the kitchen as Seijurou washes the dried blood from his hand. They had been silent the entire ride home. Seijurou was still noticeably upset and Kuroko was finally realizing why Kise is so afraid of the tiger familiar.

"He had no right to say that to you." Sei glares at his hands and he scrubs at his skin. "He knows what he said was disrespectful and fled the building as soon as he could to avoid the repercussions of his actions."

"But you didn't have to do that to Nijimura. You could have killed him..."

Seijurou turns off the tap and looks over at Kuroko.

"He's fine." Seijurou grabs a dish towel and dries his hands. "His master left him there knowing I would retaliate. I don't know if Shirogane was expecting me to go easy on him or what, but Shuzo accepted the punishment on behalf of his Master regardless."

Seijurou tosses the towel on the counter and walks out of the kitchen, unbuttoning the top of his dress shirt as he goes. Kuroko steps out of his way, uneasy.

"We will not be accepting anything from Shirogane." Seijurou says.

Kuroko hesitates. "But he's right... isn't he?"

"What?" Sei frowns at the blue eyed boy.

"... Me becoming a witch doesn't help the Coven at all."

"It doesn't matter if you're helpful to the Coven or not. This isn't about them."

Kuroko looks up at the familiar. "But you said my family is one of the founders of the Coven, didn't you? Shouldn't I be doing something to keep it going?"

"The Coven isn't going to fall apart because the Kuroko family isn't there anymore. You don't have any responsibility to the Coven."

Kuroko shrinks a bit. Seijurou is right, of course, he isn't representative. He's barely even a witch. He was doing all of this for Sei. So Sei won't die. But also for himself. So his families curse doesn't hurt him. Kuroko clenches his fists. Shirogane knows about the curse, he knows Kuroko isn't going to live very long. He wants Kuroko to have children, so that the Kuroko family won't end with someone as weak as Tetsuya.

"Then, what about you? Wouldn't it be better for you if the Kuroko family continues?"

Seijurou's frown deepens. "Tetsuya, the most important thing to me right now is you. I don't care about the continuation of the Kuroko family. It doesn't matter what happens to me."

"It does matter!" Kuroko says, looking up to meet Seijurou's eyes. "If my family doesn't continue and you die, you'll be gone for good! If I don't do something and the curse catches up to me then everything will be over!"

Seijurou is surprised at first, then angry.

"I knew he said something to you!"

Kuroko is immediately guilty, but covers it up. "I have a right to know if my family is cursed Sei! It affects me too! Keeping something like that a secret from me... You should have been the one to tell me! But I had to hear about it from Kise!"

"I didn't tell you because it's over!" Sei says, frustrated. "The curse ended when you died, Tetsuya!"

Kuroko pauses, surprised. The curse ended. Kuroko stares at Sei's frowning face. Sei sighs and steps closer to him.

"You're safe now Tetsuya. I didn't tell you because there's nothing for you to worry about." Sei reaches out and runs his fingers over Kuroko's arm.

Kuroko looks down at Sei's hand. He's silent for a moment. He had been worrying all this time over nothing. Of course the curse was over. This entire situation started because he died.

"You should have told me!" Kuroko says, looking back up at Sei. He pokes the familiar in the chest, trying to look angry. "I was worried all this time! If you had just told me, I would have never- ..."

Sei's face softens as Kuroko tries to glare at him. "I'm sorry. You're right, I should have told you. I hadn't expected Ryouta to run his mouth as much as he has been."

Kuroko huffs and his shoulders relax. He hadn't realized how tense he'd been until now. Kuroko leans his forehead down on Seijurou's shoulder. Seijurou instinctively wraps his arms around the shorter boy.

"You're horrible. You should have said something."

Sei laughs airily. "You should have said something too, instead of pretending you didn't know."

Kuroko doesn't reply. Sei can see the corners of his lips turn up in a small smile. He's relieved. He doesn't have to worry about a curse killing Sei anymore. Or killing him again. They're safe. They can keep on living. The Kuroko family curse is over.

"Wait." Kuroko lifts his head up, realizing something. "Then, isn't this even more of a reason to continue the Kuroko family?"

Sei blinks down at Kuroko. "What?"

"If we're safe from the curse now, the doesn't that mean I can start to rebuild the Kuroko family?"

Sei steps back, holding Kuroko out at arms length. He stares at Kuroko, at a loss.

"No!" Sei says after a moment. "Tetsuya, forget what Shirogane said! You are not accepting his proposal!"

"No, Sei, he's right! It's better for everyone if the Kuroko family continues! And now that the curse is over, the Kuroko's can be strong again like we were before!"

Sei stares at the boy before him, hurt all over his face. Sei drops his hands quickly, turning to frown at the floor.

"Better?" Sei clenches his fists. "Being strong was never 'better'. Being strong is the reason we're in the situation we're in now! Shirogane is the reason we were cursed to begin with!"

Kuroko watches the familiar in surprise. Sei looks up at Kuroko, all his fire from earlier that night back.

"I will not accept Shirogane's proposal!"

There's a beat of silence between them before Kuroko straightens up, looking at Seijurou seriously.

"You aren't the one who needs to accept it, Sei, I am."

Seijurou clenches his teeth angrily. He stares Kuroko down, raising his hand towards the boy. Kuroko's eyes widen and for a terrifying moment he remembers what had happened not even an hour ago when someone defied Sei. Kuroko flinches visibly, turning to look away from the familiar in fear.

Seijurou freezes. His fire quickly extinguishes when he see's Kuroko flinch away from him. What had he been going to do? He can't hurt Kuroko. At most he was going to grab the collar of his shirt. He would have never hurt him. But still, Kuroko is afraid of him.

Seijurou steps back, lowering his hand. He turns away, backing off and ending the conversation. He quickly changes form, jumping onto his chair and curling up. He keeps his back turned to Kuroko. Hurt and anger still coursing through him. After all he's done to keep Kuroko safe. After nearly a century of watching the Kuroko family drop like flies...

"Sei?" Kuroko tentatively calls out to the black and white cat. Seijurou is still and silent. He listens as Kuroko takes a few steps towards him before hesitating and turning to walk to his room instead. Seijurou sighs tiredly once he hears the click of the bedroom door closing. He rests his head down on the chair.

If Kuroko wants to rebuild his family, then that's his choice. But it's a choice Seijurou doesn't want to accept.