an overdose of hydrangeas.

Aomine looks at Kuroko, and all he sees is weakness.

It's been three years since they had embarked on an endless journey to run away from the undead. By 'they', he means his companions with oddly colored hair. Maybe it isn't any accident that the seven of them are the only remaining inhabitants of this planet (save for the walking corpses, of course), but Aomine still hasn't figured out why, of all people, Kuroko is the one who always emerges unscathed.

On a fateful evening, the seven congregated like this: Momoi Satsuki dragged Aomine to an abandoned laboratory where, in spite of the sobs that wracked her, she managed to compose herself and call each of her relatives and friends. With no such luck, no one answered. It was only her and Aomine now.

Aomine, on the other hand, completely lost it — "Goddamn it, this has to be a sick joke," was one among the many sentences that fell from his sharp tongue. If only Momoi wasn't there to watch over his ass, then he might had been one of those pounding on the door for some human flesh.

The noise of someone crashing through the window jolted Aomine and Momoi from their dissimilar trains of thought. Aomine immediately lunged for a stool while Momoi crouched in the corner to brace herself for the attack of the intruder.

What only greeted them were the pants and breaths of five males, about the same age as they were. Aomine spared no explanation at their arrival and grabbed Momoi's arm. The moment he locked eyes with those five strangers, he understood like it was ingrained in him to do so: we are the only survivors. For now. Introductions were saved for later as the redhead boy kicked the door open, the wood falling on three of the undead. He didn't flinch when a woman with charred flesh and opaque corneas bared her teeth at him.

Someone whom Aomine hadn't really noticed stepped in front of the group. How peculiar; the boy didn't look like he could survive another day of the apocalypse with his stature. However, his eyes, blue and cold in contrast to the blood smeared across the walls, were resolute.

Aomine wasn't aware of why the damned creatures began to move away the instant the blue-haired teen walked towards them.

Since then, the seven had been on the run. Midorima Shintarou was entrusted with most of the bullets, because it was him who could shoot every one of the undead with optimum accuracy. Murasakibara Atsushi overlooked all raids for resources and managed the weekly inventory. Kise Ryouta was also one of the sharpest shooters among the seven, but more than that, he mostly provided comic relief for his comrades and boosted their morale. Akashi Seijuuro worked with Momoi to determine their courses of action and was aware of some safehouses across the country. Sometimes, he would let Midorima accompany him to broadcast stations to search for any messages or to see if anybody else was on the radar. Aomine was in-charge of the assaults because of his built and sheer force, but Akashi deemed him too reckless to lead the pack. He didn't go down without a fight, and he threatened go on his own. Naturally, Momoi appeased him and forced him to stick with them.

And, well, Kuroko Tetsuya was the odd one out. He didn't have any physical nor mental abilities that he used for the benefit of the seven, and yet he usually stayed unharmed. He would simply walk in the frontlines and, by some unknown cosmic or supernatural force, all of the creatures that they were all running from would scoot away.

"Dai-chan," Momoi's voice calls out, pulling Aomine away from his musings. He looks up to see Momoi offering him a blanket. "I could take over your shift if you want to. You need to rest too, you know."

Aomine shrugs and pries the blanket from Momoi's hands. It's best not to argue with her any further, but she really worries too much. "Nah, I can handle this. You're such a mom."

"I am not," Momoi huffs. "You can't be too carefree when there's an outbreak."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Aomine says off-handedly. An idea crosses his mind, and he lowers his voice. "Do you know all of their backgrounds?"

Momoi wrinkles her nose. "What do you mean? Are you referring to the others' history?"

"Obviously."

Momoi hits Aomine in the back of the head for his sigh of exasperation. When she clears her throat, Momoi says, "To be honest, I've never asked them. It's...better that way, not getting attached to more people while we're in the middle of the crisis."

"Of course," Aomine drawls out. "Can't have that for crybaby Satsuki."

For the second time, Momoi slaps the back of Aomine's head. It doesn't actually hurt, but it makes him stagger forward by some inches. Aomine figures that maybe she's lying, no matter how close they've been during their childhood. He's always the one who's left out, anyway. "Satsuki, what about that small guy? Kuroko Tetsuya, was it?"

"Oh, Tetsu-kun," Momoi's eyes soften, and Aomine has to hide a scoff. "From what I've gathered, there's something about his blood that makes him invincible."

"Is that why he looks like he's going to pass out any second?" Aomine presses further, unintentionally raising his tone to inquire.

Momoi narrows her eyes. "Dai-chan."

"For some damn reason those cannibals out there won't touch him. If that doesn't weird you out, then maybe you're just as crazy as all of them are."

"I don't know why, okay," Momoi exhales. "Akashi-kun is the only one who does."

"Then why," Aomine mutters, "is he the only one who's in the loop? He's always telling us to keep that Kuroko safe. I just want to know why he can drive the undead away."

Silence settles over them until a soft voice murmurs, "Momoi-san." It startles Aomine and he becomes more astonished when he catches a glimpse of Kuroko standing in front of his designated room. He makes his way to the two, footsteps as light as the leaves cascading to the ground. Momoi jerks in surprise, too, and hastily says, "A-ah, Tetsu-kun! Why are you awake at this hour?"

"I couldn't sleep. I was thinking of changing shifts with Aomine-kun," Kuroko says as a matter of factly. It's crystal clear that he's grown restless through the night, ashen spots gathering under his eyes. "Would that be alright?"

Aomine stands up from his post and drops the blanket on Momoi's lap. "Yeah, sure. Just make sure to warn us if anything happens." Kuroko nods without verbal affirmation, and he watches Aomine and Momoi turn their backs on him while he occupies Aomine's former spot.

In truth, Aomine doesn't close his eyes. He keeps his door slightly ajar, still not used to their newest hideout, and eyes Kuroko's figure through the crack.

Kuroko silently draws his knees up to his chin, unaware that a certain someone with curiosity the size of a ship is watching him.

Aomine doesn't realize that he falls asleep, the view of the mysterious Kuroko Tetsuya being the last image in his periphery before he shuts himself from the world.

There are no creatures to disturb his slumber.

"Perhaps we can change formation," Midorima is the one who suggests an idea which seemingly isn't possible to come from his own mouth. Even Akashi is surprised by his mild outburst during their morning meal. It's all thanks to Murasakibara's salvaging skills that they are able to devour heaps of bacon after not being able to for a while. Aomine raises the fork to chin level and pauses to stare at the bespectacled boy.

Akashi sets his utensils down on a makeshift table. "Elaborate, Shintarou."

Midorima's swallowing is audible among the group. "Perhaps we could alternate our positions whenever we move out to conserve 'human resources' and utilize each of the members' abilities."

"You mean to say you're exhausted from your role," Akashi says.

"No," Midorima counters (really, Aomine thinks that Midorima could be the worst liar — maybe he is, since there's not many of them left anyway). "I would like to think that it's only fair if we switch every now and then. Except for Kuroko, of course — he'll have to stay at the front when a whole legion comes about."

To this, Kuroko makes no protest and continues to munch on the bacon in that creepily quiet manner of his. It's Aomine who clenches his fist around his fork, and he's sure Momoi notices his demeanor. There's virtually nothing that he knows about the Tetsuya kid. He does know how it feels like to be viewed as nothing but a useful stepping stone.

Akashi resumes eating. "In that case —"

"I'll do it," Aomine interjects, pulse still rapid from an incomprehensible connection to Kuroko. Momoi widens her eyes and the rest of them do the same, except for Kuroko who looks as passive as usual. "Midorima can have my position. I was getting bored of it, anyway. There's not much action in the sidelines."

Aomine congratulates himself on his ability to make his arguments credible and is almost convinced that Kuroko will thank him for this later.

Everybody agrees.

Kuroko doesn't speak for the rest of the hour.

He doesn't thank Aomine, either.

They head out for the hypermarket. Due to the fluctuations in the weather, Kise, Midorima, and Momoi are in need of antibiotics (Kise has it worst; his body has never been strong against the temperature). Murasakibara thinks it's perfect timing, since their supplies aren't going to last for another week or so. It would be better to plan ahead than risk running out of nourishment in the midst of battle. In spite of the downpour, Akashi hands Aomine a fully-loaded gun and wrenches the door open for him and Kuroko. "You two go ahead," Akashi murmurs with an underlying warning. Aomine's defensive and offensive abilities are truly exemplary, but Akashi can't find it in himself to entrust Kuroko to him.

Aomine resists laughter, because he knows very well what Akashi means. Don't fuck this up, remains unspoken between the two of them. Aomine only nods towards the direction of the hypermarket. He hears shuffling of feet behind him: first, Kuroko, then Momoi, then the remaining four arranged in a trapezoidal pattern. Kise and Midorima walk sideways while Akashi and Muraskibara both trudge backwards, having been the longest to survive during the apocalypse.

It's humid and there isn't much to see beneath a veil of fog, but Aomine spots an undead in a blink and pulls the trigger without second thoughts. He notices that Kuroko cringes just a bit from the noise. The hypermarket comes into view, and all of the armed males fire at the gathering crowd of flesh-hungry creatures around them. One of the corpses clasps its hand around Aomine's ankle and another on Momoi's, making her scream. Aomine shoots its head twice for good measure, but not without frowning at the grime on his jeans.

They seek cover in the pharmacy, where Momoi doesn't take the time to discriminate between the bottles and dumps them all into a bag. Meanwhile, Murasakibara tosses boxes of cereal, poptarts, and other carbohydrate-rich foods into his own backpack. Akashi stands guard with Kise, the both of them simultaneously whipping their guns in opposite directions.

Surging through Aomine is a different kind of pride due to his first time in leading the group. He ushers Momoi to the entrance, deeming thirty minutes as sufficient to get all the supplies they need. Momoi has to cover her ears when Aomine barrages the incoming undead with bullets, and he only hisses when he runs out of ammo. Unexpectedly, someone, probably Kise, hits his head with a pouch full of the remaining bullets.

Kise covers for him while he reloads his gun, shouting, "Where's Kurokochii?"

Aomine is too irked by Kise's suffix and his trembling hands that he only says, "What?"

"Tetsuya!" Akashi's voice pierces the air. It may draw more of the undead to the site, but Aomine realizes that it's his fault. Being on the frontlines requires more than just staying on offense; it also comes with the responsibility of keeping Kuroko safe at all times. Aomine scampers away from Momoi and Kise, his clothes already bloodied from the number of heads he's just shot, and runs towards the deserted aisles. The flickering lights make it difficult to see clearly.

Aomine releases a yell when an undead sneaks up behind him, and he narrowly avoids being bitten by attacking with the butt of his gun and firing moments later. His breaths are unstable, until he decides to scream, "Tetsu!"

Like it has always been, there is no response. He doesn't really notice the first-name basis. Kuroko's safety had been the priority of the group, and he'd be damned if he is to fail him now. Aomine grows desperate, shooting every undead in his field of vision. He has to snarl, "Tetsu, answer me!"

Aomine goes around a corner and collides with a familiar boy with his pallor. Out of reflex, Aomine grasps Kuroko in his arms, muttering "Dumbass" while lugging him to the entrance. His anxiety doesn't decrease with Kuroko's presence; as far as he knows, Kuroko's arms are hanging limply by his sides and he isn't uttering a single word. Avoiding all of the corpses on the way out, they dash towards their group and abandon the formation just to get back to the safehouse.

By the time they lock the door and stack the tables against it, all of them are panting, their faces splattered with rain and foreign blood. Kise swipes it off in distaste.

Akashi's eyes bore into Aomine's. "Next time," he tells him, wary of his other audience, "Ryouta will be leading. I cannot charge Daiki with responsibilities that he cannot handle."

Before Aomine could retort, Kuroko coughs, "It's my fault for wandering off."

Momoi's soothing hands are drawing circles on Aomine's back, and Aomine grunts. It had been Kuroko's mistake, after all. Not his. Definitely not his.

Still, he has the urge to defend Kuroko.

"Is there a reason for that?" Akashi queries, discarding his weapons and other items to the desk at the side.

Kuroko meets his steely gaze. Even for someone who looks so frail, Aomine can't help but think that he has an iron will. "You...know why."

There it is again; the silent understanding between Akashi and Kuroko that nobody bothers to uncover. Somehow, it is only Aomine who can't bear the burden of not knowing. The four others are perfectly content with their ignorance. Akashi stares at Kuroko for another minute before he turns on his heel and proceeds to the kitchen to aid Murasakibara in arranging the boxes and cans.

Aomine turns his back on Kuroko as well, shrugging Momoi's hand off of him. However, he catches a glance of Kuroko's arm under the now transparent white shirt that he has after being soaked by the rain. It doesn't seem out of the ordinary at first, but when Aomine locks the door to his room, the image flashes briefly in his mind before dissipating again.

It's undeniably a scar.

A scar left by human canines.

On Aomine's third night of watch duty, he almost dozes off at the beginning of his shift. A week has gone by since their last journey out into the corpse-infested city, and it has been very uneventful in the safehouse. Akashi and Midorima entertain themselves with consecutive games of shogi, and Aomine is envious that they still have something to make out of their lives. As for him, he doesn't really know why he still bothers to survive when he's stuck in a house with strangers he would never be able to call friends. Perhaps Momoi is an exception.

His eyelids feel heavy — just one blink, a fifteen-minute nap won't hurt or whatever — but he recognizes a dull presence approaching his side.

Aomine calls out, "Tetsu."

"Aomine-kun," Kuroko responds formally, and takes a seat beside Aomine. They stare at the pile of tables in front of the door. "Are you feeling claustrophobic?"

"No, not really," Aomine says wistfully. "It's just hard to imagine how it was like before all of this happened. Damn writers and filmmakers for inventing shit like zombies, now we're actually in the middle of swarms of them."

Kuroko nods. He doesn't say anything for a while, because nothing more is necessary. Aomine breaks the silence. "I'm not stupid, Tetsu."

By the look in Kuroko's pale blue eyes, Aomine derives that Kuroko has caught onto his point. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything," Aomine says. "If you can compress it into an hour."

Kuroko nods again, and it makes Aomine a little bit furious — because why does Kuroko have to be so complacent and subservient? He's literally the most essential member of their team. Without him, the undead could've chased their scents more easily than they do now. Although he doesn't really do anything to ward the creatures off, he's the determining factor in their survival. Kuroko's eyes are unnerving.

"Akashi-kun found me on the streets," Kuroko begins, fiddling with his fingers and avoiding Aomine's gaze to provide some room to breathe and digest what he says. "I've been on the verge of turning, and it just didn't come."

"You mean to say...you're one of them?" Aomine sputters. Three years, he'd been living with someone whose kind he intended to kill but just couldn't. All of this time, his guard had been low for the seemingly weak Kuroko Tetsuya. What bothers him, though, is why he hadn't morphed into something that's not quite alive anymore.

Kuroko hums. "Technically, yes. But something in my composition is still fighting the virus. My immune system has always been infirm."

It doesn't take long for Aomine to pick up. His eyes widen in realization. "Because...you're dying. You've got a more potent sickness living in you, and it renders the virus useless."

"Exactly," Kuroko replies quietly. "Everyone is obligated to protect me, so I could in turn protect them while I still can."

"How long?" Aomine's throat feels coarse. "How long do you still have left?"

Kuroko turns his head and stares earnestly into Aomine's irises of midnight blue, unfazed by the other male's physique and interrogation. In Kuroko's flaw, he finds his strength and his ability. Kuroko is the type who never wavers in spite of his deficiencies. "Aomine-kun, that's the thing," he says.

"I don't know."

Akashi and Midorima return from a nearby radio station with some good news. "Ryouta, gather the guns. We're moving out this afternoon," Akashi announces, hanging his windbreaker on the doorknob. As usual, it's stained with incarnadine. Momoi gasps, because she's aware that there's hope in finding other survivors. After all, Akashi and Momoi almost have the same mindset, making it easy for the girl to unveil the meaning behind Akashi's words.

Unfortunately, Murasakibara doesn't cope with Akashi's message. "Huh? What for, Aka-chin?"

Midorima lays a collection of phones and other devices on the table. "We found a transmission in the East. Somebody was giving off signals."

"Are you sure it's not fake?" Kise folds his hands under his chin. "It's kind of too risky."

Aomine looks up from his feet and detects the absence of one more person. "Wait, where's Tetsu?"

"He's resting," Akashi replies in such a tone that demands no further explanations. Again, Momoi recognizes the subtext, and her eyes become downcast as her fingers become more jittery with each passing second. It's time, she thinks.

Aomine shrugs and heads to Kuroko's room, and surprisingly, Akashi doesn't prevent him from doing so. Kuroko resides in the smallest room at the end of the hallway, where the fluorescent lights are defective and the atmosphere feels ridiculously cold. Aomine opens the knob easily and steps into the dark room. It almost comes off as a morgue for him, which, in a way, is fitting because Kuroko is a walking dead boy.

It makes Aomine gulp. "Tetsu?" He catches a glimpse of Kuroko on a chair, all bundled up.

He's shivering.

"...Hey," Aomine starts, a bit unprepared to talk to Kuroko. "You alright?"

He traces Kuroko's silhouette and sees that Kuroko is fervently nodding, although he can't speak the words. Kuroko coughs once, twice, too many times for Aomine to bear the chronic sound of his chest. At first, relief washes through him because Kuroko is still hanging on, albeit teetering on the edge. Then Aomine loathes himself for the next seconds, because part of the relief that he senses is for the knowledge that Kuroko has served his purpose well, and it won't be long until Kuroko can truly give up and cross the bridge and finally rest.

As much as Kuroko was a shadow, lingering in a world where his only defense is what kills him, Aomine has to say that it won't be the same when Kuroko passes. He'll have no one to watch over, yes, but there won't be anyone who'll take over his watch duties or anyone who'll bother to tell him what he needs to know. Aside from Momoi, Kuroko is the only one that Aomine knows enough on the team, and the loss of him would mean his detachment yet again.

Aomine reaches his fingers out and taps Kuroko's back for solace. Momoi used to do this to him, and he didn't realize back then that he would want to do the same to another person. "It's okay," Aomine says. "Don't you dare give up now when we're so damn close."

"I...don't plan to," Kuroko says, his tremors still visible. He blinks to keep himself awake, and even in the darkness, Aomine can perceive the cold blue shade of his eyes. "Aomine-kun...what time will we be leaving?"

They turn out to leave two and a half hours later under the pressure of Akashi. They would need all the daylight they can have, since all of them know that the roads to the East are the ones that have been greatly affected by the catastrophe. On the eve of the virus outbreak, hundreds of vehicular accidents occurred along the Eastern freeway, making it easier for the virus to spread among corpses. The seven have divided the bullets among themselves in case their formation fails in the face of a thousand undead.

Aomine breathes sharply as he reloads the gun, noting Momoi's hesitation to touch her own gun at all. "Satsuki," he mutters, "if you want to live, you'll have to kill."

"I know," Momoi murmurs back, her fingers touching the outlines of the trigger. "It's difficult to look at their faces. They were once like us, too."

"And now they aren't." Aomine unintentionally strikes a chord within himself, and on reflex, he focuses on Kuroko who barely keeps himself upright. They hoist their bags of bottled waters, phones, bullets, snack bars, and first-aid kits up on their backs and prepare to step into the battlefield. Before he could forget, Aomine reaches for Akashi's shoulder.

"Let me be on the frontlines," he presses, almost as if it is a plea. "I won't mess it up this time."

Akashi shrugs his hand off. "We can't risk our only opportunity for your sole sake."

"I promise that I'll protect each of you," Aomine grits his teeth this time, because it doesn't feel right to stay in the center when he knows that he can do more. Sure, he left Kuroko on his own before. But that won't happen again. There's another vow that he doesn't intend to break: Kuroko must see with his cold blue eyes whatever hope there is left in a world where it doesn't seem to exist anymore. "Even if that means I'll have to trade my life, I would."

Akashi looks at him thoroughly. "I wonder what brought on this change of character," he says. He turns his back on the taller male, and Aomine is almost certain that he has failed. However, Akashi calls out, "Change of formation. Both Ryouta and Daiki will be in the front with Kuroko in the center. Satsuki and Midorima on the sides, and myself and Atsushi at the back. This will last only until we find a proper vehicle."

He looks sideways upon Aomine, who is trying to hide his satisfaction. "Well, then," Akashi murmurs.

Kise smiles at Aomine when they gather before the door. "Let's lead the way, Aominechii."

Aomine nods in agreement, and throws a glance at Kuroko and Momoi.

"Yeah. Let's do it."

The grounds are relatively peaceful, and Aomine thinks it's wrong, way too wrong. There's not a single undead on the field and in his periphery, and something tells him that this is the worst day to look for other survivors. Akashi senses it, too, but he doesn't say anything. He must've planned it out in his head to be able to foresee that an event such as this could take place. It takes them a while to locate a bus, and even the stations are completely empty.

"Something's weird," Murasakibara mumbles, "don't you think so?"

Midorima raises his gun in precaution. "Watch your backs."

In the lack of assaults from the undead, the group disperses to inspect the bus. Momoi boards first, her hands shaking as she holds the air at gunpoint.

Aomine is about to complain about the slow pace when Momoi's scream pierces the air.

Kise is the first to dash towards Momoi's direction. The crowd of the undead thickens around them, and there is only one way out of the predicament. "Board the bus!" Akashi commands, simultaneously running and gunning the undead down. He'll be damned if he lets this only chance break loose from his fingers. Aomine outpaces him by a few steps and is relieved when Kise has taken the driver's seat, having eliminated all of the undead in the bus.

"Where's Shintarou?" Akashi's voice drops several notches. Before he could stop him, Kuroko jumps out of the bus and hurries to where the undead swarm around. Aomine follows suit, screaming Kuroko's name as he chases the boy whose frame may be thin but who is still capable of being agile.

Kuroko abruptly halts, sucking a breath in when he sees Midorima standing in front of just one of the undead with raven hair. He and Aomine hear the gunshots from behind, signaling the rest of the group warding off the incoming corpses. "Midorima," Aomine growls, "what the fuck are you —"

His throat constricts when Midorima turns around, life still present in his eyes but lips devoid of any health. He raises his wrist that's dripping with infected blood. "I can't bring myself to kill him," Midorima says stricken with fear, which is utterly uncharacteristic of him. Aomine drags Kuroko away when Midorima lifts his gun and presses it against his temple. And just like that, he drops to the ground before he could wake up without really being himself anymore.

Aomine quickly shoots the undead down.

Before he could decipher the meaning behind Midorima's hesitation, the wheels scratch against the pavement violently and the bus leaves the station. Aomine's heartbeats wrack his chest — Momoi shouts his name over and over again, and even as he hauls Kuroko for a wild run, Momoi's voice echoes less loudly. "You can't fucking leave us!" Aomine screams, desperation and betrayal clogging his veins. "You can't fucking —"

He trips over mounds of decaying bodies, and Kuroko, against his own will, lands on dirt and blood.

The bus can't be seen on the horizon.

Kuroko silently wipes the blood and grime off of his face. He doesn't say anything as he watches Aomine pound his fist on the soil with his face down.

"Aomine-kun," Kuroko finally says, "hand me the gun."

"They fucking left —"

"Aomine-kun," Kuroko repeats urgently, doing so much as hoisting Aomine up from the ground. "Please hand me the gun."

Aomine stares at him, not really knowing what his motives are. He's too pissed to form coherent thoughts, and every ounce of 'I'm looking forward to tomorrow' becomes obsolete. Of course. He should have known that all seven of them are only together for survival. Cut the unnecessary ties. Discard all of those who present risk to our individual safety.

Kuroko takes the initiative to take the weapon from him and loads it with his own bullets. "I'll make sure you'll get to the East."

Aomine, still distraught, only murmurs, "Tell me how the fuck you can do that."

"I'll do my best," Kuroko resolves, standing up from his position and concealing the shaking of his knees.

"It's pointless," Aomine snarls. "I was damn wrong to think that I could trust all of you."

"Aomine-kun —"

"Shut up!" Aomine shouts, his trembling hands covering his ears. His voice is ragged as he inhales, exhales, inhales...there is no possibility of heading East when it's just the two of them. Aside from lacking manpower, Aomine and Kuroko haven't been informed about the specifics of the transmission. The entirety of Aomine's hope goes down the drain. He stands up, knees almost buckling underneath him, and stares ahead blankly.

On the other hand, Kuroko immediately notices the lingering undead behind him and pulls the trigger. Albeit his frailty, he still manages to hit the target dead-on. Aomine doesn't notice how Kuroko's expression softens with something akin to pity, and hardens right after with so-called fortitude. "I promise you," Kuroko murmurs, pocketing Aomine's gun, "you will live. We're close to finding our way out of this."

Aomine looks at him. He appears like a child trapped in an adolescent's body, struggling to stay hidden yet failing to do so. "I don't really give a shit anymore," he spits, walking past Kuroko such that he would collide against the shorter male's shoulder. With the swift movement of his hands, he wrenches his gun back and grasps it, the intent to kill far greater than ever. "And I don't have to babysit someone. Can't afford to play hero to save your weak ass."

Kuroko widens his eyes and transfers his gaze on the ground. "But I'll still save you."

"Tch," Aomine mutters, heaving a breath to taste all of the hate he holds against the people who are left running for their lives. Really, if this were a true apocalypse, he'd be among the carcasses by now. He'd rather that scenario than this one. "You're pretty much a dead man walking, and what good would that do me?"

Nothing comes out when Kuroko opens his mouth, and he decides to purse his lips and follow Aomine's trails, as unwanted his presence may be.

Every limb of his body aches. His mind screams to sleep, to rest; and his blood courses through him like bitter poison. As painful as living is to him, Kuroko blinks — once, twice, thrice, because his death would be insignificant if he doesn't get Aomine to the East. Anywhere but here, but this city that stinks of rotten flesh and trash. His vision is not exactly the best, but he tries to stay upright.

"Dai...ki," the name is foreign on Kuroko's tongue. Nevertheless, its sound evokes fondness within him.

Aomine doesn't look over his shoulder, still trudging over corpses with a gun in his hand.

Kuroko tries again. "Daiki," he says as firmly as possible, "you're going in the wrong direction."

This time Aomine halts in his steps, and relief washes through Kuroko until the other boy turns around and offers him a smile — one that's a mixture of anger, distrust, defeat, and sadness. It scares Kuroko more than anything else. Where is the boy who was once willing to risk himself to be on the front? Kuroko searches Aomine's face for a trace of whom he knew and wished to see another sunrise with, but all that greets him is the Aomine Daiki who has closed himself off of chances and reliance. Maybe it's only natural that boys like them grow up to discover that the world is a terrible place, even without devastation.

Aomine, unfortunately, learns that he's better off alone.

"Tetsu," he echoes with the breaths that he still has, "didn't you know?"

It isn't only Kuroko's faith that shatters at that moment.

"This," Aomine gestures to the desolated skyscrapers, the remains of the undead, and the opposite path that lies ahead of them, seeming to wind down forever. "This is where we part ways."

What Aomine doesn't know is that Kuroko has always been intended to be the bait. Hook, line, and sinker — stage the play that Kuroko is fending off the undead with his invulnerability to them, and leave him in the city of ashes and blood to let him close his eyes and convince himself that he has fulfilled his duties well. Kuroko, of course, had been hesitant. Nobody would desire to see the daylight while being torn apart. But Akashi knows best; it's common knowledge to sacrifice one rather than many.

The plan had obviously gone haywire with Midorima's attachment. Perhaps it was a friend who walked towards him with the actions of a human but the soul of someone who has journeyed through hell and never found a way back. Midorima's mistake could've been easily remedied with the loss of two, but Aomine had jumped off of the bus and chased Kuroko.

Akashi had expected it. Kuroko didn't.

Due to that small occurrence, Aomine and Kuroko aren't quite the same as they were before — Kuroko hopes to live even when he's dying, and Aomine's throwing away the opportunity that he has in his palms. Akashi doesn't regard these technicalities. What matters is that he achieves his goal through efficient means, and leaving Aomine and Kuroko behind just happened to be one of them.

When Aomine breaks into a run and delves deeper into the city where the undead roam, Kuroko's chest constricts. He feels his ribs dislocating and lacerating his insides as he breathes.

That doesn't stop him from going after Aomine.

Kuroko eventually loses Aomine's tracks. He collapses, his eyesight reduced to gibberish and his lungs barely retaining the air he swallows. He crawls into an alley and huddles near the trash bin. Closing his eyes, Kuroko remembers what it was like before the apocalypse: nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, it's similar to what's taking place now — he still disappears in the silence and the dark. Maybe even in the light.

He claims sleep, and wakes up a few hours later, grateful that he can still sense the world around him.

It doesn't make him feel more alive than the dead boy he nearly is.

Aomine eventually runs into Kuroko again. He swears it's out of curiosity when he proceeds to the beginning of the highway towards the East. Also, his instinct tells him that he might be able to salvage a few things there. As if he's ever going to admit that aimlessly going around the city is tactless and worthless, and he'd prefer dying on the move than turning into one of the creatures while he's stationary.

An exclamation catches in his throat when he sees a car, all revved up and waiting for him.

A single gunshot startles him.

Tetsu.

The vehicle already forgotten, Aomine almost exhausts his airways when he races to the source of the noise. A large crowd of the undead is gathered in the area, and Aomine doesn't take long to blast their heads off. His pants become more desperate and — when has he last felt this type of adrenaline surge through him? More than panic, he recognizes a plea: Please hold on. Please don't leave me.

Kuroko's mask must have worn off. Aomine tears through the onslaught of the undead and narrowly avoids his own demise. If someone were to soothe and attempt to convince him that he's going the wrong way, he would persist with his thick head and stubbornness. Even if it were Kuroko appealing for him to spare hope, all efforts wouldn't work.

Kuroko realizes that the only way someone could get Aomine to listen is to take his place in the frontlines and show him that there's nobody better to do it than himself.

"Tetsu!" Aomine's yell is hoarse — frantic and lost — "Answer me!"

"Ao...mine...kun," Kuroko says faintly, trying to capture the air that he could as he runs out of bullets. He gasps for the atmosphere — just a little more time — and wishes that Aomine could hear him. The undead's mouths latch on to his ankles, his arms, his neck — and he bites the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from screaming. It's too much, is all he can register as the undead tear his flesh from his thin frame. The warmth of the tears running down his cheeks are all that keep him awake. Please make it stop. Please stop stop stop —

A bullet drills through the temples of one of the creatures who incessantly devour him. Kuroko blinks, blood pooling at the corners of his lips, all bones and damaged tissues.

"A...o...mi..." he sputters, choking on his own blood. Aomine's eyes become wild and tainted with fury. There Kuroko lies, and still, all Aomine sees of him is weakness. Aomine guns down every undead coming towards him and simultaneously aims for the creatures that feast upon what's left of Kuroko. He can't bear to see what's in front of him, but he can't find the heart to run away, either.

"Don't you dare, Tetsu," Aomine hisses. He's running out of bullets, and there's too much of the undead destroying Kuroko.

"D...ai...ki."

Aomine stops. The undead coming for him melts into the background when he hears that last call, and he turns towards Kuroko, eyes blurry from the things that he's never known he could ever possess. He looks at a boy whose lips are smeared with incarnadine, whose upper half disappears between the teeth of who used to be human, whose light blue hair shines in the sunlight that's too bright for the state of the sky, whose smile haunts Aomine so well, because weak people aren't supposed to smile like that when they're dying.

Please, Kuroko mouths, and with one last jerk of his arm he throws a set of car keys to Aomine's direction.

Aomine's voice breaks as he catches the keys. "No. No no no, I can't do this."

You have to, he can almost hear Kuroko whisper. Please? Even if it's just for me or for yourself.

It's painful, Aomine-kun. Please make it stop.

The gun has never felt this heavy in his hand, and his last bullet has never been this valuable before.

"Tetsu, I- I can't," he chokes out, locking the target — a head of light blue hair — in place, fingers trembling on the gun.

He knows that Kuroko wouldn't want to wake up after this, no matter how alive or strong he would assume himself to be. He knows that it's simple and quick to shoot somebody, and it saves Kuroko from enduring the pain he's escaped for all of these years. It's as if Kuroko is at Aomine's mercy, yet when Aomine looks at him, he sees himself — weak. He always has been.

Aomine pulls the trigger.

The noises stop.

(Kuroko doesn't thank Aomine. Not a murmur, nor a whisper.)

He doesn't linger for much longer, and he furiously wipes the corners of his eyes when he runs back to the car.

He'd be lying if he says he didn't.

As always, Aomine does lie.

It's frustrating, really — Kuroko never thanks — thanked him. Yet he did all of those things for him, nearly gone insane from pounding on the steering wheel and wondering where the hell he was supposed to go when Kuroko wasn't there with him. His was just a simple plea.

Please hold on.

Please don't leave me.

Aomine couldn't breathe. He presses himself to try to, because Kuroko would do the same.

Tetsu,

answer

me —

It's not as if he still can.