- CHAPTER TWELVE -
Previously on AxK:
After he watches them pull away from the driveway, he proceeds to swipe out various phones from his pocket, and dials numbers of private investigators. Dealing with the police would be a long-winded hassle.
"Hello?" The P.I. greeted, following with a question. Akashi paused for a while.
"...Yes, this is him. I'd like you to look into a matter I have interest in." The red-haired male uttered.
"..." The voice on the other line mumbled something.
"I'll send you the address of the meeting place...****************...yes. Good day."
With that, he ends the call, closing his cellular phone in one resounding click.
-0-
"...I don't think we disguised ourselves well enough." A magenta-haired woman mumbled angrily, although her hair was blue in this situation. She was currently sitting down on the passenger seat of a black van, with the window glass tinted over.
She could not possibly wonder how on earth a private investigator could track them down. Not unless they had help from an extremely observant person, which may or may not be their client.
One of her blue eyes twitched.
A sleek white car was located 2 miles away from hindsight, seemingly going around for an innocent drive. But they knew better.
Veering to the right, the car moves in sync with the driver, who cautiously steers the wheel. The windows of the car trailing behind them were also tinted as theirs were, so both parties couldn't see through the opaque material.
"I wish I could get out for a second and take a glimpse of the car's plate number, but we're being trailed...not the other way around." Shin whined to the others, propping his elbows on the inner side of the car. Satsuki spared him a glance, suckling on his watermelon lollipop.
"It's too risky to roll out of the car at this rate," Satsuki continued for him. The maroon-haired teenager stroked his jawline, deep in thought. There are slight chances that the person (or people) could be aimlessly driving, but that was of an overly-narrow infinetismal percent.
"We should take four right turns," he suggests after a while.
The driver nodded, acknowledging his response.
Steering the wheel, the driver disguised as Kuroko's father is otherwise known as Kashi, made his right turns as unnoticeable as possible; and when he succeeded in proving that the car was indeed after them, he turned towards his passengers for his next instructions.
"Kashi-san, let's pull over to stock up on gas," Kuroko states, noticing the almost empty tank of gas. The others agreed, each letting out a noise of agreement.
They drive for a while until a gas station was sighted ahead. Each kept an eye on the other car, with Kashi pulling over onto one of the smaller stations where they stock up. The other raven-colored car pulls up beside them.
Chigari, their team leader, opened the car door on her side, and proceeds to saunter towards a group of workers.
Kuroko peeked from the corner of his eye, at the black car that pulled up next to them. A window was already halfway rolled down, much to his surprise.
He examined the contents of the car from his angle. Only a couple of leather notebooks were stashed on top of a dashboard, with one being open already, but it was too dark for him to see the contents.
The person's face was shrouded in shadow, which was unfortunate for them. The only notable feature the person had was deeply-cut wrinkles, and fraying sideburns. His lips were set in an unfathomable frown.
The man wore a grey suit jacket, complete with matching trousers. A satchel sat innocently on the unoccupied passenger seat. It was noticeably bulging, practically overflowing with documents.
The blue-haired male scrutinized him further, before a light noise from his back distracts him. He silently turns around to see what was going on.
"Kuroko-kun!" Shin whisper-yelled. "Hello," the cerulean-haired boy monotonously stated.
"Shin-san, what are you planning this time?" He continued with the same tone, but with a hint of exasperation. He did not need any more plans going awry today.
"We're going to hitch a ride at that private investigator's car!" He says excitedly. Kuroko refraind himself from rolling his eyes at Shin's overexcited puppy expression. It reminded him of a certain blonde idiot he knew of very well.
"Make sure not to cause trouble, Shin-san." He responds back with a slight smile. The platinum-haired male gave Kuroko a mock-salute, grinning cheesily at the other.
"A-okay! And how many times have I told you already? Call me Shin! You're waaay too formal sometimes. See yaaaa!"
Satsuki gives a lazy wave as well, tucking strands of his hair onto his backward baseball cap. The silver of his watch flashes for a second, and Kuroko is given a glimpse of the current hour.
The partner duo both squat as Satsuki whips out a remote, both slipping out of the car through the trunk with as much stealth as possible.
'3:40 P.M. It's almost time.'
With a small frown adorning his face, he sighs. He misses his teammates back in Teiko already. He misses basketball.
'I want to practice for the beginning match of the season...' he thinks wistfully.
He watches Chigari wait impatiently, leaning against a post. Kashi stays silent for what seemed like forever. After a few seconds, he glances at Kuroko.
"We're going to need that other blue-haired kid's help, whether you like it or not."
Kuroko sighs. "Unfortunately so, Kashi-san. I feel sorry for him, for getting dragged into this mess." He sort of dragged out the last part, trailing slightly. He really, truly regretted bringing the latter into another large issue concerning the safety of the world.
Nagis did not only have to devise ways on how to stop the bulbuos-headed yellow octopus from blowing up the entirety of the earth, but prevent other organizations from hunting the octopus down as well. The boy's mission toughened all the more with the recent, unwelcome addition of the Callisto group.
"I feel the same way, although that boy isn't ordinary. Rumors are he's one of the most skilled assassins among the youngsters."
Kuroko looked doubtful at that statement. Sure, he heard about the boy's recent undergoing of assassination training, but he hasn't seen the other's talents and skills. Kashi takes note of Kuroko's silence, but shows no sign of acknowledging it, and continues.
"Sure, he's not all sprung up in action right now...but that's because of the drugs and the extra heavy-duty chains they have on him." The cerulean-eyed boy nodded slightly. 'Yes, that would seem like a plausible reason. Even most of our best members would cease to even function normally with the amount of drugs Callisto had incorporated into Nagisa...'
"Plus the fact that they haven't fed him for a little more over one week." The blue-haired male's eyes widened in alarm. He was starved?
.
.
Both were too absorbed in their topic of discussion to notice a faint thump echoing downward. It escaped the moment's notice.
.
.
"An assassin's specialty is stealth and element of surprise. It is highly likely that they knew of what kind of assassin he was, and despite knowing that he isn't you, they adbuct him to take down, one by one, the octopus guy's 'walls' or 'shields' of protection."
"Which meant that they did it on purpose." Kuroko concluded, the other nodding in his direction.
"Exactly."
.
.
.
It appeared Chigari was done. Ensuring their gas supply, I mean.
Slamming open the van door, Hopping onto the passenger seat, one could detect the telltale swish of her magenta hair, which was partly concealed by the blue cosplay wig that was creepily akin to Kuroko's hair color.
"Let's go." Red eyes sweep over the van, pausing slightly when she noticed the absence of the duo. "Where are they?"
"They went to hitch a ride over the private investigator's car."
"W-wha?" An expression of disbelief takes over Chigari's face, although it immediately is replaced by a look of exasperation.
"Never mind." She turns over to Kashi, who stares straight ahead. He was ready to drive out.
They drove off in stark silence.
.
.
.
...beep...
A faint sound bounced off the walls of the van, but it was immediately drowned out by the sounds of screeching tires and the content purr of the van's engine.
They sped off, navigating through various roads and intersections. They see an abandoned building within their line of sight, then their designated driver proceeds to guide their metallic hunk of a machine to go into a secluded part of the city.
...
The faint wave of rumbling vibrations produced by the engine were comforting. The blue-haired male places his chin on top of his hand, leaning against the van's interior.
A few minutes later, Kuroko swears that he was quite near to the state of dozing off in his seat. He finds his chin slipping off the palm of his hand, although he supposes it was because the weight of his head was too much to support.
He gets drowsier and drowsier, the faint rumble of the car and warmth of the heater getting to him faster.
...beep...
"Hm?" Someone's ears perk up after a while. It was the magenta-haired female's.
Chigari sharpened her senses, scanning the contents of the van
Nothing strange there...
She was probably being paranoid.
...
Relaxing her head against the van headrest, she surveys her surroundings. All she saw was the endless ocean, waves lapping against the rocky cliffs. The spray of sea foam sent a faint drizzle against the van windshield. The wipers immediately cleared away the water.
...beep...
Perhaps it was not her imagination after all.
"...Did you hear that?"
It took a while for someone to answer her. Kuroko's eyelids were drooping, his head tilted towards the van floor in a low angle, in danger of tipping over.
"Hear what?" Finally, the purple-eyed man asks her. Kashi keeps track of the time, the amount of gas spent, and the speed his van was going in, all thw while listening in to what Chigari had to say.
"There's a faint sound..." She mumbles, sounding unsure, yet there was a hint of alertness in her tone.
"...that sounds like a beep."
A beep resounds the exact moment she says it.
"Exactly."
A short silence reigns once again in the vehicle, immediately broken by Kuroko. His head bumps onto the tinted window while they were taking a sharp turn. He snaps up, awake, and his cheeks turn pink. His slight embarrassment was heightened a bit more when both of the other van's occupants chuckle at his frazzled state.
A bit of drool rests on one corner of his lips, and he rubs it off with a sheepish pout.
"I-I apologize for my unsightly behavior," he apologizes to both. They waved him off, going back to what they were discussing.
"I'm betting that there's tracker around here somewhere. Let's search the van."
"Sure."
The raven-colored vehicle slowed to a stop in the middle of a distinctively less-traveled road. They get out, but Kuroko halts in his tracks.
"I'll be away for a while. I have business in the area to take care of. Be well, Chigari and Kashi-san."
He waves off to them before breaking into a light sprint around west of the direction the van was on.
Both individuals crouch down and inspect the vehicle.
"Achielli would know what to do during these situations requiring thorough hearing." Kashi replied, plucking a tracker bug off the underside of their van.
It was silent for awhile. Chigari seems unsure on how to react.
"As I thought," the purple-haired man stands up from his crouch-squat position.
Kashi shows her the tracker.
It was of a black and metallic color, showing a miniscule sliver of light blinking in the darkness. The miniature gadget was tiny, much more tinier than the palm of his hand.
"It is one of the expensive kinds," She replies off-handedly. Taking it, she throws it harshly to the ground, a mechanical sound coupled with something electric being heard. Stomping on it three times with her boot, the dirt cracking under her foot, she turns to her colleague.
"Let's go."
Tires screeched against the asphalt. Both froze.
The set of wheels didn't belong to them.
Whipping their heads to where the source of the sound came from, they were greeted by the sight of multiple sleek black cars.
"Damn," the magenta-haired female tsks, cursing under her breath. "We're surrounded! Those better not be the Callisto guys I think they'd be."
Her colleague stood vigilant, his posture rigid and stock still behind her, mentally preparing himself for any sort of stimulus.
A car door opened, a man of average stature walking out. Slowly stalking over towards them, black slacks swish over toned, athletic legs. A blue blazer and a white polo shirt whips against the man's midsection, led on by the harsh wind.
Kashi's eyes narrow. Chigari readies her guns, her fingers hovering over the triggers of the said weapons.
Heterochromic eyes glint over at their direction, shining dangerously.
Bowed lips curl into a fake smile.
"Well hello there. You must be colleagues of Tetsuya, then?"
A/N:
WHOOOOSH! AND THERE'S THE END OF CHAPTER 12! :)
When Kashi mentioned Achielli's name, I bet you guys were thrown into a loop, were ya? CX
...Aaaaand yes, Kashi was the one who knocked Nagisa out in one of the previous chapters! Ya know, the one with the telephone booth.
I originally intended for the GoM to appear in this chapter, but it seems like they'd have their appearance around two chapters later, or so. I apologize for those waiting for them to come out :
Anyways, I'm so glad that I'm updating more frequently. Cheers to no more writer's block! :D
This chappie was planned to be a bit longer or so, but then I'd have no cliffhanger! :'C
JOKE AHAHAHAH
...
On to the questions~
Question 1: Just who do you think Achielli is, really? :O
Question 2: How much do you think Akashi knows?
Question 3: Are you guys warming up a bit to Shin and Satsuki, yet?^ (I love them tbh. They're kinda a teensy weensy bit close to my kokoro ❤)
Question 4: How do you think the tracker was placed on the underside of Kashi's van?^
Question 5: Don't you people just love Akashi's character? I do^
Ciao and see y'all later bai~