Warning: Not Beta'ed.

Disclaimer: KnB is not mine.

Chapter 3 : Wish

What strange, strange children.

Is the thought that went into Akashi's head as he watched the children before him.

The green one—if he remembers correctly, is walking up front, leading the way.

"Try not to act natural so our guardians don't get too suspicious," adjusts his glasses.

He was a very proper boy, Akashi notes, someone his father would have approved of he's sure. Gets a glimpse of the turnip being held with a bandaged left hand. Suddenly he's not too sure.

His eyes move to the blue one, the one with his hands at the back of his head.

"Whatever. Let's just hurry so we could go and check on Tetsu. It's almost night time and it must be freezing up there." gestures animatedly.

Daiki is head to head with that gray kid, Shougo, when getting into trouble. Despite this, he is not the most energetic of the group.

"Eh? But I thought you weren't even sure if he's there? Who is this kid anyway? I mean, who'd be stupid enough to get stuck on the roof?" gets hit on the head and scolded by Daiki. "That's why I'm checking to make sure. And he's not stupid. He kept me from falling and that makes him pretty cool!"

He shifts his gaze to the blond. This kid is always too... bouncy. Finally getting rid of the mattress wrapping him, he's back to bugging Daiki.

"Aominechi~ That hurt!"

"Hm... If he's been up there for this long then he must be pretty hungry now." The tallest in their group says. His unfocused gaze makes it clear to Akashi just who is pretty hungy.

They reach a hallway in the more remote parts of the mansion before Shinataro turns around to face them.

"At the end of this hallway is the supply room where they keep copies of the keys to all of the rooms in this house. It is better if I get it myself so you can all wait here." turns around and walks away before even waiting for a reply.

"Wait do you need us to hold your radish?" Ryouta asks.

"Turnip." Ryouta glances at Akashi. "Ah... right."

"I can hold it." Atsushi offers. "But only if it makes a tasty treat."

Although quite annoyed, Midorima continues walking without looking back, leaving the four to themselves.

"Tsk it would be much faster if I just climb."

"As I've said. How would you get down while carrying the boy?"

"Oh! I know! You throw him off and Barney-hair and me can catch him!" If Akashi squints he thinks he can see sparkles off Ryouta.

"Eh who's Barney-head?"

"You silly! You're the biggest so you must be pretty strong."

"Well, if I have to..."

Akashi stares at them intenly, fascinated that they seem to even consider the idea. Daiki, in particular, looks astonished that Kise could come up with something good.

He attempts to be the voice of reason. "You do realize that the mansion is four stories high, don't you?"

He is met with three blanks looks. "So?"

"What if you miss?"

This genuinely confuses Daiki who hasn't failed in anything he has ever attempted to do. "Miss?"

Akashi stares, thinks, then rephrases, and gestures with his head. "What if they miss?"

Understanding immediately dawns and Daiki deflates. "Oh... Ouch. Poor Tetsu."

"Hey! How come you didn't get sad when he said you were gonna miss?"

Daiki raises an eyebrow. If gestures could convey words, Akashi supposed, that that one meant, "Duh."

"I still think I should go alone, though."

"Absolutely not. I borrowed the keys and I would have to make sure to return them. Which is the only reason I'm going." Shintaro walks past them and starts heading to the top floor. They share a glance and follow.

Feet pad on the floor, glances discretely exchanged, some whistling by the blond boy before Aomine decided that he would break the silence lest he actually becomes crazy.

"So... uh... You guys the same age as me, huh?" Casually puts his hands behind his head.

"Yes. I believe we were all born in the same year." Midorima answers as the others make assenting noises. They already knew this as some activities would sort the children according to age and group them by the year of their birth. Still, this perks Kise's interest and he keeps the conversation going.

"That makes me the oldest here." He exclaims with excited eyes. "We should definitely be called the Kise Squad!"

"Stop being an idiot! We're only getting Tetsu. Besides even if this really was a secret mission, you can't be leader."

"Why not?" Crosses arms and pouts.

"Because I always beat you when we play and that means I'm the best and the best would make a better leader." Aomine explains matter-of-factly, chin tilted proudly.

Murasakibara stares at the tanned boy before saying, "Eh? Does that mean I have to follow you? Don't wanna. Maybe I should be leader since I'm the biggest."

"Waah... That has nothing to do with being leader." Kise exclaims. "And Aominechi can't be leader because no one really likes him and I know that leaders are always liked best. That makes me the best to be leader."

"Leaders can't be idiots." Midorima remarks and everyone nods their assent except Kise. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

Sighs. "My point exactly."

"Well you can't be leader either, you're too weird. Don't wanna follow you either." Midorima glares at the taller boy who was pointedly looking at his turnip.

"Perhaps we don't need a leader?" Akashi quips before Midorima could start a retort. The green-haired boy adjusts his glasses and agrees. "Yes, we do not need a leader because we aren't really anything."

The rest of the walk is done in silence.

Kuroko stares at his hands curiously. They are shaking. He wonders if it was because of the cold or hunger. His stomach has been making funny noises for a while now. Or it could be because he almost fell while trying to reach the window. Again.

He wishes he could say that he isn't really afraid. He promised his grandma that he'll be fine alone, after all, and she had praised him for being brave. But he cannot help his lips from quivering despite his best efforts to keep his mouth a straight line. Much as he is used to it, sometimes he hates the felling of being alone. 'Still', he thinks as he finally makes it to the window, 'I can make it.'

Now if he could only figure out how to open the window without falling off the roof. He couldn't risk standing—the ledge being narrow—but he didn't have the strength to open it without pushing off his feet for leverage.

Clutching the window ledge, trying to keep his footing even, he peers into the empty room and hopes.

"Where are you guys heading?" Aomine freezes at the sound of the helper's voice. Not good. The younger children are rarely given rooms in the top floor and by the look they were being given, it would seem that the caretaker has told everyone about his nap on the roof.

He glances at the boy in front, finding the green-haired boy fidget. No doubt the key hidden in his clenched fist shouldn't have been there in the first place. Well, well, seems like four-eyes isn't so uptight after all.

"We're playing." Kise smiles angelically. He could almost see the halo as he tries to suppress the urge to roll his eyes and gag.

The helper's eyebrows shoot-up that it almost seems as though it would mix with the hair on his head, then his eyes bulge out. "Together?" the man asked, sounding horrified. Of what? Aomine couldn't tell.

He has half the mind to snap because Tetsu could be waiting up there so they really should get going but he's smart enough to know that they wouldn't get pass this guy if he found out where they were going. So he keeps his mouth shut, knowing that grown-ups tend to be suspicious of him whenever he tries to open it.

"Yes." The red-haired kid, Akashi replies. Aomine is impressed by the image of innocence achieved by a little widening of the eyes and a little tilt of the head. He supposed being the youngest doesn't hurt either.

The helper then pins him with his sharp gaze. Of course! Suspicious when he talks, suspicious when he doesn't. He glares at the man. "Can we go now?"

"What are you guys playing?" The man attempts casually. None of them buy it.

"Hide-and-seek"

"Tag"

"Duck, duck, goose"

"Pin the tail on the radish"

Aomine is proud when he successfully stills his hand from hitting his face at the answers shouted at the same time. He isn't very successful at preventing his glare from being redirected to Murasakibara for the last suggestion.

The man eyes them again, this time with only one brow raised. Aomine doesn't like that he looks as if he was proud he caught them doing something wrong. "Which one is it?"

"All of them. " Again Kise smiles and he sees the man loosen up a bit.

Kise continues, "We hide somewhere and someone seeks. Then...The seeker decides if he wants to keep being 'it'. If he doesn't he calls the hider a goose. The goose becomes the new seeker and..."

Aomine feels his palm sweating. Midorima didn't look too comfortable either. Luckily, Akashi speaks when Kise starts to trail off before it becomes noticeable.

"The old seeker hides as well. This way, in the middle of the game no one knows who are just hiding or who is seeking. In order to be counted as 'found' or 'duck' one has to be tapped like in tag so one can still run away even when the hiding place is revealed." Akashi explains simply as though everyone knew it.

The man trying not to look confused, asks "And the radish?"

Akashi blinks and Aomine thinks he hears his own heart beat.

"It's for extra points. Whoever pins the tail on the radish gets extra snacks." Murasakibara shrugs. "Why else would we have a radish?"

"Turnip." Aomine thinks he hears Midorima grumble.

"May we go now?" Kise asks. Aomine wonders if he should learn that eye-head-tilt trick. "Please..."

The helper gives in, completely helpless. Besides, the rooms where they shouldn't be have been locked anyway.

He almost falls asleep but then he remembers that the only thing keeping him from falling is his grip on the window ledge with his stiff fingers. Not for the first time, he wonders if someone will find him. Will anyone remember to look?

Tired. He is bored and hungry and maybe even scared. He is glad when a bird perches itself on top of the window peering curiously at him. His sight follows the bird as it flies around him before perching on top of a nearby tree. He almost smiles but he's sure his teeth would chatter so he just looks. What does it feel to be able to fly? Maybe being alone wouldn't be so sad. Surely the wind against its wings and the sights it must see would be wonderful enough. But then another bird joins the first one. And another. And another. And when enough birds have greeted each other with a chirp or two, they flew away.

Craning his neck, he follows the birds movements with his eyes. They way day swerve and dive together, never breaking formation. Perhaps they tell each other where to go? A chirp? A tail wiggle? Practice?

He does not realize but he watches the birds with longing—for what exactly he does not know as well. In his heart he makes a wish. He frees one hand, outstretches it towards the birds and closes it into a tiny fist.

So distracted and fascinated was he that he fails to notice the window being pulled up. Surprised, he loses his shaky grip and he feels himself falling. Still even as he falls his eyes lock on the birds.

"Gotcha!" Kuroko blinks and finally focuses his gaze back to the room.

Aomine-kun is grinning at him while using both his hands to grasp his. A blond boy is hugging him from behind, eyes closed from the effort of pulling Aomine-kun back towards the room.

He is hauled inside with the help of the purple-haired boy from earlier. The motion so abrupt that Aomine and Kise end up on the floor. At the side, the red-haired boy is looking at him curiously.

Kuroko manages to blink twice before his field of vision is assaulted by a flurry of green and orange and his hands were being checked. A turnip is shoved unto his lap without warning, He does not have time to register his confusion and winces at the sting of something being poured liberally on his arms. He hears the green-haired boy grumble about his scratches—he got new ones from repeatedly falling and scraping against the roof.

"Are you ok Tetsu? 'Tsa good thing we found ya." Aomine rubs his nose proudly, beaming at him.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Kise Ryouta." The blond peers at him closely, shoving the green-haired boy to the side a little. The green-haired boy pushes him away and glares. "I'm not yet done treating his wound, which may possibly be infected," directs his glare at Kuroko who just blinks back, "Someone should have let me clean it earlier."

"Neh, we should get food. I get shakey when I get hungry too." The purple haired boy crouches in front of Kuroko to look at him better.

Kuroko eyes each of the children in front of him. He looks outside the window at the birds, down at his newly bandaged hand, opens and closes it into a fist and stretching it out in front of him looks expectantly at the other children.

They look at him confusedly except the red-haired boy who looked thoughtful. Aomine then grins and shakes his head. "Not like that."
Aomine closes one hand over his to close it and forms a fist with his other one. He bumps their fists together.

The green-haired boy shakes his head. "It's obviously a hand shake." Grabs Kuroko's hand and shakes it firmly. "Midorima Shintarou."

"Eh. I think he just wants to stand up." Purple-head takes the hand and pulls him up. The boy introduces himself anyway. "Murasakibara Atsushi. Do you have any more snacks?"

Kuroko shakes his head and is reminded of his own hunger.

"It is snack time already. We should go." The red-haired boy's eyes scan the room as if looking for something. Noticing his stare, the boy looks at him and says "Akashi Seijuro."

"I guess that means mission success!" Kise says cheerfully. But Kuroko is confused because despite the smile, he doesn't think Kise-kun is very happy.

"I'll be returning the keys now." Midorima takes his turnip and starts putting away the alcohol and unused bandages inside his pocket.

Everyone is preparing to leave, some thinking aloud what to do next, some silently heading to the door. Kuroko stares at his hand and remembers his wish.

"Kuroko Tetsuya." Everyone stops and looks back at him.

"Snacks... I don't know where. Can you please show me around?" He looks at them—each of them. If Aomine thought that Akashi and Kise were good at the whole eye-head-tilt trick, Tetsu is in a whole other level.

Kise bounds up to him excitedly. "Sure thing, Kurokocchi!"

"I'll tell you which snacks are the best." Murasakibara ruffles his head which he futilely tries to stop.

"I suppose I can spare some time. I know a lot about this mansion inside and out." Midorima says, adjusting his glasses.

Aomine sighs but smiles in spite of himself. "Let's go then, Tetsu."

Kuroko smiles a small and rare smile. Turning to Akashi. "Let's go, Akashi-kun."

A bit surprised, Akashi smiles back as everyone heads to the door. "Let's."

Chapter end.

AN: Thanks for reading guys. Hopefully, I can update more frequently in the future.