Fifty years into the second millennia, world order fell to pieces as each country fought for themselves to earn the title of the world's only superpower. After twelve years of fighting on foreign shores, the people of Japan grew sick and mutinied against their own parliament—just like that, a century of peace ended as quickly as it began. Corrupt elections marred the year 2062 and the government was fully militarized.

To take advantage of the global war economy as well as put down the infighting, the new stratocracy resumed research of the full potential of the human subconscious and its terrifying power. Almost thirty years later, the fruits of this research, called the Awakened, gave birth to thousands of casualties as well as the Generation of Miracles—the miracles of war.

-x-X-x-

Chapter I: Welcome to the Resistance

-x-X-x-

Tokyo. Twenty-six degrees Celsius, fourty-percent humidity, zero chance of precipitation. Kagami Taiga frowned and toggled his watch to switch off the weather report. Yawning, he continued to walk down one of the back alleys to his quaint home with his schoolbag slung over one shoulder. More than anything, he was in the mood for a good game of ball, but after fumbling with this morning's pledge of loyalty and serving two hours scrubbing down tile, he was ready to call it a day and try again tomorrow. Besides, unless he wanted trouble with the officers for breaking curfew, he had better head home anyway.

Yeah right—as if he wanted to. Fallible, fallacy, why did it even matter to the dean? They meant pretty much the same thing, right? Whatever, it was done and over with, but thanks to a mild slip of the tongue, he missed the next train and was left with another mile left to cover on foot. Then again, he's seen worse happen: acquaintances he met on the street being locked up, sob stories at the grocery store about husbands being detained, the usual. As long as Kagami had an ounce of stability in his life, he could tolerate anything and belch out the morning pledge like a damned sheep ever since… well that was a story meant for another time.

Flashing red lights of several police cars cut through the dinginess of the scarcely used road as Kagami froze in his tracks, a memory of uneasiness stirring within him. The entire road ahead of him and the surrounding blocks were roped off with military-police (they were all the same in this country) personnel. Now that he was paying attention to his surroundings, he realized that there was no one else in the vicinity—just him and law enforcement.

'A prison break?' He asked himself. He shook his head, almost laughing—since when did he have a colorful imagination like that? Calming his nerves, he turned to make a right, but that alleyway was in the process of being taped off as well. Frowning deeper, Kagami realized the only way left without turning back and retracing his steps around the barricade involved going left in the opposite direction of his neighborhood. He could walk around the bridge and take a detour. Man, all he wanted was to get home.

As he turned the corner away from the eyes of the police, a small figure body-tackled him to the ground.

"W-what the—" He was about to let out a stream of expletives when a cold hand covered his mouth and dragged him around the corner.

"…I apologize, that was an accident," murmured a rather soft voice, hand still pressed tightly to his lips.

"Mm-mph—!" Kagami was ready to sink his teeth into the stranger's skin until he finally let go.

"Oh, sorry," was all he said.

Free to turn, Kagami reared his head and bared his fangs until he saw the stranger's face in the lamplight. Anger gave way to shock as his eyes traced a steady trickle of blood running down a pale forehead. Pale blue eyes indifferent to his surprise stared back at him. Looking down, Kagami found the hand that covered his mouth now pressed to a bloody rip on the stranger's sleeve. The ghostly kid was perfectly calm, but obviously worse for wear. What bothered him the most, however, was his age—he looked young, probably younger than Kagami himself.

"Was…Was that from a bullet?" Kagami found himself asking in hushed tones.

"Something like that," the boy answered.

"And you're the one they're looking for?" He gestured over his shoulder, past the building that separated the two from the patrolling officers.

"It would seem so, yes," the stranger replied with equal nonchalance. Kagami tilted an eyebrow before standing up, dusting off his pants and bag.

"Look," he offered a hand, satisfied to catch a glimpse of surprise across the stranger's face. "I don't know what the hell you did, but the both of us are probably gonna be dragged away if we stay here any longer."

The pale-haired stranger accepted the help and Kagami pulled him up with ease. "Kuroko."

"Huh?"

"My name is Kuroko. Kuroko Tetsuya."

"Oh." He didn't expect that from him. "I'm Kagami Taiga. Whatever, chitchat can wait."

As another siren pulled up not to far from them, the two made a run for it, the larger dragging the smaller behind him by the wrist. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he abandoned all reason. Who was this person? Why was he injured? Why are they looking for him, and why was he risking this much to help him? None of that mattered because Kagami Taiga never realized until now how much he missed the taste of freedom, of small acts of rebellion, when confined within these walls. Little did he know, one small act would lead to another, and he would be lost within the hole he dug himself the moment he took the strange boy's hand.

He didn't know how long they'd been running, or if anyone was chasing them, but a strong tug on his arm caused him to slow down. Sticky from sweat, Kagami looked over his shoulder to see what the problem was only to find the sharp end of a switchblade pressed to his jugular.

Impassive eyes that were otherwise harmless turned sharp and critical within an instant as Kagami felt the sweat on his skin turn cold. The first thought that crossed his mind (after a few swears under his breath) was that this was a trap. For what, he didn't know, but then again, nothing made much sense at the moment anyway.

"I didn't ask for an escort," Kuroko said, voice still soft but biting at the same time. "Who was it that sent you?"

Surprise, surprise, he had no idea what he was talking about. Kagami grit his teeth, trying to pull his neck away from the knife, but the other only pushed the blade in deeper until he could count every tooth threatening to break the skin. "N-nobody—you're the one who ran into me!" 'And this is the thanks and apology I get for helping your ass,' he wanted to add.

He hesitated for a moment and Kagami took his chances, knocking the knife out of his hand and twisting his own out of his grip rather easily.

'He sure talks big for being this weak.'

"Ah—" The boy made a grab for the fallen knife until a third unfamiliar voice interrupted them.

"That'll be enough."

Kuroko froze at his feet, outstretched hand several inches away from the knife. The look of fear on his face was more than disconcerting to Kagami as he threw his gaze upwards, looking for the source of the voice.

"Midorima-kun…" he heard him whisper from below. "We should not have stopped."

"'Wonder who's fault is that," Kagami hissed back, heart pounding from… fear? It was fear that threatened to overtake him as he felt something dreadful twist the atmosphere.

"Your sentencing will be minimal if you come back with us, Kuroko," said the newcomer. "I'll let your attendant go if that's what you wish."

Kagami couldn't help but feel a bit irked at that. "Hey, I'm not his attendant, and don't talk as if I'm not he—"

There was a flurry of movement below him as Kuroko shouted with frightening desperation, "Watch out!"

All Kagami saw was the flash of sky blue jumping in front of him to intercept a sliver of mysterious green light that appeared and disappeared within the span of a split second. Droplets of blood sprayed through the air, several landing on Kagami himself, as Kuroko fell to the ground and skid from the force of the projectile.

Kagami fell with him on instinct, bending over the fresh wound as he heard more voices overhead. "H-hey, what the hell did you do that for?"

Kuroko, in obvious pain but trying his best to retain a straight face, removed his hand from the bleeding hole in his shoulder. "Kagami-kun, are you tired?"

"What the—no! But never mind that, we need to get you to a hospital or something!"

"I apologize. This was my mistake." Kuroko suddenly grabbed his hand, palm slippery with blood. Kagami didn't have time to cringe when Kuroko dragged him to his feet with surprising strength (where did it come from?), ignoring the bullet wound. "If you don't want to die, keep running and don't let go. Don't look back."

-x-X-x-

In the darkness, their assailant made out the two figures fleeing with hardly a blood trail. Narrowing his eyes, he pointed his second finger at their retreating backs, but he lost them before he was ready to shoot again.

"Smart," whistled his partner who leaned forward against the barrier between the roof and ledge. "He knows where my eyes can't follow."

The man named Midorima smacked him across the head with a glove, his expression nothing short of pure aggravation. "Don't talk like that after being this useless, Takao," he said.

"Relax, relax—we'll probably get the go ahead to chase after them," Takao replied, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, Kuroko at least. Who was the other guy? I didn't recognize him."

"That unrefined oaf? Who knows."

"Eh? You shot at him!"

Midorima pushed up his glasses before fiddling with his earpiece. "People die everyday, Takao."

The other pouted, turning his eyes towards the horizon to see if he could catch a glimpse of the pair. No luck. "But you hit Kuroko—that wasn't part of the objective. What if he bleeds out and dies? Who's gonna get the flack for that, huh, Shin-chan?"

"That was an accident on both our parts. Even he didn't think his friend would open his stupid mouth like that." He gave his earpiece another shake. "And you saw him—it would take more than that to take down someone like Kuroko, no matter how pathetic he is."

"Eh, Midorin, you copy?"

"Momoi," Midorima answered curtly, turning away from him. "He got away, should we pursue?"

"Mmm… Boss says no! You can come back now, actually~"

Takao's partner did a double take, sputtering, "But we're close; we can't let him get any further—"

He was cut off when Takao plucked the piece right out of his ear. "Shin-chan's just worried because he accidentally shot Kuroko-san."

The resulting screech was loud enough for both of them to hear.

"Midorin! How could you! I knew we shouldn't have sent someone like you to chase after Tetsu-kun. Ki-chan and Aomine-kun would've been much more careful than you!"

Grinding his teeth and clearly offended, Midorima grabbed his earpiece back from the snickering Takao. He stopped himself from arguing that Kise's skills were useless for this mission, or that Aomine would drag Kuroko half dead with a body count on the side.

"It was the shoulder, he'll be fine. Now if you'll just allow me to—"

"You are so not in the position to be making demands, Midorin!" Momoi hissed at him from the other end. "And orders are orders. Boss says to get back, pronto. Tetsu-kun can't run forever—we have everything we need to track him down when the time is right, he says."

He sighed, rubbing his temples. He was less than happy with the order, but who was he to disobey it? "Copy that. Over."

"Over~!" There was a click and the taller of the two shook his head before signaling with two fingers. Without another word between them (he tried to ignore the smugness radiating off Takao), the two left the roof.

-x-X-x-

"H-hey if we keep running… !" Kagami gasped as he tumbled over rough terrain, traveling closer and closer to the city limits, where access was strictly forbidden. When Kuroko didn't even spare him a glance, he shouted, "We're heading for the goddamned militarized zone!"

That got his attention at least as a single eye peered back at him. For a stick-skinny guy like him, he sure was determined to run as far as possible without slowing down, wounded or not. "You won't die if you don't let go of me."

The thing was, Kagami didn't want to go any further, but he didn't want to die either. He almost did—that man must have been fucking insane for shooting at him without a second thought. It was Kuroko who took the hit, but Kagami wasn't dumb enough to miss the fact that the stranger had aimed straight for the heart. As much as he didn't want to believe it, this runt saved his life.

Well, then again, he was the one who got him into this mess in the first place.

"Kagami-kun, jump."

"What—?" He barely had time to react when his feet left the ground and the two of them soared unnaturally high over rows and rows of razor wire.

Red eyes widened considerably as the magnitude of what he was doing hit him like a rock to the chest.

'This is the end of Regime-controlled territory. I-I can be killed for this.'

Panic set in and his ankles buckled under when he landed. He fell and rolled down a ditch, taking Kuroko with him.

Reaching the bottom was hell as rocks knocked him in several places while the brush tore at his skin and clothes. "Ugh…" He coughed, trying to clear the air in front of him of dirt as his head throbbed. His arms and hands stung. "Hey, you okay there?"

No answer. Kagami got down on all fours, feeling around for the other. 'Don't tell me after all that, this is what kills him.'

He heard a resounding cough and crawled towards the source. As the dust cleared, he found Kuroko leaning against the wall of the ditch. His face was smeared with blood from the old wound, but it was the entire front of his shirt that was most worrying. He couldn't even make out the bullet hole anymore.

Plainly said, he looked like death in the moonlight. His skin was white, grey even, and his mouth hung open, glistening with blood and spit.

"Shit, shit shit…" Kagami pressed a hand to where he thought the wound was. Kuroko cringed and under the pressure, he could feel his minute trembling. "How far did we run…?"

"….About ten… miles…" Kuroko coughed again.

"That's impossible," he said, pressing harder to stem the flow. The shoulder wasn't a vital spot, but anyone would collapse after losing this much blood. With this guy being the one who practically dragged him this far, Kagami was surprised he was still conscious, much less alive.

"Were you… scared? Anyone… can run anywhere… if… they're… scared…"

"Shut up, you idiot. Now's not the time for your bullshit." If it weren't for the anger brewing in his gut, Kagami would undoubtedly be in hysterics right now. "I was trying to be nice for once and get you to a hospital, but instead, you took us out to the middle of fucking no where! There's no one to help you out here! Even if we do survive this, we'll be shot on the spot for leaving the city limits. What the hell are you planning?"

"It… hasn't… occurred to you…?"

"Obviously! Am I missing something?" Kuroko fell slack and he was left slapping his cheeks in an effort to wake him. "Hey! Don't fucking die—take responsibility for this mess you've gotten me into!"

He raised a trembling hand before whispering, "Stop."

"Wha-?" He bit his tongue when the cold muzzle of a rifle pressed against his cheek.

'…I'm not even going to ask anymore.'

"Howdy," came the voice of a woman. "You don't look so great, Kuroko Tetsuya. This guy your friend?"

Kuroko nodded weakly with Kagami frozen between them. He felt a second muzzle pressed to his back.

He craned his neck in an effort to see who was holding him at gunpoint. What he saw was a young woman with hazelnut hair and matching eyes around the same age as him. She was donned in khaki and a leather jacket with several holsters strapped around her waist, legs, and shoulders. Something about the getup seemed oddly familiar to him, but that was the least of his worries right now.

He decided to press his luck. "Yeah… so um, can you not…"

"Oops, sorry. It's regular protocol you know. Can't be too careful."

He afforded himself a heavy sigh of relief when both guns no longer prodded his sore spots.

"Both of you don't look so good… Did you run all the way out here? We could have picked you up from the train station, you know…"

"'Compromised…" Kuroko groaned.

The strange woman suddenly dropped to a crouch, peering into one of Kuroko's eyes while holding it wide open. She held that position for a full minute without receiving resistance before backing off, seemingly satisfied. "Yep, you're the right guy." She straightened her back and saluted them both, but the gesture was far from sincere, almost mocking of the original model in some way. "Aida Riko at your service."

She turned on Kagami, who shrunk under her shadow. "And your name?"

This had to be a dream. No way this was happening—he didn't even know anymore. If only he memorized the godforsaken pledge of loyalty like he was supposed to, he wouldn't be stranded in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by people who were absolutely crazy.

"Ka...Kagami Taiga."

"Well, Kagami-kun," she began, a frighteningly sweet smile on her face, "I couldn't help but overhear your little exchange. I don't know what Kuroko-kun's been meaning to tell you—I'm actually a little curious myself—but all I can say is this:

"Welcome to the Resistance!"

A/N: And this is where I would add little snippets such as character profiles to help explain this AU :)

All I want to say is, thank you for reading! Please stay in touch for future updates~