I really wanted to experiment on MidoKuro this time xD I prefer MidoTaka but I ship this too, I like Midorima as a character, gives me plot bunnies :))Many many thanks to the readers, and the reviewers for the previous chapter: ElyonFrost, 7sheryl7, & Assasin8.

No thanks to the K-12 curriculum and projects piling up :))

Disclaimer: IF I did own KnB, you never know what might happen ;) and IF I do, I'd like a collab with whoever wants to make it more yaoi-ish than it already is but - oh wait, it isn't mine. /shot/

Midorima had been asked to fetch some files from the music room by Akashi himself, assigning Kuroko to accompany him. There must have been a reason for this, especially since it was a favour from Akashi and all. The conversation they had had a week ago over the phone, still fully remembered.

Had he offered to do it his own way, then maybe it wouldn't be so hard.

"Akashi? Why call so late at night?"Midorima questioned, stifling a yawn, for the goddess Oha-Asa's sake, it was one in the morning and he was supposed to be asleep! Still, Akashi didn't give him any chance to protest, not like he would dare even if he were given the chance.

"This may sound petty, but I would like your assistance to confirm my thoughts,"Akashi said in an affirming tone. Strange request coming from Akashi, it's been a while since Akashi even talked to anyone about anything concerning his worries or personal thoughts unless in need of a third person's opinion – which usually didn't happen since he was set on being absolute.

One would say they didn't know who this Akashi was, but Midorima did.

"... Go on... nanodayo."

And so he did unhesitatingly, "What do you think about Tetsuya?"

Midorima contemplated the question for a moment, not sure how to answer. It kept him slightly hanging for a while, especially because of the force he felt was trying to make his mind remember something, and that the way Akashi called him 'Tetsuya' was so natural, like he had heard him be called by that so many times already.

That didn't seem to be the case though. He didn't forget something that easily, so there must have been a reason.

He couldn't differentiate what was real from what wasn't anymore, had the others been the same?

Was it only him feeling this way... again?

'Again'?

"Let them be driven drunk by desire – all of them, it does not concern me nanodayo, all I know is that if this continues on, it wouldn't be good for any of us."

"... I don't really know."

[He didn't know anything.]

[He didn't like it at all.]

[His façade was starting to fade away – to crumble away, and something was breaking through.]

[But he didn't know what.]

"Exactly, Shintarou."Midorima is slightly surprised to hear Akashi speak again after the silence of what seemed like forever, which had been enough to fill his reveries with his own voice – his own thoughts that supposedly, he had locked in for a while now.

[But why couldn't he remember the reason why?]

"We don't know anything, Kuroko Tetsuya is a mystery, and I need your help – though I hate to say this, everyone's help, to gather the scattered pieces which we all take a part in. Tell me, Shintarou, have you noticed anything about us regarding Tetsuya?"

[It was so full of questions, yet he didn't feel close at all to the answers.]

No one did, not even Kuroko who was involved, probably.

"... Kuroko seems very careful when he's around us, but that's just observation." Well, he hated to admit it – he had been observing the bluenette, and how he acted differently around them – even just a bit, as if something were preventing him to be himself.

"Correct, and it adds up to the fact that we seem to be forgetting something, I trust you are asking yourself by now: Why?" indeed he did, "Well, there is only one way to come up with a conclusion, and we're all a vital piece to solving this puzzle, because we all have our own different lives, the only thing in common is that all the questions revolve around Tetsuya."

The thin lines of destiny were about to intertwine...

[By compiling them, they might just...]

[But...]

"One thing's for sure though," Akashi continues, "We will never get our answers unless we make Tetsuya willingly submit to us, and the puzzle will never be complete without him."

"Midorima-kun?"

Midorima notices his steps behind Kuroko – he must have stopped halfway, he got a grip of himself, shaking off the tension in himself by pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, his fault going with it. Kuroko noticed this, and wondered what Midorima was thinking about just now. He looked to be quite serious.

And according to Akashi, his thoughts being known by Kuroko was bound to make it fail.

The question was, could he make progress?

"Only use this as a last resort," Akashi eyed him with warning, and that failure wasn't an option. Tetsuya seems to change when the past is mentioned, directly or indirectly."

"A-Ah..." well great, he stuttered, giving himself away a bit, but he didn't give up just yet.

"I just remembered something..."

Kuroko looked shockingly stricken for a second, which did not slip from Midorima's intense gaze. Then... was Kuroko afraid that they would remember something? It was all he could get from that, it simply wasn't enough evidence.

"... I see." were the simple words, which once again, left Midorima with a vague view looking ahead to the series of questions and Kuroko's terribly vague answers. He could see why this was so difficult now.

No one among the two bothered to start a conversation since that one had been put to a stop, it nerved Midorima, he had done it wrong perhaps. There was no harm in trying again, but he didn't know what to do, and this indecisiveness of his was hindering him, he couldn't think clearly at all. He couldn't shake it off.

There was no one in the music room considering the music club was currently participating in an international-level concour, so they had it all to themselves. Well, not that he liked the situation of being alone with Kuroko or anything.

It was that fuzzy sensation again... with...

Warmth.

"Midorima-kun... plays the piano, doesn't he?"

It took Midorima by surprise when he had only been aware he was staring at the piano by Kuroko's words, he immediately replied. "Yes... it's been a long time though." How did Kuroko know? Should he ask? "It's quite perceptive of you, to know I played the piano."

"Well, it must add to the list of reasons why you bandage your left hand all the time." A small smirk shapes in those thin-lined lips.

And a lie as well, though it was the truth, it was delivered as a smooth lie.

"... We should get the files, we wouldn't want to keep Akashi waiting."

Kuroko nodded in agreement, "Indeed."

The files were situated on a desk just near the window, all enclosed in a notebook labelled "Crescendo". Kuroko asks Midorima if that was what they were looking for, and Midorima nodded unsurely, even for Akashi, the term "files" was rather vague.

Wait... not sheets... but files?

But he was sure Kuroko called them files, so he knew? Then why would he bother to tell Midorima where they were? Files could refer to anything... even... investigatory information, not just music sheets... was it just a mix-up? A mere mistake on Kuroko's part?

"Kuroko, wait-"

Then it all happened so fast, the shelf in front of Kuroko was falling down, and it would only be a matter of time before the bluenette would be hit by the books raining down. Kuroko had noticed but it was too late to move, even for him. Midorima, thought on the spur of the moment, pulling him away just in time, ensuring his safety.

The bluenette is enveloped in his embrace, and Midorima doesn't need to doubt it, Kuroko senses his accelerating heartbeat, and same was how he sense the latter's.

"You really are a handful, be more aware of what others would think if something does happen to you."

...

"I'm sorry, Midorima-kun, I'll be more careful next time."

"Next time".

They are words Midorima has heard several times, has disbelieved several times, but the way Kuroko says it made him feel it was a part of his life, something he used to believe.

He used to believe in second chances.

Midorima never really understood why people would bother eating at the cafeteria – being the noisy place it was – when they could enjoy the peaceful tranquillity their school rooftop offered. Perhaps, it was because they tended to spend their time in their classrooms with friends, perhaps welcoming a more familiar atmosphere.

Or perhaps it was simply because this place was always theirplace.

He ate his lunch in silence as he examined his original piano pieces, thinking of what he could improvise on, taking their absence as an opportunity to do what he could about his upcoming recital – without any interruptions and in peace. There had been times when he was alone, but now, he always had certain clingy people follow him, or simply people asking for his help. Not that it was a bad thing really.

If anything, he usually enjoyed people's company, it was a curious feeling.

"Midorima-kun."

He stutters out a name shortly after, with a greatly startled voice, "You should have told me you were there, since when?"He would have known normally, but he had been too focused, it was rare even for him, to fail to recognize the presence of company.

Especially if they meant so much to him.

"I've been here for the last... twenty minutes."

That was about the time he arrived at the rooftop! If there were a more blunt way to put it, he had been there the whole time. He shook his head, about to say something when one of his sheets flew away. Alarmed, he stood up, only to find a shadowed figure running in the distance, heading to the area of the rooftop where there were no protective bars and apparently, where the sheet was about to fly away to.

Higher and higher, even more unreachable.

He called out a name.

He touches that person's hand, before he truly will be gone, before something could happen to him. He speaks with a panicked voice, shakily.

"You idiot."

The figure lips form curl into a frown, then into a slightly amused smile. It annoys Midorima, honestly, but he knows he couldn't be angry.

This person... was...

"Think more about what would happen if something happened to you, if that did happen... it might harm the people around you!" he chastised.

"I'm sorry... I should have considered Midorima-kun's concerns and feelings more, and for that... I apologize." The hand in Midorima's suddenly felt so close, before it could drift farther and farther away – before he could, before the wind could take them wherever it wished to.

This person was... someone important to him...

"There's no doubt about it." Midorima confirms.

He and Akashi were alone in the student council room, courtesy to Murasakibara who acted according to plan, taking Kuroko out for them to be able to talk privately, taking the plan into action further. Akashi trusted Murasakibara enough to get the job done, assessing the files in hand first, before meeting eye contact with Midorima who looked infuriated, and in a way confused.

He slammed his two fists on the desk, facing Akashi.

"There was evidence that someone set something that pulled down the shelf, Akashi! It wasn't an accident at all, did you know this would happen?"

The way Midorima said it accusingly was as if he were suspecting Akashi to have plotted all this thoroughly, including the shelf falling.

"Ridiculous, Shintarou, did you really think I would hurt Tetsuya?"

"For the sake of this plan, I bet you would." Midorima muttered coolly, not seeing any wrong in expressing his thoughts, Akashi was pleased, this was only to be expected from Midorima.

"Let me ask you, Shintarou, what triggered this 'memory' of yours, making you sure it was Tetsuya?"

There was a moment of silence, Midorima thinking his answer over carefully, "... When the shelf was falling, and when I held Kuroko's hand-"

"Indeed," Akashi interrupted, not letting him continue, "Your hand remembers, your body remembers – our memories may have been lost, but our sensations haven't – tell me, what made you hold Tetsuya's hand?"

"I just thought... it would be the only option to pull him out..."

"Correct, and I trust this memory has something to do with Tetsuya almost being involved in something...?" It wasn't a question asking for an explanation, but for confirmation, Midorima nodded in response.

"There are two things we can conclude," Akashi said with a final tone, as if about to end this conversation.

Even though there was still a lot more they didn't know.

"It's either there is someone who knows about all our past experiences with Tetsuya and is assisting us from the shadows, knowing our plans... or..."

"Or?"

"There is someone out there planning to hurt Tetsuya. And that is why I have researched Tetsuya's background once again," Akashi handed the files to Midorima, about to make his way for the door, whispering low. "And narrowed down the suspects."

"Wait, Akashi-"

"We're getting down to the truth of this, Shintarou, we all are."

Should I change the genre to mystery? Nah, this isn't suspenseful at all -_-" nor can I call it angsty either...

Next chapter will probably be MuraKuro, some proper KiKuro, then the chapter after that will cover Aomine, Akashi, and a surprise lol xD Not telling~

Hope you liked it, this fangirl is off to study. (Wat.)

-BerryBliss