A/N: I don't own KnB.

This is inspired from the movie Don't Breathe, with a twist. Thanks for reading!

Warning: Friendship?

Title: Doll in the Basement

If anyone were to glance at the house on just another dilapidated street, they wouldn't think any more of it. Easily forgotten. Nothing memorable about it, apart from its size. It was a combination of two, as if the previous owner had bought two houses side by side and renovated the entire place for a double-floor plan. But that was not so uncommon among that street. So yes, there was nothing particularly memorable about it, big house aside.

If they cared to look a little more however, they'd wonder if someone was staying there. The tiny discrepancies. Cause while there were a clean pair of outdoor sports shoes ill-fitted for the outdoors placed on the porch, as if waiting for its owner to head out, no feet ever occupied those shoes. The door never opened. Yet the shoes always appeared clean as if someone had been scrubbing it free from sand and dust.

Not just the shoes but the entire house. Rundown as it was, it was well-maintained – white bricks with fading paint but scrubbed squeaky clean. Windows were wiped and clear, porch was swept, corners cleaned of cobwebs and lizard droppings. It wasn't covered by the heavy musk of dust either but of flowers. And underlying sweet vanilla. Probably the neatly groomed flower garden in the tiny backyard. Too well-kept for an empty house. But no one was ever seen walking around the house.

Aomine, like any other kid on the block was curious. Everyone liked making up stories about it. Ghosts. Spirits. An old lady who was too ugly to face the world and hid. A witch. An old world-hating man. An albino. Back to the point though, curiosity all got the best of us sometimes. So when the kids, if you count kids as being sixteen and young and stupid, on the block decided that a test of courage was in order, they also decided that house was the perfect place for it.

Aomine just went with it. Out of curiosity. Though honestly he'd rather be playing basketball but then again he'd worn his newest one out already. Until he saved up for a new one, he didn't have much else to entertain himself with so meh, why not. His friends dragged into the mess by the entire gang of neighborhood kids – Akashi, Midorima, Murasakibara, and Kise looked on with disgruntled or upset expressions. Especially Murasakibara who looked like he'd rather be somewhere with snacks in easy reach. Aomine thought at least Kise would be excited about it but this time he looked as if he was walking into an execution or something. "Oi."

"Huh? What is it, Aominecchi?" Kise replied with a smile, snapping out of his musings.

"Are you scared or something?" Aomine asked bluntly.

Kise's eyes widened. "Wow Aominecchi." His jaw dropped. "I didn't know you of all people knew how to be observant."

"OI! What's that supposed to mean huh?" Insulted, Aomine grabbed Kise by the neck, slinging his arm around and rubbing his head mock-furiously. They would've continued their play fight had Akashi not intervened. "Stop playing and let's get this over with. The faster we do, the faster we can get out of here." Akashi wouldn't have been there if not for Nijimura-senpai anyway. The oldest kid on the block basically commanded respect. And what he wanted he got, even if it was something as ludicrous as "team-bonding time" via breaking and entering.

It was surprisingly well-planned. Entrances were inspected and Akashi being the only skilled lock picker among the group had been convinced to help. All in a good day's work. As expected of an Akashi. Aomine wasn't even surprised the kid could lock-pick. While Aomine had dabbled in it just for fun, he didn't think he could handle anything other than the most basics of locks. The group then split to scout out the place to confirm the "hauntedness" of the place. Over a week they had seen neither head nor hide of any person moving around and in the house. Yet the windows still remained sparkly clean. Along with the rest of the house.

Aomine shuddered inwardly after the week's conclusions were made. Creepy indeed.

Convinced at the emptiness of the place, the group of twenty five boys and seventeen girls then proceeded to start the test of courage. The test would begin at midnight and no one was allowed to run until the sun came up at five in the morning. No lights allowed part from those of flashlights each pair carried. Two by two, they entered with a partner each with only the camping flashlight to navigate in the darkness they were met with after Akashi had opened the door.

Aomine was paired with Kise, cursing that he wasn't paired with any of the big-breasted girls. Satsuki aside, she didn't count. Murasakibara and Midorima were paired together, the two looking pissed off at the arrangement. One too proud, the other uncaring. Lastly was Satsuki and Akashi who entered the place first, flashlight calming scouring the floors and walls of their surroundings.

Aomine and Kise went next, both secretly bracing for a gust of cold wind or a jump scare when they passed the threshold into the house. Alas when they stepped in the house, there was no chill down their spine or feeling of eyes on them or anything like that. The only oddity was still just the fact that the house was very clean for being empty. Empty of people but definitely not furniture.

Even in the dark with only flashlights to see, pastel colors could be made out from the shelves and tables and couch. The large sofa was a nice soft cream colour and smelt like freshly washed velvet and softener. Cerulean feather cushions with silver stitching framed the edges of the seat, neatly placed and awaiting guests. While it looked like they found a place to spend the night, they knew they couldn't all fit on it.

While the rest of the pairs dispersed throughout, the six of them stuck together. Mostly out of habit but then again Kise was looking more frightened by the minute. Every time the sound of a door closing or the floorboards creaking echoed amongst the hushed whispers of the other kids, Kise would jump just a slight bit then resume his grinning. If he was trying to ignore his fears or pretend he wasn't scared, it wasn't working very well. His eyes could be seen darting side to side. He looked pretty darn close to a panic attack.

Akashi, sighing at their predicament when he'd much rather be in his own comfortable mansion started barking out commands. "Well, since we have to stay in in this place for the night, might as well find a comfortable place to make camp. Split up and report back in half an hour. Find food and water if you can as well as a place for all of us to sleep. There should be a big enough room for all of us to fit in. Momoi and I will head to the second floor. Shintarou and Atsushi, cover this floor. As for Aomine and Kise, check the backyard. There's a cellar door to the basement we passed earlier. Look into that as well. 30 minutes. If you're not back by then we'll go looking for you. Let's go."

Kise upon hearing the verdict of being sent to the basement of all places make a very girly sounding "Eeekkk". He immediately covered his mouth hoping no one heard it but of course, everyone did. The rest just ignored it however, going about their assigned task with little fuss. Aomine, not wanting to get made to run laps by their self-proclaimed leader tugged at the back of Kise's shirt, dragging him back the way they entered, in search of the cellar door. "Don't be a scaredy cat, Kise. Let's just get this over and done with."

"No! I don't want to go! Go without me Aominechhi pleaaaasseeeeee!" Dragging a reluctant Kise who was trying to dig his heels into the concrete steps down to the backyard, they eventually came upon the mentioned door. It wasn't even made of rotting wood or rusted metal. It was steel, painted over with a black powdery color which stood out against the white paint of the house. The handles were clean to the touch and Aomine tried not to think too much about why it was clean and just pulled at the double doors. Kise's anxious voice cut in. "Wait! What if they're lock-"

Both was slightly surprised to find there was no lock on this door, the metal hinges turning easily. Invitingly. The doors opened with a slight clang, hitting the frame softly. For a moment, all Aomine and Kise did were to stare at the door leading downwards into darkness. The echoes of metal hitting metal echoed deeper inside. It sounded very big for a cellar. They would know, after having camped out in their own cellars.

Hesitantly, in such a soft whisper that Aomine could barely make out words Kise mouthed, "I don't like this Aominechhi, let's just go and tell Akashi there's nothing here." The flashlight shook in Kise's hands, not daring to point downwards into the darkness. Contagious as fear was, Aomine felt a surge of defiance well up. What was there to be afraid of about a clean house. It was just clean. No blood, no murder, no ghosts. It was just a ridiculously clean house. And it was stupid to be scared of it.

"Fuck it, let's go. Pass me the light." He snatched the only source of light from Kise's sweaty hands, pointing it down into the darkness nonchalantly. More shelves were revealed, full of stuff. Clean again. But just normal stuff like shoes and clothes and snacks and furniture you'd find in any house. Not allowing his mind to trick him into seeing or hearing things, Aomine walked down the steps into the cellar, Kise refusing to follow and hanging back at the entrance. Yellow irises continued furtively glancing around, preparing to run at the slightest hint of danger.

"Come on Kise." The words echoed far into the room, into the darkness and back. Aomine looked up at the blonde who was shaking his head adamantly. "No way! I'm not going in there!"

"Fine then stay there if you want but don't expect me to come running if you start screaming." Aomine ignored the "Eeep" in reply to his comment and just made his way further inside. The flashlight was bright enough to cover the ten feet radius in front of him, hitting white walls covered in basketball posters. Some of which Aomine had in his own room and others he didn't manage to buy. He wondered if it was considered theft if no one owned these things. He made a mental note to ask Akashi later.

After the posters, a wall-mounted television and several oak bookshelves of novels took up residence over the space by the walls instead. Aomine wasn't a reader so barely any of the titles rang any bells.

The next area, separated by a curtain, looked to be a mini kitchen. First he came upon a fridge which he curiously opened to find milk, freshly bought based on the expiration date along with several eggs. A new tub of miso paste was sitting in a corner, unopened. There was also a bottle labelled sugar syrup and several beans. Of what he didn't know but he was willing to bet it was the source of the sweet smell when he opened the fridge. There were also a few simple vegetables like cucumbers and broccoli in the lower compartments. The last compartment, in a mini pull out unit, separate from the rest, was what looked to be ham. The processed kind all cut up neatly into squares and circles for easy use. It reminded Aomine of his own ingredients back home, cooking skills be damned.

There were several cups of instant noodles along with canned goods in cupboards with glass doors. Pastel coloured cooking equipment of pans and a set of small kitchen knives adorned a marble countertop housing a small stove. Shakers of salt and pepper sat along the frame, the girly kind of containers typically used at those upscale restaurants. Aomine shook his head at that, not willing to think on stupid reasons to use such ornate containers. Satsuki would have a field day.

That last thought echoed as he opened the drawers below to find plates and bowls of porcelain with pictures on them, decorated extravagantly with bright colours and handpainted pictures.

Pretty, but unnecessary. The fork and spoons in the other compartment were matching sets, each pair compartmentalized neatly into rectangular plastic holders. He quickly got bored of searching these and went further into the room, stubbing his toe on the edge of another countertop, this time housing a sink. No doubt there were only pipes below so he didn't bother to search them.

The large kitchen area ended after a dining table large enough to seat ten. Another curtain divisor was used, leading to the next area. Aomine would have moved deeper without much thought but suddenly a scream rang out from one of the upper floors directly above him and he ducked instinctively at the sound. Was that Satsuki?

More shouts followed for a few moments before silence ensued. All Aomine could do was to huddle against the wall and await a response from the rest upstairs. His breaths sounded heavy in the silence. In the background he heard another breath hitch, as if someone was down here with him. He froze. Had he imagined that?

Eventually the tension dissipated when giggles and laughs echoed from upstairs. Easy-going and amused. They probably just scared themselves over nothing. Aomine let out a breath of relief he hadn't realized he'd been holding, taking a moment to compose himself before prying his body off the floor. Scared over nothing.

How ridiculous.

Laughing at himself, he opened the next curtain without much thought, eyes roaming over the path of his flashlight.

IT took a moment to register.

And then he screamed.

x-X-x

Kise, coward that he was whenever ghosts were mentioned, knew that his friends were more important than his stupid childish fear of the paranormal. So when he heard Aomine scream like a girl, he rushed in, forgetting that he didn't have a flashlight and that there were actually steps in front of him. He ended up rolling down the five steps, bruising himself every step of the way. "Ouch! That hurt" Putting the pain aside though, he proceeded to run headlong into the darkness, running into objects several times along the way.

"Aominecchi! Aominecchi, where are you?!" Another scream answered his calls and he followed the sound, taking note of a light source from a couple feet ahead. Pulling open the curtain, he was met with an odd sight.

Aomine had his back to Kise, seatd on the floor as if he had fallen on his ass with his left hand bracing his weight and the right pointing frantically into one of the corners where the flashlight was pointed towards. A doll sat there. Doll. /dɒl/ a small model of a human figure, typically one of a baby or girl, used as a child's toy. Synonyms: puppet, marionette, figure, figurine, model, etc.

Kise knew that because his modelling career threw the word around a lot, pretty as a doll and all that metaphorical stuff about looking pretty. Never mind that dolls were typically involved with horror stories. Usually the cutest ones were the scariest ones. This one fell under that category of 'BEWARE AND RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!" Or would've if he didn't look so freaking adorable.

With sweet features of a cute nose and soft lips, unblemished white porcelain skin covered the entire expense of body. Fluffy blue locks of hair and sky blue eyes gazed curiously at them, unblinking. The glassy empty eyes were framed with thick cerulean eyelashes and looking in the general direction of Aomine. Weird colour it was, it was kind of fitting in this house of light blue and white. Okay scrape that. Forget creepy. This one looked pretty harmless to Kise. Stick pale arms with a tiny torso. Wrists thin enough to snap should Kise catch it too tight. Thin fingers with tiny joints. Was Aomine freaked out by this doll? Of all dolls.

It wasn't even in the league of Annabel. Yeesh that story was scary.

"Aomine, it's just a doll. No need to freak out. Do you have pediophobia or something?"

Aomine upon hearing his voice, nearly snapped his neck to face Kise but kept his eyes glued on the doll. "It moved! And how do you even know such a word, Baka Kise."

Kise didn't take offense at the insult, figuring that Aomine was just freaked out so he could be forgiven this once. "It's not moving Aominecchi, you probably just imagined it."

"But it did. It was lying down earlier with its eyes closed and everything! And then it blinked at me."

"It's not blinking…"

"It DID! Im telling you its still looking at me! It sat up too!"

Kise looked at the doll again. Nope not blinking. No change of expression. It just happened to be placed to be facing in Aomine's general direction so maybe that's why he was so freaked out. Still the reaction was a bit too much. Was Aomine trying to scare him or something? "Yes yes, Aominecchi I'm sure it did. Now come on our time's almost up and Akashi wouldn't be too happy if he had to come down and look for us."

Was it just him or did Kise really see the eyes twitch and swerve to him?

This was getting creepy. He thought he felt the temperature drop a few degrees when he felt that glassy blue gaze lock on him. He HAD imagined it right. Right. For sure. He was just overthinking right?

"Ano…", the pale pink lips mouthed the words and a curious childish voice rang out in the echo of the basement.

Kise shrieked along with Aomine.

x-X-x

When Aomine had opened the curtain to find a human-sized doll on a small bed in the corner, he didn't freak out just yet. He just stopped and stared at the tiny creation and tried to will away the paranoia, telling himself that it was fine and normal and not haunted. Then pale eyelids opened to reveal glassy sky blue eyes

He freaked and screamed. Hopefully no one heard that. Absently he did note that Kise was shouting his name and headed his way.

All he could do in response though, rather than replying was to stare. That doll just fucking moved! It was looking at him! Like what the f-ing thing was up with that?! Then it sat up, bunching the blanket at its waist to reveal one of those kiddish pajamas tops with white long sleeves, plastic hands grasping at the pale pink blanket. Aomine failed to muffle another scream.

Kise finally showed up after and tried to assure him but Aomine just knew he shouldn't, wouldn't, totally couldn't look away or he was screwed! That thing would lunge for his jugular and stare and him with glowing blue eyes and rip out his neck and tear him to bits! Then the lips moved and the first words to come out of the doll was "Ano…."

Before he knew it, both Kise and him were shouting. Someone turned on the light, temporarily flashbanging everyone in that section of the basement. Footfalls sounded from behind them followed the the swish of the curtain as Akashi's voice carried. "What on earth is going on here?" Satsuki followed close behind and after came Midorima and Murasakibara, looking annoyed at being dragged down. Then everyone clamped up and looked at the creature on the bed, staring back at them.

Akashi would've started taking first had Momoi not squealed and leapt at the doll , wrapping her arms around its waist and squeezing it to her ample bosom. Her legs straddled the doll easily, shoving it back into the bed with a limp thump. "Oh my gosh, it's so cute! Can I bring it back Akashi? Can I?!"

Aomine was the first one out of his stupor. "No! Let go of it this instant Satsuki. Get away from it! It's haunted. We need an exorcist or a priest. Someone go call a priest! NOW!"

"Don't be stupid Aomine. There's no such thing as haunted dolls. It's just in movies. The tsundure didn't look very convinced of it, seeing as all the blood had drained from his face. Kise's cries interrupted Midorima's to-be lecture. "No! I saw it move! It talked. Aominechhi's right for once. Run Momoichhi!"

Akashi smoothly cut in, voice deep to hear through the chatters of his teammates, wanting to diffuse the situation before it got worse. "All of you. Keep quiet. And stay quiet for five minutes. Or ten laps around the neighborhood."

Everyone shut up.

Akashi walked forward, gesturing for Momoi to return to the group before continuing. She set the doll down against the headboard of the bedframe, sitting upright facing them before clambering off the bed. Only when Momoi had returned did Akashi smile a polite smile.

The redhead raised a hand for a handshake, next words shocking all the onlookers behind him. "Hello there. Pardon our manners. We were not notified that someone lived here and hopefully you can forgive the intrusion. We were in the midst of a test of courage and was instructed by a stupid leader of ours to participate and stay in this house until the sun comes up in the morning. I am Akashi Seijurou and I live two streets down from here."

The doll tilted its neck the slightest bit to meet his gaze before pushing himself off the bed and sliding to stand on the floor. "Oh. Hello. I am Kuroko Tetsuya and I live here."

"Pleasure to have your name, Tetsuya."

The doll tilted his head to the side in question, wondering at the usage of his first name. He shrugged it off almost immediately, nodding to himself as if in confirmation.

"Nice to meet you, Seijurou." The doll wrapped his hand around Akashi's, shaking lightly as if unaccustomed to the movement.

Everyone else's jaw dropped further down. Like who on earth would dare address Akashi as Seijurou. Without even a kun? Or san. Or sama. And his first name at that oh god this doll was going to die. If it was already dead Akashi would probably just choose to kill it again. To their further shock, Akashi did none of those things.

"Let me introduce you to my friends Tetsuya. This is Aomine Daiki." He pointed to the dark skinned and navy-haired teen. "Beside him is Kise Ryota." He pointed to the blonde. "The tall-one who, I hope you don't mind has stolen some of the snacks found in your upstairs pantry is Murasakibara Atsushi. We'll reimburse you for that." Akashi waved at the tall purple-haired child snacking on some potato chips and boxes of pocky sticks. "And those two are Midorima Shintaro and Satsuki Momoi." He gestured to the green-haired glasses wearing guy and the pink-haired girl.

He turned to face the group, addressing them for this last bit. "All of you, please welcome Kuroko Tetsuya. He's human. And child of the security company owned by the Kuroko's who have been overseas for business purposes. They're in England last I heard and have been away for a few years. That's the reason why we've never seen anyone around the house."

"Domo." Kuroko Tetsuya nodded. He looked pretty uncaring for a kid whose house had just been broken into and had food stolen. And THIS was a house of people owning a security company? It was a little too easy to break into wasn't it? Akashi read the question in everyone's heads. "And yes I disabled the security before we entered the house. Should I turn it on again, Tetsuya?"

"No, it's okay. There's nothing much worth of value to steal here."

"Oh? What about you?" Akashi sounded amused.

Kuroko's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Well, it'd be pretty difficult to steal something you can't even see, much less know it's there. People can't usually see me due to my low presence."

Aomine made the connection in his little brain quite easily. Oh so that's why no one ever saw anyone cleaning the house. Never mind how it was that people could not see something that was there. He, simple-minded as he was, just took it as he was told.

"So there wasn't a ghost here after all." Aomine stepped forward, raising his hand out for a handshake as well. "Yo Tetsu! Sorry for crashing by when you were sleeping but you scared the crap out of me." His free hand rubbed at his head in embarrassment.

"Hello Daiki. You shocked me as well, if it is any condolence. I woke up and suddenly there was someone in my bedroom pointing at me." Tetsu frowned, pondering. "That has never happened before."

Aomine tried not to blush at the usage of his first name.

"Anyway. Would all of you like to hang out until you have to go? It's the first time I'm having guests so I can't say I'll be a good host but I'll prepare some tea and snacks." Kuroko smiled innocently, completely oblivious to the notion of robbers and kidnappers and rapists. Aomine's heart threatened to jump out of his chest. What a naïve kid.

Well, good for him at least. Tetsu would at least have them for company. "Don't mind we crash here for the night then."

Behind him, assents from the rest echoed through the basement.

x-X-x

After watching movies online and crashing on beanbags with snacks and drinks in hand, they talked and joked and enjoyed themselves. While everyone upstairs eventually all ran out in fear after hearing the creepy laughs of Akashi echo throughout the house. By five, when the sun came out, only the six of them plus one Kuroko Tetsuya remained. Having vanilla pancakes for breakfast in the basement.

The next day, at ten in the morning, they knocked on the cellar door again. Waiting for the doors to open. They climbed in without much trouble, closing the doors behind them. Laughter rang out through the day. When evening came and the weather was a little cooler, the sports shoes on the porch disappeared for the first time. They didn't reappear until late into the night, covered in dirt and mud and worn out. As if someone had been running around in them.

Neighbors would whisper about the six kids who came and went as they liked from the house. And when the group walked down the street with a basketball in hand, the sound of it bouncing against the pavement, they would hear seven voices in the background, tinkling in unanimous laughter.

I wasn't planning on having so many words I swear but the characters got carried away. Thanks for reading.

Leave a comment if you think I should continue this. I was considering to go into more detail when they bring Kuroko out to play.