"Akashi-kun."

Akashi almost jumped. He barely managed to control his reflexes, but he did manage. So it was with a calm face that he turned to his former teammate, but eternal friend, who'd made one of his usual startling appearances.

"Tetsuya. This is a surprise."

Rakuzan's basketball club practice slowed around them as they realized they had a visitor, or more accurately, an intruder. There wasn't a single person there who didn't recognize Kuroko Tetsuya. It was only a few months since he'd beaten them at Winter Cup. To most, he wasn't a welcome sight.

To Akashi, he would always be. Even when his reason for being there was serious, as it clearly was now. All it took was a glance at him for Akashi to realize this.

The first bit of evidence you could only glean if you knew him very well. There was a tenseness to the muscles in his jaw, like he was having to fight to keep his blank expression from turning into a grave expression.

The second piece of evidence was what he was wearing. The most common way of finding Kuroko dressed was in his school uniform. Even when he wasn't strictly at school, or at least not his own school. Outside of his gakuran, he was likely to be found in athletic clothes that could double as street clothes. Now, however, he wore a black suit, with a black collared shirt underneath, and a black tie. The same thing he'd been wearing the night Akashi learned Kuroko was a member of the yakuza group known as the Black Hands. Not just a member, even. Akashi was fairly certain Kuroko had been born into their main family.

Prior to that night, Akashi had thought Kuroko was the least likely person he knew to be involved in any sort of organized crime venture. He hadn't thought Kuroko capable of perpetrating violence against another. Then he'd seen Kuroko in action. Or, at least, he'd seen the results of Kuroko in action. And he'd seen Kuroko viciously shoot one man many, many times, before finishing him off with the Black Hand's signature way of killing their enemies – with a bullet to the head and another to the chest. Akashi hadn't felt a bit of pity for that man, considering that the man had kidnapped him, was holding him for ransom, and had planned on torturing Akashi in the worst possible way Akashi could imagine. He tried not to think about what would have happened if Kuroko hadn't stalked in and killed every one of those men.

Oddly, however, his way of looking at Kuroko hadn't changed much since finding out the smaller boy was in the yakuza. He couldn't find it in himself to see his friend in any negative light, even after learning about this much darker side of him. Kuroko was his friend. He'd proven that beyond any shadow of a doubt. So Akashi was glad to see him now, even if he knew that Kuroko wasn't here to deliver good news.

"What are you doing here?" asked one of the less talented, overly arrogant bench warmers who stepped forward to try and crowd Kuroko.

"Obviously, he is here to see me," Akashi said, stepping between them and fixing said arrogant fool with a chilling look. The bench warmer backed down very quickly and Akashi allowed himself a small smile. Then he turned to the rest of the club. "Continue practicing."

He only gave that order and no explanation. He didn't need to make explanations. They would obey him or face the consequences. That was all there was to it. Yes, Akashi had learned from Winter Cup. He'd grown not just as a player, but as a person. But that did not mean he was about to tolerate insubordination. If anyone wanted his regard they had to earn it. As Kuroko had. In fact, Kuroko had earned Akashi's respect and friendship a thousand times over.

They left the gym without exchanging anymore words. Kuroko followed Akashi, keeping close, as Akashi led him to an empty classroom.

"It's good to see you, Tetsuya," said Akashi after closing the door, "Even if I know this is something serious. What's wrong?"

Kuroko gave the room a quick once over before answering. "We have a problem."

"Can I help?" asked Akashi. "Whatever you need –"

"You misunderstand, Akashi-kun," said Kuroko. He took a tablet out from inside his jacket and woke it up from its sleep mode. "By 'we' I mean you and I, Akashi-kun."

Akashi stared at him for a moment. "I don't understand."

Kuroko brought up a picture on his tablet and showed it to Akashi. "Do you recognize this man?"

Akashi took a careful look at the picture. It showed a nondescript man in a labcoat, who Akashi had never seen before, outside of a building he knew well. "No. I don't know the man, but I know the building he's in front of. The testing lab for Akai-Chem. The chemical company my family owns. But I guess, from the emblem on his lab coat, that he's an employee there."

"He is," said Kuroko. He flipped to another picture. "What about this man?"

Akashi took a look and shook his head. "No."

"Or this woman?"

Kuroko showed him three more pictures after the woman's. All looked to be employees at Akai-Chem, but Akashi didn't recognize any of them, suggesting that they were no higher than mid-level management. Probably not even that high, or else they'd be dressed in suits rather than labcoats.

"What's this about, Tetsuya?"

"All six of these Akai-Chem employees have been selling PCP in Black Hand territory," said Kuroko.

Akashi fought the urge to cuss. "I promise you, I didn't know anything about that."

"Could your father?"

"No. Of course not," said Akashi.

Kuroko stared at him. His expression was closed, but Akashi could tell he wasn't convinced.

"My father would never condone that. I can vouch for that with confidence," Akashi said.

Kuroko continued to stare, still unsatisfied.

"It's not because of moral reasons that he wouldn't do that," Akashi explained. "It's for more pragmatic ones. He insists on keeping 100 percent of our business ventures completely within the letter of the law. He doesn't want there to be any opportunity for any of our business rivals to ever hold something like this over him. I promise you, Tetsuya, this isn't done with my family's approval."

Kuroko smiled, but only with his eyes, and Akashi knew he was convinced. "That is a relief."

Akashi had to know. "What would have happened if . . ."

"I didn't come here to hurt you, no matter how you answered," said Kuroko quickly.

"But what would have happened?"

"I can't tell you," said Kuroko. "I don't know."

"But you have an idea."

"Yes."

"Tell me," Akashi requested.

Kuroko stared at him, and though his expression didn't change, Akashi just knew he was mentally weighing the pros and cons of telling. "The best case scenario would have been a warning."

Somehow Akashi didn't think that their warning involved a nice chat over tea. He had the feeling that it would have been more along the line of a horse's head in someone's bed. Or an even stronger message than that.

"And the worst case scenario?" he asked.

"Drastic action would have been taken. We don't allow PCP to be distributed on our turf. And we don't allow any drugs to be sold to children."

"They were selling it to children?"

"Yes."

Akashi couldn't hide his distaste. "I'll take care of this. I'll have them terminated immediately."

"We've already terminated them."

Akashi had a feeling that he and Kuroko had different definitions of the word 'terminated.'

"If they were acting independently of your company, there may be others involved. Can I depend on you to weed them out and deal with them?" asked Kuroko.

If Akashi had been anyone else, he probably would have gulped right then. He very much felt like doing that, but suppressed the urge. "I will make sure the situation is taken care of. You won't find anymore drugs being distributed on your turf that have been made in our labs or by our employees."

Akashi would have made sure that was dealt with even without Kuroko's request . . . or the implication that if he didn't find and put a stop to what they were doing, the Black Hands would. In a much more permanent way.

"That is good," said Kuroko.

"I'll speak with my father tonight on the phone and take the bullet train to Tokyo tomorrow," said Akashi. "I'll take care of this personally."

"It would be wise to take body guards when you confront any suspects," Kuroko warned him. "Some of the ones we took care of had been sampling their own merchandise."

"Good advice. I'll keep that in mind," acknowledged Akashi. He was no fool. He didn't want to face hopped up, paranoid drug addicts on his own. No one in their right mind would, even if they did have all of Akashi's considerable skills. "Could you email me the pictures of the employees who you . . . caught?"

Kuroko immediately obliged, deftly sending them through his tablet. "Done."

"Thank you. Did you have more business with me about anything else?"

Kuroko shook his head. "That concludes my business with you."

"Stay for dinner," requested Akashi.

Surprise crossed Kuroko's face momentarily before he schooled his expression back to its usual blank mask. "You want me to stay for dinner."

"Of course. You're my friend."

Kuroko stared.

Akashi felt his heart sinking. He and Kuroko . . . hadn't really spoken since the kidnapping incident. Had Kuroko been worrying that Akashi had rethought wanting to be his friend? All this time?

"You saved my life, you might remember," he said to try and reassure him.

"I also . . . dealt with four people right in front of you."

"Four people who kidnapped me and were going to torture and kill me since my father didn't pay them the ransom," Akashi reminded him.

"Akashi-kun must know that I've done other things." Kuroko didn't go into specifics, but Akashi could imagine. He'd killed other people than just those four.

"That doesn't change the fact that you are my friend," said Akashi. "Stay for dinner."

Kuroko stared at him expressionlessly for several moment more. Then he did that thing where he smiled with just his eyes again. "Well, if you insist."

"I do." Akashi opened the door.

"Akashi-kun?"

'Yes, Tetsuya?"

"I hope you know . . . even in the worst case scenario, you would not have been harmed."

"I know."

If you want to read about the kidnapping incident, and how Kuroko handled it, it's part of another one of my fics "A Different Side Of Me," and it's Chapter 8: Kuroko no Yakuza. That's the oneshot that sparked this longer fic.

Please review!