A/N: Alright, so... sorry for making you wait, everyone. Here's chapter 4 of this story. Now, please... Enjoy!

Disclaimer and Warning: See chapter 1 and also... fluff galore ahead!

Part 4

Alexandra Gracia was happily drinking her caramel macchiato from the cup, her body slouched lazily on her soft spinning chair and her feet propped obnoxiously on the working desk inside her private investigator office, properly enjoying the evening after-hours when she got a phone call. She ignored it at first, thinking the ringing would stop eventually if no one picked it up. However, the blond began to sigh when even after the fifth ring, it kept on going off.

Alex grouched, slowly putting her feet down off and cup on the table, as she was straightening her body, intending to pick up the phone after the ninth ring when unexpectedly someone slammed the door open to her office. Alex jumped in a start, almost squawking, but someone beat her to it.

"It's too LOUD! Pick up your damn phone, Alexandra!" Aida Riko, Alex overly competent assistant, yelled at her boss in annoyance.

"Riko-chan… there's no need for you to come down here all away from your desk just to tell me that," Alex smiled at her, sweat dropping.

"Then pick up the phone! Why do you always let it ring until the tenth one before answering?! Do you have any idea how annoying that is?!" Riko huffed, putting her hands on her waist while glaring irritably at her.

"Alright, alright, sheesh. I'm picking it up," Alex sighed, grumbling silently that even though Riko's relationship with her current boyfriend—who is it again? Hyuuga or something— didn't really work out, it wasn't a reason to take it out on Alex like that.

"Did you say something?" Riko crunched her knuckles, her eyes narrowing glaringly at Alex in promised violence if her answer didn't satisfy her and Alex gulped slightly, raising both her hands in placating gesture.

"Come on now, Riko-chan. You're cuter when you're smiling, honey," Alex wasn't above flirting with her as long as she didn't maim her in return. Riko's cheeks pinked slightly before she seemed to realize what her boss was doing and harrumphed.

"Just answer your phone," she warned, her temper still slightly off, but at least she didn't look like she was about to murder anyone anymore as she slammed the door closed.

Alex sighed in relief at that. She then turned her gaze at the phone that was still steadily ringing before she sighed once more and picked it up. Good bye her relaxing afterhours.

"Hello, 'Kyoudai Private Investigator Office', you're speaking with Alexandra Garcia. What can I do for you?"

Alex blinked slightly when she realize that she wasn't speaking to a client for once, but to someone from a hospital. She realized immediately that there were only two options of why she would get a call from a hospital, either it was to inform her about something related to her health or if someone related to her got hurt.

She dreaded it immediately because she didn't have any health issue at the moment and that meant the latter was most likely the reason of the sudden call. And speaking of someone close to her that she could account, there was only one person that she could think of getting into trouble. "What happened to Taiga?"

~KiSeDai~

Alex was running inside the hospital corridor that earned her a warning "Please don't run on the hospital corridor!" shout from a nurse that she happened to pass by. Of course she ignored her because Alex was in a hurry, and her mind was full of the thought about—Taiga's hurt! Taiga's in hospital! Oh my God! Please don't let anything bad happen to him!—and of course she couldn't exactly focus on why it was bad to run in the corridor of a hospital.

When Alex found the room number of where Taiga was staying, she quickly skidded to stop and hurried to open the sliding door, "Taiga!" and didn't forget to shout his name in worry.

Though, the scene in front of her instantly baffled her, because there Taiga was, on the bed, in the middle of being fed with –Is that rabbit eared cut apple?—by a smaller boy with teal colored hair—How in the world did he dye his hair like that?—anyway, it was pretty distracting that she could only stare dumbly for a few seconds before Taiga sputtered in reaction to her arrival.

"Alex!" Taiga called and Alex immediately sobered up.

"Taiga! I heard you'd been hurt! What happened?!" She let herself in before closing the door almost too loudly, visibly seeing both Taiga and the boy currently in front of him cringe, either because of the banging sound, her voice, or the prospect of explaining to her.

"Oh, ye-yeah, there was… an accident, at the house," Taiga let his eyes wander to the left as he paused for some time after the word 'was' and Alex narrowed her eyes at him.

"You're lying," she huffed before she walked to the bed and sat herself on the chair beside it. "Try again." She demanded seriously and Taiga looked conflicted for a moment before he sighed.

"Alright… it was… that thing, the 'disturbance' in my house that I told you about some time ago," Taiga's body visibly sagged in defeat as he began to tell her the truth. Taiga was indeed genuinely an honest person and also a terrible liar. It was so easy to tell when he was indeed lying from his body gesture alone.

"The supernatural thingy?" Alex confirmed and Taiga nodded, wincing slightly as he seemed to be uncomfortable with the word or there was a crick on his neck that gave him slight pain when he moved his head too vigorously. "I thought I told you to relay your problem to Ki. Se. Dai. for that. Didn't you go there?"

"I did," Taiga nodded and turned to the boy in front of him, whom Alex almost forgot was there, and then proceeded to introduce him to Alex. "This is Kuroko Tetsuya, one of the Ki. Se. Dai employees."

"Oh?" She pushed the glasses up the bridge of her nose and focused her gaze to the pale boy. It was almost difficult to see him directly for some reason. Why was his presence so… low profile? She filed that away for latter inspection. "I was sure that you were Taiga's boyfriend there after seeing how intimate you were feeding him," she grinned, not passing the opportunity to tease and embarrass her pupil.

As expected, Taiga flushed in a shocked, embarrassed sputter while Kuroko only raised his eyebrows in reaction. Oh, what a poker face. Alex was suddenly interested. She had only met one member of that supernatural investigation office, or precisely, only the boss, Akashi Seijuurou, when she had been tangled with an investigation of a murder involving a high profiled, dangerous, ancient artifact that seemed to have supernatural power. The way Akashi handled his own investigation regarding the artifact was so professional and superb that she had fleetingly thought that she was working with a corporate boss instead of a high school boy.

This boy though… he seemed rather different from Akashi, but she couldn't deny that there was something 'off' with him as well. It wasn't anything bad though, at least, she didn't think it was bad, but dangerous… definitely.

"I presume you were the one that referred our office to Kagami-kun?" Kuroko asked, taking her teasing in stride or just simply ignoring it. Not fun.

"Alexandra Garcia, Private Investigator," she offered her hand in a handshake and Kuroko shook it.

"Kuroko Tetsuya, Ki. Se. Dai. member. It's nice to meet you, Alex-san," he replied with a slight nod, not completely forgetting the habit of Japanese people to lower their head when they address an older person.

"Likewise. I know your boss, by the way; met him on a gig once and proceeded to ask for his number," she grinned and Kuroko blinked, almost in astonishment before he schooled his expression once again to be expressionless, not indifferent, but… it seemed that his basic expression was the expressionless one, so he couldn't help it.

"Akashi-kun's… number?" Kuroko's tone dragged, like he was skeptical, but more into wonder rather than disbelief.

"Seijuuro's pretty awesome. He's just a teen but he could actually make the officer in charge of the investigation swoon at his feet," Alex cackled at the amazing memory. She would have eternalized it in a photograph if it hadn't been for Akashi's personal request to keep his involvement with the case a hush-hush. Akashi didn't like attention to himself and Alex had respected that.

"I see… so Akashi-kun has been taking cases alone as usual," Kuroko's gaze darkened eerily for a moment before his expression was back to normal as he let out an almost audible sigh. "And after we requested him not to," he whispered and Alex would have missed it if she didn't see his mouth moving.

It seemed that there was something… but never mind about it. Alex had to get back to the main topic. Now that she knew Taiga seemed alright, she needed to drill him for information.

"Alright, so… what happened? How come Taiga was hurt if he was your client?" Now she was back to her mother-hen mode and narrowed her eyes at Kuroko. Taiga visibly groaned while Kuroko looked a bit guiltily at her.

"It was our responsibility," Kuroko confessed, to Taiga's indignant squeak of "It was not!" before they proceeded to bicker among themselves.

Alex just blinked at them in confusion. Apparently there was more to this case than meets the eye.

~KiSeDai~

"I told you. Stop blaming yourself! It's not your fault and everybody knows it!" Taiga huffed.

"Our office' policy is not to involve the client in our 'taking care problem' process, but we actually endangered you by giving you a leeway to see how we did our work," Kuroko pointed, looking shamefaced.

"But that was because I insisted to be there! You couldn't do anything to stop me anyway," Taiga was affronted that Kuroko had to take responsibility for Taiga's own carelessness and stupidity. It wasn't Kuroko or Kise or Midorima's fault. They tried to protect him. It was the other way around. Kagami was the one that endangered himself and the other by being there. He should blame Kagami, not himself!

"Still, we did promise to protect you, but was not able to do it properly because of the miscalculation on my part. If we had known previously that we were dealing with a deity instead of an evil spirit, then Midorima-kun could have done something about the protective charm and you would not have to get hurt like this. I… I am sorry, Kagami-kun." Kuroko looked slightly dejected, and his eyes were downcast instead of looking at Kagami's properly.

"Hey…!" Now Kagami felt even guiltier for what he had done, refusing to comply to stay out and unnecessarily endangering himself and Kuroko and the others. "Don't make that kind of face, sheesh. It's really not anyone's fault but mine in the first place. Besides, you got me out of that house and look! You got injured more than I did!" He scowled at the bandages covering Kuroko's arms and chest that was visible from the v in the other boy's hospital gown. Even his face didn't go unscathed! There was a band aid on his left cheek for God sake!

Kuroko looked down at his chest and arms for a moment and smiled a bit. "It was nothing. Just a scratch from the wind," he said, and Kagami frowned both in confusion—the wind? —and indignation since Kuroko didn't seem to take his own injuries seriously.

"Alright! Enough!" Alex suddenly exclaimed, surprising him and Kuroko. Man, just now he forgot that she was there. "Stop blaming yourself or each other because both parties were at fault. Now, explain the case to me." She huffed after that while giving both Kagami and Kuroko a common ground that indeed, they could share the blame and responsibility instead of shouldering it alone.

Kagami glanced at Kuroko and Kuroko nodded, seeming to agree with it for now. "Is it alright to tell her, Kagami-kun?" he asked for permission and Kagami nodded.

"She'll grill me anyway. It's better if the professional explain it rather than getting my jumbled version. Besides, I lost consciousness in the middle of it. You can fill me in too, Kuroko."

Kuroko nodded. "Then…" After that, Kuroko explained the process of his and his colleagues' investigation and research for the supernatural phenomenon that happened to Kagami, both the thing he already knew and witnessed and the thing he missed. He explained one by one the general and the specific terminologies for Alex and Kagami's sake as well.

"At first, we concluded that we might have been dealing with an evil spirit residing in the area that somehow controlled the 'sleeping spirits' in the land, but we miscalculated. We didn't think the real culprit was a deity that had been protecting the land for hundreds of years." Kuroko said and Alex put her index finger and thumb on her chin, seeming to think seriously.

"Why would a deity be interested in Kagami? What was its purpose?" she mumbled lowly.

Kuroko looked at Kagami then. "What?" he asked, feeling that he missed something?

"Kagami-kun… that deity… it said that you were his brother," Kuroko looked uncomfortable and Kagami instantly understood that Kuroko didn't know the entire explanation of how that could be. He didn't see and experience what Kagami did in the dream. For Kuroko the reason might be unreasonable, but Kagami could understand Tatsuya's feeling.

"I met Tatsuya when I was 7," Kagami said and both Kuroko and Alex looked at him, apparently surprised. "We were inseparable at the time. For almost a year, we did everything together every day and it was fun. It was laughter and happiness and adventure and I didn't want those days to end. I didn't know that he wasn't human, that he was there because of my prayer to have someone when I was alone. What I knew was I loved him and didn't want to be separated from him and my friends. I was a kid and I made an impossible request." Now Kagami was sad and regretful of what he asked Tatsuya to do.

"I wanna stay…! I want to be here forever with you, Tatsuya!"

"I didn't realize that it would become such a burden to him…" Kagami closed his eyes with the palm of his hand, suddenly feeling like crying.

"I've been waiting for you… forever…!"

"You…! You turned me into this!"

"Because of you…! I…!"

"How… how can we help him, Kuroko?"

"Help me… Taiga!"

"How can we return him to his true form? Saving him from corruption of negative feelings and energy?" Kagami looked at Kuroko helplessly and Kuroko seemed to response to his wish resolutely.

"We'll do anything in our power to restore the Lord of That Land to his true form." There was fire of determination in his eyes, making his baby blue irises deepen in color, and Kagami couldn't help feeling so grateful at his reassuring words, especially when Kuroko reached out to touch his hand, reassuring him with warm skin contact.

"Who is this Tatsuya?" Alex's question brought both Kagami and Kuroko to look at her and Kagami was about to explain further for her shake when she said, "It seems that this 'Lord of The Land' got caught in something else before he turned like that. He was too invested in his 'Tatsuya' identity. I'll do some research for this 'Himuro Tatsuya'. It might turn out that there's something else beside the Lord."

"Oh, no, Alex-san. We cannot possibly trouble you with this. It is our case," Kuroko declined immediately but Alex just smirked.

"I'll just look into it anyway. It's my own research, since it involves Taiga. I can't stand and do nothing when my pupil is hurting. I'm going to catch the one responsible for it, even though it's a ghost." Alex turned to Kagami and smiled tenderly before she ruffled his hair fondly.

"Alex! Stop messing up my hair!" Kagami exclaimed, embarrassed, because she was such a busy body as usual, but he couldn't help feeling even warmer from her caring words and her affection. She had been like a big sister to Kagami since she took him under her wing. As for how he met her… it was a long story.

"Alex-san…" Kuroko seemed still uncomfortable with her intention, but she just winked at him.

"Don't worry, Kuroko-kun. I'm a capable investigator and I want to help."

Kuroko looked at her critically for some more minutes before he sighed, apparently giving up since both Kagami and him didn't see sign of her backing down. "Alright then," Kuroko nodded slightly. "Midorima-kun already started his investigation in dealing with deity turning into evil spirit and its miasma. Originally, Kise-kun would have to do the research on Himuro Tatsuya, but he is… incapacitated, at the moment."

"Eh?" Kagami was surprised hearing that. "Is Kise okay? Was he hurt?" He was worried, since Kise was posing at him when they had the show down with the… the Lord, Tatsuya. It was possible that he was injured the worst of all of them present in the ritual.

"No, Kagami-kun. Kise-kun is alright. It has something to do with his 'special ability'. It happens all the time." Kuroko reassured him with a kind smile.

"Oh, I see… alright." Kagami let out a relieved sigh to hear that Kise was okay. "But, I'm curious though. Why is he incapacitated?"

"Well…" Kuroko looked the other way, sounding awkward. "He needs to shed his skin."

"Huh?"

~KiSeDai~

"Mnn…! Ah! Nnggh…!"

A series of loud moans were heard from the bathroom of a certain apartment room in a certain building in one of the suburban areas in Tokyo.

"Kise, you're too loud! The neighbor will spread nasty rumors again about me and my sex life if you continue making sounds like that every time you come here!" Someone yelled from the kitchen, clicking his tongue and grumbling when Kise ignored him completely as he proceeded with his moans and groans like a prostitute in the middle of the best sex of his life (even though it was obviously from pain instead of pleasure).

"Seriously, though… why are you guys taking a job when Akashi is not around?" He muttered in annoyance as he made a mug of instant chocolate. Kise was always whiny and cranky after shedding skin, so this was to comfort the idiot.

After pouring hot water and adding some milk to the mug, he put it in the microwave and proceeded to warm it. Two minutes and a ding later, he got the steamy hot chocolate out and added three pieces of marshmallow inside to float before setting the mug on the table. He sat by it and waited. Then he realized that the sound of moans and groans had ceased and it was quiet, neither was a whimper nor a sound of shower heard.

"Kise, are you alive in there?" he asked, raising his voice a bit since there was four meters distance between the bathroom and the kitchen.

There was no answer after a minute and he sighed. This happened all the time though. Kise was usually pretty exhausted after transforming, enough to put him out of action. The blond hated it most after shedding skin because 'it was painful and disgusting', he said. Although he didn't agree with the way Kise seemed to hate himself when he did change his appearance, it was the nature of his power. He seemed cheery and carefree at glance, but Kise thought that his ability wasn't really useful.

"He's too hard on himself sometimes." Kasamatsu smiled slightly as he stood form the chair and moved to look after the kid in his bathroom. He hoped the blond kid didn't pass out again. It was such a hassle if he had to clean him up and carry him to the bed to sleep the exhaustion off.

~KiSeDai~

Midorima was in the middle of his research using his laptop when the door to the office was opened. He stopped to look upward at the person that had just entered the room without even a verbal greeting. "Welcome back," he greeted instead, but the other person didn't say anything despite his slight acknowledgement in a form of a small nod, as he just approached the sofa before he plopped down there, making himself completely comfortable.

"We got a new case," Midorima continued to talk even though the person sitting on the sofa seemed to ignore him and proceed to open a bag of chips in seaweed flavor that he brought out of the convenient store plastic bag which he had been bringing along with him earlier. "A supernatural occurrence in a certain house… though the house got demolished last night because the deity that protected the land where the house was built is corrupted by negative energy and it wants the tenant of that house, our client by the way, to be His." He explained the case briefly while he continued his research in how to purify a corrupted deity.

It seemed Midorima had to consult with people in the temple or to high priest or priestess. Purifying evil spirit was one thing, purifying a deity was nearly impossible without higher power. Midorima was expert in protective charms and predicting the future, but purifying negative energy wasn't his specialty.

The crunchy sounds coming from the sofa disturbed Midorima's train of thought before he sighed and looked upward once again to the person sitting there. "Aren't you going to say something about this, Murasakibara?" He asked the tall purple haired boy as the said boy only continued eating his snack without a care.

A little longer of silence filled the room except for the munching sound of chips to Midorima's annoyance before the boy finally reacted and said "Does Aka-chin know about this?" before Midorima could complain, and instead winced in reaction to the question.

…

"…No," Midorima sweated slightly, actually reluctant to answer it since Murasakibara wasn't going to do anything if Akashi didn't give him a direct order to do something, but lying to him while Akashi really hadn't been notified about the case was also out of option. Midorima didn't want Murasakibara to blab it to the boss later and if Akashi knew that they took a case without informing him first… Midorima shuddered. He didn't want to be there in the fall out.

Akashi is going to kill us… no. Wait. It's worse. He's going to punish us with 'that thing'—Midorima shook his head to banish the horrifying thought. Akashi's special ability was very scary after all. Midorima didn't want to think about that.

"Then don't bother me. I refuse to do anything that's not my problem," Murasakibara said while popping another bag of chips, barbeque flavor this time, to devour lazily.

Heartless lazy ass!—Midorima scowled at him and huffed in irritation.

"At least tell me what you think about it. It's a deity, you know? It's a very rare and interesting case," Midorima reasoned. He wouldn't ask for Murasakibara's help, but opinion didn't count. These kind of news needed to be shared in forum so other members could also benefit from the information. Who knew? If someday Murasakibara had to take cases involving other corrupted deities, then at least he had ever heard of something like this which could obviously happen.

"Hmm… deity, huh?" Murasakibara looked upward at the ceiling while licking the excess powdery spice on his index finger. "Give the deity what He wants?"

"What He wants is our client's life. So no can do," Midorima huffed.

"Make a hitogata of the client then. A replacement that could be offered so the deity is appeased," Murasakibara countered.

Midorima blinked. "That's… actually a good idea," he looked at Murasakibara who was popping a maiubo next on his snacking activity, slightly wondering why sometimes the boy could conjure up such splendid advice without even looking like he was seriously giving assistance. He looked too indifferent for anything most of the time except when he was snacking after all.

"You could help by creating a 'barrier' so the deity couldn't destroy another building," Midorima suggested further and Murasakibara sent him an 'are you for real?' glare.

"I won't lift a finger without Aka-chin's order," was Murasakibara's final say after Midorima and he had a staring contest which ended in Midorima's victory because Murasakibara looked away first. But as far as arguing about helping, Murasakibara came out winning because Midorima wouldn't lower his pride and beg for his help. Not in million years.

"Lazy ass," Midorima muttered in low tone and Murasakibara smirked, obviously hearing the cuss. It annoyed Midorima so much because Murasakibara didn't consider that an insult at all. It was sort of his signature characteristic and he seemed mighty proud of it.

"Should have told Aka-chin before accepting a job. Now, it's your responsibility to finish what you start," Murasakibara popped up another maiubo and oh how that irritated Midorima since he sounded mocking with his unsympathetic tone.

"Of course we will," Midorima might have closed the lid of his laptop too hard, still maddened very much, but he refused to be bothered further by Murasakibara and his antics, so he packed up his things and went out. He still needed to consult to the nearest temple anyway.

I'll ask whether there's an Onmyouji around who can make hitogata of Kagami as I go—Midorima was determined. He, together with Kuroko and Kise, could finish the job just fine. They wouldn't have to tell Akashi about this at all before the final official report. Though, he hoped Murasakibara would keep his mouth shut about the case when the red head was around later, before they submitted the paperwork.

"Oh, well. We can always bribe Murasakibara to ensure his silence," Midorima nodded, comforted by the idea because it worked every time. Murasakibara was famous with his love for sweets and snacks. He loved them so much he would do anything to get them.

~KiSeDai~

"Kagami-kun, do you think you can tell me a bit more about the Lord… I mean, Himuro Tatsuya?" Kuroko asked from his bed after the nurse was done checking on his vital sign and giving him his meds for the night. Alexandra had gone back because she wanted to start her own investigation and frankly, she seemed to be reliable to dig any information of the matter, but Kuroko was also personally curious about this 'Himuro' character.

After all, to turn into something holy like a deity, one had to be very old, powerful, and went into training to love its surrounding (people and land) equally. Attaching Himself into a character just to be able to connect with a human was very rare. Just like Alex said, The Lord might have gotten caught in 'something' even before He met Kagami. To turn a deity into evil spirit in a matter of 'several years' was almost impossible unless the corruption already started longer before that.

"Tatsuya, huh…?" Kagami smiled slightly. His eyes softened and he seemed very content as he thought about it. "He was… a precious brother of mine," he said, so heartfelt and caring that Kuroko might have felt a tad envious toward the Lord. Kagami-kun clearly still thought of Himuro very much despite what he had already gone through.

The Lord took his memory of their time together, and yet…—it was very sad. The Lord originally didn't want to burden Kagami with their memory, but that particular memory became a burden to Him instead. His act of generosity became his downfall… talk about irony.

"Of course," Kuroko showed him a small smile, encouraging him to say more. "What was he like when you two were together? Did he ever tell you where he lived?" But he needed something more technical rather than 'how it felt' kind of information, so he dug deeper.

Kagami looked upward at him and seemed about to say something before he halted so suddenly. He widened his eyes, looking surprised, and maybe a bit shocked too with the beads of sweat that were emerging from his temple and cheek. "Uh… huh?" He looked confused as well then. "I… don't think I'd ever heard about where he truly lived… Why didn't I find that strange at the time?"

"Hmm… maybe because you were still a child and children tended to be ignorant about details. So, the loophole was there from the start. The Lord could freely disguise Himself and mingle with children without being asked too many questions. Children are commonly in tuned with supernatural beings, so it was easy for them to 'see' and 'connect' with those things. Maybe… maybe the Lord's loneliness doesn't exactly come from Himself…"

"It was a battlefield. Many deaths occurred in that land a long time ago…"

Kuroko remembered when the old lady from the neighborhood told him the story about the war that occurred there. But it wasn't just about the war. Famine and criminal activities were also high in that area a long time ago. Evil might have hidden itself between people at the time. There was also a possibility that the land itself was cursed and the Lord might have had to do something drastic to protect the people from its curse.

If the Lord ended up turning the curse into Himself, it could be the cause of the original corruption… that first crack that allows the Lord to feel a specific kind of love towards individual instead of general.

"I see…" Kagami's resigned voice brought Kuroko out of his private musing. "But honestly, I barely remember any detail of my childhood when I was with him, Kuroko," he looked and sounded apologetic as he addressed him. "Even though I remember Tatsuya and feel so strongly about how important to me he is, I can't seem to remember what he liked or disliked as a child. I remember how easy he made me happy and smile, but I can't recall what he said or did to do that. Is my memory of still incomplete? Does he still withhold part of that memory with him?" Kagami frowned and he seemed disheartened as he looked down on his lap.

Kuroko knew it was rather inappropriate of him to think this, but Kagami seriously looked adorable, like a dejected kitten with his ears down. So cute!—Kuroko just couldn't helped being distracted at the sight, even though it was neither the time nor the place to.

Kuroko shook his head to refocus his priority, but he also didn't like seeing Kagami sad. Mulling it over a minute, Kuroko decided to choose Kagami. Solving the case was also important, but comforting Kagami came first.

But what can I say to ease his burden?—Kuroko didn't know any words that could comfort Kagami at this moment since he didn't know how to answer Kagami's question. He needed more information before he could give Kagami the true answer. It was possible, he supposed, that the Lord might still have part of Kagami's memories. Although he truly felt how maliciously desperate the Lord had been at the time, it didn't mean the Lord had completely turned into evil entity. After all, Kuroko could have sworn he felt the 'love' the Lord had for Kagami, no matter how twisted it had been.

Well, when words cannot do the trick, this will do—Kuroko decided silently.

Kuroko got off of the bed and slowly approached Kagami's. He sat at the bed edge, earning him Kagami's attention. "What?" He raised his eyebrows.

Kuroko just smiled at him. "May I?" He offered his hand and he could almost see question mark in Kagami's eyes, but there was also mystify and curiosity in his expression. And Kagami was indeed like a cat because his mystified curiosity obviously won as he, almost subconsciously, reached out to take Kuroko's offered hand. The moment Kuroko squeezed his hand, Kagami seemed to understand and feel what Kuroko wanted him to feel.

It wasn't exactly a special ability because everyone in Ki. Se. Dai could do it as well. After all, everyone could master it with proper training in spiritual guidance in every religion. There was even books and researches that specifically discussed and dedicated to it. It was a form of transferring energy; cleansing energy, like Qi. Akashi required all of them to train this technique to regulate their energy. They were born with such strong energy and it was a waste not to make use of it. It helped them control their emotion and with a little bit of training, it could guide other people's sense to calm or rile them up, depending on what the energy user wanted.

This Qi was very useful to cleanse evil miasma or negative energy in the aftermath of a disaster. Though, to purify evil spirit needed a higher technique and a stronger offensive energy, like the ones being taught to the monk in training, or if they aimed to become a priest or an exorcist. It could also be imbedded in things like charms and Ofuda so its protective effect was higher, like what Midorima did.

Kuroko wasn't a master at controlling Qi, but like the rest of Ki. Se. Dai members, he could transfer positive energy by touching. He couldn't do it more specifically like what Midorima did with his charms and Ofuda, but he could make Kagami feel the calm he was sending to him. And wow, Kagami was actually very perceptive and sensitive to it, because Kuroko could see, the effect was very immediate. Kagami's body was instantly lax and his breath was slower, calmer, his eyes getting droopy like he was very comfortable.

"W-what is… this…?" He sounded wondrous, like he couldn't believe he was feeling this but couldn't help asking for more. It was wonderful and Kuroko was very happy that he could help even though it was just like this.

"This… is how I want to comfort Kagami-kun." Kuroko gave Kagami's hand another gentle squeeze, pouring more peaceful, calming thought.

"How mysterious… I feel very… calm right now, like there was nothing to worry about despite what happened," Kagami smiled, closing his eyes. "It feels like I was cocooned in a very warm, soft blanket."

I will protect you no matter what— was the thought that Kuroko sent to Kagami, but he didn't need to tell the red head out loud, because when Kagami fell asleep still holding Kuroko hand, Kuroko already knew that Kagami felt completely safe right then.

~KiSeDai~

"Kagami-kun!" Kise practically glomped (it wasn't a word, but it could describe what Kise did perfectly anyway) the red-dark chocolate haired boy as he was released from the hospital the next day afternoon, as soon as he stepped out of the hospital. After all, he hadn't been injured that badly aside from losing consciousness and the doctor just wanted to observe him overnight because whatever Kuroko or Midorima or Kise said to the medic in charge of the reason why Kagami collapsed in the first place.

Kuroko wasn't so lucky, though, because he was hurt worse than Kagami. The doctor strongly insisted that he was hospitalized longer since they were afraid if Kuroko was injured worse than those large cuts on his arms or legs (Kagami wondered how Kuroko explained those wounds) and there was a danger that those stitches could rip if he did anything more strenuous than walking to the bathroom from his bed. Well, Kuroko declined though, and somehow, he got away with being released against medical advice. Kagami didn't know how he did that. They were all still underage after all.

"Our job has its perk," Kuroko explained mysteriously to Kagami's utter annoyance. It didn't answer his curiosity, but he grudgingly understood that the mysterious element of their job gave a more… irresistible charm.

Also. Kagami didn't exactly want to think about it, but somehow… his house was crumbled to the ground. From what Kuroko said, the Lord did that, but the bluenet was vague in detailing his explanation. Oh, how would Kagami tell his mom and dad about it? Their house was destroyed after all.

Earthquake?—but the other houses in the area was okay, and there was no news about the quake strong enough to make a fine, relatively new house crumble to rubles and dusts.

"Kise, stop glomping me," Kagami sighed, pretty dejected as he thought about the bleak future.

"Aww, that's not fun, Kagami-kun! I'm just happy that you're back alright, safe and sound!" Kise cheered, his renewed amber eyes and blond hair sparkling together with his usual stylish model-ish appearance. Kagami had been informed that Kise was quite popular and often featured in fashion magazine since he was apparently a professional part-time model besides working in Ki. Se. Dai. Well, irritatingly, Kise looked so goddamned shiny without any scratch, unlike the still bandaged Kuroko who stood beside Kagami and only sighed at the blond in slight tiredness.

Still, Kagami could see Kuroko was relieved that Kise was okay. Despite what he said about Kise shedding skin (Kagami still didn't get what it meant, but Kuroko refused to elaborate because it was Kise's story to tell and not him) happening all the time, it didn't change the fact that Kise was also hurt in the debacle the day before.

"Thanks, anyway, I'm glad you're okay too." Kagami gave Kise a small smile. He could relate with how Kuroko felt after all, since he was also a bit worried whether the blond was really alright or not. As infuriatingly as he was, it was good to see Kise unhurt.

"Kagami-kun…!" Kise sent him a poignant, moved expression and suddenly Kagami was reminded how unfairly gorgeous Kise was with his real face. He chose to look anywhere else beside the touchy-feely guy and only protested a bit when Kise hugged him enthusiastically. Kise's hands were all over his back, his waist, his ass—damn it!

That was when Kagami remembered that Kuroko was there, and was about to shove Kise to back off before the shorter boy could misunderstand Kise's misplaced affection, yet didn't get any chance to because Kuroko beat him to it by jabbing Kise's side with a force that made Kagami wince and Kise yowl in shocked pain.

Kise was on the ground in no time, crouching and nursing his side comically while muttering, "It's… very nice to see… Kuroko-cchi safe and sound… too…" His voice quivered and his body trembled as he looked upward at Kuroko, still smiling sheepishly despite the tears on the corners of his eyes.

"Thank you, Kise-kun," Kuroko gave Kise a smile as well, but Kise squeaked in horror for some reason, and Kagami just knew that this 'smiling Kuroko' wasn't exactly smiling on the inside. Still, Kagami didn't know why Kuroko was— angry? No, annoyed? Exasperated? But, why?

Kagami was still mulling over what he had seen in Kuroko's expression as Kise repeatedly bowed and apologized and promised wouldn't do that again and Kuroko was lecturing him about sekuhara and personal space, when Kagami recalled that he needed to think about what he would do after this.

I need supplies… clothes and toiletries… crap. My wallet was in the house!—Now, Kagami started to panic. His money and cards were in the wallet. How would he buy things without them? Wait, the hospital bill… who paid for that?!

"Kuroko!" Kagami grabbed Kuroko's shoulder, seeming to surprise the bluenet and the blond whom he was 'talking' to. "Hey, I totally forgot about this, but… the hospital bill. How did you settle it? I don't exactly have any money right now, and my health insurance paper was in the house, and-and… the house! Oh my god, the house is demolished! Shit, where do I live from now on?" It was like the panic came rushing out as he thought deeper aside the superficial fact that he no longer had a house at this moment.

Kagami supposed, he could crash on Alex's couch for a few days, but he still needed to find another place to live and to do that… he needed money, which he didn't have at the moment.

"Kagami-kun, calm down." Kuroko touched his shoulders with his both hands, and surprisingly, seeing his dull (but bottomless and caring) eyes somehow immediately made Kagami feel relaxed, like his worry and panic had no place around him and it was that mysterious, comforting feeling he could leech from Kuroko's warm touch and kind eyes. Kagami just wanted to stay rooted in that place staring deeply into Kuroko's eyes. It was kind of embarrassing, but he felt good and cozy being so close to Kuroko.

"Kagami-kun," Kise called him from behind and Kagami turned just slightly to see the blond (seeming no longer in pain and frantic now) give him a comforting smile. "No need to worry about the bill. Our company took care of that," he said, looping his arm across Kagami's shoulder blade. Kagami's heart somehow beat faster when he felt Kise leaning his face closely into his ear. "As for your house," Kise's whispered slowly, dragging his voice, making Kagami's ear ticklish and his chest tighten for reason unknown, "—for the time being, it's still off limit since we still need to deal with the Lord. So, for your temporary living space, we have bedrooms at our office. You can stay there until we deal with the problem and restore your house."

"I can stay at your office?" Kagami was genuinely surprised with the accommodation. He would have asked why their office was complemented with bedrooms, but he didn't want to let the chance go by asking too much, so he didn't. Oh, he would ask later anyway. But still, it was kind of startling when he realized as he looked upward, that Kise's face was so close to his that Kagami could feel his fresh, minty breath; and Kise's mouth was like… just an inch from his own and Kagami would have yelped and jerked back if he hadn't been stuck between Kuroko and Kise at the moment, and Kuroko was still injured, so Kagami absolutely couldn't make sudden move that could hurt the smaller boy despite his current shock.

Kise widened his smile knowingly and nodded positively, apparently answering Kagami's earlier question, while Kagami was sweating slightly, trying to avoid getting too close to eliminating that measly small distance between him and the Kise's pink lips. He still didn't know why Kise liked getting into his personal space so much, but it was incredibly distracting and Kagami couldn't afford to get distracted right now. "Oh, uh…T-thanks…" Great. Now he was stuttering. Could this get more embarrassing than right now?

Kagami could feel his face heat up, and it was probably blushing right now because Kuroko was staring at him with… peculiar expression. "Aww, Kagami-kun is blushing! So cute!" Kise laughed as he snuggled his cheek.

"Cut it out, Kise!" Kagami exploded then, flushing ten different shades of red as he struggled (lightly, mind Kuroko's still fragile condition) to shove Kise's face away from his. Kise wasn't even remotely deterred and Kagami could feel how Kuroko sigh on his chest.

"I hate to admit it, but I agree with Kise-kun. Kagami-kun is adorable," the bluenet said, causing Kagami to flush harder because then he could hear and see Kuroko chuckle, while he squeezed Kagami's shoulder and his aquamarine eyes glinted teasingly.

"Oh my God, not you too!" Kagami groaned as he clasped his face with both hands in order to conceal how embarrassed he was at that very moment.

Though, Kagami didn't know why… this felt incredibly good. Despite his embarrassment and the fact that he only knew these people only for just a short period of time, he could really feel at ease around them. They even offered a place for him to stay even if it was just temporary.

"For now, let's go back and settle down in our office. We can think of cover story of Kagami-kun's house demolishment after we deal with the Lord," Kise winked and Kuroko nodded.

"Alright," Kagami agreed.

This time… we will have to really figure out how to save Tatsuya.

~KiSeDai~

In the middle of rubles and chunks of concrete, top of a small, broken, ancient wooden shrine peeked up.

Hurry up…

There was a rustle and a small skeletal hand moved across the broken parts of the shrine.

Hurry up and find me—!

End of Part 4

Tbc...

A/N: I have no excuse for all the fluffs. It's just it. Fluff. Dang it. This story is dragging! I want to put the final show down with the lord here, but I guess I decided to make screen time for Riko, Alexandra, Kasamatsu and Murasakibara first before ending the first instalment of the series. Yes, I planned to make it a series, but at the rate I am updating right now, it will definitely take forever to finish this. Aomine and Akashi might come up in next installment, not this one. The plot planning was done anyway. I just need time to actually type them down in the story and details… detail is always important *nods*.

So… I'm still alive and kicking and this story is not stopping no matter how many years it will take to finish it. That, dear readers, is a promise.

So… what do you think about this chapter?Con-crit is always appreciated.