pika318: I got a suggestion from my biggest fan (my sister) to write out what led to the conversation which Takao overheard in the previous chapter, so here I am. I do hope that there are some people who are curious about this.

Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.

Chapter 6: Night Talk

Kuroko wasn't the type of person who would wake up in the middle of the night. So when he slowly opened his eyes and saw that it was still dark out, he got up slowly and looked around, wondering why his sleep was interrupted.

When Kuroko's eyes adjusted to the darkness, his attention was drawn to a specific spot across the room. There was an empty futon there, and Kuroko knew very well who slept in that particular futon.

Did Akashi-kun go to the washroom?

Kuroko thought. But even then, there was a nagging feeling at the back of his mind that things were not that simple. He knew that he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep unless he addressed it, so he quietly got out of his futon and left the room, intending to search for the red haired teenager.

Considering that he did not actually know where to start looking for Akashi, Kuroko thought that he was rather lucky to be able to find Akashi after wandering around for five minutes. Kuroko approached the red head, who was currently sitting on the outside corridor and staring at the small yard in front of him. When Akashi did not acknowledge Kuroko's presence, a rare occurrence, Kuroko sat down next to him. The movement finally drew some reaction from Akashi. Turning his head towards Kuroko, Akashi asked,

"It's late, shouldn't you be sleeping?"

Having expected that question, Kuroko turned to Akashi and answered,

"I could ask you the same thing, Akashi-kun. You already get very little sleep, shouldn't you rest while you can?"

Akashi chuckled at Kuroko's retaliation question, but there was no sign of amusement behind it.

"I wish I could, but I can't right now." Akashi said.

He sounded tired. That was the first thing Kuroko noticed. The next were his eyes. Even though his face appeared to be calm, his eyes didn't express that at all. There was a certain amount of fatigue in them, and also the feeling that Akashi seemed to be haunted by something. It didn't take long for Kuroko to make the connection.

"Is it another nightmare?" Kuroko asked, concern in his tone.

Akashi didn't say anything at first, but the way he tensed up slightly at the question gave Kuroko all the answers he needed. Eventually, Akashi said in a resigned tone,

"It's been a while since I had one. I thought they have stopped altogether, but it only took one visit from father to bring them back."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Kuroko offered.

Akashi gave a small smile, but shook his head.

"You have enough troubles of your own Tetsuya. I wouldn't want to bother you with my own."

"I don't mind the trouble." Kuroko answered.

Akashi sighed inwardly. He knew how stubborn Kuroko can be, especially when he wants to help someone and set his mind on it. He considered his options before deciding on a way that would hopefully make Kuroko back off.

"Why don't we trade?" Akashi asked.

Seeing the uncomprehending look on Kuroko's face, Akashi continued, "If you tell me about the nightmares you have, I'll tell you my troubles."

Akashi didn't really want to resort to this method, but Kuroko is a very private person and didn't share very much about himself. He had hoped that this trait of Kuroko would cause Kuroko to give up on prying into his own issues.

As Akashi expected, Kuroko didn't say anything for a long while. Realising that this is a good chance to slip away before Kuroko decided to try anything else, Akashi was just about to excuse himself when Kuroko suddenly spoke,

"I dreamt that I was walking with my mother."

"What?" Akashi asked. He had not expected Kuroko to speak at all, so it took him a while to process what Kuroko just said.

Kuroko continued to speak,

"It was late in the evening. She was holding my hand, and I was trying to keep up with her walking pace. One moment, she was smiling and talking to me and I was listening to her. Then the next moment, she had let go and was walking in front of me at a very fast pace. I had to run to catch up with her. I remember shouting after her."

Mum, where are you going!

"Suddenly, I find myself in front of my apartment. I tried to turn the doorknob, but the door was locked. Somehow I knew that the spare key was underneath the doormat and let myself in with that. Once I enter the house, I had the strange feeling that something isn't right."

Kuroko stopped speaking then, and looked at Akashi in the eye. Akashi let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding.

"What wasn't right?" Akashi eventually asked when Kuroko made no indication to continue. Even before those words left his mouth, he knew he had fallen into Kuroko's trap. By asking, he was showing that he wanted to know. And by showing that, he would have no choice but to tell Kuroko about his troubles later.

Well, at least it's a fair trade.

"It depends on the dream." Kuroko answered and continued, "Most of the time, I will end up directly in her bedroom and feel that it lacked too many things. I open her cupboard and instead of her usual clothes, I would just see a black shadow which only emphasised the emptiness of it. The same goes for her drawers. Just as I am wondering what is happening, the bedroom itself starts to collapse around me, and I am had to run out of the room."

Kuroko stopped then, needing a moment to calm down. Stretching out his hand, Akashi placed his hand on Kuroko's shoulder. Kuroko looked up at the contact and gave grateful smile, thankful for the support. Taking a deep breath, Kuroko continued the narration of his nightmare.

"Once I ran out of the bedroom, I would end up in the kitchen. Unlike the bedroom, the kitchen wasn't missing anything, and my attention will always get drawn to the note on the table. In the end, I will pick up the note. The note always says the same thing. Just the two words, 'I'm moving.' After that, I will wake up."

For a while, the two of them didn't say anything, with Kuroko giving Akashi time to process what he had just heard. Then Akashi spoke,

"That was how your mother abandoned you that many years ago?" Akashi asked.

"Yes. If your mother had not come a few hours later, I wouldn't have known what to do."

"I see." Akashi answered. He knew that Kuroko's mother had abandoned Kuroko when the boy had been in elementary school, but tonight was the first time he had heard about the exact circumstances about how it happened. He turned to see an expectant look in Kuroko's eyes.

"Your turn, Akashi-kun."

Akashi raised an eyebrow at what Kuroko said. Just a while ago, the light blue haired boy was battling with his own emotions while talking about the nightmare. How did he manage to recover so fast? In fact, was he actually treating this like a sharing session?

"I kept my end of the trade, so you should keep yours." Kuroko prompted, in his usual flat, neutral tone of voice.

Akashi sighed inwardly, it seems like he couldn't escape after all.

"Which one do you want to hear?" Akashi asked.

To Kuroko's credit, he did not even pause to give an answer. "The one you just had."

"Alright. But let me warn you first, I doesn't really make much sense." Akashi said.

"Since when do nightmares make any sense?" Kuroko questioned in return, and Akashi had to smile at the answer. He was right. Nightmares were just a figment of the imagination, a manifestation of a person's fear and stress.

They're not real.

Telling himself this, Akashi started to narrate his own nightmare.

"It always starts with me standing in the hallway, facing a door to my father's study. The door looked exactly like how I always remember it, except that it is a lot larger than I remembered. Sometimes, I open the door on my own. Most of the times, it opens on its own."

Recalling the scene on the other side of the door and what happens after, Akashi could feel his own heartbeat speeding up.

They're not real.

He repeated this to himself, and forced himself to continue.

"I step through the door, but instead of seeing the study and my father at his desk, I suddenly find myself standing at the edge of a cliff, looking over the edge. I start to step back, and that's when I hear my father's voice."

Seijuuro, you're a disappointment.

"Before I knew what was happening, I feel an intense pain spreading across my back. I manage to turn around, just to see a knife in my father's hands. It was dripping with blood, and that was when I realise it was my own. I remember asking him why. And without saying anything, he pushed me, hard."

Suddenly, Akashi became aware of the warmth he felt in his hands and looked down. Kuroko had his hand over his. It was then he realised that his hands were clenched into fists. Steadying his breathing, Akashi slowly unclenched his fists and relaxed his hands.

"What happened next?" Kuroko prompted gently, once he sensed that Akashi had calmed down. After a short moment, Akashi continued,

"I lose my balance, and I fall off the cliff. It was only then did I hear his answer."

Only one who demonstrates excellence in all areas can be considered a member of the Akashi household. You do not deserve this, so disappear.

"That's when I woke up." Akashi concluded, ending his narration. Kuroko looked thoughtful for a while, and then he asked,

"Have you talked to anyone else about this?"

"How about you then, Tetsuya? Have you told anyone about your nightmares?"

"No, you're the first person. I don't want anyone else to worry about it."

"It's the same for me. You're the first person to hear about this. Just think about it, would anyone believe that I get haunted by nightmares?"

Kuroko thought about the image that Akashi projected to other people, the person who did everything perfectly and seemed to have no flaws. "No I guess not." Kuroko answered. "Do you feel better now?" He added a short while later.

"Do you feel better after talking about it?" Akashi asked. Kuroko held back a sigh at how Akashi always avoided answering his questions immediately and answered,

"I guess I do. Ever since I started living with your mother, the fact that my mother left me doesn't even bother me that much. It's just how the nightmare makes me revisit all these past feelings. It feels better to be able to get them off my chest."

"I see." Akashi commented, and continued, "Honestly, to be able to confide in you about my nightmares does make me feel a little better. After I revisit it, I became more aware that it's not real."

Kuroko felt a little happy that his plan had succeeded, but what Akashi said next erased that happiness.

"However, this is only temporary. In the end, my father will still expect perfection from me. He would still say the same lines, and watch me like a hawk, ready to swoop down on me when I take one misstep. Chasing away the nightmares in my head will still not eliminate the tight rope that I am constantly walking on right now. Not when I am still his son."

"If you want, you could move to my house." Kuroko said this suddenly, like the idea had just come to him at that moment.

Akashi looked at Kuroko in surprise before giving a wry smile.

"Tetsuya, you know as well as me that there are too many legal issues involved. If we aren't even supposed to see each other, how are we supposed to live together? Besides, even if there weren't any legal issues involved, my father would never agree to it."

Hearing the slight frustration in Akashi's voice, Kuroko quickly regretted asking the question. After all, of all people, Akashi must be the person who wanted to live with his mother the most. Bringing up this topic only served to rub salt in his wound, reminding him that no matter how much he wanted it, he would never be able to achieve it.

"I guess that's true." Kuroko finally conceded. He opened his mouth again, ready to apologise for bringing up the topic when Akashi said,

"Thank you for asking anyway, Tetsuya." He had a warm smile on his face, but it never quite reached his eyes. Kuroko swallowed the apology. Doing so now would only make Akashi feel worse. So he changed the subject.

"Do you think you feel well enough to go back now, Akashi-kun?" Kuroko asked.

"Yes, let's go back." Akashi replied. At that, the both of them stood up and returned to their rooms, deep in their own thoughts, and unaware of their unintentional listener.

pika318: Okay, that was rather depressing near the end. It was supposed to have a happier ending, what happened... Anyway, this was what Akashi and Kuroko were talking about. Takao only heard the last part, of course.