After Forever... Finally an UPDATE! Fic: Beyond the Light, Behind the Shado (Gom/Kaga; Pg-15)

[lunaryu]

Beyond the Light, Behind the Shadow
Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke
Rating: Pg-15/T
Genre: Supernatural/Romance/Humor/Horror/Mystery/Drama (pretty much anything can go in here)
Pairing: main Kagami Taiga/Kuroko Tetsuya, slight GoM/Kagami (yes, because Kagami is an angel and he deserves to have GoM harem *lol*), and a lil bit of GoM/Kuroko

Summary: In which Generation of Miracle is a group of supernatural detectives with special abilities and Kagami is their special client. Kagami never thought in million years that he'd let himself believe in the dark forces. But, dire situations call for desperate measures. Of course, craziness ensues.

Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke is not mine.
Warning: Totally AU, supernatural stuffs, shounen ai/yaoi, some horror and badly made humor, probably bloody at some parts, foul language, etc…

A/N: Sorry for the wait guys. Here's part 3. ENJOY!

Part 3A


There was a very loud thudding sound from the outside. Three heads immediately snapped and turned to face the window from which it was heard and three pairs of eyes blinked at the groaning noise which followed after that.

…

"Just now, was that…?" Midorima trailed off.

"Probably Kagami-kun," Kuroko let out a deep sigh, partly resigned. "And we warned him not to peek on us too…"

A chuckle from the third guy in the room stole Kuroko and Midorima's attention away from the window. "He's probably freaking out right about-…"

A door to the living room in Kagami's mansion was slammed open.

"…-now."

"What the fuck!?" Kagami cussed while barging in, eyes as wide as saucers and mouth gaping like a fish out of water. His index finger was shaking as he pointed at the guy in the middle of the circle. "How… how the hell-?! Who are you?! Why are you wearing my face?!" and he screamed at him in total panic.

"Yep, pretty much freaking out, huh?" the guy in the middle of circle, the one who was mirroring Kagami's face and built shook his head and shrugged at the same time.

"Wha-?!" Kagami was still gawking as his 'twin' chuckled at his shocked expression. Then he stepped out of the circle and started to walk approaching Kagami. "W-wait, what are you-"

"Kagami-chi, it's me," Kagami's look-alike spoke in a teasing manner, pointing at his own cheek and smiling, but his voice was still rather gruff since it was Kagami's voice.

"H-huh? Wait a-! Kagami-chi?!" Apparently Kagami realized who he was upon hearing the familiar way of calling by adding the strange suffix in the name that came out from his mirror and probably form the way he acted. "Are you Kise?!" Once again, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Calling it a surprise was utterly an understatement since Kagami looked like he was about to blow in total shock.

"Pin-pon!" Kise made a 'correct' sound effect while grinning. Both Kuroko and Midorima just sighed, probably amused but also exasperated at the same time. "But I'm still calling you Kagami-kun for the time being until I have a reason to call you with that suffix," he winked right after, evidently bewildering Kagami even more.

"I don't want that suffix in my name!" Kagami quickly exclaimed after the initial shock seemed to wear off. "But holly hell… how the fuck did you turn into me?! Is this even possible? Am I hallucinating? Or are you wearing some kind of holographic device that can change your appearance so completely like that?" Then the bombarding questions started. It appeared that he was very awed by Kise's transformation. He even couldn't stop staring at him now.

Kise's grin widened. "Well, this is my special ability. I can appear like anyone for a period of time as long as the condition is met," he said proudly.

"But how?" Kagami still looked very curious. "How does that even work?"

"Uh… I don't think you really want to know the detail of how I can do it." Now Kise laughed sheepishly, honestly feeling rather uncomfortable. "The process is kinda… painful and very disgusting." He let out a rather dismayed snort after that, thinking about the hopelessness of him explaining without wincing.

"Huh?" Kagami tilted his head aside slightly in puzzled expression.

"Kise-kun is a shape-shifter, Kagami-kun," Kuroko saved Kise from having to explain further, since the blue haired boy knew why Kise was reluctant to talk about this particular gift of his. "He was born that way," he continued evenly.

Kagami didn't seem to understand as he turned to face Kuroko. Kise practically could see several question marks all over his face. Midorima took a pity on him as he also provided some clarification after that. "Kise is a creature," he said. "Just like Kuroko who was born with the ability to see and communicate with the dead, Kise was born with the ability to shape-shift."

"What do you mean a creature?" Kagami furrowed his brow, seemingly perplexed now with the unusual reference.

"A creature is a being that is different from human and yet unable to be categorized as other beings like animals, plants, and/or microorganism. However, since it is mortal and actually has physical form, it can't be categorized as supernatural being either. The existence of creatures is very rare. They are practically a very exotic being, a natural mishap that only happens once in several decades." Midorima elucidated further.

"One of its examples is a Kudan, a creature born from an animal which can speak human language and predict the future in exchange of its very short life." Kuroko added some.

"So you mean… it's some kind of genetic mutation?" It was a wonder that Kagami even had that phrase in his vocabulary. Apparently he wasn't as airheaded as Kise and the others had thought initially. Kise raised his eyebrows as well as both Midorima and Kuroko at his unsure conclusion. "What?" Now Kagami looked cautious when he noticed their rather stunned gaze.

"Um, in science they indeed call me a mutant," Kise nodded, partially concurring Kagami's opinion. "Though, I prefer creature. It sounds cooler and more mysterious, yeah?" He grinned again.

"Even though Kise can be called a mutant," Midorima started again, completely ignoring Kise's view that annoyed Kise a little bit, "-the alteration of his genetic sequence is too massive to actually happen in natural order. After all, he has the ability to control the change in his DNA that allows him to transform his appearance as he likes. No mutated beings can actually do that generally, so Kise is undoubtedly special."

Kise blushed slightly hearing Midorima's flattering words. "Aww, Midorima-chi! I didn't know you think so highly of me!" He squealed… with Kagami's look and voice that seemed to cause the others to cringe.

"Can you please not acting like that with my face? It's creepy!" Kagami protested sounding outright aggravated as his body shuddered.

"Boo! Kagami-kun is a party pooper." Kise pouted at him. "Oh well, since Kagami-kun has a nice physic and his face is actually very pleasant to look at if he smiles a lot more, I'll let that slide. I'm glad that I actually have a chance to try his body." He quickly fixed his mood by smiling and twirling a little, fully enjoying his new appearance, but somehow Kagami's eyes twitched badly and Kuroko stared at Kise with such deadpanned expression that he couldn't help feeling that he had said something wrong. "What?" he tilted his head aside at them.

Midorima coughed. "Kise…" He pushed his glasses up his nose bridge and glared at him. "That's sexual harassment," he chided.

"Whaaaat?!" Kise immediately snapped to look at Midorima with large eyes after he almost tripped on his own foot, very offended with the green haired teen's remark. "But I'm complimenting Kagami-kun! That's mean, Midorima-chi!"

"For some reason I feel violated…" Kagami staggered to the sofa, his body shaking and his face paling slightly.

"Do not worry, Kagami-kun, we will punish Kise-kun later." Kuroko got close to the larger teen and patted the small of his back in consolation before he turned to stare at Kise again with hard eyes.

"Eeeh?! Not you too, Kagami-kun, Kuroko-chi!" Kise instantly whined for getting such unfair treatment. What did he do?

"Please tell me you didn't actually touch inappropriate places when you're wearing that body." Midorima was quite unmerciful as he narrowed his eyes at Kise in suspicion.

Kise's Kagami's face flushed hot instantly as he heard it. "W-w-what are you saying, Midorima-chi?! Of course not! That's so rude! I'm a gentle man! I won't do such things to our client, you meanie!" and of course he had to complain more because seriously, did his friends have no faith at all in his professionalism? True, Kagami's built was very attractive and he was a cute guy personality wise, but it didn't mean Kise would abuse his own gift like that just because he could and was a bit interested in their client for god's sake!

"There, you heard him, Kagami-kun. Kise-kun would not dare touch you inappropriately because it is violating our company rule." Kuroko gave Kagami a small reassuring smile. What he forgot to mention was that Akashi would kill Kise himself if he dared to break his number one rule.

I still want to continue living, thank you very much.

Kise sulked for awhile as Kagami turned to face him once again, opened his mouth seeming about to say something, but then he closed it again, sheepishly shaking his head before sighing. "So… what were you guys doing before I barged in?"

#

"We're going to do séance once again, but this time, we intend to capture only the hostile spirit and ignore the others." Midorima explained shortly, thinking that there was no need to explain all the procedures. Kagami just needed the result, not the way they worked. Frankly, he should stay out of this because his presence in the house would only disturb the ritual.

Besides, what was the point of having Kise appear as Kagami to be the bait if the real Kagami was in the room? They didn't want to put their client in unnecessary risk, remember?

"Kagami-kun should stay outside," Kuroko suggested with flat tone, voicing Midorima's exact thought.

"Am I interrupting?" Now, the red head looked contrite.

"Not exactly interrupting, but you have to remember that the hostile spirit is after you, Kagami-kun. We just don't want to put you in harm's way," Kise patted Kagami's shoulder friendlily and gave him a rueful smile. It seemed that his sulking period was over since he tried to lift Kagami's mood.

"Oh, right… there's that too… huh?" Kagami blinked, apparently realizing something. "Wait. So, Kise changed into me to be the bait to fish out the hostile spirit?" He looked upward at Kise, Kuroko and Midorima for confirmation and they nodded at the same time. Kagami's expression changed in a blink of eyes. "Don't do that!" He sounded angry after that.

"What?" Kise widened his eyes, Kuroko just stared in indescribable expression and Midorima raised his eyebrows in surprise at his sharp tone.

"That means you guys are putting Kise in danger instead of me, right? Don't do that! I don't want any of you to get hurt in my place!" Kagami continued raising his voice and he looked very worried now.

"Kagami-kun…" Kise gazed at him with large moist eyes, seemingly touched and Kuroko softened his look while Midorima only sighed deeply, honestly rather troubled seeing how soft-hearted their client was. Kagami was the type of client that was slightly a pain to deal with because he was too caring. Though, Midorima couldn't help appreciating his concern for their safety.

"It is the only way, though… because the hostile spirit is only interested in Kagami," he said slowly, bringing the others back from the Kagami-induced daydream. Kagami jerked and sent him a somehow apprehensive glare. Sometimes Midorima hated to be the voice of reason.

"Relax, Kagami-kun. We're pro, remember? It's in our job description to solve supernatural problem, including dealing with the risk." Kise winked again, beaming with encouraging smile that seemed bizarre coming from Kagami's face which he was wearing at the moment. It was indeed odd for Midorima (and most likely for Kuroko too) who saw their interaction. They really looked like twins this way after all.

"Kise…" Kagami still looked anxious, though.

"There is nothing to be upset about, Kagami-kun," and Kuroko took his cue to comfort Kagami too. "We are trained to protect ourselves from evil spirit. We promise we will be out in no time, safe and sound." At least Kuroko's voice was steady and even though he was still as expressionless as the wall, he sounded confident with their abilities.

Kagami's expression turned slightly relieved as he heard that, but then he glanced at Midorima too, with some kind of expectation in his crimson eyes. Did Kagami want Midorima to say something to reassure him too? Was he still worried if they would get hurt or something?

Midorima sighed again, pushing his glasses up his nose bridge once more. He wasn't as good as both Kise and Kuroko at comforting words. Well, he could at least make Kagami understand that they were only doing their job. "No fuss. I have them hold some protective charms. They won't get hurt unnecessarily."

Kagami sent him an amused smirk. "That includes you too right?"

Midorima frowned at that. "Of course, I am a master at protective charm and prediction. I'll always be protected by default."

"Then you can make sure I am protected too if I stay here." Kagami's smirk widened and Midorima looked upward in surprise. "Right?" He looked so smug it was kind of a little bit bothersome.

Midorima scowled at Kagami after realizing that he had been tricked into agreeing to that. After all, he was quite proud with his ability and denying Kagami's statement negated what Midorima had said earlier. Kise snickered at him and Kuroko just shook his head in defeat.

"Alright, you can stay, but you're not allowed to interrupt the ritual, and please don't move from your spot. Just hold the charm the whole time so it can conceal your existence from the spirit." Midorima warned as he fished out some O-Fuda from his pants pocket.

Midorima moved to approach Kagami and then gave him one Fuda to hold. He stuck one paper on Kagami's chest, one on his back, and one on each arms. Now Kagami was protected from four ways. He contemplated sticking one more charm on Kagami's forehead to anticipate the attack from above, but then Kagami had looked silly enough with four Fuda on his body. He would look like a kyonshi (1) if he added another one on his brow.

"What?" Kagami raised his eyebrows at him in confusion because apparently Midorima was staring at his face for too long in his silent musing.

"Ah? No, well… I'm determining whether or not it's necessary to stick one more Fuda on your forehead, you know… just in case the spirit attacks from the top," he said honestly.

"What?" Kagami made another confused face and Kise failed to stifle his giggle. It sounded very, and he meant very weird coming from Kagami's face and voice. Kuroko though, was more discrete in his laughter because he only couched a bit to cover his chuckle.

Kagami looked extra baffled at their apparent amusement. Well, he didn't know about kyonshi, unlike Midorima and his colleagues. "Don't mind them. Just… don't move," he reminded once again before he decided to stick that one O-Fuda to Kagami's forehead. Better safe than sorry.

"I must look really ridiculous right now…" Kagami muttered while sighing unhappily after Midorima was done sticking all the charms and stepped back to resume his position outside the circle.

"At least we won't have to be worried that you'd get attacked this way, Kagami-kun," Kise laughed now, entirely giving up on holding back.

"Go back inside the circle, Kise. We're resuming the ritual," Midorima barked at him.

"Sir, yes sir!" Kise saluted, looking very foolish because he was still wearing Kagami's body and Kagami visibly blushed as he saw that. Kuroko coughed again, mumbling something about he was the one who should order Kise around because Kuroko was the guy with the séance gift and probably laughing on the inside, while Midorima just shook his head in fond exasperation at their friend's antics.

~GoM x Kagami~

Kagami couldn't help staring unblinking as the other three of his companions restarted the ritual. The living room wasn't completely dark because the blind didn't entirely block the sunlight, some tiny streams were still visible between the cracks here and there, but it was dim enough for his sight that he had to squint to see the surrounding more clearly.

He stood still on his spot, just like what Midorima had asked him to do, and observed quietly as Kuroko started to mumble some kind of chants or spells. He wasn't fully sure of what Kuroko was saying, but when he started to speak, somehow, the room began to get cooler. The temperature was slowly dropping, Kagami realized, because the Goosebumps started to appear on his skin. It was kind of chilly…

Kagami felt a sweep of breeze on his arm and he hitched slightly. What was that, just now? There's no way that that was wind… the windows and the door are all closed!

Kagami conspicuously rubbed at his lower arm and tried hard to stay focused on the circle in the middle of the room despite the feeling of dread upon experiencing something weird again. Kise's… alright, Kagami's expression on Kise was quite somber. Though he couldn't help thinking how Kise felt when he was wearing his body like that, just to distract himself from the fear.

Earlier, Kise had said that he was quite glad to try Kagami's body, as if it were some kind of clothes, but Kagami was also pretty intrigued when Kise said the process of how he could transform into Kagami was quite painful and disgusting. If it was such a pain to do, how come Kise was willing to do that? Besides, he was becoming the bait for an evil spirit by wearing Kagami's face. He also said there was a condition which had to be met in order for him to be able to transform.

"I need to be around you for a few more hours…"

Kagami suddenly recalled Kise's reason for sticking around him the whole time yesterday, when he was about to use the toilet and Kise insisted on following him. Is that the condition? Or is there something else…?

Kagami was snapped out of his train of thought when he heard something swishing around the room. He was very surprised because the sound was very clear, like someone was actually moving around the room. However, Kagami was unable to see anything that moved, only hearing the movement.

"Some spirits are here," Kuroko said… or was that a whisper? Kagami wasn't certain because even a whisper in that situation sounded like normal voice. He just gulped and focused on Kuroko whose eyeballs were moving around the room even though there was nothing in the air.

Kuroko really looked like he was seeing them. Well, Kuroko indeed could see them. He had proved his gift yesterday by performing séance that allowed even Kagami, together with Midorima and Kise, to see those spirits. Kuroko said they had been there since Heian period and whatever had disturbed their resting was attached to Kagami and that land particularly. Still, Kagami seriously couldn't remember if he had done something that caused a person to have grudge on him… or if he had disrespected some kind of sacred place that earned him a curse or something equally horrifying.

"None of you is the spirit that is after Kagami-kun, please step aside." Kuroko warned and narrowed his eyes at whatever he was seeing, but then he seemed taken aback as suddenly his right cheek was cut and blood dripped from the wound.

"Kuroko-chi?!" Kise shouted in alarm and was about to move, but Kuroko immediately raised his left hand to stop him while his right touched the wound on his cheek. He glanced at the blood with a glum look.

"It was just kamaitachi (2), Kise-kun. I am alright," Kuroko then shifted his gaze at Kise, his voice and expression still calm. Midorima bit his lower lip and Kagami gripped his charm harder until his fists trembled. He had wanted to jump and run to Kuroko so badly when he saw the cut and the blood, but he refrained himself.

"There is something strange, however. Just like I suspected when I spoke with them yesterday, these spirits are 'hollow'." Kuroko turned serious once again. "It is as if they were just being used."

"You mean they are being controlled by the evil spirit?" Midorima looked at Kuroko with a grimace and Kuroko nodded curtly.

"I am afraid so… the evil spirit seems to be quite powerful. Kise-kun, brace yourself. Some of these spirits might try to 'touch' you." Kuroko warned and Kise smirked.

"Roger that." Kise made some kind of hand gesture inside the circle, attaching both his thumbs and forefingers to each other while the other six fingers were folded inside his palm.

Kagami felt very helpless seeing them. He didn't know what was going on, but he hated the feeling of being utterly useless. This was his problem, and true he was paying them to do their job, but he was just dissatisfied for only being protected. Kise risked his safety by being the bait in his place. Kuroko spent his energy by doing séance and Midorima was doing his best to protect all of them with his charms. If only Kagami could do something to ease their struggle and help…!

Kise's (Kagami's) body was suddenly jarred upward sharply. The movement was very unnatural, like there was something unseen purposely doing that, surprising all of them. "Rin!" Midorima shouted and threw some… powdery substance in front of Kise. There was a spark as if it had hit something and it fogged aside. "I can't see anything, Kuroko!" he hissed in consternation.

"I apologize, Midorima-kun. They are not allowing me to show their true nature to you and Kise-kun. Whatever it is that controls them already knew about my ability and it blocks your 'sight'," Kuroko closed his eyes like he was concentrating harder. "I will try to convince them to open the blind."

Kagami clenched and unclenched his hands and gritted his teeth in trepidation when more cut wounds abruptly appeared on Kuroko's slender body and the boy yelped in shock.

"Kuroko, you're bleeding too much! My charm isn't strong enough to protect you from the kamaitachi!" Midorima was getting worried if his raised voice was an indicator.

"Ah… the kamaitachi is indeed troublesome," Kuroko exhaled rather hard as his face contorted slightly in pain. Kamaitachi wasn't supposed to cut that deep. The wind was definitely not normal. Kagami suspected that whatever had caused it intended to harm Kuroko.

"Kuroko-chi, should we stop this?" Kise seemed to be getting anxious as well when he looked at Kuroko's appearance which was rather worse for wear.

"No… the evil spirit that targets Kagami-kun has not revealed itself yet. If only it showed up, then I would know what to do with it." Kuroko's breath was getting fast and shallow as well and Kagami couldn't stand it anymore seeing how haggard the blue haired boy was.

"That's enough!" Kagami let go of his charm, took off all the O-Fuda on his body and stepped up, obviously surprising the others. "Stop it already! You're bleeding and hurting! This isn't worth risking your life!"

"Kagami, you idiot! Don't just suddenly move like-!" Midorima widened his eyes and gawped in horror while Kise looked terrorized as he seemed to see something behind Kagami.

"Kagami-kun! Behind you!" He yelled and pointed at the air slightly above Kagami's head in total fright.

"Eh?" Kagami enlarged his eyes when something suddenly pierced his heart from his back.

A very pale skeletal hand went out through his chest and Kagami felt the sharp pain like he was being stabbed by a knife. His vision blurred and he could almost see his own blood bursting from the area which pain was the most intense.

However, before he could scream in agony, his consciousness was robbed away by the immediate darkness which seemed to come out of nowhere, swallowing him up wholly.

And in the midst of losing it so completely, he could faintly hear Kuroko's shout, calling his name…

Part 3B

Part 2