Till the end

Chapter 6

Akashi's Pov

As the night wore on I became sure of one thing. I hated the headman. He kept me by his side, honouring me for my part in the rescue of his favourite niece. Not once were my companions' mentions, or the quiet blue haired boy. Kagami was shunned at the back of the room and my friends were seated on the table to my right. When I met the young girls' eyes I could see the quiet anger burning in them when she glanced at the headman. She was seated next to me and it wasn't hard to see he was trying to impress me with her. She was dressed in quite a revealing top that did very little to hide how well-endowed she was. She knew it and I could see the blush on her cheeks, not embarrassment, but rage. No matter how many times I brought up Kuroko I was given no answer.

"Forget the boy," he had snapped once, his fake smile sliding to show the anger and madness underneath.

"He shouldn't have even been born! He lives because of my kindness, without it we would have tossed him out as a baby."

That brought the end to most of our conversations which was good because I could do very little to hide my disgust. After the dinner plates had been cleared scantily clad young women were paraded in to serve drinks. The headman had turned to me once more to say how proud they were of their home brewed beer but I didn't touch the stuff, finding it syrupy and not wanting my mind to be clouded. The old bastard was drawn away at some point and I found myself sitting alone with the Momoi. I glanced over at her to see she also wasn't drinking and her shoulders were shaking. Despite the fact we were inside the cold weather was creeping in and her tiny dress was doing very little at keeping her warm. I slipped off my jacket and slid it over her shoulders. She jumped at the touch but relaxed when she saw I meant nothing else to it.

"You're kind Akashi, thank you. And I must thank you for the kindness you showed Tetsu-chan today."

I frowned as I tried to think who she had meant.

"Kuroko," she offered and my heart gave the unfamiliar squeeze at the mention of the bluenette. Her eyes were hard as they studied me, looking for a reaction.

"You have a nick name for him. A kind one."

"Of course I do! He is my best friend."

She noticed the doubt on my face and nodded, her eyes sad.

"Of course you have seen very little to believe that this place has any kind of kindness."

She swept the room and I noticed man and women slipping away. Some of them were no older then young girls. I could see Aomine fuming nearby but Kise and Kasamatsu were seated beside him, keeping him calm. I nodded to Midorima and he got about collecting them all to go back to our rooms.

"I am the reason he doesn't run."

I turned back to the pink haired girl as she let her hair fall forward, covering her face as she dropped to a whisper. I caught on that she didn't want to be noticed to I sat forward, my arm on the back of her chair as I leant forward, making it seem like we were flirting.

"What do you mean? I wondered why he hasn't tried to run or even Kagami not trying to get him out, I take him for a decent sort."

"Kagami is. Before him the only kindness Kuroko knew was from me and a friend he had a long time ago."

She looked up at me and I got the impression she was looking for a reaction from me. Seeing nothing she sighed.

"If he runs my uncle will punish me. He will turn me into one of them."

She nodded towards one of the girls being dragged out the door, tears streaming silently down her face. I took a deep breath to calm the rage building inside me.