#calicopudding

He stands his ground, doing his best to keep everyone synched together. It’s been getting harder lately. They’ve been pushing, all of them, fighting the sync that took so long to build. They're supposed to be a unit, a team, but now Kuroko has to fight to keep them together.

Their voices clamor in his head, the color of their emotions stabbing his eyes, burning more vicious than they ever have.

Kuroko squares his stance, twists his hold tighter around the ribbons. They’re writhing in their anchor points, the feedback loop of emotion is enough to generate a noticeable temperature difference, and it just keep climbing higher.

Aomine breaks away first, his ribbons, once a healthy blue that have been darkening for months, vanish, and Kuroko can’t hear or feel him. The anchor point in his wrist burns bright as the ribbons disappear and he half expects a hole where they burrowed in.

Murasakibara is next, his lazy ribbons the color of lavender hardening into something like poisoned wine and it burns, practically ripped away. Kuroko nearly drops to his knees, tightening his grip on the others, trying to hold onto them. The anchor point in his stomach is empty, leaving a yawning maw like hunger at his core.

Midorima follows, less painful, but the sight of his ribbons slipping away stings more than it should. The ribbon in this anchor point lingers only a second before leaving, dancing through his fingers as it goes.

Kise and Akashi are the only ones remaining, and Kuroko grinds his teeth. He’ll keep them tethered, make sure they’re strong. He’ll keep them safe, make them invincible, he’ll-

Kise disappears, Kuroko thinks he hears an apology as the sparkling gold leaves his hold. There’s a lingering sense of guilt, but it’s washed out by the cold confidence that’s infiltrated all of their ribbons in the past months. Kise’s anchor point is at Kuroko’s ankles and it sends a tremor shaking up his leg.

It’s just Akashi now, his ribbons have always been deep and dark but they’ve become perforated in a heady gold. Kuroko doesn’t want to let go of him to, he can’t, it’s his job to make them stronger. He helped them become the most powerful unit the kingdom has ever seen. He tied their emotions together, eased their thoughts so they could work as one entity.

But they don’t want that anymore.

“They can do this without you now, Tetsuya, they have become strong.”

His vision blurs for a half second before refocusing. His head touches the stairs above him before he realizes he’s started to lean back. Blinking hard, Kuroko sits back up, shifting slightly to focus himself.

His mug of tea sits beside him, dangerously close to Aomine’s foot. He’s lucky it hasn’t been kicked over yet, but all the same, he picks it up and takes a drink.

The exhaustion is starting to set in, Kuroko grips his mug tighter to keep from dropping it as he raises it to his lips. He’d figured that the ritual would be tiring, draining, but really now? He feels about as weak as an infant.

He settles the mug on the ground on the other side of him and takes a deep breath. It drags wet in his chest and he nearly chokes. In fixing Aomine’s ribbons, he’d accepted Akashi’s offer to join the scouting party, he can’t get sick now. It must be the rain. Kuroko isn’t known for his strong constitution, sitting out in the rain for as long as they did is a surefire way to lay him out.

Aomine and Kise are perfectly fine, chatting happily back and forth. Momoi’s going to have a fit when she gets back to see the water they’ve tracked inside, but Kuroko’s too tired to think about that.

“Tetsu? You don’t look too good.”

Kuroko squints toward Aomine, vision growing hazy once more, only this time it’s not clearing up. His eyes fall half shut and he can’t open them again. Oh, he’s definitely sick, isn’t he? Exhaustion and cold water, not a good combination for most, and Kuroko especially.

“Tired,” he mumbles, blindly reaching for the wall to levy himself up. “The ritual- I need to sleep.”

In an instant, he has Kise and Aomine at either side of him, lifting his arms around their shoulders. It would really only take one of them to carry him up, but they don’t seem to be at each other’s throats about who gets that particular honor.

They make it to Kuroko’s room without issue, though he’s barely awake. He ends up on his bed and the world loses its blue and gold tint as Aomine and Kise step away.

“We’ll wait for Satsuki and let her know,” Aomine says. His voice comes through but only barely, as if there’s a wall between them. Kuroko doesn’t even have the strength to speak so he tries to nod instead. He’s not sure if he was successful, but he feels, what he assumes is, a blanket fall over his body.

Then he’s alone.

He’s grown used to the weather, learned how to combat the cold. Hot tea, long sleeved pajamas, burrowing into a thick blanket, and sitting through a few minutes of adjustment until the warmth seeps into his bones. It’s a pleasant ritual when there isn’t another body in bed to leech heat from.

If he’s being honest, it’s not all that different.

Buried beneath a blanket, Yuuri is still awake, even though night has reigned for several hours already. He doesn’t feel like leaving his cocoon of warmth to check his phone, but he knows it’s past midnight. Sleeplessness is well traversed territory for him by this point. He could teach a survival course on all the ways to spend the hours of existential dread and self doubt that come creeping in once the clock strikes one in the morning.

This night, however, it’s not crippling anxiety or spiraling self worth that keeps Yuuri awake at what is surely some ungodly hour.

The day went as good as any other.

A morning jog with Makkachin before heading to practice. Several grueling hours at the rink, broken up only by a phone call from Victor, apparently his flight got delayed, so he wouldn’t be returning home until the next day. Mila, Georgi, Yakov, and Yuri came over for dinner right after practice so the atmosphere was loud and just the slightest bit overwhelming, but good all the same. Once everyone left, Yuuri sprawled out on the couch with Makkachin and finished up some business, answering and sending emails, updating social media, working out the next stretch of his schedule, until it was time for bed.

So here he is.

Happy and warm, Makkachin curled up near his feet, the last message in his phone being an overly sappy goodnight from Victor.

He’s okay.

He’s not in the throes of a downward spiral. Not sweaty and shaking from an anxiety attack. No irrational fear of abandonment floating through his brain. Imposter syndrome not even a blip on his mental radar.

He’s okay .

And that’s frightening.

Kuroko stops manifesting and shoves his notes between the pages, closing the book before he falls back onto his bed.

Two weeks.

Two weeks, and he’s got nothing but half formed ideas with no backing.

He’s summoned up every emotion he could think of, even his own basic grey. He’s read through the entire book, manifesting over every page, even the covers, and nothing.

Well, not nothing. The intense study has taught him a few things, and it’s given him some ideas, but there’s nothing directly related to what he’s trying to do. Nothing about grey locks or ribbons shocking an Empath.

He’s at his wits’ end.

It’s ridiculous, the void was waiting for years, and it never made him feel so impatient. Now, it’s as though Kise’s ribbons opened the flood gate. He knows the others can be made accessible in some way, and he wants them to be accessible now.

Kuroko’s ready to scream.

Kise’s been around a lot more lately, something Kuroko is grateful for. With his and Momoi’s ribbons in such close proximity, it’s done wonders to keep him centered. Kagami’s been around as well, usually sparring with Kise behind the shop. His recovery has gone well enough, he’s still not supposed to push himself too far. Kise uses the pretense of benevolence as the reason he’s going easy on Kagami, but Kuroko knows it’s because his leg is still bothering him.

When he’s not reading, Kuroko’s helping Kiyoshi, carefully going through his ribbons strand by strand to work out the pain. The thorough book study has helped in that regard, allowing him to go about his magic in a more refined way. Momoi’s waiting on word from one of her wizard colleagues about more healing techniques. Kiyoshi tells Kuroko that Akashi is planning a scout party, going out with the Miracle Knights once more. Apparently some remote posts reported small enemy encampments along the border, and Akashi wants it thoroughly dealt with.

They have an army, Kuroko has to wonder why the never seem to use it.

Otherwise, Kuroko has been holed up in his room, experimenting with his pendant, the dagger, and the book. He’s taken to pacing, but he’s too exhausted for that now.

He rolls over, shoving the book under his pillow before attempting to force the tension out of his system. He takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and-

His door slams open.

The meeting comes to a close and its attendees stand up and stretch, some making small talk as they gather their things and prepare to leave.

Kageyama pushes his chair in and braces himself as Hinata jumps onto his back. Now significantly taller, Hinata leans over to press a kiss to Yachi’s cheek before she has to leave with Yamaguchi and Matsukawa.

Oikawa files his papers as the glamor Yamaguchi applied falls away. He mutters something under his breath and Iwaizumi rolls his eyes before cracking a smile. This is his first meeting as a member of Balance, having finally put in for transfer. He says something in response, barely above a whisper, and Oikawa doubles over laughing.

Kuroo’s brought Daichi with him, the two putting the finishing touches on a set of schematics they discussed during the meeting. With Change and Death finally merged properly, they need to get to work installing communications. Kuroo makes to write something down and Daichi smacks his hand away. Kuroo just laughs and lets Daichi mark up the schematic

Akaashi is nearly out the door already, Sugawara trailing behind. They have things to deal with back on Knowledge. Record alteration takes some time, as does undoing such alterations, and Akaashi’s had everyone on full press trying to get it fixed as soon as possible. On top of that, his Archivists are operating at all hours to update their personal records. Because the History can’t leave Death, his Couriers have just finished the last of thousands of back and forth trips. As if that wasn’t enough, he announced plans to empty out the Hidden Matter today.

Yamaguchi greets Yachi with a smile and offers her his arm as they exit the meeting room. He can walk without a cane now, Yachi’s purification rituals have restored Consumption to good health, and Yamaguchi’s health is all the better for it. Matsukawa waves to Hinata and Kageyama before following his Leader out.

They walk through the roads of Balance, escorted by Oikawa’s Enforcers and Akaashi’s Watchers. Yamaguchi, Matsukawa, and Tendou keep toward the back, and Kuroo has come alone.

Shouyou keeps Kageyama and Yachi in his sight at all times. He’s sure that Yachi is in a similar state of heightened emotion, he’s trying to wrestle his own into order as they walk. He knows, however, that what happens next is going to decide the rest of their lives, and he can’t risk messing it up. Yachi almost acted against Akaashi, her rage too heavy in her heart.

Shouyou worries.

He gives her flowers as they walk, a belt blossoming around her dress, budding vines curling up her arms. She gives him smiles in return, and leaves the flowers where they grow.

Kageyama is quiet, eyes fixed on the ground.

Shouyou knew from the first instant he saw Kageyama, could see through the facade of Law with ease. He didn’t approve of what happened, but he was happy all the same. Every time Kageyama stepped foot on Consumption, Shouyou cheered from within his Patron Space, urging Yamaguchi to listen to whatever Kageyama said. Kageyama was stressed, no doubt, all those years spent out of sorts, in the body and mind of another, all the while wholly focused on his own goal.

Shouyou’s glad that he has a body again, he’s glad that Kageyama was successful.

He just wishes there was a way they could have done it so that they wouldn’t risk losing Kageyama.

Oikawa guides them to the Keep and into his personal office.. The Enforcers, Watchers, and other Leaders remain outside as the door shuts behind them.

With a wave of his hand, Oikawa summons three chairs in front of his desk. Yachi and Shouyou leave the middle seat for Kageyama, taking one of his hands each once they’re all sitting down. Oikawa takes his time getting behind his desk, seemingly drinking in the room.

“It hasn’t changed,” he says at last, easing into his chair.

“I figured it would be best if it hadn’t when this was all over,” Kageyama says, eyes still fixed on the floor.

“Thank you for that. Now, we have quite a bit to discuss. I’d like to start by saying that I’m not angry, not really.”

Kageyama flinches and Shouyou tightens his grip.

Hitoka takes her first breath of fresh air in the longest while. It’s tainted with dust, with tension, with desperation, but she can breathe again.

She runs her hands through her hair, the blond strands much longer now, nearly brushing past her knees. She flexes her fingers, her toes, digging her bare feet into the now soft dirt beneath her. The dirt becomes darker, blades of grass and small blossoms begin to sprout beneath her, the growth rapidly spreading past herself and Kageyama, stopping before it reaches the beings surrounding them.

Kageyama’s lost his Leader eyes, the pink and gold replaced with a plain dark blue in both eyes. In return, Hitoka can see the faint spotlights of blue and green on his skin where she’s looking at him. She consciously dims the glow as the realization dawns on her.

“I have a body,” she says, giggling.

Kageyama smiles and his mouth opens to say something but he looks behind her instead.

“Yachi! Kageyama!”

Hitoka spins around as Hinata collides into her, knocking her into Kageyama, and taking all three of them to the ground. She hopes the Silence is still in place. Hinata always had a habit of using their real names in front of other beings instead of their Leader titles. Judging by the bewildered looks of those around them, they heard nothing but warbling.

She wraps her arms around Hinata and squeezes him, a moment later feeling Kageyama’s arms around the both of them.

“It worked,” Hinata practically shouts. Belatedly, he seems to realize the situation they’re in and clambers to his feet, helping Hitoka to her feet. Kageyama stands a moment later.

“Identify yourselves.”

The command comes from Keen Eye, Hitoka recognizes him and knows him as Akaashi Keiji. Kageyama’s interacted with him on several occasions, whether in meetings or otherwise. However, even if they’d never met, she remembers him, he was a curious blossom from the start. He stands beside his Watcher, Sugawara. Kiyoko is present as well, with the real Leader Law. Hitoka knows his name to be Oikawa Tooru.

Strangely, there’s no malice or negative emotions rolling off of him.

Tooru lets the shout fall from his lips.

He tries every once in a while, thinking maybe this time , this time they’ll believe him.

Telling time is impossible in this place. He has to laugh at the situation. He designed the Resting Place, he knows every measure he put into effect, which is how he knows he’s not getting out any time soon. He specifically built this place to hold powerful beings, those with abilities that would allow them to break out through persuasion or brute force or any means in between.

He’d been very eager to undertake this project, practically begging his predecessor to let him do so. He vollied for ages, only getting permission when his predecessor was on the verge of mental breakdown from Tooru’s constant pestering. He’d decided to dub it the Resting Place, Iwaizumi said his flair for the dramatic was ridiculous, and figured it would best serve its purpose close to the Keep, but enclosed on all sides. He’d built it from the inside out, within the depths of the mountain.

His greatest creation is keeping him bound.

Though he doesn’t know how long he’s been stuck here exactly, he knows it’s been a long time. And if there’s one thing he’s good at, it’s thinking.

He’s had such a long time to think in fact, that he’s not even upset anymore.

Well, that’s a lie, he’s pretty upset, but he understands why he’s here. He understands and he’s not going to hold it against Fable.

He can understand injustices, it’s his wheelhouse as Leader Law.

The question is one of patience.

How long can Tooru remain here before he loses his mind? He keeps his eyes closed so he can’t see his altered form. Fable’s abilities are powerful, and Old, much more than Tooru thought initially. It’s kept up in the prison, not fading or wavering, despite the measures Tooru put in place to combat such abilities.

He’s almost impressed.

Fable is the oldest Leader around, Tooru knows that much. He’s older than Tooru’s predecessor, one of the first Leaders to exist. So it makes sense that his abilities far outclass a prison built by a new generation Leader.

Doesn’t mean Tooru has to like the fact though.