Chapter Text
No matter how much Daiki squinted his eyes, the murky water wouldn’t reveal what he was looking for. With a sigh and a scrunched up nose, he pulled his sleeve and submerged his arm, feeling through and clicking his tongue when he made contact with mud. Aside from his reflection scattered about by his hand’s movements, the darkening sky passed a warning. He could dry his arm and wipe off the soil on his knees, but if he came home drenched from the rain, he wouldn’t hear the end of it from his mother.
“Excuse me,” a voice snapped, breaking through the constant sound of the tall grass swishing under the wind. It startled the young boy, his hands searching to regain his balance, but he slipped and sank into the mud instead.
“Drat,” he muttered.
“...Is this yours?” the voice continued. Pushing himself up, he tilted his head to catch a view of the stranger: a child about his age, with big, blank eyes, and a wooden toy gun cradled in his hands like an injured bird.
“Yeah, that’s mine,” he shook off the water on his hands and tried to wipe off most of the mud on his pants, which he immediately regretted. He was still a mess, so he’d just have to pay a quick visit to the well to wash off, quick enough before the downpour.
“Where’d you find it?” he asked. Taking a step closer, he realized how much taller he was. Maybe they weren’t the same age, after all.
“In the grass,” the boy pushed the toy towards him, some urgency in his voice.
“Nah, you keep a hold of it. My hands are dirty and it’s gonna rain soon,” he pushed away the wall of grass in front of him and led the way, “come on, my house isn’t far from here,” he urged, feeling the first small drop on his nose. He’ll have to ditch the well visit. It was alright, his mother wouldn’t scold him for being dirty if he brought another kid along.
The kid followed him, albeit slowly as he wasn’t able to stomp through the grass as quickly as Daiki did. Still, they made it back in time before the rain poured. He expected that shocked expression on her face that warned him of the trouble he was in once this other kid leaves, whose name he learned as they sipped hot chocolate on the table next to the window. Daiki would come to learn that Tetsuya preferred hot vanilla.
That was nine years ago, and while Tetsuya had his very own cup in the Aomine residence’s kitchen, Daiki still insisted that hot chocolate was superior. This morning, Tetsuya wouldn’t hear any of that nonsense. Hot vanilla rested on the coaster of his desk as he organized the papers on his pin board, replacing old charts and editing the numbers.
Locked away in a box in the corner of the table was where he hid the elixirs he purchased. The little bastards swallowed his savings in the blink of an eye, so he used them in his experiments sparingly. Only on those special days when he was sure of his numbers, his tools were in perfect condition, and the stars aligned for it. This entire morning was to be dedicated to preparing for the rest of the day to see if the past month’s worth of theoretical calculations would get him any closer to his ultimate goal.
Three knocks on the door. He tried not to roll his eyes.
“Tetsu, Tetsu, Tetsu!”
“Gee, I wonder who it is,” he sighed as he merely unlocked the door, knowing Daiki would barge in himself delivering what god awful ‘good news’ he had this time.
“Why aren’t you dressed yet?” Daiki swung the door open, clad in all black.
Tetsuya took a moment to eye him up and down, “dressed for what, a funeral?”
“Silverdale, dimwit,” he enunciated slowly, “they’re recruiting today, now get out of those shabby clothes.”
“Oh, Silverdale?” he said it slower as he plopped down on his bed, knowing it would rile him up. Daiki wasn’t a blabbermouth, one thing Tetsuya liked about him. However, when it came to the country’s elite armed forces, Daiki’s tongue had no brakes. Tetsuya hoped he’d grow out of it, but to his dismay, the fixation lasted into puberty.
Daiki furrowed his brow, “you promised we’d enlist together.”
“I’m not cut out for that stuff, Aomine. You know what happened with the duck,” he cringed at the memory of Daiki teaching him how to shoot.
He stepped over to sit down next to Tetsuya, “I thought it was great,” he cleared his throat, “once it was roasted, at least,” he chuckled.
“Get out of my house.”
“Not your house, and your parents said I’m free to crash whenever. You’re not quite a man just yet, and…” he scooted closer, “I’ve got an informant saying there’s someone from Silverdale you can show your research to, you know, if it goes well, give you a special seat in the back. Can’t accidentally kill a duck from there, huh?”.
“Roll that back?” he faced him.
“I think you heard me clearly. Now quit being a wet sock and get dressed,” he stood up.
“Wait, Aomine, my research isn’t finished yet, I’ve barely even scratched the surface, it’s still all theoretical with no—”
“Good thing you’ve got a cushion to fall back on: gunning with yours truly.”
Tents lined the dry planes’ horizon on the outskirts of town as Tetsuya carried a stack of papers and Daiki held a box containing his prototype. Now that there were eyes everywhere, he felt stupid playing along with Daiki’s idea. All of these intimidating people in black ready to showcase their physical prowess and skills while he was hoping to submit a proposal.
“We’re here,” Daiki paused before entering, “hey,”
“Yeah?” He looked up, adjusting his hold on the stack.
“No pressure, alright? You’ll kick ass in there.”
Tetsuya smiled, but covered it up with a scoff, “That’s me.”
When they stepped into the tent, a stout man in a rotating chair was swinging side to side, a grin lifting up his moustache when he saw Daiki. “There’s the prodigy,” he raised his arms in welcoming fashion, “Aomine, I’ll be looking forward to your performance later.”
Daiki chuckled, “Colonel,” he cleared his throat as he set down the box. “I’ll give it my best, of course, but uh,” he placed his hands on Tetsuya’s shoulders, “this is my buddy I wanted you to meet, Kuroko.”
Hearing him call him that felt so odd, Tetsuya almost grumbled.
“You’ll love him, he’s a real genius. He’s got two degrees all on scholarships, works part time at a diner, doesn’t snore in his sleep, hell, he can even dance—” he was stopped by Tetsuya stomping down on his foot, “—you’ll love whatever crazy idea he’s got, Colonel,” he said through gritted teeth.
The colonel laughed, “hit me with it then, young man.”
Tetsuya cleared his throat. “Right. Well, Colonel, for the past five years, I’ve been working on making an alternative to elixirs. Magical energy is difficult to acquire and pricey once processed to become elixirs. If we could find a way to condense it, maybe solidify it into a compact source, it would be more efficient, and, theoretically, more powerful.”
He opened the box, taking out two small, identical lamps. He opened the back of the first one and inserted a bottle of elixir, lighting it up. “It takes 12 ounces of an elixir to keep this lamp lit for 5 hours. It may be reasonable in the main city, but here in Flatmire the average person wouldn’t exchange a month’s paycheck for light. Elixirs are an untouchable luxury in a humble town like this. Now, here’s a prototype I made, containing just 6 ounces of elixir,” he lifted a grey, boxy object that he fitted into the second lamp, which lit up much brighter. “I ran three separate tests of the same samples. The first lamp stayed true to 12 ounces for 5 hours, but the second lamp averaged 9. That’s a significant difference. If I could improve the prototype further, Silverdale wouldn’t need to be in search of colossus crystals as much.”
The colonel leaned forward, assessing the prototype in his hands. “Interesting, but…” he cleared his throat and lowered his voice, “it would be wiser to make the process efficient before the product. Can you do this with a gun, or, even just a bullet, lad?”
“A bullet?” He blinked, “well, I, suppose I…”
“I'll give you a month, as long as this camp is up. Name what you need, I'll send someone your way.”
“I don't know about this, Aomine, I think I should back out,” Tetsuya sighed, carrying his heap of stuff to his now designated tent, “a bullet’s nothing like what I'm working on, and just one month? That's like ordering someone to eat an entire cow in 10 minutes.”
“I've got an idea,” he grinned, opening his tent for him.
Tetsuya huffed, “your brilliant ideas are what got me in this undesirable situation, and no,” he released the stack of papers on the lonely table in the middle, “I'm not embarrassing myself by holding a gun next to you.”
He had expected a professional in his own field to read through his work, but the colonel simply saw his innovation and said, “cute, how do I shoot it?”.
Daiki leaned against the table, “is that praise I hear?”
“I’m not in the mood right now,” he faced his back towards him.
“Tetsu,” the instant switch in Daiki’s tone almost changed his mind. “Things may not be what you expected right now, but we've been waiting for this chance for so long, to get out of this hellhole of a town and live in the metropolis,” he held Tetsuya’s shoulders, urging him as he tilted his own head down to meet him eye to eye, “I don't wanna keep riding a rescue boat whenever a little rain floods this place to work in a shitty diner surrounded by fire hazards.”
Tetsuya paused, gaze shifting from Daiki's face to his paperwork, “you're a real pain.”
“Atta boy.”
Tetsuya couldn't be bothered to watch Daiki out on the field. He had busied himself for the entire week, sending the colonel list after list of what he needed, some equipment he had only dreamt of touching now idle on his once lonely desk. The pinboard he brought from home had mostly been cleared of its original contents, replaced by his new pursuit, but he made sure to neatly keep the old in a locked wooden box underneath his desk. The only time he could step out of the tent was when the colonel's designated delivery boy called out his name. Still, when he basked in his daily few minutes of sunlight, he made sure to steal a peek at Daiki wielding a pistol.
He swapped out hot vanilla for a cup of pure black. The taste made him want to retch, but he sucked it up to extend his waking hours and work. Today, however, the bitter aftertaste caught up as a splitting headache cursed him.
“That's what you get for saying no to shuteye, genius,” Daiki set down a tray of breakfast on his bedside table, taking a bite out of Tetsuya’s apple before sliding down the rocking chair. “Here,” he placed a bottle of pills next to the tray, “take two after eating.”
Tetsuya grumbled his way out of the blanket, his hair pointing to all directions, a low groan escaping as he barely tried to reach out for his food.
“Oh, shut it,” Daiki rolled his eyes and pulled up his sleeves, “I’ve got it, now sit properly or you’ll choke,” he scolded. A sly, content smile eased Tetsuya’s features, who was quick to sit up and open his mouth as Daiki blew on a piping hot spoonful of soup. After the second spoon, Daiki asked, “is it good? I’ll swap it out if you don’t like it.”
His patient shook his head, “I like it.”
“You better,” he huffed, “how’s the project going?”
“Not going anywhere, really,” he sank back down. The tent was so quiet, Tetsuya could hear Daiki slump in his seat.
“Tetsu,”
“I’ll figure it out,” he muttered from underneath the blanket.
“No, you don’t need to,” Daiki sighed, gently pulling down the blanket to reveal a frowning Tetsuya, tears brimming spurred by guilt, frustration, and a headache. Daiki smiled from above, “what’s with that face?”.
Tetsuya didn’t want to tell him time was slipping from his hands, that every praise Daiki received from the colonel was one step of distance between them. The future was once so distant, but now it punched him in the face: Daiki was destined for the elite forces and to leave him in the dust. He wasn’t so brazen as to masquerade as a soldier, but he wasn’t mature enough to let go of one more chance to be next to him. He’s already eaten up one of four weeks with barely any progress, but what are physiological limits but hurdles to overcome? What’s a peaceful lifetime in Flatmire compared to a moment with Daiki?
“It burnt my tongue,” he mumbled.
“Sorry,” he mindlessly stirred the bowl resting on the bedside table. “You know, Tetsu, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” he said, the introduction to Tetsuya falling out of balance.
“What do you mean?” he furrowed his brows, fighting back his tightening throat.
“Means I like you best when you’re doing what you wanna, dumdum” he sent a light flick to Tetsuya’s forehead. Daiki took a deep breath, “I take back what I said,” he let out a long sigh, “working in that shitty diner for the rest of my life doesn’t sound so bad if we stick together. I…I know, it’s corny, but fuck it, man. I’ve been thinking about it, and, well, Silverdale, the metropolis…the only reason I’ve wanted to be there was because you did.”
Tetsuya had forgotten that part of the story, where their shared childhood dream began from him discovering the most viable way for them to get out of this town and live a decent life.
“So, you know…if you’re not there, then,” he shrugged, along with a chuckle, “what’s the point?”.
Tetsuya quickly shook his head, “you don’t have to think about that. I’ll figure it out.”
Daiki blinked a couple of times, then laughed, “alright, ‘course you will,” he reached out to ruffle his hair. “I’ve gotta go, Tetsu. Don’t fall sick, you hear me?”.
The next two weeks passed by as quickly as the first, days and nights spent hunched over that crowded table that felt smaller and smaller. As promised, Tetsuya didn’t fall sick, but that was more on sheer luck and willpower rather than keeping a close eye on his health.
“Fucking hell,” Tetsuya sighed, leaning back in his seat and throwing his head back. He had an aversion to cursing, but it was appropriate for the moment. Months’ worth of work all squeezed into this tiny frame of time and three identical bullets. But before he could go out and test them, he felt something was missing.
With the colonel busy, Daiki and Tetsuya marched the borders to the designated testing area, a few kilometers away from camp. Firm walls lined the cliff edges of Flatmire, where the pair took a slanted staircase to reach the top, and iron spears pointed outwards to fend off outsiders.
Beyond the border rested a cave, once covered from the ceiling to the ground with colossus crystals, its presence bringing a short-lived glory to the now shabby town of Flatmire. Even now as it’s considered barren, any and all landforms that may still have the prized crystals are under Silverdale’s control.
Daiki pressed his back against the wall that faced the cave, “let’s take a breather for now.”
Tetsuya sat down next to him and took off his shawl, catching his breath as Daiki pulled out a flask. “You seemed really excited to test them out earlier. Have a good feeling?” he passed the flask to him, wiping off water from the corner of his lips as he did so.
“I did?” He raised a brow.
Daiki cleared his throat, “Aomine, we’ve gotta go, hurry up,” he said in a high-pitched, monotone voice.
“I don’t sound like that,” he chuckled.
“You do. Let me see the bullets,” he opened his hand, and Tetsuya fished out a small rectangular box from his pocket. Daiki opened it, carefully taking one out to examine. “That’s a unique color for a bullet, but it’s a familiar shade,” he looked at it closer.
It shone under the sun, so close to Daiki’s eyes. Side by side, Tetsuya let out a satisfied sigh seeing that the colors matched.
“I swear I’ve seen this color somewhere before,” he closed his eyes in deep thought. It seemed that Daiki wasn’t figuring it out anytime soon, and there was no way Tetsuya was going to point it out.
A few minutes later, Daiki loaded one into his pistol, a perfect fit. He peeked over between the spears. Despite the walls surrounding the cave and the presence of colossus crystals being an empty promise, some people still found themselves crawling to one of many caves like this. Daiki positioned himself, like a predator stalking prey waiting for the ambush. His prey was a cloaked stranger who had just climbed the walls and dropped down the entrance of the cave. Before Tetsuya realized what was happening, the rogue’s head had shattered and spread, blood painted the walls with violet stains that the dark blue bullet left as it exploded.
Daiki dropped the gun to the ground, hissing as he waved the hand that held it, “fuck it’s burning,” he took the flask, pouring water over his skin as he continued to hiss, smoke blowing from his pistol. Eventually, he just laughed the pain off, “looks like you’ve got nothing to worry about, huh, Tetsu? Works like a charm, though they might need to make a new gun just for—”
“What was that?”
“What was what? We tested it—”
“On a person,” he heaved, heartbeat clogging his throat, perspiration on his forehead.
“Tetsu,” he furrowed his brows with an empty scoff, “what else am I supposed to shoot?”
Tetsuya stepped back, his heart dropping down to his stomach like a boulder rolling down to a pond.
“Come on, Tetsu. Even if I shot a duck today, it was gonna kill someone eventually. Not your fault, rogues should steer clear in the first place,” he placed a hand on Tetsuya’s shoulder, “now let’s head back and tell the colonel the good news. I can see it, Tetsu, a one way ticket to the metropolis and no looking back,” he grinned.
Tetsuya pushed his hand away, “screw that, I’m not doing this anymore, just…” he stepped back, “...I don’t wanna do this.”
“You can’t just…hey!” Daiki called out as Tetsuya ran down the stairs. “Where are you going?!” He chased after him. Even if Tetsuya had a head start, Daiki was always faster than him and caught up easily, catching him by his nape. Tetsuya swung his elbow, hitting him square on the chin, forcing Daiki to instinctively let go as he dashed away once more.
“Wait, Tetsu!” He yelled, with a crack in his voice as he covered his bruised chin. He took one step forward, but no more than that as his partner continued to run. He panted, his other hand holding the box containing the other two boxes.
“Tetsuya!” he screamed, but his figure only looked smaller as their distance grew. Daiki’s throat tightened as he shoved the container in his pocket. “Fine, but don’t come running back when I get everything I want without you!”.
Tetsuya clamped his hands over his ears, nothing in his mind but to keep running without a place in mind, anywhere but here, anywhere he couldn’t see or hear Daiki.