Archive of Our Own ^beta

"ARF! ARF!"

Kouki jumped up in his seat, opening his eyes and hand reaching up to calm his thumping heart as he turned to see a certain puppy with familiar blue eyes barking at him, happily reaching up to give his cheek a lick.

"Nigou! You scared me." Kouki couldn't help but giggle when Seirin's mascot gave another cheerful bark and licked the peak of the omega's nose before Kuroko (who had been the one holding the puppy up to Kouki's face in the first place) put the puppy back onto his own lap.

"Excuse me Furihata-kun, but I just wanted to let you know that we have arrived." Kuroko informed him, looking apologetic for waking the omega up from his nap.

Kouki yawned as he waved the apology off. "Ah, it's okay Kuroko. Thank you for letting me know that we're here. Besides, waking up to someone as cute as Nigou isn't a bad way to wake up at all." The brunette cooed as he patted the exuberant little puppy.

Kuroko gave him one of his rare smiles before looking down to scratch their mascot's ear.

The Seirin basketball team were currently in Minakami, a town in the Gunma prefecture, for their 5-days and 4-nights training camp.

Minakami was a town known to be very mountainous. Due to this, it made the perfect location to hold their camp.

The team would be staying in a remote training center, newly renovated, located deep in the mountains and surrounded by trees and mother nature herself.

When the bus was parked and they were all out and stretching their tired limbs, the boys froze as they heard their Coach yelling from inside the building (she had gone in first to check them in).

They watched as their small but feisty coach stomped her way towards them, a large irritated tick on her forehead.

"What's wrong, Riko?" Hyuuga asked warily.

Riko huffed, glaring back at the building. "I just found out that apparently we're not the only school here for training. This is ridiculous- how will we be able to fully train with our enemies nearby?" She shook her head.

"There are other schools here?" Koganei asked. He paused as he listened to what Mitobe was 'telling' him from the side. "Yeah, Mitobe has a point- since this place is HUGE, we can just train away in the woods like last time." He suggested, remembering their previous camps where the coach's father made them play an intense game of cops and robbers.

Riko sighed in defeat. "Yeah, I had already planned that would be the best route for us. But it's so disappointing that we won't be able to have much time inside the camp's gym- one of the other schools already pre-scheduled majority of their time there." She grumbled, cursing herself for not thinking ahead.

"By the way, who are the other schools that are here?" Kiyoshi questioned, shifting his backpack onto his other shoulder.

Before Riko could answer, a familiar voice called out to them. "Ehh? Isn't that Seirin?" The Seirin members all turned to see the entire team of Shuutoku walking out to meet them. The one who had spoken was Takao Kazunari, beta and holder of the hawk eye. "Don't tell me we'll be training at the same place again? Hahaha...how fun!" Takao laughed, grinning at them.

"It's good to see you again, Riko-san. It's good that you're growing up to be so much like your mother and nothing like that no good father of yours." Shuutoku's coach, Nakatani Masaaki greeted.

Riko gave him a respectful bow. "It's nice to see you again too, Nakatani-san. So I assume that you're also aware about the camp's mix up about booking three schools at the same time?"

Nakatani nodded. "I'm afraid so. The other school is on their way out here as we speak- we need to discuss the room assignments."

"Gyaaahh....I can't believe that Shuutoku is here!" Kagami groused, also not liking the fact that they were going to have to stay in the same place as them yet again.

"You are not the only one appalled by this arrangement." Midorima grimaced.

Takao laughed once more. "I'm actually totally okay with this. The next five days is gonna be crazy! I mean, just imagine- Shuutoku, Seirin and Rakuzan all in the same place! Things are gonna get wild!"

Midorima rolled his eyes as he glared his teammate. "Shut up, Takao."

Kagami on the other hand blanched as he heard what the dark-haired beta had said. "Wait, did you just say Rakuzan was here?"

Before anyone could say anything, the entire Rakuzan team chose that moment to finally make their appearance as they walked outside to greet everyone.

"I apologize for the wait- we were filling our names on the attendance sheet and we had to make sure all of our players were present." Rakuzan's coach, Shirogane Eiji, explained as he made his way towards Nakatani and Riko.

"Yo! So the third team here is Seirin after all. I knew I could hear my Shun's voice!" Hayama yelled out, waving at all of them.

"Ah, Kota! I guess you had to take a 'train here' to 'train here'." Izuki commented, grinning as his boyfriend laughed boisterously at his pun and at the same time, successfully dodging the drop kick that Hyuuga tried to give him.

"Shut up Izuki!" Hyuuga shouted. Pointing a finger at the blonde beta, he yelled, "And you! He may be your boyfriend but don't encourage his behavior!"

Hayama merely winked, already used to the Seein captain's temper. "But I love his puns. I can't wait to hear more during this camp!" Hayama gushed to his boyfriend. Hyuuga groaned in defeat as Izuki had a completely satisfied look on his face as he gave the blonde a thankful and bit shy kiss.

Kouki, who had been discussing a newly released novel with Kuroko while playing with Nigou at the same time as everyone was talking, perked up when he saw a head of familiar bright red hair. "Ah, Sei! What are you doing here?"

Seijuurou had immediately spotted his mate when he exited the building and made a beeline straight towards the brunette. "Kouki, what a pleasant surprise. Are you also training here as well?" He smiled gently as he wrapped his arm around the other's waist and gave him a greeting kiss on the lips.

Kouki grinned as he gave the other a big hug. "Yeah, we're here for five days. But what are you doing here- I thought you said that your team was planning their camp in Matsumoto?"

Seijuurou sighed, "We were but there was a mix up with our reservations and had to transfer to somewhere else. We were recommended to come here since we were told that the facilities had been newly renovated." He explained.

"It's not fair that Rakuzan gets the most use of the indoor gym's facilities." Riko complained.

"I'm sorry, but we did reserve the time beforehand after all." Shirogane politely reminded her.

Riko sighed. "Yeah, I know. If only I knew that we wouldn't be the only team here, then I would have also scheduled us some gym time."

"Is your team going to be using the gym full-time?" Nakatani was frowning as well since he also hadn't thought to make any reservations.

Shirogane shook his head. "Only during the afternoons and evenings. We shall be training in the north area of the mountains during mornings." He informed them.

"I call the gym in the mornings then!" Riko immediately called it.

"What about Shuutoku?" Nakatani demanded.

Riko thought about it for a minute. "I guess we can split the gym during the mornings. Since Seirin doesn't have as much players as Shuutoku or Rakuzan, I'm sure they'll be enough room for everyone." She compromised. Even though Seirin received a nice amount of new players since winning the winter cup, their number was still about half of those from the other two schools.

Nakatani observed all their players as he thought about this arrangement before agreeing. "Alright, we'll share the gym with Seirin in the mornings and then Shuutoku shall train in the south area of the mountains."

"We'll take the east area, then." Riko nodded.

"Now all we have to do is figure out the room assignments." Shirogane said. "How do you suppose we split all our teams into twenty rooms- not including the rooms for the coaches and managers after all."

"Leave it to me." Riko assured her fellow two coaches. She faced the large group of boys who were chatting among themselves. Placing her pink whistle between her lips, she gave a harsh blow, the deafening sound shutting up any talking and putting all attention on her.

Putting her hands on her hips, Riko gave them all a wide grin. "Okay, listen up Seirin, Shuutoku and Rakuzan. I'm sure you've all been informed that we will be cooped up together in this camp for the next five days and four nights. Since we can do nothing about it, we'll all just have to suck it up and deal with it." She told them, smiling.

There were some grumbling from some of the other boys (mainly the first years since the second and third years were actually on friendly terms with one another) which made Riko's smile turn a bit too sweet as she said, "And of course, anyone who has complaints about our arrangements will have to take it up with me, ne?" All the boys cowered in fright when they saw her terrifying expression and heard the scary cracking of knuckles that the small brunette was giving them. "Now, will we be having any problems?"

"NO MA'AM!" All the boys yelled, standing up straight and proper.

Riko's threatening stance softened once more as she beamed brightly at all of them. Her fellow two coaches merely stood behind her, giving the small brunette impressed looks.

"Okay, now us coaches have already discussed the schedule involving the gym facilities. Since Rakuzan did make a reservation for the gym beforehand, they will have it during afternoons and evenings. Seirin and Shuutoku shall be sharing the gym in the mornings which should be no problem since Seirin doesn't have as much members as Shuutoku and the gym is quite big. Any complaints so far?"

When she got nothing but silence, the brunette continued. "Good. Now, we'll be deciding the room arrangements. There's about twenty available rooms for all the players and we have about eighty of you all in all. That means there will be four to each room. To make it fair to everyone, I'll have everyone's names written onto pieces of paper and I'll randomly draw out the roommates." She explained.

After everyone agreed with the plan, the draw of who would be staying together in what room began.

"What the hell? You can't be serious! I want a do-over!" Kagami demanded, crumpling his empty bread wrapper in his hand.

"It's not like I want to be in the same room as you either, nanodayo." Midorima shook his head. Kagami glared fiercely at him back.

"Ooh~ this will be so much fun, ne Sei-chan?" Mibuchi squealed excitedly, also placed in the same room as Kagami and Midorima. And together with Rakuzan's captain, everyone knew that their room was going to be very...interesting.

"It'll be quite the experience indeed, Reo." Seijuurou agreed, smiling gently. Truthfully, he was a bit disappointed to not be sharing a room with his Kouki. Riko had explained that boyfriends (even bond mates) were prohibited from staying in the same room together during camp.

His omega gave him a small kiss on the lips, reading the redhead's mind. "It's okay Sei. It wouldn't be very appropriate if we were placed in the same room together." He pointed out.

The alpha smiled at him and they exchanged a longer kiss this time. "You are right, my love. I supposed we'll see each other during meal times." Leaning close to the other's ear and also scenting his omega, he quietly whispered, "And they have not said anything about sharing the bath times being prohibited."

Kouki giggled as he lightly smacked the redhead's shoulder, nuzzling into his neck as he also scented the other as well. "Yeah, I'll definitely find time to come visit you." He promised shyly.

At the same time, Riko was currently hitting Kagami on the head with her trusty old paper fan. "No changes, Bakagami! Whatever room you get, you stick with. So just keep your mouth shut and deal with it." Riko barked at her player.

"But Coach..." Kagami whined, rubbing his aching head.

"I'll put you in one of my famous Boston crab holds..." Riko said threateningly.

Kagami gulped as he raised his hands, shaking his head. "I'll stick with room 7." He sighed, giving up.

Takao grinned when his room was called. "Well, I'm good with my roommates."

Kouki smiled as he nodded. He was assigned to room 10 together with Takao, Kuroko and Hayama. He was relieved since he was close to both Kuroko and Hayama and Takao seemed friendly enough.

When all the rooms were called, the coaches decided to gather each of their players and give them all instructions about their schedules for tomorrow- they decided that everyone would still be quite tired from their trip so they would start training the next day instead.

"Okay, you guys will be given time to yourselves for today. So I suggest you get acquainted with this place so none of you get lost and make sure you rest up for tomorrow. Bedtime is at 10:00pm. Training starts at 7:00am sharp, understand?" When her team nodded, she continued. "As for meals, this camp unfortunately isn't providing any- all the kitchen staff are on vacation. But we have gotten permission to use their kitchens ourselves during this camp."

"Oh God...don't tell me..." Kawahara whispered under his breath, everyone else on the Seirin team also starting to feel dread at what was about to be said.

"And since I'll make sure to work you guys so hard that you'll be having trouble even sucking through a straw, I'll of course be the one to provide your meals during this training camp." Riko's dreaded words finally came out.

The screams and looks of horror on Seirin's faces alarmed the other teams who were also nearby in their own meetings. "Now, Coach, let's just think about this for a sec." Hyuuga started, trying to think of a way out of the situation.

"Riko, what will the other teams be doing for their meals?" Kiyoshi asked, smiling like usual but there was an underlying strain in it.

The brunette frowned at her guys reactions but answered, "If I heard correctly, Shuutoku's manager, Ootsubo Tae-chan will be cooking her team's meals. And Rakuzan has ordered catering from a nearby restaurant in town that will be bringing their meals here daily."

Koganei groaned when he heard about Rakuzan's catered meals. "Damn rich schools." Mitobe patted his shoulder, trying to cheer him up.

"Coach, I can cook for us- there's no problem at all." Kouki offered, not wanting a repeat at what happened at their last camp. The team literally died after every meal- they scared everyone on the Shuutoku team when they saw the bodies of Seirin lying around the dining room three times a day.

Riko frowned at them all. "What's wrong with me cooking?" All of the guys froze, not wanting to be killed for speaking up.

"There's nothing wrong, but maybe we should let Kagami and Furi cook just for tonight since training hasn't started yet." Hyuuga suggested carefully, trying to appease their coach.

"Yeah, you should also take it easy tonight Coach- you also must be tired from the long trip here." Izuki added. They knew that Riko didn't sleep during their rides- she insisted on being awake and staying alert in case anything happened.

Kagami nodded. "I slept the entire ride so I'm as good as rain right now. Just leave dinner to me and Furi." Even if they could postpone their Coach's meals for even one meal, that was a victory in itself. They would have to figure out a game plan for the rest of the camp later tonight.

Riko still looked suspicious at her sweating players but sighed as she finally conceded. "Okay, fine. Kagami and Furi will be in charge of dinner tonight. But make sure you don't tire yourselves out, huh? The budget for dinner is here." She handed Kouki some yen bills. "Since the kitchens are not stocked, you'll have to walk down to the grocery store about half a mile away and go shopping for ingredients. Just buy enough for dinner and breakfast tomorrow- we can buy the rest of what we'll need tomorrow."

Kouki nodded. "Just leave it to us, Coach."

Nodding her head, she turned to face the rest of the team. "Dinner will be served at 7:00pm sharp. And remember, if you're late and miss any of the meals during this camp, I'll give you extra laps tomorrow." She threatened, making everyone gulp. During their previous camps, some of the players tried to skip the meals on purpose, which was why Riko created this rule to prevent starvation among her team (though most of the players would argue that they preferred the death of starvation over death of food poisoning any day).

As everyone went their separate ways, Kouki and Kagami decided to head to the kitchens to see what equipment would be available for them to cook with (Kuroko offered to take Kouki's bag to their room while Hyuuga and Izuki took Kagami's since they were next door neighbors.

"What do you feel like making, Furi?" Kagami questioned, as they walked towards the kitchens which was located at the back of the building.

Kouki pursed his lips as he thought for a moment. "Well, we still have to make the trip to the grocery store for ingredients and come back which means we'll have less than an hour to prep and cook for dinner. I think should make something quick but filling." He told the other.

The redhead alpha nodded, agreeing with his friend. "You're right. This may also be the only time during this camp where we'll get to eat a decent meal." He shuddered as he was reminded as Riko's previous hotpot. "Hmm...maybe we should make- Ah, sorry!" Kagami apologized when he accidentally bumped into someone.

"No, it's my fault for not looking at where I was going. I apologize." Ootsubo Tae-san, Shuutoku's beta manager, quickly replied as she bowed down,

Kagami waved it away. "I wasn't looking where I was going neither so it's both of our faults. Let's just call it even then." Tae smiled in relief as she nodded.

Kouki looked at the Shuutoku's manager and asked, "Are you perhaps heading towards the kitchens as well, Ootsubo-san?"

She smiled at him as she replied, "Please feel free to call me Tae. Yes. I'm in charge of the meals so I just wanted to check the layout of the kitchen. Actually, I was wondering if I could also join the two of you in buying some groceries- I have my team's money budget with me right now."

Kagami shrugged. "Sure, feel free to tag along. We're also gonna check out the kitchens first before going out."

Tae's smile turned a bit shy as she gazed at Kagami, making Kouki raise his eyebrow slightly when he noticed. He made a mental note at that.

When they got to the kitchen, the trio were pleased at how clean, spacious and well-equipped it was.

There were three ovens with four stoves each, a very large refrigerator and freezer (which they agreed to split right down the middle, so their ingredients wouldn't get messed up), plenty of cabinets for storage and various kitchen equipment like blenders, mixers, pots, pans, kitchen tools and even available dishes, glasses and cutlery for them to use.

"I don't think we'll have a problem cooking our meals in here." Kouki said in relief, opening the refrigerator.

Tae beamed as she checked the empty cabinets. "This kitchen is wonderful."

After giving the kitchen their approval and checking that everything worked properly, the three made their way towards the nearest grocery store which was still half a mile away from the camp.

They chatted among themselves and the boys learned that Tae was not only the manager of Shuutoku but she was also in the Home EC club and was actually planning on opening her own family restaurant one day (Both boys were jealous that Shuutoku's only girl was a great cook while their only girl tended to poison them with her own cooking).

Making it to the store (which was small but stocked with a large variety of ingredients) Tae hummed as she looked at the chicken, "I think I'll make oyakodon (chicken and egg rice bowls) for the team. I'll separate the chicken and egg topping and add it on the rice when it's time for serving."

Kouki nodded, "That sounds good." Checking the protein available, the brunette noted that the beef was on sale at half-price. "Kagami, why don't we make gyūdon (beef rice bowls) for tonight? It's quick to make and the beef is on sale which is good for the budget."

Kagami, who had been getting the rice for them, checked the beef that was on display. "Are you sure? It looks a bit tough, don't cha think?"

Kouki tilted his head at that. "Maybe, but I'm sure I'll be able to tenderize it by using a vinegar-based marinade that I make- it'll just take maybe fifteen minutes at most and it'll definitely be soft. The beef looks good otherwise and since it's cheap, we'll be able to buy some eggs to top the beef bowl with and I think I can even add some miso soup on the side." The omega explained.

Kagami picked up the beef to check it closely before nodding his head. "Okay, I'll trust you on this Furi."

As they gathered the rest of the ingredients, the boys decided to have tamago kake gohan for breakfast tomorrow. It was a cheap and simple breakfast that would ensure that Riko could not screw up.

After all, it was only cooked rice mixed with a raw egg, topped with soy sauce as an option. And Kagami would make sure to time the rice cooker the night before so Riko wouldn't have to cook anything at all.

And they would make it so that they could serve breakfast themselves- making sure that their coach wouldn't have serve them their rice and try to sneak in supplements. Again.

As they paid for their ingredients, they noticed that the shop keeper giving Kouki small looks. "Um, yes?" Kouki asked hesitantly when the old woman gave him yet another strange look.

"You are an omega, am I right?" The old lady asked, pausing at scanning the bag of onions in her hands.

Kouki nodded slowly. "Yes, I am." Since his bonding, there was no need for him to wear any suppressants or scent-blockers anymore.

The old lady made a humming sound as she finished scanning the rest of their groceries and gave told them their total costs. "It's quite rare for there to be an omega, let alone a male one, in this town. Where are you children staying at, if I may ask?" She inquired.

Kagami was the one to answer this time as Kouki went to pay for the food. "We're part of the basketball team and we're here for training camp. We're staying at the training center about half a mile away from here."

The old lady's eyes widened as she handed them their receipt and change and she further questioned, "Are you staying at that newly renovated building that's deep in the mountains?"

Kouki answered, looking unsure at where this was going. "Um...yes?"

The old woman shook her head frantically, giving Kouki a fearful look, which started to make the brunette panic as well. "Listen child, you mustn't stay there. Go home now before it's too late."

Tae looked worried too, carrying some of her groceries while Kagami carried the rest of the heavy items for her. "What do you mean, Obaa-san?"

But the old lady kept her focus on Kouki as she told him fiercely, "You must leave that place immediately. No omega is safe there, especially male omegas."

Kagami frowned, not liking how scared his fellow teammate was looking. "Look lady, can you just tell us what the hell you're talking about?" He demanded.

The old lady shook her head, hands visibly trembling now. "A long time ago, the training center used to be a very large mansion. The mansion was the home of a very wealthy family. The family had only one heir- an omega son who was known to be very handsome and well-admired by all those around him. All the women vied for his hand, but the boy only had one girl in his heart- the alpha daughter of one of the mansion's cooks. Due to their different economic and social statuses, the boy and girl decided to keep their relationship secret and quickly began to fall in love.

"Every night, the boy would secretly sneak into the kitchen and together with the girl, they would chat and laugh with one another while baking their favorite sweets- green tea cookies.

"Unfortunately, they were caught together one night. The boy's parents were furious and soon banished the girl and her family from the mansion and immediately set the boy up for marriage to a daughter of another wealthy family. Distraught, the boy and the girl ran away and ended up throwing themselves into the river that used to be behind the mansion- as far as I know, it's been dried up for years now.

"However, only the girl died. The boy survived and ended up marrying the woman that his family had wanted. A few years later, there was a mysterious fire that completely burned down the mansion, killing everyone inside- including the male omega. People say that it was the ghost of his former lover that had caused it as her revenge.

"Ever since then, they say that the girl's spirit haunts that place to this very day. People have spotted the girl roaming around the place where the river used to be and some even say that if you're unlucky and get caught, she'll drag you into the very river where she died and drown you. And she's especially ruthless against omegas and holds a deep grudge against them because her former lover was one. All of the omegas that used to live or had visited this town had moved away due to this."

The old lady grabbed onto Kouki's shoulders and clutched him tightly, making the omega winced at her sharp nails. "Do not stay at that center. Take your things and leave immediately or bad things will happen to you."

Kouki was completely shivering in fright as he looked at her with wide eyes, too scared to say anything as the woman kept giving him her warnings.

Kagami was pissed at this point. He himself was a firm scaredy cat about anything concerning the supernatural (though he'd die before he tell anyone) but he hated anyone causing trouble to Seirin team's only omega.

He grabbed the rest of their groceries and started to pull both Kouki and Tae towards the exit. "Okay, we've heard enough of your little story. Furi will be super careful from now on. Now we really have to leave. Thanks for the groceries!" He called out quickly, making their way out.

"Heed my words- you mustn't stay there, especially overnight. Since you are a male omega she will surely see you as her former lover and take her revenge on you. You will die if you go back there!" The old woman yelled after them, her warnings slowly fading as they got farther and farther away.

"Yeah, yeah." Kagami mumbled under his breath as the trio hightailed it out of there.

As they began to trek home, both Kagami and Tae looked worriedly at the scared shitless Kouki. The brunette was sweating buckets as his wide eyes darted around the area in fear.

"Are you alright, Furihata-kun?" Tae asked softly, walking closer to the brunette to offer some comfort.

Kouki immediately shook his head. "M-maybe I should tell C-coach that I'm n-not f-feeling well and should just g-g-go home." He suggested shakily.

Kagami gave his teammate reassuring pats on the back. "What are you talking about, Furi? Don't tell me you actually believe that baa-san's story, do you? You shouldn't believe in her crap."

Tae nodded as she told the omega in her soothing voice, "It's probably an urban legend that the townspeople likes to tell the tourists in order to scare them. Please do not think much about it, Furihata-kun."

Kouki still looked worried, but at least he looked a bit calmer. "But don't you think she looked very serious just now?"

Kagami snorted. "That shopkeeper's obviously getting up there in age- you know how old people can get. Anyway, don't worry Furi- her story was complete bull and there's nothing that's gonna happen to you at the camp. Besides, you know that Seirin always has your back, right?" Kouki gave a small smile and nodded a bit.

Deciding to change the subject, the alpha asked Tae if she could do Seirin a favor and keep her eye on Coach Riko in the kitchen when she starts cooking their meals starting tomorrow. And if the Shuutoku manager ever spots any container with the words 'Protein' or 'Supplements' on them that are just lying around on the counters or wherever, to hurriedly THROW THAT SHIT AWAY.

The old woman's scary story was soon forgotten as Tae told them some funny stories involving the Shuutoku team. Even Kouki couldn't help but laugh when she told them the story of the time she helped Midorima bake a strawberry cake and how he caused the entire Home EC kitchen to be covered with exploded cake batter.

"Why did he want to bake a cake in the first place?" Kouki chuckled, balancing the bags in his hands that he finally took off of Kagami to lessen the other's burden.

Tae chuckled as she told them in a soft voice, "Shh! It's a secret but he was trying to bake the cake for Takao-kun. He didn't exactly say so- telling me that it was his lucky item- but Takao-kun's birthday was coming up and everyone knows that his favorite cake is strawberry after all." She winked at them. "In the end, we finally ended up making a slightly lopsided but quite tasty cake for Takao-kun. Later on, I saw Midorima-kun giving it to Takao-kun after school and he said that he had bought it, but I'm sure Takao-kun knew the truth."

Kagami shook his head, "And that green-headed idiot still denies that he's got a thing for that hawk guy, huh?"

"Midorima's a good guy- he's just a bit shy with his feelings." Kouki defended the miracle. He considered the other as a friend as they would meet up at times and discuss Oha Asa and fortune telling (Mibuchi would also be present via video call since he was also a part of their little 'horoscope' club).

Tae giggled more as she nodded. "Midorima-kun is quite the tsundere, indeed."

Making their way back to the camp, they had about forty-five minutes before dinner would be served.

Tae began making Shuutoku's oyakodon while Kagami and Kouki prepared their gyūdon and miso soup.

As Kagami cut the onions and beef, Kouki began to make the simple marinade that would be used to tenderize the somewhat tough beef that they bought.

Leaving the gyūdon with Kagami, Kouki began cooking his simple miso soup containing dashi stock, miso paste, wakame seaweed, tofu cubes and some sliced daikon as well.

As the soup simmered on the stove, Kouki looked around to see what he could do next.

As Kagami started to pour the marinade over the beef to tenderize it for fifteen minutes, he noticed Kouki taking a large bowl of green dough out of the fridge. "What are you doing with that, Furi?" He asked, curiously.

Giving the redhead a short but strangely vacant glance, Kouki replied in a somewhat bland voice. "I'm baking cookies."

Kagami's eyebrows raised at this. "Where did you get the ingredients for cookies?" They had used up all of the budget their coach had given them on the gyūdon, miso soup and tomorrow's rice and egg dish. They didn't have extra money to buy the ingredients for cookies.

"I found them in the back of the cabinets." Kouki replied, rolling out the dough to make it 1/4" thick.

Cracking eggs inside her bowl, Tae also frowned at that. "You did? But when we checked the cabinets earlier, they were completely empty."

Kouki shrugged, focused on cutting the dough out into tiny uniformed squares. "You probably didn't look hard enough."

"Wait, when did you find the time to make the dough? It looks like it's been chilled for a while and we've only started cooking like ten minutes ago." Kagami pointed out.

"My dough chills fast." That was the brunette's short answer as he placed the cookies onto the baking sheet pan and baked the cookies in the preheated oven at 175°C for 10-13 minutes.

Shrugging, Kagami focused back onto his dish, cooking the onions and beef and adding dashi, soy sauce and mirin into the pan. He decided to follow Tae in serving the beef topping separately until it was ready to consume- he would then add it ontop the rice then.

When the cookies were done, Kouki took them out of the oven to cool on the cookie rack. As the cookies cooled, Kouki melted some white chocolate to place between two of the cookies, making small sandwich cookies.

When Tae was finished with her meal, she went to check on what Kouki was making. "What kind of cookies did you bake?" She asked curiously.

"Green tea cookies." Kouki said in that same strange bland tone of voice.

Tae's eyes widened at that. "Green tea cookies? Aren't those the kinds of cookies that the shopkeeper from back at the store told us that the guy used to bake together with his former lover?"

Kagami guffawed when he heard this. "Yeah, that's right. Well, way to face your fears, Furi! Don't mind that old lady's words and just bake those cookies."

Tae looked worried as she watched Kouki assembling the sandwich cookies. "Are you sure that this is a good idea?"

Kagami laughed, adding the eggs on top the beef and onion mixture. "Everything will be fine. Furi's known for his green tea treats like his green tea cupcakes or his green tea breads." Kouki kept quiet as he focused solely on his cookies.

When all the food was finally finished, it was exactly 7:00pm sharp so they decided to deliver their food directly to the dining room.

All the teams were already there when they arrived- each team had their own table for themselves. Rakuzan were also distributing their expensive-looking bentos amongst their members when the trio walked in.

"It smells great, guys!" Koganei complimented, looking inside the pots they brought.

"What are we having?" Tsuchida asked politely.

"Kagami and I decided on cooking gyūdon and miso soup for dinner. Alhough it was really Kagami who made the gyūdon. I only made the soup." Kouki admitted sheepishly.

Kagami laughed at he patted the other's back. "Nonsense Furi- it was a partnership! The marinade you made to soften the beef is what really makes this dish great. And the soup you made is delicious!"

Taking a small sip of the soup that was served to them, Kuroko nodded. "Kagami-kun is right, Furihata-kun. The soup is well seasoned and warm."

Kouki blushed at their praise. "Thank you Kuroko, Kagami. Please have some more then!"

As the entire Seirin team enjoyed their meals, they decided to devise a plan in stopping their Coach's horrible cooking (all the coaches and managers were having their meals in a separate room from the players).

Kagami told them that he might have figured a way out- he had asked a favor of Shuutoku's manager to 'watch over' Riko's meals. The team agreed that this would be the best course of action and hopefully would prevent any food poisoning in the upcoming days of camp.

At the end of dinner, Kagami asked Kouki about the cookies he had baked earlier. Kouki looked at the redhead in confusion. "Cookies? What cookies?"

Kagami frowned as he gestured towards the large container of green tea cookies that were sitting next to the pickled ginger and shichimi (ground chili pepper) on the table. "Those are the cookies you made for dessert, right?"

Kouki blinked and he looked owlishly at the cookies. "I baked those?"

Kagami nodded. "Yeah, and you had a very serious look when you were baking them- you were really trying to make them perfect."

Kouki's tilted his head as he thought about it. "Hmm, I don't really remember though. I'm not even sure if I even memorized the recipe for any cookies- I usually have a recipe sheet with me when it comes to baking since everything has to be exact."

"Well, it doesn't matter- these looks quite delicious. Let's dig in!" Kiyoshi suggested, everyone reaching for some of the cookies.

"Mmm! These are so good!" Kawahara mumbled, stuffing another cookie into his mouth.

"They're thin and crispy and the chocolate in the middle just melts in your mouth." Fukuda complimented.

Kouki gave a small smile as he bit into his own cookie.

After their meal and baths, the guys all went into their assigned rooms for the night.

"Lets tell some scary stories!" Hayama yelled, bouncing up and down on his futon like an elementary student.

Takao laughed loudly as he clapped. "I second the notion!"

Kouki hugged his pillow to himself and he shyly said, "But aren't we supposed to be getting ready to sleep?"

Kuroko watched them all blankly from his own futon, his usual blank expression on his face. "I think a few stories should be okay. Who will start first?"

Hayama raised his hand. "Since it was my idea, I'll go!"

Kouki stiffened a bit but relaxed when Kuroko sat besides him. Takao also decided to follow and he grinned at them as he plodded himself onto the omega's futon. Kouki smiled as he found their warmth comforting. Unsurprisingly, Kouki was pretty bad when it came to scary stuff.

Hayama grinned from his bed as he began his story.

"You've all heard of Hanako-san right? Well, in Rakuzan we have something like that but she goes by the name of Reiko-san.

"In the third floor of the science building, there's a restroom there with only three stalls. That's where Reiko-san is. One night, some of my classmates decided to summon her. They dared this boastful guy to go into the bathroom alone, with the door shut and lights closed as the rest of the group waited outside.

"So the guy goes inside and locks the door. Acting like a hotshot, he turned all the lights off and sauntered his way to where he knew was the third stall. He loudly knocked the door three times, calling out in a loud voice so the others outside could hear him and said, "Are you there, Reiko-san?" Kouki stared at Hayama with wide eyes as Kuroko gently patted his back and Takao was quietly chuckling during the whole thing.

"The guy then jumped back in shock when he heard the sound of a girl's voice reply back, "Yes! I'm here~" Thinking it to be a prank by one of his friends, the guy only grinned and laughed, "Okay. Then excuse me while I come in!"

"But when the guy pulled open the stall, even though it was dark, he saw the outline of a short, young girl with short curly hair and a long skirt. But what caught his attention were her large glowing bloodred eyes that looked to be mocking him. He then felt a slender hand grab at his shirt sleeve and start to pull him into the stall.

"His friends jumped at the sound of his scream. They kicked down the door and turned on the lights. But when they went in to check, there was no trace of anyone inside the bathroom at all."

Hayama grinned as he sat onto his futon. "And we never heard from that guy again. I still remember there being a huge fuss from the police coming to the school for investigation and all of that."

Takao laughed as he clapped his hands. "Wouldn't it be fun if we tried it here? We can go into the bathroom and turn all the lights out. Then we can knock on the third stall and ask if Hanako-san is there." He suggested.

"No!" Kouki yelled, shaking his head frantically.

Kuroko patted the other's back. "Don't worry, Furihata-kun. I'm sure Takao-kun isn't serious."

Takao and Hayama exchanged a mischievous grin between them before Takao stood up. "Okay! It's my turn to tell a story!"

"You can come here- I wanna sit next to Furi and Kuroko!" Hayama chirped, getting up and plopping himself down next to the shivering brunette.

Takao sat on Hayama's bed and gave them all his signature smirk.

"Okay, this is the story of when I met the Kuchisake-onna (Split Mouth Woman).

"One night, I was walking on my way home and I didn't have my rickshaw at the time since it was getting repaired- one of the wheels were getting loose and needed to be tightened.

"There's a shortcut to my house- you can cross through the park to get to my house quicker. So since it was late at night, I was pretty much the only one in the park.

"Halfway through, I suddenly noticed a woman coming my way. She looked really suspicious dressed in a trench coat and she wore a surgical mask that covered the bottom half of her face. She had long black hair that kinda curtained her face so I couldn't really see how she looked. Now that I think of it, she basically looked like a yankee.

"When she was a few feet away from me, she asked me in a soft voice, "Am I beautiful?"

"Now, when I told this story to my friends later on, they said that I had met with the Kuchisake-onna. If I had answered, "no" then she would have taken out her large scissors and sliced my head off.

"Thankfully, my parents raised me somewhat right and at the time I had answered politely, "Yes". The lady then removed her mask and I saw the most grotesquely mutilated face ever! Her smile stretched eerily from ear to ear as she asked me again, "Am I still beautiful?"

"My friends told me if I had answered, "no" she would have taken out her scissors and chase me down and cut me in half. But if I had answered, "yes"...well, she still would have killed me. Women are kind of fickle that way.

"So you're probably wondering what my answer was since I'm still in one piece right now?

"Well, I gave her a good look and I told her my honest opinion- "Ah, you're so-so I guess." What? I'm not into girls anyway!" The other three guys laughed at Takao's answer- even Kuroko was chuckling since the reply was so Takao-like.

Takao laughed along with them as he finished the rest of his story, "The Kuchisake-onna looked confused since I didn't really give her a definite yes or no answer. I took her moment of hesitation to run the hell out of there- never once looking back even when I heard the sound of scissors snipping behind me. And after that, I never saw her again."

Takao sat back and grinned, feeling accomplished at what he knew was a great story.

Kouki was giggling- he had been terrified at the beginning of the story but the ending was just too funny.

Hayama sighed, wiping away the tears from laughing too hard from his eyes. "Haah...that was great, man."

"I'm strangely reminded of Akashi-kun after hearing that story." Kuroko commented.

Kouki heard what the blunette said and laughed even harder.

Takao beamed proudly. "Okay, who's next?"

Kuroko stood up, shocking both Kouki and Hayama who forgot for a second that the blunette was next to them in the first place. "I'll go." He volunteered.

Kuroko and Takao switched places. Everyone watched as Kuroko gently sat on his knees on the bed, and gave them all a solemn look as he began his story.

"One evening, I was typing up my english assignment on my laptop. Since it was raining heavily at the time, I made sure my computer was fully charged since I didn't want the battery to run out if a blackout were to occur.

"As I finished my assignment, I decided to spend some time to read a few stories online."

Hayama chirped in, "Yeah, I'm a huge fan of FanFiction also. It's like getting millions of books for free!"

Kouki nodded, bashfully. "I read them too."

Takao grinned. "I highly recommend AO3 or fanfiction.net."

Kuroko smiled slightly as he continued his story. "As I was reading a particularly interesting story, the electricity had come off. Thankfully, I was prepared so my laptop was still running.

"My room was quite dark due to the blackout- the only light coming from my computer screen. As I continued to read on, I noticed something strange.

"When you read something on your computer or even your phone or tablet, you can sometimes see yourself reflected back on the screen. When I looked at my laptop, I noticed a dark shadow appearing behind my shoulder. So I looked back to see what it was."

"No! You're never supposed to look behind you in that kind of situation!" Hayama yelled, both Kouki and Takao nodding besides him.

The blue-haired beta merely blinked at them. "I was not aware of this rule. I apologize. As I was saying, I looked behind me and saw nothing there.

"And then, when I looked back towards my computer screen, IT had appeared right on top of my keyboard..."

"ARF! ARF!"

The three on the futon jumped up and screamed when they were suddenly attacked by a small furry black ball.

The furry thing was now on top of a screaming Takao. "Oh my god! I'm gonna die! Someone help me! I'm being...licked to death?" Takao's shouts stopped when he finally caught a good glimpse at what was on top of him.

"Eh, it's only Nigou." Kouki sighed in relief as Kuroko reached up to retrieve Seirin's mascot.

"My god, I thought my heart was gonna give out." Hayama complained, trying to calm his pounding heart.

Kuroko snuggled with the cute little puppy as he apologized. "I'm sorry, Nigou must have gotten a bit too excited again."

"So I'm assuming that it was also your dog that was in the story?" Takao said wryly, looking at the smiling little husky.

Kuroko nodded. "You are correct. I was also taken quite aback when I had finally recognized him."

Hayama sighed as he grabbed his pillow and hugged it to him. "Okay, that means Furi's story is last!"

Kouki panicked as he shook his head. "But I don't really know any stories."

"I'm sure anything will be fine, Furihata-kun. You can even make one up or use an urban legend that you might have heard of before." The blunette suggested.

Kouki bit his lip as he recalled something. "Well, I did hear something when I went grocery shopping with Kagami and Tae-san earlier."

The brunette then proceeded in telling his roommates about the story that he was told earlier and the old woman's warnings to him about not staying at the camp before something bad happened to him.

After his story, Hayama shivered a bit. "That is scary. I mean, since we're actually inside what used to be the mansion itself makes it even more real."

Kuroko nodded. "But I'm sure there'll be nothing to worry about, Furihata-kun."

Takao winked as he gave the omega a thumbs up. "Just leave any ghosts-holding grudges to us! If bad things start to happen to you, we'll deal with it. We'll be like your bodyguards, Furi."

Hayama grinned as he added, "Yup! We should be called The Omega Protection Squad!"

Kuroko deadpanned at that. "That is a horrible name."

Hayama whined. "Kuroko! How can you say that so bluntly? You're reminding me of Mayuzumi!"

Takao laughed. "Hahaha! I don't know about you guys, but I have a feeling that the Omega Protection Squad is going to be epic!" Kouki smiled, feeling much better knowing that the others had his back.

The four roommates continued to chat amongst themselves, enjoying each other's company until a knock on their door and Coach Nakatani peered inside informing them it was time to turn in.

As they all told each other good night, Kouki tucked himself inside his futon and closed his eyes, quickly falling straight to sleep.

☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ

SHORT INTERMISSION AT ROOM 7~

"Hm, a little to the right...yes, there! No wait...I feel that the air felt much clearer when it was back against the wall..." Kagami sighed loudly, glaring at the Rakuzan beta who was currently using him as a moving cargo employee.

"Tell me why I'm doing this again?" Kagami demanded, moving Mubuchi's futon back against the wall. He, Mibuchi and Midorima were currently in their room while Seijuurou was out, taking his bath. Seirin's redhead had been getting ready to sleep before Mibuchi had asked if he could help him shift some of the stuff in the room around.

"Like I said, this room needs the proper feng shui in order for all our bad energies to be released outside and only the good energy will be able to saturate our bodies so we'll be able to have a good night's rest." Mibuchi told him, pointing to one of the mats. "Now let's move that to the other side of the room."

Kagami sighed loudly again but went to get the mat. "Okay, I didn't understand a single word you just said. Besides, what I meant is why I'M the only one who's doing this. What about that green guy there?!" He pointed rudely at Midorima who was sitting on his bed, watching something on his phone.

Said green guy looked at the Seirin ace and frowned. "I'm busy looking up for Cancer's health readings for this upcoming week."

Kagami frowned at him. "Wait, didn't you read your horoscope just an hour ago? You're not done yet?"

Midorima rolled his eyes at what he considered to be an idiotic question. "Fool. That was the readings for Cancer's wealth and travel readings. I'm focusing on my upcoming health now."

The Seirin ace made a face at the Shuutoku shooter. "You know, there's an easy way to check for your health. If you put your hand on your forehead and it feels hot, then you're sick. Pretty simple actually."

The green-haired beta have him a look of disgust. "How plebeian of you."

Kagami's nostrils flared as he started to get angry. "What did you just say?!"

"Okay, okay. Let's not fight." Mibuchi gently got between them. "See? This is what happens when the room isn't in its proper aligning. Now, please move Sei-chan's futon next to mine Tai-chan."

Kagami whirled on the other when he heard what the other called him. "Don't call me that!"

Mibuchi pouted. "But it's so cute!"

Seijuurou then chose that moment to walk into the room, wearing his pajamas for night time. "The baths are quite nice in this camp. It's very refreshing and warm."

Mibuchi squealed as he nodded at his captain. "You're right, Sei-chan! But is another reason you liked it because you got to share your bath with a certain Kou-chan?" The beta giggled, wriggling his eyebrows suggestively.

At the Rakuzan's captain's answering smirk, Kagami groaned loudly in disgust as he grabbed his futon and dragged it away to the farthest corner from any of the other three, ignoring Mibuchi's protests about his futon blocking the room's flow. "I wanna switch rooms NOW!"

END OF INTERMISSION~

☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ

Kouki suddenly found himself in a dark hallway. He looked around, confused at where he was.

"Hi."

Kouki jumped and turned around, facing a small boy who looked to be about five years old. He wore a blue yukata and had messy brown hair similar to the omega's own.

"H-Hello." Kouki stuttered back, watching the small boy smile widely at him.

"Do you want to play with me?" The boy asked, his eyes shining hopefully.

Kouki hesitantly nodded his head, not wanting to ruin the boy's excitement. "Okay."

The boy whooped in the air, making Kouki smiled slightly. "Yeah! Then let's play hide and seek. Let's hide!" The boy grabbed onto Kouki's hand as they ran down the hallway and through the rooms of what looked to be a very large mansion.

"If we're both hiding, then who's going to seek us?" Kouki asked, curiously.

The boy's eyes suddenly saddened as he frowned. "We need to hide and make sure SHE never finds us, okay?"

Kouki's eyes widened. "Wait, who is SHE? Who are we hiding from?"

The boy looked sad as he opened his mouth to reply.

"We must never be caught- especially you."

☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ

Kouki suddenly opened his eyes, looking around blearily.

He froze when he realized that he was no longer in his room, inside his futon.

Instead, he was on the floor of the hallway, right outside the dormrooms. There was a faint light shining through the windows at the end of the hall, indicating that it was early morning.

Standing up quickly, Kouki immediately made his way back to his room. Fortunately his other three roommates were still fast asleep and didn't notice his disappearance.

Kouki furrowed his eyebrows before shaking his head, he must have made a trip to the restroom last night and must have accidentally fallen asleep on his way back. There was nothing for him to worry about.

When everyone was awake and showered, all the players made their way to the dining room for breakfast before their training started.

Rakuzan was eating a traditional japanese breakfast of grilled fish, miso soup, tamagoyaki and rice. Shuutoku's breakfast was on the western side with pancakes and sausages.

Seirin's breakfast was the most simple with tamago kake gohan- though all the Seirin guys preferred this over anything their Coach would try to concoct.

When Kouki cracked his egg over his egg, he gagged at the rotten smell and the grayish color of what was supposed to be the egg white that was on his rice. "Ugh, my egg is rotten!"

Izuki, who was sitting next to him, also gagged at the smell. "Ugh, your egg is definitely not egg-cellent!"

Hyuuga threw his chopsticks at his friend's head. "Shut up, Izuki! I told you no puns early in the morning!"

Everyone was surprised when the next three eggs that Kouki cracked were also all spoiled. "What the hell?" One of the first years, exclaimed.

"That's shouldn't be possible. Why is it only Furi's eggs?" Fukuda shook his head in bewilderment.

"The eggs shouldn't be spoiled at all- we chose the freshest ones from the store." Kagami butted in.

"You can share with me, Furihata-kun." Kuroko offered his bowl to the brunette.

Kouki shook his head, smiling slightly. "That's okay, Kuroko. I don't want you to eat any less than you what you usually do. I'll be fine with rice and soy sauce." Kouki suddenly felt someone behind him and he turned to see his mate looking concernedly at him.

"Excuse me for the intrusion, but I couldn't help but feel distress coming from you, Kouki." Seijuurou explained, checking over his mate.

Kouki gave his alpha a small smile as he shook his head. "It's nothing to worry about Sei. There's just a problem with the eggs we bought yesterday."

"All the eggs that Furi had were all rotten which makes no sense since everyone else's eggs are just fine." Kawahara informed the Rakuzan captain.

Seijuurou frowned as he held his hand out to the omega. "If it's okay with everyone, Kouki can gladly share breakfast with my team- we have plenty of food to share and I wouldn't want you to not have a decent breakfast, love."

Kouki blushed as he looked at his own captain for his final decision.

Hyuuga nodded, giving Kouki his approval. "Go ahead, Furihata. It wouldn't be good if you were to pass out during the coach's rigid training later." Kouki nodded and went with Seijuurou as they joined the Rakuzan table where Kouki was happily welcomed with open arms since everyone on the team knew him from his many weekend visits to their school.

As the day progressed, all the Seirin members collapsed into their seats as they waited for their lunch to be served. They were all exhausted by the all-out regime the Coach had given them while they were in the gym. After lunch they would be out training in the woods until nightfall.

Although Coach Riko was the one who was in charge of preparing their lunches, Tao had kept her promise and had watched over the brunette girl as she prepared large sub sandwiches for lunch.

When lunch was served, although the meats, cheeses and vegetables were all cut up very roughly, parts were strangely sticking out of the bread and the sandwich itself was soggy with large amounts of mayonnaise, the sandwich in general was at least edible. And also, there were no trace of multivitamins snuck into their food which was a big plus.

When Kouki took a bite out of his sandwich, he made a strangled noise which attracted his fellow teammate's attention towards him. "What's wrong, Furi?" Kiyoshi questioned.

Kouki spit out whatever was in his mouth and opened his sandwich. Everyone saw that it had a different filling than the others. There was no meats and cheeses and it only had vegetables inside, together with grass and what looked like tiny rocks as well.

"What the hell is this?!" Kagami demanded as Tsuchida took Kouki's sandwich and threw it into the trash. Kouki ended up splitting sandwiches with both Kuroko and Mitobe.

When they questioned Riko about it during their resumed training, she looked at them in confusion as she told them that she made all the sandwiches equally and she even had Shuutoku's manager to back her story up.

Everyone was confused by the mysterious sandwich incident but soon forgot all about it as they began their afternoon and evening trainings.

As they ran through the woods, Kouki found himself shivering at times as he could feel a pair of eyes staring at him. But no matter where he looked, there was no one looking at him. Kuroko noticed the brunnete's unusual jumpiness and questioned the other about it. Kouki just laughed it off and said it was just his imagination.

When dinner came around, Riko proudly presented to them a giant hotpot. The players gave her looks of apprehension as memories of her previous hotpot they had at Kagami's house were brought back up.

"Come on! I promised that I didn't put any fruits in it this time!" Riko whined at them.

"And there's no protein powder or other crap in this too?" Kagami demanded, his stomach growling in either hunger from their training or horror at the memory of the infamous hotpot.

Riko sighed as she placed her hands on her hips. "I promise. Tae-chan stopped me before I could. I promise everything in that pot is all normal."

"Eto..." Everyone looked to see Kuroko pulling out a whole small carrot, with roots and everything, out of the pot with his chopsticks.

Kagami blanched at that. "Do you call that normal?!"

Riko pouted. "But carrots are good for your eyes!"

Izuki sweatdropped at that, not even able to think of a pun for this. "Coach, I'm sure that you're supposed to actually chop the vegetables before putting them in the pot."

"Vegetables. Very good, ne?" Riko winked at them.

"Don't speak broken japanese again!" Hyuuga shouted at her.

"Well, at least this hotpot has only meats and vegetables in it." Kiyoshi tried to cheer everyone up, but gasped when he picked out a chicken's head out of the pot. Everyone screamed when they saw it.

From the other tables, the other schools watched the chaos going on at the Seirin table.

"Seirin's always lively, huh?" Nebuya commented, slurping on the noodles from his tantanmen ramen.

"We don't even need television- they're like their own show! I bet it'd get high ratings and everything!" Takao laughed, spitting some rice grains in Midorima's way.

"Don't talk with your mouth full!" The green-haired shooter scolded his partner, trying to eat his own meal of pork tonkatsu.

When Kouki was about to taste their meal, he paused when he noticed something. "Um, coach? Did you put any shellfish in here?"

Riko paused in her argument with Hyuuga as she looked at him with eyebrows raised. "Of course not. I know that you have a shellfish allergy after all."

"Um, but then why is this in here?" Kouki held up a clam shell with his chopsticks. Riko's eyes widened in disbelief as Koganei went to search inside the giant hotpot and began to pull out various shellfish like abalone, prawns, scallops, and even tiny crabs that were hidden inside.

"What the- I didn't put any of that in there! We don't even have the budget for all that seafood!" Riko shouted, looking at all the shellfish in horror.

Kuroko looked very concerned, "It seems like Furihata-kun has been having quite bad luck with today's meals."

Fukuda nodded. "His breakfast had rotten eggs, there was grass and rocks in his sandwich during lunch and he can't even eat the hotpot since there's shellfish which he's allergic to."

Everyone on the team started to voice out their concern and worries. Feeling uncomfortable with all the attention, Kouki insisted that it must have just been an accident and to not worry about him. He told them to continue their meal and he'll just whip himself a quick plate of chahan (fried rice) to eat since Riko said there was some leftover veggies and pork in the kitchen.

As he walked towards the kitchens, Kouki suddenly heard some rustling behind him.

Turning around, Kouki caught the sight of a little boy, giggling as he ran away.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Kouki wondered why the kid looked so familiar before he felt someone tapping his shoulder.

Swerving around, Kouki met face to face with Shuutoku's manager, giving him a worried look as she held an empty pot in her hands. "Are you alright, Furihata-kun? " Tae asked.

Kouki gave her what he hoped was a convincing smile as nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just thought I saw something is all."

When everyone was back in their dorm rooms for bedtime, Takao and Hayama were chatting together as Kouki and Kuroko exchanged their views on a light novel that was just released.

"I'm totally head over heels with Shun, but I want to go to the next step with him, you know? But I think he wants to just take it slow." Hayama said, chewing on a piece of gummy candy that he managed to sneak into the camp. Rakuzan had a strict 'no junk food' rule.

Takao sighed. "At least you're together with the person you like. I feel like Shin-chan is actually truly annoyed by my presence- like it's not just that tsundere side of him acting up like usual."

"Dude, that Midorima guy is totally into you. You just don't see the way he looks at you like we do." Hayama pointed out.

Takao groaned as he stole one of Hayama's candies and popped it into his own mouth. "I don't even know anymore..."

"I have faith that Midorima-kun has an interest in you, Takao-kun. Just please be patient with him." Kuroko added his own opinion from where he and Kouki sat on the opposite side of the room.

Takao gave the blunette an interested look. "You think? How can you be so sure?"

There was a strange glint in Kuroko's eyes when he replied, "I just know. Trust me."

Kouki nodded his head, accepting a gummy worm from Hayama. "I suggest that you follow what Kuroko says, Takao. If I've learned anything these past two years, I've learned that Kuroko has a way of always being correct. If he thinks that Midorima-kun likes you back, then he probably does." Kouki advised. "And I agree with everyone- I'm sure Midorima-kun returns your feelings. He's just shy."

Takao pursed his lips at that. "...Okay, since you guys have become like my bros, then I'll put my faith in you." Brightening up, the hawk-eyed player asked, "So since we all know that I like Shin-chan and Hayama is dating Izuki-kun and Furi's pretty much joint at the hip with Akashi, then what about you Kuroko?" He smiled slyly at the blunette.

Kuroko looked at him blankly, a red and orange gummy worm sticking out of his mouth. "I'm not dating anyone."

Furihata listened in on the conversation- he never thought about who his fellow teammate and close friend would be romantically interested in. "Isn't there anyone that you have a crush on, Kuroko?"

Hayama grinned widely as he gave the quiet blunette a knowing wink. "I think I know who he may like."

Takao and Furihata looked towards the oldest of their group. "Really? Who?" Kuroko merely raised one eyebrow at the blond.

Hayama puffed his chest out confidently. "I may not be the brightest color in the crayon box, but I do notice some things." He jumped onto Kuroko's futon and whispered something in the beta's ear.

The other two watched as the blunette shook his head at whatever the other said, making the blond frown. "Really? I could have sworn that you and Mayuzumi had a thing going on!"

"Mayuzumi?" Takao whispered questionly to Kouki.

"The phantom player on Rakuzan's team last year." Kouki whispered back, remembering the expressionless Rakuzan senior that had now graduated.

Takao nodded, recalling the player. "Ah, yeah. He was like Kuroko 2.0 right?"

"I haven't come into contact with Mayuzumi-san since the winter cup match." Kuroko informed Hayama.

Hayama pouted. "Darn, then who is it that you like?"

Kuroko had a small smile on his lips as he shrugged his shoulder. "It's a secret."

Kouki and Takao looked at each other for a moment before grinning as they got up and simultaneously tackled Kuroko and Hayama, catching the other two off guard.

"Argh!..." Hayama cried as a grinning Takao laid right on top of him. "Why are you attacking me?! I don't know his crush!"

"Tell us who you like, Kuroko!" Takao laughing, bouncing up and down on Hayama.

"Kuroko! I thought we were friends! Why didn't you say you liked someone?!" Kouki demanded, smiling as he placed Kuroko in his version of the Boston crab hold, which wasn't as painful as Riko's one.

"...Ow..." Kuroko mumbled, trying to fight a smile as he attempted to push the brunette off him.

All four boys continued to wrestle one another on the floor, laughing during the whole thing.

They finally broke up when Coach Shirogane barged into their room to tell them to quieten down and that it was time to sleep.

The Coach didn't scold them too badly (though he gave Hayama extra laps for the next day for sneaking in the candy) since he could see the smiles on everyone's faces and he knew that there was no real animosity between the three different teams in the room (unlike room 7 where the tiger from Seirin kept fighting it out with the horoscope fanatic from Shuutoku and his own team's captain and vice captain).

When all the lights were out, Takao's voice quietly spoke out into the dark, "So...you're really not gonna tell us who your crush is? Even though we're all in the Omega Protection Squad?"

"Takao....I told you I don't need a protection squad. And what kind of name is that anyway?!" Kouki groaned.

"I had like, half of that bag still filled with gummies! Coach is probably eating it with the Shuutoku coach right now..." Hayama grumbled, upset.

"Goodnight everyone." Kuroko's quiet voice was heard.

And after that, they all fell asleep.

☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ

SHORT INTERMISSION AT ROOM 7~

"ACK!" Kagami squawked as he tripped over something, hastily trying to catch his balance and sighing when he managed to stand upright once more.

Looking down to see what had tripped him up, he screamed out loudly when he saw one of those japanese girl dolls dressed in a black kimono and its creepy beady eyes smiling eerily up at him.

"Will you stop making so much noise?" Midorima glared at Kagami, today's lucky item being a yellow comb in his hands. "It's late and there are people who are getting ready to sleep."

Kagami grabbed the doll from the ground and shoved it into the beta's face. "What the hell is this?!"

Midorima blinked surprised before looking at the redhead with a sour expression. "That's my lucky item from the first day here at the camp. If I may ask, please do not touch any of my things without permission."

Kagami snorted as he threw the doll onto the other's lap and went back to his futon. "I didn't touch your creepy doll on purpose- you shouldn't be leaving your horoscope crap lying around here in the first place."

The green-haired shooter frowned at him. "I most certainly do not leave my things lying around."

Kagami pointed at the four-foot model of Nico Yazawa from Love Live! posing proudly at the side of Midorima's futon. "So what the hell is that?"

The other rolled his eyes at him. "That's my lucky item for tomorrow- my younger sibling enjoys their songs. Anyway, this is neatly on my side of the room and as such, there is nothing for you to be against."

Kagami was about to say something to the shooter before he was interrupted by a curler that suddenly attacked him in the face. "What the hell?!"

"Oops! My bad- it slipped away from me!" Mibuchi cooed, taking back his curler and placing it once more into his hair.

Kagami gave the dark-haired boy an incredulous look. "What the hell are you doing? You don't even wear your hair curly!"

Mibuchi pursed his bottom lips at him as he gave the redhead a sultry wink (which would then give Kagami nightmares for the rest of the camp). "Silly, Tai-chan. There are many secrets a girl must have to keep her forever beautiful. Believe it or not, these curlers will help straighten my hair for tomorrow." Mibuchi whispered to him excitedly.

Kagami gave him a straight, unamused look. "But you're not a girl."

Mibuchi gasped as he placed a hand on his chest, "I'm a maiden at heart!"

Kagami sighed as he looked around his surroundings.

Midorima was arranging his lucky gemstones that he kept in an intricately carved box that the Rakuzan captain had gifted him on his previous birthday. There looked to be at least fifty small stones inside.

Mibuchi was finished 'straightening' his hair and was now applying some sort of lotion onto his face.

And the one that pissed the Seirin ace the most was the sleeping Seijuurou, who was tucked nicely in his futon and had a very peaceful look on his face, oblivious to everything around him.

Damn him for being able to ignore everyone unlike Kagami who was now fighting a migraine.

Kagami sighed as he shoved his pillow over his face, trying to rid his headache away. "I want new roommates..." He groaned, though the others probably couldn't understand him since his words were muffled by the pillow that was on his face.

END OF INTERMISSION~

☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ

Kouki blinked and looked around, finding himself in the training center's kitchen.

Feeling a tug on the bottom of his shirt, Kouki looked down and saw a familiar mop of messy brown hair. Kouki's eyes widened as he recognized the boy. He suddenly remembered the previous night's happenings.

"It's you!" Kouki exclaimed, pointing at the boy.

The boy smiled widely at him, his golden eyes shining brightly at him. "You found me! And SHE didn't seek you. Well for now. You win!"

Kouki laughed at the boy's infectious smile. "I'm glad, so what do I win?"

A green sandwich cookie with a white filling came into view as the boy handed it to him. "You win a cookie! They're super yummy!" The little boy said.

Kouki took the cookie a bit into it. "It's delicious." He complimented him.

"These cookies are my favorites. And it's her favorites too- she loves them!" The little boy gushed.

Kouki looked at the little boy. "Who is this 'SHE' that you're talking about? Is she the same person we were hiding from yesterday?"

The boy sobered up at that, looking down. "No. They're both different. The one seeking us is evil." The boy looked up at Kouki with a serious face.

"You must make sure she never seeks you out."

☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ

"Furihata-kun?"

Kouki suddenly jumped up, blinking around at his unfamiliar surroundings.

He realized that he was no longer asleep in his futon. He was standing in the kitchen, everything messy and his clothes were covered in flour, a batch of newly baked green tea cookies lined up beside him.

Kuroko was standing in front of Kouki, still in his sleeping shirt and shorts and his bedhair was crazy as ever, but he looked awake and very alarmed (as alarmed as Kuroko was capable of looking) as he stared at Kouki.

"Furihata-kun?" Kuroko asked again when Kouki merely stared at him in confusion. "Why are you baking cookies at 2:00 in the morning?"

Kouki merely looked lost when he quietly repeated to himself, "2:00?"

Kuroko nodded, worried. "Yes. I woke up to use the restroom and I noticed that your bed was empty. Since the restrooms are on the way to the kitchens, I smelled the scent of cookies and found you standing here staring blankly." The blunette explained.

Kouki felt so tired as he looked at Kuroko with helpless eyes. "I don't remember getting up and coming here. And I really don't remember baking these cookies that I don't even have the recipe to!

"Kuroko...I don't know what's going on!"

The two boys stayed in the kitchen for another hour to clean everything up. They agreed that it would be best if they just went back to bed and talked things out in the morning- where they would both be much calmer and coherent.

They decided to discard all of the cookies in the trash to avoid having to explain how they got them in the first place and headed back to their room.

In the morning, they had both woken up late and didn't have time to talk about the previous night as they had to rush down for breakfast.

Kouki yawned as he entered the dining room, feeling like he hadn't had a wink of sleep last night.

But he automatically found himself wide awake when he went to sit down in his chair for breakfast...and ended up sprawled on the floor when his chair had completely gave out from under him.

"Furi/Furihata?!" Calls from his teammates sounded in the room and the brunette, dazed, found himself being helped up by both Kiyoshi and Izuki.

"I-I'm fine!" Kouki assured them embarrassingly, letting his teammates pull him down onto another chair- which thankfully didn't give out from under him this time.

"Kouki!" The omega then found himself being fussed over by his mate, the redhead examining every inch of him to make sure nothing was injured and broken. "Are you alright? Do you hurt anywhere?"

Kouki shook his head and nuzzled into his boyfriend's neck, hoping to calm the other down, "I'm alright Sei."

"Kou-chan! Do you want to visit the infirmary?" Mibuchi and the rest of the uncrowned kings had also come when they saw what had happened.

Kouki shook his head, giving them all a weak smile. "I'm fine. Please don't worry about me- it was just an accident."

When he was satisfied that the omega was indeed not hurt, Seijuurou sat next to his mate, comforting him as he took the brunette under his arm. "What happened?" He asked softly.

Kouki shook his head, letting his alpha scent him to calm his nerves. "I don't know- I just sat down and then suddenly I found myself on the floor."

"Guys! Look at this!" Everyone turned to see Mitobe holding up a piece of the broken chair. Koganei (the one who had spoken up) told them, "There's no screws in this chair!"

Nebuya went to examine the chair parts for himself. "He's right. Someone must have taken them out, assembled the rest of the chair without it and placed it here as a trap. Anyone who would sit on it would have fallen."

Hyuuga frowned. "Someone must be playing a prank...but who?"

Everyone looked at each other suspiciously. But they weren't able to further comment on the topic when Riko came into the room and barked for everyone to hurry up and eat their breakfasts.

Seijuurou stayed beside Kouki, both of them sharing their meals (though they mostly ate Seijuurou's Belgium waffles and sausages rather than Kouki's somewhat charred toast and a bit too runny eggs- his fellow teammates were looking a bit green at their own breakfasts so Kouki was actually pretty grateful to his mate).

Thankfully, there was no more further incident during breakfast and after making sure for the tenth time that the omega was okay, Seijuurou gave him a sweet kiss and departed for his own practice.

During the rest of the day, Kouki once again had a constant paranoid feeling of someone watching him. But no matter where he looked, there would be no one there. He tried to push it away out of his mind, convincing himself that the lack of sleep was starting to make him hypersensitive.

After their training at the gym, Seirin had a somewhat peaceful lunch of their Coach's large but still edible onigiri (well, the tuna mayo and pickled ume onigiri was edible. The salt onigiri was so salty the players ended up drinking an entire bottle of water after one bite).

After lunch however, there was another incident.

"Where are my shoes?" Kouki asked, trying to find his shoes at the entranceway. The team was going out to train in the woods and Kouki couldn't find his outdoor sneakers anywhere.

"Didn't you put them here?" Fukuda questioned, helping his friend find his shoes.

Kouki nodded. "Yeah, I could have sworn that I put them right here." He pointed near the door.

"Guys, look!" They turned to see Kawahara pointing at something above.

Shoelaces tangled around one of the metal ceiling beams, there was Kouki's white sneakers hanging above.

Kouki groaned as he thought about how he would be able to get them now- they were so high up he would need to get a very tall ladder. "How did they get up there?" He wailed.

Kawahara glared up at the shoes. "Someone's definitely being a jerk right now."

Fukuda shook his head, also upset but said, "Now's not the time- we need to get to go or else Coach will punish us. Furi, you can borrow my spare shoes since we're almost the same size."

Kawahara nodded, patting the brunette on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Furi. We'll get your shoes down when we come back."

Kouki smiled gratefully towards them, but the nagging thought that someone had actually thrown his shoes up there still lingered in his mind.

Was he being bullied?

Later that night, when everyone was going to their rooms for bed, yet another incident occurred.

Kouki had just finished his bath and was walking towards the dorms, chatting with Kuroko and Kagami. The brunette was a bit sad when his mate apologized to him earlier, telling him that he had something to discuss with his coach and couldn't bathe with the brunette again like yesterday.

"I can't stand being in the same room as them! Midorima's lucky item crap and Mibuchi's beauty care shit are taking up two/thirds of the room! And that damn Akashi's always waking up so freaking early- even earlier than when we're supposed to! How the hell do you deal with that?!" Kagami complained.

Kouki giggled as he listened to the redhead's troubles with his roommates. "Sei has always had a habit of waking up very early- I guess I just got used to it." He shrugged.

Kagami sighed, looking like he had just been tortured. "I'm begging you- one of you please switch rooms with me! Please! If I have to listen to another early broadcast of Oha Asa at 1:00 in the morning....I'm gonna kill someone."

Kuroko gave his light an empathetic pat on the back. "I'm sorry Kagami-kun, but I'm quite fond of my roommates and Furihata-kun's not allowed to stay in the same room as Akashi-kun since they are both bonded. If you would like, I can lend you some ear plugs and my eye mask?" The blunette offered.

Kagami sighed but took him up on the offer.

As they got closer to the rooms, there was a fuss going on in front of the rooms.

"What's going on?" Kagami called out, grabbing the attention of the guys that were huddled around something.

One of the first years from Shuutoku spoke up. "When we came back to our rooms, someone's clothes were thrown around outside all the rooms."

"And their underwear and socks were even hanging on our door knobs and stuff." Another first year, from Rakuzan, chimed in.

"We gathered all the clothes and piled them here, senpai." The first year from their own team told them, pointing to the heap of clothes placed on the table.

Kouki gasped as he recognized the pile. "Those are all my clothes!" He rushed forward as he went to check it closely, affirming that they were indeed his clothing.

Kuroko's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he gave a small frown. "Why would Furihata-kun's clothes be out here?"

Suddenly, a sound of barking came out, making Kagami scream as Seirin's mascot ran towards them and landed on the redhead's leg. "Dammit, Nigou! Kuroko get your damn dog off me!"

Kuroko made a shushing sound as he gathered Nigou into his arms. The blunette frowned when he noticed something hanging on the puppy's ears. "What is this?" He pulled on it and realized that it was a red wristband.

Kouki looked up from his pile of clothes and gasped when he saw it. "That's the wristband that Sei gave to me!"

Kuroko made a tutting sound as he handed the wristband back to Kouki. "Nigou, were you the one who made a mess of Furihata-kun's things?"

Nigou barked in reply, shaking his head.

Kagami helped Kouki bring his clothes back into his room while Kuroko gave Nigou a stern scolding about touching other's things.

As Kouki refolded his clothes, he froze as he realized something.

When they had come into the room, it was completely clean and his bag that held all his clothes was still neatly on his bed.

If Nigou had been the one to mess with his clothes, then shouldn't his bag be ripped open and the room a mess? And he remembered what some of the first years had said- how would a tiny dog like Nigou be able to hang his clothes on the high doorknobs?

When he brought it up with the other two, Kagami looked alarmed while Kuroko actually looked visibly worried. He also gave his little puppy an apology and a dog treat.

The duo tried to convince Kouki to report the incident to the coaches, but the omega declined, insisting that it was probably just someone pulling a harmless prank and that he just wanted to forget about it already.

Both Kagami and Kuroko exchanged a silent look, wordlessly communicating with one another. They didn't want to but they decided to follow their friend's wishes. They would just have to keep a close eye on things in case something else were to happen.

That night, Kouki didn't talk to any of his roommates like he usually did and just went straight to bed.

☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ

SHORT INTERMISSION AT ROOM 7~

"Is something wrong, Kagami?" Seirin's ace jumped up a bit as he looked at Seijuurou who had just asked him a question.

"N-No, I'm fine. Why'd you ask?" Kagami replied shakily, his mind still on Furihata's earlier incident.

Rakuzan's captain raised an eyebrow as he sat on top his futon, a book that he had been reading laid across his lap. "You seem...preoccupied about something. If you have something on your mind, you can feel free to share it with me to lessen the burden." He offered, a kind smile on his face.

Kagami blinked owlishly at the other. Yes, he knew how much the fellow redhead had changed from their first meeting- so much that he had even somehow ended up bonded with his own team's skittish omega who had been previously scared shitless of him. And he knew that the other wasn't like his scissor-crazy self anymore...but it still weirded the Seirin ace out whenever the Akashi heir actually treated him kindly.

"Uh...okay." Kagami hesitated as he thought about how to put his thoughts into words. He knew that Kouki told him not to tell anyone about the incident, especially his own boyfriend. "Well, I have a friend who's been dealing with a lot during this camp. And things have been happening to him- like weird things." He paused, wondering what more to add.

Seijuurou looked concerned as he asked, "What kind of strange things have been happening to him, if I may ask?"

Kagami shrugged. "Well, the first day here some old lady told him a story which scared the crap out of him. Then the second day weird things started to happen to his food- like someone was sabotaging it. On the third day, someone was messing with his things." Kagami paused before adding, "And I've been noticing that he's been pretty jumpy lately during practice. He's usually a jumpy kind of guy normally so I'm not too sure, but lately he's looks more scared than usual and he's always looking around him."

Seijuurou furrowed his eyebrows as he looked suspicious. "Do I by any chance, know this person?"

The Seirin redhead widened his eyes as he quickly shook his head, trying to dispel the other's suspicions. "Nope. No. Of course not. I'm talking about...one of the first years. Yup. From my team. Some of them get pretty jittery." He said in a rush.

The Rakuzan captain sighed as he said, "I see. Well, if I may give some advice, I suggest that you inform the coaches about the incidents. It seems to me that someone has targeted your friend."

Kagami sighed as well as he explained, "I wanted to but my friend is the type of person that doesn't like too much attention on himself and didn't want to make too much of a fuss about it. He made me and another friend promise not to say anything to anyone. That's why I can't tell you his name neither- I keep my promises."

The Akashi heir nodded. "That's very admirable of you. And quite idiotic of your friend."

Kagami sighed. "I know."

"I think you should tell someone anyway- what if something worse starts to happen to your friend?" Kagami shouted in surprise, both at Mibuchi's sudden comment and his appearance when the ace saw the Rakuzan beta with green mush all over his face.

"What the hell is wrong with your face?!" Kagami pointed in horror.

Mibuchi huffed as he crossed his arms on his chest. "How rude. And it's my cucumber and green tea facial wash that Kou-chan gifted me for my last birthday. It works wonders on my skin and makes it all nice and smooth as a baby's bottom!"

Kagami made a face at him. "You look like a monster- OW!" He yelled when the tall beta smacked him in the face.

"How dare you insult me, you brute! You have no class!" Mibuchi yelled, slapping the other again in the arm.

"Ouch! Okay, I'm sorry! You don't look disgusting- ow!" Kagami shouted, trying to shield himself from the other's attacks.

"Alright, let's settle down everyone. Reo, please stop hitting Kagami now." Seijuurou said soothingly, pulling his friend away from the battered ace.

"Will you all quiet down- you're all making too much of a racket." Midorima grumbled from his place in his futon.

Kagami groaned as he flopped bonelessly onto his futon, his upper body aching from the beta's hits. Maybe he was wrong- maybe the roommates he hated was only Mibuchi and Midorima. Oddly enough, maybe Akashi was actually the only one he was okay with?

Though Kagami quickly changed his mind about that revelation when he later was awaken at five in the morning to the Rakuzan's captain's early morning exercises.

Nope, he was right. He hated all of his roommates.

Every. Single. One.

END OF INTERMISSION~

☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ

Kouki found himself in the hallway again.

"Why did you throw them away?!"

Kouki jumped as he turned around, surprised to once again see the little boy. But this time, the boy looked very upset at him. "What?" Kouki asked, looking confused.

The little boy glared at him. "Why did you throw away the cookies? SHE found them in the trash and now SHE knows about you!"

The omega looked aback at the fear that was also mixed in with the anger in the little boy's eyes. "I'm sorry, but I didn't know where those cookies came from and I didn't want to explain to the others about where I had gotten them."

The boy shook his head, looking distraught. "Those cookies were for her. They were her favorites. And now she can't have any."

Kouki bit his lip, feeling bad. "I'm really sorry for throwing away the cookies."

The boy shook his head again before looking up, giving Kouki a scared look. "I'm not really mad about the cookies- he can bake more anytime. What I'm worried about is that SHE now knows about you and that means SHE'S going to go after you."

Kouki's eyes widened in fear. "Who is this 'SHE' and why is SHE coming after me? What is she going to do if she does get to me?"

The boy looked like he was about to cry as he said in a solemn voice, "You're an omega and SHE hates omegas- especially male ones. And if SHE finds you..." The next words that came out of the boy's mouth felt as if ice water spilled all over Kouki's entire body.

"You'll die."

☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ

"Furi!...Furi!...FURIHATA!"

Kouki gasped as his eyes snapped open. His heart was pounding as he blinked at Hayama who was still shaking him.

"H-Hayama! I'm a-awake! I'm a-awake!" Kouki stuttered, trying to get the blond to stop shaking his shoulders.

"Ah! Sorry." Hayama stopped and gave Kouki a worried look. "Furi, what was that just now?"

Kouki furrowed his eyes at the other before he finally looked around him.

Once again, he woke up in a place that wasn't his room. He was once again in the hallway, but this time he was standing up.

"I woke up to get ready for practice and noticed you standing out here. When I called out to you, you didn't answer me back. You had this weird blank look on your face and you just stood here ignoring me even when I tried asking you what's wrong." Hayama explained, looking upset.

Kouki shook his head. "I'm sorry. I don't remember how I got here." That was all he could say.

Hayama looked at him incredulously. "You don't know how you got here? Did you sleepwalk or something?"

Kouki shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "I don't know."

The blond now looked worried as he took in the brunette's state. Kouki looked very haggard and the dark rings under his eyes showed that the omega couldn't have had much sleep lately.

"Furi, does this have anything to do with what happened yesterday? Kuroko told me about someone messing with your clothes and your two friends mentioned something about your shoes being thrown on the high beams." Hayama told him gently. "Does Akashi know that someone's bullying you?"

Kouki shook his head frantically at that. "No! Don't tell Sei about this. He has enough on his plate with your team training and I just don't want him to worry too much over me. And it's nothing that bad anyway- I'm only just a bit tired and someone MAY be playing a prank on me since yesterday's incidents could still be considered as unlucky accidents."

"But Furi..." Hayama started.

Kouki gave him a stern look. "Don't tell Sei anything. I'm fine. I'm just...having trouble sleeping is all." At the unsure look on the blonde's face, Kouki told him, "Okay, if anything else further happens, then I'll tell the coaches. But for now, I can handle things on my own."

Hayama looked at the brunette for another long minute being sighing and shaking his head. "Fine, I'll keep my mouth shut around Akashi and everyone else. But if anything more happens to you, the captain is definitely gonna be the first one I tell." Kouki thanked the older guy and assured him that everything would be fine.

Everything was not fine.

For the rest of the day, the feeling of watching eyes still lingered on Kouki, making him skittish and frantically looking around in paranoia at times.

And there were more incidents that had happened, but the difference to the previous days was that these incidents were much worser.

When Kouki opened the door to retrieve one of the basketballs from the equipment room, a large bucket of melted white chocolate spilled all over Kouki's head. Luckily, he was able to clean the mess up without anyone knowing (but Riko did assigned him five extra laps for taking too long).

Then, as Kouki was about to walk into the building to use the restroom, a large cooking pot was suddenly falling from the second floor and was aiming directly at Kouki's head. But the brunette had accidentally tripped over his shoes (he was still wearing Fukuda's shoes and they were a bit big for Kouki) and the pot ended up just missing Kouki's head by two inches. Once again, since no one was around to witness this incident, no one found out about it.

Unfortunately, on the third incident that occurred later that evening, he could no longer hide it anymore.

Takao gasped, eyes wide in horror and for once completely speechless.

"I'm getting the captain." Hayama immediately said, quickly going out to get Seijuurou.

"Furihata-kun, you look very pale. Come have a seat on my futon." Kuroko told him gently, directing the shocked omega to his futon.

Kouki's pillow and blanket had been torn to shreds. His futon was covered in rude writings and threats, saying things like "GET OUT OR DIE!" and "OMEGAS DON'T BELONG HERE!".

Kouki stared at his futon, his tired mind and body not really knowing how to process anything that was happening.

Kuroko and Takao looked at each other worriedly before trying to get their silent friend to talk to them.

After a few minutes, Hayama came back to the room, together with Seijuurou and surprisingly all of the redhead's roommates as well.

"Kouki!" Seijuurou rushed into the room and immediately embraced his mate, glancing at the ruined futon before focusing his attention on his frozen omega.

"Oh my..." Mibuchi's hands flew up to his mouth as he looked horrified at the futon.

"Who the fuck did this?!" Kagami demanded, pissed.

"We need to inform the coaches about this." Midorima told them, frowning deeply at the scene before him.

"No!" Kouki immediately yelled, shrinking back a bit as all eyes were suddenly on him. Blushing at his outburst, Kouki hid his face into his alpha's chest and explained, "I don't think we should bother the coaches about this. It's not that much of a big deal anyway..." He words were slightly muffled but everyone could still understand him.

"Not a big deal?!" Kagami choked. "Someone literally wrote that you should die, Furi! I think that's a pretty big deal to me!" He pointed sharply at the ruined futon.

"Tai-chan's right, Kou-chan." Mibuchi said gently as he sat on the other side of Kouki and gave the brunette a one-armed hug. "It's sounds like someone has something against you and based on this, they're very serious."

Kouki moved slightly away from his boyfriend as he looked around the room. All his friends were looking at him with degrees varying from furious to worried. He felt completely awful. "...Okay." He sighed in defeat.

Everyone also sighed in relief as Seijuurou helped his mate up from Kuroko's futon.

But everything once again went into chaos when Kouki went to slip his foot into one of his house slippers and immediately pulled it out, shouting loudly.

"Kouki!" Seijuurou yelled in panic, grabbing hold of his mate when the omega almost fell over.

"Owwww!" Kouki groaned, his eyes shut in pain as he crouched down.

Seijuurou helped his boyfriend to sit on the floor, glaring at the others to keep their distance as they started to crowd to close to the pair. "What's wrong, Kouki?" Seijuurou demanded, watching in horror as his mate started to sniffle.

Kouki shook his head, one hand clutching onto his foot. "My foot...it hurts, Sei." He sobbed, the pain in his foot was so sudden and together with the omega's already exhausted mind and body, Kouki couldn't help but finally break down.

Seijuurou quickly examined his mate's foot, carefully removing the other's hand to get a better look and indeed the omega's foot was covered in tiny pinpricks with blood seeping out of each hole.

"What the-" Hayama cursed, seeing the blood.

"Someone sabotaged Furihata's slippers. Look here." Everyone turned and saw Midorima holding up one of Kouki's slippers. The green-haired shooter turned the slipper upside down and tiny little thumbtacks poured out onto his hand.

"There's some in here too." Kuroko added, checking the other slipper and finding tacks in it.

Seijuurou's eyes flashed a dangerous dark red in absolute fury. Someone was harming his mate, and the alpha would make sure he would find out who they were and get retribution.

At the sobs coming from his omega, Seijuurou immediately snapped out of his anger and decided to focus on what needed to be done first and foremost. "I'll bring Kouki to the infirmary to get treated. Tetsuya and Reo you go inform the coaches about everything- including Kouki's past incidents. The rest of you clean up this room, get a new futon for Kouki and then go around the camp and as discreetly as possible, try to get some information or clues as to who could be behind all this." The redhead commanded, his alpha pheromones making the tension in the air very high and tight, almost suffocating everyone except Kouki whose omega's senses were practically leeching onto everything from his alpha.

Everyone went to follow the redhead's orders as Seijuurou gently lifted his mate into his arms and carried him to the infirmary. Kouki was still crying softly, hiding his face into the other's neck as he tried to take in his alpha's scent to calm him down.

The infirmary doctor gasped when she saw the couple. Seijuurou sat them both onto one of the empty beds and refused to let Kouki leave his arms. The doctor, knowing it not be wise to try to separate an aggravated alpha from their bond mate, worked around the redhead and focused on cleaning and treating Kouki's wounds.

When Kouki's foot was nicely bandaged, the doctor gave permission to let Seijuurou stay together in the room with Kouki as she had to step out for a while to buy more medication and medical supplies in town.

When the couple were finally alone in the room, Seijuurou laid them both onto the bed, sighing as his omega cuddled up with him and clutched tightly to his mate. "Kouki, please tell me everything that has happened during this camp. And I mean EVERYTHING." Seijuurou told his mate, gently, running his fingers soothingly through the other's messy hair.

Kouki had stopped crying since they arrived at the infirmary and he found himself extremely tired. Trying to keep his eyes from shutting, he quietly told his boyfriend everything that had happened, starting from the old lady's scary story and warning to every single incident that had occurred in the camp. Seijuurou listened to the other's explanation, keeping his bond mate in his arms as he rubbed the other's back for comfort.

"Have you ever seen that little boy during this camp? While you were awake?" Seijuurou asked when the brunette told him about the dreams he'd been having.

Kouki was relieved that his boyfriend sounded like he believed him, not thinking the omega crazy for having weird dreams and being paranoid about feeling someone watching him these past few days. "I think I have- sometime during the second day I thought I saw him but he ran away before I could really be sure."

The redhead furrowed his eyebrows. "Do you think he might have something to do with all these incidents?" Seijuurou was not a believer in the make-believe or anything involving the supernatural, but he believed in his mate and he knew it wouldn't be wise for him to just cross out something just because of how unlikely and farfetched it seemed.

The omega shook his head. "No. I think he's connected but I don't think he's the one threatening me- I feel like his intentions are good."

"And this child has told you that some woman is after you because she holds a grudge towards omegas?" Seijuurou inquired.

Kouki yawned, feeling very sleepy as he nuzzled his nose into the other's neck. "Yes. But I don't know who she is or why she would hate me."

Feeling the exhaustion radiating from his mate, Seijuurou decided to let the other rest. "Go to sleep, Kouki. The others and I will figure this out and I will make sure that no one will get to you. I'll do everything in my power to protect you, no matter what." He vowed.

Kouki yawned again, letting his eyes close. "I'm sorry for all of this, Sei. And I know that as long as you're with me, everything will be okay. I love you."

Seijuurou smiled as he gave his mate a soft kiss on his forehead. "I Iove you too. Sweet dreams."

After the brunette had fallen asleep, Seijuurou continued to stay awake, rubbing soothing circles onto his mate's back as he contemplated how to deal with the situation.

After a few minutes, Seirin's coach appeared at the door, with Mibuchi and Kuroko behind her. "How's Furihata?" Riko demanded, looking intimidating for someone wearing a light pink camisole and matching shorts with cute kittens printed all over.

Seijuurou put a finger on his lips as he looked down pointedly at the sleeping omega. Riko covered her mouth as she nodded, gesturing for him to take their conversation outside.

Giving his mate a soft kiss, Seijuurou promised the sleeping brunette that he would be right back.

When Seijuurou left the room, he saw that everyone else were there as well, including Seirin's captain, Hyuuga and point guard, Izuki.

"What's this I hear about someone bullying Furihata?" Hyuuga demanded, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Is Furi okay?" Izuki asked, for once not in the mood to make any puns. "I noticed how jumpy he's been since yesterday but I didn't bring it up. I knew I should have said something." The point guard scolded quietly to himself.

"Don't blame yourself, Shun. I noticed something was off with Furi this morning but I didn't say anything neither. I should have though." Hayama told his boyfriend, wrapping an arm around the other and giving a squeeze. Izuki gave him a small smile in return.

"Kouki is resting right now. He's told me that he hasn't been able to sleep well at all during this camp." Seijuurou then proceeded to tell the small group everything that the omega had told him had happened since arriving at the training center.

"I knew something was off with him since the second day, but just chalked it up with how fidgety Furihata usually is." Riko berated herself with her foolishness. "The other two coaches are in town, buying ingredients and supplies for the barbecue that we were all going to surprise you three teams with tomorrow for the final day here. So I'm the one who's been put in charge. Do you have any idea on who could be behind this, Akashi?"

Seijuurou sighed. "I have been thinking about it, but I'm not quite certain since I know no one who would have any grudges towards Kouki." His mate, though shy and gets very nervous, was so kindhearted and friendly with everyone. It was hard to imagine who could hate the male omega.

"Maybe it was that girl from the story? Maybe her ghost has come back to haunt Furi?" Hayama suggested, looking worried.

"Don't be ridiculous- there's no such things as ghosts!" Hyuuga snorted.

"What are you talking about, you have a ghost right on your team!" Hayama argued, gesturing towards Kuroko.

Kuroko gave the blonde an unamused look. "That's rude, Hayama-kun." As Hayama's apology, the blunette continued. "Whether it is indeed something supernatural or not, I believe it wise that we leave all options open. But for now, let's focus on who could have caused all of those incidents involving Furihata-kun. Is there anyone from the three teams here that may dislike Furihata-kun or omegas in general?"

"Everyone on our team loves Kou-chan! He's such a sweetheart and everyone just adores the treats that he usually brings when he comes to visit Rakuzan." Mibuchi gushed.

"And everyone knows that whenever Furi's around, the captain is always in a better mood and none of us wants to mess that up." Hayama added. He didn't mention the fact that none of his teammates would ever want to face the wrath of their captain if any poor soul ever did try to mess with the brunette. But that went without saying.

"It's definitely no one from Seirin neither. We're like a big family and no one would ever try to harm anyone." Hyuuga insisted.

Kagami nodded. "That's right. We don't mess with our own. So that just leaves us with..." Everyone looked towards the only pair from the third team.

"Eh?" Takao looked at them like a deer caught in headlights.

"That's preposterous. Our team wouldn't sink so low as to bully another player." Midorima told them, looking disgusted at the mere thought.

"Are you sure about that?" Kagami questioned, narrowing his eyes.

"What are you trying to say?" Midorima demanded.

"Well, your team is the most suspicious at the moment." Kagami pointed out. "Both Seirin and Rakuzan are used to Furi. But your team isn't used to having an omega around and well...are you really sure no one on your team may have something against omegas?"

"And there is a prime suspect on your team as well." Izuki added, making everyone look towards him.

"What do mean?" Hayama asked, looking curiously at his boyfriend.

Izuki bit his lip. "I thought about it and well...based on what we've heard, the person who's behind all these attacks had to be near Furi during those times. And based on certain incidents like the taking of Furi's clothes and destroying his futon...wouldn't the culprit be someone who was staying in the same room as him?"

"And since it can't be from Rakuzan or Seirin, that just leaves..." Mibuchi covered his mouth as all eyes turned towards a certain dark-haired hawk-eyed player.

Takao choked. "You think it was me?"

Before Takao could splutter anything out, Midorima immediately stood protectively in front of his basketball partner and sent everyone a deathly glare. "No. That's the most ridiculous accusation I've heard all day."

"But Midorima-kun..." Riko started but stopped at the fierce look the green-haired beta shot her.

"Takao may be many things, but I know that he's not the type of person to harm another. He jokes around with others and likes to tease, but at the end of the day, he truly is the most caring and kind-hearted person out of all of us here. And I refuse to just stand by and let you all falsely accuse him of this ludicrous crime. It's utter blasphemy!" Midorima told them all heatedly.

Takao was near tears at the other's words, his hand slowly reaching up to grip the taller's boy's sleeve during the rant. "Shin-chan..." Takao said softly.

Midorima looked down at the shorter man, anger still present on his face. "I believe that you didn't do it, Takao. I would willingly go against Oha Asa himself just to prove your innocence." He assured his basketball partner.

Takao had a small smile on his face, blinking away the tears that were threatening to fall. "Thank you, Shin-chan." Maybe his friends were right and the green-haired shooter really did like Takao after all?

"I believe in Takao-kun too. I do not see him capable of harming others, let alone Furihata-kun." Kuroko added in his own opinion, looking at them all with an expression that was still blank but had some sternness behind it.

"Me too!" Hayama seconded it, nodding his head. "Takao's a good guy! And he's also Vice-president of the Omega Protection Squad!" He gave Takao a wink. "Us guys gotta stick together, hm?"

Takao grinned at his two roommates, nodding. "Yeah." He paused. "Wait, why am I only the vice-president?"

Hayama grinned. "Because I'm already President and since you're also one of the leaders in the squad, you get the important position of vice-president."

"And since when did we elect you as president?" Takao frowned.

Hayama smirked. "We don't need elections. I took the initiative of appointing myself of this position since 1) I founded this organization in the first place, and 2) I'm the oldest, and last 3) I am also blonde."

Takao sighed. "I can't fight that logic. Okay, I'll be vice-president."

"Omega Protection Squad?" Mibuchi asked his teammate unsurely, raising an eyebrow.

Hayama grinned as he gave the taller beta a thumbs up. "Long story- I'll tell you all about it later. And for others that are interested in joining, we have unlimited space available so you can turn in your registration form towards our secretary, Kuroko! But the leader positions are limited so enroll as soon as possible!"

Takao turned towards Seijuurou, who had been quiet during the entire conversation and gave him a serious look as he went back to the main topic. "Akashi, I promise that it wasn't me who has been messing with Furi. I swear my life on it."

Seijuurou studied Takao for a moment before slowly giving a nod. "I do not believe you to be the kind of person who would cause any of these incidents. And furthermore, I trust in Shintarou's, Tetsuya's and Kotarou's opinions. If they say that you did not do this, then I'll trust in their judgements for now."

Takao sighed a breathe of relief and grinned up at his green-haired basketball partner. Midorima looked down at him and surprised the hawk-eyed player with a small smile of his own.

After all of this was over, Takao was definitely going to confess his feelings to his Shin-chan.

Hyuuga sighed as he threw his hands in the air. "Okay, so Takao didn't do it. Now what? Is there any other people that we can suspect?"

Seijuurou sighed as he looked at the group. "I do agree with Izuki-san's statement that the person behind these attacks has to be someone who was nearby Kouki at the time. Because of this, I do not believe it could be a fellow player- merely because every player in this camp has been busy conducting their own training schedules which I believe are more than enough to keep any time they have occupied."

Mibuchi looked at his captain with wide eyes. "Sei-chan, so you're saying that the person who's behind all these attacks has to be someone who's not a player, hence doesn't have any training to do and is free to set up all these traps?"

Seijuurou nodded gravely at his vice captain. "Correct. Minus the players at this camp, that only leaves us with the coaches and managers." The redhead paused when he heard Riko gasp and saw Kagami's expression suddenly tightened. "What?" He demanded.

Riko looked at Kagami and the tall redhead shook his head in disbelief. She turned towards Seijuurou with a pained expression on her face. "Actually, I may know someone who matches exactly what you've just said..."

☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ

Kouki opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was a white ceiling.

The brunette found himself lying in bed. He wasn't in his room but in the infirmary. Kouki frowned a bit as he realized that his mate was not beside him like he had been before the brunette had fallen asleep.

Yawning, Kouki sat up in bed before suddenly freezing. He wasn't the only one in the room.

Slowly looking up, at the left corner of his bed sat a young man, around his mid-twenties. He had messy brown hair similar to his own, but his eyes were very dark, almost black even.

Kouki squeaked as he brought his blanket up towards his chin, shivering as he looked in fright at the young man.

The man didn't look very threatening though and he gave Kouki a gentle smile as he opened his mouth. "Please do not be scared, child. I am not hear to harm you, I promise. I just wanted to talk to you."

Feeling the genuine kindness for the older male, Kouki shivering slowly stopped, though he still help up his blanket. "A-Am I dreaming r-right n-now?" He wanted to make sure.

The young man chuckled. "I'm quite certain you are. But I will say that I am very much real at the moment."

Kouki nodded. "Okay. Um...can I know your name?"

"My name is Kishiyama Takahiro. Please call me Takahiro." The young man replied.

Kouki introduced himself as well, since it was the polite thing to do. "My name is Furihata Kouki. What did you want to talk with me about, Takahiro-san?"

Takahiro stood from the bed and Kouki was surprised when the older man bowed down deeply to him. "I wanted to apologize greatly for everything that has happened to you these past few days."

Kouki blinked a few times before hesitatingly saying, "Were you the one behind all the accidents?"

Takahiro straightened up before sighing. "Not exactly. But I am the one to blame for your misfortunes."

Kouki was confused as he sat up more comfortedly in his bed, his blanket lowered into his lap. "Um, can you explain to me exactly what is going on? From the beginning please?"

Takahiro smiled wearily at him as he nodded, once more taking a seat ontop the bed. "Alright. You do deserve an explanation after all. Well, for starters, I know that Genki has been bothering you and for that, again I apologize for his behavior. Like his name, my son can be very energetic and always wants to play with others."

The omega blinked. "Your son?" He looked thoughtful for a couple of seconds before he gasped. "Wait, you mean that little boy that's been in my dreams? He's your son?" Now that he looked closely, the little boy had obviously inherited his hair from his father.

Takahiro nodded, a fond smile on his face. "Yes. He's quite a handful but I love him very much. He's my world."

Kouki shook his head. "No need to apologize for him- he didn't cause me trouble. Much. But anyway, I want to ask you something. Genki-kun has always told me that some woman is seeking me out and wants to...k-kill me. Do you know who this w-woman is?" The brunette asked, stuttering a bit at the end.

Takahiro's face darken at this as he clenched his fist in his hand. "Yes. I know her. May I tell you my story? The true story? I promise all of this will make much more sense. Do you remember the story you've heard when you were in town?"

Kouki nodded. He remembered the story and never once could he forget it, no matter how much he wished he could.

"Well, the story has its inaccuracies. You see, the lovers in that story did not intentionally want to commit suicide together by drowning in the river- it was all an accident."

Kouki's jaw dropped. "Really? What really happened then?"

Takahiro sighed. "The lovers only wanted to run away, go to hiding into another town and live their lives together in peace. But in order to get to the town, they needed to cross the river first. But it was raining very hard that night, the river waters were very dangerous and the ground became very slippery and...well, you can imagine what had happened." Takahiro looked pained at this.

Kouki was silent for a minute before quietly saying, "You were the man in that story, weren't you? You were the omega male from that rich family that fell in love with the cook's daughter?"

Takahiro gave a small smile. "Sayaka was the love of my life and forever will be my love, even in this afterlife."

Kouki gulped as he slowly asked, "When she died and you lived...why didn't you follow her? In the story, they say you ended up marrying the rich girl that your family wanted you too."

Takahiro had a distant look in his eyes as he sadly replied, "I wanted to. With every fiber of my being, I wanted to follow my Sayaka into the next life. But...when I woke up days after from the accident...I found out that I was pregnant."

Kouki gasped. "With your son Genki?"

The older omega nodded. "Yes. And when I found out about my pregnancy, everything had changed. I couldn't just end my life because it wasn't only my life anymore. From that moment I vowed to give mine and Sayaka's child the best life I could. And in order to do that, I needed my family's help for that. And they would only help me if I follow their orders- which was to marry that Maria woman."

Kouki nodded his heart hurting for the older man. He then asked something that has been on his mind since he first heard the story, "In the story, they said that there was a fire that destroyed the mansion and everyone in it. Was it really an accident? They say that it was Sayaka-san's ghost that caused it as revenge for you marrying someone else."

Takahiro shook his head fervently at that, looking upset. "Those people have no idea what they are saying. My Sayaka was a sweet woman who couldn't hurt a fly. But, I will say that they were correct that fire was indeed not an accident. The person who had caused the fire was my 'wife', Maria." He spat out the name in disgust.

"Why?" Kouki asked, horrified.

The older omega grimaced as he answered, "Maria was a very greedy woman. When we first married, we agreed that it would be a purely platonic arranged marriage for only business. Maria was fine with this as long as she got access to my wealth.

"Then one night, she found out that if anything were to happen to me, then all my property and wealth will go to my son as default. Maria was infuriated when she learned that she would get nothing and she ended up setting the entire place on fire, in hopes of getting rid of my son and I, leaving everything to her.

"But I suppose divine intervention played its role and Maria got caught up in the flames as well. Till this day, her vengeful spirit is also here with us."

Kouki gulped, feeling the sweat rolling down his back. "So what you're trying to tell me is that the person who wants to kill me is your ex wife Maria?"

Takahiro nodded. "Maria has a grudge against omegas because of me- she hated how I never bent down to her wishes and got rid of my Genki. She hated children, you see? And since you are also a male omega, I'm afraid that she has targeted you now that she knows that you're here."

Kouki panicked. "How does she know that I'm here? Is it because of the cookies I threw out before? But I don't remember baking them!"

The older brunette looked remorseful as he confessed, "I'm sorry, Kouki-kun. The one who baked those cookies were me."

Kouki's eyes widened at that. "What? But how?"

"For some reason, I am able to take over your body- it must be because you are also a male omega. It's been for so long since I've been able to bake anything....the temptation was too great." He had a wistful look on his face before he shook his head and bowed down to Kouki. "Because of my carelessness, Maria was able to find the cookies which linked her to you. I'm truly very sorry."

Kouki couldn't help but twitch, looking around the room as if he would suddenly find himself face-to-face with Maria. "So what am I supposed to do now? How can we stop Maria-san?" No matter how terrified he felt, Kouki couldn't just sit around and wait for some evil ghost to kill him. He still had his friends, his family and importantly Sei to live for.

Takahiro furrowed his eyebrows. "I know that Maria is still here, but I'm not too sure where exactly. Over the years, I've thought that if I could somehow reunite once more with Sayaka, then we could somehow lure Maria's spirit out and banish her altogether. But I have not been able to leave this building ever." He admitted.

Kouki looked surprised at that. "Sayaka-san is still here as well?"

Takahiro smiled sadly at that. "I'm not too sure, but I can still feel her presence. I think she's still roaming around where the river used to be. I don't think that she has moved on either."

"So in order to get rid of Maria-san, we need to somehow get you out of here and to the dried up river where Sayaka-san MAY be there and then that would lure Maria out and then...what? How exactly do we get rid of Maria-san once she shows up?" Kouki inquired.

Takahiro was quiet for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. "I'm not too sure." Kouki sweatdropped at that. "But I'm sure we'll figure it out once the time comes."

Kouki sighed. "Okay. I guess our main priority is how do we get you out of here? You can just go through the walls or something?"

Takahiro shook his head. "If it were only so easy. I've tried so many times but there's been some type of barrier preventing me from leaving."

Kouki was silent for a few minutes as he thought of a plan. Then suddenly it hit him and he quickly looked at Takahiro with wide eyes. "Wait, I think I have an idea..."

☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ

"Kouki/Kou-chan/Furi/Furihata/Furihata-kun?!"

Multiple voices sounded in the room, all of them in ranging from upset to shock to panicking.

When Seijuurou had opened the door to check on his mate, he was horrified to find the bed where the brunette had been sleeping on to be empty. Everyone was now searching the room, trying to find where the omega could have disappeared to.

"Akashi-kun, look." Kuroko pointed to the window which was opened all the way. "I think that Furihata-kun may have gone through here."

Seijurou gritted his teeth in anger. "But Kouki wouldn't do such a thing. Why would he try to leave without telling any of us?"

Hayama nodded. "Yeah, besides Furi hates scary things like the dark and stuff. There's no way he would willingly go out there, especially alone."

"But what if he wasn't alone...and it wasn't willingly." Izuki pointed out, the eagle-eyed boy's face filled with panic.

Seijuurou's face darkened at the thought of someone smuggling his mate outside in order to harm the brunette. The redhead let out a menacing growl that had everyone in the room shiver and recoil in fear. He was going to kill the person who dare harm his Kouki.

Riko and Kagami came back into the room at that moment, panting as they had ran to the dorms and back at full speed. "Tae-chan's not in her room!" Riko shouted, her face full of anger and betrayal at what this insinuated.

The Seirin coach had become close with the Shuutoku manager during the camp- they were the only girls present and they always spent a lot of time cooking together. To think, someone who she had thought of to be her friend could have been the person attacking one of her players and close friends....it was downright sickening.

"But we don't know if it really was Tae-san." Kagami pointed out, looking very upset. "She could be out using the restroom or something?"

"No one should be out of their rooms at this time." Hyuuga said strictly, his face also showing the worry and anger at the situation. He hated the feeling of helplessness when it came to something happening to one of his teammates.

"But..." Kagami scrunched his eyebrows, frowning.

Kuroko looked at his basketball partner with observing eyes. "Kagami-kun, you look unusually upset at the thought of Ootsubo-san being the possible culprit. Do you have feelings for her?" He questioned.

Kagami spluttered, looking completely flabbergasted at the blunette. "Wha-?! No! What are you talking about Kuroko?! I only consider Tae-san as a friend!" He insisted.

"You call her by her first name?" Kuroko raised an eyebrow at the taller redhead.

"Furi does too. She asked the two of us to call her that after that first night when we cooked dinner." Kagami defended.

Kuroko looked at his friend's blushing hot face and remembered seeing the 'special connection' that only the blunette could see between his friend and the Shuutoku manager during the camp. But he decided to let it go for now since there were more pressing matters on hand. "Where should we search to find Furihata-kun?" He questioned the rest of the group.

Seijuurou's face with still dark with anger, making everyone wary. "Where does the windows in the infirmary lead up to?" He demanded.

Riko was the one to answer. "They lead up to the west area- behind the building." She remembered the layout of the entire camp, studying for suitable places for her team to train and wanting to be aware of everything around them.

"Behind the building?" Takao repeated, eyes wide. "Isn't that where the girl drowned in that story? The river was supposed to be in the back of the building, right?"

Hayama jaw dropped, eyes widening in revelation. "That's right! My god, what if that lady got a hold of Furi and brought him there to die?!"

Mibuchi gasped, covering his mouth with his hands. "Oh my god! We have to save Kou-chan!!!"

Midorima rolled his eyes. "You are not all seriously thinking that a ghost is behind all of this?" But as he said this, the green-haired beta's hands were clenched tightly at his sides.

"We must keep all possibilities open." Kuroko reminded him. "And if all this is indeed the play of something supernatural, we must be prepared."

"I got salt." Hayama announced, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a large handful of salt packets that came with the bentos they had during the camp.

"Ah! So it was you who was stealing all the salt!" Mibuchi scolded. He and Seijuurou had been questioning why some of the bentos that had the salt packets missing from them.

"Good job! As expected of the president of the Omega Protection Squad!" Takao gave him a thumbs up.

"Kota, why do you have all that salt in the first place?" Izuki asked his boyfriend, looking at one of the packets himself.

"Ever since me and the guys told scary stories that first night at the camp, I been stocking up on salt, just in case." Hayama explained.

"That's great and all, but how exactly are you going to use it? I mean, are you planning on opening each packet one by one and throwing it at the evil spirit?" Izuki asked, watching the realization dawn on the blonde's face. "Ah, but if you throw in some AA batteries as well, that's what I call 'A salt and battery'!" Izuki's eyes lit up as he pulled out his trusty pun book and wrote down his pun, dodging Hyuuga's head kick at the same time.

Hayama was too distracted to even laugh at his boyfriend's pun as he cursed at his mistake. "Crap! I hadn't thought of that! Does anyone have a container where I can pour all this salt in?"

"I think Shin-chan does!" Takao called out.

"Fool! I have no such thing!" Midorima hissed at him.

But his teammate ignored him and dug into his pocket, pulling out the shooter's eyeglass case. "Here, use this!" He grinned, ignoring his teammates protests.

"Are you sure it'll be enough?" Mibuchi questioned, looking unsure as he watched the blond began ripping the packets and pouring salt in the case.

"As long as we have a good handful of salt, it should be enough." Kuroko informed them.

"Ne Kuroko, do you know how exorcise a ghost, by any chance?" Takao asked, eyes sparkling. He had a feeling the Seirin shadow was the type of person to know these kinds of things.

Kuroko nodded, his face blank. "At Teiko, there was a large variety of books available in the library. One of the books I borrowed had a very interesting content inside. From it, I learned how to perform Kuji-Goshin-Ho, a ritual that consists of chanting nine words of power while making revelant hand signs before shouting additional words and throwing an ofuda scroll (charms, wards, or scriptures that usually bear the name of a God) at the evil spirit." He told them all calmly.

Kagami blinked. "Wait...you studied exorcism while you were in middle school?"

Kuroko looked unfazed at the disturbed tone in his basketball partner's voice. "Yes. During my third year."

Midorima was also flabbergasted by this. "Wait, you weren't planning on using it on one of us...were you?"

Kuroko face stayed completely blank, though there was something a bit off if you looked carefully. "........of course not."

"Liar! Then why did you pause?" Midorima shouted.

"Okay, okay, let's move on, shall we?" Takao cut in, for once being the person to stop any conflicts from happening.

Kuroko looked towards the hawk-eyed player and added, "I've never actually practiced it in real life, but I'm sure there's a first time for everything. But I do need an ofuda scroll for the ritual."

Takao nodded as he reached into his squawking partner's other pocket and pulled out said scroll. "You mean like this?"

Kuroko nodded, taking the scroll. "That's perfect."

"Why do you have an ofuda scroll in your pocket?" Kagami now looked at the green-haired beta weirdly.

Midorima scowled. "It's my lucky item for today."

Hyuuga raised an eyebrow at that. "What a coincidence."

Kagami shivered. "It's creepy. Your Oha Asa is scarily accurate."

"Eto..." Everyone faced Izuki, who was looking suddenly apprehensive.

"What is it, babe?" Hayama looked at his boyfriend worriedly.

"I've just realized something- where is Akashi-kun and Coach?" Izuki asked.

Everyone froze as they looked around and to their horror, the Rakuzan captain and the Seirin coach was indeed missing.

"What the?! Don't tell me the ghost got to them too!" Hyuuga yelled, worried more for their coach than the redheaded captain.

"Nooo! Not Sei-chan!" Mibuchi wailed.

"We'll need more salt then!" Hayama shouted, furiously tearing through more packets.

"Um...I saw them leave." Kuroko started, causing everyone's attention to go on him. "As soon as Coach told Akashi-kun where the infirmary windows led, he immediately ran off with Coach following right behind him."

Everyone was quiet as they let that information sink in. Suddenly, everything was thrown into chaos as they shouted in unison,

"KUROKO!!! YOU SHOULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING EARLIER!!!"

☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ

Kouki stopped walking as he finally made it to his destination. He looked sadly at where the river had once been. Now, it was all dried up, not even a drop of water left.

Sighing as he looked wearily at the now dirt filled trail before him, he lifted his face and called out loudly, "I know that you're there. I already sensed you following me since I came to this forest."

He heard the crinkling of the leaves and listened as footsteps slowly walked out, stopping a few feet away from him. Taking in a deep breath, Kouki turned around and faced the other.

"You don't look surprise at all to see me. I expected someone as nervous and weak as you to yell and cry in fright." Ootsubo Tae smirked. "How boring."

Kouki crossed his arms across his chest as he observed the woman in front of him. "Why are you doing this?"

Tae giggled as she slowly walked up to him until she was only a foot away. "I've already made my intentions very clear, haven't I? But I guess I'll just have to repeat myself once more, you little dim-witted omega rubbish." The omega froze when she slowly leaned forward until her lips were an inch from his ear and she whispered, "Because all omegas are merely wastes of space on this planet. And as such, I am merely doing the world a favor by making sure every single one of you DIE!"

Kouki quickly dodged the sharp kitchen knife that was suddenly thrust at him, the deadly blade just centimeters away from his left eye.

Tae screamed as she thrust the knife again, aiming towards the omega's face. The next minutes was spent with Kouki nearly dodging each of Tae attacks as the beta aimed her knife towards his face, body, legs and arms.

Shrieking in frustration, Tae made a sudden diagonal slicing motion and Kouki yelled in pain as her knife successfully hit his left shoulder. "Shit!" He yelled, grabbing at his shoulder.

Tae shrieked gleefully at the blood that started to ooze out of the wound. She quickly used the opening and managed to make cuts on Kouki's right cheek as well. "Die, omega!"

"KOUKI!" Suddenly Tae was tackled by a large body, ramming her into one of the trees. She groaned as pain shot up her back and head where it hit the tree trunk.

"Kouki!" Seijuurou yelled again, leaving the Shuutoku manager and rushing towards his mate who was standing a few feet away, staring at them with shocked eyes. "Are you okay? You're bleeding!" The redhead shouted worriedly, taking a look at his mate's bloody shoulder and cheek.

Kouki was silent as he watched the alpha rip a strip of cloth from his own shirt and used it to stop the bleeding from his shoulder. "Kouki? Does it hurt badly? Are you in shock? You're not saying anything." Seijuurou frowned at the quietness of his mate. Usually the brunette would be having a panic attack right now. But Kouki was still quiet, his attention on the woman behind him.

"You bastard!" Tae spat, getting up and making sure her weapon was firmly in her hold. She aimed the knife toward the couple before her. "I'll kill you along with that dirty omega!"

"Like hell I'll let that happen!" Coach Riko suddenly barged into the scene and body slammed right into the Shuutoku manager.

"Argh! You-" Tae was cut off when one of Riko's fists was aiming towards her. The manager quickly dodged the attack and lifted up her knife, aiming it at the Seirin coach. "I'll kill you first then!" Tae screamed.

"You can try but," Riko dodged another hit before successfully placing a punch onto the girl's stomach. "I doubt you'll be able to. But please, feel free to come at me." Riko dodged the knife again before bending down and tackling her onto the ground, making the surprised girl drop her knife as they landed with a thud.

The two girl fumbled on the ground as the Seirin coach tried to pull the other into her Boston crab hold. But Tae managed to slip herself out of the Coach's hold and took hold of her knife once more. Tae flipped them over until she was on top and the Coach was under her.

Kouki made a move towards the girls before Seijuurou stopped him with a hand. The brunette looked up to see the redhead glaring at him. "Don't move even an inch from here." The alpha ordered him as he moved away.

Kouki stayed back, clutching onto his wrapped wound, as he watched the redhead run at an astonishingly fast speed to help the Seirin coach.

"I'll make sure you die more painfully than the others that I've killed!" Tae screamed, bring her knife down into the alpha's girl's face.

Riko cursed as she tried to move away unsuccessfully, shielding herself as she waited for the blow. When none came, she moved her arms and saw that Tae was no longer on her.

The Seirin coach looked to her right and her jaw dropped at the sight of Tae attacking the Rakuzan Captain now.

When Seijuurou dodged another stab made at him, he positioned himself and swiftly moved, making a clean punch directly at the Shuutoku's manager's stomach.

"Ugh...." Tae grunted, dropping her knife and holding her stomach. She watched, scorned, as the redhead quickly used his foot to maneuver the fallen knife away from her and slid it to Riko who hurriedly grabbed it. The redhead then crouch down and swiftly kick out Tae's legs from under her, making her tumble onto the ground.

When the Rakuzan captain came close to restrain the girl, Tae suddenly kicked out her leg, making the captain dodge at the last minute. Taking this moment, she quickly stood back up, glaring wildly at them all. "Such a rude boy. Hadn't your mother ever told you it's impolite to hit a lady?" She spat the blood that was dripping out of her mouth from the punch, sneering at him.

"Well, hasn't your mother ever told you it's impolite and downright insane to kill people?" Riko said in a mocking tone, holding up the knife at her.

"It's because you're a 'girl' that I only used one-fourth of my actual strength." Seijuurou told the beta, body still in a defensive stance in case of any more surprise attacks.

Before Tae could reply back, there was the sound of footsteps coming towards them.

"The sounds were coming from here!"

"Dammit Coach and Akashi! They shouldn't have gone off on their own!"

"Ack! The salt is spilling! Wait a second!"

"Ah. Everyone, I see them."

"Hold on Furi! The Omega Protection Squad is here!"

When the players finally caught up to them, they all froze in shock at the scene before them.

Kouki was holding onto his bloody shoulder and had a long gash that still had some blood dripping down his cheek. Seijuurou and Riko were in defensive stances, with a large knife in the coach's hand.

And what shocked them the most was the presence of one Ootsubo Tae who was standing before them, blood dripping down the side of her lip and glaring at everyone with an insane look in her eyes.

"Ootsubo-chan?" Takao gasped when he saw her. He was uncharacteristically speechless.

"Ootsubo-san..." Midorima looked pained and disgusted as he realized that the person behind all these attacks was from his own team.

Kagami gritted his teeth, glaring at the girl with anger mixed with hurt and betrayal. Ever since they had cooked together during that first night, the Seirin ace had built up a little crush on the Shuutoku manager. During the rest of the camp, they would bump into each other at random times and start talking about anything and everything (usually exchanging recipes) and they would laugh together during the redhead's breaks. But seeing what was before him...he felt incredibly sick. "So it was you who had been messing with Furi this entire time?" He uttered through clenched teeth.

But before Tae could open her mouth to answer, someone else replied instead. "No, it wasn't your manager."

Everyone froze and looked towards Kouki, who had been the one to speak up.

"What are you talking about Furihata?!" Riko yelled. "This bitch had been trying her best to kill all of us just now- including your own bond mate, you know?!"

Kouki shook his head, looking at them all with a strange stern expression on his face. "That woman there isn't your manager. Not now." Looking back at everyone's confused faces, he revealed to them the truth. "Your Ootsubo Tae is being possessed by an evil spirit right now. And that evil spirit belongs to no other than the person who I despise the most...my former wife, Maria."

Riko blanched at what the brunette just said. "What?!"

"You're former wife?!" Mibuchi gasped out in shock.

"What the hell are you talking about Furihata?!" Hyuuga demanded, looking at his fellow teammate like he was losing his mind.

Seijuurou stayed quietly as he listened to the others make their own exclaims in shock. When everyone quieted down, the redhead finally spoke. "It took me a few seconds to realize it, but who are you?" He asked, his tone deadly.

"Akashi-kun?" Kuroko asked out, everyone else looking towards the Rakuzan captain now.

But the Akashi heir didn't mind anyone as he kept his attention on his 'mate'. I can feel something was off with you. My Kouki is still here but you're not him right now." He gave the brunette a very dangerous glare that would bring lesser mortals on their knees. "Who are you and what did you do to my Kouki?"

Kouki gave him a weary smile as he gave a short bow to the alpha. "My name is Kishiyama Takahiro. Its a pleasure to meet all of you, but I wish it were under better circumstances."

Kuroko gave him an appraising look before speaking in sudden understanding. "You're the man from the story, am I right? You're the male omega whose lover died and remarried to another." The blunette sounded like he was stating it, not asking.

Takahiro nodded. "Yes. You are very observant."

"What have you done with Kouki?" Seijuurou demanded again, his gaze focused on the brunette.

"Your mate is here and safe. He wants to tell you to not worry, 'Sei'. He is alright." Takahiro assured the redhead. "It was with his permission that he had allowed me to possess his body in order to banish the evil in this camp. In fact, it was his idea in the first place. It is only temporary and I shall give him back to you after this is all over." He explained. Seijuurou gave him a curt nod, but he was still not relaxed since his mate was still not 'here'.

"Wait, so you're telling me that the ghost story was actually real?" Hayama asked, wanting to be sure.

Takahiro looked at him as he replied. "Some parts of the story were truth. But some of the facts seems to have been twisted as the years have gone by."

"Then tell us what's the truth then." Midorima spoke up. He was still reeling at the fact that ghosts indeed existed so he had stayed quiet for a while.

Takahiro nodded. "My lover, Sayaka, and I had indeed ran away from my mansion after our relationship was brought out into the light. But we had no intentions of suicide- the truth was that we got into an accident as we tried to cross the river and I ended up losing Sayaka. Later on, I found out that I was pregnant with our child." Riko and Mibuchi gasped at this.

The omega continued. "For my son, Genki's, sake I needed to lower my pride and ask my family for help in raising him. They agreed only if I married Maria." The brunette's face twisted into something the others had never seen the omega look before. "It was Maria who had set fire in the mansion, killing both my son and I because I wouldn't leave her with a single cent of my wealth in my will. Fortunately, she also got caught up in the fire and burned along with us."

"So the person in the wrong was not your lover, but your wife?" Izuki clarified to make sure.

Takahiro nodded. "Yes."

"Well that's screwed up." Hayama sighed, shaking his head.

As everyone was still taking in what they had just learned, they suddenly heard a small tinkle of laughter.

Everyone turned their heads in unison and remembered that 'Tae' (who was actually Maria) was still there, laughing as if she was just told the most funniest joke.

"So it's really you, Takahiro...." Maria grinned crazily, her focus on 'Kouki'. "You've finally come out of hiding, I see."

Takahiro glared at her. "You've been nothing but trouble. Stop tormenting these kids and get out of that poor girl's body."

Maria snorted. "You're one to say- you're also possessing that omega right now, are you not?"

"Yes, but unlike you, I have Furihata-kun's permission." Takahiro spat back.

Maria hummed as she took a step in the omega's position, making everyone on alert and more wary. "You know, I initially had wanted to possess the Seirin's coach's body- she was quite strong and held a lot of authority over everyone, despite her small chest size."

"WHAT?!" Riko yelled, bringing her knife up. Fortunately, Seijuurou managed to hold the Seirin coach back.

"But since she was an alpha, I was unable to do so, being a beta myself. So I had to settle for this girl here. It worked out in the end- since she was mostly in the background and no one really noticed her, it made things much easier for me to carry out my plans." Maria told him.

"Why are you after Furihata-kun? Is it truly because he is an omega?" Takahiro demanded.

Maria smiled. "Hmm...not in the beginning. Actually, I had no idea he was even an omega in the first place. I only noticed how much he resembled you- what with the hair and all. It made me sick just looking at him so I decided I would mess with him a bit." Maria sighed before smirking. "And then I found the special 'green tea cookies' and I realized that not only was the boy an omega, but that you were also involved. So of course, I had no choice but to kill him."

"You're fucking insane lady!" Hayama shouted.

Maria rolled her eyes. "Hmph. The youth nowadays have no manners. But no worries, I'm only after your omega friend. I'll let you all go...though you might be a bit worse for wear when you get back."

"Don't hurt any of my friends!" Everyone looked towards the brunette and realized that it was the real Kouki this time.

"Kouki..." Seijuurou said quietly, looking at his mate.

Kouki smiled at his mate before glaring back at Maria. "Don't you dare hurt any of them. This is just between you, me and Takahiro-san."

A glint shined in Maria's eyes as she gritted her teeth in anger. "You filthy omega...you dare order me around?!"

Kouki clenched his jaw and looked at her as if she were scum. "Yeah, I'm an omega. But I can't change that- just like how you can't change being a selfish, superficial, murdering bitch!"

That was what caused the final string in Maria's mind to break as she screamed and practically flew at Kouki at supernatural speed, tackling him to the ground as she wrapped her hands around his throat to strangle him.

Everyone shouted as the weather suddenly turned bad, a rain pouring down and the wind blowing wildly. Leaves and dirt flew around and some of the trees began falling.

"Watch out!" Hyuuga yelled, tackling Mibuchi down as a tree narrowly hit them.

"Shin-chan! I got Kuroko, help me get this off!" Takao yelled from under the branches of the tree that fell on both Takao and Kuroko. Thankfully, it was light so all they had were tiny scrapes and cuts.

"Takao, hold on! One-two-three!" Midorima hefted up the branches, urging the two to come out.

"Midorima-kun, duck!" Kuroko hurriedly warned. The green-haired shooter did and narrowly avoided being hit by a large tree branch that flew by.

"Kota! Are you alright?!" Izuki yelled, also taking cover as rocks and leaves flew around him.

"I'm fine, but captain and your coach got struck!" Hayama yelled, narrowly dodging another tree that fell.

Kouki tried to pry Maria's hands off him but when he heard Hayama's words he immediately looked in the direction his mate was in and saw Kagami trying to lift up a heavy tree that fell ontop both his alpha and coach.

Seeing his mate in danger, Kouki used whatever strength he had to lessen the girl's grip on his neck enough for him to shift his body and throw the crazy woman off him. Seeing her land with a satisfying thud, Kouki quickly got up, coughing from being choked and ran to help his mate and coach.

"Kagami!" Kouki yelled, grabbing some of the branches. From up close, he could see a hand with a knife slicing the branches from the inside. He recognized the hand as Seijuurou's.

Kagami nodded as he took the other part of the branches and shouted, "Let's lift it, okay? NOW!"

Both Kagami and Kouki lifted the tree, making way for the trapped two underneath. Hyuuga ran toward them to help out.

Seijuurou sliced through some of the vines to make an opening while Riko used her fists to crush away the leaves that got their way.

When they came out, Riko gasped when she was hugged by a relieved Hyuuga before he let go of her, both of them blushing as they looked away.

Kouki hugged his mate as soon as he saw him, both of them sharing a short but heated kiss. "Sei! You scared me!" Kouki cried, hugging the alpha. The redhead looked a bit worse for wear, but other than a few scrapes, he was fine.

Seijuurou sighed in relief as he finally had his mate (the REAL Kouki) in his arms. "Kouki, don't ever scare me like that again! Why did you leave the infirmary?"

Kouki looked a bit guilty before giving his mate a defiant look. "I needed to handle this personally. I wasn't going to just stay in bed and let you all handle everything- I'm not a weak, helpless maiden, you know. I can fight too."

Seijuurou gave a weary sigh before smiling fondly at the other. "As expected. And if I must add, even before we began dating and were only friends, I've never once thought that you were someone who was considered 'weak'."

"Okay, this is sweet and all, but that Maria chick is still trying to kill us!" Kagami cut in, making the pair look to see said woman in combat with Takao now.

"Yeah, bring it on you dead sack of bones! Is that all you got?" Takao egged her on, dodging her punches and kicks. He couldn't hit her back since she was still in his manager's body and that would just be wrong.

Maria growled as she managed to land a kick at his shin.

"Takao!" Midorima yelled when he heard his partner's groan in pain and fall to the ground.

"I'm fine! Just focus on getting Coach Aida and Mibuchi to safer ground!" Takao called back, rolling away as Maria was about to stomp on his leg. Midorima and Izuki were helping the two get to a much safer place, away from where the ritual will take place. Hyuuga and Kagami were now behind them, using large branches to whack away and block any flying objects that came their way. "Hayama!"

"I'm on my way!" Hayama shouted, running towards the two with the glasses' case in hand.

Takao took a hold of Maria's leg and pulled her down. Catching her off guard, the hawk-eyed player quickly grabbed her from behind, holding her down as she struggled to get out of his grasp. "Kuroko, you ready?"

Kuroko appeared besides Hayama, making the blond jump in surprise, and nodded. "Yes, let us begin."

Opening the glasses' case and grabbing a big fistful of salt, Hayama went towards the struggling Maria and yelled out in a clear and straight tone, "Evil spirit, DISPERSE!" Making sure the salt hit the girl's face and body, Hayama watched as Maria screamed in pain, her struggling worsening.

Everyone gasped as they saw a dark, black shadow separate slightly from Tae's body before pulling itself back in again. The dark shadow kept coming in and out, fighting to not be separated with its host body.

"Help!" Takao shouted, his grasp weakening as the girl's struggles became stronger. Hayama quickly threw the rest of the salt on her before going to help Takao. Both Hayama and Takao were on both sides of the screaming girl and held her down using their entire bodies.

"Kuroko, now!" Hayama yelled, panting as the girl struggled harder.

"Aaaahhhhhhh!" Maria screamed, her eyes an eerie black.

Kuroko took a deep breath as he concentrated his mind and began the mantra.

He put his hands together and interlocked his fingers. His index fingers were raised and pressed together. "Rin臨."

Hands together, pinkies and ring fingers interlocked (often on the inside). Index finger and thumb raised and pressed together, middle fingers cross over index fingers and their tips curl back to touch the thumbs' tips, the middle-fingers' nails touching. "Pyō兵."

Hands together, index fingers cross each other to touch opposite ring fingers, middle fingers crossed over them. Ring and pinky fingers are straight. Tips of ring fingers pressed together, tips of pinkies pressed together, but both sets of ring and pinky fingers are separated to form a V shape or bird beak. "Tō闘."

Hands together, ring fingers cross each other to touch opposite index fingers, middle fingers crossed over them. Index finger, pinky and thumb straight, like American Sign Language "I love you". "Sha者."

"NO!" Maria screamed, kicking out and managing to loosen the two boys hold on her.

"Shit!" Hayama cursed, trying to tighten his hold.

"Dammit- we're only halfway through!" Takao shouted, trying to keep Maria down.

When Maria was almost out of they're grasps, suddenly another set of arms appeared around Maria's shoulders and grasped onto the black shadow itself, making the girl/shadow scream as she no longer could escape as she was once again held firmly down.

Takao and Hayama straighten their holds and looked up in surprise to see the person who joined them wasn't they didn't know...someone who was currently glowing a weird unearthly white light.

"Wha-?!" Hayama gasped, almost letting go of Maria before the woman shook her head and gave him a stern look. She looked to be in her early twenties, very pretty with shoulder-length wavy black hair and wide gold eyes.

"Do not loosen your hold now- we mustn't let her escape." The woman ordered him. Hayama snapped out of it and nodded, his focus back on restraining the other frantic woman in their hold.

Seijuurou heard Kouki gasp and turned to see the brunette looking with shocked wide eyes at the glowing woman. Before Seijuurou could ask what was wrong, he noticed the strange glint in his mate's eyes and realized that it was not his mate but Takahiro who was again there now.

A tear dropped from Takahiro's eye before he whispered one word. "Sayaka."

Keeping his concentration on the ritual, Kuroko put his hands together and interlocked his fingers. "Kai皆."

Hands together, fingers interlocked, with the fingertips inside. "Jin陣."

Left hand in an upward-pointing fist, index finger raised. Right hand grips index finger, and thumb is pressed onto left index's nail. "Retsu列."

Hands spread out in front, with thumb and index finger touching. "Zai在."

Hands form a circle, thumbs on top and fingers on the bottom, right hand overlapping left up to the knuckles. "ZEN前."

"Akuryō Taisan! (Evil Spirit, Begone!)" Kuroko shouted in the loudest voice they had heard from him yet. He quickly took the ofuda that he had put in his pocket and firmly placed it on Maria's forehead.

"Let her go!" Kuroko yelling in warning as he backed away himself.

Takao and Hayama followed the order and quickly made their way towards the blunette. The glowing woman also let go but merely backed a few inches away.

Everyone watched as the black shadow fully separated itself finally from Tae's body. As Tae fell to the ground, the shadow rose us slowly in the sky. The black shadow was in the distorted shape of what could have been a woman. It screamed in pain as it withered side to side, looking as if it was being tortured.

"From now on, you will no longer be able to harm anyone ever again." The glowing woman told the evil spirit.

With one last ear-splitting scream, the shadow crumbled into dust, the final remains disappearing through the air, into nothing.

The rain slowly tampered off, along with the harsh winds. There were no more harmful objects flying around anymore.

Everyone was quiet for a moment as they took everything in.

"And our work here is done. The Omega Protection Squad is so badass." Hayama slowly grinned, exchanging fist bumps with both Takao and Kuroko.

Riko gasped when she noticed the knife cut that Maria had given her- and the additionally cuts and scrapes she had also gotten earlier- had disappeared. "My cuts are gone!"

Everyone checked themselves and were astonished to see that they were also as good as new.

"Since we were hurt by Maria, when her spirit was destroyed, the wounds that she gave us must have not have any more effect on us since she was not living to begin with and the wounds had disappeared along with her." Kuroko guessed, looking at his cut-free hands.

"Tae!" Kagami yelled, rushing towards the unconscious girl on the ground. Takao also followed since that was his manager and Midorima followed behind his partner.

"Tae! Tae!" Kagami called out bringing the girl in his arms and shaking the hell out of her. "Hey! Are you okay?!"

"How can she be okay when you're shaking her like that, you moron!" Midorima shouted at him as Takao shuffled forward to stop the redhead.

"Although your harsh method of waking a person up is quite unconventional, Ootsubo-san does seemed to be awakening. Maybe you should give her a 'true love's kiss' Kagami-kun?" Kuroko suggested.

Kagami spluttered, her eyes bulging out. "What the hell Kuroko?!" His face matched the color of his hair now.

Kuroko put a finger to his lips. "You're too loud, Kagami-kun. Ootsubo-San is now awake."

Tae opened her eyes and gasped, clutching tightly into Kagami's arm. "No! Don't!"

"Whoa, there..." Kagami tried to calm the panicking girl.

The Shuutoku manager shook her head, crying. "No! She's going after Furihata-kun! I tried to stop her but she's too powerful. You have to stop her before she kills him!" She begged.

"Ootsubo-chan, it's okay." Takao knelt down and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's gone, she's gone know. We got rid of her and she'll never come back. You're safe. We're all safe now." He told his manager gently.

"Yes. And Furihata is completely fine." Midorima pointed to where the brunette was and when Tae saw that he was indeed okay, she sagged in relief and calmed down, slowly drifting off to sleep in Kagami's arms.

"Aww....how sweet!" Mibuchi cooed. Kagami blushed even harder but didn't loosen his grip on the girl, making certain people around him to grin at each other.

"Sayaka, is that truly you?" Takahiro said, slowly walking towards the glowing woman and catching everyone's attention. They had forgotten that not there was still one thing left to do.

"Takahiro? Oh my..." Sayaka started to tear up as the other man walked up slowly towards her.

"Sayaka...wait, is she the lover from your story? The one that fell into the river?" Hyuuga questioned.

Takahiro nodded his head, his gaze never leaving his love. "Yes. I finally found you."

Sayaka smiled widely, sniffling as tears streamed down her cheeks. She glowed even brighter, making her look even more radiant. "Oh, Takahiro. You've been looking for me after all these years?"

Takahiro chuckled as he slowly grabbed her hand, holding it firmly but with care. "Of course. I've never once stopped looking. I'd search a millennia for you."

Sayaka sobbed as she threw herself into his arms, crying into his shoulder. Takahiro held onto her tightly, tears streaming down his own cheeks as he finally had the love of his life back in his arms. "But, didn't you remarry to that woman after I died?" Sayaka cried.

Takahiro shook his head as he pulled away and lifted up her face to look her directly in the face. "I had to. I needed financial aid from my family to help raise our son, so in exchange I had to follow their orders and marry that horrid woman. But I vow to you that I've never once bedded her- you are the only love of my life." He promised.

Sayaka looked at him with wide eyes. "Our son?"

Takahiro smiled at her as he nodded. "Yes. I found out that I was pregnant. His name is Genki. He's back at the building, safely away from here. He has your eyes."

Sayaka smiled widely as she shed more tears. "Oh, Takahiro..." She leaned in to kiss him.

"Um, yeah. Sorry to interrupt your reunion and all but before you two make out, would it be too much trouble if you give us back our Furi first? Akashi looks like he's gonna kill someone." Hayama pointed out, sensing the dark atmosphere practically enveloping around his captain.

Takahiro's widened his eyes as he quickly nodded. "Oh I apologize, I had forgotten. Yes, of course. Here."

Everyone watched with wide eyes as Takahiro separated himself from Kouki's body.

Finally getting a glimpse at the real Takahiro, they noticed that the spirit had a few similiar traits to their own friend/teammate.

Takahiro lifted up his hand slightly and Kouki's body began to float up in the air and slowly made its way towards Seijuurou.

Kouki gently landed in Seijuurou's waiting arms as the alpha gently brought them onto the ground, laying his mate on his lap and his head cradled on his chest.

"Kouki?" Seijuurou whispered, watching as the brunette's eyes slowly opened. "Can you hear me? Are you alright?"

Kouki blinked for a few seconds, looking up at the redhead dazedly for a moment before he gasped as he remembered what had just happened. He turned his head to the side and locked eyes with Takahiro himself. Eyes widening at the girl besides him, Kouki hesitantly asked, "Are you...Sayaka?" The omega hesitantly asked, remembering the name of Takahiro's former lover.

Sayaka had a very simple but elegant beauty to her. She wore only a long, plain white kimono, but it suited her well. Sayaka smiled at Kouki and nodded her head. "Yes. And you are the one who has helped bring my Takahiro back to me."

Kouki blushed as he quickly waved her off. "Oh, no no! I hardly did anything."

Takahiro chuckled as he shook his head. "At that, I must highly disagree with you Furihata-kun. You were the one who suggested I possess your body in order for me to finally leave the building. And it was you who took back the control in your body so you could protect your loved ones, especially your mate." Takahiro smiled at him. "You've done so much Furihata-san. You and your friends have helped me rid of Maria once and for all and finally reunited me with my beloved Sayaka again. I owe you so much...but I could never repay you since I am not living anymore."

"Promise never to haunt the training camp again- Oh! And if you spread the word with your other ghost friends as well, then it would be greatly appreciated. And please add my house on the 'no-haunting' list as well please?" Hayama piped in, receiving a hit by both Kuroko and Takao.

Kouki shook his head as he answered. "You don't owe me anything. But if you want to know what you can do to pay me back, please reunite your family and finally move on together to a better world. That's what would make me happy."

Takahiro smiled as he nodded. Shifting his gaze to Seijuurou, he said, "Your bond mate is a good man. Treasure him for the rest of the time you have together in this world."

Seijuurou nodded, replying back in a serious tone. "Always."

Takahiro turned to look at Sayaka when she suddenly gasped. Eyes wide in wonder, Sayaka pointed to something afar and asked, "Takahiro, what is that light?"

The omega turned to look at what his lover was talking about and also gasped at the bright shining light up ahead. "Well, my dear. If I'm not mistaken, I think that's heaven."

Mibuchi squealed when he heard this. "Oh my! So there's really a light that leads us to heaven after we die?"

"How does heaven look like? Is there TV?" Takao inquired.

"It's beautiful." Sayaka whispered, feeling her lover squeeze her hand in agreement.

"So is that a yes on the tv?" Takao pressed on.

"Quiet, you fool!" Midorima scolded his teammate, smacking the shorter on the head.

"It seems to be time for us to go." Takahiro said, feeling nervous but excited at what was up ahead. Turning back to Kouki, Takahiro gave him a gentle smile. "Furihata-kun, to you and all your friends, thank you so much for helping us."

Kouki smiled back, feeling embarrassed as he could feel himself tearing up a bit. "Yeah. Your welcome. Ah, but what about Genki-kun?"

Sayaka looked worried as she looked at Takahiro, but her mate merely chuckled as he replied, "I have no doubts that Genki will follow along. Furihata-kun, I'm sure you'll meet with my son one more time. When you do, please tell inform him of where we are. I'm positive that he will not be left alone."

"Are you sure?" Sayaka still looked worried not having her son along with the,- she hasn't even met the young boy yet!

Takahiro nodded his head reassuredly. "I'm extremely sure of this."

Kouki sighed but nodded. "I'll tell him. Please take care of yourselves, Takahiro-san. Sayaka-san." Everyone followed, wishing the couple good luck and farewell (although Kagami got hit in the head when he asked if they could put in a good word for him up there with 'The Big Boss'.)

Holding hands with their fingers interlocked, Takahiro and Sayaka smiled at one another and leaned in close to share their first kiss since being reunited before pulling away.

Facing forward, the couple proceeded to walk towards the light.

"Goodbye." Kouki whispered one last time before the lovers slowly started to fade away.

Suddenly feeling a bout of dizziness hit him, the omega slowly lost consciousness, the last thing he was aware of was the sound of his panicking mate and friends and the sight of the reunited couple finally gone.

☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ☆彡☆ミ

"So....last night, huh?" Takao commented, taking a huge bite of his grilled pork.

After Kouki passed out last night due to complete exhaustion, everyone made their way back to the building (Seijuurou carried his sleeping mate in his arms while Kagami also did the same with Tae- though he also suffered the teasing from the others- the entire way back).

Riko told Seijuurou to let Kouki sleep in- due to the circumstances, Kouki was excused from their morning practice. Seijuurou agreed knowing how little amount of sleep the omega must have gotten during the camp.

For the final day of training camp, all the coaches announced that there would only be morning practice for all three teams.

As a special surprise, a barbecue party was being held in the afternoon for everyone to relax and chill before their buses would come to pick them up in the evening. Of course, all of the players were static about this.

Even though he was in thorough need of sleep, Kouki ended up waking up very early in the morning- his body was still in its early routine- and he only agreed to go back to sleep if Seijuurou attended his morning practice.

The redhead had actually planned on skipping his own practice and opting to staying with his mate. But the omega disagreed and managed to assure his alpha that he would be fine by himself and he would only be sleeping. Seijuurou sighed and told Kouki that he would be back before lunchtime and then they would both go together to the barbecue.

To some certain people's surprise, the barbecue party was taking place at the back of the building, the same area where the 'exorcism' had taken place.

When Kouki saw the area for the first time during the day, Kouki gasped as he saw that the once dried-up river had suddenly been revived.

A beautiful, crystal-clear river flowed through the forest, the riveting colors ranging from aquamarine to dark blue nearly sparkled, enticing the players to jump inside and swim in it.

Though some of the camp's staff (they had came back from their breaks that morning) were confused as to why and how did the river suddenly return, the new river was already being named, The Enchanted River.

Opting to stay dry, Kouki ate his barbecue together with his roommates (his mate had to temporarily leave him for a while to talk some things out with Seirin's coach about letting Kouki go back with him to Kyoto). Now as they sat in a circle on the ground, they started chatting about everything that had happened as they watched some of the players splash around in the river.

"Yeah, last night was so crazy! I mean, we actually exorcised a ghost!" Hayama exclaimed, looking very proud. He then proceeded to shove the entire beef steak that was on his plate into his mouth.

"Wasn't it technically Kuroko who exorcised her?" Kouki asked, chewing on the bell pepper from his vegetable skewer. He offered it to Kuroko.

Taking a carrot from the skewer, Kuroko commented, "Since Hayama-kun threw the salt and he and Takao-kun held down Ootsubo-san during the ritual, I'd say that we all had our hand in the exorcism." He pointed out.

Kouki nodded, "That's true."

Hayama swallowed the large piece of steak in his mouth and pounded his chest in order to get it down easier before speaking up, "So, since we can now put down 'demon exorcisms' as one of the Omega Protection Squad's special skills, wanna visit Rakuzan sometime and exorcise Reiko-san?" He grinned, eyes sparkling in excitement.

"Ooh~ or we can go to the park,near my house and try to see if we run into the Kuchisake-onna again." Takao gave them a sly grin of his own.

Kouki hastily shook his head at that. "No thanks!"

Hayama pouted at the brunette. "Aw, why not Furi?"

"Ghosts are so scary! There's no way I could go do it!" The omega shivered.

Takao raised his eyebrow at that. "But didn't you let a ghost possess you yesterday?"

"That's different!" Kouki replied.

Takao blinked. "How is it different?"

"Because Takahiro-san had my permission beforehand! I highly doubt another ghost we run into will ask politely if they wanted to posses our bodies" Kouki cried.

"Of course not...although, they might ask if they could kill us instead?" Takao smirked.

"Okay, let's stop teasing Furihata-kun now. He looks like he's going to cry." Kuroko pointed out, taking a sip of his juice. Honsestly, he was enjoying listening to the conversation and wouldn't mind joining into another exorcism in the future.

"Yeah. Besides, you shouldn't tease Furi so much Takao. He's like the leader of our squad after all." Hayama said.

Takao frowned as he looked thoughtful. "Leader? Hmm...that doesn't exactly sound right."

Kuroko nodded. "I agree. Furihata-kun is like our mascot."

Kouki had been relieved when they finally stopped talking about ghosts and exorcisms, but the new topic made him aggravated once more. "Mascot? Kuroko, I'm not like Nigou!" He said, looking insulted.

"That's right, Furi isn't our mascot neither." Takao crossed his arms as he thought about it. "Furi's roles in the squad is much more important than that. The omega protection squad revolves around him, after all." Takao pursed his lips as he took another bite of his pork. "Hmm, what's Furi's role...President is already taken..."

Hayama pounded his hand with his fist to swallow before he grinned widely. "I got it! Since Furi is the center of our group, he's like a kamisama (God)!"

Takao chuckled as he nodded his head furiously. "That's good! Furi as kamisama it is!"

Kouki blushed as he shook his head, feeling embarrassed and annoyed. "No way!"

"Namandabu. Namandabu." Kuroko chanted, putting his hands together in a praying position.

"Don't pray to me!" Kouki groaned.

Takao's laughter died down as he wiped off the tears from his eyes. Still grinning, he decided to give the omega some slack and changed the topic. "Okay, okay. Now that that's dealt with, let's talk about last night again. Did anyone bother you again, Furi?"

As everyone looked at him with worried looks, Kouki shook his head and gave them all an assuring smile. "I was able to sleep the entire night and I woke up in my own bed in the morning." He told them. Honestly, the brunette was so relieved to find himself in his boyfriend's arms when he woken up that morning (the couple slept in the infirmary last night).

"Did you ever see their son again?" Kuroko questioned.

Kouki frowned as he answered, "No, I haven't. I hope I'll be able to meet up with him one more time before we leave- I need to tell him that he needs to move on and to go join his parents." He had promised Takahiro and Sayaka that he would deal with their son. He was worried if he didn't meet up with the boy.

"I'm sure he'll show up." Kuroko told Kouki in a soothing tone.

"Okay, now let's move onto more juicer stuff." Hayama had a sly look in his eyes as he looked pointedly at Takao. "So, how's your relationship with that green-haired tsundere of yours?"

Takao had an up characterized bashful look on his face, though he tried to just grin through it as he replied happily, "We're dating now!"

The other three smiled at their friend's happiness as Kouki said, "That's great, Takao! Did you confess?"

Takao grinned even wider as he told them, "Actually, I did plan on confessing my feelings after all the ghost stuff last night, but when we got back, Shin-chan actually took me aside and in his tsundere-y way, he actually told me that even though my laugh was annoying and my manners atrocious and that I was the biggest nuisance he had ever met...if he was given a choice to change me, he said that despite everything wrong with me...he would choose to change nothing about me because I was fine the way I was and that he actually liked me for me."

Takao covered his mouth, hiding the wide grin and blush that had appeared when he remembered the confession. "It was so cute! I couldn't help but hug him and tell him that I loved him too. And even better, Shin-chan put away his tsundereness for a second and even told me he loved me too! I can't believe we're legitimately boyfriends now!" The hawk-eyed player crowed happily.

Kuroko gave him a rare smile that was actually noticeable to all of them as he congratulated the beta. "I wish for nothing but happiness for the both of you."

"Me too! You both deserve it!" Kouki upped in.

"Man, your story was just like a shoujo manga I've read once." Hayama commented.

"Yaoi manga, you mean." Takao corrected with a wink. "Okay, so since I've gotten my man, let's talk about another surprising couple that got together last night." As he said this, he sent a sly pointed look to said pair a few feet away.

Kagami and Tae were in charge of the grills, talking and laughing with one another as they handled the barbecue. It's was no surprise to them that they finally got together.

Takao whistled loud enough to capture the new couple's attention. "Taiga and Tae~ don't you think it's cute? TaiTae- like one of those celeb nicknames!" Takao teased, a huge grin on his face.

"S-shut up!" Kagami was flustered, blushing like mad. Tae's face was just as red, but there was a small smile on her face.

"Whoo...you're both so red. Wearing matching colors already?" Hayama giggled.

"We're not!" Kagami spat back. Giving the duo a death glare, he suddenly remembered something. "And by the way...Takao! Tell that green-haired bastard of yours to stop leaving his horoscope crap everywhere. This morning I woke up face to face with that creepy doll of his in my bed. I nearly died of a heart attack!" The Seirin light shivered as he remembered the creepy doll smiling at him.

Takao blinked at that before looking confused. "Eh? You mean Mii-chan? I gave Shin-chan that for Secret Santa last year. But he gave the doll to me last night since it was my lucky item- how did she end up with you this morning?"

Kagami froze. "What?"

Takao pursed his lips as he looked thoughtful. "Hm...but now that I think about it, I don't recall seeing her this morning. But I swear that she was in my arms when I went to bed...hm, strange."

"Taiga-kun, are you okay?" Tae asked her boyfriend, looking at him worried.

"You look almost as pale as Kuroko actually." Kouki pointed out, also worried for his teammate.

Kagami opened his mouth a few times, but no words came out. Finally, he shook his head and pointed a finger angrily at the hawk-eyed player. "Tell that boyfriend of yours that I'm NEVER rooming with him again. EVER. And that goes for that demon drag queen and that nocturnal alien mate of yours!" He pointed at Hayama and Kouki, referencing specifically of both Mibuchi and Seijuurou.

Everyone just looked at the Seirin ace in pity and amusement. Kuroko opened his mouth to say something. "Kagami-kun?"

Still angry, Kagami glared at his basketball partner. "What?!"

"Despite our teasing, we really are happy for the both you and Ootsubo-san. You two match very well and I must say that I'm sure you'll both get along very well...as if your soulmates." A strange glint sparkled in Kuroko's eyes again as he said this, as if he knew something no one else knew, but the smile he gave them was geunine. Kouki, Takao and Hayama were also smiling, nodding their approval as well.

Surprised and honestly happy of his best friend's approval, Kagami's anger ebbed away and he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, grinning. "Thanks guys."

Tae was smiling too as she gently bowed down to the group before turning to the taller redhead. "Taiga-kun, the meat is starting to burn." Cursing, Kagami quickly went to flip over the almost charred chicken.

Takao sighed as he watched them for a moment before turning back to the others. "Okay, now that we're done with the TaiTae couple, let's move on to you guys hm? How are all your love lives going?"

"Shun and I are doing awesome as always. He was super impressed by my ghost ass-kicking skills last night." Hayama told them proudly. "And the ghost puns he told me were so hilarious! Wanna hear some?" He asked excitedly.

"No." All three of his roommates immediately shut that down.

Hayama pouted, looking very disappointed. "Aw, you guys are no fun. You're all so mean-SPIRITed!"

Takao groaned, slapping a hand to his forehead. "Dude! We just said we didn't want to hear any puns!"

Hayama looked at him strangely. "What are you talking about?" The blonde tilted his head to the side as he went over what he had previously said in his mind. After a minute or so, his eyes lit up like a lightbulb. "Oh my god! I'm so brilliant!" Grinning madly, Hayama quickly told his friends that he'll call them later (the four friends had exchanged numbers their first night at the camp) and immediately sprinted to where his boyfriend was currently talking with his fellow third years. "Shun, babes! Wanna hear the amazing pun I just thought of?"

"Takao!" Kouki hissed.

Takao for once looked genuinely apologetic as he shrugged helplessly. "Oops- my bad."

Kuroko sighed. "What's done is done. Hopefully Izuki-senpai won't repeat any of the puns on the ride home."

"I'm actually grateful that I'll probably be going back with Rakuzan so I won't be able to hear those puns anyway." Kouki looked relieved.

Takao opened his mouth to comment before he caught sight of his new boyfriend making his way towards them. "Shin-chan!" He yelled out happily.

A blush appeared on the green-haired shooters cheeks as the tall man glared at his partner. "Must you be so insufferably loud?"

Takao merely grinned as he gave the other a thumbs up. "Yup!"

Midorima rolled his eyes, but there was a fondness in the beta's eyes as he looked at the other. "Takao, come. Coach wants to talk to the team."

Takao nodded as he stood up and looked at his two friends. "Well, gotta go! I'll see you guys on the dance floor where Shin-chan and I will be at after the team meeting's done." He told them cheerfully as he pulled his boyfriend away.

"Oi! What are you talking about? There is no dance floor and I refuse to dance-?!" Midorima continued his complaining as Takao happily pulled his boyfriend along, obviously ignoring the others protests.

Kouki sighed as he shook his head at the pair- they really did match well. Looking back at the blunette that was left, Kouki called for him.

Taking a bite from his riceball, Kuroko looked at his friend and fellow teammate when the other called his name. "Yes?"

"Well, what about you Kuroko?" Kouki smiled at the other. "Any news with your crush?"

Kuroko shook his head, sipping on his juice (he couldn't stand the uncomfortable carbonation in soda). "No. Everything's the same."

Kouki looked at the beta with imploring eyes. "So you definitely won't tell us who your crush is? Not even a hint?"

Kuroko gave him a minuscule smile, though Kouki couldn't help but feel that there was something sad about it. "It's...complicated between the two of us. We've been...apart and only been reacquainted with one another again recently. Honestly, I'm quite unsure what the future holds for us." It was the first time Kouki had heard the blunt, straightforward and strong Kuroko sound so hesitant and kinda defeated.

Kouki placed a hand on the blunette's shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze. "If it's you Kuroko, I have faith that things will end up just fine for you." Kouki then gave Kuroko a wide grin with a wink. "Besides, your crush would be crazy not to want you. If I didn't already have Sei, I'd totally date you."

Kuroko gave a rare wide smile at Kouki, looking very grateful. "Thank you, Furihata-kun. I would date you too."

Both friends chuckled together before the sound of a throat clearing was heard. When they looked to see who it was, Kouki couldn't help but let out a squeak.

"Should I be worried about whatever you two were talking about?" Seijuurou raised an eyebrow at the duo.

"Depends on how much you heard, Akashi-kun." Kuroko replied, merely taking another bite of his juice.

"Don't worry, Sei. I'll always choose you over Kuroko- sorry Kuroko." Kouki giggled at the pout the blunette gave him while his own mate had a satisfied smirk on his lips.

"Kouki, I have received my coach's approval. You will be riding back with us to Kyoto." Seijuurou informed his mate, holding his hand out to the other.

Kouki took the hand and stood up, letting his alpha wrap an arm around his waist. "That's great! Hopefully the ride with your team will be less chaotic than mine."

The redhead gave a short scoff before rolling his eyes. "I'm sorry, love but I highly doubt it. Especially since I have heard that Nebuya has been quite disgruntled after he learned about last night's events." The dark skinned player had spent the entire morning complaining about being the only one left out from all the 'cool' ghost hunting. Nebuya was currently eating five times his weight in barbecue to eat away the heavy betrayal from the people he had thought were his best friends.

Kouki made a sympathetic sound. "Oh, I know what you mean. Kawahara and Fukuda are the same. Well, Kawahara is sulking while Fukuda scolded me for not saying something earlier."

Seijuurou sighed. "Hopefully something like this will never happen again. Right?" He gave his mate a stern look.

Kouki gulped as he nodded his head. "I'll try."

"Promise." Seijuurou demanded.

But Kouki shook his head. "I can't. I'll tell someone sooner if weird stuff happen to me again, but if it's a ghost or some other supernatural being, well, I can't really control that, right?"

"He's right." Kuroko pointed out.

Seijuurou sighed as he tightened his hold on the omega. "Make sure you tell me as soon as possible. Do not try to hide anything, Kouki." The alpha warned.

Kouki nodded as he leaned in to give the other a soft kiss on his cheek. "No hiding, that I can promise."

Seijuurou smiled at his mate as he gave the other a kiss on the lips, lingering for a second or two before pulling away and taking his hand. "Now then, may I ask you for a dance?"

The omega was surprised before looking at the direction that Seijuurou had gestured to, chuckling as he saw that Takao had indeed managed to drag Midorima to the 'dance floor' (a rocky but flat area near the river) and the two were dancing (or Takao was dancing while dragging along his stiff boyfriend) to some music playing on someone's loud phone speakers. There were also other couples and non-dating pairs dancing as well.

Kouki opened his mouth to answer before something caught his eye.

Well, 'someone' actually.

"Um, actually I need to do something first. Can you wait for five-ten minutes for me before we dance?" Kouki looked apologetic.

Seijuurou was surprised but nodded his head. "Of course. There's no problem is there?"

The brunette shook his head. "No, nothing like that. It's just that I made someone a promise and now I have to fulfill it. It's nothing bad so don't worry Sei." He assured the other.

The alpha seemed like he understood what was going on and gave the omega a nod as he leaned in to give another quick kiss. "I understand. I'll be here waiting with Tetsuya then."

Kouki smiled and waved to them as he made his way to where he spotted the tiny shadow run off too.

When he was a few feet away from the party, the area he was in was secluded and was away from lingering eyes, Kouki stood in the middle and called out, "I've been waiting for you to appear, you know."

There was a small shrill of laughter behind him and when the omega turned around, he was met face to face with a familiar head of messy, brown hair.

The boy looked up and smiled widely at him, his big gold eyes shining brightly. "You did it Kouki! You got rid of the evil stepmother!"

Kouki grinned as he looked fondly at the smaller boy. "Nice nickname." Evil stepsmother certainly was one way of describing Maria. "I had help from my friends. I couldn't have done it without them." He told the other. "I'm glad to see you Genki-kun."

Genki smiled brightly. "I'm happy to see you too! I told papa and mama that I wanted to see you one last time before I left."

Kouki's eyes widened. "Oh, so you saw your parents."

The little boy nodded. "Un. They wanted to bring me with them to the light then and there, but I told them to go first since I wanted to tell you something."

"Are you sure that's okay? What if you can't find them over there?" Kouki questioned, worried.

But Genki shook his head, still smiling. "Don't worry! Now that papa and mama are together again, we'll always be one big family. And I'll always be able to find them since in a family, no one is left behind."

Kouk smiled as he nodded. "That's right. You'll definitely find them. In fact, I'm pretty sure your parents are waiting for you as we speak."

Genki pouted as he crossed his arms. "You're right! Gosh, they're such worrywarts!"

Kouki chuckled at he reached forward to ruffle the other's hair. Strangely enough, he could barely feel anything, but there was a tingling sensation from where his hand touched it. "Let's not keep them waiting for too long, okay? What is it that you wanted to tell me?"

Genki smiled at him as he said, "I want to say thank you, Kouki! For everything! Because of you, I got my mama back and papa is so happy! And the evil stepmother is finally gone forever! And now me and my family can finally get out of this place. It's so boring, you know?" He whispered the last line, making Kouki giggle. "And papa says I have to say sorry for bothering you in the first place. So I'm sorry Kouki." The little boy looked saddened at this.

Kouki shook his head as he said, "It's okay, Genki-kun. It all worked out in the end so alls well that ends well." Kouki chuckled. "Just try not to do it again, okay?"

Genki sheepishly smiled in return. "I won't, pinky-promise!"

As the two boys exchanged linked pinkies together, Genki sighed when they pulled away. "Okay, I'm done now."

Kouki smiled, tearing up a bit as he could see the little boy start to fade away, his business in this world finally done and now he was finally able to move on and join his parents. "Ne, Genki-kun?"

"Hm?" Genki looked questionably at the taller boy.

"You met your mama, right? Was she everything you had imagined her to be?" Kouki asked.

Genki blinked before he gave the biggest and brightest smile Kouki had ever seen on the boy yet. "She's even better!"

Kouki smiled, feeling full of happiness for the boy. "Good-bye, Genki-kun."

"Good-bye too, Kouki!" Genki waved as he faded away, almost completely gone by now. "Oh, and one more thing. Papa told me to give you something before I left. I put it in your pocket!" The little boy told him, a mischievous smile on his face.

Kouki looked confused as he reached into his pocket and twitched a bit in surprise when his fingertips felt something.

Pulling it out, he realized that it was a folded sheet of paper. Unfolding it and reading the writing that was on it, Kouki realized what it was.

"Ah, isn't this-" Kouki looked up from the paper and realized that Genki was no longer there anymore. Looking around, the omega was completely by himself in the area.

With a fond but sad smile, Kouki folded up the paper once more and carefully put it back in his pocket. "Thank you, Genki-kun. Take care." He said softly to the forest around him.

Taking a few deep breaths, Kouki moved his feet and made his way back to where the party was taking place.

When he got back, he noticed that most of the players were now out of the river or paused in their eating and were now dancing together in pairs or groups on the dance floor.

The brunette made his way towards his mate, where the redhead was engaged in a conversation with Seirin's shadow.

Seijuurou noticed his mate walking towards them and he smiled widely, holding a hand out for his mate. "Kouki, you're back. Did everything go well?"

Kouki smiled as he took the other's hand in his own, and soaked in the reassuring warmth that the hand gave him. "Yeah, everything's fine."

"Well, now that you are back, shall we dance?" Seijuurou asked, releasing Kouki's hold in order for the other to hold onto his arm instead.

Kouki smiled before looking questioningly at Kuroko. The blunette waved them off as he stood up. "Go on. I'll be going to the grills in order to get Kagami-kun to ask Ootsubo-san to dance." He told the couple, walking towards his basketball partner and best friend as he did so.

Kouki looked at his mate and smiled widely, letting his alpha lead him to the dance floor.

Many things had happened at the training camp, but Kouki would do it all again if he was given the chance.

Besides, in the end he got a delicious green tea cookie recipe that was folded up right in his pocket.

And he couldn't wait to try it out when he got home.