I tried using first names when people are thinking, and last names when we have a 3rd person P.O.V. (because referring to yourself, in your head, by your last name is weird), but since we rarely hear the characters thoughts, I felt like we only really identify them by their last names, so I ended up going with that. Sorry, I was on the fence about which I should use.

I've set it a couple of months after the Winter Cup, so Kuroko & co. are second years. Also, I am only referencing the manga, so please ignore any discrepancies with anything else KnB.

That is not Kuroko's home, Kagami thought. The Seirin regulars, minus Kuroko, were staring at the skyscraper in front of them. The address matched the one on the paper in front of them, but...

Three days earlier Kuroko had missed practice. It had occasionally happened that he would be late, because he had been cleaning up the class or had library duty, but he had never missed practice before. Riko knew that he had perfect attendance entering second year, so when Kagami had told them that Kuroko hadn't been in class, she was doubtful. Ignoring Kagami (as usual) they had started practice, expecting Kuroko to pop out of nowhere. Riko had been planning on putting him in a Boston crab hold when she found him. Once it became obvious that he truly was not coming, Riko had sent him a text. Not having received a reply by the end of practice, she had become concerned.

The second day of Kuroko's absence passed much like the first. Not wanting to get in trouble for not spotting Kuroko, Kagami had repeatedly checked the seat behind him. Again, no Kuroko. He even tried texting Kuroko, but got no response. No beep behind him scaring the crap out of him. This time, Riko had spent the regulars to look for him in the school while the first and second years had a practice match. Kagami protested the whole time, but helped out. It's not like he had any idea where Kuroko lived. Honestly, he knew very little about Kuroko except for his basketball history.

By the third day, Riko had gotten Kagami to ask their home room teacher about Kuroko, but even their teacher didn't know anything about Kuroko's absence. After persuading (threatening) the student council, they had gotten access to Kuroko's school file and had decided to visit his house after practice. Moved by both curiosity and concern, all of the Seirin regulars had tagged along. They had gotten more and more confused as they found themselves led deeper and deeper into the business district.

"Emperor Enterprises?" Kiyoshi read aloud. Riko stared at the sign, startled.

"Wait a minute..." she said, walking swiftly into the office building. The rest of the team glanced at each other in confusion before following her in.

The interior of the building was... incredible. Is this really an office building? The teens thought in unison. The reception desk was directly facing the doors.. although more than twenty feet away from them. Behind the desk was a waterfall, and it was Izuki who first realized where the water went.

"Look at the floor!" He said in a loud whisper. Everyone glanced down and saw... fish. The floor, they realized, was a giant aquarium.

"Who puts an aquarium in the floor?!" Kagami asked, bewildered and slightly outraged. His family had money, but this was just crazy!

"Rich people," Hyuga replied, watching Riko's determined march to the counter. Familiar with her, Hyuga could easily see that the surroundings made her nervous, but he rather imagined that was the point of an entrance like this. Coming up behind her, they could hear her conversation with the receptionist.

"So Emperor Enterprises is part of the Akashi Corporation?" She confirmed. At the receptionist's nod, Seirin froze, surprised. The address wasn't a mistake then. Why did Kuroko have one of Akashi's father's offices listed as his home address?

"Is Akashi Seijuro in?" Riko asked. The receptionist shook her head.

"Akashi Seijuro-sama rarely comes to the Tokyo branch."

"This is a branch office?" Koganei muttered, looking around.

"Forgive us for disrupting you." Riko bowed, before walking away. The others hastily bowed before following her out.

"Now what?" Furihata asked.

"Um." Kagami said, drawing everyone's attention. "I have Kise's number, we could try him." There was a moment's silence and then...

"Bakagami!" Everyone shouted. Hyuga smacked him in the head.

"Why didn't you tell us that before?" Riko asked, far too sweetly. Kagami sweatdropped. She was far scarier.

"I didn't want to deal with the idiot blond!" Kagami protested. It was obvious by their expressions that they understood the sentiment, but weren't going to let him off the hook.

"That's a wrap!" The director called out, and for once, Kise couldn't wait to be finished. He took his job seriously, always tried to be polite and professional, and completely loosing it in front of the entire crew was not professional.

"Kise-senpai," his co-worker gushed, clinging to his arm, and leaning forward so he got a good look down her shirt, "I would love some personal advice." Kise was normally patient with women, but she was a very aggressive rising model, and he knew his temper was at its limit.

"Sorry, I'm pretty busy," Kise replied, unlocking his jaw with difficulty. He peeled her off of him (again, with difficulty) and quickly made his was to his change room. All of her innuendos about how much she would like his support had left him raw. Kise didn't work like that. He knew some people in the industry did, but he wasn't interested in being used by a complete stranger, or in using others. Lots of people got close to him for his looks, and he was tired of those shallow relationships. Desperate to hear Kurokocchi's voice, he grabbed his cell. Before he could call Kurokocchi, however, it started ringing.

Kagamicchi? He stared at the ID, puzzled.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Forgive me for calling," a female voice - Aida-san Kise thought - said. "Kuroko-kun hasn't been at school for the last three days," Kise jerked at the words,"and we were wondering if you knew anything. We've tried calling, but he doesn't pick up." Kise hesitated, considering his reply. Just then the door swung open and his manager walked in. Thankful for the excuse, Kise spoke quickly.

"Listen Riko-san, I just finished a photo-shoot and need to talk to my manager. Could I call you in a bit?" That would give him a chance to talk to Akashi-cchi before telling Seirin anything.

"Ah, sure." She sounded surprised by his reply, but there was no helping that. Hanging up, he turned to his manager, wanting to take care of this quickly so he could focus on Kurokocchi.

Akashi put down the annual report of one of his family's larger subsidiaries and considered what remarks he should make. The company was doing well, but not as well, in his opinion, as it could. He was going to present his review in front of the boards of directors and his father next week. Thinking about his father made him sigh. How could he have adopted his father's thinking to the extent that he hurt his friends? That he hurt Kuroko? He had been in touch with Kuroko since the Winter Cup, and had even travelled to Tokyo a couple of times to patch things up, but he was still unsatisfied. He understood that he couldn't undo the past; that's why people felt regret. If they could go back and make things right, no one would have any regrets. He'd had months to learn how awful regret was, but he had also learned that he was selfish. He felt like if Kuroko was with him, he would be able to avoid making such terrible mistakes ever again, and he wanted Kuroko by his side. Realizing that he had totally lost his concentration, he sighed. His phone rang, and glancing over, he saw that it was from Kise.

"Hello?" He answered with a frown; Kise virtually never called him.

"Kuroko-cchi's missing." Kise didn't bother with greetings, and the strain in his voice drove any thoughts of reprimands out of Akashi's thoughts.

"What exactly happened, Kise?"

"I got a call from Aida-san -" Akashi made a note to give Aida his phone number "and Kuroko hasn't been to school or practice in three days."

Three days? Akashi wanted to scream, but would never allow himself to loose control like that. "I'll come straight out," he replied instead. "What did you tell Seirin?"

"Nothing. I made up an excuse and hung up. What do you want me to tell them?" Despite Kise's antics, his devotion to Kuroko was sincere, and Akashi took a moment to appreciate that before speaking.

"Meet with them. Keep them busy. Find out what they know. If Kuroko wanted them to know, he would have told them." Akashi could almost feel Kise nod over the phone. "We'll deal with this ourselves."

I like boobs. Daiki thought to himself. Big boobs. Bouncy boobs. He looked at the image of Horikita Mai. Mai-chan had excellent boobs. Everyone said so. So why was it that all he could think of was a pale chest and slim waist? He sighed, looking up, but the view from the school roof only showed the endless blue sky. The same blue as Tetsu's incredibly soft hair. As his eyes. I've got it bad. Daiki admitted to himself. But what was the point of finally coming to terms with the fact that he wanted his best friend more than anyone else in the world? Even if Tetsu had forgiven him, Daiki was nearly certain his friend was straight. And in the slim possibility he wasn't, he had a new light he adored and that idiot model tagging around. He'd be more likely to turn to either of them. What did an dumb ganguro like him have that could compare? Sure he was good at basketball, but he'd screwed that up pretty good. Daiki sighed again. This wasn't like him. He was honestly relieved to hear the door to the roof slam open. Only one person opened the door like that.

"Here you are!" Satuki exclaimed, looking down at him. "Honestly Dai-chan! You're late for practice!" Before he could reply, his phone rang.

"Yo," he answered, not bothering to check caller ID.

"Kuroko's missing," Akashi said, causing Aomine to freeze, then begin swearing. Ignoring the swearing, Akashi continued. "I'm taking the train down, but it will be a few hours before I get there. I need you and Momoi-san to start looking for him." Aomine nodded, not that Akashi could see him. "Kise is keeping Seirin out of the way. I'll be in touch with Midorima and Murasakibara."

"How long has he been gone?" Daiki's tongue stuck to his mouth since his throat was suddenly dry.

"Three days." The answer made him flinch. "Start by checking his apartment, then check with his family. I'll call you as soon as I arrive." Neither of them bothered saying good-bye. Aomine glanced at Momoi, and seeing the tears in her eyes knew that she had heard everything. They fled the roof in silence.

Midorima ignored Takao's laughter and contemplated what shade of pink nail polish he should buy. Would a brighter pink be luckier than a pale one? Should he weigh the nail polish bottles and buy the largest? Cancer was ranked 10th for luck tomorrow, and he needed to be prepared. As he considered asking the sales clerk if they had a scale he could use, his phone rang. Honestly, not many people called him, and he was surprised to see that it was Akashi.

"Akashi?"

"Kuroko's-"

"I'm not alone," Midorima cut Akashi off, possibly for the first time ever. Akashi's voice was too serious though, Midorima didn't want to carelessly reveal anything that Kuroko wasn't comfortable with people knowing.

"Get somewhere you can talk." Even returned to himself, Akashi was imperious. Midorima glanced apologetically at Takao, but moved away.

"Alright."

"Kuroko has been missing for three days according to Aida-san." Midorima closed his eyes. Let him be alright, he begged silently. Let him be alright. "I've tried calling, and haven't gotten any response." Since no one ignored a call from Akashi, it was safe to assume that Kuroko either didn't have his phone or hadn't been able to get to it.

"What are we doing?"

"I'm on my way down, but I need you to start checking his usual hiding spots. Aomine and Momoi-san are checking his apartment and family home, while Kise keeps Seirin out of our way. I'm calling Murasakibara next."

"Understood." They ended the call there, and Midorima walked back to Takao. "Sorry," he said.

"I won't repeat anything if you don't want me to," Takao said seriously. He was clearly hurt by the perceived lack of trust, and Midorima frowned at him, struggling for words.

"There are somethings that aren't mine to tell," he finally said quietly. "I'm sorry." Midorima knew that he was right to draw the line, but left the store burdened with guilt and worry.

Murasakibara stared at the... thing in front of him. "That doesn't look yummy, Muro-chin," he complained, but Himuro simply smiled.

"It's not cooked yet."

"This is taking too long. Why can't I just buy my snacks Muro-chin?" Murasakibara whined, not sure why he hadn't simply left when Muro-chin had decided that he needed to cook his own snacks. Before Himuro could reply, Murasakibara's phone rang.

"Aka-chin?" He answered.

"I need you to head to Tokyo." Himuro jolted, but Murasakibara just nodded.

"Okay."

"I have a plane ticket waiting for you."

"Okay." Murasakibara hung up with Akashi. "I have to go Muro-chin," he said. Himuro stared at him.

"You're going to Tokyo? Just like that?"

"Mmm," Murasakibara agreed.

"Because Akashi told you to?" At Murasakibara's nod, Himuro continued, "I thought that Akashi had changed."

"Aka-chin changed," he agreed, "but Aka-chin is still Aka-chin." Himuro sighed.

"I'll come with you to Tokyo."

"Did Aka-chin get you a plane ticket too?" Murasakibara asked, curious.

"...I'll take the train," Himuro replied, evading the question. If Akashi was flying Murasakibara to Tokyo, something serious was going on, and it just might involve Taiga's new partner, Kuroko.

"Okay."