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Kuroko flapped his small wings furiously, staring ahead determinedly. A field of pipes approached. This time he got fairly far, but what he'd barely registered the first time was becoming obvious. His flight was wildly out of control; there was no wind for him to glide on, and he dropped like a stone when he wasn't flapping his wings furiously.
He smashed into a pipe and fluttered to the ground, consciousness fading.
Kuroko flapped his small wings furiously, staring ahead determinedly. A field of pipes approached, looming above and below him. He dodged upwards; he swooped down; he swerved around the pipes, determined to get to the other side-
He barely got past three sets of pipes before he died.
The cycle continued in that way – Kuroko kept trying again and again. He couldn't remember how he arrived to that hellish field, but he remembered the countless attempts. He had never struggled with flying this much in his life. The time of the day never changed. His surroundings never varied, except that the pipes seemed to rearrange themselves unnervingly.
Kuroko lost count of how many times he had seen this same field when finally, something changed.
Kuroko flapped his wings, tired and frustrated. He was going to make it this time-
"Excuse me."
Kuroko smashed into a green pipe and died.
He came to again, wings flapping furiously. Ahead of him, a red bird sat perched on one of the pipes. As he neared, he could see the bird flutter into the air expectantly.
"Excuse me," the bird peeped. Kuroko tried to keep his concentration, his flight path veering all over the place again.
"Yes?" he panted.
"It seems there's been a mista-"
Kuroko crashed into a pipe again.
"Could you please try to stay alive for one moment-"
Kuroko accidentally flew too high, smashing his head on a pipe.
"You'reinbirdhellandI'mheretotakeyoutobirdheaven."
"What?" Kuroko turned to look at the bird. "Why am I-"
"Look ahead of you!"
Kuroko looked ahead just in time to get a face full of green pipe. When he came to again, the red bird was flapping along next to him, speaking urgently.
"You have to follow me. I'll lead you to bird heaven." Kuroko nodded, panting. Anything was better than this.
"Ok-"
He died again. But when he reappeared, the red bird had timed it so it was flapping ahead of him, leading him through the field of pipes. Kuroko flapped furiously to catch up until his beak was almost brushing the red bird's tail feathers. It was like a slipstream trailed after the bird, making it easier to navigate. Kuroko's body no longer sank like a stone, instead floating through the air like it was meant to. However, the bird deftly swooped and lifted to navigate the field. Kuroko's wings burned as he struggled to keep up. He thought his heart would pound out of his chest before they were done, but at last the red bird fluttered gracefully onto the edge of a green pipe, and Kuroko miraculously found that at last, he could sit down.
"Shall we go again?" the bird asked, ruffling its feathers comfortably.
"What?" Kuroko landed next to him. "I thought you were going to take me to bird heaven."
"Yes," the bird replied, "I did. Shall we go again?"
"You… did…?" Kuroko looked around himself. It was the same environment full of green pipes. "This is bird heaven…?"
"Yes." The bird stared at him with aplomb. Up close, Kuroko noted its vividly red eyes.
"But… where are the worms… the nests…"
"There are no worms in bird heaven," Akashi chirped matter-of-factly.
"There are… no worms… in bird heaven?"
"No, of course not," the bird replied confidently. "All the worms are in worm heaven. There is no inhumane hunting in heaven. Besides, you're not hungry, are you? Eating a worm now would just be a disappointment."
Kuroko seemed to recall eating many a worm when he wasn't actually hungry and enjoying it thoroughly, but he didn't see the point in squabbling over it.
"There are no nests…?"
"No, nests are traditionally made from dead things, like tree twigs, and there are no dead things in heaven."
"What about these things?" Kuroko gestured at the green pipes.
"That's inorganic matter harvested from the ground. It was never living."
Kuroko narrowed his eyes at the bird now. "You aren't pulling my leg, are you?"
The bird drew himself up. "Excuse me?"
"This is really bird hell, isn't it?"
The bird huffed. "Don't be dramatic. Just because you don't like it doesn't make it hell."
"As a bird who has been to hell, I believe I have more authority in this subject than you," Kuroko chirped loudly. "This is hellish."
The bird drew back, fluffing his feathers out huffily. "It is what you make it," he chirred, surly.
An awkward silence hung between them. Judging from the red bird's round, squashed shape he was pouting, like hatchlings do when mother hasn't got any worms. Reaching out, Kuroko lightly placed a wing on the bird's side, watching as a beady eye swiveled around to examine him.
"I'm sorry." Kuroko patted the bird hesitantly. "I'm very glad you're here."
"Would you like to go for another round?" the bird asked.
"Yes, that would be alright." Kuroko followed close behind as the bird took off. "While we're here, what is your name?" Kuroko cheeped.
"Akashi Seijuro," the bird replied. "And you?"
"Kuroko Tetsuya."
"Oh? That's a nice name," Akashi replied. He seemed to be cheering up. Kuroko sighed to himself.
He spent the next couple of days – it felt like that, even if he suspected it was only a couple of hours – poking around his surroundings. It was just grass with green pipes sticking out of it. It was bizarre.
"Why does this place look like this?" Kuroko asked. He tapped his foot against the pipe, hearing a light ting.
"Bird heaven is getting more and more crowded. Until the quotient for bird angels is met, there's no time to design more complicated structures."
"Bird angels?" Kuroko looked back at Akashi. "Is that what you are?"
Akashi puffed himself up. "Yes, I was chosen to be one."
"And there's really no eating at all?" Kuroko asked hopefully.
"I don't think they'll be able to do the worms."
"I suppose I can get used to eating just seeds," Kuroko cheeped, disappointed.
"I was a vegetarian in life," Akashi announced proudly. "I believe it was part of why I was chosen."
"Yes, of course you were." Kuroko went back to silently sulking.
He couldn't have told anyone how much time had passed before anything changed again. There was a timeless quality to the place, but it may have been because nothing shifted in the slightest. It was impossible to track time. Akashi would flutter nearby, looking like he wanted to say something, and then flutter away again when he noticed Kuroko was bunched into a tense ball. He wasn't in the mood to speak to Akashi. At least, not until he noticed something strange.
"The sky is dimming," Kuroko peeped to himself. He stood, excited. "The sun is setting!"
Kuroko fluttered over to Akashi, who was dozing in the grass, and poked him in the side with his leg.
"Excuse me?" Akashi huffed.
"The sun is setting!" Kuroko ruffled his feathers in excitement.
Akashi squinted at the setting sun contentedly. "Oh, it is. I suppose they'll finally start adding things now."
"Adding things?" Kuroko perked up at that.
Akashi glanced at him slyly. "You'll see." He ruffled his feathers, getting ready to take off. "Do you want to go for another flight?"
"Alright." Kuroko hadn't missed the change in subject, but Akashi was already taking off. Following behind him, Kuroko took in the scenery again. Everywhere he looked, it was the same landscape: pipes after pipes sinking into spongy, unchanging grass.
"Can't we at least do a barrel roll?" Kuroko called after Akashi.
Akashi tilted his head in thought. "We can try."
Kuroko flapped a little faster to catch up to Akashi. "Let's do it."
Akashi glanced back at him, amused. "Okay… 1… 2… 3!" Akashi tucked his wing under, dropping suddenly. Kuroko hurried to follow, spinning in the air and realizing he'd spun out from the slipstream that seemed to follow Akashi around. He quickly spiraled to the ground, smacking into it with a painful thud.
Kuroko came to flapping toward a sea of green pipes. "Oh, you're joking," he groaned. He managed to smash into a pipe twice before he spotted Akashi flapping toward him as fast as his wings could carry him. This time it took several attempts to get Kuroko out of the field again as he lost concentration midway. Panting, he landed clumsily, Akashi eyeing him as he perched more gracefully on the edge of a pipe. Kuroko rolled over to regard him.
"Let's try it again," he chirped.
A low noise came from Akashi, and as Kuroko watched his feathers vibrate and ruffle, he realized Akashi was chuckling.
"If you wish."
Other changes started to be made to the environment. Days came on the regular. A tree was added, which Kuroko was able to nestle into. He patiently broke off individual twigs to build a nest – silently noting when Akashi decided to pitch in to the effort – and settled into it. It was a little roomy for one, but-
Akashi started wiggling into place next to him.
"I don't think there's room for-"
Akashi squished himself into the nest next to Kuroko until they were both firmly wedged in together. Kuroko squirmed, trying to get more comfortable.
"Hold still," Akashi cheeped.
"There isn't room for both of us."
"Of course there is. Wait a minute." Akashi pushed himself back out of the nest again, stretching his wings out. Then, he started to settle back down again, his warm wing outstretched over Kuroko.
"See, this isn't so bad, is it?"
"Hmph," Kuroko chirred, narrowing his eyes. He held still, Akashi's warm feathers pressing into him with each light breath. Slowly, his eyelids drooped as the rhythm of Akashi's breathing lulled him into a calm. His head began to feel heavy, and he tucked his beak into warm feathers and fell asleep under Akashi's wing.