It was after a practice game of Seirin versus Tuou, and Tuou had won. It was a well-known fact by now that Kagami and Aomine were dating. Aomine smirked at his boyfriend's frustrated face, kissing those pouty lips briefly. Kuroko was sort of disappointed that they had lost, but watching his two friends broke off another piece of his already fragile heart. You see, he was in love with his former light Aomine Daiki. Had been since their first year in middle school. He had been too afraid to say anything to the other. Then when Aomine started to ignore him and wouldn't talk to him, he had given up completely.
"Ne, Kuroko? We'll get them next time, eh?" The bluenette looked over to see his sempai Kiyoshi next to him. The bluenette didn't say anything or reveal his inner turmoil. He only nodded, watching his two friends being a couple. He let out an inaudible sigh, turning to gather his things. Being in Seirin for the match, he could just go home from there. So, that's what he did. Slipping out of the gym silently, he made his way to his apartment where he would be all alone. No one noticed that he had disappeared, not that anyone could see him anyways.
Back in the gym, Aomine finally noticed that the other bluenette was missing about ten minutes later.
"Where's Tetsu?" he asked, frowning. He had never lost sight of him, so in tuned to each other from when they played in middle school. He scanned the gym and concluded that the other had indeed left already. With a sigh, Aomine turned to grab his own things off his team's bench, waiting for his boyfriend to be ready.
"Oi! Where's Kuroko?!" the captain of Seirin was heard shouting to his teammates. Aomine frowned towards the boy.
"He already left, don't bother," Aomine grumbled to the other team, throwing an arm over Kagami's shoulder. Kagami only leaned into the other.
"He'll be fine. He always disappears after practice is over," Kagami said. Everyone turned towards the redhead in shock. They had never noticed.
Kise, who had convinced his own captain to let him off the hook from his own practice game, had come to watch. He had seen the emotion in Kuroko's eyes as he had looked at the couple. The smaller male might've always had a blank face, but the blonde had been able to read emotions in his eyes over the years. Kise frowned as he realized no one else had figured out that their smallest player had been having issues. The model let out a sigh and got up from his position on the stage next to Nigou. That's when he realized that, in his grief, Kuroko had left his dog here.
"What are you still doing here?" the blonde asked the dog. The dog looked up at him, tilting his head as if to say, 'I don't know.'
"Oi! Kise! Are you coming with us to get something to eat?" he heard Aomine shout from behind him. He turned to see every member of Tuou and Seirin watching him. Kise smiled, looking to them like he was oblivious when the opposite was true.
"Nah, you guys go. Kurokocchi forgot Nigou here," Kise said. As if to prove the blonde's point, Nigou barked from next to him. Kise saw that Kagami flinched from the sound. Aomine tightened his grip around his boyfriend, and responded to his former teammate.
"Ah, well okay," he said. With that, the others turned and headed out the door. Kise sighed, picked up the dog, and made his own way out of the gym. He headed over to his friend's house.
"I don't know why Kurokocchi would leave you there," Kise said, looking at the dog. The dog only barked and nuzzled into the other's chest. Kise smiled gently. "I wish I could help that boy."
When he reached the other's apartment, he knocked on the door. He knew that Kuroko wouldn't appreciate the other barging in. He waited a few minutes, knowing that the other had heard. Sure enough, the door opened and the bluenette was on the other side. Kise smiled at his friend.
"Hello Kurokocchi! You left Nigou back at Seirin, so I figured that I'd bring him back," the blonde said. He noticed that there were red rings around those gorgeous baby blue eyes, though he didn't mention it. Kuroko was thankful that the blonde didn't say anything about the fact that he had been crying.
"Thank you, Kise-kun," he said, voice clear of any emotion. Kise sighed and put the dog down. He barked and ran into the house.
"Come here. I know you're upset," Kise said, opening his arms slightly. Kuroko stared at him for a moment before he gave in. He wrapped his thin arms around the blonde and buried his head into his chest. Kise wrapped his own strong and powerful arms around the bluenette. Silent sobs wracked the smaller boy and Kise's heart broke at hearing them. It really did hurt his friend that his two lights were together.
"I wish I had told him before the incident," Kuroko said, trying to keep his voice calm. Kise tightened his arms, and rested his forehead on top of the others head.
"I know, baby. I know," he whispered. Kise had never seen Kuroko as a love interest. He had always wanted to protect the other like the little brother that he never had, even if the other was older than him by a few months. "I'll help you, Kurokocchi. You know that."
"I know," he mumbled into the other. Kise sighed and picked the younger up, placing him on his hip as he would with a child. Kuroko didn't protest, only buried his head into the other's shoulder. He tried to regain his unemotional face, but he was just too upset right now. Kuroko accepted that Kise wanted to be like his older brother. He was also relieved that the other wouldn't fall in love with him, as the blonde was straight. The bluenette, himself, was bisexual.
"Do you want me to make dinner for you?" Kise asked. Kuroko shook his head.
"Not hungry."
"All right baby. Well how about you take a shower and go to bed?" he asked. Kise only showed his soft side in front of his family, and he considered Kuroko his family. Tomorrow was Saturday, so Kise could stay at the others house if he needed to. Kuroko only nodded at the suggestion. He suddenly looked up at the other in a slight panic.
"You'll stay. Won't you?" he asked. He didn't want to be alone right now. Kise smiled gently at the other.
"Of course, I will baby," he replied. Kuroko nodded and put his head down again. He usually didn't act so out of character around anyone. He felt that Kise was the only one that had access to his true self. Aomine would've seen this side to him as well, if Kuroko had had the chance to be with him.
Later that night, Kuroko fell asleep on top of Kise's chest. He felt like he was a child again, but he didn't care at that point. No one else would see him like this.
~O~
The next morning, Kise woke up to Kuroko shaking him awake. He mumbled out an, "What it is?"
"You have to go to work, don't you?" Kuroko asked. Kise groaned.
"What time is it?" Kise asked, tiredly.
"8:00. I already called your manager to pick you up here instead," Kuroko said. Kise got up with a yawn.
"Thank you. My shoot isn't until 10:30, but they like me to be early. Thank you for waking me up baby," Kise said with a smile in Kuroko's direction. Kuroko blushed at the attention before getting up.
"I made you breakfast," he said softly. Kise grinned.
"Thanks, but what about you?" he asked, suddenly frowning. Kuroko looked down in shame.
"I'm not hungry," he said. Kise sighed sadly.
"You need to eat something. Come on baby, let's go downstairs," he said. Kuroko only nodded and followed the blonde downstairs.
After forcing Kuroko to eat something small, they cleaned up the mess. When they were done, Kuroko's doorbell rang. With a small "I'll get it," Kuroko had disappeared from the kitchen silently.
"Hello?" he asked, once he had opened the door. The middle-aged man on the other side smiled politely. He had on a black business suit.
"I'm here to pick Kise-kun up," he said, voice a soft tenor. Kuroko nodded and was about to respond when Kise showed up behind Kuroko.
"Hey Boss!" he said loudly. The other smiled.
"Hello Kise-kun. Are you ready?" the other asked. Kise smiled and nodded his head.
"I'll see you later, Kurokocchi. All right?" he asked. Kuroko nodded. Kise hugged Kuroko goodbye, whispering in his ear so the other man couldn't hear him. "Take care, baby. I'll see you soon all right?"
Kuroko only nodded and watched as they walked back to the limo parked in front of his driveway. Beside him Nigou barked in farewell before the two disappeared. Kuroko sighed as he shut the door behind him. He had no distractions from his thoughts, now. He curled up on his couch under a blanket. He was very cold lately, and he thought that it had to do with him losing weight. He didn't do it on purpose, he was just so upset all the time that his appetite escaped him. He did force himself to eat at least one thing a day. But sometimes it equated to almost nothing.
"What am I doing? I never deserved Aomine-kun in the first place," he muttered to himself. Tears started to fall from his baby blue eyes once more and he tried to wipe them away. It only made it worse. Sighing, he got up and grabbed his basketball. He walked out of the house with Nigou following behind him and made his way to the nearest street basketball court. He was shooting hoops, failing miserably, when he heard a laugh a bit away. He looked over to see Aomine laughing at something Kagami had said. The tears that had dried up in his way to the court, made their way back down his face. He tried to ignore it, the fact that Kagami could make the other bluenette laugh and he could not. It hurt his heart to think that he'd never be good enough.
He continued to shoot hoops lazily, ignoring the tears that were slowly drying on his face. Nigou nudged his ankle, causing Kuroko to look down. The dog whimpered, looking towards where the entrance of the court was. Baby blue eyes widened as he saw Aomine and Kagami making their way over to the court he was using. As quickly as he could, he wiped any evidence of his tears away. Then he masked his emotions behind his blank mask, continuing to shoot hoops like he had never stopped. The ball hit the rim once again, bouncing off and towards the entrance.
"What are you doing shooting hoops?" Aomine asked, holding the ball. Kuroko looked over to him blankly, his eyes void of emotion as well. If Aomine wasn't distracted by his oblivious boyfriend, he would've noticed that his friend wasn't all right. He would've noticed the dry tear tracks, and the slight redness around blank baby blue eyes. But Kagami had stolen the ball and started to play with his boyfriend, trying to include his friend as well.
"I felt like it," was the answer that Aomine received. The taller bluenette something was wrong with the other, but Aomine shrugged it off as being paranoid and started to play basketball with the other two. Not too long after they started, Aomine and Kagami had a 'couple moment.' They were staring into each other's eyes, just about to kiss each other. Kuroko tried to push his tears back, and Nigou noticed his master's distress. Nigou walked over to the couple, right next to the redhead and barked. Kagami jumped and took a big step away from the dog.
"What?!" he demanded of the dog. Then Aomine noticed that the dog seemed to be glaring at his boyfriend. He furrowed his brow and picked the dog up.
"What's the matter?" he asked him. Kuroko was frozen, knowing that his dog tried to protect him. Not in a violent way, the dog was too smart for his own good actually. Nigou whimpered quietly and rubbed his face against the dark bluenette's chest right over his heart. Then he licked the same spot, trying to tell the other what his master felt. Of course, Aomine didn't understand.
"Oi!" Kagami shouted. Nigou turned to the redhead with a short growl. Aomine was confused. Nigou had never hated Kagami before. So why was he suddenly growling at him? Suddenly, the dog was taken from his arms by a pair of paler than usual hands. Aomine looked down to see Kuroko looking up at him. This time Aomine was close enough to see the redness to the others eyes, the way he had dried tear tracks running down his face, the way his eyes were void of emotions. He shivered, and he felt worry fill his entire being.
"What's wrong, Tetsu?" Aomine asked. Kuroko only shook his head, not trusting his voice. He turned away with the dog in his arms and intended to walk away from the two. Aomine furrowed his brows. Something wasn't right. He pulled the other into his chest, not caring that his boyfriend was two feet from them. He wanted to know if his friend was all right. He knew that if Kuroko refused to tell when asked, then he would eventually say what was on his mind the longer the dark bluenette held him. He didn't know why, and he never bothered to find out. "What's wrong?"
"You!" Kuroko shouted, ripping himself from the others arms. He couldn't hold back the tears anymore, and they came streaming down his face again. Aomine's eyes widened in shock and Kagami looked ready to defend the other if he had to. Of course, he would never hurt Kuroko, but he would restrain him gently if he had to. "You're my problem!"
Aomine was speechless, not knowing what to say. He heard the other yell once before, but he had never glared at him the way Kuroko was glaring at him right now. Nigou was put back on the ground and Kuroko clenched his fists in anger and agony.
"I love you! I have since our first year in middle school! Then you stopped talking to me, and I thought my heart had hurt then. It wasn't anything compared to the way it hurts when I have to watch you two. My heart feels like it's being torn apart every time you kiss him or show any signs of affection. When he can make you laugh like I was never able to. He healed you when I couldn't, and it hurts! I can't take it anymore!" Kuroko forced himself to not choke on his words through the tears. Before either dark bluenette or redhead could say or do anything, Kuroko had taken off in a dead sprint.
He ran as fast as he could, but he couldn't get the look of utter shock on Aomine's face or the look of betrayal on Kagami's face out of his mind. He ran all the way home, before realizing that he left Nigou at the courts. He knew that Aomine wouldn't let harm come to the dog. He locked up his front door and ran up the stairs to his bedroom. He locked that door as well before he collapsed to the ground in painful sobs.
He had never wanted to tell the other how he felt. Now he had blown it. Neither of the two would ever want to talk to him again. The look of betrayal on Kagami's face made the pain ten times worse than what it was. He knew he didn't deserve Aomine even as a friend. He didn't deserve anyone in his life. He should be forever alone, because that's what he deserves. Every memory of his life that he could remember flashed before his eyes. Friends, family, happiness. He didn't deserve any of it. And he knew it. He struggled up to his feet and stumbled his way to the bathroom across the room blindly. The tears prevented him from being able to see properly and he fell to the floor with a crash. He reached for the razor on the counter and took a deep breath.
Slicing his wrist open, the blood began to steadily stream out. He forced himself to his feet before he started to drag his bloodied fingers across the large mirror as he wrote a message. When he was done, he collapsed back onto the floor. The last thing he heard was a loud bang before he passed out cold in a pool of his own blood.
~O~
It took Aomine a few minutes before he could function again. By that time, the younger had already disappeared. A tear forced his way from his dark blue eye and he turned to face Kagami. Kagami looked betrayed as he stared off in the direction that the other had disappeared to. Then the last words Kuroko spoke rang through his ears once more. 'I can't take it anymore!'
"Fuck! Taiga, we have to go after him!" Aomine said with wide eyes. Kagami looked over at his boyfriend angrily.
"Why?!" he demanded, not realizing what Kuroko was going to do. Aomine knew that something had seemed off about Kuroko since he had started to date Kagami, but he couldn't figure out what. Now he knew. He also knew that Kuroko was going to hurt himself in some way. What way, he didn't know.
"He's going to do something stupid! You heard the last words he said before he took off, didn't you?!" Aomine screamed at the redhead before taking off to Kuroko's house as fast as he could. Realization struck Kagami's oblivious brain before he, too, took off running towards his friend's house as fast as he could.
Aomine arrived, Nigou hot on his heels. When he tried to opened the door, he found that it was locked. "Shit!"
Nigou whimpered, then barked before pulling the welcome mat aside. It revealed a shiny silver key. Aomine picked it up and quickly opened the front door. By this time, Kagami had finally made it. Nigou took off at a run, whimpering. Aomine followed him, with Kagami hot on his heals this time. Nigou led them to a door upstairs that was closed. He started to paw at it, whimpering. Aomine tried to open it, only to discover that this one was locked too. He forcefully broke the handle, pushing the door open. The first thing he saw, was blood starting to trickle in from an open door on the opposite wall. He rushed over only to find Kuroko lying in a pool of his own blood.
"No," Aomine whispered. He shook his head in denial, feeling tears start to fall down his face. He ran over to him, while Kagami stood in the doorway. He noticed the writing in blood on the mirror.
'I can't take it anymore. I don't deserve anyone or anything. Take care of Daiki and Ryouta.'
As soon as he read it, he pulled his phone out and dialed the emergency room.
"Hello, what's your emergency?" a dull voice on the other side of the line answered.
"Hello, my friend has tried to commit suicide. I need an ambulance sent right away please," Kagami said, trying to keep his voice steady.
"Can you tell me where your friend is?" the voice asked. Kagami nodded, even though the lady couldn't hear him. He listed off the address of his friend's apartment and then disconnected after hearing the okay. Aomine looked up, tears staining his face. Kagami crouched down and held him close to him.
"He'll be okay. I called the emergency room, they're sending an ambulance. He's going to be all right, I promise," Kagami whispered in his boyfriend's ear. He was also trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince Aomine. Nigou barked from next to his master. The couple looked over to see that Kuroko had stopped breathing. Aomine's eyes widened in panic. Kagami gently pushed Aomine out of the way. He knew CPR from living in America, and he knew he had to start it fast. He tilted back his friends head by his chin and pinched his nose shut. He pushed air into the other's lungs. Then he gently but quickly put the head down and starting to pump his chest above his heart. He repeated this a few times, before the paramedics arrived. The hurriedly went into action to save the boy, gently pushing Kagami away. As they took the young bluenette away, Aomine started to sob silently into Kagami's chest.
"Please let him be okay," he whispered brokenly. Kagami guided his boyfriend to the hospital, knowing that neither of them would want to go home. Once they made it, they sat down in the waiting room. Aomine abruptly turned to the other. "You have to call the others. They need to know."
Kagami only nodded and one by one, he called the other members of the generation of miracles. It was only two in the afternoon, so the rest of the members were in practice.
~O~
Kise had just started to practice with his teammates after his photo shoot when his phone rang. Kasamatsu grumbled.
"That better not be your agency. You just left them," he glared at the blonde. Kise laughed it off, until he noticed that it was Kagami calling. He frowned, not knowing why the redhead would call him.
"Hello?"
There was a pause as the other line spoke until...
"What?! I'm leaving now!" Kise yelled, hanging up on the redhead. Kasamatsu looked over worriedly, now knowing that it wasn't the blonde's agency.
"What's wrong?" he asked. Kise turned towards him with tears gleaming in his eyes. Kasamatsu instantly knew something was wrong. Those weren't fake tears, as he knew the difference by now. He walked over to the other and hugged him, pulling the blonde head until it rested on his shoulder.
"K-Kurokoc-chi is in the h-hospital. H-he tried-d to c-commit s-suic-cide," he stuttered out around the sobs wracking his body. Everyone had grown silent instantly. They knew how close the two were, even if neither of them admitted it aloud. Kasamatsu rubbed Kise's back comfortingly.
"Come on, Ryou. Let's get you to the hospital. You can't go by yourself," He stood up, gently bringing Kise with him. Kise tried to stop his tears, only managing to silence his sobs. Kasamatsu turned to the rest of the team. "Everyone continue practice as normal."
And with that, Kasamatsu brought the blonde to the hospital.
~O~
Midorima had just took a shot when his phone started to ring. He frowned, but decided to ignore it. Until Takao come over with it in a hurry.
"It's Kagami," he explained at the others green glare. The glare turned into confusion and he instantly answered the phone.
"Hello?... W-What? I'll be right there, nanodayo."
As soon as he hung up, he took off leaving everything behind besides his phone. Takao frowned.
"What happened?" he asked before the other had reached the door. The whole teamed wanted to know. Midorima stopped for a moment, before clearing his throat.
"Kuroko is in the hospital from attempted suicide. I'm leaving. Don't expect me back today," he spoke. Everyone was speechless at the shakiness of his voice. Before anyone could comment, he took off at a sprint and disappeared. Takao frowned and hoped that they'd all be all right before continuing with practice.
~O~
Murasakibara was munching on a candy bar during a small break when his phone rang.
"Hai?... Hah?! I'm on my way."
The purple giant snapped his phone shut and threw his candy away. The entire team gasped as he did this. Himuro frowned as big fat tears started to roll down the giant's cheeks.
"Atsushi, what's the matter?" Himuro asked. He walked over to the other and gently put a hand on the other's arm. The giant sniffed softly before he told them.
"Kuro-chin is in the hospital from trying to kill himself. I have to go see him," he muttered, almost to himself. He took off, trying to hold back sobs as made his way out of the gym. Himuro turned to the others.
"I'll go with him," he said. The others only nodded and watched as Himuro took off after the other.
~O~
"Sei-chan, when will practice be over? We've been at this all morning," Mibuchi complained, looking towards the redhead. The captain looked unaffected by the brutal practice. The redhead raised an eyebrow and was about to respond when his phone rang.
"Akashi Seiijuro speaking... Ah. I'll head over now. Thank you for informing me."
Hanging up, Akashi seemed very calm. Inside, however, he was a right mess. His Tetsuya couldn't die. It wasn't possible. That boy helped him when he had lost himself. He had helped all of them. He couldn't just die now.
"Practice is over," he announced, voice starting to shake a little bit. Mibuchi looked at his captain worriedly.
"Sei-chan?" he asked. Akashi looked towards his teammates, tears shimmering in his eyes. Everyone was taken aback.
"Tetsuya is in the hospital from trying to commit suicide. I'll be leaving to go to him," he announced before taking off. He called his driver to come pick him up before he called and informed his father of what had happened.
'Please don't die.'
~O~