"I have leukemia." Kuroko stared long at the empty, dead eyes of whom he was speaking to. They showed no emotion, hidden by the glossy film that laced over them. Silence ensued as the two unrelentingly watched each other, waiting for one of them to strike first. His fingers gripped the bathroom sink as both of the images ducked their heads and sighed. Cerulean locks draped down on their faces, shielding their vision.

"Ah." Kuroko muttered to his reflection. "This is much more difficult than I thought it would be." He released the ceramic sink and rubbed his sullen face. "Much more difficult." He repeated before leaving the bathroom. He treaded up to his room and picked out the first book his fingers brushed against. Falling onto his bed, Kuroko slowly opened the book and began his beautiful life as someone else.

The Kübler-Ross model is about death. Introduced by a Swiss physicist, Kübler-Ross, it was made to capture the feelings of what loss or grief feels like. Whether that be for you or someone else, it outlined the normal build up to the all important last step of acceptance.

Kuroko found it amusing since it seemed he had skipped this whole process. He didn't really care if he were to live or die, a horrible thing to think. He grew up in a middle class family, not too wealthy, but comfortable enough. He had a loving mother and father, both were very kind, though not around much. Kuroko understood though, as they both worked abroad, being alone was something he was used to for a while.

He had friends, many kind friends. Though they had a bit of a falling out in high school, now the eight were as close as ever. So even with his parents away, Kuroko was never lonely. Of course, now he just wished he was. Telling his worrisome companions would be the most difficult part of the process.

He could just imagine the look in all their eyes, it made Kuroko shudder.

The news was given about a week. It was just a regular check up, or so he thought. The doctor had asked him a few questions that apparently raised suspicions.

"Yes, there have been a few bruises that just appear. I'm not sure why though..."

"I have been getting seemingly random nosebleeds now that I think about it..."

"Headaches and body aches have been becoming quite frequent as well..."

"Anemia? Well, I suppose..."

"What exactly about my excrement?"

And after that series of questions, the led him to a few tests that day. Kuroko would be lying if he said he didn't feel the faint presence of fear, but it was just that; faint. He thought to himself, a normal person doesn't go through these tests. There's something I should be frightened of right now.

But those thoughts left the boy's twisted mind as soon as they appeared.

After they ran him through all the machines, he was excused from the clinic. Kuroko didn't miss the flash of conflict that spread across the nurse's face before being replaced by a beautiful smile.

Unfortunately, the quiet male always knew beauty was fake.

A week or so later, a call rang through his empty household. No one picked up.

He fell unconscious during practice. The coach was hysterical, shouting for someone to get him to the nurse's office. Kagami carried his beautiful body all down the halls, ignoring the sideways glances passerby's gave the the basketball team.

Of course, Kuroko woke up while being placed onto the bed. He apologized for troubling the team. The captain yelled at the boy, sputtering angry words at him.

He was forcefully sent home after the school nurse checked him over, not before being asked where he had gotten all these bruises from.

"Basketball practice." His team frowned.

"Oh, I see."

"No, no, it's alright."

"Parents? They're abroad currently."

"No, I don't think you can reach them."

"I'll tell them myself."

"Of course, they'll call as soon as they get home."

"You don't have to apologize."

"Though, I would appreciate it if you don't tell your son, Midorima-sensei."

"Thank you."

He didn't cry that night. The next morning, he went to the doctor's clinic right away and picked up the paperwork. Getting a note from one of the doctors, he politely bowed and thanked them for their service. He was told not to push himself. Still, he went to school.

When walking into his classroom, no one really noticed him, unsurprisingly. Kagami, being the only one Kuroko was worried about spotting him, was fast asleep, face in his textbook.

Stuffing the doctor's note in his pocket, the cerulean haired male silently made his way to his seat and sat down. For once in his life, he actually stayed awake during English class.

'-use adjectives to describe a noun. For example, The red boy was beautiful. Both red and beautiful describe what? The noun being in this case, boy.'

The lesson dragged on, and Kuroko began daydreaming. He remembered the story he read the night before about a noble mercenary who was terribly injured. He refused to tell his party in fear of becoming a hinderance, so he concealed it and fought until the end where his injuries got the better of him. He died during a fight he could have easily won if he had not been so stubborn.

Kuroko always thought of him as foolish, but the author seemingly portrayed him as selfless, courageous, and strong. Most of all beautiful.

As the bluenette left class, he gave his teacher a shock. The older man scolded him, telling his student to speak up next time during roll call. Kuroko apologized.

Practice was difficult. Well, truth be told, it was always difficult for Kuroko since his physique wasn't the best. Perhaps it was always like that because of his disease? Maybe he's thinking too hard, that's not healthy.

So he decided to let off some steam. While running laps, Kuroko disappeared from the crowd of teammate and grabs his puppy. The dog shrieked with joy and hopped right into his arms. His coach and upperclassmen looked at him knowingly and sighed as he caught up with Kagami.

The larger man let out a squeal and ran faster. Kuroko's eyes sparkled with mischief before he felt something wet run down his upper lip. He stopped and licked it, tasting the metallic liquid. His captain shouted that his nose is bleeding. Kuroko could've figured that out himself.

Quickly, his puppy is taken out of his arms and he's lead quietly and carefully to the bench. They treat him like glass, as if he's about to break from sound alone. His coach ordered most of the members to continue running while the regulars examined their teammate.

Kuroko just missed his puppy's warmth.

The first person he tells surprisingly isn't who he thought it'd be. When he first was diagnosed, Kuroko's mind drifted to a couple people, his parents, his new light, and his unrequited crush. Though, this development made a bit more sense seeing as she was his coach.

Plus he didn't really have much of a choice.

He willingly gave her the diagnostic papers after she had asked him to stay behind while the others changed. His puppy stayed by his feet.

Kuroko could see, even though she tried to stay neutral, her eyes had a passing look of fear, regret, pity. 'I'm sorry' almost left her lips, but she wasn't blind. Kuroko's face said more than silly words ever could.

"Please, refrain from telling anyone else."

In exchange, he was banned from practicing.

"Yeah, everything's fine."

"No, you don't have to worry."

"I'm not lonely at all, I have lots of friends."

"I'm not a ghost like in elementary school."

"Yes, I am eating well."

"I miss you too."

"I'm positive, everything's alright here."

"Alright, goodbye, love you-"

"-mom and dad."

He told Kagami next, feeling as if the larger male had the right to know. His reaction was exactly what he was prepared for, a lot of yelling, a lot of anger, a lot of 'Why are you so calm!?' Kuroko would just shrug.

Luckily, they weren't anywhere too public, only the basketball court. But that didn't mean Kagami's booming voice wasn't disruptive. So with a deadpanned face, Kuroko passed a basketball right in the furious male's face. Needless to say, after recovering from the basketball imprint on his cheek, he was pissed.

But instead of grabbing the blue eyed boy's cranium, like he usually would, he opted to clutching his fists in the open, stomping his feet, and making gesticulated movements all over the court.

At one point, he took out his cell and began dialing. Kuroko stopped him by passing another basketball, this time at his hand. It worked a little too well, as it connected with the target, Kagami's cell was smashed out of his hand and landed unforgivingly on the blacktop. The device snapped in two.

"I'm sorry. I'll pay for the damages. But you're not calling any of them. I'll tell them myself."

Kagami then freaked out for a couple more minutes, before deciding that horrible words and air punching would do nothing. So he instead walked up to the smaller male until he was uncomfortably close. He placed a hand on his shoulder and began leading him to the bulk of the city with a harden expression.

"Kagami-kun?"

He received no answer, instead being helplessly lead. They walked in silence until they came upon a familiar district. Kuroko furrowed his eyebrows as he came upon a familiar building.

"What are you doing?"

He was lead through a familiar door, into a familiar space, in a familiar line. There, the two teens waited in silence until it was their turn to order. Kagami stepped up and order and regular meal with two large vanilla shakes.

He was given a strange look. Being a regular there, people understood the multitude of what he usually orders. And though first hearing it was surprising, it was seemingly nothing compared to hearing his miniscule order today.

But nonetheless he got the order, and with the tray in one hand and Kuroko's shoulder in the other, he lead them to their familiar table. They both sat down and the food and drinks were placed in front of the puzzled, blue haired boy.

Kagami told him to eat.

Kuroko blinked, but still obliged, unwrapping the burger and sipping on the beautiful, creamy dessert.

Kagami then told him to talk.

Kuroko frowned, but still obliged, telling of his visit to the doctor's clinic and how he only had a couple months to live.

"Thank you for the meal."

"Yes, I'll be fine."

"Yes, I have told my parents."

"It might've been heredity."

"I'm fairly certain my grandmother passed from this."

"No, I can make it home myself."

"Yes, I would like another shake."

"Thank you, Kagami-kun."

Kuroko woke up on his kitchen floor the next day. His head was thumping annoyingly and red stained the floors and counters. He opened his mouth only to feel it stuck in place by the revolting, harden blood all around it.

Slowly, he stood, wobbling, but refusing to use anything as support. He nearly passed out again, but somehow made it back on his feet. He reminded himself of a baby, not mentally of course, but physically.

He then leaned over his kitchen sink and turned on the water. At first, he only cupped his hands and splashed the cool liquid onto his face. But soon, that process became too tedious, and instead let his whole face be under the stream. It woke him up and cleaned him off.

He rubbed his face all over, feeling the droplets drip from the tip of his nose. Red mixed in like food coloring, except it was water, not food. As the water ran against his head, Kuroko had the strange urge to bake a cake. He was never one for cooking or baking, but he craved one. Red velvet to be specific.

Maybe it was because he was thinking of red food coloring.

Turning off the faucet, Kuroko grabbed a dish towel and dried himself off. He looked at the clock and frowned. It was really early, almost five in the morning. The sun peaked through the curtains, but only barely.

Feeling too awake to return to his bed, Kuroko decided to take a bath. But he realized that he could easily have a fainting spell and drown. Just like that.

It seemed like an ungraceful way to go, so Kuroko came up with the solution of using keeping 119 on speed dial. He never used it, but it kept him assured.

Leaving the bathroom and closing his cell, Kuroko got dressed to go out. He really wanted to go to the store and buy some red velvet cake batter to make a beautiful cake.

Kuroko received a message while walking home from the store. It was from Midorima, and not his doctor, but his former teammate. At first, he was a little annoyed from the contents of the text, but soon came to view it in a positive light. After all, once dying sets in all you have left is your own mentality, so best to keep optimistic.

Swinging his groceries slightly, Kuroko was kind of excited to get home. He never had really baked, besides making Christmas cookies with his grandmother, so this was a new experience for him. His cake would be beautiful and delicious. It would have sweet white icing and fluffy insides. He had also bought raspberry filling, but he might be too ambitious to use that straight away. Maybe he could decorate the top with regular raspberries instead of the filling? It would be on the edges, lined up pretty. Yes, that would be nice.

In the center, Kuroko would write out with candled shape characters, 'I'm sorry you guys had to find out this way.' Then, he would invite all his friends over and serve them the cake while telling them all about the horrid disease that ravaged his body. It would be like a birthday party. But instead of celebrating life, it would be death.

Happy death day.

Kuroko stopped mid-step. With a disgusted expression, he wondered why his mind wandered into something so terrifyingly graphic. Death day? How dark.

He shook his head and continued on, swinging the groceries slightly as he neared his street. He walked to his big, beautiful home and unlocked the door, holding one of his bags with his teeth. It kind of hurt.

Pushing the front door open, he stepped inside and removed his shoes, humming, "I'm home," to the the portrait of him and his family. He stopped in the hall and bowed to his grandmother's shrine before calmly walking into the kitchen and setting down the groceries. He then looked around in the drawers until he found his grandmother's old cookbook.

Flipping the pages, he came upon other recipes that really looked tasty. Peanut crunch brownies with candy bits? Traditional apple pie with sweet whip cream? Vanilla cream pastries with custard filling? It made Kuroko's mouth water.

"I can make all these," he thought while wiping his drool, "and it'll be fun and delicious." He grabbed his mother's apron and put it on, tying it around his waist. He laughed to himself, "Who said people lose interest in things once they begin withering like flowers?"

"Hmm?"

"What?"

"He has what!?"

"No, no."

"He would've called me himself.

"Right!?"

"Your father said what exactly?"

"I'll be in Tokyo tomorrow, Shintarou."

Akashi was very controlled. He was in control of his work, his grades, his sports, his team, his life, and most importantly, his emotions. Usually. It is quite difficult to keep your fear and anger and worry in check when hearing one of your good friends was diagnosed with a terminal illness. On top of that, he never even bothered to tell you.

But that's in the past, because right now, Akashi could only focus on the future. Oh, yes. The future to knocking on Tetsuya's door and giving the usually passive teen a piece of his mind.

Leukemia. T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia. The rarest and most deadly of the bunch, a rousing two percent of people obtain it. It has a doesn't even have a five-year death rate, people are lucky to live past a year. If they're lucky.

But this is Tetsuya, of course he's unlucky! Not to mention unhealthy. Though getting proper exercise, his diet is abysmal. Akashi's never heard of anyone drinking that many shakes in the span of only a week.

But bad dieting habits aside, Tetsuya of all people had had the reality of being diagnosed. How? Why?

Akashi had checked his family tree, and his it has no history with the disease. Tetsuya doesn't live in a bad area and most definitely doesn't not smoke nor drink alcohol. So why? The troubled teen leaned forward in his airplane seat, nervously tapping his foot. How many more hours? How much longer until this damn plane gets to Tokyo?

My, he sounded like a child.