Chapter 1: Unforeseen situations
It was spring. One can see the streets of Japan lined with beautiful cherry blossom trees, with their pink flowers covering the hard cold concrete pavement. It wasn't snowing anymore, but nevertheless, the weather was still chilly. The streets were bustling with life, and needless to say, the airport was too. The arrival hall was filled with crowds of people; tourists absorbing the sight of Japan for the first time, families welcoming their loved ones back to their home country, and even businessmen clad in black suits while carrying black briefcases were part of the crowd too.
And at this moment, a certain red-haired man walked out of the arrival hall gates. Holding a simple black briefcase on his left hand and a cell phone brought near to his ear, he was dressed in a red dress shirt with black trousers, along with a black blazer, unbuttoned, and a black tie. Quite a handsome young man he was, supposedly in his mid-twenties, was what the passers-by all thought in their mind. An authoritative aura surrounded the young man, his posture straight as he took long strides out the gates with confidence, attracting even more attention than he expected. And those heterochromatic eyes just add a tint of mystery into him.
"How long has it been?" The red-head spoke into his cell phone, his attention never once distracted by the crowd which were fussing over him.
"He's been awake for a week already, though he didn't managed to stay awake for long during the first day. He immediately fell asleep again after the doctors checked up on him. But his condition is getting better, and he's able to eat a regular meal now too. He has also been receiving physical therapy, and he is able to walk a few steps now, with clutches though." The other party on the other side of the phone said.
"I see." The red-head sighed in relief. "That's good to hear."
"Yeah. Have you just arrived in Japan? I could ask Takao to pick you up. He's free for the whole day today, apparently."
"There isn't a need to bother him with his precious day off." The red-head smirked. "I can just hail a cab."
"I see. There is something else I have to tell you once you reach here though." The other party said, his tone suddenly changed to that of seriousness.
"What is it? Can't you say it through the phone now?" The red-head grumbled, obviously irritated that the other party was keeping something from him.
"No, it's just easier to explain it in person. And much easier for you to see it for yourself."
"... All right." He walked out of the airport, towards the direction of the taxi stand. Unknown to him as to why he did that, he turned his head to glance towards his left where an old woman was standing. It seems that the old woman had dropped something and she was trying to pick it up. But her frail back seemed to disallow her from completing the action. The red-head then walked towards her and helped her pick up the dropped object, which turned out to be a beautifully well carved gold pendant.
"Is this what you are looking for?" The red-head hand over the pendant to the old woman, smiling.
"Ah! Thank you young man." The woman took the pendant from him. "This pendant is very important to me. Thank you." The old woman smiled and then continued, "May you have a good day."
"You too, have a good day." The red-head replied his greetings before the old woman turned around to leave.
"Akashi?" The receiver of his cell phone sounded and he once again placed his cell phone to his ear.
"What is it, Shintarō?"
"No, just worried about you since you have been silent for a while." The other party grunted, and then coughed.
"Hmm... You don't have to worry. It's just that one of Tetsuya's habit got me influenced." The red-head smirked. "I will be there in an hour." He then continued and got in line for the queue for the cabs, which surprisingly had only one person in front of him.
"Hmph. I won't. See you later."
"See you." The red-head let his smirk grow wider as he clasp his cell phone shut and put it back into his pocket, and then got into the cab.
Closing the doors to the cab, he glanced back to see the queue for the cabs getting longer and longer.
I'm glad I got here as fast as I can. He sighed as he settled down into the seats of the cab.
"To Midorima General Hospital." He told the driver, who nodded and immediately started the vehicle, heading towards the direction of the hospital.
Tetsuya... Finally...
"See you." He heard before the line was cut off. The green-head grunted and pushed his glasses up in frustration before opening the door to the patient ward.
"Ah. Midorima-kun, have you finished your call?" The teal-haired man spoke up while sitting up on the patient bed, admiring the view in front of him. The green-head was wearing a dark forest green dress shirt with black trousers, along with a white lab coat with a stethoscope around his neck. Unexpectedly, the doctor's attire fits him perfectly.
"Yeah."
"Midorima-cchi~ Who was it?" A blond, who was sitting down beside the teal-head on the bed chirped happily. He wore a simple brown v-neck shirt with grey bermudas and a black vest. Of course, his outfit was completed with a key-shaped necklace around his neck and his left hand, a trendy black studded bracelet, while a pair of sunglasses rested on his right hand.
"Kise! When did you arrive?" Midorima widened his eyes in shock, not expecting the sudden visit by the blond.
"Heehee!" Kise stood up from the bed, his left hand on his hips and his right hand showed a victory sign, of course, with his sunglasses held down by his other two fingers and thumb, and grinned. "I snuck in while you were making your call!"
"Don't sound so happy while commiting such a crime!" Midorima grunted.
"Eh?! How is this a crime? I just wanted to see Kuroko-cchi~" Kise whined while hugging the said teal-head.
"Oi! Kise! Don't go squashing Kuroko! He just recovered!" Midorima exclaimed, immediately pulling the pouting blond model away from Kuroko.
"Thank you, Midorima-kun. I couldn't stand being squashed by Kise-kun any further." Kuroko bluntly blurted out, ignoring the blond's cries.
"How mean! Kuroko-cchi!"
"Midorima-kun, if you don't mind me asking, Who were you speaking to with just now?" Kuroko asked.
"... Akashi. He's coming in about an hour's time."
"Eh?! Akashi-cchi's back from New York?" Kise, who somehow regained his composure quickly, exclaimed in surprise. "Aomine-cchi is also coming after his work too!"
"Akashi-kun and Aomine-kun? I see. I can't wait to see them again." Kuroko smiled, while playing with the blanket above him. Unbeknownst to him, Kise and Midorima exchanged worried glances.
Midorima coughed after breaking away from his stare with Kise. "Kuroko, you should rest before Akashi comes. He is going to take an hour after all, and I doubt Aomine ends his work this early."
"Ah. Yeah! Kuroko-cchi! You should rest while you can! Aomine-cchi's work doesn't end until seven, and it's only six now. You have plenty of time to rest before they come visit you." Kise grinned.
"Hmm... Maybe I should. Then, if you will excuse me." Kuroko said before lying down to have a rest.
"Then we will be outside. Call us if you need anything." Midorima assured before grabbing Kise out of the ward as well.
"Have a good rest Kuroko-cchi!" Kise frantically waved back before the two exited the room.
Kuroko smiled as he watched the two retreating figures before finally closing his eyes.
It's good to have friends by your side.
"What's taking him so long?" Aomine cursed under his breath. "Even I got here faster than him!"
"Calm down, Aomine-cchi! And lower your voice! Kuroko-cchi's still resting!" Kise whined.
"Yeah. Shut up Aomine!" Midorima sighed.
"Argh! I will not wait anymore! I'm going in to see Tetsu!" Aomine exclaimed as he attempted to knock down the door but was stopped by the blond hugging him from behind.
"Don't! Kuroko-cchi's still resting!"
"Oi! Aomine! Don't you go destroying my property!" Midorima warned.
"Argh!" Aomine groaned in frustration.
"My my, I didn't expect it to be so lively here." The three of them immediately turned towards the source of the voice and was greeted by a familiar man with red hair.
"Akashi! You're late!" Aomine shouted, while pointing to the said red-head.
"You said you will reach in an hour..." Midorima commented.
"Yeah! Aomine-cchi got here earlier than you too!" Kise continued.
Akashi smirked at his friends' behaviour. "Sorry, there was a traffic delay. How's Tetsuya?"
"He's still asleep. But, considering the noise that Ahomine made, he should be awake." Midorima said, earning glares from the tanned teen. "Akashi, there is something I must tell you before you go in."
"Ah. The thing you talked about earlier. What is it?"
Both Kise and Midorima gulped, while Aomine just turned his head away from the three of them, as if he doesn't want to join in the conversation. Suspicious at his friends' reactions, his eyebrow twitched in annoyance.
"What is it?" He asked once again, earning the same response yet again.
"Akashi, stay calm after you hear this." Midorima said, obviously uneasy as to how the red-head will react after revealing the news to him. "Kuroko... He lost his memories."
What?
"It's not like he lost all his memories, but... I would say he lost his most important ones. That said, in total, he lost... 5 years worth of memories. And that five years is from... the last five years..." Midorima reluctantly continued.
Akashi widened his eyes, finally processing the information. Five years?... It means that he lost his memories starting from around the time that the two of us started dating...
"Is what you just said all true?" Akashi asked, his voice wavering slightly.
Both Kise and Aomine looked at Akashi with worry, while Midorima tensed before he continued. "Yeah."
"Akashi-cchi..." Kise muttered.
"I'm going in." Akashi said. The rest widened their eyes as they saw the look on Akashi.
Nobody expected that the infamous Akashi Seijūrō would show such an emotion. The look on him... He looked as if he was about to break down when he received the shocking news. But, before Akashi could pull down the handle of the door, the door creaked open to reveal a yawning teal-head with clutches on both his arms. His messy teal-hair proved that he was able to have a good nap, much to everyone's relief. As soon as he opened his tired eyes, he was met with the sight of red, as he stared into the heterochromatic eyes in front of him.
"Ah... Akashi-kun? Hello. You look... different." Kuroko said, his first time seeing the red-head in a while.
"Tetsuya..."
Note: Okay. I keep seeing this file everyday on my desktop and I keep having the urge to publish this story. So here you go! Haha! I initially wanted my other story to have a few more chapters before I publish this but... oh well! However, I will be putting priority on the story 'a tale of red and blue'. After all, that's my first story. Haha.
Anyway, please review about your thoughts on this chapter!
Thank you.
