AN: Hey! I know this chapter took slightly longer to come out, so thanks for being patient and sticking with this story! I would really like to thank everyone who reviewed, you guys are really help to keep my writing motivation up :) Feedback given was great too, thanks guys :D

Chapter 2 reviewers! WinterRaineeDay91, Rikka-tan, Another observer of the world, Snowdoll18, Jake Lodge, mokona-au-chocopyuh, Joey Bermuda Ketail. I virtually hug you all over the internet 3

As usual, also thanks to those who followed and added to favorites! It's my fuel for writing, hehheh =w=

Chapter begin~

Chapter 3

Previously…

"Hey, Kuroko?"

"Yes?"

"Isn't it lonely? Being ignored by me; by everyone, for the past thirteen years?"

Kuroko face displayed an unreadable expression.

"I'm used to it."

Aomine decided not to ask any more stupid questions that could irk the petite boy even more than he already was. Midnight eyes glanced out of the window, squinting at the bright blue that painted the sky where patches of white clouds lazily drifted by, flocks of black specks dashing across occasionally accompanied by squawks of blaring avians.

'This has got to be some sort of dream.' As cliché as it sounded, Aomine genuinely thought so. Despite knowing that his imagination was next to none, he still couldn't trust what his senses were witnessing. Siting up suddenly, he gave himself a tight slap across the face.

"Argh!" Aomine groaned at the throbbing pain that had now spread throughout his cheek. If one looked carefully they could spot the reddish hand-shaped mark on tanned skin. Rubbing the side of his face with the same offending hand, he exclaimed "That wasn't supposed to hurt!"

"Aomine-kun, the accident affected your brain more than I thought it had."

"It's not the accident's fault!" Aomine almost yelled out before realizing that he was still in the hospital. A random outburst from a patient who was supposedly alone in his ward would have probably earned him a direct transfer to the mental department.

"I'm not dreaming right? This is all for real?"

"That's for you to believe."

"Oi! Don't give so indirect ans-" Aomine once again had barely enough time to respond before being interrupted by the opening of the door. Realizing he was still sitting up straight from his outburst, he quickly laid back down inconspicuously, shutting close his eyes and pretending to be asleep so as to not arouse suspicion from whoever came in.

It was the same doctor from the day before, Aomine saw through partially opened eyes. Doctor Wasabi or something, Aomine never had a knack for remembering names.

He heard the footsteps gradually growing louder. "Aomine-kun, wake up. It's me, Dr. Tanabe. I have your medical report."

Feigning a yawn, he sat up and stretched, waking up exaggeratedly from his 'sleep'. "Hey doc," As if that half-assed effort could actually wake me up. "Mornin'."

"Aomine-kun, we've received back your medical report. You're all fine and free to go. In the matter of fact, your twisted ankle is already completely healed; just try to reduce the strain on it for the next month or so, okay? Besides that there doesn't seem to be any other problem. Your parents will be here to pick you up soon."

"That's great. Thanks doc." Aomine grumbled. The doctor gave him a reassuring nod before turning around to head out.

"Wait!" Aomine suddenly found himself saying. "Are you sure there's really nothing wrong with me?" The doctor raised an eyebrow. "Like any brain damage or internal bleeding or anything that could mess me up in the head," Aomine elaborated.

"The examination shows that your skull is perfectly intact, and there are no signs of a concussion or any trauma." The doctor reassured. "Unless you believe there's something wrong…?"

"Nah, I'm fine. Just wanted to make sure." Aomine lied smoothly.

"Alright then, if there are no other problems, I'll check you out as soon as your parents arrive."

Speak of the devil.

The door suddenly flew open with remarkable force, slamming hard against the wall behind, causing the door to rattle at the impact.

"Daiki!" A lady with butt-long, flowing midnight blue hair burst in at impossible speeds, gripping the handles of the hospital bed with shaking fists. "Daiki! Are you alright? Does it hurt anywhere?"

"I'm fine, ma. The doctor said there's nothing wrong."

The hysteric woman looked towards the doctor for confirmation, receiving a reassuring nod in response. Realizing that her precious boy was fine, her aura made a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn as she narrowed her eyes at Aomine, glaring daggers through his soul.

"One more time you do something stupid to make your lovely mama worried again, I'll make sure you don't ever live to ever play basketball again."

Knowing that her son was a total basketball idiot, her face lit up in satisfaction as she received a fast "Yes ma'am!"

After the relevant documents were signed, Aomine was officially discharged from the confinements of the hospital. Breathing in fresh outside air for the first time in four days, the mother-son duo plus shadow made their way to the car park.

Right, his shadow. Aomine almost forgot about him again.

The trio stepped into the car and the engine revved to life, the lightning fast journey through the highway began with Aomine's mother's foot firmly pressed down on the pedal and the car on full throttle.

Well, Aomine did get his need for speed from somewhere.

The journey home was a relatively quiet one, with occasional cursing about slow drivers coming from the driver's seat. Unable to withstand the silence, Aomine decided to break the silence.

"Ma, where's pa?" He asked despite already knowing the answer.

"Busy with work. Sorry we didn't visit you while you were hospitalized, work has been overwhelming lately." She replied with a sympathetic tone.

A few peaceful moments drifted by as the white automobile sped past other incompetent vehicles on the road, before of course, someone had the need to break it again.

"Aomine-kun," The shadow began, looking up at Aomine who was sitting beside him in the backseat. "I always wanted to say this; your mother is scary."

"Aha, I know."

"Daiki?" Aomine's mother looked at her son through her rear-view mirror with a raised eyebrow. "You know what?"

Shit! Aomine let the fact that he was the only one who could see, or hear, this guy totally slip his mind. Brain running at a hundred miles an hour, he formulated another cover to hide his blunder.

"Aha… I know you love me very much, ma."

Well, that killed two birds with one stone. The tan lady didn't only accept the cover, but looked immensely happy throughout the remainder of the journey. Meanwhile, Kuroko felt an upward twitch threaten the ends of his lips, an obviously amused look in his eyes.

Aomine wondered if it were possible to kill shadows.

AN: Ahaha, I know this chapter is severely less than satisfactory, and actually didn't serve much purpose besides being a transition from the hospital back into Aomine's normal life. As a result, the pace also came out a lot slower than I intended it to be, so I hope it's not too boring. Aomine will back to school by next chapter (I hope), so hopefully things will pick up from there 8D

You can now check when the next chapter is going to be published by looking at my profile! Deadlines ensure that I keep writing =w=

Thanks for reading! Reviews as always are greatly appreciated 3