AN: Akashi's motivations are hinted at and Kuroko has a brief moment of angst.
If there are any mistakes (grammar, story plot holes, etc.), please either PM me or review about it.
"" - speech
Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke.
"Good morning, Akashi-sensei." Nurse Tanaka smiled at him as she handed him a file. "All the tests have been completed for yesterday's patient. Here are the results."
His red eyes scanned the information before he decisively tapped his pen against the papers. "Bring him in."
Before the patient entered the room, he pulled up the scans against the lightscreen to examine them. "Adrenal…" He murmured to himself.
"He will be coming in now, Doctor."
"Come in." Akashi commanded. Soon after, the door opened, revealing the man from yesterday. Unlike then, however, he appeared to be calm.
"Good morning, Doctor." He greeted hoarsely.
"Good morning to you too. Please have a seat." Akashi motioned to the chair across from him. Despite yesterday's events, he played the role of the impartial and amicable doctor perfectly, looking entirely at ease. The male sat down timidly. "After examining the results of the tests, I have confirmed that you have a disorder called Adrenal Cushing's Syndrome."
"So what should I do then, Doctor?" The man asked with a hint of agitation.
"We can do a simple surgery." He pulled out a model of the kidneys. "If you look here, these are the adrenal glands."
"And?"
"Thankfully, only one adrenal gland has been affected, so you will not need to depend on steroids for the rest of your life. After this surgery, you will be hospitalized until we determine that you are fully recovered. That would take one to two days at most. A couple of follow-up checkups are recommended once you've recovered from the surgery, but you should be good as new."
"So if I get the surgery, I'll be okay then?"
"Yes. Your psychological disorder should also calm down as well since it was caused by Cushing's."
"Then I'll do it. How long do I need to wait?"
"If you talk to the nurse outside, we can most likely get it done within the day. Luckily, I have an opening today and an operation room is open then as well, so if it is convenient for you, we can do the surgery today."
"That's convenient for me too. I'll talk to the nurse then. Thank you." He stood up and bowed politely before exiting the room.
After a couple of minutes, Nurse Tanaka walked in. "The surgery is set at the time that you wanted it at for today."
"Thank you, Tanaka-san."
"Would you like me to inform Tsukishiro-sensei about the new surgery slot?"
He shook his head, giving the nurse a warm smile. "No, that's alright. I can tell her myself. Thank you for offering though, Tanaka-san."
Akashi strode across the hallways and checked the resting room only to find it empty. He quickly switched gears, immediately having decided on another destination when his piercing eyes landed on a fellow doctor who happened to be passing by. Akashi caught the other doctor's attention and greeted him politely before asking, "Did you happen to see Tsukishiro-sensei recently?"
"Ah, Tsukishiro-sensei? She was in the study room earlier, so she's probably still there. She's been there since the chaos in the ER."
"Oh…?" A mixture of exasperation and amusement tinged his voice then before he smiled pleasantly at the doctor. "Thank you."
"No problem!"
Just like the doctor said, Akashi found Reimi in a cubicle, surrounded by piles of textbooks and papers. Akashi arched an eyebrow elegantly as he asked neutrally, "I believe you told me that you were going to be in the resting room?"
"I changed my mind after you left. I can't calm down if I'm there alone. Would rather do something productive." She replied matter-of-factly without looking at him as she flipped through a textbook.
"We have a surgery added in for today."
"For the Adrenal Cushing's patient, right?"
"Yes. It'll be a simple surgical procedure, but I would like to review it once with you."
Turning her chair, she looked up at him. "Okay. Just give me a second so I can put everything back in its original spot." After he nodded his assent, she began carrying a pile of books to a shelf. The corner of his mouth turned upwards and his eyes glinted with amusement.
"I'll assist you," he declared. Before she could even process his sudden words, he effortlessly carried another pile of books to a different shelf. In just a couple of minutes, they managed to put away all the materials in their respective spots.
"That… was quite fast." She blinked at the shelves with a blank expression, looking as though she was still trying to process the fact that they were already finished. "Well, shall we head over to your office to review?"
He motioned for her to follow, which she did without complaint.
At the time of the surgery, the anesthesiologist put the patient to sleep while checking the BP. Both Akashi and Reimi scrubbed as they reviewed the procedure in their heads.
He turned towards her. "Are you ready?"
"Always." She entered the room after him and promptly took her place across from where he would be standing during the operation.
The nurse put on his gloves once he lifted the mask onto his face. He soon stood across from Reimi. "Then let us begin the Laparoscopic Adrenal Gland Removal, everyone." He took a breath before speaking once again. "Scalpel."
Akashi concentrated on the screen as his hands carefully held a certain instrument. The screen finally revealed the affected adrenal gland and in response, he announced clearly, "We will now begin removing the adrenal gland."
"It seems like the surgery will take little time." Reimi commented.
A heavy silence descended in the room as Akashi wielded the instrument in his hand with delicate precision. Several moments passed before he finally paused. "Got it."
He then began pulling out the instrument steadily, making no unnecessary movements as he did so. The moment everyone in the room could see the adrenal gland, the nurse walked over with a tray.
A few minutes passed as he smoothly removed the rest of the tool from the patient's body. "Suture."
His nimble fingers appeared to gracefully weave through the air as he closed the wound, making the procedure appear effortless. "How are the vitals?"
"All normal. The surgery is a success." Reimi reported when he finished up the last of the stitches.
"Good work, everyone." Akashi stepped back, allowing the nurses to move the patient out of the operation room. Without further interaction, he promptly exited the room in order to change back into his clothes, leaving Reimi in the room by herself.
She stood there for a moment, staring uselessly at the door, and pictured the way Akashi had appeared to her before he had left. "Was that relief… or pain? Or perhaps that was…?" She trailed off before dismissing her train of thought with a shake of her head.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep-
Akashi lightly leaned against the wall after adjusting the medication for the Adrenal Cushing's Syndrome patient.
Beep. Beep. Beep-
"You'll be fine now." He murmured to the unconscious man. Despite Akashi appearing to be the epitome of calm, his voice betrayed a deep current of emotion he was carefully keeping under wraps.
"Akashi-kun." A voice flatly came from next to him.
"Kuroko." Akashi acknowledged the former phantom player with a tilt of his head.
"I heard that you just finished up the last surgery of the day." The pediatric nurse stood next to him as he trained his eyes on the patient as well.
"Yes. He's perfectly fine as you can see."
"Is…" The expressionless male paused, glancing at Akashi's side profile with his peripheral vision before deciding to proceed. "Is everything alright?"
"Of course," came Akashi's reply. It might have fooled someone else, but the strain in Akashi's voice was very apparent to the observant misdirection user.
"..." Kuroko faced him. "Do you actually like… No. Did you even want to become a doctor?"
"Why do you ask that?"
"I always thought that you would go into business or if you had the chance, become a professional Shogi player." The blue in his eyes appeared to flicker in the dim light. "You don't need to stay as a doctor if you don't like being one. We all know that you can succeed in everything you do."
"Not in everything." Akashi said dryly with a tired smile, referring to his loss to Kuroko in the Rakuzan vs. Seirin match years ago. "I would have liked to become a professional Shogi player… if not for what happened…" At those last words, Akashi's eyes pooled with an emotion that caused a crack in Kuroko's mask then, which uncharacteristically went unnoticed by Akashi.
"There you are, Kuroko." Midorima entered the room with an irritated expression. "I was looking for you."
"Midorima-kun…" Kuroko greeted the green haired doctor, just barely managing to shove back old wounds that should've healed by now-Akashi-kun… Why…-behind an empty slate. "I apologize. I didn't mean to wander off. We were talking about Harumi-chan, right?"
"At least, you didn't forget that. Now, let's head back to my office to discuss the operation in greater detail." Midorima shifted his glasses.
"Alright. I'll talk to you later then, Akashi-kun." Kuroko said quietly, receiving a nod from the former Rakuzan player before heading out.
Once Kuroko exited the room, Akashi slumped down onto a nearby stool and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes and giving a long exhale.
"Long day?" Midorima inquired, opting to look out the window to give his friend some semblance of privacy.
"More than usual." Akashi opened his eyes to tiredly look out the window.
"I heard that you did a surgery for a Cushing's patient today. Did it remind you of…?"
"Perhaps..." Akashi closed his eyes, hiding whatever emotion surfaced at Midorima's unfinished question.
"I see… Well, try to get some rest later." Midorima placed a hand over Akashi's shoulder for a brief moment before walking out.
The moon shined brightly through the window, lighting up the dark room. Akashi opened his eyes, staring out into the starless night sky.
Beep. Beep-
In that moment, time seemed to slow down for the red haired surgeon, leaving him with a gaping silence.
Beep-
Everything reverted back to normal.
"When will everything come to an end…?"
He closed his eyes tiredly once more.
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