Decisive Action: Part 2
Akashi doesn't like to admit it, not even to himself, but when Kuroko shouted "Get down!" he didn't react, other than to turn and stare at his friend in confusion.
He started to get an inkling that there was some kind of danger when he saw Kuroko had shoved Momoi into Aomine so hard that they both went stumbling into the nearby alley. But he was still wrapping his head around the concept of danger when the shot split the air, at the exact second Kuroko rammed into him.
They both went down hard. Kuroko landed on top of Akashi and hunched over him, protectively, like a bodyguard. He wasn't heavy, thankfully. The fall wasn't painful. But the sight of blood on Kuroko's arm sent a pang through Akashi. It was then that he realized what the danger Kuroko had seen was. Someone with a gun. Kuroko had been shot.
Kuroko had taken a bullet for him.
Emotions flickered over Kuroko's usually impassive features, lightning fast, before being shoved down under a mask. But not his usual blank mask. This was a mask Akashi had only seen on a few occasions – both of them when Kuroko was on yakuza business. It was still blank, but in an almost scary way. There was something in his eyes that signaled that this was not someone to be trifled with. Not even Akashi's darker personality would want to move against Kuroko when he was wearing that look.
Kuroko rolled off Akashi and sent a quick glance toward their other friends. "Midorima-kun, Murasakibara-kun, get off the sidewalk! Get down behind something! Now! Kise-kun, call an ambulance! Akashi-kun's been shot!"
What?
The next thing Akashi knew, Kuroko was ripping open his shirt, trying to find a bullet wound that didn't exist. At least not on Akashi. Couldn't he feel that he was the one who'd been shot? Kuroko's own sleeve was drenched with blood now. Akashi was worried how much he was bleeding. He tried to sit up as Kuroko looked down at him confused, his eyes moving over Akashi's bare chest, arms, and shoulders, confusion growing as he still didn't find a wound. Then he gently, but with the appropriate amount of force to use on an injured person trying to move, he pushed Akashi back down.
"Don't move, Akashi-kun."
"Tetsuya . . ." said Akashi. "I'm not the one who was just shot!"
"What? Then who?" asked Kuroko.
Could he really not feel it? How could it not have at least occurred to him that maybe the one who had been shot was him?
"Who do you think?" Akashi shouted, and sat up. He grabbed Kuroko's arm above the bullet wound and tried to put pressure on it with his bare hands, since he had nothing else.
Then Kise was there beside them, pulling Midorima and Murasakibara down behind the car with them. "What's happening? What's going on? Shot? I don't understand! Gah! Kurokocchi's been shot?"
"That's a lot of blood," said Midorima.
Gee, you think? Akashi wanted to scream at him. But he managed to refrain. Just barely.
"Let go!" screamed Kuroko at Akashi and tried to pull away. It seemed that now he was finally feeling the pain.
"I don't understand . . ." Murasakibara looked lost. Lost and useless.
Kise, despite his rambling, seemed to be the most level headed of their group now. He'd had the sense to get Midorima and Murasakibara off the sidewalk, at least. So Akashi gave him an order.
"Ryouta, do what Tetsuya said and call an ambulance." Akashi let go of Kuroko momentarily, and removed his own torn shirt, already bloodstained from Kuroko's wound dripping on him. He tried to press it over Kuroko's wound, but Kuroko jerked away. His mask was crumbling, and irritability was seeping through the cracks. Akashi had no choice but to employ help from one of the others. "Atsushi, restrain Tetsuya."
"But Kuro-chin's hurt."
That's why I need you to restrain him, fool! Akashi wanted to shout. Because he's hurt and I can't treat him if he keeps trying to get away!
"Don't grab me, please," said Kuroko tersely. "I can take care of this –"
"You've been shot, Tetsuya. You cannot just put a bandaide on this and go about your merry way."
"What the fuck is going on?" Aomine demanded, appearing beside them out of the blue.
Kuroko twitched in agitation. "Why is everyone coming here? The alley is obviously safer! Akashi-kun, keep your head down!"
Good advice, Akashi had to admit. He'd started to rise a bit higher than he should have, given that there was a gunman somewhere. Before he could kneel back down, Kuroko grabbed him with his uninjured arm and jerked him down. Then he twitched, looking even more agitated.
"The police are coming. I've got to go."
"You're not going anywhere! Except to a freaking hospital!" Aomine shouted and grabbed Kuroko, who had actually started trying to crawl away. Kuroko flailed and tried to fight against Aomine, but Midorima grabbed Akashi's ruined shirt and grabbed Kuroko's arm, pressing the shirt against it like a compress.
"You don't understand! I need to be gone before they get here!"
This was not good.
Akashi alone realized what was happening. Kuroko was going into shock. Probably from blood loss, if the sizable amount around them was anything to judge by. If not from blood loss, then from trauma to his muscles and nerves. Akashi could see now that the bullet had gone straight through his arm. That could not have done him any good.
Shock wasn't a good state for anyone to be in. For someone with yakuza ties like Kuroko, it was even worse. Because Kuroko clearly wasn't in control of what he was saying.
"Tetsuya, you're going into shock," said Akashi, reaching out to grab his chin and forcing Kuroko to look him in the eyes. "You've just been shot. You need an ambulance. Ryouta is calling one for you."
"But the police –"
"Aren't coming to arrest you," promised Akashi.
Kuroko shook his head, looking unconvinced.
"They're not. I promise. But right now, you need to stay still, keep your mouth shut, and let me take care of you. Alright?" asked Akashi.
"No. No, I need . . ."
Akashi did not want to know what Kuroko thought he needed. Probably a handgun and a couple clips to go with it. Kuroko was merciless to those who put his friends in danger, and/or attempted to harm them. Akashi had seen this firsthand. And while he didn't feel a bit bad about what Kuroko had done to the men who'd planned to torture and kill Akashi, it had opened up Akashi's eyes and made him see, Kuroko Tetsuya was not someone to be taken lightly.
But what Kuroko said, wasn't as vicious as Akashi feared it would be. But it still wasn't something he probably should have been saying.
"I need to get to a safehouse. My uncle –"
Akashi slapped him across the face, as hard as he could. Then he ignored the startled cries of disbelief from his other teammates. He focused on Kuroko instead. Kuroko, who was now staring at him blankly, like he couldn't figure out what was happening.
"I'm sorry. I really am. But I can't let you go into shock," said Akashi. "You need to keep your head, Tetsuya. Please."
Kuroko stared at him for several long seconds. Then he finally nodded. "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize," said Akashi. "Not to me."
He took Kuroko's hand and squeezed it, because he thought that was the kind of thing Kuroko would appreciate. A gesture of friendship and comfort. And Akashi knew from watching him that Kuroko did appreciate human contact. He was a little awkward with it, but he appreciated it nonetheless. Probably because he didn't receive much of it.
The gratitude in his eyes made Akashi feel bad. Kuroko had taken a bullet for him, and he had slapped him. And now Kuroko was looking at him like that just for holding his hand while he was in immense pain? Pain that he was only in because he'd saved Akashi in the first place?
"Keep pressure on that wound, Shintarou," said Akashi, as he heard Kise get off his phone with the emergency line operator.
"An ambulance is on the way," said Kise.
"And a police car just pulled up. Two police cars. Three," counted Murasakibara.
"I still don't get what's going on," said Aomine. He was holding Kuroko immobile while Midorima tended Kuroko's wound and tried to stop the bleeding as much as possible.
"Someone tried to shoot me." Akashi felt a sharp stab of something that he rarely felt. Guilt. He was fairly certain he knew what this was about. His father had recently done some things in the business world that had . . . well, upset quite a few people to put it mildly. There had been death threats made toward Akashi's father, but those were something he got every year, and none of them had ever been serious before. But it seemed this time his father had pushed the wrong people too far.
Kuroko twitched. Akashi looked at him and saw guilt in his expression. It didn't take him long to figure out why. Kuroko was thinking he might have been the original target.
Well, it was possible. But Akashi didn't really believe it. From what he'd been able to dig up about Kuroko's yakuza family, not many people he wasn't related to by blood knew his face. (Akashi had done some research out of professional curiosity, since his path had crossed with the Black Hands twice in less than a year.) Kuroko, like any good assassin, stayed out of the limelight. Added to the fact that if someone wanted to gun him down, they'd need extremely high concentration or an eagle or hawkeye, and the other fact that Kuroko had been moving very quickly when he was shot, shoving Akashi down . . . well, that made it more and more unlikely that the shooter had been aiming at Kuroko.
"Tetsuya knew somehow," finished Akashi. "He saved my life."
"I saw the sniper scope's flash," said Kuroko. "Rookie mistake."
"Huh?" Kise looked bemused.
Akashi could see from the look on Kuroko's face that he wanted to face palm at that slipup. As far as everyone else knew, Kuroko Tetsuya was a perfectly innocent, harmless high school student. Only Akashi had any inkling of how dangerous he could be. His current behavior notwithstanding, it was obvious Kuroko wanted to keep it that way. So Akashi decided to cover for him. It was the least he could do.
"Tetsuya reads many mysteries and spy novels," Akashi reminded them. "It seems that the knowledge he gained from them just came in handy."
"I . . . yes." Kuroko relaxed when the others seemed to buy the lie. He let his eyes close and exhaled deeply. He looked like he might drift off to sleep.
"Stay awake, Tetsuya!" Akashi said sharply.
"I'm awake," replied Kuroko, after several seconds delay.
"Eyes open, please," insisted Akashi. He hated himself for what he said next, but it was necessary. "Or I'll have to hit you again."
Kuroko obeyed reluctantly. When his eyes met Akashi's he cringed. "Akashi-kun . . ."
"I'm sorry, Tetsuya. Just stay awake. You just do that and I'll take care of everything else."
A guilty expression crossed Kuroko's face. It seemed Tetsuya was quite emotive when he was in a mild state of shock. His thoughts were nearly transparent. He was wondering if his mere existence was putting his friends in danger.
Akashi didn't know how to convince him otherwise. At least not in front of the rest of the Generation of Miracles, if they wanted Kuroko's secret to stay a secret.
Actually, he probably couldn't be convinced right now, even if Akashi was able to say exactly what he wanted. Shock could make people stubborn beyond all reason. And Kuroko was a stubborn kid at the best of times. Akashi would make him see the truth later.
"Stay awake!" Akashi said when Kuroko closed his eyes again.
"It's hard."
"Since when do you let that stop you?" asked Akashi.
"Oh. Right." Kuroko opened his eyes and blinked owlishly. "Everything . . . it's fuzzy."
Akashi checked Kuroko's arm again and was distressed to see that it was still bleeding heavily. "Where is that damn ambulance?"
"Calm down, Akashicchi! It hasn't even been a full minute since I called it," said Kise.
"Do we need to worry about that sniper?" asked Aomine. "Is he going to, I don't know, circle around and get on another roof to take another shot at you, Akashi?"
"Congratulations, Aomine-kun."
"Huh?"
"You win for stupid question of the year," said Kuroko, almost dreamily. "Do you think this is a videogame? It's not that easy to get from roof to roof in real life."
"Hey!" said Aomine, but without any real anger.
Akashi felt like face palming. If he'd been wondering if Kuroko was a sniper too, at least that question had been answered. Though honestly, it hadn't occurred to him to wonder before today.
"I went to the wrong roof once. That could have turned out bad, except it didn't," said Kuroko. "It wasn't really my fault. My instructions were –"
"Tetsuya, on a scale of one to ten, how much pain are you in?" asked Akashi, to head off Kuroko's story.
"What?"
Akashi repeated the question. Kuroko took a minute to think about it.
"I don't know. Maybe a square root."
"His shock's getting worse," muttered Akashi. "Shintarou, do you know how to tie a tourniquet?"
Midorima looked at him sharply. "Yes, but –"
"Do it."
"If I do it wrong, he could lose his arm," protested Midorima.
"If you don't, he will very likely lose his life," said Akashi. "Look at how much blood he's lost already. There's at least a pint soaking my shirt and on the ground."
"A pint and a half, I think," judged Kuroko, looking at it with a critical eye. "So . . . I probably have at least seven more. Maybe six. Most people have ten before you shoot them but . . . I'm . . . not as tall as I'd like to be."
Oh God, he knows how many pints of blood are in a human body, Akashi thought, gritting his teeth. He supposed it made sense. That did seem to be the kind of fact that an assassin would want to know. Akashi decided to head off this line of conversation before Kuroko started telling more assassination stories. He'd have a pretty hard time covering for Kuroko saying something about how he always had to drain bodies of blood before moving them, or else they were too heavy.
"Shintarou, make a tourniquet," said Akashi. "If he's lost a pint and a half of blood in as many minutes, how much longer do you think he can stay alive like this?"
Kuroko looked like he was calculating and opened his mouth.
"Do not answer that, Tetsuya! That was a rhetorical question, and I wasn't asking it to you!"
Kuroko obediently closed his mouth, making Akashi feel a little bit bad about yelling at him like that. But it had been necessary if they didn't want the others to know how well acquainted Kuroko was with death and all things related to it.
"An ambulance should be here soon," said Akashi. "They should be able to get him to a hospital within ten minutes, I think. So he won't be wearing the tourniquet too long, Shintarou. Risk of him losing his arm is minimal."
He stopped for a moment to think, then looked at Kise. "It's likely that he'll need a transfusion. You and Tetsuya have the same blood type, Ryouta. Are you willing –"
"I'll do it," said Kise instantly, as Akashi had known he would. But Kise didn't start fanboying or getting all obsessive, like Akashi had expected. His face was tense with uncharacteristic seriousness.
"You'll ride with him in the ambulance then," said Akashi. This was a risk. He would have liked to go himself, but he knew that likely only one of them would be allowed to accompany Kuroko. That person either had to be Kise or Murasakibara, since Kise had A type blood like Kuroko, and Murasakibara had O type blood, and thus was a universal donor. Akashi knew that more likely than not, the hospital would have Kuroko's blood type in stock in their blood bank. But he wasn't going to risk it.
He watched as Midorima tore a strip off his blood soaked shirt and bound it around Kuroko's arm, above his bullet wound. He then tied his lucky item for the day, a mechanical pencil, into the tourniquet and began twisting it around and around, to tighten the fabric and cut off Kuroko's circulation. Akashi almost smiled at Midorima's combined resourcefulness and selflessness. Normally, getting him to part with his lucky item was harder than getting Murasakibara to part with his snacks. But with Kuroko's life at stake, Midorima hadn't even hesitated. Even though they both knew that Kise almost always carried a pen for autographs.
Akashi's desire to smile faded when he looked at Kuroko's face again. His eyes were shut. Akashi called his name, but that got no response this time. He shook him, then slapped him again, but Kuroko's eyes did not open.
"Did I wait too long?" asked Midorima, looking milk white. "Did I take too long to tie the tourniquet?"
"No," said Akashi. "Shock's been setting in since he was shot."
"Akashi," said Aomine in a voice full of barely concealed anger, "Why was somebody shooting at you in the first place?"
"Most likely to try to strike a blow against my father." Akashi studied his former teammates, watching their reactions carefully to discern how they felt about this. Would they be angry at him for getting Kuroko shot? Or angry on his behalf, because they didn't approve of people shooting at him?
"What the hell did your father do?" demanded Aomine.
It was still too soon to tell where their anger came from.
"It was in the news," said Midorima. "Don't you pay attention to anything?"
"Not if it doesn't have to do with basketball or women with big boobs."
"Akashi's father acquired one of his company's competitors by less than scrupulous means," said Midorima. "A corporate takeover would be an appropriate way of putting it."
"So where the fuck does some bitch get to decide that's reason enough to shoot at Akashi?" Aomine demanded.
"If you don't know by now that there are too many stupid people in this world, there's no help for you," said Midorima.
"Hey! Shut up!"
"Do you know who this guy is, Aka-chin?" asked Murasakibara. "I'll crush him for you."
"Don't be ridiculous," said Kise. "You are not rushing off after some psychopath with a gun, Murasakicchi! Let the police take care of the bastard."
Not one of them turned an accusing look Akashi's way.
Something strange started happening at that moment. Akashi's eyes started stinging for no apparent reason. He blinked quickly several times, trying to fight back the sensation.
"Akashicchi? You alright?" asked Kise.
"Yes. Of course."
"This isn't your fault, you know that, right?" asked Kise.
Kuroko had been shot pushing Akashi out of harm's way. It very clearly was Akashi's fault. Nothing they said now would convince Akashi otherwise. But them believing that it wasn't Akashi's fault . . . it made something inside Akashi hurt, and he wasn't sure why.
"No one should have been shooting at you to begin with," snarled Aomine. "This is their fault. Blame them."
Something settled over his shoulders. Akashi looked up to see Murasakibara had taken off his hoodie and draped it over him, since Akashi was just kneeling there bare-chested.
"Kuro-chin will be fine, Aka-chin," said Murasakibara. "He's too stubborn to stay down."
That . . . that was true. Kuroko was a fighter. They all knew this by now. If there was even a fragment of a percent of chance of success, Kuroko would grasp ahold of it and bring it into reality. There was no way he was going to die of something as stupid as shock or blood loss. In some ways, it might be a blessing that he'd passed out. This way he couldn't say something that would give himself away as a member of the yakuza.
A few minutes later an ambulance arrived. A team of paramedics quickly went to work, prepping Kuroko to be moved. Less than a minute later, he was strapped down on a gurney and loaded into the ambulance, Kise right behind him.
"We'll meet you at the hospital," said Akashi.
"Uh, don't forget to call Seirin," said Kise right before they closed the doors. "Especially Kagamicchi. They'll never forgive us if we don't tell them about this and fast."
They'd probably never forgive them for this anyway. Seirin was likely to put the blame where it deserved to be put – right on Akashi's shoulders.
To be continued at the hospital, where Akashi meets a few of Kuroko's yakuza relatives.
