Good day to you all! twinSlayer reporting back to work!

Firstly, I'm sorry to keep you waiting. Since I've been very busy with a lot of stuff (and laziness was one of them *dodges a flying tomato*), I've been brainstorming at the highest possible time rate. Now I feel a little light-headed (?). Don't know if I should lie down or not ._.

Anywho, I put a warning firsthand.

This is tear-jerking. Like seriously. So put tissues in an arm's reach.

Disclaimer: Fujimaki Tadatoshi-sensei is very generous giving us this beautiful story called Kuroko no Basuke. Please give a round of applause to his awesome success.


"Aominecchi said," the only one who can beat me is me."" Kise held the basketball carefully, not letting Aomine to steal it from him again. "But what if the one that Aominecchi are facing now is 'me'?"

Aomine stiffened. Kise's eyes started to be half-lid, his breaths synced up with him, his posture started to soften up; It was as if impersonating his every action in basketball. He was too stunned to react when suddenly, Kise dribbled past him.

Tetsuya carefully read through the lines for Ryouta that was lying on the grass, his head resting on his lap. It was hard for Ryouta to feign his expression, when the one reading the story had such… monotonity. Whenever Tetsuya looked at Ryouta while his mouth uttered the words he saw in the novel, Ryouta only grinned and showed a face that says 'Go on, I'm listening'.

Before the petite boy could continue, Ryouta asked. "Tetsuyacchi?"

"Hm?"

Ryouta sat up, and faced Tetsuya. "It feels incomplete without Atsushicchi," he whined. His face showed an expression that's close to tears. Tetsuya gave him a smile, and patted Ryouta on his fluffy hair. "He will get better. Don't worry, Ryouta-kun."

A week after Shintarou's accident, Atsushi fell into a deep depression. Satsuki managed to detect it early enough, because a severe depression can cause a lot of troubles if it was left alone, mainly suicide cases. The female doctor cared a lot for Tetsuya's little group of patients. When one of them stepped up to heaven, she did taste the sadness. Aside from Tetsuya, she looked at them like they were her own children.

"Maybe we should ask Satsuki-san after this. Let's see if we could worm into his room and check him out," Tetsuya formed a sneaky smile for Ryouta. Somehow Ryouta's naughtiness had rubbed off on him.


That evening was weird for Tetsuya. His body felt light-weighted, energetic and warm. He was in such a good mood that his body wasn't going against his will today. He even ran across the hall just to greet Satsuki, who immediately told him to stop running or he will tire himself out. He only replied Satsuki's comment with a boisterous laugh. Ryouta followed closely behind.

"Satsuki-san, how's Atsushi-kun?" he asked while his smile still plastered on the serene face. However, Satsuki can only give them a sad look.

"His depression is becoming worse, Tetsu-kun, I'm afraid to admit."

Ryouta and Tetsuya can only retort with a short "Oh". Surely the doctors and psychiatrists were trying their best during treatment, or at least that's what they want to believe. Now it's all up to Atsushi to heal himself or not. "Can we see him soon?"

The female doctor formed a soft smile. "Of course you can. I'll see if he doesn't have any appointments tonight, and I'll squeeze in some time for you three to meet just before lights out, okay?"

The two patients beamed with so much happiness. Ryouta hugged Satsuki tightly until she felt out of breath, and released her after relishing his delight on her. It's official now that Satsuki was their most favourite doctor. And mom. They kept the latter part a secret.

After Satsuki left to attend to other matters, Tetsuya brought Ryouta to his room to enjoy the sunset of the day. It's autumn now. The browning leaves would look so beautiful under the shine of a sinking sun. The two settled down on Tetsuya's bed; A bit big for someone as small as Tetsuya.

"Ryouta-kun," Tetsuya broke the silence in between the two while they were enjoying the scenery outside the window. Ryouta looked at the twenty year-old man with curiousity.

"Yes, Tetsuyacchi?" He tilted his head slightly. Such an adorable kid, Tetsuya thought.

"I want you to make a promise to me." Tetsuya's gaze was fixed on the beautiful view outside, but his mind was contained with his friends.

"Promise?"

"Yes," he continued. "Promise that whatever happened in the future, please take good care of yourself, Satsuki-san and Atsushi-kun."

Ryouta didn't like where this conversation was going, and he was urged to ask, "Tetsuyacchi, don't say it like that. Don't leave us. We're going to be lost without you." The older man only chuckled at Ryouta's remark. It's not a laugh to ridicule, but it's a laugh of happiness, embarassment and appreciation.

"I never said anything about leaving, Ryouta-kun." His petite hands patted Ryouta's head gently. The gesture reminded Ryouta of someone. Someone with a kingly vibe, but gentle to the heart. Someone that's long gone, but he can't exactly put his words on it.

"Then what do you mean by that?"

"I just want to be assured of your well-being in the future, just in case…" Tetsuya paused for a moment. "Just in case… That I'm going next."

The seventeen year-old boy immediately wrapped Tetsuya in a tight hug, and he buried his face at Tetsuya's crook of neck. He writhed for a moment, thinking that his heart might not be able to take it if Tetsuya followed the others. Not now. Not after he witnessed Shintaroucchi died right in front of his eyes.

"Tetsuyacchi…" He sobbed a little. "Please don't go…"

Tetsuya slowly replied the hug, a smile was seen at his cracked lips. "I'm not going anywhere, Ryouta-kun. I'm here."

Ryouta lifted his head and his eyes met with Tetsuya's calm pair of eyes. "Pinky promise?" He held out his pinky finger cutely. Tetsuya chuckled again.

"Pinky promise." He linked his pinky finger with Ryouta's, and when the fingers detached, Ryouta continued with his suffocating hug.

Eventually, the two boys ended up lying on the bed while their bodies still intact. When Satsuki walked in the room and saw them hugging like there's no tomorrow, she felt like a misplaced wheel.

"Um… S-should I leave?" she stammered, and the two hugging men saw her and laughed.


That night, the two boys were so excited in seeing Atsushi. It's been almost a week since they saw him. They should have a lot to talk about. Although their legs were busy striding together with Satsuki, their minds were full of Atsushi and their group. They want to tell him how they've read the novel until the Rakuzan battle, and maybe mock him a little about his bald head. Not that they were better off than Atsushi anyway.

"Guys, we got a problem," said Satsuki while she turned away from Atsushi' s door. The two were startled.

"What is it?"

She sighed. "It seems like Atsushi had locked himself in."

They knew they weren't supposed to be alarmed but their guts were telling them otherwise. One particular word came flying into their mind.

Suicide.

"I'll go get the keys from the front desk. I'll be back as soon as I can!" shouted Satsuki before her figure disappeared at the end of the hallway, running with all her might. But Ryouta and Tetsuya can't wait any longer. Any seconds wasted might result in their friend's dear life.

Tetsuya tried to ram onto the door, but his small stature only gave him a shoulder pain. Although to Tetsuya, he felt like he just lost his left scapula. The door didn't budge even a little. This was one of the time he wasn't ungrateful of his small feature.

Seeing Tetsuya so determined to crash his small figure just to open the door, Ryouta pushed Tetsuya aside and decided to kick the area near the doorknob. Thankfully, he had enough strength to quake it open, and he immediately smash his bigger body to the door, slamming it open and revealing Atsushi…

…On the verge of putting his head in a noose made of blanket.

"Atsushi-kun!/ Atsushicchi!"

They lunged themselves towards Atsushi just to prevent his head from entering the hole of death, and the three of them landed on the cold hard floor with a loud noise. They panted hard; Just what people would expect from a person who just escaped death.

"Get off me!" yelled Atsushi. "Let me die!" His hands smacked away Tetsuya to the side, but Ryouta stayed stubbornly at his body.

"Atsushi-kun, please stop this madness!" cried Tetsuya. He tried to reach out to Atsushi once again, but his hands were swatted away like a fly. Ryouta rolled to the floor beside Atsushi and pinned him down.

"Snap! The fuck! Out of it! Atsushicchi!" With every slap that accompanied Ryouta's yell, Atsushi stopped struggling in his grip. But his uneven breath clearly stated that he hasn't calmed down, not even a bit.

"Get off me, Ryouta-chin," growled Atsushi. His eyes full of killing intent, but Ryouta didn't budge.

"No, I'm not letting you go!"

Before he knew it, Ryouta was already thrown to the other side of the room. Tetsuya started to panic. "Atsushi, please stop…"

It was meant to be calming, but with the mood Atsushi was in, Tetsuya's plead only angered him even more. "SHUT UP, TETSU-CHIN!" Coincidentally, his hands grabbed a vase on one of the nightstands, and he proceed to throw it at Tetsuya's direction.

Fortunately, his aim needed a lot of work, so the vase flew to the window beside Tetsuya instead, making it broke and the vase landed on the ground outside, shattering to pieces. Everybody's eyes caught the loud shattering noise, and later the turmoil going on in Atsushi's room at fifth floor.

Tetsuya's eyes widen. For a second, he was afraid of Atsushi. It wasn't the Atsushi he knew two years ago. Atsushi-kun, to him, was delicate, cute, and carefree. Depression sure brought the worst out of people.

After the crash, Atsushi came to realization that he nearly killed Tetsuya, and also acted violently against Ryouta. He was silent for a moment. His sweaty palms loomed his terrified face. "I-I'm sorry, Tetsu-chin…Ryouta-chin…" he mumbled.

In deep pain, Ryouta tried to stand up and walked over to the trembling Atsushi. Tetsuya followed him afterwards. "You okay there, bud?" asked Ryouta.

"How can I be? I nearly k-killed you guys…" Atsushi's vocal chords shivered at the 'k' word. Never in his wildest dreams he would intend to murder his best friends. Wet tears streamed down his cheeks. "Just kill me… This depression torturing me…"

"No." Ryouta and Tetsuya quickly hugged the frightful man. "We love you too much to let you do that. Don't ever attempt this again, Atsushi-kun."

The bald head nodded frantically, steadily, and he buried his crying face in Tetsuya's shoulder. Ryouta rubbed Atsushi's back slowly. He was starting to choke by the tears pooling at his eyes.

"We love you, Atsushi-kun. We really do."


The following day, Ryouta visited Atsushi at his ward. Because of the attempted suicide last night, he was put under 24 hours surveillance by the specialists. Although a lot of forms needed to be filled in order for him to see his best friend, Ryouta felt it's worth the hard work. Afterall, he viewed Atsushi and the rest of the group as his family. His real brethren had long abandoned him.

"Atsushicchi, how are you feeling?" asked Ryouta as soon as his eyes caught a glimpse of a bald head sitting on the white bed. The head turned to Ryouta. He gave the amnesiac the brightest smile.

"Spectacular," replied Atsushi with a British accent. They share a brief moment of chuckling, since the way he answered reminded them a lot to Harry Potter. Ryouta took a seat beside Atsushi's bed and began chatting calmly with him. Something has changed in Ryouta, and Atsushi saw it the moment he stepped into the room.

"Ryouta-chin, where's Tetsu-chin?" asked Atsushi curiously. Ryouta can only give him a smile. "Nevermind, don't answer that. He must be mad at me, isn't he?"

Ryouta decided not to respond, instead maintaining his smile. He reached out for Atsushi's hand and hold it under his cheek. The warmth from Atsushi was slowly being felt by his puffs. "No, he's not mad at you, Atsushicchi. Don't worry."

The reply made Atsushi leapt in happiness. Again, his mouth curved into a grin so wide, it's a wonder it didn't split his head into two. When seeing his friend, no scratch that… When seeing his brother so happy, he can't help but grin alongside him. Deep inside his heart, he cannot bring himself to tell Atsushi that…

Tetsuya was no more.

"Atsushi was brought to a special place because of his behaviour just now, and maybe, just maybe, I would appreciate it more if you guys inform me first before plunging into the room carelessly!"

The two patients lowered their head in front of an ogre*cough*it's actually Satsuki*cough*. It was obvious that their plan was rushed and nonsensical, but at least now Atsushi was put in safe hands. In the end, it turned out well, so they won't mind an hour or two of bickering Satsuki.

While the doctor decided to confiscate something that would momentarily crush their emotions, Satsuki realized that Tetsuya was nearly out of breath. It felt weird to her since he wasn't doing anything since the moment the doctors took Atsushi away."Tetsu-kun, you alright?"

Right at the time when Tetsuya wanted to reply, suddenly he felt like drowning. His hands quickly grabbed Ryouta's sleeves before he could fall on the floor, and Ryouta caught Tetsuya in his arms. "Satsukicchi, call for help! Quick!"

Tetsuya was brought to the emergency ward as quickly as possible. Ryouta and Satsuki followed along the medical troupe, hands not leaving Tetsuya until he's in front of the ward. While running, Ryouta looked at the smaller man with watery eyes. He's worried to the bone.

With all the strength he can muster, Tetsuya tugged Ryouta's hand just for him to look at the lying man for a second. Tetsuya stuck out his pinky finger, and a smile on his lips. Automatically, Ryouta's mind went back to the promise he made with Tetsuya.

"Remember the promise, okay?"

His pinky finger only brushed on Tetsuya's before he was pushed outside of the room. The door closed, leaving Ryouta standing outside with body full of sweat and worry. His hand slowly fall back into its place, while Ryouta stared into nothingness in front of him.

This moment, he thought. It was like that one time… He felt a pang of pain thrusting into his head, but he wanted to retrieve back those memories. He can only come up with a name.

Seijuuroucchi.

Along with that name, a batch of uneasiness seethed into his heart. It was as if he knew what's gonna happen at the end of the wait. Suddenly, he heard a thump inside the room. Most probably from the machine that produces electric shock to re-produce heartbeat.

His eyes widen.

He can feel his own heartbeat after hearing the shock. It was a last resort for doctors to keep the patient alive.

Alive.

Tetsuyacchi.

Please…

THUMP! A second shock was inflicted.

Ryouta was too focused on the room, he forgot to breath. He inhaled slowly, but it felt painful.

Tetsuyacchi.

Please…

Tears were gathering at his eyes, and before he knew it, a third thump was given to Tetsuya's lifeless body.

Ryouta's mind didn't forget to count the shocks given. It was three. Only three. And after that is no more. Again, he forgot to give oxygen to his lungs, because all his mind can think of is Tetsuya.

His eyes were glued to the floor, and later met with a familiar shoe. Satsuki's work shoes. They were stepping towards him speedily before he felt a figure hugging him. After registering what was going on, he looked down on Satsuki. She was crying. Rather loudly for her age, but still sad.

Ryouta can only move his hand to reply her hug, albeit awkwardly. Right now, they cannot think about anything else.

The only thing they can think of is not even there anymore.

"Ryouta-chin?" Atsushi's hand waved in front of Ryouta's gaze because his friend seemed to have lost his soul in a blackhole. "Ryouta-chin, are you alright?"

Ryouta jolted a bit, but later gained his composure not long after that. He, again, formed a smile for Atsushi. "Yeah, sorry. My mind wandered a bit."

"Are you lacking your beauty sleep, Ryouta-chin? Then feel free to sleep beside me." The man patted the space beside him on bed, making sure Ryouta will have enough room. The other man just shook his head gently, declining the offer.

"That was tempting, Atsushicchi, but I have an appointment shortly after this. If not, I would've dive onto the bed even before you asked," he chuckled. It's true. Before this Atsushi didn't have to ask, Ryouta would definitely make himself right at home. Since Atsushi's bed was enormous, it's either occupied with Ryouta's warmth, or Tetsuya, or Daiki.

Hm? Daiki?

Who is Daiki? Ryouta asked himself. He would love to ask that from Satsuki after this. Or maybe some time later. It's better if he leave her alone for a while. She still needed to recover from the death of her love.

"Ryouta-chin," grumbled Atsushi, "I can feel it."

Ryouta lifted his head. The leukemic boy spaced off into the distance. "What?"

Atsushi gave him a smile almost as lofty as Tetsuya's. "My time will be up soon, Ryouta-chin."

He gritted his teeth. Not Atsushi too…

"Please don't say that, Atsushicchi," is what he wanted to say, but he still wondered why he kept his mouth shut after the declaration from Atsushi. Maybe his mind was too tired to comprehend all this things at once. No amount of words could sum up his feelings right now. At some point, he felt sick, queasy, hollow. Sick of his and his friends' withering lives. Whatever higher power up there had given Ryouta a rough time.

"Ryouta-chin, you sure has changed."

He can only stretch his lips, forming a weird grin. Either he shut his mouth, or he will burst into an unending tears.

Maybe he was maturing. Maybe even Atsushi was maturing. Both of them didn't break down at the prospect of them dying soon.

Ryouta stared at Atsushi for the nth time. Two years ago, Atsushi's face was chubby, always stuffing himself with food. No one was disturbed by that fact though, because all of them were trying to increase their appetite whilst being sick. The current Atsushi, however, has sharper features, slimmer and much quieter. His snack crave was as persistent as ever nevertheless. It's not like Ryouta can complain anyway. He does all the talking for his friends most of the time.

Ryouta suddenly realized that his memories were slowly slipping back in.

No matter how intent Ryouta's stare at Atsushi, he still can't detect any vibes of a dying man. Instead, Atsushi's smiles were keeping him vibrant, shining, perplexing. Like a star that was about to die, it will give out a mesmerizing supernova.

Beautiful yet saddening.

Because what's left after that was a blackhole. In this case, a blackhole in Ryouta's heart. Maybe that's what they are. A dying star.

The exchange of smile between them seemed to last forever. They stayed silent. Sometimes, it's better to savour the moment, because they are, afterall…

…just a brittle candle living underneath a storm.