Kuroko came out of oblivion to the sensation of a tongue licking his face urgently. Where was he anyway? The air smelt… kind of stale. Kuroko knew he was definitely not at home in his cottage. He remembered cleaning up the animal hospital at home, and then there was a sharp pain on the back of his head… and then nothing.
Kuroko opened his eyes. It was dim all around him. He came face to face with a worried-looking Kise. "Kise-kun?" Kuroko rasped, reaching out to caress Kise's head. "Where are we?"
Kise whined and stole a glance to his right, at Aomine, who was crouched on the ground, panting heavily. "Aomine-kun?!" Kuroko sat straight up. "What's wrong?"
Kise shook his head and scratched at Kuroko's front. He directed Kuroko's gaze further into the cave.
Kuroko's eyes widened. Akashi was sprawled out on the ground, unmoving – he was clutching the side of his stomach, a pool of blood around him. Not far from him lay an old woman with a knife in her heart. It was clear that she was dead.
"Seijuurou-kun!" Kuroko cried, scrambling over to where Akashi was. "Oh my god, what happened here…?" Kuroko was close to tears by then. He checked for Akashi's pulse, and heaved a sigh of relief when he found it. Seijuurou-kun is alive! Tears leaked out of Kuroko's eyes from joy.
Kuroko pried Akashi's hand away from the wound on his stomach. He winced at it. Somehow, Kuroko could stomach seeing injuries on animals, but maybe it was because he was a human being as well, so seeing an injury on a fellow human being made him feel a sense of empathy. Kuroko placed his hands over Akashi's wound, and a glow emanated from his palms.
Soon, the skin on Akashi's stomach closed up. But he had lost a lot of blood, so Kuroko didn't expect him to be conscious anytime soon.
Kise then nudged Kuroko's arm with his head. He tilted his head towards Aomine.
"Hm?" Kuroko glanced at Aomine. "Are you hurt too, Aomine-kun?" Kuroko crawled towards Aomine. When he saw blood dripping from Aomine's front, Kuroko manually manoeuvred Aomine to lie on his back so that he could access the injury. Kuroko smiled gently at Aomine. "It's quite deep but not that serious," he said. "You should be as good as new when I am done."
After Kuroko had healed Aomine's wound, the black panther got to his feet and jumped up and down to test his body out. He nodded in satisfaction.
Kise moved towards Aomine, an expression of concern etched into his face. Aomine gave Kise a goofy grin and licked the leopard all over his face.
"Now we should get out of here," muttered Kuroko as he stood up. "Aomine-kun? Do you have the strength to carry Seijuurou-kun on your back so that we can go home?" Kuroko really didn't want to burden Aomine right after he had just recovered from an injury, but he was no doubt the strongest out of the three of them.
Aomine nodded.
Kuroko and Kise hauled Akashi's body onto Aomine's back. As they made their way out of the cave, Kuroko looked back at the dead woman with a grim expression, saying a silent prayer for her soul to rest eternally in peace.
When Kuroko, Aomine and Kise reached home, Kuroko transferred Akashi's unconscious body to his bed. But first, he removed Akashi's bloody shirt and replaced it with one of his own. Then, Kuroko covered Akashi with his blanket – it could get cold in his cottage in the forest because he didn't have any form of heating, and Kuroko didn't want his boyfriend freezing to death.
Kuroko proceeded to gather some herbs from the small garden he kept outside his house to make something for Akashi to drink when he woke up.
While the pot was boiling on the stove, Aomine and Kise were playfully rolling all over each other on the floor, both happy to make it out of that ordeal safe and sound.
"Aomine-kun, I have just mended your wound," Kuroko said nonchalantly while stirring the herbal concoction in the pot. "I suggest you take it easy for now."
Briefly, Kuroko wondered if Tama would be okay if Akashi was incapacitated. Perhaps he should go to Akashi's place to retrieve her. She was very fond of Aomine and Kise anyway, so Tama would be more than happy to spend some time in Kuroko's cottage.
When the brew had finished cooking, Kuroko poured it into a thermos flask, which he placed on the kitchen counter.
"Kise-kun, I am trusting you to look after Aomine-kun and watch over Seijuurou-kun, alright?" Kuroko told Kise as he put on his shoes and made his way out of his home. "I'm just going to collect Tama so that she won't be alone."
Kise meowed in acquiescence.
