XP: Serious disclaimer here, I pretty much know nuts about stem cell research and ophthalmology. I'm making most of these up with like a 10 second google search for the terms. I know it can sound believable, but the subjects I'm taking do not at all involve sciences like biology or chemistry. I'm taking the arts like english literature, geography and economics, so do not at all believe me when I make medical shit up.

Channeling all my inner Kise in characterizing Kise, hope it works lol xx

***Start***

Doctor Shima stood nervously in front of the whole lecture hall filled with renowned specialists from the whole wide world. He could see different ethnicity in the crowds, such as Americans, Indians and Asians like himself. He was nowhere near as prestigious as any of them, and had to beg his old professor who had some standing in the medical world to allow him to conduct a meeting here alongside other personnel about the pertinent issues of healthcare technology and the research directions to be taken. He was the fifth speaker, the way he liked it, not too in front of behind. The eloquent way the previous speakers spoke which were readily accepted by the professionals gave him no comfort, but heightened his anxiety further. He knew he was bringing up a controversial issue.

"Let us now welcome Doctor Shima, from Tokyo Medical Hospital!"

Polite applause resounded throughout the room, and Doctor Shima stepped out from behind the stage. His senior from college, Francis, smiled at him and clapped him on the shoulder encouragingly as he passed by him. He was the previous speaker about research into the neurosurgery of the brain which was very well received. Doctor Shima gulped and stepped up to the podium, setting up his presentation slides on the laptop. He took a deep breath, and looked up, determined.

"Good morning, my fellow practitioners. My name is Doctor Shima, and I am a practicing surgeon in the field of ophthalmology. Today, I am here to discuss about the harvesting of stem cell research to remodel the human eye in the case of cornea defects due to the rare disease of cornea degeneration type II," Doctor Shima said straightforwardly, and was immediately greeted with loud murmurs of discussion and dissent.

The stem cell controversy was a strong one that had lasted for the past few decades, which was the sanction of human life taken from embryos which had to be harvested. Doctor Shima tried his best to go through the presentation, but he knew the odds were against him. The case which he was fighting for had been shut down a few years back, for obvious reasons. The odds were against him, since the surgery was relatively unknown which low rates of success. When he ended, as expected, waves of hands were in the air, shooting criticism about his presentation.

"You do realize that the use of embryonic stem cells is widely disapproved of in the medical field? Especially with the low chances of success. It's like a waste of human life for a gamble that is likely to fail," someone in the front row shot out at him.

"Not all stem cell research involves the creation, usage and destruction of human embryos. For example, adult stem cells, amniotic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells do not involve creating, using or destroying human embryos and thus are minimally, if at all, controversial," Doctor Shima defended confidently, looking in another direction. He had to stand his ground right now against this wave of scorn and disbelief against him. He had firm belief that what he was fighting for was revolutionary and could help thousands, even millions of those out there with vision defects due to the break down or injury of the cornea.

He braced himself, knowing his confidence was only leading them to further disapprove his stance with even more vehemence.

"Do you have the confidence to do such a surgery? You are aware of the multiple complications that could come into play, right? The stem cells might not function in the way you want it to, instead taking the form of cancerous cells or malignant growth in the worst case scenario, but might likely just reproduce damaged cornea cells around it, and not aiding vision at all."

"That is why I am asking for funds for such a research. I am naturally aware of the risks, but I am also aware of the groundbreaking success this might bring to patients around the world to allow them a chance to regain their sight."

"Do you realize the hundreds of millions funds that are needed to fund this research which has a low success rate of 5 percent? It is only theoretical, and has never even been in practice. The real percentage might be lower."

Doctor Shima pursed his lips tightly. This was worse than he expected. It seemed like not a single soul agreed with him in this whole hall of five thousand. Or those that did were obviously too frightened by the backlash that would occur from the massive hysteria and dissent that was solely directed at Doctor Shima. How could he persuade them...? He had neither enough power of reputation on the global stage. It seemed like he would fail in gaining approval and funding for his research. He fought against the urge to just turn tail and step off the stage despite the waves of people screaming at him and mocking him for his ridiculous ideas. He gripped the edges of his podium table. Someone... there had to be someone...

There was suddenly an eerie silence as a single individual stood up in the crowd, and Doctor Shima was awed by the sheer intensity of the commanding presence the redhead held. It was amazing to have the entire, hollering hall shut up at once. Everyone waited with baited breath for the teen who seemed too young to be part of the discussion to speak. Mismatched eyes glared down at Doctor Shima, and he shivered under the fierce gaze.

"I believe you all know who I am. I am Akashi Seijuro, here to represent my father," Akashi spoke crisply, voice reverberating throughout the whole room. This was unheard of. No teen had ever been allowed to attend their meetings, let alone one that was not a medical practitioner. But everyone seemed to submit at once, listening placidly to what the teen had to say. It was amazing. Wasn't he one of the generation of miracles? Kise's friend? Was that why he was here? Doctor Shima finally saw his ray of hope.

"You need funding and a research facility?" Akashi asked sharply.

"Y-Yes sir," Doctor Shima stuttered in the face of unrelenting malevolence. He didn't even know why he addressed someone who was younger than him so respectfully.

"..." Akashi looked him in the eye, scrutinizing him as though judging his worth. Slowly, he made his way down the steps of the auditorium seats, and went up to the stage. He passed Doctor Shima a name card, which was accepted by trembling hands. "The Seijuro Corporation will provide you everything you need, along with a team of skilled researchers. You will head the research and provide me results," Akashi ordered.

"T-Thank you sir!" Doctor Shima gushed. Thunderous applause met his ears, and he couldn't believe it. No one dared to go against the largest corporation in the whole of Japan and Asia afterall, and they were busy going along with Akashi's decision. Akashi Seijuro raised a hand in appreciation, and the claps ceased instantly. His eyes glittered with triumph, and so did Doctor Shima's. A handshake to seal the deal, and Akashi Seijuro left the auditorium halls majestically, leaving everyone awed in his wake. Every clapped again, and Doctor Shima bowed, rushing back offstage in euphoria.

"Francis, I can't believe it! I did it!" Doctor Shima laughed, and his senpai gave him a tight hug as congratulations.

"You did great out there!" Francis beamed. "Let me know how the research comes along. Man, I can't wait to brag about you to my colleagues. Actually, I guess I can already start. You, the head of the research with funding from the distinguished Seijuro family! Let's go drinking to celebrate! Senpai will treat you!"

"Woohoo!" Doctor Shima cheered, fistpumping the air.

***linebreak***

***linebreak***

The sound of a key being turned in a keyhole made Kise sit up excitedly. He was on his feet before Aomine even realized someone was at the door. He rushed to the door, reaching the same time it opened.

"Hey, I'm back!" Kagami greeted warmly, ruffling the blond hair of his crybaby friend.

"Kagamicchi, welcome home!" Kise cheered. Very naturally, he started to whine to Kagami. "Kagamicchi I was so scared! When I opened my eyes everything was dark and I thought it was the night time but it was the morning." He reached out blindly and hugged Kagami tightly, resting his head on Kagami's shoulder.

He was so glad that Kagami was finally back. He had been feeling antsy while waiting. But he knew Kagami would never abandon him. He couldn't see Kagami anymore, but he was sure Kagami was wearing one of those brilliant smiles he had that stretched from ear to ear. He could envision it clearly in his mind, every action, every facial movement, he knew Kagami well. He smiled against Kagami's shoulder. With Kagami here, he didn't have to worry anymore. Kagami would take care of it until Doctor Shima found a way to cure him.

"Don't worry, I'm here now," Kagami assured, patting his back. "I'm sorry for not being here when you were scared. Oh, Aomine. Thanks for taking care of Kise for me."

The irked Aomine a lot. It sounded like Kagami was saying Kise is mine, thanks for taking care of my Kise because it is my responsibility, and you can leave now because I'm back.

"No problem, that's what friends should do," Aomine replied sharply. He eyed how naturally Kise clung around Kagami's arm cheerfully, and how close they seemed and felt even more irritated.

"Keep what you know for yourself, okay?" Kagami warned, and it only served to make Aomine angrier.

"You too," Aomine growled. "Kise, let's go to my house instead. I'll take care of you."

"Huh?" Both Kagami and Kise let out the same sound of surprise at the same time.

Aomine stepped up and grabbed Kise by the arm roughly, yanking him away from Kagami's side. Kise shrieked from losing his balance, and he collapsed against Aomine's chest. "W-wait? What happened? Who's this?" Disoriented, Kise reached up to touch Aomine's face to feel it. "Aomine?"

"I'm his best friend, I'll take care of him," Aomine argued, putting his arm around Kise to stabilize him.

"Are you listening to yourself?" Kagami scoffed. Aomine sounded like an angry kid who was jealous over his friend making new friends. "Let Kise go. Don't force him into doing things he doesn't want to do. You can't get what you want with force." Kagami knew how to fight his psychological warfare, and his choice of wording was reflecting very badly on Aomine's actions without sounding like he was trying to. He knew it wound sound that way to Kise as well, that he was trying to protect Kise and Aomine was being unreasonable. In friendship wars, logic was needed, not blind emotion. He knew Aomine had good interests at heart but there was no way Kagami was going to let Kise go with Aomine.

"Kise! Don't you want to stay with me?" Aomine asked desperately. "You're not even that close with Kagami, you need to stop imposing on him."

Kise didn't really consider that. What if he really was a burden on Kagami? Kagami was too nice to say anything, but he was just a freeloader taking up space in Kagami's house. He even had to rush back from visiting his sick grandma just for him. He was taking up his family time and club practice...

"You're not a burden, Kise. I've told you before," Kagami spoke up clearly, knowing exactly what Kise was thinking. In just a few days, Kise had confided in him so much that he knew all about Kise's paranoia and fears. In a sense, it made him feel proud that he knew Kise even better than Aomine, the self proclaimed 'best friend'. "We're friends aren't we? I told you I would stick with you through the whole thing. You just need to trust me."

Kise had abandonment and dependency issues, and Kagami knew that clearly. He knew Kise would choose him, who always prioritized Kise over someone who threw him away once. He was reliable, he was always there. He wasn't like Aomine, who pushed him aside when he got bored and then came back again.

"I want to stay with Kagami," Kise said softly, looking down. He was afraid of Aomine getting angry at him, and he felt a little guilty for rejecting Aomine. But he felt a lot more comfortable staying with Kagami like he had for the past few days. Kagami had never grumbled about him, and was always very warm hearted. And although it seemed like Aomine had turned over a new leaf, Kise still had his hesitations, and his new condition of not being able to see scared him a lot. If Aomine left him alone again, he wouldn't be able to find his way back. It was safe with Kagami.

"Why him?!" Aomine roared, and Kise flinched. He whimpered, and Kagami was immediately a physical wall between Aomine and Kise. Noticing Kagami's familiar scent with his enhanced senses, Kise latched onto Kagami at once, hugging him tightly from behind. It was even more terrifying to have someone scream at you when you couldn't see. Kise couldn't see Aomine's expressions, and he was afraid of being hit. He was trembling, and Kagami turned his protective mode on.

"Leave, you're not welcome in my house with that tone," Kagami warned.

Finally noticing how scared Kise had become, Aomine instantly regretted the way he acted. He was always too impulsive and acted on his emotions. He should have been more careful about it, with Kise being in such a fragile state from just losing his eyes. Although Kise had been pretty cheerful yesterday with him, he should've known that it was the defense mechanism Kise took to around people or whenever something happened. It was the cheerful facade that Kise always put on desperately in a bid to protect himself, to be liked by people.

"I'm sorry, I'll come back another day," Aomine apologised lowly, hanging his head and leaving.

Kagami sighed, lowering his tense shoulders once Aomine had left. "Kise, are you alright?" He put his hands over Kise's which were on his stomach, since Kise was still embracing him tightly. Kise didn't reply, his head buried in Kagami's shirt. Feeling that things were a little off, Kagami pulled Kise's hands away from him and turned around to see Kise's face covered in tears.

"Hey crybaby, what's wrong now?" Kagami asked gently, using him thumbs to wipe away the tears. Kise sniffled.

"It was scary... Was I wrong in my decision?" Kise asked miserably, looking at Kagami's general direction with unfocused eyes.

"Of course not!" Kagami assured hurriedly, hugging Kise and patting his back soothingly. "You did well. You should choose whatever you want to do, I'll be here to protect you. You don't have to be afraid of anything at all."

"Okay," Kise mumbled, wiping his eyes with the back of his hands. "I trust you, Kagamicchi."

***End of Chapter***

XP: Drama, drama, drama. Also, manipulative Kagami strikes back LOL