Inoffensive landscape paintings adorned the walls. Easy listening music streamed into the hospital waiting room, languid and nondescript. Amber eyes fixated on the laminated map across from him. Kise had started memorizing points of interest in the hospital. The nurse's station was across the hall, the men's restroom was to the left, and the cafeteria was two floors had been there a while and knew that he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. He and Aomine agreed that they would at least stay until Kuroko got out of surgery.
Kise hated hospitals. He always had. He didn't harbor some extreme fear of catching the latest plague or anything. There was just rarely a happy occasion to be in one. Simple as that. He didn't even have to go to one when his niece was born. His sister was insistent on having a natural birth at home, so she hired a doula. Perfectly happy occasion. No hospital required. Now he was sitting in a waiting room watching his boyfriend fall apart over his ex.
Aomine had folded in on himself. He hugged his arms tightly around himself. Aomine had grown quiet but he was anything but calm. Kise could see his clouded expression. A storm was beginning to rage inside him and Kise was desperate to stop it.
"Aominecchi…are you okay?" Hearing the words out loud like that made it seem like a stupid question. Kise already knew the answer. Aomine was fiercely independent; always had been. Kuroko still meant something to the man. It would be scary if he didn't. If their relationship had a prayer of surviving, Aomine would have to be open about what he felt and Kise would have to listen.
Seeing Aomine's expression made Kise's heart ache. Darkness whirled in his eyes like thunder and rain. He was making a valiant effort to keep it together but to no avail. Aomine couldn't seem to face Kise. When he tried he kept squinting his eyes the way a person does when you shine a bright light in their face.
"I'm okay, Kise," he lied, "I mean I will be…I'm-"
Aomine's voice broke before he could finish what he was saying. His lip quivered lightly which he immediately gnawed as if it were a punishment for revealing his emotional state. Kise reached out, softly placing a hand on Aomine's shoulder. He was trembling.
Kise felt sick to his stomach. He wasn't sure if he had ever seen Aomine cry before. That's not how he'd seen him deal with things. The bluenette was hard-headed. He would go for a run or play pickup games at the gym if something was bothering him. But to see him fighting not to breakdown in public was devastating.
Aomine started shaking his head. "I'm not okay. I just talked to him a few hours ago and now he's in a fucking coma? This is unreal." He hiccupped a few laughs, worrying at his hair. Aomine fell silent, the color draining from his face.
"What if he dies?" he mumbled. His voice was so soft Kise wasn't sure he'd heard him right.
"Oh god, what the hell am I gonna do if he dies?"
What are you supposed to say in a situation like this? Kise considered himself a smooth talker for all the good it did him here. No cute little joke or goofy face would soothe the man at his side. When Aomine returned his feelings, Kise somehow thought that just his presence would be enough to make his Aominecchi smile. He flushed at his own conceitedness. A great deal of time and effort had gone into their friendship. There's no way things would get easier in a romantic relationship.
Kise guided Aomine's hands into his own and gave them a gentle squeeze. "Kurokocchi is tough. Don't count him out yet. No matter what happens, I'll be right here, Daiki." Kise's lips tingled just from saying his name.
He felt a few drops on his hand before Aomine rested his head on Kise's shoulder. Aomine gave a light squeeze back but said nothing more.
Their moment of peace was over as soon as it started. Kagami and Kuroko's short redheaded friend came rushing down the hall. Aomine's head snapped up at the sound of Kagami's voice.
"Why is he here?" Aomine snarled, "Akashi why is he here?" He launched himself out of his chair and marched up to the newcomers.
"He's here because I called him. Kagami has just as much of a right to wait for Kuroko to get out of surgery as you do."
Kagami's distress won out over the awkwardness he would've felt meeting Aomine literally anywhere else. "What happened? Is Kuroko in surgery already? What did the doctor say?"
"This bastard shouldn't be here. You should leave. Now." Aomine was damn near vibrating with rage.
"You need to calm the hell down."
"I don't have to do anything for you, asshole. Kuroko will be just fine without you here." His voice was tight, speaking through gritted teeth. Aomine was menacing when he was this pissed off but Kagami wasn't backing down.
Kagami snorted, "Yeah, right. You, the guy who's been pretending Kuroko never existed for the past month and half, absolutely know what's best for him. Don't give me that shit."
Aomine and Kagami were really going at it now. The more heated argument got the louder it got. One of the nurses peeked around the corner looking nervous. They were definitely too loud and disruptive for a hospital, but she was understandably reluctant to break up a fight between two grown men. Kise was about to try and reel Aomine in when Akashi's cold, clear voice cut through the chaos.
"That's enough. If you two want to fight like idiots, go kill each other in the parking lot. This is a hospital. Act like you've got some sense."
Kise suppressed a shudder at the unvoiced threat that hung in the air. Aomine and Kagami must've known something about Akashi that he didn't since they immediately broke apart and glared at each other in silence.
"Now then," Akashi said turning his attention to the nurse, "I need a doctor here to give me a full report on Kuroko Tetsuya's condition."
"Sir, the doctors are doing all they can for your friend and will come speak with you when they're- "
"I'm going to let that slide since you obviously don't know whose family owns this hospital. There will be a surgeon here to speak with me in the next thirty minutes. I would suggest that you do your very best to make that happen while I'm still being generous."
A look of recognition and panic swept over the woman's face. A flood of apologies was about to come pouring out of her mouth, but Akashi wasn't having it. "Ma'am I do not need your reassurances I need results. Don't waste precious time on pleasantries and return when you have something noteworthy to report."
The nurse bowed low and took off to carry out her orders. Akashi pinched the bridge of his nose and took a moment to collect himself. Kagami and Aomine both flinched when the emperor's eyes fell on them. "I need to speak with you two for a moment." His eyes never deviated from his victims as he called over to Kise. "You'll listen to the report if we're not back in time, won't you?" He didn't wait for a response before he took off down the hall with his prisoners in tow.
The clock ticked obtrusively, showing no sympathy for Kise's current situation. Kise was left alone with beeping machines hooked up to the comatose man standing between him and Aomine. Well, lying would be more accurate wouldn't it? Kise thought wryly to himself. Kise felt nauseated looking at the tubes in Kuroko's nose and the needles in his arms doing what his own body couldn't. The doctor rattled off a slew of Kuroko's injuries: trauma to the head, scrapes on back of the hand and forearm, major bruising to the back, and a broken collarbone.
Kise ducked his head in shame, admonishing himself for being jealous of a man who was mowed down by a car just hours before. Each beep of the machines softly scolding him like a parent that wasn't angry, but disappointed. Kuroko was the only reason his niece was alive. His whole family owed this man a huge debt. Bitterness rose like bile in the back of his throat. "It's always about you. No matter what happens, it's always about you, Kurokocchi." Kise's voice was devoid of its usual levity. He moved to stand over Kuroko's frail form, swallowed up by stark white hospital linen.
Kise waited for a moment, searching his face for some indication that he was heard. When he found none, he continued, "You better not die, Kuroko." Kise warned. "Aominecchi will never be able to let you go if you do. Just do us all a favor and wake up and leave him to me. Take both of those redheads with you when you do."
Kise was quiet for a beat. There wasn't a single sound in the room. He was sure the clocking was still ticking, the heart monitor still beeping, but he couldn't hear any of it. Kise stood still, eyes boring holes in Kuroko's face. The blonde was desperate to silence the blood rushing in his ears but that was just one more thing that only Kuroko could do. No matter what kind of fever dream he was in, Kise needed Kuroko to hear him. He needed someone to hear him.
"How is he, Kise-san?" Akashi's cool voice unmuted the world. Sound came rushing back to Kise, making him painfully aware that he was probably just caught mean-mugging an unconscious man.
"Oh, h-hey. Sorry but there's been no change. Please just call me Kise."
The look in Akashi's eyes was unreadable. He seemed to be looking for something as his gaze mercilessly scanned the blonde by Kuroko's bedside. Kise fidgeted, trying to escape those red-maroon eyes. He felt so exposed he had to resist the urge to shield his chest like a maiden.
"Well then, Kise," the blonde noticed a shift in how Akashi addressed him. Instead of his cordial aloofness, the gleam in his eyes was like a wolf ready to clamp down on the neck of bunny. "Thank you for watching over Tetsu for me. This can't be an easy time for you."
Oh god he heard me. What kind of monster threatens a guy in a coma? Kill me now.
Kise was too busy panicking to notice the devilish smirk Akashi quickly suppressed. "I understand your niece was injured as well. Is she alright?"
Kise was spared from being Akashi's plaything as Kagami and Aomine came in the room looking a little worse for wear. Kise's heart fluttered when Aomine made a bee line to him, pulling him into his embrace. Aomine pulled back just enough to get a good look at Kise's face. "You look kind of pale. Are you feeling alright?" Taking in the little spots of redness on Aomine's face and his rumpled clothing, Kise wanted to ask him the same question. Did they really fight in the parking lot?
He held off asking in favor of savoring Aomine's attention. "It's nothing, Aominecchi. I just-," Kise trailed off. All the things he wanted to tell Aomine had been swallowed up and trapped in a bubbled that was threatening to burst. One look in Aomine's tired eyes and he had no choice but force it down again. "I just really don't like hospitals," Kise said lamely.
Aomine ran a comforting hand through Kise's hair. He leaned into the touch and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "There's nothing we can do right now. Why don't we go home, Ryouta?" Aomine glanced over to acknowledge Akashi, looking more than a little whipped. "I'll leave him to you, Akashi," Aomine's blatant disregard of Kagami did not go unnoticed.
Akashi flashed a chilling smile, "Of course. I look forward to seeing both of you again."