AN: It gets a little bit darker.
If there are any mistakes (grammar, story plot holes, etc.), please either PM me or review about it.
"" - speech
Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke.
The interrogation room's ceiling light flickered a little as Kori sat silently in a chair, lightly scratching at his fingers boredly. After some time had passed by, he sighed and stood up, knocking on the door to get the attention of the guard stationed outside.
"Can I make a call?" Aomine's partner asked once the guard opened the door to check on him. "I want to contact someone important to me."
The guard hesitated and scratched at his chin nervously. "Well… I'm not exactly allowed to…"
Kori groaned and tugged at the guard's uniform sleeve. "I helped you out with the Shibuya murder case. Can't you just turn a blind eye to this?"
"But-" The guard looked away, unsure of what to do.
"Please. I'm begging you. Just one phone call and that's all." Kori pleaded with him.
The guard's eyes shifted nervously as he checked to make sure the hallways were empty. "Alright. Fine. Just one phone call." Since the hallways were silent and void of human presence, the guard shoved the cell phone from his pocket to Kori. "Hurry up."
Relief pooled in Kori's eyes. "Thank you." Kori then carefully closed the door and dialed a number as he stiffly sat down in the chair he had been occupying earlier. Receiving no response, he dialed again, repeating this process a couple more times.
When someone finally answered, the voice sounded scratchy and immensely irritated. "What do you want?"
Kori faced away from the CCTV to give himself a little privacy. He whispered into the phone. "I didn't think I would get caught. What do I do?"
"That's your own problem. Deal with it yourself. In this case, you have to take the fall by yourself."
"You know that I can bring you down with me, don't you?" He sneered, hoping that it would shake the will of the other person.
"You're a hundred years too early to be threatening me. Your family, your lover, and everyone else that you care about… Don't you care about their safety?" The other side continued to talk. "If you still care, then shut up and die by yourself." Before Kori could respond to this, the other person promptly ended the call.
"I'll keep quiet…" He murmured, slumping in his seat. "Just give me..." He trailed off, allowing silence to fill the room.
A few minutes later, he got up to return the phone back to the guard outside and sat back down in his chair with an empty expression on his face.
"The person in the shadows has already abandoned you. They won't help you now so spill it. Don't you want to bring them down with you? That way, you can lessen your sentence a little." Aomine watched as his partner remained quiet. It frustrated him to no end.
"Why are you suddenly so quiet? Before, you were at least a little more talkative." He questioned, attempting to rouse Kori out of his silence. Kori did not take the bait.
"If you want to play the silent game, then go ahead. We'll see how long you last." Kori sat in his seat as if he was a motionless doll. Only when his stomach suddenly grumbled did his body twitch slightly.
Aomine sighed then and stood up from his seat. "We'll order some food for you. Do you want anything?"
"Katsudon." Kori finally broke his silence to give his answer.
"Alright. The guard outside will order it for you." Aomine left the room, relaying Kori's food preference to the guard on his way out.
Once Aomine reached the office for the Criminal Investigation First Division, he and everyone else in the room stood up as one to greet the police chief who had just arrived. "Greetings to the police chief." Everyone then bowed in unison.
"Officer Aomine, how are the interrogations going?" The chief asked him firmly.
"He's staying silent… which is weird."
"What's wrong?"
"Before, he would at least respond to me, but now? Not one peep from him. I only got him to say what he wanted to eat." Aomine's eyes narrowed. "Something must've happened to cause this change."
"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure you'll do fine. Inform me immediately once he confesses or reveals important information on the corruption case." He gave Aomine's shoulder a pat. "You should go eat some lunch before continuing. We can't have you guys running yourself ragged, now can we?"
"Yes, sir." He bowed to the chief. The higher-up patted Aomine's shoulder again before departing.
"Okay, everyone! You heard the chief! Let's get some food before continuing!" The team leader announced, clapping his hands for attention. Everyone cheered as they headed out for lunch. Aomine momentarily glanced back in the direction of the interrogation room before joining everyone else.
"I brought one order of katsudon." A lean male announced to the guard. His face was partially shadowed by the cap he was wearing. He also had a medical mask on for which its purpose made obvious when he coughed every now and then. The metal box he was carrying was cold to the touch. The delivery man's outfit pretty much consisted of one color: black.
Before letting him into the room, the guard patted him down to check if he had any weapons on his person before opening the door. "You can go in."
"Thank you. I will be right out." He murmured, entering the room and allowing the door to shut behind him with an ominous click.
Kori did not bother to face the delivery man. "You can just leave it on top of the table." He mumbled, not noticing the delivery man silently place the metal box he was carrying onto the floor before methodically pulling on a pair of latex gloves.
"Of course."
Kori froze in his seat, a look of absolute horror crossing his face. He started to breathe heavily as his hands started to shake, slowly turning his head to face the person who he had hoped to never see again. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead as he finally voiced the question that was spinning in his mind. "Why are you here?"
"Why am I here?" The not-delivery-man sneered as he picked up the metal box from the floor and swiftly placed it on top of the table, making no noise throughout the entire transition. "What do you think?" He asked as he snapped the door of the metal box open, pulling out a steaming bowl of katsudon and placing it on top of the table. The man then placed one gloved hand inside the box, touching the back before swiftly retrieving his hand and shutting the box.
Kori shuddered, his eyes quivering in intense fear. He shakily stood up from his chair, backing away from the other. The masked man took a step towards him. "I said I'd keep quiet. I said I'd-"
He was interrupted by a kick to the abdomen, causing him to slam into the wall behind him. He groaned in pain at the sudden attack but his attention was quickly drawn to a glint in the dim room. When he realized where the glint was coming from, Kori felt his insides freeze despite the burning pain from the kick earlier. "P-please… I can still be useful to him… I haven't revealed anything!"
Faster than Kori's eyes could follow, the man slashed at his victim's neck with the small dagger in his hand.
"This way, you can stay silent, in the land of the dead." The assassin scoffed as he looked down at Kori's crumpled form, watching his victim lose consciousness within seconds. Ignoring the pool of blood rapidly forming on the floor, he pulled off his blood-splattered gloves, opened the metal box, and tossed them inside. Pulling out a handkerchief from his pocket, he used it to wipe away any visible signs of blood splatter on himself before also placing that into the box. Closing the door of the box, he grasped the metal box by its handle and picked it up off the table before casually walking out of the room and greeting the guard on his way out.
As he walked out of the building, the assassin pulled down his mask, revealing a pleased smirk.
"Hey, are you eating well, Kori-san?" The guard opened the door to check on Kori before yelping in surprise as his eyes immediately took in the bloodied wall on the far end of the room before noticing Kori's fallen state. "KORI-SAN!" He ran towards the bleeding man before crouching down, pressing one hand firmly on the life-threatening wound on Kori's neck in an attempt to prevent further blood loss.
The guard shakily pulled out his walkie-talkie with his other hand then. "Emergency. Kori-san is severely bleeding from the neck. I'm pressing down on the cut to stop more blood from coming out, but I NEED AN AMBULANCE NOW!"
"Understood. Someone is calling the ambulance right now."
"And I think we need someone to capture the delivery man from earlier. When I checked him, I didn't find any weapons during the pat-down, but it could have been hidden in the metal box he brought the food in. Find him! He's wearing almost all black, including a black vest, along with a cap and medical mask. I think he's the one who attacked Kori-san!"
"We will check the CCTV recordings and also send more men out to capture the possible suspect immediately."
The guard abandoned his walkie-talkie at the reply, focusing solely on stopping the blood from spilling out of Kori's wound. "You'll survive, Kori-san. I'll make sure of it."
"What is the meaning of this, Prosecutor Shin!? You're only responsible for dealing with the corruption case, aren't you?" The police chief slammed his fist against the table.
"Considering our main suspect and important witness was almost killed under the police's watch, we will investigate anything tied to Kori-san from here on out. We will not interfere with the police's investigation on the attempted murder of Tsukishiro Kuromi but everything else will be under our jurisdiction." The prosecutor stood tall, showing he would not persuaded by the chief's words.
The chief grunted. "Fine. I'll let your chief know whether Kori-san survives or not."
"Of course. We shall take our leave now." Shin bowed before exiting the room with his inspector and secretary.
"Although we managed to save him in time, we still need to keep a close eye on his condition." Reimi informed Nurse Awa and a police guard.
"How long will it take for him to wake up, Tsukishiro?" Aomine asked as he approached the three.
"I'm not sure right now. It depends on what happens by the end of tonight." Reimi touched her lips with her fingers, deep in thought. "Kori-san also had a concussion, so even if he were to wake up soon, his mind would be fuzzy for about a week or two."
"Well, when he does wake up, can you give me a call?"
"Not a problem. I'll be sure to give you any updates on any changes in his condition." Reimi wrote a few notes on Kori's chart before sliding it back into its designated pocket attached to the hospital bed.
"Thanks. I'm going to leave now." He turned towards the guard. "Keep him safe. I'm depending on you."
"Yes sir!" The guard bowed and watched the tanned male leave before taking his place near the entrance of the hospital room. Reimi and Nurse Awa also exited the room.
"Awa-san, can you check on the others next door? I'm going to do a last check on Kori-san before heading over."
"Got it! Leave it to me!" Nurse Awa headed towards the room next door. Before Reimi could enter Kori's room again, a group of three people approached the guard outside Kori's room. The male, who appeared to be in charge, seemed to be arguing with the guard. From the group's formal attire along with the brief explanation Aomine had given you regarding Kori's circumstances, Reimi concluded that the man was a prosecutor.
"Is something the matter?" She cut in between the two, standing in front of the guard as she faced the prosecutor. "Unfortunately, no one can see the patient at this time. Please come again when he is awake and stable."
The prosecutor heard the dismissal in her voice and twitched. "Fine. We'll just come again."
"Of course." Once Reimi watched the prosecutor leave, she sighed and entered the room.
She checked his vitals and the medication being given to him. When she glanced at his curled fists, she touched them lightly with her hands. "It's strange how he won't let go… Even during anaesthesia, he kept his hands like this."
"D-doctor…" A frail voice suddenly called out.
"Kori-san? Can you hear me?" Reimi asked, checking his eyes and attentiveness. She felt his hand grab hers. There was something in his hand. "What…?"
"Take this… Don't have long… Keep it for yourself…" She took the item from him, slipping it into her pocket.
"What do you mean…?" She asked as her eyes darted about, keeping an attentive eye on his vitals.
"Open it after I die." He coughed. "If I manage to live though, keep it safe for me until then."
The fact that he could articulate properly was a good sign, but he slowly fell into a delirious state. "Safe… Killed… I…" His eyes glazed over as he fell unconscious.
"A flash drive…" She pulled out the item he had given her, turning it over in her hand once as she examined it before slipping it back into her pocket. According to Aomine, Kori was an important suspect and witness of a corruption case, so she could not afford to let him be killed. She had a feeling Aomine was not telling her the entire truth, but she figured it must be classified information. She watched the patient sleep as she thought about the next step she should take. "Perhaps I should talk to Akashi about this later…" Then she cringed, recalling her schedule for the rest of the day. "Hopefully, I won't forget..."
"How is the patient the police brought in?" Akashi asked as he walked together with Reimi along the hallway.
"He's been convulsing a lot… He woke a little after the surgery but went back to sleep. I'm honestly a little worried about him. Perhaps I should go check on him again right now." Reimi sighed, ruffling her hair in frustration.
He chuckled to himself. "That would be a good idea. I'll meet you there then. I just need to check on one last patient of mine."
"Sounds good to me. I'll see you in a couple of minutes then." She waved at him before heading to Kori's room. She greeted the guard outside pleasantly before sliding the door open to the room.
The moment she slid the door shut behind her, her eyes were drawn immediately to a figure hovering over the patient. They wore a typical white coat and a scrub outfit. However, they were holding a syringe in their hand and wearing a mask, arousing Reimi's suspicion. "Who the hell are you?" Her voice hardened immediately as she trained her eyes on them, knocking on the door behind her to alert the guard stationed outside.
"Take a step away from him." Reimi approached the frozen figure. She heard the door behind her slide open, signifying the arrival of the guard. Through the corner of her eye, she briefly spotted the baton the guard had out. The figure still did not move. When the guard moved in front of Reimi, she slowly headed for the security button in the room.
Within seconds, the figure twirled around, kicking the guard in the stomach before wrestling the baton away from him. He slammed it against the guard's head, simultaneously rendering him unconscious and making him hit the wall. Blood trickled down the side of the guard's face.
Realizing she was alone against the assailant, Reimi darted towards the button, but the attacker slammed her against the wall, effectively pinning her there. Reimi glared defiantly at the man, promptly kicking him in the groin. He flinched in pain, dropping the baton and allowing her to kick it away from them. Before she could do anything else, however, he pinned her against the wall once more with one hand holding her arm and his legs tangling with hers. She saw the syringe in his hand again, prompting her to grab his wrist as she struggled to stop him from stabbing her with it.
"Damn.. it… all." She cursed under her breath as she watched the syringe gradually getting closer to her, showing that this was a losing battle for her. Her hand was rapidly losing strength as well. "Not… going… to die… here… Urgh." Her head pounded as her mind frantically whirred, trying to desperately come up with ways to get out of the current situation. The needle was so close to her now. She clenched her teeth, bracing herself for the inevitable.
"Where's the guard, Aomine?" She heard Akashi's voice echo through the hallway right outside.
Seeing this as her chance, she used her last energy to scream. "HELP!"
When the attacker started to use more strength in response to her shout, she saw Aomine dash into the room and kick the male away from her. With her back against the wall, she slid down until she was sitting on the floor as she breathed heavily from her earlier exertion. Akashi rushed over to her to check on her vitals, intentionally putting his body in between her and the assailant as he kept a hand on each of her shoulders. Determining that Reimi was physically fine, he turned his head to watch Aomine fight against the male. The syringe rolled onto the floor to the other side of the room.
"Are you okay, Tsukishiro-san?" Akashi asked her quietly, not taking his eyes off of the fight.
"I… I think so. I should be fine." She leaned against him, holding onto his coat tightly. Taking a wary glance at the ongoing fight, she closed the short distance to her initial objective by crawling away from Akashi, slamming her hand against the security button. An alert sounded through the room.
Aomine paid no heed to it as he threw a punch at the man. "Let's see your damn face!" He tried to rip the mask off of the man, but he dodged in the nick of time.
"We'll meet again, Officer, but next time, it'll be your death." The assaulter muttered before taking out a dagger and swiping it dangerously in front of him, preventing Aomine from closing the distance between them. Taking the opportunity, the man fled the room with Aomine hot on his heels.
"I need to check the patient and the guard." Reimi stood up from the floor, walking over to Kori and checking his condition. She sighed in relief. "Thankfully, they didn't manage to do anything to him yet." She then went to check on the unconscious guard who Akashi was already looking over. Together, they completed first aid on the man. When other hospital personnel came to move the guard and check on his other injuries, she slumped down against the wall, losing all energy in her legs.
She felt tired of everything already and it was only the beginning. Rubbing the area between her eyebrows, she sighed again. "Ugh, I need sleep." Akashi quietly knelt on one knee and squeezed her shoulder in comfort. She attempted a smile then but she had a feeling it looked more like a grimace. "I'll be fine… Probably."
Akashi spotted the bruise on her wrist. He held her wrist gently, examining the damage. "Does it hurt?"
"Not really… I might need some pain relieving cream though." She stared down at her wrist with a blank expression.
"Let's go see if you have any other injuries." He helped her up and smiled warmly. "Then we can get lunch together."
Reimi smiled brightly at the mention of food. "That already sounds wonderful. I want to eat something with rice now."
"And not noodles?" He quirked his eyebrow.
She confirmed. "Not noodles."
"Alright, let's go then." They began walking down the hallway.
In a good mood again, she hummed to herself as Akashi shook his head in amusement, suddenly reminded of a certain purple-haired giant.
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