So I'm going to try to make chapters for this story at least 2000 words long now instead of my usual between 1000 and 1500.
The apology used in this chapter is a very formal version of apology in Japanese. This is how the source I referenced explained it: Moushiwake arimasen deshita; A polite formal apology you should only use if you've done something very wrong. It might be used by the president of a company that has released a dangerous defective product. The only one more serious than that was Makoto ni moushiwake gozaimasen deshita. Explained as: mostly used by dishonoured samurai and ninja. Use this when you've fallen in love with the shogun's daughter. That one didn't seem appropriate so I used the former.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy and if you have time, please review/comment! Thank you!
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"Akashi-sama! Akashi-sama, wake up!" A large black man, one of Akashi's bodyguards, knelt shaking the red head.
"Quit shaking him so hard, Nebuya!" Mibuchi, another one of his guards, shouted as he pulled Nebuya away and took Akashi into his own arms. "Akashi-sama, wake up bastard!" He shouted and slapped Akashi on the cheek.
"How is that any better than what I was doing!?"
"More effective." Akashi mumbled with his eyes slowly opening. As he regained his bearings, panic struck. "WHERE'S TETSUYA!?" He demanded.
"Blue team just confirmed he's in an ambulance on the way to the hospital, which is where you need to be going as well." Mibuchi answered with a stern look before pulling his boss up.
"Is he alive….?" Akashi's legs shook from exhaustion and lack of use but he wasn't concerned about any of that.
"He's in critical condition. Come on. I'll carry you." Mibuchi warned before picking up Akashi bridal style. Akashi didn't complain. "There is a car waiting outside. Okazaki has already been taken away."
"But he's alive."
Mibuchi nodded as he pulled Akashi to the waiting car and helped him in. "Yes boss, he's alive."
A wave of relief washed over the red head as he leaned his against the head rest and a few tears escaped his eyes. Neither guard said anything and pretended not to notice. Mibuchi began his report on the situation and Akashi half listened.
"Your friends were also being held captive along with Furusawa at the estate but are safe as well and have been taken to the hospital to be looked over. None of them suffered any serious physical injuries. Seven of our men were traitors. Five were at the estate and were responsible for your capture and two were on the team sent to the hospital. All seven are currently imprisoned in the cellar with Okazaki and the other men involved. Our side suffered four casualties during the takeover of the estate but zero during the rescue mission. Five more suffered serious injuries during the takeover but nothing fatal. About twelve men suffered minor injuries. One member from blue team, the team responsible for Kuroko's rescue, was injured. One from rainbow team, responsible for the rescue of Furusawa and your friends, was also injured." Mibuchi paused when Akashi held up his hand and raised an eyebrow when he realized his boss was chuckling.
"Blue team? Rainbow team? Should I guess my rescuers were red team?" Akashi smirked. It wasn't even that funny, but with all the tension and seriousness, it was a bit of comic relief. He needed the slight distraction from his thoughts anyway.
"Actually, we were demon team." Nebuya butted in.
"You all are terrible." Akashi chuckled and the guards smiled a bit.
"At least we couldn't mistake which team was responsible for who. By the way, Hayama came up with the name for your team in case you want to know who to punish. Shall I continue my report, sir?"
"I'll have to thank him later. And no. Just write up the rest and I'll read it later."
"Yes sir."
The rest of the ride was quiet.
When they arrived at the hospital, Mibuchi got a wheel chair for Akashi and they were taken to a private room immediately. Mibuchi left to get an update on Kuroko's condition but refused to tell Akashi anything when he returned.
"I'm ordering you Mibuchi!" Akashi growled.
"Let the doctor finish his examination and then I'll tell you."
The red head grunted but gave in and stopped fighting the doctor as he had been doing previously.
"Finish quickly. I don't have time for this." He ordered the doctor who nodded quickly.
"You need some bandages, an IV, a shot, and some rest, but otherwise you should be fine. You will only need to stay overnight." The doctor nervously concluded grabbing the bandages from the cabinet.
"Just the bandages and shot will be fine. Now," Akashi glared murderously at Mibuchi who stepped behind Nebuya, "update!"
"Yes boss. Kuroko Tetsuya is still in surgery but is expected to be out in four hours if nothing more goes wrong, sir."
Akashi narrowed his eyes. "Nothing more goes wrong? Why did you say more?"
"Uh…w…well.." Mibuchi fidgeted nervously. His boss was projecting that I-am-satan-and-I-will-kill-you aura which made the black haired guard wary. "His condition is quite unstable….."
"Why don't you start by telling me his condition since you didn't explain it earlier." Akashi growled causing the doctor, currently bandaging him, and his guards to flinch.
"Uh…well…his heart did stop, although they don't know when. If it was when he passed out, it could have been as long as fifteen minutes. The rescue teams had access to the livestream and when blue team saw Kuroko's attackers hesitate, they chose to take advantage of it, but the ambulance hadn't arrived yet. Kuroko was receiving CPR for about eight to ten minutes so.."
"Get to the point Mibuchi!"
"There could be brain damage. There are also multiple fractures and internal bleeding and he lost a lot of blood and they don't know the full extent of his injuries but his condition is unstable and…."
Akashi put his hand up to stop Mibuchi as the doctor finished bandaging him. "That's enough. I already know his injuries. I was watching everything…remember…?" He grumbled and looked down at his hands. The doctor paused and the guards stared as the floor guiltily as they apologized to their boss.
"It's fine. Just make sure we have guards outside the operating room. I want a minimum of five guards on him at all times. I want a minimum of two guards on each of my friends as well. I don't care if suits are lining every inch of every wall in this damn place as long as no more harm comes to any of them! Now go Mibuchi!"
The named guard nodded and bowed before hurrying out of the room as quickly as possible. The doctor had finished his bandaging and was injecting the shot and Nebuya remained staring at the ground.
"Okay, you're all set, but you really should take the IV and bed rest." The doctor warned but Akashi shook his head and stood up. "Is there a shower I can use?"
The doctor nodded and pointed to the bathroom in the corner of the room. "The basics should already be in there. I'll take my leave now." He bowed and left leaving Nebuya and Akashi alone.
"Nebuya, I will need a change of clothes." The red head ordered before closing the bathroom door. Nebuya took out his phone and made a call to another guard who brought one of Akashi's spare suits from the car about ten minutes later.
Akashi stepped into the bathroom and turned the hot water nob on before disrobing and stepping in. The scalding hot water was painful but refreshing. He felt as though it could burn away the past three days and all the unwanted emotions and thoughts that went with them. Of course, nothing was capable of that, but it was nice to pretend for a moment at least. After several minutes passed, he turned the cold nob to make the water more comfortable and began to scrub his body and wash his hair. At some point, Nebuya must have come in without him noticing because the new suit was already waiting on the counter when he stepped out. He put on the suit; black slacks, red button up shirt, black jacket, and black tie. When he stepped out, Nebuya was waiting with a bag, an expresso, and a bento.
"Here boss. You should eat."
Akashi accepted it and made his way out of the room and back to the lobby where he sat down with his meal and dug in. Nebuya sat beside him.
"Akashicchi! You're okay!" An annoying voice shouted across the hospital lobby as the blond member of the generation of miracles ran towards his ex-captain only to be stopped by Nebuya's arm.
"No." The guard stated. Kise pouted with a nod and took a seat next to Akashi. Unexpectedly, Nebuya pulled another bento and a coffee milk from the bag with him and handed it to Kise. "You eat too."
"Eh! Thank you! How did you know I like coffee milk!?" Kise accepted with excitement and a quick head nod of appreciation.
"So that's what's in the bag." Akashi commented to the guard who nodded.
"One bento for each and a drink. We do our research Kise Ryouta. The bento should be to your liking as well."
"Eeee yay!" Kise commented as he opened the box and found the food to be several of his favorites. "Can I hug you!?"
"NO." Both guard and boss said in unison. Kise pouted but only for a moment.
"Benny made them?" Akashi asked.
"Yeah."
"Who's Benny?"
"Sakurai, one of my guards." The red head informed between gulps of expresso. "We call him Benny since he's really good at making bentos."
"Akashi. You're alright to be up and about?" Aomine glared as he approached.
"I'm fine Daiki."
"Eat up." Nebuya offered the navy-haired man a bento and blue Gatorade. Aomine accepted with a grunted thanks and didn't question it.
"Aka-chin?" Murasakibara walked over a moment later and accepted two boxes and a soda from Nebuya before sitting across from Akashi. "Is Aka-chin okay? Aka-chin looks tired."
Akashi scowled. "Eat your food Atsushi and quit commenting on my appearance. I'm fine." He snapped. Murasakibara shrugged and did as he was told.
Takao and Midorima arrived a moment later with Furusawa behind them. None of them said anything as they accepted drinks and bentos from Nebuya and took seats. It was silent until everyone finished.
After Nebuya took all their boxes and trash, Akashi asked for their attention. In what was possibly the most unexpected turn of events in all the time they had known each other, Akashi stood and proceeded with a full bow towards his friends and two subordinates present.
"Moushiwake arimasen deshita." He apologized (one of the most polite and formal forms of apologizing in Japanese).
"A…Akashi…" Midorima stuttered. "Wh…what are you doing?!"
Akashi straightened and met each persons eyes. "I'm apologizing. Because of me…because of me you were all put in terrible danger and subjected to cruel treatment. It is only right that I apologize."
"It's not your fault Akashicchi! It's the bad guys fault!" Kise protested. Akashi's expression softened and he smiled slightly.
"Thank you Ryouta. However, I am still partially to blame."
"You don't have to give a freakin formal apology. Sheesh man." Aomine complained.
Midorima nodded. "If you are at fault then we are as well. We knew who you were and remained your friends. And your subordinates knew what they were getting themselves into when they took their job."
"Actually, I didn't know…." Takao mumbled. "But I don't blame you!" He added quickly and got a slap on the head from his partner.
"Shut up Kuzanari!" Midorima whispered.
"I don't blame you either Aka-chin."
"Yeah boss, this kind of thing is a hazard of the job." Furusawa added.
"Thank you. All of you. Really. You should get some rest." Akashi sighed and sat back in his seat.
"I'll wait. I can't sleep when we still don't know if Tetsu is going to be okay."
"Daikicchi! Don't say that in front of Akashicchi!"
"It's okay, Ryouta, Daiki. I'm fine." Akashi commented before the mentioned two could start arguing. Everyone gave him a suspicious look but shrugged and refrained from commenting. If Akashi said he was fine, they weren't going to argue, even if they knew it wasn't true. None of them wanted to admit they weren't fine at the moment. They couldn't blame him for feeling the same. For now, they would pretend all was fine and deal with it later.
Kise curled up next to Aomine and rested his head on the latters chest but didn't sleep. Aomine held him without sleeping either. Murasakibara got some snacks and nibbled on them and Midorima left and returned with what was probably paperwork for him and Takao to work on. Akashi glared at the floor resting his chin on his intertwined hands as he thought out his plans for what to do next in a somewhat futile attempt to distract him. Furusawa napped. He didn't know Kuroko so he wasn't feeling as emotional as the others, although that didn't mean he didn't care. Nebuya whisper chatted with the guards who had gathered to watch everyone. The hours passed with little change.
Finally, as the sun was setting outside, the surgery was finished.