Akashi was faintly aware of the presence beside him during the ride, and the serious voices of the paramedics desperately trying to keep Kuroko alive. By the time they arrived at the hospital, Tetsuya's heart was beating again, but he was far from being out of danger. Akashi could only watch the blue hair on the hospital gurney disappear through white double doors. He let himself be guided by the presence beside him, into the hospitals waiting room. He was led to a chair and he let his body fall heavily into the seat. He was slowly grasping awareness of his surroundings when a warm cup of dark liquid was shoved into his hands. He gulps it and closes his eyes throwing his head back.

When he opens his eyes again, they rest upon Aomine's concerned and shaken expression. Only then does he realize that Aomine has been speaking this entire time.

"Akashi! Can you hear me? Snap out of it already!"

"I can hear you." Akashi's voice came out embarrassingly meek and defeated. He struggled to regain his normal composure, but failed. He was thankful Aomine had enough sense to lead him to a more discreet section of the waiting room that was deserted.

Aomine sighed. Although he himself had been shocked by the events, Akashi's reaction was probably the most frightening. His former basketball captain rarely lost his composure or showed any hint of what the man would call weakness. He was a rather stoic character, rarely unnerved. He was a stranger to fear except when instilling it in others. A proud, seemingly cold, bastard. This was the first time Aomine had seen Akashi act so…..human….like an emotional human being and a train wreck of one at that!

Seeing his old shadow dead in that awful wretched place was bad, but seeing Akashi in such a disheveled state threatened to prove itself even worse a sight.

"Have you calmed down?" It was a question Aomine feared to ask since he wasn't keen on the idea of having scissors imbedded in him for careless remarks towards the red head.

"How…?" Akash buried his head in his hands and cried. How? Why? Who? Questions threatened to throw him back into his previous state of shock, but he forced himself to maintain some shread of inner calm. Aomine, unsure how to treat this unusual display from his friend, pulled him into a rather awkward hug.

Aomine pulled out his phone to text Kise. He noticed a text from his supervisor and quickly read it (still holding the sobbing Akashi). The message just told him to call when he got the chance. That would have to wait. He clicked on Kise's name and typed a quick text.

He had told his lover about the tip about Kuroko's whereabouts and that he and Akashi were going to check it out before leaving that afternoon. Kise, like almost everyone else, had given up on finding Tetsu again, but didn't stand in his way. He wondered how Kise would react. He groaned at the thought. After watching Akashi, a man he thought he knew pretty well, react the complete opposite of what he expected, he wasn't sure he wanted to see anyone else's reactions.

Aomine was pulled from his thoughts when he felt Akashi move to a standing position. "Akashi?"

"I'm going to the front desk. Someone is going to have to fill out the paperwork for Tetsuya and I want to make sure….." He didn't need to continue. Aomine knew what the red head intended to make sure of. Akashi was a powerful man with more connections than Aomine cared to know about. It was obvious Akashi would use his power to threaten the entire hospital or even Japan in its entirety to make sure Tetsuya got the best care. In a way, it was probably necessary. Aomine winced at the thought of how invisible Tetsu could be. It wouldn't be hard for the hospital staff to completely overlook the boy. However, it was a little harder to miss the blue haired boy when Akashi was breathing down your neck. At least staff would remember Kuroko if for no other reason than they feared for their lives! Aomine had to crack a slight smile at that thought before his face set back in its previously grim expression.

Of course, Akashi was right about the fact someone would need to fill the forms out for Kuroko. Aomine gathered his jacket he had shed earlier and walked towards the front desk as well.

From the looks of things when Aomine arrived at the front desk, Akashi had already made himself known and established his connection to the patient currently under the hospitals care. Now he was staring at a small stack of forms and Aomine swore he could see the red head shaking ever so slightly.

"Hand them to me." He gestured to the forms. Akashi looked like he might murder Aomine for a brief second before relinquishing the forms to Aomine.

"I need to get some air. I'll be outside." With that, Akashi left the room.

Aomine was filling out the forms when a blonde appeared before him. He looked up, his eyes meeting Kise's. Placing the papers aside, he stood and hugged his boyfriend tightly. He didn't cry though. He just held onto Kise in silence.

After a few minutes he pulled away. Kise was giving him a strange expression.

"Sorry Ryota…it's been a long day." Aomine sighed and slumped back into the seat.

"Tell me what's going on!" It was a quiet shout that Aomine wasn't expecting which startled him.

"We found Tetsuya. I told you that."

"Daikicchi.." Kise plastered a pouting expression on his face, something he was quite good at doing. "What's going on? Why is Akashicchi crying? Kurokocchi is alive right? So why is he crying? Why did you hug me for so long?"

"It's better if you don't know."

"Daikicchi!" Kise fixed him with a deadly stare. It was a newer one of Kise's expressions and never had it been as deadly as in that moment. Aomine flinched.

"Ryouta….We don't know much ourselves so it's hard to say. We saw some….some things…" He was trying to protect Kise by only giving vague details of the situation, but found himself longing to spill. His own heart wanted protection. It needed comfort. Aomine leaned into Ryota, pressing his head against his lovers chest, and began to cry. Ryouta let him. Aomine and Akashi were in the kind of work where they saw terrible things on a daily basis that would make most people faint or lose their sanity. He had never seen Akashi lose his composure, and Aomine almost never cried, and certainly not where anyone except Ryouta could witness.

Kise was feeling a bit glad Aomine hadn't told him now. Maybe it really was better if he didn't know. At least for the moment.

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Sorry for not updating sooner! I wrote this chapter and forgot to post it. On the upside, I'm almost done with the third chapter.

Sorry if the plot is progressing a bit slowly. I kind of want to take my time with this story.