H*** Crap it's 2017! That just kind of hit me.

Thank you to everyone who has left comments. They are adored and always inspire me to keep writing. Thank you again.

Best of luck with your new year resolutions! I wonder what kind of resolutions the GOM and Kuroko would make.

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The next day

This wasn't the shed. This wasn't that room. This wasn't a familiar place at all. It was a bit dark, the only light from the inside and outside windows and the door, but bright enough to make out his surroundings. Various machines he couldn't name or guess the purpose of sat on either side of him, some of which seemed to be emitting noise. Where was he? How did he get here?

The last thing he remembered was lying on the ground in the shed wondering if he was finally going to freeze to death. The man hadn't come in several days. No water. No moldy bread or lukewarm watery soup. No clothes or blankets. No beatings or rape (although he was glad for that). No injections. Just cold sweats, nightmares, shivering, nausea, and pain, but there was always pain.

He fought down panic and opted to look around for clues. Something was restraining his movements, so he could only move his head. Slowly, he turned his head to the right. He saw a man with red hair and a long brown trench coat over a suit sitting in a chair presumably asleep. He was probably about Kuroko's height and had an important and somewhat threatening aura about him, even when asleep. The man looked familiar though and didn't feel like a threat, despite the aura. Kuroko was sure he knew the man, but his mind presented him with broken and unclear images he couldn't decipher when he searched his memory.

Behind the man, he could see a door and a window that was covered with a curtain. Light seeped under the door and through the sides of the window where the curtain failed to block it. He listened for sounds, but the machines seemed to overwhelm his delicate senses, so he couldn't hear anything else.

Shifting his head to the other side, his eyes landed on a man with darker skin, possibly navy hair, asleep, in jeans and a hoodie. He seemed more relaxed being slightly slumped in his chair with his legs wide apart. He was muscular and probably much taller than Kuroko judging by how long the mans legs looked. This man seemed slightly familiar too, but Kuroko couldn't place him any more than the red haired man. All his memory seemed able to provide was that this man wasn't a threat. Neither of these men were.

That knowledge should have calmed him down, but it didn't. He was guessing he might be in a hospital, but he wasn't sure. He couldn't remember being in a hospital before, but that meant very little since he couldn't remember much of anything besides the past four years, which he really wished he could forget.

What worried him most was that he didn't see the man. He didn't see the man referred to as 'boss' either, or any of the ones who often accompanied 'boss'. He didn't want to see them, but not seeing them when his surroundings were so unfamiliar frightened him. At least if he knew where they were, he could be prepared.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he made another attempt to remember how he had gotten here and who the two men in his room were. His mind continued to offer only broken and fuzzy images and memories, most of which were completely undecipherable and others which didn't make sense or only provided more questions. He felt a headache beginning. He didn't want anymore pain. He was in enough pain already. He closed his eyes.

Wait.

That was strange. He wasn't in any pain, except the slight head ache forming. When was the last time he wasn't in pain? The drugs sometimes distracted him, but not this much. Had he finally become numb to it? No. That wasn't it. He wasn't numb. There just wasn't any pain. Well maybe a little here and there, but compared to usual, there was nothing. How? He couldn't remember the last time he wasn't in pain. Did such a time even exist? Maybe he was dead now. You don't get headaches when you are dead though. Well maybe you did. Kuroko couldn't be sure that you didn't seeing how he had never died before. It felt like it sometimes, he swore he did so briefly at times, and he often wished he had, but he hadn't truly died before. Maybe you could get headaches when you're dead. Even if you could though, was this heaven or hell? It couldn't be hell could it? Hell should be painful. Maybe that was why he had a head ache. Was the red head the devil then? Why would the devil wear a suit and trench coat though and why wouldn't he be scary? The man had a threatening aura, but Kuroko didn't feel scared of him. And wouldn't the devil greet a new arrival? Well it is the devil….so maybe not. Surely he wouldn't just sleep though. And that didn't explain the machines or why he couldn't move or who the other man was.

But this couldn't be heaven either. Wouldn't the others have halos? Or maybe only angels got halos. Were you automatically an angel if you went to heaven? Was it reserved only for special people? What about gates? He vaguely remembered something about gates. He didn't see any type of gate though. It seemed a bit dark for some place like heaven too and he was pretty sure he wouldn't get into heaven. He wasn't religious.

Wait.

If he wasn't religious, why was he assuming this could be heaven or hell? He didn't necessarily believe that those places didn't exist, but he didn't believe they did either. Well maybe that wasn't entirely true. He believed in hell, only hell wasn't some place you went when you died. It was a place you existed in when you were alive. That shed. That room. That cage. Those unbearable nights. Those were all hell, and he felt pain in those places and he was alive in those places. Hell existed for the living, another reason why this couldn't be hell if he was dead. It couldn't really be hell if he was alive either because there wasn't any pain.

So where the hell was he!? He could feel the panic growing inside him. He didn't sense any immediate threats but his lack of knowledge terrified him. Even if these people weren't bad. Even if this wasn't hell. Even if he was safe. He needed to know, because not knowing was dangerous. It was frightening. 'Not knowing' meant you couldn't prepare for what was coming. 'Not knowing' meant hours of agony of a racing mind. 'Not knowing' was dangerous. 'Not knowing' was terrifying. 'Not knowing' could eat him alive. Maybe if he opened his eyes he would know. Maybe he would find a clue, something he hadn't noticed before. Maybe…..but 'maybe' was dangerous too. 'Maybe' allowed for hope. That was also dangerous. It was easier to give up. It was best to not have hope. Hope would only make the pain worse later. It might lessen the hurt in the moment, but that hurt wouldn't disappear. That hurt would find you sooner or later when your hope came crashing down. It also kept you from seeing clearly. It kept you from seeing all the dangers. Maybe led to hope, and hope was blinding, and being blind was 'not knowing,' and 'not knowing' was dangerous. In this moment of not knowing, he couldn't afford maybes. He couldn't afford hope. He had to open his eyes though. He had to check again. He had to make sure that danger wasn't looming over him this very second to strike him when he was unprepared.

So he opened his eyes again.

Danger wasn't looming over him. The red head who had been sitting on his right side was looming over him. The red heads expression was concerned as he spoke Kuroko's name. Kuroko only stared at him. His throat hurt and he wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond. He saw, and then he felt the red heads hand touch his arm. He flinched and terror filled his eyes as every muscle of his body tensed up. He still wasn't afraid of this man, but experience had burned the lesson in his body to expect pain from touch. To fear it. To avoid it. Even if this person wasn't a threat, touch was.

He was grateful that the red head removed the hand from his skin. He felt his body relax slightly. But now the red head was looking at him with even more worry etched on his face. There was something else too. Anger? Was the red head angry at him? It didn't feel like it was directed at him though. It felt like it was directed at something past him, something he couldn't see. He could only hope he was right. Not feeling pain was a luxury he wasn't ready to lose just yet.

Kuroko noticed the red heads mouth was moving. What was he saying? Panic? Was it a warning? No. He was saying don't panic. A threat maybe? It didn't sound like one. Kuroko didn't have time to figure it out. He felt his consciousness slip and once again he entered the nothingness of sleep.

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This is the second time Kuroko wakes up in case that wasn't clear.

This chapter just kind of spilled itself out of my hands. I started and then it just wrote itself. Funny how that happens. If you couldn't tell, it's Kuroko's thoughts.