Comments are loved and appreciated as always!

Sorry this is moving kind of slow. I don't want to rush it though.

This was kind of a hard chapter to write so I hope it turned out okay.

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"Ryota?"

"What's up Daikicchi? It's a bit late to be calling. Is everything okay?"

"Sort of. Tetsu woke up again. He passed out shortly after though."

"Were you able to speak to him? Did he say anything?"

"No. He woke up while we were sleeping and passed out shortly after we woke up and noticed."

"Oh….."

"Yeah. So how was your shoot?"

"I would rather have been with you."

"I would have preferred that too."

"I should be back in the morning. Daikicchi?"

"Yeah?"

"He's going to wake up again. He will be okay."

"Yeah. You're right."

"I know."

"Night Ryota. Love you."

"Love you too Daikicchi. Night."

Aomine placed his phone back in his pocket and turned around. In the middle of the call, Akashi had come outside and was standing behind him against the wall with his hands shoved in his coat pockets.

"Is something up?" Aomine asked.

"You two are cute."

"Spare me."

"Not a chance." Akashi smiled in that way that always made Aomine's mouth go dry and his palms sweat.

"Any change?" Aomine was referring to Kuroko's condition. He knew the answer, but he asked anyway. Akashi's face became unreadable. His business mask was on.

"No. You already knew that."

"Yeah, I did. But I wanted to encourage that little speck of hope in my brain."

"It's probably better if you didn't."

"Right. Yakuza don't like hope."

"I didn't think cops cared for it either." Akashi retorted with a slight grin.

"We prefer donuts, however a bit of hope is nice too."

"You don't even like donuts Daiki." Akashi moved to stand by Aomine and glanced up at the night sky. It was almost cloudless so you could see the stars pretty well and the half moon. Aomine looked up too. For a moment they allowed themselves to be swallowed by the night sky and wish upon a shooting star.

"Funny how we place wishes on dying stars." Akashi mused.

"Funny that stars can die."

"Our conversations make no sense."

"Shut up Akashi. I'm going back to the hotel. You coming?"

"Nah. I'll stay here a while longer…in case he wakes up again."

"Suit yourself. Night."

Aomine left and Akashi went back inside the hospital to Kuroko's room. He had a feeling he should stay there tonight.

Akashi took his usual chair and settled in. Kuroko looked so peaceful, but Akashi knew that was only temporary. It wouldn't last. Still, it was nice. He closed his eyes and let himself doze off.

When he woke again, the early morning light was seeping through the window. He looked at Kuroko and red eyes met blue.

"T….Tetsuya?" He moved closer and went to grab the Kurokos hand, but the fear in the boys eyes made him think twice. He pulled his hand back to his side.

"Tetsuya? Do you know who I am?"

There was no reply, just a vacant stare. Akashi wasn't sure Kuroko heard, but he continued anyway.

"It's me, Akashi. Akashi Seijuro. We went to high school together." He paused to see if there was any reaction but if there was, he couldn't tell. "You're in a hospital. You're safe now."

"A…..Ah…Ak…." Kuroko couldn't seem to repeat the name. He did recognize the name though he couldn't recall any specific memories.

"It's okay." Akashi's voice was oddly gentle. He longed to hug the bluenette but he kept his distance. "The doctor will want to see you. I'll go get him okay?" Akashi left and returned quickly with the doctor.

"Hello Kuroko. I'm Dr. Takama. I'm glad to see you awake. I'm going to ask you a few questions okay?" The doctor stood beside Kuroko's bed and waited for an answer. When no answer or movement came from the boy, he spoke again. "Do you know where you are?"

No answer.

"What about your full name?"

Still no response.

"Do you know how old you are?"

Nothing.

"I'm going to check a few things okay?" The doctor said, concerned that the boy wasn't responding.

As soon as the mans hand was within a few inches of Kuroko's skin, Kuroko screamed and began shaking violently. The doctor jumped back.

"I'm sorry. I'm not going to hurt you." Dr. Takama tried to assure the bluenette. Kuroko didn't respond. Instead he pulled his hand to his mouth and bit down till his teeth broke skin and blood trinkled from the wound.

"Tetsuya! It's oaky." Akashi moved to stand next to Kuroko but not too close. "It's okay. It's okay Tetsuya. You're safe."

Kuroko stared at Akashi, his deep blue eyes searching for any signs of danger from the red head. For some reason, the red heads presence felt calming and he couldn't find any signs of danger. He began to relax.

"Could you give us a few moments alone?" Akashi turned his head to glare at the doctor. It was more of an order than a request. Dr. Takama seemed to understand and left the room. Akashi turned back to face the frightened Kuroko.

"Tetsuya, is it okay if I touch your arm?" He asked gently. After several extremely long moments of hesitation, he received the slightest of nods.

"Okay. I'm going to put my hand on your wrist." He explained as he acted so as not to frighten Kuroko. Experience told him it was best to make all his movements known. His hand on the bluenettes arm, he continued to speak. "I'm going to move your hand away from your mouth now." He proceeded to act on his words. He found he met with little resistance and Kuroko's shaking was lessening. He sighed inwardly. He was lucky that Kuroko seemed to trust him at least a little, but his reactions so far made it clear that he was badly damaged. Any hope the red head had of things being simple was shattered.

"It's okay. You're safe now." He continued to whisper gently. After several minutes, Kuroko had calmed down.

"I'm going to bring the doctor back in." Akashi paused when the look of terror spread itself over Kuroko's features again. "He needs to make sure you are okay. I won't let him hurt you. You can hold my hand and if the doctor does something you aren't comfortable with or that scares you squeeze my hand and I'll stop him. Is that okay?"

Kuroko gave a slight nod although he remained tense. Akashi left the room to speak with the doctor.

"I got him to agree to see you, but he may not let you touch him." Akashi explained to Dr. Takama.

"I need to check him and make sure he is okay though." Dr. Takama protested.

"Is it possible for me to carry out the actions instead? I told him he could hold my hand and squeeze it if he got scared and that would stop whatever he didn't like. He agreed. If he won't let you near, he might let me." Akashi offered and waited for the doctors response. The doctor nodded.

"I suppose it will have to work." He sighed and followed Akashi back into the room.