Ahhhhh Sorry it took so long to update! Writers block is evil incarnate I swear! Plus I rewrote this chapter three times, at least I think it was only three...I only remember three...that's not important though. Anyway! Sorry again for the lateness.

I hope you enjoy this. I don't know. Anyway, comments are appreciated as always.

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After several hours, Akashi decided it was safe to leave and pried himself from Kuroko's grip. He left the room and dialed his secretary's number.

"Akashi-sama. What can I do for you?" The secretary answered.

"Any reports?" He asked as he made his way to a balcony outside. He found an unoccupied corner where he could have a bit of privacy.

"Let me get Masaomi for you."

"Boss?" Masaomi came to the phone.

"Reports." Akashi demanded.

"We still haven't located Okazaki. We believe he has gone into hiding. We took down his club in Shinjuku two days ago and took out the manager and everyone directly working for the Kintatsu-kai. We found no traces of the man in question there. The group has two warehouses near the bay and another club in Shibuya. We are working our way towards taking over both." Masaomi reported.

"Good. When you find Okazaki, don't kill him. I'll do that myself. I expect the second club to be gone by the end of the week." Akashi didn't wait for a reply before ending the call and putting his phone away. At least progress was being made. Still, he wasn't going to be satisfied till he had that bastard Okazaki begging for his life as he squeezed it out of him.

When the red head returned to the hospital room, Aomine and Kise were waiting outside.

"Hey." Aomine waved. "You look pissed."

"Okazaki is still MIA." He explained. He had already told Aomine about the man.

"If you find him, I wouldn't mind getting a punch in before you take the bastard out." Aomine growled.

"If I kill him, it would be best if you don't know anything about it."

"If he winds up dead, I will already know. Not that it matters. Anyway, the doctor told us not to go in till you got back. What's up with Tetsu?"

Akashi sighed. "He is afraid of being touched, although he let me get close to him, he freaked out every time a doctor or nurse got close. They probably didn't want you upsetting him on accident. He had a nightmare, or a flashback or something a few hours ago too."

"Is he okay now?" Kise asked.

"He was sleeping when I left. Come on in. If he is awake, just tell him what you are going to do before you do it. He doesn't react as severely if you do."

Aomine and Kise nodded and followed Akashi inside. Kuroko was awake when they entered and immediately reached towards Akashi while making some sort of sound.

"I'm coming closer to you." Akashi announced before moving towards the bluenette. Once he was close enough, Kuroko grabbed his shirt. Akashi let him and turned his head.

"I brought two of your old friends to visit. It's Daiki and Ryota. They are going to come closer too." He gestured for the blond and navy haired man to move forward.

"We're coming over Kurokocchi." Kise announced like Akashi had directed him to do. Both men moved to stand by the bed. Kuroko's grip on Akashi's shirt strengthened and his body tensed as he eyed the two new comers carefully. He recognized the one with navy hair from the other day. He thought he recognized the blond too. Like Akashi and Aomine, the blond seemed familiar and he didn't scare Kuroko, although the bluenette was still wary.

Kise fought the urge to scoop his old friend into a hug. Instead he waved awkwardly. "Hey Kurokocchi. Remember me? We played basketball in high school together remember. Same with them." He pointed at Aomine and Akashi. Kuroko flinched when Kise moved his hand suddenly and Akashi gave the blond a warning glare. It took Kise a moment to understand what the glare meant.

"It's okay Tetsuya. He isn't going to harm you." Akashi tried to soothe Kuroko but the smaller male didn't relax.

"Is it okay if I hold your hand for a moment?" Aomine asked carefully and waited. Kuroko studied the navy haired man before eventually nodding. "Okay. I'm going to hold your hand now." Aomine wasn't sure if he needed to say it again, but he decided it was better safe than sorry. He slowly took Kurokos hand and held it. It was small and icy. The bluenette flinched but he didn't pull away. He did however keep his eyes on the tanner man.

"I'm going to take my hand away now. Is it okay if Kise holds your hand next?" Aomine asked for Kise as he removed his hand. It took a bit longer this time for Kuroko to respond. He was more wary of the blond who often made sudden small movements. Kuroko gripped Akashi's shirt tighter before nodding.

"I'm going to hold your hand now." Kise copied Aomine's words and actions. He noticed how cold Kuroko's hand felt too but didn't comment. After a moment, he almost took his hand away before remembering to speak first.

"I'm going to take my hand away now." Kise acted as he spoke.

"We should probably go now. It was good to see you." Aomine said slowly giving Kuroko time to process that someone was speaking. Kise nearly waved again, but caught himself. Kuroko noticed though and flinched slightly making Kise feel guilty.

"We are going to walk away now." Aomine continued with a soft smile towards the smaller boy before he and Kise turned and left, all with slow and deliberate movements.

Once they were gone, Akashi alerted Kuroko he was going to touch his hand and did so placing his hand on top of Kuroko's that was gripping his shirt. He sighed inwardly. Saying everything he did was exhausting.

He spoke again to let Kuroko know he was removing the hand from his shirt and stepping outside for a moment.

Akashi met Kise and Aomine outside the room and led them to the small waiting room down the hall where they grabbed some coffee and sat to talk.

"Midorimacchi told me he came by yesterday." Kise spoke first. Akashi nodded.

"Tetsuya was asleep. Since he managed with you two, I was thinking of calling him and having him stop by later if Tetsuya is still awake."

"Do you think he remembers us?" Aomine looked out the window instead of at the others.

"Of course Kurokocchi remembers us! Right Akashicchi?"

"It's hard to tell. If he lets Shintarō and Murasakibara near him then I would say he probably does, at least a part of him does. He hasn't let anyone but us touch him or even come close to him without screaming or panicking so it would make sense."

"Yeah, I can't think of any other reason why he would let this freak near him." Aomine jerked his head towards Kise earing him one of Kise's infamous pouts.

"Akashicchi! Daikicchi is being mean!"

"Handle it yourself Ryota. I'm not a relationship counselor!"

"Waaahhhh. Now Akashicchi and Daikicchi are being mean."

"Shut up! We're in a hospital. You're being too loud." Aomine wacked his lover over the head with his hand. Kise immediately quieted down with a quick apology. Luckily no one else was in the waiting room so they hadn't actually bothered anyone.

"So are you going to have Kuroko transferred to Midorima's hospital then?" Aomine asked after a few minutes. Akashi nodded.

"The paperwork for the transfer is done so if things work out, he can be transferred right away. Speaking of Shintarō, I should call and have him come over."

"Does he know about Okazaki?" Kise whispered. "I didn't tell him….I just don't want to blurt out anything I'm not supposed to."

"You'll blurt out something unnecessary anyway." Aomine teased but looked at Akashi for the answer. Akashi shook his head.

"No. I'll tell him later. I put a guard on him too though so he might have already figured something was up."

"Midorimacchi knows about you and uh…ya know….right?"

"We all know Ryota. It's not a secret you dummy."

Akashi ignored the exchange between Kise and Aomine and walked outside dialing Midorima's number.

"Akashi? Is that you?" Midorima answered on the second ring. Akashi smiled at the fact Midorima seemed to remember what ring to pick up on after all this time.

"It's me. Can you come over? Tetsuya is awake. Ryota and Daiki are here as well. There are a few things we need to discuss too."

"I'll be right over….um, before you hang up…"

"Yes, Shintarō?"

"The guy outside my door….the guard…..is he really necessary?"

"I'll explain when you get here, but yes. He is necessary. You saw Tetsuya's chart. This is very serious."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it. I'll be right over."