Title: Sick

Summary: During a usual practice in the Teiko basketball club, Kuroko feels less than okay. This leads him to be treated by his own captain, Akashi

Author Notes: Yay, I managed to update on Sunday. I hope to keep this up~ This takes place during Teiko, before Akashi's personality change. Also, sorry for not really being creative with the titles.

"Tetsu!"

The phantom sixth player of Teiko's basketball club felt his head pounding at the noise that echoed through the gym. He immediately placed a hand on his forehead, trying to lessen the pain. It took him a moment or two to realize that the "noise", was his name being called, or rather, nickname.

Kuroko lifted his head only to meet the navy blue eyes of Aomine. The fellow player had his eyebrows quirked. "What?" The pale blue haired boy questioned, his voice clear with confusion.

"What the hell are you doing? I was waiting for you to pass the ball to me, but then you just stood there staring into space!" Aomine shouted.

Kuroko stared at the ball in his hand. To be quite honest, he forgot he even had it, and he was rather surprised he didn't end up dropping it.

"I'm sorry, Aomine-kun. I...got a bit distracted." Kuroko replied, though distraction of course wasn't his reason at all. He tossed the ball to Aomine and continued to stroke his head.

"That's not acceptable, Kuroko."

Kuroko felt himself shiver at the sound of the chilling voice of his captain, Akashi.

If the team knew one thing, it was to never make Akashi upset.

He reluctantly turned his head to Akashi, whose eyes, although they seemed neutral, sparked with irritation.

"I know, Akashi-kun...sorry." Kuroko replied, bowing his head lightly.

Akashi wiped a bit of the sweat that was dripping from his forehead with his hand, and crossed his arms. "I'm sure you wouldn't want me to increase your training immensely, right?"

Kuroko shook his head, though this caused him to wince a bit. Gosh, his head really hurt. Akashi noticed this, but chose to ignore it.

"Alright then, everyone, resume the match." Akashi ordered, eyeing everyone on the team. Everyone nodded and proceeded to move to their previous positions.

Kuroko took a deep breath "I just have to get through this one practice, and I'll be able to rest at home. Just a little longer." Kuroko said mentally. Though of course, by 'little longer', it was actually another hour and a half. But surely he will be able to make through it. Right?

Momoi, who was filling in for coach Sanada who was absent, looked around to make sure everyone was ready. She nodded and blew the whistle briefly.

Although the whistling was brief, to Kuroko it felt like an eternity. The high pitched sound ringed and echoed throughout Kuroko's head intensely, it was like it was a fog that shrouded his entire mind. It hurt, it hurt so much.

Since the sound had seemingly envelop his entire mind, he didn't notice that Kise had pass the ball to him. The ball hit the poor boy directly in the head, cause of course that would be the perfect place to hit at this moment right?

Kuroko yelped and grasped his head with both his hands. As if the throbbing pain wasn't enough on his head.

"Kurokocchi! I'm really sorry, did I hurt you?" Kise exclaimed, waving his hands frantically in front of him.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Kise." Midorima intercepted, fixing his glasses' position. "Kuroko clearly wasn't paying attention to his surroundings."

"I concur. Kuroko, I'm not sure how long I can tolerate this nonsense you're pulling off." Akashi added. His voice had a calm and mellow vibe, but as the team knew, the actual connotation was the opposite. Akashi was angry.

"Yeah Tetsu, you're not acting like yourself. You're usually the one who puts the most effort in practice." Aomine commented, placing a hand on his hip, walking up to Kuroko.

"Maybe Kurochin doesn't feel well." Murasakibara added with his usual drowsy voice.

"Are you okay, Tetsu-kun?" Momoi asked, a worried look on her face.

All of these comments became lost in Kuroko's ears, they sounded so muffled to him. As if the rest of the team and Momoi were talking at the same time, even though they spoke individually.

Dizziness, a lot of it. This was what Kuroko was feeling at the moment. He also felt really hot, as if the sun was aimed directly towards him. His grip on his head began to loosen, not because the pain lessen, but because he was losing strength.

Akashi narrowed his eyes as he began to notice Kuroko's unusual condition. Perhaps Murasakibara was correct about Kuroko not feeling well.

"Kuroko, answer the question. Are you okay?" Akashi asked, reiterating Momoi's question.

"I...I..."

That was it. Kuroko's legs buckled and he collapsed on to the ground.

Silence surrounded the gym completely. Though of course, only for a few seconds as the shouting that would inevitably come forth will bounce off the gym's walls and echo.

"Kurokocchi!"

"Tetsu!"

"Tetsu-kun!"

"Kurochin!"

These were shouted simultaneously. The only ones who kept their composure were Akashi and Midorima. Though Midorima did have a slight shock look.

Aomine quickly ran up to Kuroko and knelt down. "H-hey, Tetsu. Get up." He stammered, shaking the back of Kuroko's shoulders, since Kuroko was lying face down. This did nothing.

Chattering began to ensue.

"Is Kurokocchi dead?!"

"You moron, he isn't dead. Tetsu's just tired...right?"

"Poor Tetsu-kun, maybe we pushed him too hard?"

"Sorry Kurochin, I'll give you snacks later."

This continued for a few seconds before Akashi stepped forward.

"That's enough, silence."

In an instant, the gym became completely quiet, save for the squeaky sounds that came from Akashi's sneakers.

Akashi walked through the circle consisting of Aomine, Kise. Murasakibara, and Momoi. Akashi approaching Kuroko was a telltale sign for Aomine to move out of the way.

Akashi knelt down near the currently unconscious Kuroko. He swiftly flipped Kuroko so that he was now facing up. Teiko's captain's emotion was unclear as always. He wore the same blank expression where that it's hard to tell how exactly he was feeling.

Akashi gently placed a hand against Kuroko's forehead. He immediately felt somewhat intense heat radiating from it. Although this made Akashi raise an eyebrow, it didn't particularly surprise him. He had already noticed signs of Kuroko's condition.

"It seems Kuroko has a fever." Akashi stated, keeping his hand on Kuroko's forehead for a bit before removing it.

As if a fever was equated to death itself, Kise gasped dramatically. "Poor Kurokocchi! Why didn't I noticed this before?! Kurokocchi and I are like best friends! I'm the worst fr-"

"Quiet, Kise. I doubt your presence has any significant effect on Kuroko. I also doubt this so called "best friend" status you have with Kuroko." The scarlet haired boy interrupted bluntly. His eyes were focused on Kuroko.

"Ouch, so mean, Akashicchi!" Kise exclaimed, crocodile tears trailing down his cheeks. Akashi could only shake his head at Kise's usual over exaggerated antics.

"Poor Tetsu-kun. I'll go get the nurse!" The temporary coach said, beginning to walk towards to entrance of the gym.

"That won't be necessary, Momoi." Akashi responded, stopping Momoi's tracks. "There's no need to inconvenience the nurse for something minor."

Although Momoi disagreed completely with Akashi, she knew it would there was no arguing with Akashi. "Then I'll take care of Tetsu-kun."

The captain shook his head. "No, you need to stay here and keep watching the practice as the substitute coach for today. You must be kept here to observe all of the team's movements."

Before anyone else could offer to take care of Kuroko, Akashi stated "I'll see to it that Kuroko is taken care of. Everyone else, continue practice."

"B-but Akashicchi-"

"I'll see to it that Kuroko is taken care of. Everyone else, continue practice." Akashi repeated, almost in the same tone as before, except there was slight hint of threat. He glared directly at Kise, who gulped in fear. Beads of sweat trailed down his cheeks.

That was the end of that short protest. Seeing that everyone was obedient to Akashi's order, his scarlet eyes returned to Kuroko.

The locker room wasn't that far, so carrying Kuroko the usual 'one arm over the shoulder' method would be a waste of time and energy, not that carrying Kuroko's lightweight would do anything to hinder Akashi's energy.

Akashi slipped one hand under Kuroko's back, and the other underneath his legs. He stood up with Kuroko lying in his strong arms, performing a bridal carry.

Aomine averted his eyes away from Akashi and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. It's no doubt that the rest of the Generation of Miracles felt the same way.

"Jeez Akashi, doing that makes it seem you and Kuroko are dating." Aomine said, aware that comments like this may just dig his grave deeper.

Akashi proceeded walking towards the door of the gym with Kuroko. Although he heard clearly what Aomine said, he didn't comment.

The walk to the locker room didn't take long, perhaps two minutes. Akashi smoothly avoided bumping into any of the students or faculty members he happen to pass by. He ignored the stares and comments he received from them, ranging from "What is Akashi-san doing?" and "Don't tell me, Akashi-san likes Kuroko-kun?!"

Kuroko remained motionless in Akashi's arms, although he was breathing softly.

The scarlet haired boy opened the door of the locker room and entered in a way so that Kuroko's feet wouldn't hit the frame of the door.

He gently laid the unconscious boy on one of the two benches of the room.

His eyes scanned Kuroko's entire body. Kuroko seemed to paler than usual, as expected. He also noted the bits of sweat that that remained on The sixth player's face.

Akashi turned around and opened Midorima's locker. As ordered by him, Akashi had permission to have access to each of the team member's locker. This was due to an incident that involved Haizaki Shogo and his usual violent antics, along with other players who have been removed from the team. They had use rather...dangerous items which they somehow smuggled into the school and into their lockers. So to prevent any further danger caused by items, Akashi inspects everyone's locker.

Akashi pulled out the medical kit that Midorima always kept in his locker. He placed it on the floor and opened it up. There were a variety of items in the kit: medical tape, ice packs, alcohol wipes, regular band-aids, cold medicine, etc.

The scarlet haired boy took out one ice pack and a bottle of cold medicine for later when Kuroko wakes up.

Akashi proceeded to unwrap the ice pack. He crumpled the wrapping and tossed it sideways, knowing it would land in the room's trash can.

He approached Kuroko, brushed his long bangs away, and laid the ice pack on his forehead carefully. Kuroko visibly twitched as soon as the cool product touched his skin, but he didn't completely wake up.

Unfortunately, Akashi could only perform minor healing tactics since they were at school. Not that Kuroko's condition needed much, but the location could have been better.

Akashi walked across the locker room, over to his own locker. His locker was neatly organized, with his school uniform neatly folded with his black towel sitting on top, his bag sitting upwards, and his water bottle. He took out the water bottle and stared at it.

There was only a little water left inside, but it should be enough, even if he had to sacrifice having water for himself.

Akashi returned to Kuroko, who seemed to be resting peacefully. This somehow relieved the captain.

With the water bottle opened in his hand, Akashi kneeled down next to Kuroko and brought the bottle close to Kuroko's pale, chapped lips. He carefully tipped the plastic bottle until the liquid reached the bottom and began to pour into Kuroko's mouth.

Once again, Kuroko's eyes twitched at the sudden contact of water in his mouth. He unconsciously swallowed.

As soon as there was no more water left in the bottle, Akashi removed it from Kuroko's lips and calmly tossed it in the recycle bin on the other side of the room.

The scarlet haired boy stopped his actions to see if Kuroko would wake up now. And alas, Kuroko remained asleep.

There was nothing else Akashi could do at the moment, there was only the medicine left. He packed up the medical kit and placed it back in Midorima's locker.

He'll just have to leave Kuroko alone to rest. Akashi adjusted the ice pack on Kuroko's forehead, since it had shifted due to Kuroko's previous movements.

Akashi walked towards to locker room door and before he left, he took one last look at Kuroko.

"Such a troubling one he is." He thought before leaving, closing the door behind him.

A half an hour had passed before Kuroko slowly began to gain consciousness. He gradually gained his senses; feeling something cool on his head, the bright light that blinded him. The sixth player tried to retrace his steps and remember what had happened, but it was to no avail. His blue eyes slowly opened, the bright light only became more harsh, irritating Kuroko a bit.

With his vision still blurred, Kuroko groggily sat up, only to have something suddenly fall on to his lap. Surprised, Kuroko stared down at his legs. An ice pack? Had someone place that on his head?

The blue eyes of the boy began to trace his surroundings. The locker room? When had he came here? He honestly couldn't remember. As hard as he tried, the latest memory in his mind was when he was in the gym with his team mates.

Before Kuroko could contemplate any further, he heard the locker room door open.

"Ah, I see you've woken up."

Kuroko turned his head around, only to see his captain, Akashi standing outside of the room. Akashi stepped in, shutting the door behind him.

"Akashi-kun..." Kuroko mumbled, while Akashi approached him closely. "What happened? How did I get here?"

Akashi sat next to Kuroko on the bench. "You passed out in the gym an hour ago. I carried you here." He explained calmly. Akashi moved closer to Kuroko, and removed the ice pack from his lap.

"Everyone was worried about you, so it's good that you finally woke up." Akashi added, staring at the ice pack aimlessly, before placing it on the side.

Kuroko processed Akashi's words in his mind for awhile. At least now, he could actually understand when someone spoke to him. "I see...I'm sorry for that." He responded, guilt clear on his face.

Akashi only nodded in response to the apology. In all honesty, Akashi didn't feel the need for Kuroko's apology. "It can't be helped."

He then placed a hand against Kuroko's forehead, making the boy flinch. He left the hand on his forehead for a few seconds. "It seems your fever has gone down a bit, though not that much." Akashi stated.

Kuroko felt Akashi's warm breath brush against his face. With the heat beginning to radiate on his cheeks, Kuroko almost wished he still had that ice pack.

Akashi removed his hand from Kuroko's head, noting the red that suddenly appeared on the latter's cheeks.

"Well, now that you're awake, you can take your medicine." The scarlet haired boy grabbed the cold medicine off the floor near the bench and began opening it.

Kuroko felt the little color that was on his face wash away. Not because he was dizzy, but because he was scared. If there's one thing Kuroko disliked, it was drinking medicine. It was as if whoever created them was unaware of the actual taste of the fruit.

"Akashi-kun, I-"

"If you're about to protest against drinking the medicine, please know that it will be futile. You will drink the medicine, all of it."

Kuroko heaved a sigh, he already knew arguing with Akashi was useless, but it couldn't hurt to try right?

Well, apparently it will hurt, with Akashi holding out the spoon that had a portion of the gross liquid poured on to it, close to Kuroko's lips. "Here, drink it."

Kuroko gulped fearfully before reluctantly taking in the spoon, removing the medicine off of it. It was a strong and bitter taste, much to Kuroko's dismay. He didn't know what the flavor of the medicine was, but whatever it was, it's probably completely wrong

It took a bit for Kuroko to fully swallow the foul liquid. He let out a few pants, as if drinking the medicine took a lot of strength. For Kuroko, it did.

Akashi placed the spoon on a napkin he prepared earlier. "I understand that the medicine isn't the most appealing thing to consume, but it'll heal you faster."

It was silent in the locker room for a bit. Akashi stood up and walked over to Midorima's locker to place the cold medicine back into the medical kit.

Kuroko on the other hand, was looking down on the floor. He began to feel guilty for troubling everyone. He'd imagine the others couldn't focus during practice, save for Midorima, since they had been worried about his well being. He figured Akashi probably could have been able to focus during practice, but then again, Akashi had been the one who took care of him. Kuroko felt like a nuisance.

"A-Akashi-kun." Kuroko stuttered looking up to Akashi, whose back was turned towards him.

"Yes, what is it Kuroko?"

"Thank you, for taking care of me while I was unconscious." Kuroko replied, bowing his head slightly.

Akashi shut the locker before walking back to Kuroko. "Like I said, it couldn't be helped." Teiko's captain wasn't one to reply with a "you're welcome."

Kuroko remained silent, while Akashi sat next to him again.

"However, it would have been preferable if you had told me you were sick so I would have excused you from practice. Because of your silence on this matter, everyone kept messing up during practice since they kept thinking about you." Akashi stated bluntly, even though he knew this was the last thing Kuroko wanted to hear.

Kuroko could only look down sadly. "I'm sor-"

"Don't apologize, I'm fully aware of how guilty you feel with that look you have on your face." Akashi interrupted plainly. "However, I will have to increase your training menu as punishment."

Kuroko cringed at the thought of his training menu being increased. He'd only had that happen to him once, since he usually tried to be on his best behavior. That one time was tortuous, he can't imagine going through that again. Though, like it's been said a few times, there's no use arguing with Akashi's decisions.

"I underst-" Kuroko suddenly began to fall forward, before Akashi caught him.

"It seems that you're still tired, Kuroko. It's probably best if you continued to rest." Akashi commented, holding Kuroko in his arms. The sixth player tried his best to stay awake.

Before the possible protest from Kuroko, Akashi pulled him down so that Kuroko's head was now laying on his lap.

"But Akashi-kun, the practice..." Kuroko mumbled, his voice drifting off a bit as he's still trying to keep consciousness.

"I'm well aware of what I said about increasing your training menu, but you're in no condition to be in the gym, where you're only going to pass out again. You will begin practice once you completely heal." Akashi unconsciously stroked Kuroko's pale blue locks, which relaxed Kuroko. "Until then, you will rest."

"But what about you, shouldn't you be practicing then? You can just leave me here like you did before." Kuroko responded in a much relaxed tone. The hand lightly touching his hair was comforting.

"I can't imagine that sleeping on a bench is comfortable for you. I will stay here to provide you some sort of cushion." The taller male said. "Now, stop talking and go to sleep. I'll be here if you need anything." Akashi gently placed a hand on Kuroko's eyes, covering the upper part of his head completely, forcing Kuroko to close his eyes.

The warmth and softness of Akashi's hand was enough to relax Kuroko to slumber.

Akashi nodded when he noticed Kuroko's breath softening and began to come out in a rhythm. He removed his hand away from Kuroko's eyes.

Akashi looked around. It looks like Akashi will be there for awhile, so it probably wouldn't be good for him to sit upwards for a significant amount of time.

Once again, Akashi proceeded to carry Kuroko bridal style, but only for a brief while. He laid his back against the one of the group of lockers, carefully sliding himself down to the floor.

Akashi looked down at Kuroko, since he felt him shuffle a bit. Kuroko remained sleeping peacefully.

To prevent Kuroko from waking up, Akashi will have to move as little as possible, which wasn't a hard task for him.

Akashi continued to stroke Kuroko's hair gently. It was rare for Teiko's captain to do this sort of affectionate action, but then again, Akashi was unpredictable.

Eventually, Akashi began to feel his own eyes droop and his head nodding off. He was about to fall asleep as well, but before that, Akashi decided to adjust his and Kuroko's position.

"Damn, that practice seemed like it took forever. At least we can finally see Tetsu." Aomine said, wiping some of the sweat off his head.

"Ahh, I really hope Kurokocchi is doing well. Akashicchi said he was going to check on him and he never came back." Kise added worryingly. He felt the urge to just dash down to the locker room and see Kuroko right now.

"Maybe Akachin is feeding Kurochin after he woke up...lucky." Murasakibara commented.

"I hope Akashi-kun didn't hurt Tetsu-kun for messing up at practice!" Momoi shouted, covering her mouth.

"Silence, the three of you." Midorima ordered calmly, taking place for Akashi's absence. "We'll see the two of them shortly, and we will not just barge in the locker room like a bunch of animals."

Much like Akashi's trip, the walk to the locker room was brief. Midorima carefully opened the door and looked in. "Akashi?" He called out quietly, in case Kuroko was still sleeping.

And he was, though if Midorima saw correctly, it appears Akashi was sleeping as well? Midorima raised an eyebrow at this sight before widening the door. Before he could say anything or react, he felt pressure being pushed on his back. It was the rest of the team plus Momoi trying to go inside.

"Hey, Midorimacchi, what's taking you so long, just go in al-"

Midorima swiftly slapped a hand against Kise's mouth, silencing him. "Keep quiet, idiot. They're sleeping."

"Oh aha, oops I forg-wait, they're sleeping?" Kise replied as soon as Midorima removed the hand from his mouth. 'They're' usually meant plural right? If Kuroko was sleeping, then who else was?

Midorima stepped to the side so that the others could see what he saw. The other four carefully peered into the locker room. All of their eyes widened simultaneously.

Akashi and Kuroko were on the floor. Akashi's back was against the lockers, with his head lying against it as well. Kuroko was now half sitting, and half lying against Akashi, whose legs were bent. His head rested against Akashi's chest, lifting slightly every now and then while Akashi breathed. Kuroko's hands rested on his own legs.

One of Akashi's arms was holding Kuroko's back. Akashi's other hand was unconsciously held by both of Kuroko's hands.
Both of their soft breathing could be heard by the surprised group.

It took a lot of strength from Aomine, Kise, and Momoi to keep quiet after seeing this. They all shut their mouth before proceeding to bolt out of the room. Murasakibara, although surprised as well, didn't react as much and left the room as well. Midorima took another look at Akashi and Kuroko, nodded his head and shut the door as quiet as he could.

When he was sure he was far enough from the locker room to speak, Aomine said loudly "Jeez, if Akashi and Tetsu are dating they should just say so!"

Apparently, Aomine wasn't far enough cause his shouting was enough to wake Akashi slightly. He opened his eyes and saw the resting boy against him. The soft breath that Kuroko emitted was somehow comforting for Teiko's captain.

Akashi noticed that one of his hands was grasped by Kuroko's hands, and he didn't do anything to change that; he simply left it that way. Much like Kuroko's soft breathing, his warm hands felt nice against that of Akashi.

Akashi proceeded to close his eyes once again to return to slumber.

"Jeez Akashi, doing that makes it seem you and Kuroko are dating."

"If Akashi and Tetsu are dating they should just say so!"

These two lines from Aomine repeated in Akashi's head.

"Dating Kuroko huh?" Akashi thought, while stroking Kuroko's back for a bit. A subtle smile crossed Akashi's lip.

Somehow that idea didn't seem that bad.

Author Notes: I didn't expect this to be this long since not that much happens, but whatever. I hope to update again next week! Hopefully earlier in the day too~ Remember that you can always send me prompts! Also sorry if there was any grammatical errors or OOC moments.

How's season 3 treating everyone?