"Do you remember this?" And Niou holds up notebook, one of the few Yanagi uses. Yanagi, on the bed, shakes his head.
"I'm sorry, I don't remember any of it," Yanagi says, his voice almost apologetic. Niou almost misses his usual too-knowing, sure tone, that can be scarier than Sanada's, when Yanagi is pissed about something. And at this moment in time, he has every right to be pissed.
"It's okay," Niou mumbles, and walks out of the hospital room, only to be stopped by Yukimura and Sanada, the one smiling sweetly and the other glaring. Niou turns and walks back into the hospital room where Yanagi lies in a bed, his memory gone.
"Do you remember the black kitten?"
"Black kitten?" Yanagi repeats and frowns. His eyes are open and look confused, nervous, unsure.
If Niou were someone else, maybe like Kirihara, he'd run from the room crying. As it is, he's tempted to, but Yukimura and Sanada are enough to keep in the room.
-
"You can leave now, Niou," Yukimura says. "Visiting hours are over. You've done good so far; I was listening from the door, he seems to be recalling a bit more." He smiles at Niou and pats his shoulder, as if he was some god coming to the earth to approve of someone. Niou scowls and thinks that Yukimura is probably the devil, not a god, because there's something wicked behind his smile.
"Who is he again?" Yanagi asks, and the smile on Yukimura's face disappears. Niou smothers a groan. He knew Yukimura wasn't going to be happy with him.
"He's not recalling?"
"Most of what he remembers is because I've told him about it," Niou admits. "He still doesn't remember anything."
"But I do know him," Yanagi mentions, nodding to Niou, although his eyes are on Yukimura. "But not you. Are you the...Akaya?"
There's no escaping Yukimura's glare, Niou realizes, as his captain turns to look at him. There is nowhere he can hide to avoid it.
"Fix him," Yukimura hisses. "Fix him, damnit."
-
Niou shows up at Yanagi's hospital room the next afternoon right after school, told in no uncertain terms by Yukimura to get go help Yanagi. He's not looking forward to it, because it's another day of sitting in the room with Yanagi, who looks a little lost and forlorn and sad, telling him stories.
He's starting to regret hitting that ball now.
-
Niou dreams; horrible, twisted dreams, where he's being pelted by flying green UFOs and Niou knows he's dreaming, especially when they start speaking as he's being pummeled by them, telling them in Yukimura's voice, or Sanada's voice, or Yanagi's, to not hit people on the team, because that's just mean. He wakes up wondering why he's having dreams like Kirihara's and wonders if he can avoid the hospital for that day, especially since it's the only day of the week he has free from school and tennis practice.
He can't, he knows, but he hopes, and goes back to sleep hoping he'll get to sleep normally and won't have to go.
A call wakes him up at seven and Yukimura's voice drags him out of bed.
-
"Ah, Niou-kun," Yanagi says when he walks into the room, smiling. It's all so unlike Yanagi, so unlike everything, that Niou just wants to throw a fit and demand that Yanagi gets better right now, but he's old enough to realize that won't work. He does, however, do the one thing he has never expected to do, especially to anyone on his team.
He apologizes.
"I'm sorry for smacking that ball at your head," Niou says. "Now, we have to figure out how to get you better. I wonder if hitting you again will help any." He hears the smothered giggle halfway through his apology, and turns to look at the door, a threat already rising to his lips, suspecting it's Kirihara or Marui, ready to blackmail him.
There's no one in the doorway and Niou, scowling now, pulls back the door to see if someone is hiding there. To his surprise, it's Yukimura, who has that smile on his lips that, if they'd been at practice, would have meant trouble.
It means trouble still.
Niou looks back at Yanagi, who has his eyes closed once again, and then to Yukimura, who looks too pleased with himself.
"I fucking hate you."