2: Back Again

Seijuuro glances around the gym, counting the moving bodies. He clicks his tongue with annoyance and heads toward the exit. Reo opens the door, momentarily surprised to see his captain there.

"Sei-chan! You going somewhere?"

Seijuuro nods. "To the roof."

Reo snaps his fingers, quick to catch on. "Mayuzumi's not there. I just checked."

A basketball comes bouncing over and Hayama runs after it. As he picks it up, he scratches his head. "Mayuzumi ditching again? I guess he's really not interested huh?"

Seijuuro walks back to the bench. "How unfortunate, especially since he's one of our first-string members. It'd be nice to practice with him once in a while."

Mayuzumi stands at the counter, checking into the hospital. He's always been the type to mind his own business and exclude others from prying into his own affairs, but the moment he hears a nurse calming down a visitor, he looks at them.

"T-t-there's a ghost in that hallway! I'm telling you! He said he was a ghost!"

"Sir, please calm down. There are no such things as ghosts."

Mayuzumi looks way, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Instead he mutters something like "You dumbass Kuroko."

He walks up the stairs, avoiding the elevator because he doesn't want to arrive at Kuroko's room too soon and he partly doesn't want to see Kuroko either, especially since Kuroko's parading around as a ghost. He's ascending a new flight of stairs, planning to go all the way to the sixth floor, take the elevator down to fifth floor and then head over to Kuroko's room. Unfortunately for Mayuzumi, it doesn't happen because Kuroko's already waiting for him at the curve of the staircase.

"Kuroko, stop being stupid. You're causing problems in the hospital."

Kuroko, standing on a higher step, looks down at his older cousin. "I was lonely."

Mayuzumi rolls his eyes, flat out rejecting Kuroko's reason. "Don't lie. You hate being called a ghost so why would you willingly say that about yourself."

A tiny smile reaches Kuroko's lips as they walk to the fifth floor. When they approach the room, he finally relents the truth. "Mayuzumi-kun knows me very well, doesn't he?"

"Yes. I know you." Mayuzumi pauses to look at the number plaque on the wall. "So stop creeping people out, Kuroko. Even if they piss you off."

Kuroko shrugs, unconcerned. "He called me a ghost first."

"That doesn't mean you have to play along."

"I was kind of bored."

"You knew I was coming."

"I was killing time while waiting for you, Mayuzumi-kun."

"Alright. Shut up and get inside. I got your books for you."

Kuroko grabs the bag from Mayuzumi and hops onto his bed, opening the bag as if it was a present. Mayuzumi helps himself to a comfy chair and observes quietly. The gleeful face Kuroko rarely shows appears and while he's shuffling around, looking at the book covers, it disappears. His face is blank. His lips soon form a firm line. Kuroko lifts his face up, staring back at Mayuzumi who remains unperturbed.

"What is it now, Kuroko? Did I miss a book?"

Kuroko criss-crosses his legs, getting comfortable. "I saw Akashi-kun the other day."

"And?"

"Akashi-kun didn't notice me at first."

"Okay."

Kuroko grabs a book and flips through the pages. "But I still decided to help Akashi-kun because I remember what Akashi-kun told me. Akashi-kun wanted to see his mother."

"So you helped him?" Mayuzumi asks.

"Yes, but even after Akashi-kun finished visiting his mother, he acted like he didn't know me." Kuroko closes his book with more force than necessary.

"That just means this Akashi person doesn't know you."

"We do know each other, Mayuzumi-kun! We met when we were younger!"

For a split second, Mayuzumi's taken aback by Kuroko's sudden aggressiveness. There's only one Akashi he knows and that's his basketball captain. One hell of a short one too might he add or maybe not. He's never met his captain before so he doesn't really know if he should fully believe the sayings.

Kuroko crawls to the edge of the bed, his round blue eyes fixed on Mayuzumi. "You seem like you're thinking hard about this, Mayuzumi-kun."

Mayuzumi swats a hand at Kuroko. "Don't intrude into my personal space, Kuroko. There's only one Akashi I know of, but I'm sure you've never met him. After all, you've only been in Kyoto for a year and you've pretty much been stuck in the hospital."

Kuroko shakes a finger in the air. There's an untold secret to the smile forming on his lips. He smiles as if he has the ultimate trump card to solve this problem. "I met Akashi-kun when I was in Tokyo."

"You don't make sense, Kuroko."

"I met Akashi-kun when I was hospitalized in Tokyo. Akashi-kun was a patient as well."

"I guess that makes sense," Mayuzumi says. He thinks of the events, trying to thread the pieces together and form some kind of plot. "So perhaps this Akashi was ill when he was younger and he went to the Tokyo hospital you were at. You two met. He got better and came back to Kyoto. Years later, you meet him again but he forgot all about you."

Kuroko's not pleased with his cousin's phrasing. "I don't think Akashi-kun would forget about me. We had a lot of fun together."

"You'd be surprised at how easy it is to forget things and what was he in the hospital for?"

Kuroko decides to take a moment and just lay on his bed in silence. "…Akashi-kun didn't want to tell me. Akashi-kun said thinking about it made him want to cry."

Mayuzumi makes a sound filled with disbelief. "This Akashi person sounds fishy."

Kuroko suddenly sits up. All sadness removed from his voice. His stare lingers on Mayuzumi, enough to make the older male feel uncomfortable. Then he walks over to place a hand on Mayuzumi's shoulder, leveling his lips to the ear. With a whisper, he says, "I believe Mayuzumi-kun should go home now."

Mayuzumi stands up abruptly, somewhat disturbed and annoyed with Kuroko. He throws his schoolbag over his shoulder. "And here I thought you were going to tell me something serious, Kuroko. You can be so weird."

Kuroko leans on the metal bedframe, sticking a finger in the air again. "Ah. I've also been told that I'm a master of ruining the mood. Perhaps Mayuzumi-kun can judge that the next time he comes?"

"Yeah. Next time. And stop going out of your room without permission. You'll make the nurses worried and then my mom will worry. She'll tell me to talk to you because I'm closer to your age."

Kuroko laughs.

Mayuzumi watches with narrowed eyes. "You know, that sounded so fucking fake."

"As I expected, Mayuzumi-kun knows me very well."

Before Mayuzumi leaves the room, Kuroko opens his palm and sprinkles a pinch of salt in the center. He gives instructions. "They say throwing a pinch of salt over your left shoulder will get rid of bad luck. You should do that."

Mayuzumi mutters a sound of approval and leaves. Kuroko moves to the window and watches his cousin dust the salt off his hand and onto the ground. Kuroko sighs and leans against the wall, waiting for Mayuzumi to disappear from his sight. At least then, if anything bad does happen to Mayuzumi, he won't have to witness it.

"That stupid idiot," he murmurs.

"Well, that's a rude thing to say about a dear relative."

Kuroko turns around to look at the person sitting on his bed. "Akashi-kun."

Akashi offers him a greeting smile. "Did you think I would terrify him after hearing him call me 'fishy'? Hence, the salt for protection. Unfortunately, though not unexpected, it didn't turn out that way."

Kuroko crosses his arms. "It was only a precautionary act."

Akashi nods at that, crossing his ankles casually. He pats the spot beside him. "Let's catch up, Kuroko? It's been a while since we last talked."

Kuroko doesn't budge from his position.

Akashi sighs. "It can't be helped, can it? Now that you know I'm a spirit, you won't talk to me as easily."

Kuroko bites his lip, wary. He says meekly, barely audible, "…when did you die?"

The door suddenly opens and startles Kuroko. A nurse pops in, informing him that it's time for the daily checkup. He doesn't need to look at the bed to know that Akashi's already gone.

A/N: thank you for the reviews! here's my answers to questions recieved so far.

Flow. L : Not a mental hospital. Shiori and Kuroko are in a normal hospital as of the current chapters. And yep, multi-chapter story~ will be continued. Masaomi is definitely in this story. haha I gave him a big role so lol I'd be asking myself where he is if I never included him in the future. Genres: romance and supernatural indeed. I would've thrown spiritual in but ffnet has genre tag limits.

ShinseiShinwa: Kuroko definitely met some person named Akashi, that's for sure. I'm sure chapter 2 gives more clarification now ;)

Guesses on what's to come, comments, & reviews welcomed~ not necessary. I plan on updating weekly once or twice.