Visibility

By: Aviantei

Chapter 08: Absence

The Monday morning following the tournament, Tetsuya's phone rang. The caller ID didn't recognize the number, and he almost considered not answering it. Part of him recognized that such a thing would be rude, and he answered the phone. "Hello, this is Kuroko Tetsuya. May I ask who's calling?"

"Kuroko-san," the voice on the other line answered, soft and familiar. He knew who it was before she said her name. "It's Airi. I'm sorry to bother you like this, but Nii-san hasn't come home yet and I was wondering if you would be willing to come and help me get to school?"

There were a number of things that bothered Tetsuya about the request. He had written down his number for Airi whenever they had taken her home just in case she needed anything. However, Tetsuya hadn't expected that Youta would be gone for so long, leaving his sister alone. The other problem was that Airi didn't sound worried in the slightest, even though she probably was. It probably was just a reflex so that others wouldn't consider her weak, but it bothered Tetsuya nonetheless.

He didn't say anything about it, though. He simply agreed to head over, refreshed Airi's address in his memory, and got ready as quickly as possible, providing his family a quick explanation as he headed out the door. The Kuroko and Watanabe households were fairly close to each other, only fifteen minutes apart on foot. Tetsuya walked faster than usual, catching his breath before entering the door.

"Is that you, Kuroko-san?" Airi's voice called out from inside the house. Her hearing was good enough to pick up the sound of the front door opening from that far back in the house. As always Tetsuya couldn't help but be impressed.

"It's me," he called out, taking off his shoes at the door. It looked like each Watanabe twin had a pair of shoes to wear with their uniform and a pair of casual ones. At least that's what Tetsuya assumed, considering Youta's school shoes were still present when the male was missing. He dismissed the thought, placing his bag on one of the coat hangers.

"Since you're still in the entryway, head down that hall in front of you. It'll go past the kitchen and the living room, then you go down the other hallway on the left. That's where all the bedrooms are," Airi instructed. Tetsuya did as told, finding one of the doors open when he finished his journey. "Thank you for coming, Kuroko-san."

Airi was smiling, already dressed in her uniform. All of the parts were on properly, if not a little messy. The same applied to the rest of the room, where everything seemed to be perfectly in place, but not quite. A few books weren't quite in line, the bed covers slightly mussed. Youta probably did most of the tidying up, but that Airi could manage this level of aptitude in a house she had barely lived in for a month was as amazing as always.

Tetsuya shook his head. "It's no problem. Did you eat yet?" He had been able to eat a minimal breakfast before rushing out the door, but he didn't know how the Watanabe twins managed their mornings. Tetsuya had other family members to prepare food for him, and he could at least boil eggs if the situation was desperate. From what he had heard, Airi wasn't the most enthusiastic about her own cooking efforts.

"I did." The short utterance was enough to ease some of Tetsuya's tension. Airi frowned a little, bringing a hand up to her chin. "Although I've just been scraping by on what we have around the house. I'll need to stop by the cafeteria for lunch today and go shopping for dinner supplies. Our allowances should be in the mail we received, but I can't really check it on my own."

Tetsuya had thought that at the least their parents would take the effort to make their mail readable to Airi, until he realized they assumed Youta would always be with her. When it came to it, Tetsuya had assumed that the same thing. He couldn't begin to imagine what it would be like for Airi, who needed Youta around for something as simple as reading the mail.

"Where is it?" Tetsuya asked. "I'll take you shopping later today, if that's okay with you, Watanabe-san."

Airi smiled at the offer, walking towards the doorway. Tetsuya stepped out of her way, even though she had already taken moves to avoid colliding with him. "Thank you, Kuroko-san," she said. "I know it's silly, but this really means a lot to me."

She could walk down the halls without any trace of hesitation, and still manage to talk to him. Tetsuya wondered if she counted her steps or just used her senses. He tried to imagine keeping his eyes closed and walking through his house without even keeping a hand on walls to guide the way. He couldn't manage it.

Airi stopped at the kitchen table, picking up a small pile of letters. Tetsuya reached out for them, meeting Airi as she handed them to him. There were advertisements and coupon deals that were expired, and Tetsuya set those aside, creating a separate pile for what looked like bills. At the bottom was a letter addressed to both the twins, a Sendai return address marked on the back. "Do you want me to open it?"

"Please do," Airi answered. "You don't have to read the letter, but just split the money in half. Whenever Nii-san comes home, he can check up on it." Tetsuya tried to ignore the numbers as he split the bills up, returning half to the envelope. Airi took the bills when he offered them, running fingers over the edges. "This should be enough for the week." Picking up on Tetsuya's confused expression, she giggled. "Oka-san and Oto-san always put little marks on the money so I can tell them apart. See?"

Sure enough, Tetsuya could see small nicks cut into the bills' edges. He wondered if something like that was legal, but knew it really didn't matter. "Then do you want to head out soon? We have time until school starts, but you always get there early, right?" Tetsuya said.

Airi nodded again. "I would need to get my bag from my room first, but…" For the first time in the conversation, she hesitated. "I know this may be a bit much to ask, Kuroko-san, but Nii-san always helps me make sure I look alright in the mornings. I can usually get my uniform on myself, but since I can't see if anything's wrong, I can't fix it myself." She blushed a bit, the color faintly appearing on her cheeks. "I don't mind if you touch me to do so, so would you please help me out, Kuroko-san?"

Tetsuya stared for a moment, not saying anything. Airi didn't seem like she expected him to, just waiting there, almost as still as a statue. He could see the wrinkles in her sweater, and her scarf was tied so that it wasn't quite straight. He started there, smoothing out the fabric, adjusting the scarf as best as he could guess. He found a stray strand of hair and pushed it out of her face, securing it under her hairclips, ensuring they were parallel in the process. His hands lingered on the sides of her face for a moment as she focused on him, lips slightly parted.

Realizing that he wasn't moving, Tetsuya moved back, trying not to take the action too quickly. Airi seemed to realize he was done, and they both turned their heads in opposite directions. "There, it's perfect," Tetsuya said, just barely breaking the silence with a whisper.

Airi giggled, releasing the rest of the tension. "I'll just go get the rest of my things and then we can head out," she said, confirming the plan. "Thank you again for that, Kuroko-san." She went past him towards the hallway, placing a short kiss on his cheek before leaving.

Tetsuya felt his face heat up and was glad that Airi couldn't see it.

Airi explained Youta's absence off to illness and easily gained permission to have Tetsuya take her brother's seat in the classroom. She apologized for the trouble, and then did her best to explain the system she and Youta had developed for handling school work.

Most of their courses were lecture-based, which at least gave Airi the opportunity to verbally absorb the information. She seemed to be able to take notes on her own as well, and mainly needed guidance in keeping her lines straight and not overlapping into each other. She used a ruler to manage herself in that aspect, but every now and then Tetsuya would find himself adjusting her lines or correcting some kanji she had misspelled.

For courses like math, it required more hands-on attention, reading off the equations on the board and explaining where the numbers moved. Airi seemed to put more pressure into her pencil for math courses, double-checking her writing through indents and smearing lead across the paper and on her fingers.

The second part was reviewing and homework, which worked much in the same way. Tetsuya would her notes out loud, comparing them to his own. Afterwards they would look at assignments, Airi sometimes taking down several drafts before preparing a final product with better penmanship than some of Tetsuya's seeing classmates could manage. It was exhausting, but after a week, Tetsuya could say that he was used to the process by now.

Once again, the problem was that the better Tetsuya got at it, the longer Youta was gone. Airi didn't say anything, but she was definitely worried. She still smiled over dinner and lunch, still greeted Tetsuya in the mornings, and cheered on the sidelines of practice the best she could. The rest of the Seirin Basketball Club kept their mouths shut.

"Dammit, what the hell is he thinking?" Aida cursed the following Monday, glaring at the spot in the line where Youta should have been standing. The club members all watched their coach nervously, and Airi flinched on the sidelines. "If he intends to quit, he needs to let me know. Unless you formally resign, you're still a part of this team, does everyone get that?"

"Yes, ma'am!" the team responded in unison.

"Good!" Aida let out a mix of a growl and a sigh. "Airi-chan, have you tried calling Watanabe-kun's cell phone? This is getting ridiculous."

Airi nodded and said, "I did. He never answers and never calls me back, even when I leave voice mails. I'm worried that something might have happened to him, but it always rings, so that means that it's charged." She looked a bit defeated, but quickly stood up, giving a small bow to Riko and the rest of the team. "I'm really sorry about all the trouble Nii-san is causing everyone!"

Aida patted the other girl on the back, smiling softly. "Come on, Airi-chan it's not your fault. Besides, I'll just make him work his ass off for all the practice that he's missed so far, even if he does decide to quit!" The rest of the team shifted nervously, and Tetsuya let loose a silent prayer that their coach didn't add her frustrations onto their training regimen. "Alright, we're gonna do partner drills today! Split up as follows…"

As usual, Tetsuya found himself partnered up with Kagami. Riko was giving each team individual instructions, and the duo awaited their turn. Kagami adjusted, not looking at his partner but not saying anything. Tetsuya smiled slightly. "What is it Kagami-kun?" he said.

Sure enough, Kagami bristled a bit before relaxing, and Tetsuya resisted the urge to laugh. "Dammit, Kuroko, how do you do that?" the taller male asked. He sighed and shook his head before Tetsuya could answer. "Never mind, it doesn't matter. I'll just ask my question. Watanabe's important to you, right?"

"What do you mean?" Tetsuya responded without thinking. Kagami had asked a straightforward enough question, but it could be easily taken in more than one direction. Tetsuya could easily answer it, but it could easily be taken the wrong way if he wasn't careful. It was best to play it safe.

"Don't play dumb with me. Just answer the question. Ah, forget it, I know the answer already." Tetsuya blinked at the dismissal, and Kagami took a deep breath. At least he wasn't projecting his voice as loudly as he normally would, enough so that the beginning sound of their teammates practicing covered up his voice from others. "You wouldn't go through all the trouble of taking care of her this past week if you didn't care at all."

"She needs someone to help her," Tetsuya said before he caught himself. "She doesn't need it for everything, but she still needs someone every now and then. Though I guess I am going out of my way here… Am I really being that obvious, Kagami-kun?"

Kagami rolled his eyes. "I really can't believe how clueless both of you are," he commented. Tetsuya could only blink in response. "Why don't you just say something already? If you think too hard, you'll just end up wasting a bunch of time, you know. At least that's what I think."

Tetsuya tried to frown, but the expression was more akin to a pout. Kagami had completely ignored the question, and given advice without being prompted. It wasn't as if Tetsuya didn't know what to do, but now didn't seem like the right time. He opened his mouth to insist on a proper answer, only to be interrupted by Riko as she approached them and started on her rounds.

Airi pulled her key out to unlock the front door, but didn't hear the normal click that would resound from the lock coming undone. She stopped with her hand on the doorknob, not sure if she wanted to open it. There was the chance someone had broken in, but she didn't think that was the case. She turned back to Tetsuya, who was waiting behind her. "Is something wrong, Watanabe-san?"

"Kuroko-san," Airi said, "did I lock the door this morning? I was certain I did, but I'm not so sure now." She focused in on the boy, blocking out the rest of the street. Tetsuya nodded once. Airi tried not to let her hopes get too high, but ended up running inside the house anyway. "Nii-san!"

She pulled off her shoes, dropping them without paying attention to where they landed. It would be a pain to find them later, but if Youta was here, he could help. Tetsuya was more careful in his approach, and Airi left him behind. She almost ran to her brother's room, stopping when he called out to her in the kitchen.

Youta stood up, the chair scraping against the floor. His voice was still clear, and Airi grabbed onto her brother's clothes, feeling around to see if he was hurt. She found no injuries, quickly burying her face in his chest to try and muffle her sobs. "Wh-where did you go?" she asked, voice failing to be steady. "Why didn't you answer when I called? I-I was scared, Nii-san, I thought something had happened to you!"

Youta patted her on the back, his hands comforting. "Shh," he said, voice soft and warm. It had been so long since Airi had heard him she almost wanted to cry more. "Don't worry, Ai-chan, I just went to take care of some things. It's a surprise, you see, so I couldn't tell you. I'm sorry, but it'll be alright. After this, we won't have to worry about anything anymore. Just calm down and we can talk about it."

Airi nodded, clinging onto Youta as hard as she could. She knew he was here, that things were alright, but she didn't want to run the risk of her brother disappearing again. At least for now, he was warm, and comforting. They were together again, and everything was going to be fine.

So why did something feel wrong?

"Watanabe-kun, where did the money come from?" Tetsuya's voice asked from the kitchen entrance. Airi turned her head back, and Youta distinctly scowled in her range of perception. Her brother didn't answer the question, and Tetsuya stood there in silence, awaiting an answer.

"What's he doing here?" Youta asked. The warmth in his voice was gone, replaced with annoyance. Airi sighed, not wanting to deal with this. Reunions were supposed to be happy, not stand-offs between boys. Couldn't Youta just put aside his dislike for Tetsuya and let the moment be a good one? They had so much to catch up on that there wasn't time for petty arguments.

Airi stepped back from Youta, hoping to quickly siphon off the potential for disagreement. "Kuroko-san's been making sure I've been getting home safe," she said. Even though she wasn't in the same proximity, she could still tell that Youta had flinched. "Now what's this money he's talking about, Nii-san? Why didn't you mention it?"

On a guess, Airi ran a hand across the table, hand colliding with a stack of presumed bills. The impact caused the small tower to collapse. Airi picked one up, feeling the wrappings that prevented the bills from scattering. She ran her fingers over the top of bills out of habit, but found nothing that would help.

"How much is it?" Airi asked. "How did you get it?"

"The last part's not that important," Youta dismissed with a wave of his hand. Airi didn't like the tone in his voice; he always sounded like that when he was hiding something. "I got a friend to lend it to me, that's all. It's enough to pay for your surgery, so that's all that matters really. I'll pay it back in time, so you just leave that to me. Isn't it great, Ai-chan? You'll be able to see again!"

Youta had to be smiling. Airi felt like she wanted to cry. Kuroko took a few steps towards the siblings, placing a hand on Airi's shoulder. Youta was so pleased that he didn't even say anything to stop the other boy. "What do you think, Watanabe-san?" Tetsuya asked.

Airi wasn't sure what to think. Obviously, she should be grateful. Someone had been willing to give Youta a chance for the sake of her eyes. And yet, at the same time, it wasn't right. This wasn't some stroke of luck that was letting this happen, it was an intentional act. He was trying to hide it, but it sounded like Youta was in debt because of the pile of money on the table.

That had never been what she had wanted.

"How could you, Nii-san?!" Airi said before she could stop herself. She tried to inhale to calm down, but the breath stuck in her throat. Youta recoiled, and Tetsuya's hand disappeared from Airi's shoulder. "What do you think you're doing? Don't you understand? I would never want to see so badly that I would ask you to do anything bad to yourself!"

"H-hey, don't be like that, Ai-chan, just listen to yourself," Youta said. He laughed nervously. "This isn't really anything too bad. If we had more time, I would just save up the money myself, but we don't. I couldn't make this much money in less than two years if I tried."

"Then don't even bother! You're not listening to me, Nii-san! You never do!" Airi reached behind her, gaining a grip on Tetsuya's shirt. The boy didn't step in or object. "If you can't afford to pay back that loan, there's no point in taking it. You're just going to incur so much interest that it won't be worth it. Take the money back, I refuse to use it!"

"Don't be ridiculous." It was almost intimidating how Youta managed to keep his voice low and still sound angry. Airi took a step back, almost running into Tetsuya. "Stop worrying about me and think about yourself for a moment! I'm not worth anything, so it's alright if I'm in debt or whatever. You, Ai-chan, deserve to at least be able to see so you don't have someone like me holding you back!"

"Don't talk like that, Nii-san!" Airi retorted. She had felt desperate beforehand, but now she could feel her frustration coming out. Her voice evened out. "You mean the world to me, that's why I'm not about to let you do this. I'm sure that if you just go and explain that you don't need the loan, this whole thing will be over. We can go back to doing homework and walking to school like always. You're not worthless because I need you, Nii-san, so please."

Youta stepped forward, his foot making a sound echo inside the kitchen, even though he wasn't wearing shoes. This time, Airi flinched. "That's not how this works at all," Youta said, his voice low. "You wouldn't understand because you're—!"

"I think that's enough, Watanabe-kun. You're scaring her," Tetsuya said. Even with his voice as soft as it was, he was able to bring Youta's words to a halt. The shorter of the two boys stepped into the middle of the conflict, putting a barrier between the siblings. "Please understand what Watanabe-san's trying to say. I know she appreciates that you would do this, but it's not something she wants if you're troubled in the process. She wants to look out for you as much as you look out for her."

Airi moved in a way that she hoped would make her visible from behind Tetsuya. "Kuroko-san's right, Nii-san," she said, almost whispering. "I don't want to fight about this anymore. Why don't we talk so we can make a decision together?"

"Nah, I'll pass," Youta said. Airi tightened her grip on Tetsuya's shirt. "You don't need me around when you've got him ,right? Oh, don't even bother, both of you." Airi stopped in the middle of saying something, and it seemed like Tetsuya had opened his mouth as well. There was the sound of movement, and when Youta spoke again, his voice was echoing in the hallway. "Gimme a call if you decide to make your eyes useful again. Otherwise, just leave me alone."

Airi tried to follow him, but the door slammed before she could catch up. Tetsuya was at her side, and Airi turned her head in hopes that he wouldn't see her cry.

Oh yeah. This chapter is a bit longer than usual now isn't it?

A wonderful thanks to Lynn D. Mariza, Wondering Soul, TheParadoxicalOxymoron, Annindofu, Karasu-LaoHu, 1827alouette6927, NekoFelia, merc9136, Doodle Strudel, LuciansLycanNightShade, animegirl3774, and Yulihan for your respective reviews, favorites, follows, and just reading this story in general! Seriously, it's because of all of you that I pushed myself into finishing up the draft of this story.

Yup, Visibility has been written all the way to the end. What does that mean? Well, it means updates every two weeks until we reach the end! (I could mention just how many chapters are left in this story but I think it's more fun to let you guys guess and feel out the story on your own-but that's just me).

But back to the chapter at hand! Some fluff mixed in with some angst here...Hehe, I'm definitely curious as to what you guys think is gonna happen next. I'd love to hear from you guys again if you have the time!

I'm also gonna be participating in a one shot challenge called Twelve Shots of Summer! Check it out if you have the time, and consider joining!

So next time, Tetsuya looks to Kagami for advice, Airi has a discussion with the faculty, and tamagoyaki is prepared. Please look forward to it!

[POST] 061114