The afternoon's mysteries hung over the two unlikely grouped teams, and as they slunk around the white halls of the hospital, more mysteries seemed to pop up from what they had managed to put together. The first was the question of why Kuroko skipped practice as opposed to Midorima simply leaving early afterwards—with a time difference of at least one and a half hours—alongside why they had started doing so at the same time, and for three consecutive days. The second had been where they were going to consistently whenever they left, which for that day had turned out to be the hospital, which then begged the question of who they were visiting there. The appearance of Touou's Aomine following after them made it even more curious of a mystery, and they vaguely wondered if any of the remaining members of the Generation of Miracles was hospitalized, given that formerly being on the same monstrous team was a common denominator among them.
The more disheartening mystery was the reason whoever it is they were visiting was hospitalized, more so that it was for at least three days. The thought settled grimly on the group of basketball club members: being hospitalized for three days meant that something serious might have happened, and Midorima, Kuroko, and Aomine visiting made it seem very likely.
It should have also been a mystery that Aomine wasn't either being dragged or followed around by Momoi Satsuki, seeing as they were almost always together, but it didn't occur to the group until Momoi had all but crashed into Kagami as he rounded a corner, sending them both tumbling to the ground.
"Ack!" Kagami yelped, elbows shooting out from under him to break his fall. Momoi squealed and brought her hands out, landing on top of him, face to face.
"S-sorry—" Momoi blinked. "Ah, Kagamin!"
"Momoi!"
"Ahem!"
Kagami turned his head to find his coach glaring at him, paper fan at the ready. He raised his eyebrow, confused, and then realized the rather scandalous position he and Momoi were in. They both promptly blushed and clambered to stand, flustered.
"Sorry about that, Kagamin!" Momoi said, and then grunted. "I was in a rush because stupid Dai-chan left me."
"Dai-cha—oh, Aomine Daiki?" Takao laughed, muffled under his hand. "I see we have similar nicknaming sense."
Momoi just then realized that about a dozen basketball players were clumped together at the hall beside them. "W-wah—Seirin and Shuutoku!" The other guys lit up from their glaring at Kagami's 'lucky' fall. Momoi smiled at them. "Are you guys worried about Midorin and Tetsu-kun?"
"Eh? How did you know?" Riko asked, tucking the paper fan under her arm.
Momoi chuckled lightly, though her smile was edged with worry. "I was expecting something like this to happen."
"What's going on, anyway?" Kagami probed. "Who are you guys visiting?"
Hyuuga elbowed his ribs. "Bakagami! Try to have more tact!"
Momoi giggled, waving her hand. "It's okay, that's what Tetsu-kun likes about Kagamin." She was about to continue when a flash of crimson flittered into her vision from the corner of her eye, and she jerked in surprise, suddenly shoving at Kagami and the other highschoolers into the hall. "Gah, sorry, you guys have to hide!"
"What? Why?" Kagami flailed, stumbling as everyone else staggered backwards behind him.
"Err, it's hard to explain," Momoi hissed, putting a finger over her mouth to signal them to be quiet. Seeing her cute expression made the others comply. "But I promise you'll understand eventually. Just wait here until I pass by okay?"
She left with that, ducking out of the corner, leaving the group with questioning looks. Momoi turned the corner and left their view, and they heard her call out, "Ah, you're here!"
From somewhere they couldn't see, the others heard a sharp voice answer her. "Satsuki."
Somehow, the voice sent shivers down everyone's spines. There was something very familiar in that piercing, almost stately tone, and a few of them started trying to peek around the wall to check who it was when Momoi passed by them again, surprising them back into hiding. Her eyes flickered to their group as she walked by them, speaking to her new companion at her side.
"Akashi-kun, it's at the fourth floor, right?" Momoi said, glancing at the Seirin-Shuutoku group when she said 'fourth floor'.
The group gaped. Beside her, Akashi Seijuuro, freshman captain of the formidable Rakuzan, walked, strident, mismatched eyes staring straight ahead. He strode forward and gave a small nod. "Yes. Room 409."
The group seemed to shrink into the shade of the hall as he passed by, somewhat understanding why Momoi wanted them to hide. When a couple of minutes ticked by and they were sure that Momoi and Akashi were gone, they relaxed, slumping against the wall.
"Why is Akashi Seijuuro here?" Takao hissed under his breath.
"Hell if I know!" Kagami answered. "Isn't Rakuzan all the way in Kyoto?"
"Why are you guys whispering?" Kiyoshi butt in, leaning over their hunched forms. "They're probably on an elevator by now."
Takao cleared his throat, then spoke normally. "Right. Well, looks like the Generation of Miracles is having some kind of reunion."
"Fourth floor, right?" Kagami said, already slinking towards the elevators.
The others gingerly followed him. "We're still planning on following them, aren't we," Ootsubo grimaced. "I feel like we're snooping on something we're not supposed to be snooping in on."
Hyuuga grunted beside him in agreement. "Can't say I'm not curious myself, but I'm getting increasingly guiltier about this."
"Ahh, lighten up!" Kiyoshi boomed behind him, smacking him on the back. "Visits are happier when there are many people!"
"Yeah! Like they say, 'the more the many-er'!" Izuki beamed.
"Oh look, we're in a hospital. Want to get on a stretcher, Izuki?"
Izuki flinched, hiding behind Kiyoshi while sticking out his tongue at Hyuuga. Everyone else felt lighter, chuckling at the antics as they waited by the elevators.
"You look kind of worried there, Kagami," Takao said, poking Kagami. "What are you thinking about?"
The redhead glanced at him, and then shook his head. "Nothing. It's just—if the Generation of Miracles is all gathering here, who exactly are they here for? Momoi, Aomine, Kuroko, Midorima, and even Akashi have shown up, so that just leaves—"
"Kise and Murasakibara," Hyuuga finished.
"But Murasakibara's supposed to be all the way in Akita," Miyaji said. "The closest to here would be Kise then."
Kagami bit his lip. "I hope that idiot didn't get himself injured again."
Hyuuga gave him a solid pat on the shoulder. "He should be fine, stubborn idiot that he is," he said. "Besides, we're not sure who it is they're visiting yet."
The elevators dinged open, and the highschoolers clambered to cram inside it, grunting against the little space they had to breathe. They had just started trying to wrestle each other when the doors slid apart, sending half of them stumbling all over one another into the hall. After managing to pull themselves together, they walked along the corridor as silently as possible, following the arrangement of numbered doors until they reached the corner which would lead to their target room. Seirin volunteered Izuki to peek at the connecting hall, and a second after he stuck half his head to check, he reeled back to the safety of their wall, slightly spooked.
"What? What is it?" Hyuuga asked, fighting the urge to take a glimpse around the corner.
"Sorry, I just panicked a little," Izuki whispered, sighing out his panic. "Room 409 is really close to here, it's just right across—so keep your voices down or we'll be heard. Also, the giant kind of surprised me."
"The giant?"
"Murasakibara, I mean," Izuki said. "He and the rainbow gang are standing by the door."
"The rainbow gang?" Takao tried to stifle his laugh. "So they really are having some kind of reunion."
"Was anyone missing from the group?" Kagami chimed in.
"Um, Kise, I think," Izuki answered. "I didn't spot any yellow."
A worried look passed Kagami's expression, and he made to go into the hall when familiar voices started talking.
"Atsushi, what did the doctor say?"
Kagami froze, and his Seirin teammates dragged him further back. The voice of Akashi, even from a distance, made them all stiffen behind their hiding spot, and the others craned their necks to try to hear the conversation.
"He said we'll have to wait outside first while they do a check-up," the familiar lazy drawl of Murasakibara sounded from the hall.
"Were you able to talk to him?" A darker voice spoke up.
"That's Shin-chan!" Takao whispered, moving closer to the edge of the corner.
"Just a little." Murasakibara sounded slightly annoyed. "It's just like you said, Aka-chin. He started talking about going to work so I had to give him some of my snacks to stall him until the doctor came."
"Good call on that." Aomine's voice went.
"You might have had to wrestle him if the doctors were any longer." A female voice—Momoi—spoke up, giggling lightly.
"Yes, that would have been very likely."
"Ah, that's Kuroko!" Kiyoshi noted, and around four guys had to grab him and pull him back as he tried to turn to the hall.
"Why are you trying to go there?" Hyuuga hissed.
"Why not? They're all our friends right?" Kiyoshi whispered back, an innocent look on his face.
"What will they do if they find out we've been stalking them!" Hyuuga said, bonking him on the head. "Akashi looks like he'll stab anyone who gets near him."
"That's true," Kagami grunted, remembering his encounter with Akashi and his scissors.
The sound of a door opening interrupted any further conversation for both the Seirin-Shuutoku group and the Generation of Miracles members present on the adjacent hall. The stalker group went silent and pressed closer to hear for the new developments, and they heard an older, darker voice speak.
"Ah, Akashi-kun, hello. I see you and your friends are here to visit again."
"Good afternoon, doctor," they heard Akashi respond, formal. "How did the check-up go?"
"He's getting better, but he needs more rest. He was in a pretty dangerous spot when he first came in."
"Can we go in the room now?" Aomine butt in, sounding slightly impatient.
The doctor simply chuckled. "Yes, go ahead. He's still awake, but the medication we just gave him should start making him feel a bit sleepy. Don't take too long, and don't tire him out."
"Of course," Akashi said, and there was a hint of softness in his usual sharp voice.
There were sounds of footsteps shuffling further away, followed by the clicking of a door being closed. The stalker group scattered and tried to act like they were going about some form of official business when the doctor, flanked by two nurses, passed by, and he raised an eyebrow at them before shrugging and heading towards the elevators.
The group gave a collective sigh of relief, relaxing. Kagami and Kiyoshi immediately started heading towards room 409, keeping their footsteps silent as they rounded the corner, the rest of the group following. They faintly heard the sound of people talking inside the room, and as they crept closer, the nameplate by the door became clearer.
The whole group could only blink at the name written on it:
Nijimura Shuuzou.
[tbc]