Betrayal In Its Most Simplest Form

Chapter 23

The first thing Kuroko felt when he woke was—nothing? His body was completely numb. His emotions, however, were a different matter. Confusion, fear, betrayal, wonder: He couldn't depict them out. It was odd to be floating through emotions while his body felt no pain. Wasn't he supposed to feel something? Was physical touch a lie to his mind, too? Had he been imagining the agony all along?

Where—was he? Why couldn't he open his eyes? Come to think of it, a background beep . . . beep . . . beep. . . kept on attacking his sensitive ears. What was it?

"His heart's rate is going back to normal, and his breathing levels have heightened. Hm?"

A soft murmur. Deep, professional—what?

Heavy footsteps echoing. It disappeared after a few seconds. The sound of a door softly clicked.

Kuroko slowly opened his eyes. Soft, white light greeted him. He squinted, despite how dim it was, since it hurt his blue eyes. Turning his head slowly, very slowly, to the side, he observed his surroundings. A small window, a tiny chair that only a child could fit in, health posters on beige walls, and two vase of flowers that had his name enscripted onto a tag: Tetsuya Kuroko.

He turned his head to the other side and found the monitor that caused the endless beeping. There was a computer next to him, and a clipboard on a little table. He looked at his left arm and closed his eyes when he saw the IV. Needles were something he could not handle. It was not because of the pain—Kuroko could handle that—but it was simply the thought of a tube-like needle inserted into his skin. With an IV it was worse, as some type of liquid was flowing through his bloodstream.

I am in a hospital?

The teal-head opened his eyes and lifted his head. A pair of golden-brown eyes met his. Kuroko hadn't noticed him at all.

Kise sat there, shocked and pale, his chapped lips partly open because he didn't know what else to do. His blonde hair was extremely dishevelled from sleeping left and right on the large recliner. Dark circles were painted under his eyes, unbefitting for a model. He had woken up from his restless sleep at the sound of slight movement on the bed. It looked like he was right to wake up, since he was now the first one Kuroko would greet.

"K—Kurokocchi?" he rasped and then cleared his dry throat.

Kuroko blinked from his pillow. "Kise . . . –kun?"

"Kurokocchi!" Kise almost yelled and scrambled from his chair. Kuroko winced at the sound. Aomine, whom the teal-haired teen just noticed—popped open his eyes at the name and looked around in wonder. When his gaze locked with Kuroko's, his dark blue eyebrows shot upward.

It was after that Kuroko realized almost everybody was here. The Generation of Miracles, Kagami, and his father. They were all sprawled across the room; two on the mini couch, one on the floor, one sitting against the wall, one on the recliner, and two on the extra comfy chairs.

Kise rushed over to Kuroko's bedside and leaned over the injured boy. "Are you okay, Kurokocchi? No, that's a stupid question, of course you're not! Well, are you pain? Haru-san told the doctors to give you lo-o-ts of anesthetics, but I'm not sure if they helped. Are you numb? I think you should be numb. If not, I can—"

Aomine cuffed Kise gently on the back of his head. "Give him some space. He just woke up. Oi, Tetsu, you in pain or anything?"

Kuroko was dizzy from the onslaught of comments. So that is why I feel numb.

"I—am fine," Kuroko tried to say, wondering why his throat was so dry and scratchy. "Why am I here?"

The two tilted their heads in unison. "You mean you don't remember?" Aomine questioned.

"Wha—you know my name, right, Kurokocchi? What's my full name?"

A load groan emitted from a tall body somewhere. Three heads turned to look at the intruder. It was Murasakibara, who was stretched on a couch that did not fit his body at all. He rubbed his eyes sleepily. "Eh-h, what's going on, Kise-chin? Mine-chin?" The purple-head rubbed his eye one more time—he also had dark circles—before opening them to stare at the commotion. When he looked at an awake Kuroko, his face lit up. "Kuro-chin?"

"Murasakibara, go to sleep. You only had an hour's sleep yesterday," Midorima grumbled and sighed from being disturbed from his uncomfortable rest. Once awake, he would stay awake.

"But Mido-chin," Murasakibara started

"It's your turn to get the distasteful hospital food, today, so get some rest," Midorima interrupted, ran a hand over his face, and patted the table beside him to grab his glasses. Putting them on, his vision of Kuroko cleared, and he froze. " . . . Kuroko?"

"Everybody, shut up," Kagami snapped and sat upright on the couch. "Seriously, I don't get enough sleep-"

"Kurokocchi is awake!"

"What?" He swiveled toward the silent teal-head. "He is awake! Why didn't you wake me up before?"

Haru was the next to wake from the commotion. He pressed his palms against his face and sighed. "Mina-san, please be quiet. I understand it is uncomfortable, but . . ."

"Kuro-chin's awake though~"

"Yes, yes, Murasakibara-kun, but—What did you say?"

"Your son is awake, Haru-san."

Haru dropped his hands to his lap and whipped his head to the hospital bed. He locked eyes with his precious son's. "Tetsuya," he whispered. Tears sprung up to the man's eyes. "Tetsuya!"

Suddenly, Kuroko found himself wrapped into his father's arms. It was a gentle embrace, careful of all the unknown injuries he burdened and the IV hooked up to him. "Thank God," Haru sobbed quietly as he buried his face into Kuroko's hair and neck. "I was so worried—Oh, God, thank you."

"Otou-san," he said weakly and patted his father's back with his right hand, the one where needles were not poking him. "I am sorry for worrying you."

The father pulled back. "Are you hurting? I told the doctor to make sure you would not feel anything if you were to wake." Realization dawned on his face. "Ah! We need to inform the doctor!"

"I already did," Midorima said after pushing the assistance button. By this time, Kagami, Murasakibara, Aomine, Kise, and the green-head were crowded to the right of Kuroko's bed, while Haru was on the left. "The doctor did not mention if you could eat or drink anything, yet, so I advise you not to."

"But I wanted to share my snacks with Kuro-chin!"

"Later, Murasakibara."

"You really worried us there, Tetsu," Aomine grumbled. "It was a pain in the ass to sleep on those chairs."

Kagami added, "'Least you're okay, though. I told Seirin about your condition. 'Wasn't sure if I should tell them why you were in the hospital or not, so I lied to them. They sent you the flowers."

Kuroko looked at his father and gave a tiny frown. Haru smoothed out the furrow between his eyebrows, pressing a kiss to the pale boy's forehead. "What is it?"

"How is my," Kuroko hesitated. "condition? Why am I here?"

Midorima frowned and lightly touched his head. The teal-head winced. "They did not mention a concussion nor memory loss."

"You don't remember, Kurokocchi? I-Ibuki—"

The name made him remember. Oh, he remembered. Memories and shouts flooded his mind. It swarmed and swam through his thoughts; he almost felt the excrutiating pain that came from the memories. The insults, the hits, the attacks, the threats: Kuroko fingered his neck where his mother's hands wrapped around numerous times. He only remembered up to the part where Ibuki had taken out her weapon. After, it came blank.

"I see," he whispered. "I . . . I am alive, though."

"Of course you're alive," Haru said fiercely. He put two hands on each side of his son's cheeks. "Did you give up fighting Ibuki, knowing you would die? Did you, Tetsuya? Did you simply give up to die? Please—don't tell me that."

Kuroko didn't answer. And he was saved from answering when a couple knocks pounded on the door, and a doctor came inside. "I see you're awake," he greeted. "I'm Doctor Hideyoshi. I have been taking care of you for the past three days."

Three days?

The doctor leaned down and carefully put two fingers against Kuroko's taped wrist. "Your pulse is fine on the monitor. I'm just checking to be sure." He also put his other hand on Kuroko's forehead. "Temperature seems fine, and your oxygen levels are even. Are you in pain?"

"I'm not," he breathed.

"Good. From all those anesthetics I gave you, I would hope you feel numb. Are you hungry?"

To be honest, Kuroko wasn't. He voiced this.

Everybody protested at that. "You have to eat, Kurokocchi!"

The doctor smiled. "You have good friends. I will have someone bring you some bread, later, is that okay?" Kuroko reluctantly nodded. "I'm going to check your blood pressure, and then see if any of your bandages have to be change. A person will be coming in an hour to do some tests to know that you don't have memory loss or anything else of that sort."

While the doctor wrapped the blood-pressure material around his right arm, Kuroko asked quietly, "How is my condition?"

"Ah, they have not told you?"

"I felt like you could explain it better, Doctor," Haru pressed his lips together.

"Hm, well, to put it bluntly," Doctor Hideyoshi turned to the monitor, and the blood-pressure material started to squeeze painfully on Kuroko's arm. "You could have died." The air in the room got tense. "Your wounds, and by police officers whom have inspected the area, showed resistance—that you struggled against the attacks. If you hadn't had fought back . . ." he pursed his lips. "Your injuries were much more severe on the first day. You fell into a coma an hour and a half later after we received you at the hospital. Many minor scratches that were easy to take care of, but there were two main gashes that made us worry."

The doctor leaned over and lightly touched Kuroko's right shoulder. "From here," he then touched to Kuroko's abdomen, "to here, there was a large wound inflicted by a small blade. And from here," his finger traced over to Kuroko's left collar-bone and his left breast. "To here, there was also a deep wound inflicted by a blade. It nearly punctured a lung, and you're lucky it didn't damage your heart. No vital organs had been damaged. We managed to stitch both wounds."

He sighed and snapped on some gloves. "As for your bones; none of your bones in your arms or wrists are broken nor sprained. However, we found three of your ribs broken, and your leg is snapped. You'll be on crutches for awhile, if you're released from the hospital soon. No concussions nor brain damage. You will have permanent scars from the injuries inflicted by the blade."

Kuroko closed his eyes. He would have another reminder on his body of what his mother did to him.

"Several bruises have already appeared on your body, and we have tried to ice many of your body parts to ease it. Your head was damaged severely from multiple crashes against the brick walls, according to police reports. No stitches were needed, but it's a wonder how you did not get a concussion." The doctor slowly opened his hospital gown to take a quick peek at his multiple bandages. "Your bandages look fine. I'll have someone check on you in a few hours to see if it needs to be changed."

Kuroko's gown was closed, and the blank was set back up to his chest. Hideyoshi leaned over and smiled. "Do you have any other questions regarding your condition?"

"How," the teen paused, but then continued, "How did I get here? O-Okaa-san, what-"

"I believe that is your friends' or father's job to answer that." The doctor checked his blood pressure again before taking it off his patient's arms and taking off his gloves. "Everything looks fine for now. If you need anything, just press the assisstance button. Someone will be running tests on you in an hour, and your light snack will come, soon." Hideyoshi quietly left and clicked the door shut.

It was silent in the room. Kuroko stared at his hands. He had been in a coma . . . for three days. The reality just couldn't catch on to him.

"Kuro-chin," Murasakibara started.

"How did I get here?" he asked quietly.

Aomine crossed his arms. "Akashi. I don't know how, but he realized Ibuki took you away. He contacted all of us. The rest of us found you unconcious in his arms."

Akashi-kun. Kuroko's blank eyes widened. How could he forget? How could he forget the one and only person he should be thanking and apologizing to the most? Was his former captain even here? He looked behind the tall Generation of Miracles to see if the red-head was there, but he couldn't tell.

"Akashi-kun . . ."

"I am here."

All six heads turned to Akashi. He was the one sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, hidden in the corner comfortably. His hetero-colored eyes stared cooly at his former teammates. Unlike the others, he did not have bags under his eyes, but it didn't mean he slept more than them. In fact, if you asked the Generation of Miracles, they would probably say he slept less than all of them combined.

Truth be told, Akashi was actually the first one to wake up. The red-head had always been a light sleeper, so at the sound of slight shuffling on the bed had him wide awake. Kise woke up shortly after, and the rest followed. He had decided to let them have their moment of time, as he waited on the floor, one knee propped to his chest, and an arm laying comfortably across it. Until just a few seconds ago, Akashi hadn't made a sound while the rest were being united with Kuroko.

"Akashi-kun," Kuroko called again and tried to sit up, but the pain in his body warned him not to.

"Lay back down," Akashi ordered sharply. Kuroko obeyed. The former captain stood up gracefully and gave a hard gaze to the people surrounding Kuroko. "Everyone, I'd like for you to step out for a few moments."

Most protested.

"But Akashicchi!"

"Aka-chin," Murasakibara frowned.

"But Tetsu just woke up!"

"Everyone," Akashi repeated. "I'd like for you to step out for a few moments."

They didn't bother protesting the second time. Even Haru gave another kiss to Kuroko's forehead before discreetly nodding to Akashi, and then headed out for the door. Murasakibara sulked through, but his face turned happy when Akashi threw him a bag of chili-and-lemon flavored chips.

Kagami was the last one out. He made sure to slam the door a little louder than needed.

Akashi shook his head slightly and approached the hospitalized teen. He gave no emotion to the bandages and needles hooked up to Kuroko, and only leaned over to cradle the pale boy's head with his hands. His face came close to Kuroko's.

"Are you in pain?" Akashi asked the repeated question. "Do not lie."

"My body really does feel numb, Akashi-kun." Kuroko didn't protest to Akashi's cold hands. He leaned into one of them and sighed. "Akashi-kun, I—"

"If an apology is about to escape from your mouth, be silent." The red-head slid the hand that Kuroko was not leaning against and traced the collar-bone wound with it. "You do not have anything to apologize for."

Kuroko fought a frown, knowing that anything he was going to say was not going to change Akashi's mind. "Then, thank-"

A slender finger pressed against his chapped lips. "That goes for gratitude as well."

The passer grabbed the tracing hand with his right and finally frowned. Akashi raised an eyebrow, daring for him to disobey. When Kuroko didn't speak, Akashi did, "If there is anyone who should apologize, that would be me."

Kuroko protested, "You of all people shouldn't apologize, Akashi-kun. It was my fault . . ." his voice faltered at the hard stare Akashi gave him.

"Under my care, you were injured," he said tersely. "Severely. By Ibuki, no less. I should have never permitted you to go alone that day."

"Okaa-san is unpredicatable," Kuroko defended. "You would not have known if she would attack me or not. It was four minutes."

Akashi felt a hard squeeze on his hand and raised a questioning eyebrow at the teal-head. "I am Akashi Seijuro. I am supposed to know my opponent's movements, especially in your mother's case." The tone in his voice told Kuroko not to argue anymore.

Kuroko gave an internal sigh and turned his head, only to wince at his IV and turn back. Akashi's hand was still on his cheek, while the other was in Kuroko's hands. "What will happen to Okaa-san?"

"Police officers came to the scene at the same time the medics did," Akashi answered. "The little damage I did to her healed in a day, and she was quickly trialed for attempted murder the next day. She was proven guilty."

The shorter of the two sucked in his breath in shock. His mother? Found guilty? Was that possible? What happened to her lawyer? "Then that means . . .?"

"Her sentences were not made public, as she requested a private hearing. Mother acted as the prosecutor at the trial. Father was her attorney. I only served as a witness." Akashi pulled his hands away for a minute to grab a chair and smoothly glide it over next to the bed. He sat down and placed his hand again for Kuroko to grasp. "I know, however, she will be spending most of her time in jail. Because the offense was aimed at you, the abuse charge was fully evidenced, and she was also found guilty in that charge. Her attorney could not do anything but have her plead guilty in the attempted murder trial."

The seemingly-emotionless teen laid still—stiller than he already was, since he couldn't move much with the needles inside him—and tried to process the information slowly. His mother lost. His mother, the most powerful and influential woman in Japan, lost. Was this a dream?"

"It's over?" Kuroko whispered.

"Yes. It's over."

"It's . . . over."

"Yes."

"It's over."

Akashi leaned forward close to Kuroko's face and ran a hand through his teal locks. The red-head pressed his lips against shocked ones. "Yes, Tetsuya. It is over."

Blue eyes stared into red-and-yellow. Water droplets collected in the blue eyes, and Akashi's pale thumbs wiped them away before they could spill. "It is finished, Tetsuya," he leaned to murmur in his partner's ears. "Your father has already filed a divorce, and Mother is having it approved very soon. He has also been looking for a new house to move in." Akashi pressed another soft kiss on his lips. "You are starting over."

Kuroko was only able to respond to yet another chaste kiss to his lips.

Three knocks interrupted their time. Kise's head popped inside the room nervously. "Uh, Akashicchi? Can—can we come in now?" He 'eeped' and ducked, expecting a pair of scissors to come flying out of nowhere and attach itself to his beautiful forehead. Surprisingly, nothing came his way.

Akashi's eyes held dark amusement at Kise's reaction. "Yes, you may come in."

"Err, but Murasakicchi just brought Himuro-san. He wants him to come inside, too."

"Taiga's adopted brother and Mother? It will be crowded."

"The doctor said that Kurokocchi's condition is stable now, so he can have up to 11 visitors at a time, since the capacity is thirteen visitors."

The captain pinched the bridge of nose. "Let them."

Abruptly, the door opened widely, and many tall teenagers bombarded into the room. The first was Kagami, Midorima, Kise, Aomine, Haru, Rin, and lastly, Murasakibara, who came in dragging a familiar teen that Kuroko had only met twice: Himuro Tatsuya, Kagami's older adoptive brother.

"Himuro-san," Kuroko greeted weakly. It was all he could afford.

"Hello," Tatsuya gave him a polite smile, only remembering one encounter with Kuroko, instead of two.

"He's awake, and no one informed me?" Rin demanded as she stomped over to the injured boy. "Tell me, Tetsuya-kun, are you hurt? Did my son do something to you? He can be a brat, I know."

"I remember the many times you defended me for not being a brat since I was raised by you, Mother," Akahsi countered.

"I don't remember saying that."

Kuroko blinked. "I am fine, thank you, Rin-san."

"Muro-chin," Murasakibara 'whispered'. Everybody could hear. "I ran out of snacks." He had already eaten the bag of chips by Akashi.

"I already told you I am not spending my own money to buy you more snacks."

"But Muro-chin . . . I ran out of snacks."

Tatsuya stubbornly looked away.

"Muro-chin . . . Muro-chin . . . Muro-ch-i-i-n, I ran out of snacks . . . Muro-chin!"

"All right!" Tatsuya dug into his pocket and grabbed out ninety-three yen. He then grasped Murasakibara's large hand and firmly placed it in his palm. "There's a vending machine down the hallway. You can only buy one."

Murasakibara's eyes sparkled. "Hai~" He bounded out the room.

"Atsushi."

The purple-head stopped and turned to greet his former captain. "Aka-chin?"

"What do you say?"

Murasakibara scrunched his eyebrows childishly. "Oh, thank you, Muro-chin~!" Then he was gone.

Aomine shook his head. Midorima pushed up his glasses, used to the tallest's antics. Kagami raised his eccentric eyebrows, surprised to see that someone actually pushed his childhood friend and brother to his limit. But the tall red-head's attention was stolen by Kuroko's and Akashi's entwined hands.

"Seriously, what's the relationship between you two? You never really answered Kise's question."

"Huh?" Kise snapped his head up at his name. "Oh! Yeah, Akashicchi! Kurokocchi! You never answered my question!" He excitedly bounded over next to Kuroko. "Are you two dating?"

"Ryouta," Akashi warned.

"It's a harmless question," Kise defended. Aomine voiced his agreement.

Rin scoffed. "Isn't it obvious? Of course they're dating. They've been together since weeks ago."

"Ehh?" Everybody voiced, except for Haru and Midorima.

Kuroko's ears turned a light pink. Haru looked amazed, since he never saw his son blush that pink, before. He chuckled and rubbed his son's head before kissing his cheek. "As long as you are happy," Haru whispered into his ear.

Kagami only looked down. "Damn, lost my chance," he grumbled. "'Was too late."

This time, a pair of scissors did fly through the air and grazed Kagami's cheek, lodging itself accurately on a person's forehead on a poster in the wall. Kagami froze.

"Too late for what, Taiga?" Akashi murmured. "Surely, you weren't ever thinking of taking Tetsuya away, were you?"

"N-no," he stuttered.

"That is what I thought," he said smoothly and turned his body back to Kuroko.

Aomine patted Kagami's back.

Kuroko kept quiet, forcing himself to rid of his blush. Akashi smirked.

~Setting and Time Skip~

"Careful," Akashi said. He held open the car door and grabbed the outstretched pale hand. Some crutches stuck out from the entrance. A basketball shoe worn by someone also peeked from the car. The red-head bent down and wrapped an arm around Kuroko's shoulder to help the injured out. Kuroko, a large boot on his heavily-bandaged leg, jumped out on his good leg and leaned into his partner's body for support. The cold air felt good against his skin. Akashi pressed his face against Kuroko's hair and breathed in discreetly. Kuroko, however, noticed and fought a blush. "Akashi-kun," he inaudibly protested.

"Hm." He grabbed the crutches from the car and, instead of handing them to Kuroko, threw them to a waiting Aomine, who scrambled to catch them.

"I need those, Akashi-kun."

"You have three broken ribs. No doubt they have already mostly healed from your time in the hospital, but they are still tender. Your stitches might open. Don't be reckless." Then Akashi did the unthinkable to Kuroko. He bent down and scooped up Kuroko bridal style. Immediately, the teal-head struggled.

"Put me down, Akashi-kun. This is not necessary."

"Tetsuya." Kuroko ceased his struggling. "I want you to do something."

He gave Akashi a questioning look. It wasn't often his former captain actually requested an action, or maybe this wasn't a request.

"What is it, Akashi-kun?"

"Will you repeat after me?"

"Repeat . . . ?" Kuroko nodded slowly. "I can."

"Say," he started.

"Say . . ."

"Jer."

"Jer."

"Row."

Kuroko blinked. "Row."

Akashi smirked. "Say it all at once, now."

"Seijuro," Kuroko obeyed. Then stopped. Then blushed. Then ducked his head against Akashi's shoulder. "That was unfair, Akashi-kun."

The red-head shook his head. "Seijuro," he corrected. "You will call me by that name from now on." He started walking toward the desired entrance after closing the door. The driver backed out and drove away once he did. Aomine, Midorima, and Murasakibara awaited before them.

"That's impossible."

"We will work on it."

Midorima didn't comment at how Kuroko was being carried. He only gave a small nod to Akashi, a signal to show that everything was ready. Aomine also nodded. Murasakibara only munched happily on his cracker stick and waved to Kuroko. The red-head saw the nods, but didn't acknowledge them. He walked up the foreign porch steps and approached the large, wooden door.

Just as Akashi reached the anonymous door, it swung open, and a clean, shaven Kuroko Haru appeared on the threshold. His brown eyes glowed warmly in happiness. He looked at his son, and smiled.

"Welcome home, Tetsuya."

Kuroko looked up into his new house, and turned to his father. He gave a slight smile.

"I'm home, Otou-san."

Well! I definitely was able to update faster than my usual weekly update. I think it was because I was excited to write this chapter. Only one or two more chapters left :') This has been an awesome journey with everybody! You've given me so much support; thank you! Really, thank you :)

Please tell me of mistakes!

~Virelei