***KUROKO'S POV***

It's…warm

So…warm…

…

So…warm…and dark.

…

Am…I dead?

…

…

Where am I?

I hear something…no…someone.

Footsteps.

They're getting closer too.

I slowly opened my eyes to see a woman in pink scrubs in front of a white wall. "Who's…there?" I struggled to talk.

The woman walked towards me and smiled. "Good morning Kuroko. How are you?"

"Where…am I?" I muttered.

"You're at Budogaoka Hospital."

I slowly looked around the white-tiled room. I lifted my left arm to see an IV tube attached to it. I lifted my right arm to see stickers that were connected to a white wire. The wire traveled across the bed and was hooked up to a monitor showing multiple colored lines that pulsated. "The hospital?"

"Yes. You were gravely injured. I came in here to check on you. How is your breathing?"

"My breathing?" I rubbed my face with my hands to find two tubes that went up my nose and around my neck to supply oxygen. "I'm…ok I think."

"That's good." She then lifted the blanket that was on me and exposed my legs. Both legs were covered with bandages under my blue hospital pants. I could feel her warm hands wrap around one of my feet. "Can you move the toes on your right foot for me?"

"I…can try." I tried to say. Every time I breathed it felt like I was being choked.

I used all my strength to follow her request. "Ok. Can you lift your right leg for me?" I struggled to lift my leg, only moving it up slightly and having gravity to pull it back down. "We're going to do the same thing with your left foot and leg, OK?"

I nodded my head. I then followed her directions, but with all my might, I wasn't able to even lift my left leg. The nurse then jotted down something on her clipboard. "Your right leg seems ok considering your injuries, however, your left leg will most likely need intense therapy. I'll schedule an appointment with a physical therapist once you're able to move around enough."

I turned my head to the window. The sun shined down on the green and yellow grass as autumn leaves fell from a nearby tree. Why does it feel like I'm missing something?

"Oh! I almost forgot! You have a visitor already" the nurse chimed. "I know you just woke up, but is it ok if he visits you? He's been coming here every day to check if you woke up or not."

Why would someone come here every day? Then it clicked. "Sure."

The nurse then left the room and in came a very familiar face; a tall man wearing a white jacket with a purple sweater underneath. "So you're finally awake."

"Jotaro," I called out as I struggled to push myself up, only for my arms to give up and my back to slump down. Each movement I made felt as if hundreds of splinters were poking into my body.

Jotaro walked up to the bed and held his hand out. "Here". I grabbed his hand. He attempted to pull me up, but I barely had any strength in my arm. He then wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me up into a sitting position.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I'm fine. I'm just in a bit of pain."

"You're in pain? In that case, I'll tell the nurse to give you more pain medicine."

"No," I waved my hand at him. "I'll just deal with it. They'll probably make me sleep. How…how long have I been asleep for?"

"It's been twelve days."

"I've been asleep for twelve days?!" I covered my face with the palms of my hands. Twelve days?! What happened while I was asleep?! Wait…that doesn't matter. I was out in the snow. I called Jotaro and waited for him to save us.

Waiting for him to save…us.

JOSUKE!

"Is Josuke ok?!" I asked, panicking. I can't believe I forgot about him. About everything. About why I'm even in the hospital in the first place.

"Yeah. He went back to school around a week ago."

I let out a sigh of relief. Thank god. I did it. I saved him. It doesn't matter how injured I am. As long as he is safe, I'm happy.

"You must like him a lot." He said.

I could feel my cheeks heat up. It feels weird hearing Jotaro talk about my relationship with his uncle. I started to smile."Well yeah. He's my best friend. I don't know what I would've done if I lost him. But let me guess, you're not just here to check on me, aren't you?"

As expected, Jotaro pulled a small notebook out of his jacket along with a black pen. "I want you to tell me exactly what happened."

"Right," I took a deep breath in, as deep as I could without hurting myself. "Josuke bought a motorcycle and he and I were driving up a hill. He said he would take me somewhere, but he didn't tell me where. While he was driving up, he somehow fell asleep. The motorcycle crashed and we were stranded for what appeared to be an hour. Then, we were attacked."

Jotaro's hand moved swiftly as I told him everything that I could remember. "What did he look like?"

"He had short black straight hair and was wearing all black. It was obvious that he was trying to hide his identity. He also had a beauty mark on the left side of his chin. I'm sorry about giving you such a broad description. It sounds like it could be any Japanese man in Morioh."

"How tall was he?"

"Hmm… a little shorter than you."

"What was his stand like?"

"His stand allowed him to move anything he wanted to as long as he touched it. I didn't see its full form though. But the thing I don't understand is that he never touched Josuke, yet he was able to move his body."

Jotaro stopped writing in his book for a moment. "Is that it?"

Then I realized something. Something very important.

"No. Jotaro, I should've died. He had the opportunity to kill me, but he didn't. Once I was able to take Josuke back from him, he started having a panic attack and blathering about how he screwed up before he left us alone. But why?"

"Do you remember anything else?"

"All I remember after that was pulling Josuke downhill and calling you. Sorry."

Jotaro closed his book and sighed. "You don't need to apologize. You saved Josuke and you came back alive." He then kneeled down next to my bed and rubbed my head, messing up my hair slightly. "Good job Kuroko."

Seeing this tall sophisticated stoic man tell me that I did something right…feels nice actually.

Man, he's so cool.

Someone knocked on the door lightly. "Come in!" I yelled out. Who came in were three familiar faces: Koichi, Okuyasu, and Rohan. Okuyasu was holding a pink balloon with "Get well soon" written on it. Koichi held an arrangement of roses while Rohan held a small brown box with a ribbon wrapped around it. A big smile spread across my face. "You guys!"

"Kuro!" Okuyasu let go of the balloon and ran towards me like a little kid and wrapped his arms around me, causing me to flinch in pain. "You're awake!"

"Okuyasu…you're hurting me."

He immediately let me go from his embrace. "Oh, sorry!"

Koichi handed me the flowers. "Aww guys, you didn't have to get me anything."

"Well, we were all scared that you would've left us." Koichi pointed at Okuyasu. "He even started crying."

"No, I didn't," Okuyasu yelled. "I was just worried. Hell, we were all worried, even Rohan."

The four of us looked at the mangaka who just turned away. "Well, let's just say you owe me some money."

"What? Excuse me?"

"After you left my house, you left a massive blood stain on my carpet. It took hours of scrubbing but the stain wouldn't come off. When I went to buy a square of new carpet, they didn't have the color to match my floor. So you're going to have to pay for the installation of my new flooring next week." The four of us glared at him with Koichi being more annoyed at him than usual. Of course that's what he cares about. "But…for Koichi's sake, let's just say I was worried about you too, so here." He then handed me the box. I unwrapped the ribbon and opened it to reveal sixteen small chocolates.

So he really does care.

I gave him a warm smile. "Thanks Rohan-sensei."

I don't fully remember what happened after I called Jotaro, but hopefully, I didn't worry my friends too much. But something was missing. No, someone. "Where's Josuke?" My two friends and Rohan went silent as if I said something wrong. "Is everything ok? Jotaro said that he went back to school."

Koichi's eyes strayed from me. "He…not allowed to see you."

"Wait, what? That doesn't make any sense. Anyone can visit me! It's not like there's a rule on how many people can see me."

"He said that your mom stopped him from seeing you."

"WHAT?!" Why the hell would she do that? Unless…

I frantically looked around the room for a clock to find none. "What time is it?"

Jotaro looked at his wristwatch. "2:55"

That means she's still here. "Okuyasu! Hand me the phone on the wall!" He followed my orders. I grabbed the phone from him and quickly punched in my mom's phone number. Because she's head of the hospital department, she's allowed to have her phone on all the time, so I know she has to pick up.

A few seconds pass and I hear a digital ringtone come out from the hallway. Five seconds passed and it immediately stopped.

I dialed my mom's phone number once again. The same digital ringtone sang out from the hallway and then stopped.

"Mom! I know you're outside my room!"

Why is she even outside my door anyways?

When my mom walked through the door immediately when she saw my friends, her face went pale, as if she'd seen a ghost. Once her eyes met mine, she gave me a smile. An irritated smile. A smile mothers only give you when you do something wrong. "Sweety, who are these people?"

I could feel my heartbeat race. It's not like I've done anything wrong. Making friends is normal for my age. I pointed to them. "These are my friends; Okuyasu Nijimura, Koichi Hirose, and Rohan Kishibe." I then pointed to Jotaro. "He's Jotaro Kujo. He's a relative of Josuke."

She looked at Jotaro with the same irritated look. "Oh? A relative of Higashikata? Interesting. It's strange that I've never met you."

Jotaro got up from his chair. and held his right hand out. "I just came back from America. Although I'm a marine biologist, I've seen your name being referenced in multiple biology and medical books."

My mom kept her irritated smile as she shook his hand. "Nice to meet you."

The air became dense once she entered, almost suffocating. But it doesn't matter. I need to know. "Mom. Why can't Josuke visit me?"

My mom crossed her arms around her chest. "Isn't it obvious? Because he's the one that got you hurt."

"No, he didn't!"

"Listen to me." My mom's tone darkened. "I was in the middle of giving a lecture until I got a call from the hospital saying that you almost died. I almost had a heart attack! Do you know how it feels? To almost lose your only daughter?"

"Mom, Josuke didn't do this to me,"

"Then who did?!" She started to raise her voice. My friends and Jotaro were now awkwardly sharing the conversation silently. "And why were you the only one that got hurt? Why is Josuke Higashikata ok?"

I bit my lip. I can't just tell her that I was attacked by a stand user. Then the police would get involved. Then who knows how the situation would change. Hell, Josuke might be suspected as someone who attempted to murder me. "Josuke's OK because I protected him."

"From who?"

"I…don't know."

"With all due respects Dr. Izumi," Jotaro started. "When she was injured, she was the one who called me for help. I was also the one who saved her life before they took her away in the ambulance."

My mom's eyes started to twitch. "I don't even know who the hell you are. Who any of you are! Kuro, why are you friends with two grown adult men?!" Rohan and Jotaro glanced at each other.

"Am I not allowed to have friends?!" I started to raise my voice as well. "You've always wanted me to make more friends ever since we moved here!"

"That doesn't mean to make friends with grown older men!"

"Ma'am, I'm only 20 years old," the mangaka interrupted. "I'm only four years older than your daughter. And Okuyasu and Koichi are in the same class as your daughter."

"I don't care."

"Maybe we should all leave." Koichi said.

"No, you guys can stay," I said. "You guys did nothing wrong."

"Well, I'm leaving." My mom turned her back against us and started walking out the room. "We can discuss this at a later date, Kuro."

"Hey! Get back here!" I pushed myself off the bed and tried to stand. Bad idea. My legs decided to not work. I face-planted on the cold tiled floor. When I sat up, I noticed that I was still connected to an IV tube on my arm and a ventilator tube around my nose. I ripped the IV needle on my arm off and removed the tubes from my nose. Immediately, my breathing became hitched, as it became harder and harder to breathe.

"Kuro, are you ok?" Koichi asked as he placed his hand on my back. "Maybe it's best if you lie down."

"No! I need to talk to my mom!" With all the strength I had, I started to crawl out of the room.

Each movement I made felt like the skin on my leg was being ripped apart. The doctors and nurses that were passing were staring at me struggling to move as I saw my mom move further down the hallway. "Get back here Mom!" She started to move faster. I struggled to keep up until my lungs gave up. I collapsed onto the floor in a ball and started to hiccup for air. Multiple doctors ran towards me and moved me onto my back. "Mom…please." I felt an oxygen mask press against my mouth as a doctor kneeled down next to me. My vision started to go blurry. Koichi and Okuyasu were in my line of sight. I could feel one of their hands on my shoulders.

My mom finally stopped in her tracks, turned around, and walked towards her broken daughter and sighed. "Listen. We can talk about Josuke later. Right now you need to rest."

She's not listening to me. She's not listening to me at all. Josuke didn't hurt me. It was the stand user. But how could she understand? My mom has always been a logical person. Without science, without proof, she believes nothing. I need to figure out how to see Josuke, but in the condition I'm in, there's no way I could get to him. I need to think this through. "Fine."

My mom patted my head. "Good girl." She then turned to one of the nurses. "When she gets back to her room, please change the bandages on her right leg. One of her wounds opened up." I looked down to see red blotches on my hospital pants leg.

Damnit.

One of the nurses picked me up, took me back to my room and laid me back on my bed with my friends staring at me.

My mom entered the room and glared at them. "I think it's best for you guys to leave."

Koichi nodded his head. "R…right. Bye Kuroko." The four of them quickly left my room, leaving me alone with the sound of the vitals monitor and ventilator machine.

Josuke.

I'm sorry.

But I will get to you.

I promise.