disclaimer: i don't own kuroko no basuke, nor any of the characters used in this work.

written for akafuri drabble weekend.

farewell;
kouki's coughing out blood – and akashi doesn't know what to do.

It is Akashi's first task and he's already befuddled.

"Hello," the brunet boy before him speaks, white covers wrapped comfortably around him not unlike a mother's gentle embrace. His lids are closed, but his head is faced towards Akashi's direction.

Akashi purses his lips. "You can see me?" he demands more than asks.

Moments pass by without an answer from the boy. A spark of irritation lights up in him and he very nearly repeats his question in annoyance, but the brunet beats him to it. Tilting his head as he continues to stare at Akashi from behind closed eyelids, the child furrows his brows as he asks softly, "Can you not speak...?"

It is Akashi's first task and he's beyond befuddled.

"Are you not only blind but deaf too?" Akashi asks, more than a little confused. He does not recall the boy being unable to hear in the reports he received before coming here. Perhaps the higher ups had missed out on some information, however unlikely that was? Akashi has certainly never heard of such a case happening before though.

His question goes unanswered once again.

"It's okay if you can't speak. I'm the same; I can't see," the brunet says with a small smile. (Akashi doesn't understand how the other can smile like that – like being blind is fine, when it's not.)

Before Akashi can get another word in, he is interrupted by the opening of the door. At the creak, the brunet immediately turns towards the sound. Akashi, too, follows his line of sight towards an older brunette woman dressed in a white blouse under a navy blue blazer, a rose pink pencil skirt wrapped snugly around her waist and finished with navy heels.

"Kouki," the newcomer says, overwhelming warmth oozing out from her tone.

The boy—Kouki—brightens up at her voice. "Mama!"

So he's not deaf after all. How strange, Akashi thinks.

.

.

.

It is twenty four days after their first meeting and Akashi is not any less confused than he was before.

If there is one thing he's come to understand, it is that he is, indeed, invisible to the human eye. Kouki had introduced his mother to him, directing her gaze towards his direction and telling her to meet his "friend". Puzzled was an understatement; the woman had narrowed her hazel irises at him but all she could see was empty space, before turning back to her son and going along with his antics, probably assuming Akashi was simply an imaginary friend.

Another conclusion he's come to is: Kouki has a very keen sense. No human should have been able to see nor hear of his existence, yet the boy had sensed his presence. Akashi has no method of confirming the true reasoning for this, but he assumes Kouki's exceptional senses may have resulted due to his disability, which forced him to become more aware of his surroundings.

Sitting on the window sill, Akashi listens to Kouki's gentle hums, his shoulders relaxing at the soft sound without his awareness, while staring out into the gardens. Many people in long gowns sat at various places in the garden, family members or possibly friends surrounding them. Akashi almost pities them, their eyes all appearing lifeless, but refrains. He's long since abandoned his emotions, ever since he first took up his post.

"Done!"

The cheerful exclamation draws Akashi's attention away from the gardens, red and amber instead directing towards to the boy once again embraced by his white duvet. A low table is sat above Kouki's outstretched legs on the bed, colourful squared paper scattered around atop the wood. In Kouki's tiny hands is a crinkled sakura-patterned paper crane. After two weeks of practising he finally managed to fold it properly, albeit not so beautifully, Akashi realises. Somehow, a small sense of pride blossoms inside his chest at the sight.

Kouki lets out a giggle as he juggles the paper crane from hand to hand before gently cupping it in both and bringing it up to his chest, his smile genuinely happy and proud. After a moment of fiddling with the crane again, Kouki directs his gaze to Akashi. (It always surprises him how keen Kouki is, always aware exactly where he is.)

"For you," Kouki says, his arms outstretched towards Akashi with the crane in his chubby, little hands.

Akashi makes no move to take it. (He's not certain he'd even be able to touch it.)

When Kouki finally realises Akashi isn't going to take it, he slowly lowers his arms and turns away with a saddened smile. For some inexplicable reason, Akashi feels a sharp pang in his chest.

Kouki doesn't look at Akashi for the rest of the day.

.

.

.

When Kouki wakes up the next morning, reaching out to the nightstand to his side, he is met with surprise and delight when he feels nothing.

.

.

.

(Ah, Akashi discovers, so he can touch it after all. Picking up the crane from the slumbering brunet's nightstand, he places it inside his black robe with a gentleness he's never known before.)

.

.

.

Kouki's coughing out blood – and Akashi doesn't know what to do.

He jumps up from the window sill he was perched on, his permanent seat at some point over the duration of visits to Kouki, feet rushing to the brunet's side but hand freezing mid-air a few inches from the child.

He's known all along that Kouki's time is limited, yet Akashi had somehow gotten attached to him. The pain is excruciating and all Akashi can do is step aside as the men and women in white filters in, ordering for this and that equipment to be used.

Two hours later and Kouki is calm again, the oxygen mask not hindering his tiny almost non-existent smile. Akashi can't tear his eyes away from how pained it looks. He doesn't say anything for the rest of the day, not even when Kouki finally falls asleep. (But then, Kouki wouldn't be able to hear his desperate pleas anyway.)

.

.

.

It is two hundred and thirty six days since their first meeting when the day comes.

Kouki's mother has just rushed out, shouting for help. Akashi watches with a numbness he can't explain as Kouki clutches at his chest, his face scrunched up and body curling in at the pain. Despite that, his lids slide open to stare at Akashi, or more precisely where he is, revealing a dull brown; Akashi imagines how bright they could have been had Kouki not been blind, and finds himself nearly choking over how beautiful they possibly used to be. With great difficulty, Kouki utters out through coughs and blood, "Th...ank... you..." before the nurses and doctors barge in, reeling the boy to the emergency room with great urgency, Kouki's mother following behind in hurried steps.

Akashi feels as if a part of him had been forcefully taken away.

.

.

.

"Hello," Kouki says, his hazel eyes bright and sparkling like Akashi imagined them to be, stealing his breath away. "It's nice to finally see what you look like."

Akashi swallows thickly, not ready for the upcoming event.

Tilting his head to the side, much like he had done at their first meeting, Kouki asks, "Won't you let me hear your voice?"

Releasing a shuddering breath, Akashi speaks, "I am Akashi Seijuurou, and I will be taking your soul."

Kouki doesn't even blink at the news, merely smiling. "You have a lovely voice, just like I imagined."

Akashi tries to smile but it comes out more as a grimace. Crouching down, he reaches out towards Kouki, hands cupping the child's soft cheeks. "Farewell, Kouki."

The smile never leaves his face as Akashi leans forward and places his forehead on his own, a white light coming out from Kouki's body and expanding before enveloping them both.

/END.

30th May 2015