Last Chap!

Chapter 3

"Kurokocchi! Over here!"

Kuroko hits the ball towards Kise and winced as he realized his timing was off. Fortunately, Kise didn't seem to notice as he caught the ball and flawlessly broke through the defense of their opponents before shooting the ball towards the basket.

The ball went through without even touching the ring and the gym was immediately filled with the cheers of Kise's fangirls.

Kuroko cringed.

The ball was now in the hands of the enemy and the Generation of Miracle quickly sets up their defense. Kuroko scanned the players before zeroing on the ball. His eyes then turned to Midorima who was being blocked by an opponent and quickly saw an opening.

He watched as the ball bounced on the ground before rushing towards the opponent who still didn't notice him.

Just as he was behind the player, he loses focus as his vision blurred momentarily. The opponent had noticed him but he still made an attempt to steal the ball, however Aomine showed up from out of nowhere and stole it effortlessly.

The opponents quickly went after Aomine who sprinted towards the opponent's basket.

No one had noticed the sixth member who was on his knees, panting in exhaustion. Kuroko tried to stand, but his whole body felt heavy and he couldn't move.

"Stand up." He looked up to see Akashi holding out a hand.

He hesitated. He was so exhausted and sick… he didn't know if he had enough strength to—

"Stand up, Tetsuya."

Blue eyes widened in alert at the firm tone of his captain. He felt eyes on him and he turned to see the coach looking at him disapprovingly. He looked back at Akashi's merciless mismatched eyes.

"Stand up before you disgrace yourself further."

He shakily accepted his hand and let the other pull him to his feet. He couldn't meet his gaze anymore and pursed his lips,

"Gomen… for not standing strong."

Akashi merely walked past him.

"Don't disappoint me too much, Tetsuya."

"I knew something was off."

Kuroko's eyes snapped open and he immediately spots Kagami in front of him, sitting beside the bed he was apparently lying on. He didn't bother to wonder where he was, since it was so obvious.

"That's right. Izuki and I noticed as well." He was surprised to hear Hyuga. He shifted to look at the other occupants and apparently, no one still noticed him awake.

"We actually saw Kuroko yesterday when we passed the bathroom earlier this afternoon." Kiyoshi remembered as he gestured to himself and Mitobe, "He looked horrible."

"Then why didn't you say anything?!" Kagami demanded.

"Aho! If someone was supposed to say something, it should be you! You two are classmates right?!" Hyuga snapped.

"Kora-!"

"That's enough." Everyone was silenced as they turned to Riko who had been staring out the window, looking at the orange sky. She looked angry and guilty at the same time, "If you keep making noise, the nurse will kick us out."

It wouldn't take a mind-reader to know what Riko was thinking. It was probably somewhere along the lines of how she had the responsibility as the coach to observe his team's health and physical state, and had apparently, failed miserably.

Kuroko felt guilty. It wasn't entirely her fault. It was mostly his for keeping his sickness a secret.

There was a moment of silence and Kiyoshi decided to diminish the gloomy atmosphere, "Maa, maa. Everyone cheer up. Why don't we go to Maji Burger and get some dinner?"

"It's unhealthy easting fast food all the time you know." Izuki sighed while Mitobe nodded in agreement.

"It's not that bad." Kagami grumbled.

"We don't really have much choice since it's the nearest restaurant. We can get Kuroko a vanilla milkshake too. That's what he likes right? So that when he wakes up—"

"Idiot! He's not allowed to drink stuff like that!"

"It would be great to drink some vanilla milkshake though." Kuroko innocently spoke up and everyone halted.

"Kuroko-kun!" Riko rushed to his side while he struggled to sit up, "Are you alright?"

"Hai." He turned to Riko and made a small bow, "Sorry for making you worry."

"We're so glad you're awake!" Izuki smiled, looking very much relieved, "We thought you'd never wake up."

"Does it hurt anywhere?" Hyuga asked, looking annoyed and concerned at the same time, "The doctor says you can't take any drinks at the moment and would have to stick to a soft diet. They said the food poisoning was just mild and only got worse because of your cold."

"I feel fine. My stomach doesn't hurt that much anymore." Kuroko answered a little more truthfully this time.

"That's good!" Kiyoshi beamed, "Maybe we could actually sneak you some Vanilla milkshakes!"

"Is that what you were only thinking about?!"

"Oi Kiyoshi, don't be an idiot!"

"Geez. At least Kuroko-kun's okay now."

The light-haired teen smiled softly, but then his smile vanished as he noticed Kagami being strangely quiet.

"Now that I know Kuroko's going to be fine-" –"Who said he wouldn't be!?"—"I feel really hungry." Kiyoshi said as he stretched, "I'll go buy some food." His brown eyes landed on the coach, "How about you, Riko?"

She immediately got the message, "Un. I'm coming too. Come on Izuki-kun, Hyuga-kun. Kagami-kun, you stay with Kuroko-kun. We'll buy you your dinner."

Kuroko watched in confusion as they said their goodbyes before finally leaving. As the door shut, silence fell upon them. It was so silent that Kuroko found it too strange that he decided to speak up first—but was beaten by Kagami.

"Kuroko… gomen. I should've noticed something was wrong. Captain was right, we were classmates and I should've at least said something. If only I didn't get so pissed because of that stupid test—ITTE!" Kuroko had just smacked him on the head. Kagami turned with a pissed look, "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"

"Kagami-kun was starting to give me a headache with all the rambling." He watched as the pissed look immediately turned to concern and guilt and Kuroko tried to hold back a sigh. He was just trying to joke.

He lied down on the bed and watched as Kagami turned around to check on him, "Kagami-kun. Gomen. The fault was mine this time."

His partner looked like he was ready to retort but Kuroko raised a hand, effectively shutting him up, "I shouldn't have lied. I had been feeling unwell since I woke up this morning… and I…" The stern look of his previous coach flashed in his mind for a moment, "I shouldn't have let some past experiences stopped me from being more honest."

Kagami looked at him questioningly, "Past?"

Kuroko stared at him before turning to stare up the ceiling instead. He blew away a strand of hair on his face. His fists clenched on his stomach and finally he decides to tell his partner everything. Kagami looked stunned at first as he listened on to his story and no sooner was his expression unreadable as he neared the end.

And as soon as he finished, Kagami had downright exploded, "WHAT THE HECK?! Schools like that actually exists?!"

"Apparently so, Kagami-kun."

Kagami turned to him with a disappointed look, and for a moment there, Kuroko thought that the disappointment was directed at him, but then the red head spoke, "Gomen. I wish I could've been there to knock some senses to those idiots."

Kuroko couldn't help but smile. As expected of Kagami.

"It's fine."

"You do know, right? That you're not weak?"

Kuroko tilted his head to the other side to stare at the window and watch the sky turn to a dark shade of blue, "I'm not sure. I can never tell. I usually base that opinion from someone else."

"Well I say you're damn strong." Kagami crossed his arms, his face set with determination, "We wouldn't have made it without you, Kuroko. So don't you dare think for once second that you're weak! You'd be insulting the whole Seirin Team if you do."

Kuroko kept staring at the vanishing rays of the sunset and for a moment his vision blurred.

"You are strong. Got that?" Kagami insisted, his voice turning softer, "Don't let other people tell you otherwise, baka."

Something trickled towards his pillow and Kuroko finally turned to Kagami and smiled, "Hai."

The annoyed look on his light's face melted off and was quickly replaced with a surprise one, "W-Why are you crying?!"

"Because my stomach hurts…"

"WHAT?! Should I call the doctor—"

"…from laughing too much at Kagami-kun's cheesy lines."

"W-WHA-! I DIDN'T EVEN SEE YOU LAUGHING!"

"Kagami-kun is so unobservant sometimes."

"SHUT UP!"

"No wonder why Kagami-kun didn't notice my sickness."

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

"Kagami-kun, I'm thirsty."

"Eh? But the doctor said you're not allowed to drink—"

"Hmm… I guess I'll just have to die from thirst."

"DON'T EVEN JOKE ABOUT THAT, BAKA!"

Kuroko's smile grew as he watched Kagami hesitate as he filled a plastic cup with water.

"Thank you, Kagami-kun."

Kagami looked at him dumbly and was about to say something but was interrupted when the door slammed open.

"AH! BAKAGAMI! What do you think are you doing?! The Doctor specifically said we can't let Kuroko-kun drink anything!"

"EH?! BUT-"

"Ehh… is that so? So why did we buy a vanilla milkshake?"

"TE-PPEI…"

"A-ah… I thought it would be unfair if we get to eat something while Kuroko just watches us."

Kuroko sweat-dropped.

"YOU GUYS ARE SUCH IDIOTS!"

-END-

EXTRA:

"UWAAH! TETSU-KUN GOMEN!"

Kuroko cringed as he distanced his phone from his ear, "Momoi-san, it's fine."

Kagami who sat next to Kuroko looked up curiously as he unwrapped the obento he made for his friend, "Ah, that's the girl who food-poisoned you?"

Kuroko gave him a warning look.

"I'll do anything to make it up to you, Tetsu-kun!"

Kagami sweat-dropped, 'Maybe you should start by apologizing in person—and not through a phone call.'

"Ah… maybe you could tell me what you put in your obento." Kuroko blinked.

"Hm…? Eto… just the usual ingredients—and maybe some pills to help you digest—"

"Pills…?"

"Un! To help you digest the all those food. And some sports drink in the soup since I know how much you like them, Tetsu-kun!"

"…"

"And then I added some other pills for protein, vitamins, iron-*beep*

Kagami stared at Kuroko with slacked jaws before shaking his head, trying to rid the shock, "Come on Kuroko, it's time to eat. I made some porridge."

"I wish you could be more considerate of how I feel right now, Kagami-kun…"

"Eh?"

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