Warnings: AU Universe. OOC. Nice Akashi. Overprotective Generation of Miracles
Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke and any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me
Chapter Fourteen: Start of a New Beginning
On any other day, Harasawa Ryu would never have imagined himself looking forward to heading to the Midorima Municipal Hospital.
As far as he'd remembered, he'd always hated hospitals. If only because hospitals always reminded him of bad events—his mother's death, and then when Tetsu always went in and out of the hospital due to relapses.
But now on a Sunday morning, the teen found himself with a skip in his step as he headed towards the Midorima Municipal Hospital, a small smile tugging at the end of his lips as he headed towards the hospital room that he is so familiar with now—having been heading there almost every single day for close to six months now.
Muffled sounds of laughter reach his ears even as Ryu reached out to open the hospital door.
All of Seirin were in the hospital room as Ryu entered, along with a laughing Shige who seemed to be laughing at something that Izuki had said. The Seirin captain looked about to throttle his dark haired friend, but his eyes softened as it fell on Tetsu who is in the hospital bed like usual, but minus all the countless machines.
He still had that drip in his arm, and the respirator hanging by the side of the bed in case of emergency. But apart from that, the teal haired boy definitely looks a lot better than he did months ago, though he still had a lack of colour in his cheeks, and he looked even smaller and skinnier than he did.
"It sounds really lively in here." Ryu commented, closing the door behind him with his foot, a small smile on his face.
Shige and Tetsu exchanged small smiles of their own at that, and Ryu knew why. Much like with almost all of Tetsu's friends, especially Tetsu's father and Ryu's own father, there simply isn't much for Ryu to smile at for the past six months.
"Ryu! You came!" Furihata Kouki smiled at the Touou freshman, with the brunette himself sitting on the couch in the room in between two of his fellow freshmen. The rest of Seirin were in chairs that they have apparently brought in from somewhere, and Shige was seated at the foot of Tetsu's bed.
"Dad said that he'd come by later." Ryu told Tetsu. "He's gone to accompany Takaya-san to visit Dr. Midorima."
"Speaking of those rainbows, they came by earlier." Kagami told him. "They left just half-an-hour ago when we mentioned that you will be dropping by."
Ryu frowned at that, but said nothing. Unfortunately, he isn't such a nice person as that to just forgive those rainbows for doing what they did to his old middle school team, and what they'd done to his friendship with Tetsu and Shige. Tetsu might forgive them—he's simply a nice guy like that, and he don't know about Shige, but he knew his friend well enough to know that he'll simply give them a chance for Tetsu's sake, but Ryu won't. He'll carry his grudges all the way to his grave.
"But really…" Riko sighed, crossing one leg over the other, semi-glaring at Ryu and Shige. "You both almost gave us heart attacks a week ago when we'd arrived at the hospital! We thought for sure that we will be seeing Kuroko-kun's corpse for sure, with the way that you're acting."
Shige winced. "Sorry."
Ryu said nothing even as he pulled out the vanilla milkshake that he'd gotten from the Maji Burger's outlet across the street, handing it to a delighted Tetsu. Hell, he still hadn't forgotten how terrified that he'd been when doctors and nurses alike started running in and out of the operating room that Tetsu had been in.
That had been the longest half-an-hour of his life as he sat outside the operating room, praying to every deity and higher power that had ever existed to spare Tetsu's life. It wasn't until Dr. Midorima had stepped out from the operating room with Liam Rivers, removing his surgical mask and having to tell them over and over that the operation is a success, and that they'd managed to pull Tetsu back from death's door that Ryu had felt all the energy leave his body.
Seirin wasn't even allowed to see Tetsu for more than five minutes, as Dr. Midorima wished to keep him under observation. For three days after the operation, the only visitors allowed were just family and close friends. From what Ryu had heard from his father, Dr. Midorima had actually told Takaya-san and Harasawa that Tetsu's heart had actually given out halfway during the operation, and it had taken them several tries before they've managed to get his heart working again.
The operation might have been a success, but it definitely doesn't mean that Tetsu can immediately go back to the court, like what Dr. Midorima had told them very sternly yesterday when he'd came to give Tetsu his usual check-up when all of them were present in the hospital room. Liam Rivers and his team of doctors have delivered what they'd promised—they'd managed to clone the cells in Tetsu's lungs so that his lungs can start working once more, and stop working against him.
Dr. Midorima had been very clear on his instructions to Tetsu and Takaya, and even his friends—he must not exert himself physically for at least a year, or his lungs will collapse once more, and they'll then be back to square one. Much to Kagami's dismay, this meant that Kuroko would not be participating in any matches for at least a year, and for the rest of the Winter Cup that year.
The Seirin seniors on the other end were just happy knowing that their teammate's life is out of danger, though they have to start thinking up of strategies and ways for their future matches, especially since their trump card will be out of commission for at least a year. Though with Shigehiro's addition, Seirin had some advantage in power, and Riko had offered the manager position to Kuroko once he is well enough to be out of the hospital—something that he is more than happy to accept until he is well enough to return as a player.
Ryu sighed, watching Tetsu sip from his vanilla milkshake with a look of blissful happiness on his face. It is almost difficult to believe that he is just this close to dying just a week ago. "Well, Tetsu almost gave us heart attacks when the doctors came dashing out of the surgery room. I thought that Takaya-san looked ready to faint."
Tetsu winced. "Sorry," he said in a small voice.
"But it's just too bad that Kuroko can't participate in the rest of the Winter Cup however." Kagami said with a frown. "And we still have Yosen to face next week."
Ryu sighed. "You heard what Dr. Midorima and Takaya-san said," he said severely, and Kagami looked extremely cowed at that point in time, despite the fact that he is at least two heads taller than the Touou freshman. After all, Ryu could be very scary if he wants to. "If you put Tetsu back in the hospital, disregarding all their warnings, I'll kill you myself."
"You don't have to, Ryu, I'll do it for you." Hyuuga said, already in clutch time, glaring at Kagami. "There really is nothing but eating and basketball in that head of yours!"
Kiyoshi laughed. "Well, everything is fine now!" he said with a beam. "I mean, Kuroko is fine now, we got the Winter Cup to look forward to, and Ogiwara had now joined our team officially!"
Shige laughed. "Well, I'm kinda out of practice for awhile now, so it might take me some time to get me up to your level," he said awkwardly.
Riko's eyes lit up at those words, and as one, the Seirin boys winced. Uh oh. They recognised that glint in their coach's eyes. The summer training camp when they've gone to the beach came to mind—each and every single one of them could barely move after each night, their muscles groaning and crying out in agony.
"Good luck, Ogiwara-kun." Furihata sighed.
"I'll remember to write your obituary for you." Fukuda muttered, much to Shige's confusion.
On the hospital bed, Tetsu only chuckled.
XXXXXX
"Are you really sure that you're going to be all right?" Kuroko Takaya asked in concern, kneeling down in front of his son, making sure that he had his black coat on properly, along with a sky blue sweater beneath. He even adjusted the sky blue scarf around Kuroko's neck, making sure that he won't be too cold, as the winter weather in Tokyo had been getting colder these days.
"I'm fine, Dad." Kuroko reassured his father, letting Takaya adjust his coat and scarf for his peace of mind. It had been nearly a week since his discharge from the hospital, and he had finally gotten the all-clear from Dr. Midorima, though being told repeatedly not to exert his body physically, and to return every week for a check-up.
"Give me a call once you're done celebrating with your teammates later tonight." Takaya smiled at his son. "I'll drive you home." He ruffled the sky blue locks so much like his own. "It's you and Shige in that team. Seirin will definitely bring back a victory."
Kuroko smiled and nodded. "I will," he promised. "I'm going, Dad."
"Have a safe trip." Takaya waved as Kuroko left the house. He then sighed before picking up the photo of his wife on the table in the kitchen. "Keep watching over him, Mayumi." He whispered, caressing the photo of his wife's smiling face. "Just like you've always done."
Takaya gave a small smile as he felt a light draft of wind blew past his face despite the fact that none of the windows in the house were opened. He felt a light draft of wind across his face—feeling almost like how his wife had always used to caress his face to comfort him when his son was ill before she'd passed away.
Takaya, take care of Tet-chan. And yourself too.
Takaya smiled to himself. "I will," he whispered. He could almost feel a weight being lifted off his shoulders—he no longer have to worry about his son, and having to worry that the next call that he'll be receiving is that from the hospital informing him that Tetsuya had another relapse. His son can be like most kids now, only still more fragile than most boys. "He can live his life the way that he wants to now. It is the start of a new beginning."
A/N: Honestly, I've rewritten this chapter at least three times, and each one makes less sense than the last. Anyway, it might be very upsetting to hear—as I know that I've always dreaded the final chapter of a story I loved—but this is the final chapter of Breathing. I hope that you've enjoyed it, as I definitely enjoyed writing it, despite the heartbreaking moments in the story.
Anyway, I hope that you've enjoyed this story, and thank you to all of you for having stuck with me for this long. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, and please read and review!
Upcoming Stories:
Second Chances (Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan)
The fight against the Military Police and the royal court took a turn for the worse, and with the Titans converging upon humanity, it is a losing battle. Being the last of the Survey Corps, Levi Ackerman now had been given another chance to go back in time to change everything and also to save the love of his life before she takes her final breath. Levi/FemEren