The Weeping; The Willows

Part II

When the door shut behind him, Akaashi leaned forward on his knees. Nausea came rushing back and he had to close his eyes and breath through his nose to stop it. When he opened them, he glanced around and knew that if he knocked on that door again, it would not be Bokuto who answered it.

But that was a conversation for another day. For now, he had some research to do.

Bokuto had said he played for one of the local schools before going pro. Which meant anything that happened to him would be covered if not by The Picayune, then by his school's newspaper. As he drove to the library he frequented, Akaashi thought about how unlikely it was that he'd never met Bokuto before last month.

As though something had been keeping them separate, only to meet after one was no longer corporeal. Parking his car, he realized just how close he was to Bokuto's home. Though it was unlikely the wing spiker used a library, let alone one not attached to the campus he attended, the thought remained. They had always been so near each other, to never have noticed each other. He shook his head. He was here to help now, and that's all he could do. Depending on how dire the situation, it could end up being for the best.

Better to focus on helping where he could instead of what he had no chance of changing.

He started at the computers and pulled up Bokuto's school's newspaper. Searching the name, it wasn't long before search results gave him hundreds of articles. While there was one that was immediately relevant, the first result, he focused on the others. The ones that showed Bokuto dangling in the air like a star in the sky. Poised and ready to strike the ball with all the power his shoulders contained. Akaashi let out a huff, he would have loved to have seen that body in action. He could only imagine the attention he drew, given the number of personal pieces about the player. He was clearly well-loved by the school's community.

So what happened?

He finally took a deep breath and clicked the first result:

ROCKETING VOLLEYBALL CAREER ENDS IN HORRIBLE CRASH

Doctors remain hopeful as student remains in coma

The Loyola campus was shocked Friday morning as news spread of the horrific crash involving star volleyball star Koutarou Bokuto. A Japanese student who became a popular fixture on campus, Bokuto had only just signed a contract with a national team days ago and had been heading home after a night celebrating at a house party with friends when his car swerved off the road and crashed into a tree. He was quickly rushed to the hospital where doctors are monitoring him as he remains in a coma. No further information regarding the crash is known at this time. Tokens from fans and friends were at the gates of the Luckett Gymnasium, where the volleyball team usually practices. As other fans have apparently been sending so many floral arrangements to his hospital room that local florists are no longer receiving orders in his name. The coming game this Saturday has been canceled in light of these events. His family and friends ask his fans to be respectful during this hard time.

Akaashi cursed. He felt a shock of water hit his hand. Was there a leak? He lifted his hand and inspected the puddle. Then felt his cheek and realized he was crying. Quickly, he rubbed the trails away and sniffed. A coma. Akaashi could handle a coma. Maybe that was why he hadn't been active until the blessing. It was promising. Maybe. He scanned other articles but found nothing about which hospital he'd been brought to.

He walked to the microfiche room, gathering the newspapers from around the time of the crash. If he were as popular as the school's paper made it seem, there was no way he wouldn't be mentioned.

As he scanned the sports sections for any news, his phone started vibrating. "Hello, this is Keiji?"

He hadn't bothered to check the caller ID, but outside of work, he rarely received phone calls.