Shadow's Might (Kuroko no Basket Fanfiction)

Chapter 10

Akashi simply stared. Overwhelmed and the emotions he tried to stave off to protect himself came flooding back. To him, this was the woman who hid away one of his precious people, uncaring of what Kuroko was leaving behind. He knew, in some part of his mind, that his thoughts were irrational, but with the weight of everything that had happened, he couldn't compose himself, not truly. 

She was an entity he had heard about due to his family's business, he had even attended meetings with business partners from the Elites. However, he had never actually met the CEOs or any of the leading board members, and although his performance in any field was excellent, his presence wasn't needed nor wanted for such important transactions. He had of course seen pictures of both CEOs they were constantly on the news but he never expected for her to attend a Jr basketball game. All businessmen had more important things to do.

It took Akashi a moment for his mind to break away from his thoughts and try to give the domineering woman his attention. It was hard to do so, but he did. He gave the woman a polite bow. "I am Akashi Seijuro, the captain of the team." She returned it with a shallower one and gave him a knowing look and a small reassuring smile. "I know who you are. Tetsuya spoke of you, most of you." He did not know how to feel about that. Should he feel relieved, worried, happy, angry, none of them fit. He settled for a mixture of annoyance and pride. 

To be honest with himself he had worried that Kuroko would choose to forget him. To gouge him out of his life like he did the others. For a long time, it felt just like that, at least until today. He could feel Kuroko's resentment of his former teammates but none directed at him. That at least reassured him, even by a bit.

He straightened his spine and gave the woman his full attention. He could feel the others move around him but his entire being was focused on one singular person. His eyes narrowed and drilled into the woman. His brain observing everything it could. This was his only source of information regarding his lost friend, he would not let anything slip past him? It had been so long since he heard anything about Kuroko.

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The first thing Kuroko noticed was the rough mattress he was laying on, how his back was stiff, the harshness of the sheets that irritated his sensitive skin, the smell of disinfectant and antiseptic, and the irritating beeping that never stopped. His overloaded senses screamed. The rough textures and sounds irritated him more and more. He was slowly but surely being driven to a brink, an edge where he knew nothing of what came next. Or at least he thought he was until the beeping was suddenly shut off.

He sighed in relief, settling deeper into the rough sheets that pricked his skin. He really hated them. Then he stilled when someone moved into his room. He felt them settle at his side, soft fingers coursing through his hair. He knew those delicate fingers, though they deceived their true strength. They were not the ones he'd known most of his life, but they were the ones who, without fail, held him every time he laid in one of these rooms. It was a magic trick, he thought. How she would find time in her incredibly busy schedule to comfort him in a hospital room. This was her superpower.

He cared for her, perhaps not as a mother, but as someone precious to him, and he believed it was reciprocated. They understood each other and their pain. They were not whole, and neither were they the missing pieces to their puzzle, but they were close enough to it.

He curled into the touch, reveling in the simple moment of mutual comfort before her hand curled on his hair and pulled hard. He yelped, but he did not really feel pain. He should have expected that it had happened more time than he can count. 

"You are a foolish, foolish little boy. Why did you do it?" Her tone demanded his answer and he could only offer her the truth. He took a deep breath before opening his eyes. Blinking quickly when the white light blinded him. Once his eyes got used to the light he settled them on the woman sitting beside him. 

She was beautiful and fierce. A true lioness. Katrina White always had a strong presence but she was normally overshadowed by her husband. No one ever took her as a threat. That's why they never saw it coming. She is a predator, they are her prey. She however is like him, a creature of the night, a hunter in the shadows. It's one of the reasons he admires her so much. 
However, it was bad for him to have her ire directed at him. 

He swallows deeply nervously as he shifts in his on the hard bed. She is waiting for his answer, and he knows that no matter how he says it, it was going to sound stupid. But, he had promised her his sincerity, it was part of their deal. As much as he would love to keep secrets, even he knew the severity of his situation. He went with what worked best, the blunt truth. 

"I wanted them to feel how I felt. I wanted to win?" She looks at him blankly for a moment, before sighing. 

"I know that. Everyone knows that. What I want to know is why you pushed yourself past your limits. When you could have easily won without putting yourself in danger? Tell me." 

He took a moment to think. He knew she spoke the truth, had known it throughout the game.

"Whenever I played against them I needed to be at my strongest, I needed to give it my all. I guess I never thought that it might change. That they would suddenly become the rule instead of the exception." As he said it, he realized that he was disappointed.  

He never thought there would come a day, where the other miracles were beneath him. Reaching out to him, but coming up short. Their glory now lackluster, fools gold than the real thing. He also felt really stupid. He got himself into this position for nothing. 

"You, Tetsuya, are an idiot. For this little stunt, you are not to even think of getting on the court until the doctor declares you. That is if, you are ever cleared for basketball." She was looking at him with cold eyes. "You do understand, that you could very well never play another game again?" Her eyes implored him to understand.

He was stunned, going on numb. He knew there were consequences to his actions, knew that this outcome was a possibility. Everyone around him, the doctors, coaches, and even his teammates expressed caution, but he always believed that his youth would hold true. There were no limits that his body could not overcome. How tormenting, to be deemed mortal. 

She gave him a small smile when he nodded his head, still trying to come to terms with his realization. She gathered her things and gave him a hug, saying that he needed his rest and that she had a meeting to get to, but that she will return later at night possibly with good food. She made her way to the door. 

"By the way Tetsuya, you need to trust your teammates to do their job. After all, basketball is a team sport." 

His blood ran cold stealing his breath. The words repeating in his head. Team sport. How long had it been since he thought that? Since he believed in those around him? since he had fun playing basketball?

The answer came slowly, creeping up on him like slow lava. It had been far too long since he played his basketball. 

 
He tried to rest. However, sleep eluded him. Too many things careened through his head, but his eyes were closed. His thoughts damning, full of what-ifs, what comes next. Why did it get to this point? He couldn't continue to do this, one of these days he knew he would either die or he would never be able to wake up from the medicine endured comas. He would cross the line of no return, and then what would he do. He was a fool, a foolish child, like Katrina said. He had not grown at all. But he needed to in order to live, not survive but live.

He almost didn't register the door opening silently or the person walking in if his senses were not pushed to their extremes he probably would not have. 

"What have you done to yourself Tetsuya?" His voice was deeper, rougher too. Compared to the last time he heard it, but it still made his stomach turn as it did before in the Winter Cup.