Dying Embers [Kuroko No Basket Fan Fiction]

One Thing After Another!

When she opened her eyes, Shuiro certainly didn't expect to see the familiar white room of the hospital and the strong smell of antiseptic. Most importantly, the fretting colorful heads in front of her nearly shocked her to death. 

 "How long was I out?" She murmured softly, breathing picking up a pace was panic chorused through her. Who were the colorful people and why were they in her hospital room? What purpose did they have in being there? A redhead shot up from his seat and was at Shuiro's side in an instant, the worry lines on his face disappearing, from what she assumed, for once.

 "Shuiro..." He whispered the name like it was foreign. He closed his eyes and sighed in relief. "You were out for a while." Shuiro frowned and stared at the boy like he was as foreign as he name sounded before she shifted away from him, eyes looking over the 18 year old in front of her. He looked so familiar. 

"A while? That isn't accurate enough." Shuiro said coolly as she looked around the room once more. "Who are you? My doctor or something?" The room dropped a few temperatures and Shuiro didn't fail to notice everyone's pure surprise. The dark skinned character in the room shot up from his seat in an instant.

"You don't know who your own brother is?" Shuiro's instincts told her that that man was either surprised, angry or both. For what reason, she didn't particularly care. She just wanted to know who they were and why they looked so glued to their seats. 

Shuiro huffed and closed her eyes. "I would have recognized my own brother!" She defended herself before a conclusion knocked her over and her eyes widened. "I have amnesia, don't I?" She asked shakily. The idea scared her. Her memories were gone, everything she had ever known and now her head was going to be blank. Why wouldn't that scare her?!

The Akashi they claimed as her brother had sat on the leather chair beside her bed as he probably mauled over the fact that his sister didn't remember him. They were the closest a brother and sister could get after all. The other redhead, presumed to be Akashi's mother, stood up and calmly walked over to Shuiro's bedside, grabbing her hand to comfort her. "The doctor told me it was a rare case, but with how long you were in a coma, they expected some sort of brain malfunction. I'm sorry, dear."

"What? Why am I even in a hospital in the first place?! And how long was I asleep for?" Shuiro demanded answers while she kept glancing back at the person on the chair beside her. She could believe that he was her brother. The connection may have not been remembered on her side, but she could feel it there. Why? Because seeing such an expression on his face had managed to turn Shuiro's feelings into mush.

The mother, probably her mother as well, looked away. "You have ALL." The meaning of that didn't leave Shuiro's memory. "One day, you just collapsed. We took you to the hospital and they treated you immediately. You wouldn't wake up, it was dangerous, the couldn't settle the cancer enough for your own immunse system to fight it off unless treated for a while. We left you at the hospital only for them to ring up a few days later saying you were in a coma."

Shuiro looked down at the alabaster hand being held by the soft, tanned one of her presumed mother. "You were out for roughly 2 years. You're 18 now." Shuiro nodded blankly before she felt a sting in her eyes and she looked back down, covering her eyes with her free hand. 

"Please leave." She said before her voice could choke. The inhabitants in the room looked confused. "Something... Tells me you've never seen me cry before and I'd like to keep it that way." There was silence before Shuiro heard the shuffling of people getting up to leave. Scarlet's hand slipped out of Shuiro and she too left. The leather chair squeaked as Akashi got off of it but before he could leave, Shuiro clapsed onto his vest. 

"No, you stay." Shuiro voiced croaked on the last word. "I mean... Please, stay." He didn't need to be told again. Akashi grabbed his leather chair and scooted it closed to Shuiro, stroking what was left of her previously gorgeous red hair. Shuiro didn't hesitate to cry right that moment for what seemed like forever. She finally calmed down and she yawned.

"Thank you, Sei-chan." Akashi's eyes widened and he looked down at Shuiro in surprise, but she had already fallen asleep, but she wasn't in a coma so he could tolerate it. Though considering she had been sleeping for the past 2 years... He expected something else. Akashi shifted Shuiro back onto the bed and watched as she tucked herself into a fetal position, the way she had slept since she was 8. Akashi swallowed the lump in his throat and wiped away the tears that threatened his eyes. 

  A doctor walked in at that moment with the team lagging behind her. "I'm just going to run some tests on her, see if I could deduce if anything else in her system." The doctor was at Shuiro's side in a few, long strides. "Oh and, by the way." She looked over her shoulder after she poked a needle through Shuiro's arm. "Since she's been in full recovery for 2 years, her chances of fighting cancer has increased impressively. If her will power is as strong as you say, then she'll be cancer-free in a few months."

The blond's smile was blinding and even the stressed-out man holding a beaker smiled, as did the rest of the rainbow team. "Thank you, Doctor." They all said in unison, sounding really grateful. Akashi just gave her a firm yet thankful nod. The doctor shrugged.

"It's my job. But really though, you should be thanking yourselves. After all, you were given the multiple chances at pulling the plug on her life... If you hadn't been so trusting that she'd wake up, her chances really would have disappeared." Every time another doctor gave Akashi or Scarlet a chance to pull the plug, both would threaten to beat the poor person to death if they ever suggested it again.

 They all left the room and even the hospital before they celebrated. As soon as Kise stepped out of the building, her started to cheer. Age hadn't healed his immaturity, even in his third and final year of high school. Momoi had jumped into Aomine's arms when Kise had started to sing (He loved Karaoke, so his voice wasn't horrible.) 

"This is great, isn't it, Dai-chan?" Aomine nodded and swung Momoi around. It was a rare display of how trusting they were as childhood friends but it proved their happiness. Midorima had a smile on his face and Kuroko's facade melted and his smile and laugh was vibrant. Akashi was the only one who wasn't making a scene, but his aura was basically sparkling like Murasakibara's.

  Then, movement stopped. "Her amnesia will disappear with a trigger." All of the former-team frowned and at the mentioning of amnesia, they were all eyes and ears. "She called me 'Sei-chan' so I guess when we bonded back in her room, she was reminded of our connection as brother and sister. So, if you want her to remember you, you best be remembering the most important thing in your relationship because that's the only thing that will remind her of what used to be."