The Promise

Ten

Shizuka's eye lids felt heavy, as well as her whole body. Nevertheless, she willed her body to wake up after remembering what happened before she passed out.

She found herself inside a white room and felt an oxygen mask, covering her mouth and nose and a dextrose needle, injected at the back of her hand like how she always remembered it from her first attack, but this time, Seijuro wasn't beside her at her waking moment— unlike how he always was everytime she got into this situation. She was alone in the white room, tired and heartbroken.

She was so overwhelmed with her thoughts that she didn't noticed the figure leaning over her bed and having a deep sleep and only noticed him when a light snore slipped his mouth.

Shizuka froze, heart almost stopping, at the sight of a teal-haired boy that slept beside her bed looking tired.

"T-Te-chan..." her lips moved and she was surprised at how hoarse her voice sounded.

Despite his deep sleep, Kuroko seemed alert and looked like he had been waiting for Shizuka to wake up, because he immediately woke up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Shizuka-san? Are you awake?"

"T-Te-chan... what are you... what are you doing here?" Shizuka asked in utter shock.

"I saw you last night," Kuroko said, "and how the paramedics carried you out of your unit..."

"Y-you... did you called them?"

Kuroko shook his head. "Maybe your neighbor did, I'm not sure," he said. "Shizuka-san... you still aren't well. Why did you came back here?"

Shizuka looked away.

Kuroko sighed. "Do you need anything, Shizuka-san? I can get a doctor to say that you're already awake,"

Shizuka shook her head. "I'm sorry I was unable to tell you that I still wasn't well after everything..." she whispered, "I just... I didn't want anyone worrying over me,"

Kuroko took a moment before speaking. "But... after what happened, I think I'd be more cautious with you around," he said.

"I didn't actually planned for you to find out," Shizuka said.

Kuroko sighed. "All this time, I thought we were the ones who broke our promise with you... it turns out... you haven't held your end of the deal as well,"

"There's no cure for me, Te-chan," Shizuka said, making Kuroko stop. "There's only prevention. Not even the doctors overseas could save me from this... so I figured... I'd rather be with my family if I'm going to die,"

"You're not," Kuroko assured. "You won't. Not until we've all played together and when that time comes, you'll still be around to play with us again... like before,"

Tears swelled up in Shizuka's eyes that had Kuroko wipe them away with a warm smile. "Is that why you don't want Akashi-kun to know why you're here?" He asked.

Shizuka shook her head and took a shaky breath. "I... I don't want to see him, like that... I don't who he is anymore, and it'll only break me even more if I meet him at his state,"

Kuroko didn't respond. He knew how Shizuka dearly loved Seijuro and the rest of the Generation of Miracles, them changing was too much for her to handle.

"What triggered your attack?" Kuroko asked.

"I figured it was the rain," Shizuka said, "But it was more on the overwhelming emotion I felt after meeting A-chan and Mo-chan... and after hearing what Dai-chan did..."

"I told you, you'd get sick walking in the rain like that," Kuroko said then reached for Shizuka's hair and patted it. "You're really hard headed, you know that?"

Shizuka mustered a smile. "Thank you, Te-chan," she said, "I think I need a doctor now,"

"Why?" Kuroko asked, worried.

"I need to ask how long will I need to stay here," Shizuka said, "I still need to prepare you guys for the Touo game,"

Kuroko's brows furrowed. "You don't need to worry about that," he said.

"Of course, I do," Shizuka said, "That's what I do,"

"For now, just focus on getting well," Kuroko said as he stood up from his chair. "Excuse me, I'll go get a doctor,"

As Shizuka waited, her phone rang as she received a call. She picked it up, not knowing who it was.

"Hello?"

"Shizuka,"

She froze as soon as she heard the voice of the caller on the other line.

"Don't hang up," he said, "I want to talk to you,"

Shizuka took a deep breath. "I don't, Seijuro," she answered.

Silence from the other line.

"I see you've stopped calling me, nee-chan," he said. "Where are you?"

"No place that concerns you,"

"Atsushi told me you were with Tetsuya. You've enrolled at Seirin?"

"If you knew where I was, why did you ask?"

"The hospital you're in called father," Seijuro said, and Shizuka heard a hint of worry through his coldness. "Why did you came back?"

"You know there was never a cure for me," Shizuka said. "I won't waste my time in a foreign country... but after I found out what you did—"

"I had no control over the team changing," Seijuro said. "We can't play basketball forever. With their skills surpassing any ordinary person, we were sure to clash someday,"

"I didn't mean that," Shizuka said, "I meant you... how could you do that to Te-chan,"

"Everyone needs to taste defeat sometimes,"

"I agree," Shizuka said, "Now prepare for yours in the Winter Cup,"