Rainbow Veins (By Bokkuroo on Ao3)

Chapter 4

After he finally agreed and his parents left for work, Koutarou finally got his breakfast. He hurried it down and after the nurses were done with piercing him with even more syringes, he was finally allowed to leave his bed.

It didn't take long for him to decide where to go.

"Hey hey heey, Akaashi!" he called out the moment he walked through the door of the other boy's room.

"Good morning, Bokuto-san" the other one responded with a much calmer voice but didn't seemed to mind his excitement this early in the morning.

Keiji held a book in front of his face which was lowered the moment Koutarou sat down on the rear edge of his bed. A small smile lay on his lips and the silver haired could feel the butterflies going wild in his stomach already.

Dang. His smile was even prettier by daylight...

"What are you reading?"

He pointed at the book questioningly and Keiji followed his gaze, his fingers caressing the worn out cover.

"The Book Thief by Markus Zusak" he answered in such an affecting voice, it was as if he was talking about is own child. "It's my favorite book."
"What's it about?" Koutarou asked immediately and the dark haired boy's eyes widened a bit.

It didn't seem he was expecting Koutarou to actually show interest in his reading.

"It's about a girl who steals books during war to flee from reality" he explained then and it made the other boy tilted his head with a frown.

"Sounds a bit gloomy."

"Well yeah, it is. But it's also about hope and dreams. And beautifully written, I really like it."

"Ah, I see then." He gave him a gentle smile and Keiji faintly returned it.

After a short pause though, he asked "Do you want to read it?" and passed Koutarou the book.

"Ah, uhm... I'm not really into books, you know. Also don't you wanna finish it first?"

"I've already read it countless of times. And I've got a newer copy at home. You can have it."

Something close to excitement lit up in Keiji's eyes and it made Koutarou physically unable to refuse.

"Okay" he said as he took the book in his own hands and turned it a few times to look it up closely. "Since I gotta stay here for a little while longer anyways, I guess it's good to have something up my sleeve if it's getting too boring."

He grinned and expected the other boy to reflect his expression, but Keiji only frowned.

"So it's cancer after all?" he asked and Koutarou immediately shook his head.

"No! No it isn't, it's fine. I'm fine" he stated and then continued to explain to the other that the surgery he had to undergo was only a preventative measure. "I'm still a bit scared, though. The doc said it's a routine operation, but yeah... you never know" he tried to laugh it off, but the fear in his eyes was obvious. "I really am a coward, ain't I..."

He sighed and nervously run a hand through his silver hair.

Keiji on the other hand only shook his head.

"I don't think you are a coward at all. It's normal to be scared of something like this" he said with a calm voice and somehow it instantly made Koutarou feel better. "I think you'll be doing fine though. I've already underwent surgery myself and it really wasn't that scary at all."

"You did??" Koutarou promptly asked and his eyes widened in excitement. "Did it leave a scar?"

Keiji seemed a bit bewildered by that question, as if it was totally uncommon for the teenage boy to be astonished by something as hideous as a permanent mark on his skin.

"Well, yeah. Of course it did. Want to see it?"

Koutarou nodded in an enthusiastically and watched as Keiji unbuttoned his pajama shirt. He tried not to gulp at the soft, pale skin that was revealed and focused on the red mark that stretched across the other boy's sternum.

"Wooah." He leaned in a bit closer. "Did it hurt??"

"Not really since I was under anesthetic. It itched a bit afterwards, though." That was probably the understatement of the century, but Keiji really didn't want to scare the other one even more than he already was.

"Rad" Koutarou only commented and Keiji snorted while bottoming up his shirt again.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just... you really are a weird guy, Bokuto-san."

"In a good way or a bad one?"

"Hmm..." The dark haired boy pretended to think for a moment, before the edges of his lips finally curved upwards. "A good one."

Koutarou beamed. "Then it's fine."

They kept talking like this and eventually, Koutarou asked how Keiji's "mission to find a new heart" went along. He learned that things like these didn't just happen overnight and that there is a list that regulates who will get the new heart transplanted first, if there is one. Keiji's heart was still strong enough that he didn't need any extern support by machines, so his current rank on the list wasn't that high. Since his condition could get worse any moment though, he still had to stay at the hospital. It's been almost three months now.

"That really sucks" Koutarou stated but the other one only shrugged.

"You're getting used to it."

"It's still so unfair..." The silver haired boy turned his head and gazed out of the window, thinking. "You should be outside, not locked up inside. Running around, playing some sports maybe. Enjoying your life."

"It's not like I have an entire bad life, though. I read lots of books, for example. I receive private tuition. And I've got a pet dog at home. Her name is snowball and she's really fluffy. "