The bittersweet melody of human breath

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Kagami was going about business as usual. It was relatively late and he was out for a run, having had too much energy to stay cooped up in his house.

Music blasted into his ears through his headphones, lulling him into a sort of trance as he turned down an alley and came out on the edge of town, heading towards the park now opposite him.

He checked for cars and dipped out, a thought crossing his mind that made him chuckle. This was exactly the kind of place he'd randomly bump into kuroko.

Something caught his attention as he left the curb and he glanced to his left. There was a biker. He had checked for traffic but hadn't seen the god damned bike.

He dove aside, the biker breaking hard But ending up a few meters late. If it weren't for kagamis explosive jumping power he wouldn't have gotten out of the way in time.

Still slightly shocked, kagami rose to his feet, examining his bleeding knee. The biker yelled out to him, drawing his attention.

"Oi, kid!" He yelled. "Are you stupid? Look where you're go-!"

Kagami stared at him, confused, until a loud horn snapped him out of his state of shock. It was too close. He turned, wide eyed, as the truck flew at him.

He couldn't move. He was like a deer caught in the the headlights, the fear he felt then like none he had every experience.

He knew, in that moment, that he was going to die. Just before the collision, he closed his eyes.

Impact came a moment later. Kagami was only briefly aware of the jarring pain in his ribs as he was thrown into the air and smashed into the sidewalk. Blood splattered across the road.

It started to rain.

They water stashed away the blood, which Pooled in the gutters and turned the street red. Kagami lay there, bleeding and still, his conscience fading quickly.

He heard the screech of brakes, the yell of the biker... but it wasn't right.

That impact wasn't the doing of a 1 ton vehicle at a high speed. It was the desperate shove of a 57kg teen.

Kuroko had started running the moment kagamis foot left the pavement. He had been visiting an old friend who lived nearby and was just leaving.

From his angle he could see what would play out. By the time he went to call a warning, kagami was already pushing himself to his feet, dazed.

The biker was already yelling but it didn't matter. Kuroko breezed past him, wanting to scream but to desperate to function. The truck, the god damned truck!

By the time the horn blared he was on the road, moving as fast as his small legs would take him. He collided with kagami a mere moment before the truck collided with him.

His blood stained the streets. Though he was unconscious in seconds, the expression plastered on his face caught the paramedics by surprise. He was smiling.


47 hours later, kagami opened his eyes. Pain hit him like a sledge hammer, jamming all his sensors before they had a chance to recover.

He let out a raspy grunt, voice hoarse from lack of use. He heard movement from around him and battled to open his eyes. It was quite a struggle, and the light that hit him did nothing to ease the throbbing behind his retina.

The movement had stilled, and kagani was slowly returning To his sensors. The first thing he noticed was the room. It was easily identifiable as a hospital.

The shock of the realisation bought kagami back to his original state of numbness. When he recovered from that, his mind really started ticking.

'I'm... I'm in hospital. Oh god what happened to me?' His thoughts were interrupted by a rather cautious voice from his left.

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