Teiko's basketball III: Three's a charm

Injury

Sora had no idea what had happened. Yesterday, she was full of confidence, but today, she was standing over an unconscious Kuroko in the hospital wing. Akira was standing at the window, unable to process the whole scenario and Satsuki was sitting nervously on a chair beside Kuroko. Both the teams had won, but none of them were given the privilege of being happy.

Sora felt like they were cursed. Nothing seemed to be going right lately. Something was nagging Sora at the back of her head. She looked at Kuroko's limp form again and her eyes fell on his wrist. She realized that Kuroko was still wearing the black wrist band. They had forgotten to take it off. That was right!

"Satsuki-san... Kuroko-kun had a friend—"

"Ogiwara Shigehiro from Meiko," supplied Satsuki listlessly.

"Right. Did he come to visit?"

"He did," said Satsuki, looking uncomfortable, "He sort of had a run in with Akashi-kun on his way out."

Sora froze. "Was it too... Unpleasant?"

Satsuki looked like she was searching for something to say and Sora decided that she didn't want to know the answer. "Kuroko-kun will be up soon..."

"I hope so," said Satsuki.

"He looks frail... But for a tiny guy, he has a lot of will power. He'll be up soon," said Akira from her corner.

"That's right. Especially since his friend is going to play in the finals," said Sora, feigning confidence.

"Yeah," said Satsuki, half-heartedly.

Aomine entered the ward. "Is Tetsu up yet?" he said anxiously. All three of them shook their heads. Aomine walked up to the bed and clutched the rails till his knuckles turned pale. "Damn it... I couldn't do a thing..."

"Don't pick up a fight," said Satsuki wearily.

"I won't," snapped Aomine. Satsuki flinched and turned back to Kuroko. Aomine seemed to realize that he owed her an apology but he still didn't make a move to say anything.

Sora couldn't stand to look at them and turned her eyes to the bedside table. She spotted a rubber duck. A couple of granola bars were also stacked up next to it and a few wrappers lay here and there. A sad smile formed as she realized Midorima had been there and that Murasakibara had also visited. Sora couldn't understand what was going on. They seemed so detached, but they still tended to look out for each other. The g.o.m were crazy. And the one who kept them together was lying on a hospital bed...

Kise also came to visit a couple of minutes later. He had a bunch of flowers in his hand. Satsuki took them from him and put them in a vase.

"You'd bring flowers for a guy?" questioned Akira.

Kise shrugged. "That's what people normally do, Akiracchi. Although, it won't make any sense unless he wakes up soon."

"He will," said Sora firmly, "He was set on playing in the finals."

Kise looked at her sadly. "I don't know, Soracchi. It doesn't really matter anymore. None of us care, anyway."

"How can you even say that?" said Akira, "Tsuya-kun will be very mad when he wakes up. Especially since you are playing against his friend. You just wait..."

"That's right," said Kise quietly, "But it's not like anyone can change the outcome."

"Don't say that..." muttered Sora.

"Say what?" said Akashi, who just entered.

"Nothing," said Sora. She could sense that no one, least of all her, was in the mood for a quarrel. Thankfully, Akashi didn't decide to pursue the matter.

"So tomorrow—" began Satsuki.

"What about it?" said Akashi.

"We're playing Meiko, right?"

"And?"

"Shouldn't we talk about it? I mean Kuroko-kun—" said Satsuki.

"He was awake for a little while, Kuroko," said Akashi, "But he was unable to stay up much longer."

"Did he say anything?"

"He wanted us to play to the best of our abilities. Without holding back," said Akashi.

"What do you intend to do?"

"He was hurt and tired," replied Akashi decidedly. Sora sighed. So he was not going to do it after all. Still, she considered that this would be for the best, as the g.o.m weren't like other teams.

"Nae, should we be talking so much? I mean, he's sleeping and all..." put in Akira. The room lapsed into an awkward but welcome silence.

Finally, when it was time to leave, Sora looked back into the room one last time. Satsuki was watching over Kuroko who had a peaceful expression on his face. Sora felt that it was much different from the look he usually had. Kuroko lately looked a bit dull, but now, he slept, unaware of what was going on. Sora felt uneasy for some reason. She prayed that Kuroko would be spared the worst of it.

She stepped out into the evening and scrolled through the messages on her phone as she walked home. There were a couple of messages from Yukiji, Mayu and the rest regarding the next day's match. To her pleasant surprise, she had even received a couple of texts from Chihaya-sanpai and Eru-senpai, wishing her luck for the finals. For the first time, she felt that there were a lot of hopes riding on this. Sora had spent a lot of time imagining about this very match, even during her early years at Teiko. She had dreamt of standing on that stage for years. Now, she just felt empty, like all that meant nothing at all. Perhaps the bitterness of the g.o.m was rubbing off on her...

Three-time winners of the nationals...

Was that nothing after all?

'This whole friendship-teammate thing... How long will it give someone happiness? People are fickle. But records are permanent. They're the ones who stand time's true test. Unfortunately, there isn't a title for the friendliest team in Japan. So that will always come second to winning.'

That was wrong. That was wrong on so many levels...

"Oh, Seijuro... Just what are you going to do..." muttered Sora fretfully.