Chapter Text
“How did it go Shintaro?”
His inquiry is met with more silence. The other teen is the one who called in to report, but he hasn’t said a word since the line connected. While waiting for his companion to collect himself, Seijurou fiddles with the pencil he has in hand. He had been completing schoolwork while the others were scheduled to visit Tetsuya, waiting to hear information on his wellbeing. The call had come sooner than expected though, hinting that things may have gone awry.
Hopefully Tetsuya had just needed some quiet rest, so they left early.
“It’s...bad. It’s worse than we expected,” he quietly informs, countering Seijurou’s hopes.
Worse than they thought?
Seijurou did not hold high hopes for Tetsuya’s safe return, but was incredibly glad their friend beat the worst of the odds. Tetsuya’s parents even told them he was in bad condition, so Seijurou had been prepared for Tetsuya to be near comatose from his injuries. Yet his current state is somehow worse than that?
“Describe his condition,” he orders in a bit of a sharp tone. Perhaps anyone else would have softened in the face of Shintaro’s unspoken distress, but comfort can come after the work is done.
“He’s currently located in the intensive care unit. We weren’t given a list of every injury, but the most apparent issue is his eye. He’s going into surgery to have it removed this evening due to severe trauma. Likely punctured and unsalvageable, possibly even infected. There are severe contusions on his face, back, neck, and probably scattered around his torso as well.
“Three broken fingers on his right hand, probably a broken nose. A concussion, unclear about the severity, but he was conscious for most of our visit. Not fully cognizant though, slightly delirious. We had to leave a bit early because something triggered a panic attack.” Even with all the clinical words used to detach himself from the situation, the fear and concern is still as plain as day in Shintaro’s voice.
“He lost an eye?” Seijurou can’t stop himself from asking in disbelief. The whole list of injuries is disturbing, but losing a body part is no small matter. “Is the other one functioning well?”
“Yes, miraculously. It’s pretty much the only part of his face that isn’t bruised and swollen,” Shintaro confirms in a clipped voice.
Seijurou can’t stop himself from picturing it. Tetsuya, laying in a hospital bed that makes him look smaller. His face colourful and distorted like a surrealist painting, only one glossy eye looking at him pitifully. Stoically baring the pain. Asking without words why this happened to him, why he wasn’t saved sooner, why the all-powerful Akashi can’t fix him-
“He was strangled,” Shintaro suddenly blurts out, surprising Seijurou out of his thoughts. The words continue to jump out of his mouth, as if he can’t contain them any longer. “Manually, I think. They didn’t look like belt or rope marks. Hands, ” he clarifies stiffly, just in case Seijurou forgot to imagine finger-shaped marks wrapping around Tetsuya’s neck.
Someone had choked their friend. Beaten him senseless. Mutilated him.
And for what?
“He can’t even speak. His airways are so swollen they have him on supplementary oxygen. I’ve never seen someone so injured before. You- I've read case studies about things like this, but actually seeing these kinds of injuries. And all on one person...” Shintaro continues, unconsciously drifting away from his report to venting his feelings of horror. “Seijurou, he could still die. Right in our care.”
“He could have a stroke if he develops any blood clots in his neck. Pulmonary embolisms, brain swelling from the concussion, brain compression from intracranial bleeding. Brain damage in general from oxygen deprivation and physical trauma. Spinal damage from the neck and back injuries. He could die of infection if his eye has already progressed! Gods forbid he has anything else we don’t know about!” Shintaro’s voice is a half-step away from yelling at him through the phone.
Seijurou’s chest tightens with every listed complication. As much as he wants to panic and catastrophize along with him, someone needs to be rational and somewhat uplifting. “Shintaro, he’s already in the hospital and receiving the appropriate care. If these complications are to arise anyways, they are equipped to deal with it. Tetsuya will pull through. He always does. The hardest part was getting him home, now he just needs to rest.”
The line goes quiet, only the sound of heavy breathing and quiet sniffling carries over. Seijurou is not heartless. He doesn’t like knowing his friends are hurting, but he feels powerless to help Tetsuya or Shintaro right now. He’s not a comforting figure – at least not in this sense. He can be steadfast in a time of turbulence. He can lead, carve the way through and create a path for others to follow. Reliable like a rock to hold onto in a storm; but stone does not warm people’s hearts. Tetsuya has always been the soft blanket of emotional comfort, stepping in to put people at ease and cheer them up.
Seijurou did his best with objective facts and tried to give a rallying speech, but Shinaro needs that softer touch he’s not sure he’s capable of. Especially over the phone, where he can’t even offer a reassuring hand.
Perhaps he should try to think like Tetsuya.
“It’s...I know things are bad right now Shintaro. I’m...afraid too.” Admitting the vulnerability is almost physically painful, but Tetsuya has never been afraid to show them weakness. Seijurou pushes on, hoping that he’s getting somewhere. “But he’s here with us now, and we aren’t going to let him go. We have to be strong for one another, and for Tetsuya while he’s vulnerable. We have to believe that he’ll be okay. Believe in Tetsuya’s strength. It’s gotten us this far already.” It’s not in Seijurou’s nature to say things like leave it to fate, but things are mostly out of their control already.
As logical as he appears on the surface, Shintaro is one for faith.
There’s one more quiet sniffle before a steadying draw of breath. “I know. Thank you Seijurou.” The closer form of address brings a bit of warmth to Seijurou’s chest, and he doesn’t prevent a slight smile from gracing his lips even if the other can’t see it.
“Of course Shintaro.”
Being a rock is definitely important in troubling times, but after this experience perhaps he could practice being a blanket a bit more.
“If you don’t mind, could you meet me before you visit Tetsuya? I want to give you his lucky item for tomorrow.”
“That’s very kind of you. As long as it’s not cumbersome and permitted in his hospital room.” Some of Shintaro’s ‘lucky items’ can be rather strange to carry around, but they’re usually harmless.
Usually.
“Thank you.”
In the brief lull of conversation, the other important piece of information comes back to mind. “Now what were you saying earlier about a panic attack?”
“Right. Kise compiled a photo album for Kuroko as a gift. Unfortunately, the kidnapper had access to the same pictures. We don’t have a clear understanding of what happened, but he seemed convinced that he needed to escape again. He couldn’t even get the IV out before we stopped him though.”
Seijurou let out a troubled hum.
“Once we had him pinned, he just...froze- no, he just...gave up. We cleared the room and assessed what happened. We agreed that too many people grabbed him, and we probably handled him a little too roughly as well. Please learn from our mistakes and give him space next time.”
It makes him sick to imagine how such a response would probably be ingrained into a person. To be repeatedly overpowered and left with no other choice but to just wait for the torment to end.
“I understand it’s too early to say, but the psychological damage from everything is probably immense. I can’t imagine what happened to him if this is how he reacted to photos. Gods forbid that man ever shows his face in front of him.”
“He won’t get the chance, unless it’s on Tetsuya’s terms,” Seijurou replies firmly.
“I hope so. I should go now, but please update me as well after you see him.”
“Of course. Have a good night Shintaro.”
“You as well Seijurou.”
The line goes dead, and Seijurou is left to mull over everything that’s happened so far. Tetsuya in critical condition, but at least not actively dying. Left physically and psychologically scarred. He spends a few minutes pondering what he can do to help Tetsuya, but there are some things money can’t fix.
At least not directly.
He may not be able to buy Tetsuya a new eye – at least not legally - but if asked he could definitely pull together some funds, find a guy with his father’s help. It would be very costly, but maybe- Yet he should be able to find a good prosthetic. Even if his parents don’t need any monetary assistance, he can get them in contact with top artisans. Renowned physical therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, even get Tetsuya moved to a private hospital if his current care is inadequate.
Lawyers to deal with Terushima.
So Seijurou packs away his schoolwork and sets to compiling a list of resources he can give to the Kuroko family to use at their disposal. Perhaps not the most sentimental gift like Shintaro’s stuffed dog, but he has always been a practical person. He wants to know that his friend is being taken care of in every way. People like Kise and Momoi are more suited to providing comforts.
But that doesn’t mean he can’t offer to hold Tetsuya’s hand either.
Seijurou eventually goes to sleep with a folder of references neatly placed on his desk. Then wakes up the next day full of determination to help. Unfortunately it’s halfway through his morning routine that he’s informed that their visit is cancelled due to a downturn in Tetsuya’s health.