Part B of Signal 8~<333

[lunaryu]

~Signal: Part 8B~



The ride didn't take long until the taxi stopped in front of an ordinary looking house. Furihata immediately thanked the driver and paid him before he took off with Akashi following shortly after.

Furihata was very concerned. Akashi just told him that someone… or some people had drugged the red haired boy. He knew from Kuroko that Akashi's family wasn't an ordinary family, but… Akashi was supposed to be an heir. Why would he be targeted by his own people?

Maybe there was a dispute? Anyway, Furihata was determined to keep Akashi safe. Although, Furihata did feel that he was crazy for letting himself get involved, especially when Kagami somehow was doing something apparently dangerous at that moment. Furihata didn't know the details, but Kagami had entrusted Akashi's safety to him, so he would just have to man up and keep his promise.

"This way, Akashi-kun," Furihata said as he once again held Akashi's hand to help direct him to enter his house.

Normally, Furihata wouldn't dare to actually touch Akashi Seijuurou, but Akashi was clearly in need for help because of his eyes' condition.

"I am sorry for the trouble," Akashi said, looking totally calm and composed, like the gentle man he was, when he stepped inside the house.

Really, Akashi didn't actually need to act so polite, but maybe it was because of the way he was brought up. He needed to appear as regal as possible, perhaps? Furihata could only shake his head at that, a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek.

"My mother is still at work in the hospital since she has a nurse shift this afternoon and evening, but my father is the usual company man, so he will be home at seven if he doesn't drink with his friends. My sister… ah, she lives with her boyfriend. Anyway, come on, I'll take you to my room to rest. Then I will call a doctor," Furihata said after he took off his shoes and readied some slippers for him and Akashi to use.

Furihata immediately noticed that Akashi's feet were scratched and some of the scratches were bleeding. He cringed. Those must have hurt a lot. Why didn't Akashi say anything?

Can't appear weak in front of other people, huh?-Furihata felt rather sad at that. Seriously, it would be extra difficult to take care of someone like Akashi Seijuurou who refused to rely on other people.

I'll take a first aid kit and some warm water later to treat them-was on Furihata's mind when he led Akashi to his bedroom.

#

Akashi tentatively sat on what he assumed to be Furihata's bed and slowly took off the coat that Furihata had selfishly put over him earlier.

"Wait here for a moment," Furihata said before the sound of the door being closed registered in Akashi's mind. The room felt warm and homey for some reason. There was a calming fragrance as well… an aroma therapy? But it didn't smell flowery or fruity like one.

What is this scent?-Akashi couldn't help sniffing lightly. It was a good scent. It didn't come from a specific direction. It felt more like it was surrounding him rather than there was a source of it. It was light and comforting as well.

Another click of the door signaled that Furihata had returned. "Sorry for the wait," the boy said as he closed the door again. Then he put something beside Akashi and sat there as well. "Let me see your feet," he asked afterwards.

"Eh?" Akashi turned to face him, puzzled.

"Your feet, they are bleeding," Furihata said again.

"Ah… right, sorry. The carpet…" Akashi lifted his feet because he didn't want to dirty the carpet in Furihata's room, but Furihata suddenly touched his hand, surprising him slightly.

"Forget about the carpet. I'd like you to worry about your feet more than some silly carpet that I can clean later. Your feet need treatment first," Furihata sounded slightly exasperated and once again, Akashi felt that he was weird.

Akashi let out a long sigh because from his tone, Furihata seemed to be very determined. "I can do that myself," he stated slowly.

"It's alright. I'm used to treating my teammates' light wounds since I'm on the bench most of the time," Furihata said, sounding slightly confident.

"No, that's not what I meant…" Akashi was slightly troubled. He wanted to say that he didn't want to be an inconvenience for Furihata further since he already did that by staying at his place, but… Furihata seemed to think that he doubted his ability to treat wounds.

Furihata then went quiet for a moment before he spoke again slowly. "I know. It must be hard to trust anyone after what happened to you… but will you let me try to win it over? Your trust, I mean…"

"Huh?" Akashi was slightly puzzled again. What was this guy saying? Akashi felt that his head was faintly heavier. Why did he feel so dizzy all of a sudden?

"Kuroko told me a lot of things about you… when you were still in middle school. As I thought, you are an incredible person. No wonder you can lead such amazing guys like the GoM. You took care of them and protected them. You reminded them of their mistakes and set them to do things properly. Moreover, you seem to trust them very much to bring victory to the Teikou basketball club constantly, but… you probably set some distances away from them as an individual. I got an impression that you still can't trust them to know about you at a more personal level. Am I wrong?" Furihata asked again.

Trust… at a more personal level?

"To those people you treasure very much, you can't seem to show yourself as you are… Ah, of course you must have some reasons and situations to consider. That's why, to a stranger like me, you probably can't place your trust as well. I'm not on par with the GoM, and you may only know me for a few days, but Akashi-kun, I promise I won't lie to you or hurt you intentionally," Furihata continued, his voice very earnest. Akashi, even though he couldn't 'see' it with his eyes, somehow… he could feel the honesty behind every word.

This is bizarre,-Akashi was taught to always observe and think rationally to gather evidences after having his initial instinct to judge people's character. But, at this moment, his instinct was screaming at him to believe this guy.

Maybe it's because I want to believe in him?-Akashi was unsure. How come he felt such uncertainty? He was Akashi Seijuurou! He wasn't allowed to be uncertain about anything at all!

What is this? What the hell is this?

All rational thoughts Akashi possessed seemed to crumble. He only had his wisdom as the main foundation to keep his perfect absolute world intact. If he lost it… if he lost his sense of rationality, his world would be torn apart.

My head hurts…!

"Akashi-kun?" Furihata's concerned voice snapped Akashi back from his train of thought. "Are you alright? You made a painful expression," he asked further.

Akashi knew he wasn't alright. His head was killing him from the inside for throbbing too much. But he couldn't let his weakness be shown anymore than he already had it exposed. If this went further, he would…!

"I won't lie to you or hurt you intentionally."

Another moment of insanity came over to him, forcing him to speak the truth. "Sorry… I don't feel so good…" and before Akashi knew what happened, everything went dark (even darker than his sightless state) and his consciousness departed.

#

"Akashi-kun?!" Furihata was surprised when Akashi's body suddenly collapsed. Luckily he moved fast enough to catch the other boy before he fell on the floor from his sitting position on the bed.

Upon the initial contact of him trying to support Akashi's body in his hold, Furihata immediately noticed. "Holly shi-! You have a fever?!"

Akashi's body temperature was very high, his breaths shallow, labored and irregular. Plus, Furihata also felt that the redhead's yukata was actually quite damp and cold because of the sweat, snow and the winter wind.

Daaaamn! I should have told him to change first!-Furihata panicked as he tried to make the taller boy lay down on his bed.

Successfully laying Akashi's body properly on the bed and his head on the pillow, Furihata immediately ran down the stairs to call a doctor before asking what he could do to help first.

A few moments later, following instruction from the phone, especially to prevent Akashi from catching pneumonia, Furihata tried to remove Akashi's damp yukata. His fingers shook slightly as he loosened Akashi's obi. He was praying to god that Akashi wouldn't mind Furihata changing his clothes.

Ugh…!-Furihata couldn't help noticing how nice and lean Akashi's body was even though the sickly pale color wasn't so good for his complexion. He wasn't bulky and all muscles like Kagami or Aomine, but Akashi did have some muscles in the right places.

For a moment Furihata thought he might have had inappropriate thoughts about Akashi, but he kicked his head inwardly for thinking such a thing in a dire situation like this.

"Wait, you want me to do WHAT?" Furihata almost screeched at the mouthpiece of the wireless phone when he asked for the next step after discarding the wet yukata.

"Warm him up with your body. It's the basic knowledge during disasters to prevent hypothermia."-was the stern reply from the phone.

"But doc, he has a fever!" Furihata protested.

"He has a fever because his body is fighting the 'cold'. Help him fight that cold using skin-to-skin body heat. That's the faster way to stabilize his temperature. Some warm compresses on the forehead will help even more in addition to your body heat. Also use a lot of blankets. Make sure he is sweating,"-the doctor explained again.

"U-understood," Furihata nodded despite knowing that the doctor on the end of the phone line couldn't see him. "A-anything else?" he asked.

"That should do it for awhile, I will go there as soon as I finish treating my patients here in my clinic,"-the doctor replied reassuringly.

"Alright, thank you very much, doc," Furihata said before he ended the call. He heaved a long suffering sigh, glancing at the unconscious boy on his bed… still naked save for his boxers.

I should put pajamas on him…

"…skin to skin body heat…"

Gaaaah!-Furihata couldn't help flushing deeply while scratching his head curtly at the thought. This can't be serious, can it?! I have to sleep in the same bed as Akashi Seijuurou… naked?!

Furihata was officially freaking out.

~Akashi x Furihata~

Meanwhile, Kagami had just finished fighting. As expected of a Yakuza Family, they weren't kidding with their strength and their use of weaponry like knifes… or daggers for that matter (thank GOD they didn't bring any guns with them or else).

Fortunately though, Kagami was trained by his father personally to fight. What his father taught him wasn't a skill to brawl, but a proper fight to take down people with one or two blows.

If it was about places which could make a person stay down after being hit, Kagami was an anatomical expert. Of course, dealing with Soujirou was tough as well since he was also a combat expert. However, Soujirou didn't have the most important thing for a fighter that Kagami had.

Something to protect.

Kagami was ten times stronger when he was fighting for other people than when he was just fighting for himself. Of course Soujirou who only fought for his sick reason wouldn't be able to beat him. No matter how many dirty tricks Soujirou had used on him, Kagami just wouldn't fall because he had more lives on his back.

Kagami sighed deeply as he wiped the blood from his cut lips and the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his jacket. He would have some bruises on some body parts tomorrow, but it was worth it. He still won anyway. Now he only had to call his mom and she would call Akashi's dad to fix this problem internally. There was no need for the police to know about this.

Besides, I will get in trouble too if the basketball association catches wind of this incident….

Kagami took out his cell phone before walking away while calling his mom. "Ah, mom? It's Taiga. Yeah. Just got Akashi to escape…. Nah, I'm fine. You will call Akashi's dad, now? How about his mom…?"

~Akashi x Furihata~

"You FOUGHT them?!" the GoM members (except Kuroko who only considerably paled when he saw the state of his boyfriend and Murasakibara who dropped his snack and literally hung his jaw open mouthed) and their boyfriends shouted in total shock.

"Are you an IDIOT, you-Bakagami!?" Aomine added, yelling even louder this time. His face looked very angry even though he was actually freaking out and probably worried, but he would never say that to anyone else.

"Taiga, you…! Why are you so reckless?!" Now Himuro scolded his surrogate brother tensely totally worried such that he even actually expressed his horror through his expression.

"It's a miracle that you actually came back at all…!" Takao, apparently, was literally impressed and maybe a little concerned too, but judging from his shiny wide eyes, the awe obviously won over his mixed feelings at that moment.

"Your stupidity really knows no boundary, huh? Do you want to die so badly?" Midorima scowled at Kagami, looking disapproving. However, his voice obviously shook slightly, so the Shuutoku ace probably was just as worried as, maybe more than, the others about Kagami's safety despite the tsundere line.

"Kagami-chiiiii!" Kise cried as he launched himself at Kagami who didn't expect the surprise attack and immediately fell painfully on the floor in front of his doorstep because he couldn't stand the force and the blond's weight. "Thank god you're alright! OMG! You are a moron! Stupid! Waaaah!"

"Ow, Kise, you idiot! You're heavy! Get off!" Kagami of course immediately shoved the dead-weight away from him. "Do you want to add to my injuries?!"

"Aaaah! I'm sorry! Are you okay?!" Kise paled as he tried to fuss over Kagami.

"Shut up already! Sheesh…!" As Kagami tried to stand up, Momoi immediately rushed to help and support him.

"Jeez, Kagamin, you are so hot-headed…! Why did you fight all by yourself?" Momoi looked about to cry and Kagami suddenly felt very sorry for worrying everyone.

"Kagami-kun…"

Then Kagami's attention floated to Kuroko who looked at him with such heart-breaking sky blue eyes. He actually looked very upset and about to cry as well. It was very intense because Kagami only saw that expression once when they were defeated by Touou in their first match.

Oi, oi! Seriously? Why are you making that face, Kurokooo?!-Of course Kagami winced and panicked instantly when faced with such a situation.

"Ku-Kuroko, I'm alright, see?" Kagami immediately pried himself off of Momoi's support and awkwardly tried to show the blue haired boy that he was okay by moving his limbs freely, forcing it. "Okay?" Well, he couldn't help cringing at some points though, because it seriously HURT to move around like that after the fight.

"Your injuries… are worse than before…" Kuroko reached out and touched the busted lips gently, the bruises on his cheek, the scratches on his neck. "Why… why are you injured to this extent…?"

Kuroko's voice shook, his lithe body trembling, his eyes brimming with unshed tears. Kagami felt very, very remorseful for causing Kuroko to experience such feelings that caused him to look like that.

Kagami couldn't help it when he didn't know what to do anymore. He immediately surged forward and hugged the smaller boy tightly in his arms. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry for causing you such horrible feelings and thank you so much for being worried," he whispered softly, closing his eyes and kissing Kuroko's hair gently, gratefully. "But I'm really okay. I managed to get Akashi away from his family… and he properly said 'please help me', you know. It was incredible, right?"

Well, he had to suffer some damages before he asked for help though, but Kuroko doesn't have to know that….

"Akashi-kun did?" Kuroko looked upward at Kagami's crimson eyes with his widened clear-blue ones, actually looking surprised and sounding hopeful.

"Yeah," Kagami gave him a small reassuring smile, before he kissed Kuroko's forehead as well.

"Then, these injuries…?" Kuroko gently moved his hands to touch Kagami's arm, clenching at his jacket slightly.

"Had to distract the pursuers so Akashi could get away safely," Kagami grinned cheerily at him.

"Then, where is Akashi-kun?" Kuroko asked.

"I entrusted him to Furihata who was passing by accidentally," Kagami smirked.

"Oh… are you sure it was okay to leave Akashi-kun and Furihata-kun alone? I mean, it is Akashi-kun… and even though Furihata-kun shows a little interest towards him, suddenly letting them be alone is a little…" Now Kuroko seemed to be worried about Furihata's safety.

"It's alright. Akashi won't hurt the person that saved him. Besides, if you are still worried about more pursuers, mom and Akashi's dad will take care of it," Kagami put his forehead on Kuroko's, smiling again comfortingly.

"Kagami-kun…" Kuroko showed him, just a little bit of a relieved smile. "But, I still absolutely hate it when Kagami-kun is injured," he added shortly after that, looking at Kagami's eyes like a sad lonely little puppy.

Kagami twitched. He hated (loved) it when Kuroko made such expression. Forget about the fact that Kagami hated dogs. Even though Kuroko was usually emotionless, and even though the change of expression was less noticeable, the bluenet was so totally freaking adorable when he showed that look.

Kagami's heart couldn't handle such look! He would want to kiss the daylight out of Kuroko so badly!

"Kuroko…" Kagami of course just wanted to do what his heart desired. He leaned closely to Kuroko's face and his lips were an inch away from the inviting, half parted luscious pink plumps of his boyfriend when he heard an awkward cough from behind him.

Kagami froze on the spot while Kuroko visibly sighed in disappointment.

"Are they going to kiss?" It was Takao.

"They are, right?" Now it was Himuro.

"Please don't forget us here," Aomine.

"Aomine-chi! Shush!" Kise.

"Ck. Get a room already," Midorima.

Crunch, crunch, crunch. Murasakibara.

"Oh, could you guys please shut up? It's getting interesting!" and Momoi followed. By the way, she was the loudest among them.

Kagami felt the blood rising to his face and head as his body trembled and he turned to face the loitering uninvited guests of his house with such scathing mortified glare that they should have realized that they had completely interrupted the moment.

"Why… are you guys still here?" Kagami tried to act as calmly as possible despite the twitching muscles and the dark aura emanating from his body. Seriously, he could literally felt the strings of patience snapping one by one from his self control.

"Eh, well… we want to know about the matter regarding Akashi-kun…" Momoi laughed slightly, sheepishly, beads of sweat prickling out of her (and the others') face.

"Leave." Kagami was on the verge of snapping the last string now.

"Huwaaah! Kagami-chi, scaryyyyyy!" Kise wailed loudly, looking very pale and totally terrified for his life.

"W-wait a sec! It's your own fault for forgetting that we are here!" Aomine protested, but he seemed slightly intimidated by Kagami's look.

Well, who would blame him? Kagami actually came back alive after fighting Yakuza for God's sake!

"What did you say!?"

"And it's your damn fault for getting in the mood knowing we're still here," Midorima glared at Kagami as well, despite stepping back two or three meters away from him.

"Shut up! This is my freaking home! Whatever I want to do here is my choice! Moreover, why did you guys selfishly decide my apartment as the base of your hanging out spot!? GO HOME! All of you!" Now, Kagami snapped for real.

Then Kagami literally kicked them all out of his house, well, except Momoi because she was a girl, but she obediently left after witnessing what he was capable of with his foot, seeming traumatized after that matter and not wanting to take chances.

Kagami slammed the door of his apartment shut in front of their faces, totally ignoring the deafening shout of "KAGAMI YOU JERK!" from the obviously very pissed off Aomine.

The obscene curses still continued when Kagami turned around to face the somewhat amused looking Kuroko. "You do not have to be that angry," he said slowly.

Kagami scowled. "They should learn how to read the atmosphere and let other people have their privacy, those guys," he huffed, still pretty annoyed.

"But they are good friends, right?" Kuroko looked upward at Kagami, smiling softly. Kagami had to soften his expression at the thought while facing such a pure defenseless being.

"Yeah," Kagami didn't hesitate to agree before he approached his boyfriend and touched Kuroko's cheek before leaning down to kiss him on the lips gently.

Kuroko kissed him back and parted his lips to receive Kagami's tongue inside his warm, wet mouth as the redhead deepened it. He moaned slightly and pulled back, licking his lips. "It tastes like copper," he said.

Kagami flinched. "Sorry," he smiled sheepishly before hugging him and kissing his cheek.

Kuroko shook his head slightly as he pulled Kagami's neck down. "How cool, it gets me rather excited, somehow…" he whispered in his ear and bit his earlobe, causing Kagami to flush both from the words and the action.

"Jeez, you…" Kagami was troubled when Kuroko was being this seductive. He immediately lifted Kuroko bridal style after his words.

"Ah, wait-, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko widened his eyes slightly looking surprised, and immediately held Kagami's neck tighter to balance his body.

"It's your own fault for teasing too much," Kagami kissed the exposed pale neck and Kuroko let out an involuntarily pleasured sigh.

"Ah, at least let me treat your wounds first," Kuroko huffed lightly while tangling his fingers in Kagami's crimson locks.

"Heeh, you want to play bandage?" Kagami chuckled suggestively and Kuroko actually blushed slightly at that.

"Idiot," then they sealed each others' lips once more in the midst of Kagami's musical chuckle and Kuroko soft (rather embarrassed) smile.

~Akashi x Furihata~

How warm…

It somehow felt like he was floating. Comfortable, pliable satiny material surrounding him, lulling him. Akashi had never felt this contented before.

Akashi opened his eyes slightly, but he immediately closed them again because it was still painful to do so. The blinding light hurt his eyes and he didn't like it. He wanted to feel this enjoyable feeling longer.

There was a rustling voice beside him and he could feel the satin move as well.

Huh?

"…-kashi-kun."

"Nnh…" Akashi groaned slightly at the gentle distant voice.

"Akashi-kun."

Huh? The voice was closer?

"Akashi-kun."

Akashi snapped awake as he heard the clear voice now and he immediately regretted opening his eyes because he was instantly blinded again by the very strong light. "Ugh…!" he immediately covered his face with his palm, groaning painfully while sitting up groggily.

"Ah, Akashi-kun, a-are you alright?" the voice beside him finally registered in Akashi's mind as Furihata's when Akashi could hear it right and feel that he was also sitting up, touching his back comfortingly.

"Ah… yes, I'm fine. I just forgot about my eyes…" Akashi let out a long sigh before he put down his hand again, and now noticing that he wasn't wearing any clothes. He touched his bare chest.

…

"Where are my clothes?"

Furihata obviously flinched as he pulled his hand back, since Akashi could feel the jump. "Euh… um… yo-you caught a- a fever and your yukata was wet so… doctor said I had to remove it. I-I'm sorry for getting ahead of myself and-…"

Furihata hadn't even finished his explanation when Akashi noticed another peculiar thing. "Why are you in bed with me?"

Furihata yelped at that. "Um…! T-there's a very strong reason for-for this! I mean…! Doctor said that you your temperature had to be s-stabilized, a-and the fastest way to do that is-!"

Akashi didn't let Furihata finish his sentence again as he lifted his hand to touch Furihata's skin beside him. The moment his palm made a contact with the soft pliable skin, he was immediately assaulted by the warm pleasant feeling he had felt in his sleep earlier.

"E-eh? Err… Akashi-kun…?" Furihata sounded very perplexed when Akashi lifted his other hand to touch the warm skin as well.

What… is this…?

It was a very warm… and enjoyable feeling.

"So it was you…" Akashi was very surprised and a little bit dazed at this revelation.

Maybe it was because Akashi still had the fever, but… somehow… he wanted to… and he just did as he pushed the other boy to lay down once again on the bed. The temporary blind basketball player draped his arms around Furihata's body and held him close despite another surprised yelp from the brunet.

"HIEH?! Wa-wait a-! Akashi-kun?!" Furihata's tone was a notch higher, sounding totally alarmed, but Akashi couldn't bring himself to care about that right then.

"So warm…" Akashi whispered, sighing contently. "Such a strange, nice feeling… Why is it?" he couldn't help asking, to no one in particular but more to himself, as his consciousness was drifting away once again.

So sleepy….

"Eh? A-Akashi-kun?" another confused question came from Furihata, who raised his hand to touch Akashi's back again and it felt so… wonderful.

Even though I have only known you for a few days… why is it so comforting to hold you like this…?-Akashi didn't understand… hadn't understood it.

But, come what may, Akashi Seijuurou got a feeling that he would… and once he understood it, he would never let that feeling go.

End of Chapter 8

Tbc…

*Mydriatic drug: commonly used to treat cataract before surgery. Its function is to paralyze dilator muscles to dilate or widen eye pupils. The use of this drug in normal eyes will cause the pupils to dilate and/or widen uncontrollably so they can't control the intake of light into the eye, which will cause momentarily blindness (since retina is very sensitive to light) until the drug effect wears off (the period of blindness depends on how much it's used). It's usually in the form of eye drops.

A/N: See, just like I said in the previous chapter, I can't finish it in 8 chapters. Ugh. Have to add another one. I got really carried away making Akashi/Furihata moments there. I'm sorry Akashi is VERY OOC here. Forgive me. It's just… when he's in the moment of weakness (which is impossible in CANON btw), I just want to make him feel a lot wonderful feelings where he can rely on other people too! Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as well. The next chapter will be the end plus the epilogue for the entire series of 'Finding GoM Matching Partner'.

Stay tuned!

Part 9
Part 8A