I Hope I Don't Wake Up // Trade Wind
Lonely End // Everyone Leaves
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Kuroo

     Inwardly groaning, Kuroo picked at his guitar absent mindedly. He couldn't quite get over the fact that it already had been almost a year since Akaashi disappeared. The police had investigated for months, no good news ever coming back, only more evidence pointing to the fact that Akaashi most likely wouldn't be returning to him. He reached to his right, with his left hand gripping the neck of his guitar, patting around for his bottle.

     Depressingly enough, Kuroo found himself reverting to his old habits, finishing bottle after bottle, and when he ran out of bottles he'd find himself in a drunken rage. If he woke up sober, he would reach out over the sheets that were cold and empty beside him—a stabbing reminder that his Akaashi no longer was there. Hazy thoughts about Akaashi when he was belligerent didn't hurt but only prodded at his aching heart and were a sign (at least this is what he believed) that there was a bottle he should be drinking, because only when he obliterated his senses, mind, and body, could he feel alright again.

     He didn't think of Akaashi much anymore because his drunken stupor had drawn out to last weeks now. Kenma swore the last time he had been sober was when the cops told them about the footage of Akaashi being taken from the park, caught by some apartment complex's cameras. They couldn't ID the perp and the car had been stolen, and recovered after with no indication of the person who committed these heinous crimes.

     Kuroo had a thin thread of hope then, holding his heart strings together with what amounted to a paperclip. That news sent him over the edge, and he wallowed in self-pity and self-hate.

     Of course, Kuroo's wasn't the only drastic reaction. Yachi, the sweet little bean, folded into herself and her anxiety exploded. Paranoia fueled her at this point, placing an intense strain on her relationship with Kiyoko. Kiyoko had been greatly affected as well; she pushed herself into a box and became almost robotic, obsessively mothering everyone as if they may up and die any second.

     Hinata hasn't really left his house much and speaks only to Kenma, and very quietly at that. The silence from him piles onto the emptiness in them. It's as if they lost their sun.

     On top of that, their moon wasn't much better either. Tsukishima was just blatantly mean now, all the teasing gone. He shot low blows and they burned. Yamaguchi finally roared into a downright fit over it, resulting in Yama going home and being stubborn, and Tsukishima staying in his dark ass room and being stubborn. Tsukishima was now essentially feral and unapproachable.

     Bokuto's dejected mode came in and out of play randomly, and at strange time intervals. It resembled a switch being switched on and off repeatedly. He couldn't perform his managerial duties either, since he was right there with Tetsu slamming bottles of alcohol constantly.

     Lastly, there was Tooru.

     Outwardly, he beamed rays of perfection and happiness around him to the point of being obnoxious. However, he was the glue that really held everyone together at that point. He greeted fans with fake, plastered on smiles and dealt with the business aspect when Bokuto couldn't. He cooked surprisingly well, and when he wasn't around and when Kiyoko wasn't either, he'd order them a pizza to make sure they at least eat and pay for it over the phone. Sometimes Kuroo wondered whether Oikawa had been affected more than anyone else, maybe more than him in a way. He had been forced into a position where everyone and everything he loves was falling apart at the seams. He loved Akaashi just as much as Kuroo really, due to the insane amount of time they spent together. Oikawa's eyes were sad, but he always seemed to be hopeful.

     Or at least more hopeful than anyone else.

     Finally, Kuroo's fingers slipped around a bottle and he pulled it toward his lips. They were numb enough, but he tilted it back and his throat burned. He didn't care about himself anymore.

     The music that had been playing in the background stopped, and for a moment he thought about how he didn't even notice the music at all really until the sudden stop blanketed the room in silence. He snorted, taking another sip of whatever alcohol he happened to have in his hand. Not that it mattered.

     He also didn't quite notice his own ringtone playing, buzzing incessantly.

     The call went to voice mail and the music played once more. He hummed softly, off key and out of rhythm, when Oikawa opened the door.

     "Kuroo, who just called you?" He asked, his voice sharp.

     "Don't get all grumpy, Mr. Grumpy-Pants, I am just sitting here." Kuroo replied, confident his word choice would knock Oikawa down a pedestal.

     He earned a glare as Oikawa lifted the phone off the desk across the room. "You know, Tetsu-chan, if you weren't so damn drunk I'd bet you were just being lazy. But you are fucking shit-housed and I'm not sure why the fuck you didn't get your phone." He hissed. "Get up and walk in a straight line for me, would you?"

     Kuroo and Oikawa stared each other down, both expressions imbued with menacing glares. Kuroo set his jaw and tossed everything he was holding to the side. The bottle shattered on the ground, and the guitar thrummed out ear-wrenching noises as a string snapped. He stood, and walked toward Oikawa in a more or less straight line, only stumbling a bit at first. Oikawa huffed, crossing his arms and turning up his nose. "I don't know if I should be terrified or impressed," he grumbled. He shifted his weight onto one foot. "We should stop buying you glass bottles."

     Kuroo rolled his eyes. "I like glass bottles better."

     "Yeah? Then every time you chuck one at someone's head, the wall, or the ground, you're cleaning it up." Oikawa snarled. Kuroo quirked an eyebrow up, his expression blank. He glanced down the desk at Oikawa's glass of water, and his eyes snapped back up to Oikawa's. "Don't you fucking dare—!" Kuroo smacked it off the table, his expression straight and easy as it crashed to the ground.

     Oikawa fumed, and Kuroo could practically see the steam blowing out his ears. "You stupid nekofucker, I swear I will—" Oikawa spluttered, but the phone rang in his hands.

     They both trained their eyes on the phone, and Oikawa snatched it up before Kuroo could reach it. He answered it quickly, pressing speaker. "Y'ello? This is the stupid nekofucker's phone how many I help you?" He said cheerily.

     "Uh, this is Kuroo Tetsuro's phone, yeah?"The voice was hesitant and nervous, familiar.

     "Yep, but this is Oikawa speaking. Kuroo is right here, he's just a bit...preoccupied." Tooru eyed him as he wobbled, gripping the desk with both hands. He wobbled back, and the desk dragged a bit before Oikawa slammed his hand onto the table to keep it from sliding further. "Who is calling?"

     "Oh! Err, my name is Sugawara Koushi, I'm from the Miyagi District Hospital. I don't know whether or not you'll remember me, but I used to play volleyball at—"

     "Mr. Refreshing! How could I ever forget someone like you?" Oikawa purred into the phone.

     "I really thought I'd escape that name." Suga sounded vexed, but he continued on. "Anyways, Daichi gave me your number since you kept in contact as captains, or whatever. I'm not calling with particularly great news though. Or maybe it is good news?" He mumbled, most likely not to himself than those listening. "I don't care how you take this news, only that it is taken."

     "Okay," Oikawa said, dragging out the vowels. "Hit us with it."

     "Look, I'm a surgeon so I don't work in the coma ward. I didn't know until today, but Akaashi Keiji is here." He paused a bit, taking a deep breath. "Like in the hospital. Like right now."

     Kuroo and Oikawa stared at the phone, attempting to process the news. Bracing himself, Kuroo slid to the ground, and Oikawa leaned against the table, setting the phone down gently. "Will you tell me to sit before that next time?" He said, his eyes wide and staring off into space. Shock coursed through him.

     "Why weren't we notified earlier?" Oikawa thundered into the phone.

     "He had no ID on his person to identify him. We ran his prints but he doesn't have a record. Nothing came up, so they didn't know who to call. He's pretty beat up. I barely even recognized him myself and he's been healing for weeks."

     Oikawa yanked a chair out to sit, collapsing into it. "We'll be there soon." He pressed the end button before biting his knuckle. Kuroo wondered very seriously how the hell he'd get there at the moment.

     "Put the tour on hold," Kuroo said, the fuzziness blurring his vision finally receding. "The danger of me fully blacking out has passed. Call Kou and Kei. They're going to need to carry me."

     Oikawa stared at him a moment, his expression blank, before he burst out laughing. It was humorless, and tears leaked from his eyes as he shook his head hysterically. "We are all so goddamn messy I can't even deal with it anymore."