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Teaching the Sun to Smile

Chapter 5: Heat

Notes:

Okay. I swear this started as an attempt to do something nice for y'all
I woke up this morning and said to myself, "I put my readers through a lot yesterday, I'll surprise them with a next day update, it'll be great."
Moral of the story, I'm starting to worry that I might be a sadist. (But hey at least I didn't pretend to kill anyone in this chapter)

TW: The big italicized section is some pretty serious dissociation/panic attack stuff, feel free to skip, it won't affect the plot

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

               “I really think it would be better if I stayed here with him.”

               Kenma dropped his newly packed overnight bag onto the bed with a scowl, “And I really know that that is not going to happen. You are two weeks from your rut, a photograph of a baby would trigger it early for you. You want to be in the same house as an unbonded omega in heat?”

               Kuroo grumbled a response that Kenma figured he was better off not hearing.

               ”You’re coming with me. Just think of it as a shitty vacation in the world’s sketchiest hotel surrounded by cops.”

               “This is absurd. You’re kicking me out of my own house.”

               Kenma snorted, “Don’t test me, you know I will. Are you ready?”

               “Let me grab my charger.”

               “The car will be out front any minute now.”

               “Yes mother.

               It took all of Kenma’s willpower not to slam the door on Kuroo. He’d cool off once they were around the unit and Kuroo would be able to leave for work soon anyways. But for now, he was being a whiny pain in the ass.

               Hinata’s door was shut tight. There was a stack of water bottles outside the door, in addition to the stack on the counter, and the stack on the desk in the room. Kenma had offered up his own, real bed, but the omega had refused.

               “Hinata, you okay in there?”

               “’Mm…’M fine.” The omega’s strained voice called through the door.

               “Kuroo’s leaving with me now. There’s food in the fridge, you don’t even have to heat it up. Just promise me you’ll eat when you can.”

               “Y-y-yep.”

               “I’ll come back to check on you as soon as I have a chance. And the extra phone is in the kitchen on the charger.”

               There was no reponse this time. Hinata was now just over one day into his heat. They had been handling it fairly well, with Kuroo and Kenma mostly sequestered to their room, and Hinata in his own. That was until Kenma received word that the raid was a go. He was needed at an old hotel halfway across Tokyo, across the street from what was hopefully one of the largest Fentanyl packing and distribution facilities in the city.

               In the past, the police would gather surveilance for months. Keeping track of the comings and goings, meticulously planning their final move so as to put as few police lives at risk as possible. But now, they had Kenma.

               It had technically been Yamamoto’s idea. After a particularly nasty raid had led to a relatively minor gunshot wound to the ass, Yamamoto had spent hours lamenting to Kenma that it wasn’t fair, because the bad guys had cameras covering every inch of their property. They had followed each of the cops movements remotely, and were able to pick them off one by one. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could do that too?

               Thus, Kenma had three suitcases of hacking equipment already packed next to the door, so that he could be the Police’s eye in the sky, from inside their target’s HQ.

               He was the best at what he did, and he was proud of it. But it had taken Daichi repeatedly threatening jail time for his side-hustle, to convince him to leave Hinata behind.

               His phone beeped with a message from a blocked number.

               “Kuroo the car is here!” He shouted up the stairs.

               Kenma’s hand hovered above the door handle to Hinata’s room. He knew he was being ridiculous though, Hinata was an adult, he could handle a heat on his own. So why did Kenma feel like something was very, very wrong?

 

<<<<>>>> 

 

Tsukishima Kei liked structure. Some had called it an obsession, but he didn’t appreciate the connotation, so he ignored it.  He loved living by his routine (Even though the word put a sour taste in his mouth, as it reminded him of high school cheerleaders or something equally unsavory).  He reveled in the way each of his daily tasks led straight to the next. It had been meticulously planned out by him to do just that.

               Some people (His mother) had implied that he needed some excitement in his life (a dog), but the idea disgusted him. His routine, his structure, his silence were sacred to him. It would take much more than meager loneliness for him to give all that up.

               With his second cup of coffee clutched in his hand, he surveyed the remains of his poor, poor bonsai tree. It was a seven year old tree, he had grafted microcarpa leaves to make it a ficus microcarpa ginseng. For an indoor bonsai, it was a masterpiece.

Was being the keyword in this particular situation.

He had no idea if he could salvage it. He knew if he turned to the online forums, he would be torn to shreds for allowing a cat near his precious tree. So for now, he stood in silence, mourning the loss of a plant.

               Maybe his mother was right.

               Skipping the water and prune portion of his morning, he moved to the kitchen to take out the trash. The bin was nowhere close to being full, containing only the scraps of the last twenty four hour’s meals, but he could not stand the idea of foodstuffs stinking up his apartment for any longer than that.

               As he pulled the drawstrings of the bag, his nose was assaulted by the repulsive odor of rotting citrus. He recoiled, but his frown quickly morphed to one of confusion as he surveyed the contents of the bag. He hadn’t eaten any citrus. He hadn’t even put lemon in his tea last evening. He wanted to ignore the smell, but it was downright foul. Upon entering the hallway, he was disappointed to discover that it was far worse out here. At least it wasn’t his fault, he relished blaming other people for his discomfort.

               As he passed Kuroo and Kenma’s door, Tsukishima was unable to inhale. The stench was so potent, he found himself holding back the urge to vomit.

               Once he was safely closed off in the elevator, trash in hand, he shot a text to Kuroo.

               ‘Something is wrong in your apartment’

 

<<<<>>>> 

 

               Kuroo loved Kenma, he really did, and he would do anything for his omega, or at least that’s what he told himself. Right now though, he was being tested by the gods, he was sure of it.

There were twelve cops (plus Kuroo when he wasn't at work) sequestered in this small, single bed hotel room, going on twenty-four hours. There was one questionably functional bathroom, a definitely not functional mini-fridge, and a small AC unit that was teetering precariously between the two states.

               Kuroo and Yamamoto were huddled in front of the shuddering machine, silently offering up prayers for its survival. Unfortunately, they literally had nothing better to do, as their phones had been confiscated on arrival at the scene. Everyone in the room was waiting on Kenma to do what he did best, albeit about as exciting as watching paint dry.

               Kuroo was becoming more irritated by the second, as he was supposed to be at work right now. Unfortunately, his cab was extraordinarily lost, and his beautiful, beautiful car had been left behind at their apartment. Bright red convertibles weren’t the most covert vehicle on the market…

               Yamamoto groaned, “I wanna shoot stuuuuff,” He leaned over to lean on Kuroo.

               Kuroo shoved the alpha to the floor, “And I wanna shoot you, we’re all in agony here.”

               Kenma smirked, and by God, with his hair tied up like that, and that focused look on his face, Kuroo was now hot, and hot and bothered.

               “Congratulations you’ve now managed to make everyone uncomfortable jackass,” Yamamoto crinkled his nose as the smell of Kuroo’s pheromones.

               “Oh please, you always smell horny. You’re just jealous that someone would actually consider sleeping with me.”

               “Consider is a strong assumption,” Kenma quipped, eyes still glued to his screens.

               “Kenma babe, I really need your support when I’m being antagonized by the goddamn police.”

               “Until there are charges placed against you, I am under no legal obligation to do anything of the sort.”

               Yamamoto keeled over with laughter, leaning against Kuroo again and earning himself another shove.

               “Have we considered, and I know this might be a controversial opinion, silence?” Daichi stood behind Kenma, clearly not quite as adept at tuning out the bullshit as his counterpart was.

               “The motion has been submitted for consideration, but the council has requested a period of two to five business days to reach their verdict.”

               Inuoka whined from the bed, “Could we move for an expedited hearing?”

               “I can propose the motion, but it will take four to ten business days to process.”

               “Kenma, why is your mate even here?” Narita piped up from his seat by the door, “I didn’t realize we were bringing dates on official police business now.”

               “Nothing I do is official police business,” Kenma concentration did not waver as he responded, years of living with Kuroo had conditioned him well, “We had some personal matters pop up, I didn’t want to leave him at home.”

               “At least it’s not his cat again,” Yamamoto grumbled.

               “Kuroo your taxi is here,” Kenma noted, “Everyone else, it’ll be a few more hours.

               There was a collective groan, and Kuroo couldn’t help but cackle as he rushed out of the room, forgetting to retrieve his cell phone from the sealed box next to Daichi.

 

<<<<>>>> 

 

               The raid had been a mixed bag. Once Kenma hacked into the security system, they had made quick work of taking everyone in the building into custody. Unfortunately, none of those people appeared to be anyone important to the smuggling operation as a whole. Fukunaga would of course spend hours interrogating them, breaking them down to get whatever information they knew, but nobody had high hopes.

               On the plus side, they had confiscated twelve pallets of powdered Fentanyl, the largest bust in over twenty years. Yamamoto had not shut up about it for hours.

               Standing outside Kuroo’s work, waiting so they could taxi home together, Kenma couldn’t help himself from enjoying the silence.

               It felt good, to be good at something. Really, truly, unequivocally good at something. He relished the small bubbling of pride that welled in his stomach. It washed away his uncertainty from the past few days, and filled him with quiet reassurances that everything would be okay.

               Kuroo bounded down the steps of the lab, scooping up Kenma and spinning him around. Kenma giggled at his alpha’s enthusiasm and nuzzled his face into Kuroo’s scent gland, soaking in his scent.

               “How’s my favorite Public Security Intelligence Agent?”

               “Yamamoto? I’m sure he’s fine, a little disappointed that he didn’t get to use his gun, but he’ll recover.”

               Kuroo set Kenma down, “The raid went well?”

               “As well as could be expected for something thrown together so quickly, If I’d had more time I could have –“

               Kuroo squeezed his omega tightly, “I’m so proud of you Kenma.”

               Kenma mumbled a quiet thanks, but couldn’t hide the blush that was spreading across his face quick enough. “Here, you left your phone with Daichi.”

               Kuroo held down the button to restart his cell, the chime reflecting its return to life.

               Kenma leaned against his alpha, ready to go home, happy the raid hadn’t taken more than a day, and looking forward to ordering takeout and cuddling for the next twelve hours.

               “Oh no.”

Kuroo turned back to the lab, practically at a run.

               Kenma mourned the loss of his warmth, but also felt a wave of concern, “Kuroo,” He called after his alpha, “What’s wrong.”

               Kuroo didn’t stop running to respond to Kenma, “Something’s wrong with Hinata, we need to get back now.”

               Kenma broke into a full out sprint.

<<<<>>>> 

 

               Yaku dropped them off right outside their building’s front door. Kuroo launched out before the car had stopped moving, Kenma right on his heels. The elevator took longer than it ever had, and they had to stop at three other floors before reaching theirs.

               Nothing could have prepared them for the smell.

               It was like nothing Kenma had ever experienced. Citrus permeated the walls. It was soaked into the carpet, and seemed too drip off of the ceiling. It was sour. The smell alone made Kenma’s jaw clench his stomach gurgle.

               When they approached their door, Kenma could hear the scratching of trapped cats against the wood. Kuroo was able to open the door after several seconds of fumbling with the keys, and three furry blurs shot past them down the hall. Kenma did not pay them a second glance as he shoved into the apartment, desperately searching for Hinata.

               He was knocked to his knees by the intensity of the smell inside. He gagged violently, his body rejecting the air around him as if it were water or sludge flooding his lungs. Kuroo pushed on, eyes watering.

 The door to the guest room was locked.

 Kuroo backed up for a running start, slamming his body into the door and crashing to the floor along with it. Kenma scrambled to his feet, unable to breathe, blood rushing in his ears, chasing after his mate.

               He caught himself at the threshold of the guestroom, clutching the splintered doorframe for support. Kuroo was on his knees beside the bed, reaching out a tentative hand to Hinata.

               Hinata.

               The omega was white as a sheet, dressed only in his boxers. His hair plastered to his forehead, soaking wet. On the bed around him was a complete ring of sweat. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was ragged and weak. His hands trembled even in his unconscious state. He clearly was not aware of their presence.

               Kuroo dropped his hand before it reached the omega, his eyes met Kenma’s, searching desperately for an answer, “What do we do?”

               Kenma couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe.

               Hinata was hurt.

Sick.

Something was wrong.

Something was so very wrong.

He needed help. Hinata needed real help. Not two men playing hero. He needed a doctor. He needed to be taken somewhere. Anywhere. He needed to be cared for. Treated. He needed Kenma to do something.

               But he couldn’t move.

               Couldn’t breathe.

               He was vaguely aware of Kuroo brushing past him.

               He heard Kuroo’s voice.

               Minutes later there were other voices. Strong, calm voices.

               How could they be so calm?

               People pushed past him.

               There was noise. Voices. Equipment. A heartbeat.

               Was it too fast? Too slow? Too quiet?

               How would Kenma know? He wasn’t fit to help anyone. Why was he even here?

               He should leave.

               It was the only tangible thought that crossed his mind. It was the only thing he could do that would help anyone. None of this would have happened if he was gone.

               He should leave.

               No one was watching him. He would feel their eyes. He always felt their eyes. But now, all eyes were on Hinata. All eyes were on the mess he had caused. No one needed him right now. Hinata did not need him right now.

               He broke into a run. He hated running. But he hated being here. The door was open. Like it knew he needed to go. Not even the door wanted him here.

               He ran down the stairs. He hated stairs. What floor did he live on? How many stairs were there? They just kept going. They were empty. Like his head. The only sound was his breathing. His breathing and his heart. Stupid, stupid heart. The stairs stopped. There was no more down to go. His breathing was loud. But his heart was louder. Stupid, stupid heart. His heart had hurt Hinata. If he had listened to reason. Listened to his brain. Listened to Kuroo. Hinata would be okay.

               All he could hear was his heart.

               Stupid Kenma. Who had listened to his heart.

               He didn’t want to hear his heart anymore.

               He screamed.

               He screamed and screamed. Louder than the pounding in his ears. Louder than the thoughts in his head. His stupid, stupid thoughts.

               He drowned them all out.

               Until there was nothing.

 

<<<<>>>> 

 

               Hinata was moved to a stretcher. The paramedics assured Kuroo that he was stable, but that he would definitely need to spend some time at the hospital. At the very least he was extremely dehydrated, but there could be more going on that would require some testing to figure out.

               Kuroo followed the paramedics the whole way, never once leaving Hinata’s side. Down the elevator, into the ambulance, out of the ambulance, and then behind a curtain where he was swarmed by doctors and nurses.

               They took his blood. They took so much that Kuroo was starting to worry, Hinata was already so pale. Then they hooked him up to fluids, three enormous bags that looked like they weighed as much as the small boy. They tried to get Hinata to talk, but he wouldn’t open his eyes. They took him to get a scan of his brain, but they promised Kuroo that he would be back in ten minutes.

               Kuroo wasn’t sure if he breathed even once while the omega was out of his sight.

               Once Hinata was back, he didn’t fare much better.

               A doctor came and sat next to Kuroo.

               “Are you his mate?”

               Kuroo was startled out of his daze, completely taken aback, “What? No.”

               The doctor chuckled, “Sorry, we tend to make assumptions, it can get kind of embarrassing sometimes.”

               Kuroo smiled politely.

               “So you’re his brother then? Don’t tell me you’re his father.”

               “… Brother… Yeah.” Kuroo stared at the young omega searching for any resemblance. He came to the conclusion that this doctor might be blind, which didn’t bode well for his diagnostic abilities.

               “So it looks like something went wrong with your brother’s heat here. Was recently on any heat suppressants that he might have stopped recently, or maybe switching birth control?”

               “Um… I don’t really know.”

               The doctor smiled again, “Makes sense that you wouldn’t keep track of that right?” He winked at Kuroo.

               Kuroo did not return the gesture.

               “Anyways, we’ve sent off some labs that should give us more conclusive answers on what went wrong. For now, we’ll treat what we can see. His initial labs showed that he was critically low on potassium, and his sodium was sky high. These are common imbalances related to dehydration. We are working to correct those electrolytes as you see here,” He gestured to the fluid rushing into Hinata’s tiny little arm. “Unfortunately, these imbalances have been known to cause seizures. It’s possible that while he was alone, for his heat, that he may have suffered a seizure and is now in what we call a post-ictal state, which is why he won’t respond to us. We’ll hook him up to a continuous EEG to make sure he isn’t still having seizures, but he should be awake and responsive by morning.”

               Kuroo wanted to vomit.

               “Thank you, for coming to talk to me. Is it alright if I stay with him?”

               “Of course. We should be moving him up to a room here soon, so that we can watch him overnight. You are more than welcome to stay with him there.”

               “Okay. Thank you.”

               And Kuroo was left alone with Hinata.

               His color was slowly returning, and he had stopping shaking. If you didn’t look too closely, you might almost believe he was sleeping.

 

<<<<>>>> 

 

               Kenma awoke on his sofa with a start.

               His memory was fuzzy, but he knew he was not responsible for wrapping himself up this tightly in a blanket.

               Jiji was nuzzled up next to his head though, so he was tempted to accept his fate. If he was to die by strangulation by blanket, so be it.

               There was rustling in his kitchen, which he soon realized was not his kitchen. How interesting.

               Tsukishima shuffled into view, and Kenma made no effort to disguise his disgust.

               Tsukishima smiled though, albeit snarkily, and offered a steaming cup of tea.

               “Kuroo’s at the hospital. With the omega.”

               Kenma nodded, still dazed.

               “I found all your cats.”

               Kenma nodded again.

               Tsukishima took a seat.

               “Kuroo says he going to be okay.”

               Kenma doesn’t nod this time.

               “Are you going to be okay?”

               Kenma finally looks up to meet the alpha’s eyes.

               “I don’t know.”

Notes:

Ten points to the person who can figure out what my day job is!
Sorry about the medical terminology, in addition to being a nurse, I am also a nerd.

Real talk, I am sorry for scaring the crap out of all of you with the last chapter, I have since added the HAPPY ENDING tag, probably should've done that sooner. I know I seem mean, but you can trust me on this. And if you came for the Tsukkiyama tag, just keep holding on, it'll be worth it.

Thank you everyone for your time spent looking at my work, we passed 500 and 600 hits in the last 24hours, I can't even fathom how's that's possible. So thank you to each and every one of you for stopping by.