Lights Out

                                    

                                          
CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter will feature a SEVERELY gruesome injury. Please DO NOT read any further if you are sensitive to this type of content. There is also a little strong language in here too.
                          
A second brief word of warning: Some chapters of this story from here on out will get pretty dark, and may be objectionable to some readers. Again, I will mark these chapters that may contain such content with a CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNING label at the top of each chapter.
                          
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It was now July 25. It had been a few days since Kousei had been released from the hospital, again. Of course, he was still undergoing his weekly battery of tests, to make sure his speech would be sharp again, which it was not, even though he had also no signs of it deteriorating either, and while he was starting to look haggardly, he had not deteriorated much further either in the week that had passed. 
                          
He also wanted to just be left alone, and when he talked to Kaori, he wouldn't elaborate why he wanted to be left alone, and Kaori just left things at that; this left her concerned for Kousei, as to why he had become more secretive over the summer towards her, Watari and Tsubaki.
                          
His musical tastes had drifted away largely from the classical music trappings of his type, and more into 1970s and 1980s rock and pop. He was listening to Is This Love by Whitesnake, as he woke up in the late afternoon, shirtless and wearing nothing but his biker shorts. It was now becoming common for him to sleep in early evening or early morning and wake up either in the late afternoon or late night, depending on when he slept.
                          
Fuck it all, what do I care? It's 1pm, I'll just go play the piano and maybe go out to a pool or a park and walk. Everything is becoming a chore to me these days.
                          
Kousei got up, and got out one of his favorite egg sandwiches, with some canned UCC milk coffee with him. He ate it, and while he could eat it, he was starting to realize that his sense of taste had faded considerably.
                          
"What.... the..... hell?! This tastes.... like shit. I can't.... taste anything.... decent..... anymore!" Kousei then spit it out on the sink, because his sense of taste had faded away. By now, he'd tried to play the piano, but he still sounded just..... awful now. Unable to get his touch back, his piano playing skills were as good as done to him. Unable to play the piano again, he just decided, with his limited mobility, to just walk around a park to keep his mind at ease. He put his charcoal gray tank top on, as it was 84 degrees F/29 degrees C outside. 
                          
Everyone he knew was just around having a good time doing various things as they would do in the summer, and Kousei decided to go incognito and put on a Toronto Blue Jays cap on which he had not worn for a while and sunglasses so people wouldn't recognize him all haggardly and leave his friends heartbroken over what he had become. He got his cane, as it was now the only thing that was keeping his mobility together.

                          
One of the places he walked was the bakery that was run by Kaori's parents, Ryoko and Yoshiyuki. At first, they didn't recognize that it was Kousei, since he had the sunglasses and ballcap on. But then they knew it was him, judging by his messy hairstyle under his hat.
                          
"Kousei.... is that you?" Ryoko asked the teen boy. "Yes..... how did.... you know.... it was.... me, Miss Miyazono?" Ryoko told her "Please, Kousei, call me Ryoko. How have you been? You've been through a lot." Kousei, said "Eh, it's..... alright. Life is.... okay.... I guess. I'm sorry..... I haven't..... seen Kaori.... a lot.... lately. It's.... because of..... personal.... problems of..... mine.... I'd rather.... not talk..... about." He kept his hat and sunglasses on. 
                          
Yoshiyuki said "I see, Kousei. We saw you at the Gala, and you were quite amazing with my daughter. She really likes you." Kousei said. "Yeah.... I guess. I need.... to walk... around a..... bit more. Tell.... Kaori I.... said.... hello." Ryoko nodded and smiled. "Here, Kousei.... have this, on me." Ryoko handed Kousei a small loaf of bread. "If you want to see Kaori, she's right by our home, and she's playing football with your friends." 
                          
Kousei nodded. "Thank.... you.... Ryoko. See you.... soon...." Kousei then took the loaf of bread and got his cane and walked back on his merry way. As he left, those warm feelings Ryoko and Yoshiyuki had for Kousei when they saw him gave way to ones of concern. "He hasn't been doing so well, what is going on with Kaori's friend?" Yoshiyuki asked.
                          
Ryoko told him "It's a long story, but he has basically lost his foot, hit his head twice and now he's looking pretty bad. I don't know..... what will be this guy's future? What will happen to Kaori if Kousei finally goes?" Ryoko and Yoshiyuki just gazed at each other with looks of worry coming from the two, having known very well what Kousei had gone through on the TV news. Another point of concern for the Miyazonos was also how Takahiko, Kousei's father, was managing himself in spite of Kousei's problems.
                          
Even as Kaori was playing with her CFL ball again with Watari and Tsubaki, the three were seemingly oblivious over how Kousei had been since the heart attack. They just kept playing football on this warm day, because even musicians like Kaori need time to unwind, especially on this warm summer day. He was eating the loaf of bread the Miyazonos gave him, and he ate it contently.
                          
Just then, Kousei then came to a crosswalk. Kousei then started to feel a numbing sensation on his feet, and his chest was feeling tight. "God.... no.... not this.... again...... my feeet..... where.... are.... they?" Before long, a Toei bus came towards Kousei at full speed. Kousei, whose eyesight along with his wearing of the sunglasses meant that he couldn't see the bus from that far, tried to get back up, despite the fact that his feet were losing sensation within him. The bus driver, completely unaware of things, had a tiresome look on his face, dreaming about the end of his shift which just so happened to be right after he completed his current route.
                          
Kousei tried to get himself out of harm's way, but the Toei bus, travelling at its full speed, and the driver not aware of Kousei until he was very near the bus, alongside Kousei's fading vision and his sunglasses making him unable to see the bus meant it was too late to stop Kousei from what would eventually become his fate: The bus ran over the nearly-stationary Kousei over with full force, sending him flying a few feet/meters into the air, and tossing him several feet/meters away until his head came towards the concrete curb of the crosswalk, hitting and damaging it considerably with its impact; part of his spine also broke hitting the pavement as well. He didn't even scream upon getting hit by the bus.
                          
Kousei had now suffered his third, and most dangerous blow to the head. The bus came to a stop as all 11 passengers on the bus looked in horror as to what they saw: Kousei Arima had been run over, his Toronto Blue Jays cap was a few feet/meters away, as was his prosthetic left foot, his sunglasses and glasses were broken, and he was keeled over with blood emanating from his head and most of his body. An ambulance, which had been driving over the area, came to Kousei immediately. 
                          
The passengers looked on in horror as to what had happened to the one-time child piano prodigy; quite a few were crying over this tragic event. This was a far cry from his days as recently as last year, and even a few months ago when Kousei had met Kaori. One of the passenger witnesses had a heart attack over the sight of the severely injured Kousei. The driver of the bus also had a panic attack over all this, and here police cars came over to help out the distressed passengers. It made for a very chaotic scene, and a few news reporters came over to talk to the witnesses to describe what they saw.
                          
"We were just minding our own business when the driver runs over this boy! He was a sitting duck, this sucks!"
                          
 "I'm crying.... I think this boy was the piano prodigy, Kousei Arima..... he's been through a lot, but I can't believe this has happened to him!"
                          
"Dear lord....... this is the worst day of my life, seeing the poor boy being run over by our bus!"
                          
Kaori, Tsubaki and Watari, who were several blocks away, noticed the sirens, but they didn't bother checking on what had happened, thinking it didn't concern them. They just kept playing football even long after the sirens had faded away. Little did they know, that their friend Kousei would be severely impacted by this, and the lives of the three would NEVER be the same after what had happened on this warm July day. Kousei Arima, most of all, would soon become a former shell of his old self..... and that his depression would become even worse. His whole world was now fading fast.