It had been a while since the team had met at Maji Burger, but it was Sunday and they weren't planning to practice, just discuss strategy for the upcoming Inter-High. Most of the new first-years had already arrived, eager little beavers that they were, and Hyuuga was still watching out the window for the rest of the team when Tetsu showed up alone. Since everything had gone down at the end of the last school year, it had gotten a lot easier to notice Tetsu, partly because Hyuuga felt like he knew him much better now (finding out that your kouhai had been viciously abused had that kind of effect), and partly because Tetsu didn't constantly hide himself the way he used to do.

It was odd to see Tetsu without Kagami, though. The two had already been pretty inseparable before they became adopted brothers, but now it was downright weird to see one without the other. When Tetsu stepped inside the door, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the change in light, Hyuuga stepped over to meet him. His eyebrow twitched when Kiyoshi followed right behind him, too close.

"Hey, Tetsu-kun." Hyuuga crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back on his heels. "Where's Kagami? Is that idiot skipping?"

Tetsu shook his head, his eyes wide. "No..." His breath hitched and he looked around, rubbing a hand over his face. "We went to the park to meet Aomine-kun and Nigou, and Taiga-nii had an accident."

Kiyoshi gasped. "Kagami is hurt?"

"Oh, no." Tetsu shook his head and looked up at him. He seemed off-balance, unsteady. Hyuuga would certainly understand that if Tetsu's big brother was hurt, but Tetsu had just said he wasn't. "He just...uh... Got his clothes wet. He went home to change. He told me to go ahead."

"Got his clothes wet, huh?" Kiyoshi's voice was rich with amusement. "Did he fall into a fountain?"

Tetsu didn't smile back. He looked around again, distracted and agitated. "Yes. It was very funny. I'm sorry, Kiyoshi-senpai, Hyuuga-senpai, would you please excuse me? I need to...go back outside."

Kiyoshi blinked. "Of course."

Tetsu spun around where he stood and all but ran out the door, his movements hasty, his hands fumbling and sliding off the door handle with the force of his push. Outside, he moved several meters away to the edge of the sidewalk and then sat, suddenly, on the curb. His hands rose to his face and he bent over himself, his body huddled. Even from this distance, Hyuuga thought he could see him shaking.

Hyuuga and Kiyoshi looked at each other. This looked like a panic attack. Why?

Hyuuga glanced around, and it hit him. They were at Maji Burger. Was this the first time Tetsu had been here since that day he met his father? The booth where Hyuuga had sat beside that man, blocking him between his body and Kiyoshi's, was only a few steps away. It still made Hyuuga's skin crawl to remember sitting so close to that man, feeling his body heat, hearing his rough, angry voice spouting dismissive words as he tried to pass off what he'd done to his child as "just a little discipline".

How much worse must it be for Tetsu? Hyuuga stared at him through window. A lot worse, it looked like.

Kiyoshi nudged his shoulder. His voice was anxious. "Hyuuga... What do we do?"

This had happened a few times at school and practice. Something would happen that would remind Tetsu of the bad things he'd experienced—Kagami called it being "triggered"—and he would abruptly close himself off. Sometimes he had to take a break so he could calm down. Sometimes it took a while.

Kagami really shone as a big brother then. Hyuuga didn't know quite how he did it, but he always seemed to know exactly what to do. He would go and take Tetsu aside and talk to him, very calmly and gently. Sometimes there was hugging. Sometimes they just sat next to each other. Sometimes Tetsu cried, and everyone else pretended they didn't know. Sometimes Kagami cried too, which made it really hard for the rest of the team not to burst into sympathetic tears as well. It was just so unexpected and awful, every time.

But Kagami wasn't here. He'd gone and fallen into a fountain, the idiot, and now his poor little brother was all alone to deal with his troubles.

His senpai had to step up.

"We have to do something," Hyuuga said grimly. Kiyoshi raised his eyebrows, uncharacteristically hesitant. "I know we don't know what!" Hyuuga said, irritation heightening his voice. "But we have to try!"

"I didn't disagree," Kiyoshi said mildly. He set his hand on the door. "Let's go, then."

Outside, though, Kiyoshi slowed down, all but dragging his feet on the concrete. Hyuuga shoved his shoulder and pushed past him, then plopped down next to Tetsu on the curb. Kiyoshi sat down on the other side, moving his large frame gently and quietly. They were just noisy enough that they managed not to startle the poor kid. Hyuuga was grateful for small favors.

They sat there. Kiyoshi rested his big hands on his knees. Hyuuga leaned back with his hands braced on the sidewalk behind him and squinted up at the sky, unaccountably irritated by how blue the sky was, how bright the sun. Tetsu kept his face buried in his hands.

Kiyoshi opened his mouth several times as if to say something, but closed it every time, his eyebrows bent in costernation. Hyuuga glared at him, urging him to spit it out, and Kiyoshi just shook his head gently and raised his eyebrows. Go on, Captain. Take care of your kouhai.

Hyuuga scowled, then drew a deep breath. "Tetsu-kun..."

"I'm sorry," Tetsu said. His voice was soft and breathless. It didn't seem like he'd heard Hyuuga at all. Hyuuga shut his mouth with a frown.

"I'm sorry," Tetsu said again. "I'm not okay. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize." Kiyoshi lifted a hand, slow and careful, and placed it high on Tetsu's bowed back, pressing there warm and solid and huge. "There's nothing wrong with you. We're sorry we scheduled this meeting for a place that troubles you so deeply."

"I thought I was okay," Tetsu said. "We've come here for shakes and burgers after practice a few times. But we only stepped in the lobby. We didn't go back to the booths."

Hyuuga nodded slowly. He had wondered about that, if Kagami and Tetsu really had gone this entire time without indulging in the junk food they both enjoyed so much. That explained it, anyway. "It's unpredictable, right?" he asked uncertainly.

Tetsu blew out a shaky breath. "Yes. I am constantly surprised by the things that will bring back bad moments for me. If I knew what they were, I'd avoid them. But I usually don't."

Kiyoshi rubbed his upper back in big circles, slow and soothing. "Do you want to talk about what troubled you this time?"

"I don't know. I think it was just...the smell. Or the heat. I was so very sick that day. I saw my father's face as through a haze. At the end of our conversation he was...very angry at me. I begged him to let me go, and he attacked me instead." He let out a chuckle, small and broken, very near a sob. "I was an idiot to come here alone, to meet the man who treated me like a monster and expect any kind of respect or reason from him. What was I thinking?"

"You were sick," Hyuuga said, his voice growling in his throat. "You weren't thinking clearly. No one blames you for that."

"You gave your father one last chance," Kiyoshi said. "One last chance to be a father to you, to treat you with the kindness and consideration you deserved. Some might call you noble for that. That he rejected your offer is a sign of just how far he had fallen. It had no reflection on you."

Tetsu sniffed, considering this. "But what if Hiroshi-san hadn't come in time? What if my father had been able to drag me all the back to that apartment? I might have..." He caught his breath. "I might have never gotten away again. And I was so sick. I might have died there."

Hyuuga felt sick to his stomach. It was true that Tetsu had been ridiculously sick that day. It still made his heart twist to remember looking at Tetsu across that table, seeing him lean on Kagami Hiroshi's shoulder, flushed and limp and almost comatose. Tetsu in that state, trapped in a few small rooms with the man who had used him so cruelly, did not bear imagining.

"It didn't happen," Kiyoshi said gently. He stopped rubbing Tetsu's back in circles and started going up and down, as if that might help. "We can't dwell on the what-ifs."

Hyuuga's nose wrinkled. All of Kiyoshi's gentle back-rubbing was starting to irritate him for some reason. Maybe because he felt like he was losing, somehow. He was the captain. He should be able to comfort his distressed subordinate.

He sat up straight and lifted a hand, then dropped it heavily onto Tetsu's bowed head and startled ruffling through his hair. He knew he was a little too rough, but he didn't know how else to do it. "And even if he had, so what?" he said gruffly. "We wouldn't have stood for it. We would have gone after you. Do you think we wouldn't?"

Tetsu huffed. "But you wouldn't have known where I was. I didn't tell anyone I was meeting with my father."

"We would have figured it out. And I'm sure you would have left some sort of clue for us. You're smart. Plus, there were other people there. We could have talked to someone and figured out what happened."

Tetsu's shoulders started to relax from their tight hunch. Just slightly. He was still pretty tense. "But...Hiroshi-san wouldn't have had any right to me. My father still had legal custody."

"You think we would have cared about something like that? Especially your big brother? And your rightful father, Kagami Hiroshi-san?" Hyuuga shook his head, slow and solemn. "No way. None of us would have given a single crap about the law. Not when we knew you were hurting and in danger."

"But what if..."

"We would have kicked down the door to get to you, Tetsu-kun. All of us, singly or together. You can ask anyone, anyone at all."

Kiyoshi hummed. "It's true."

"The same day," Hyuuga promised, loud and firm. "The same day your horrible father dared to try to take you away from us, we would have gone after you and gotten you out. I guarantee it. You might have gotten to the hospital a few hours later, but you still would have been just fine. No other outcome is acceptable."

Tetsu's shoulders relaxed a little more. Hyuuga let his hand rest in his hair, and Kiyoshi's hand went still on his back. Tetsu's breathing had evened out, too, and he wasn't shaking as hard. Light tremors passed over him now and then, that was all.

"Hey!"

Hyuuga looked up. Kagami Taiga was racing toward them down the sidewalk, his eyes wide and frantic. When he reached them, he immediately crouched in front of Tetsu and reached out to place his hands on his shoulders. He didn't seem to care at all that he was practically in the street.

"Tetsu-chan." His voice went low and tender, belying the frantic rush that had brought him here. "Are you okay?"

Tetsu nodded, but he didn't raise his head.

Hyuuga scowled at him. "Your clothes are still wet. I thought you were going home to change."

"Yeah." Kagami let go of Tetsu with one hand so he could pull at the damp fabric over his stomach, tugging it away from the skin. "It's fine. I dried a little in the sun on the way over here. I was gonna go home, I was on my way, but then I remembered that we were meeting at Maji Burger, and..." He shrugged. "I dunno. I had a bad feeling."

"You were right to," Kiyoshi said. "Your big brother instincts are amazing."

Kagami blushed. Hard. He remained focused on Tetsu, though.

After a little longer, Tetsu raised his head out of his hands and gave Kagami a smile. "I'm okay. I'm getting there, anyway. Our senpai took good care of me."

"Yeah." Kagami nodded to each of them in turn. "I'm grateful."

Tetsu straightened, at last, sitting up on the curb. Kiyoshi and Hyuuga let their hands slide away. As soon as Tetsu's posture was open enough, Kagami scooped him into a hug. Neither of them seemed to care that Tetsu was getting wet, too.

Unwilling to intrude on the brotherly moment, Kiyoshi and Hyuuga awkwardly clambered to their feet. Then they just kind of stood there on the sidewalk, unsure of what to do. Kiyoshi bounced his fists against his sides and pursed his lips. Hyuuga rubbed the back of his head.

Eventually, though, Tetsu drew back from Kagami so he could look up and give them each a warm smile. "You were very helpful, both of you," he said. "Thank you very much, Kiyoshi-nii, Hyuuga-nii."

Kiyoshi grinned like a maniac, then reached over and nudged Hyuuga to pick his jaw up off the floor. "Of course, Tetsu-chan. Anytime."

Hyuuga just stared at him. Kiyoshi nudged him again. Hyuuga flushed and looked away. "It was nothing...Tetsu-chan."

He rubbed his head again, more vigorously, then pulled himself together. More of the team had gathered inside. He pointed his thumb over his shoulder, back into the restaurant. "We'll go...get the meeting started. Come in when you're ready. Or...if you need to go home to, you know, get Kagami some clothes, that's fine. We can fill you in on the details later."

Tetsu shook his head. "I'm sure we'll be in soon. Just a few more minutes."

Hyuuga waved a hand. "Take your time, take your time."

He stumbled back into Maji Burger, Kiyoshi laughing on his heels. Once they were inside, Kiyoshi shoved his shoulder. "You're such a pushover, Hyuuga-nii," he teased. "Shouldn't you be yelling at your kouhai and ordering them to get to the meeting? All Tetsu-chan has to do is call you 'nii-san' once and all of your harsh captain skills fly away."

"Shut up," Hyuuga growled, shoving him back. "It would be pure cruelty not to give Tetsu-chan a little more time to recover from an attack like that. It's not because he called me -nii."

"Whatever you say, whatever you say." Kiyoshi was still laughing.

Hyuuga grit his teeth, then shook his head and stomped over to the table where most of the team was waiting. "Oi! Is everyone here? Let's start talking strategy."

The End

A/N: I reserve the right to expand this little universe with future tiny sequels as I see fit, but this is it for now. Hope you enjoyed