Takao desperately wanted to get rid of the deafening silence permeating the air around them. It was after the winter cup, all of the Miracles had met up for a game. He was coming to pick Midorima up after, as had Himuro, Kagami, Mibuchi, and Momoi. Once he got to the court, he saw Midorima packing his things and speaking with Akashi. All seemed normal and he was walking up to them, when he heard Akashi say something that he didn't understand.

"Have you had any meltdowns recently?"

Meltdowns? What meltdowns?

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked. Takao thought he heard Midorima make a choking sound and he suddenly stiffened up. Akashi looked at Midorima and then at Takao, and realized that Takao did not know. Before he could defuse the situation, Kise spoke up.

"What do you mean by that? Akashicchi is talking about Midorimachhi's meltdowns."

"Meltdowns from what?" Takao asked, clearly perplexed. He saw Midorima shoot Kise a look of rage, and Kuroko gave Kise a painful jab, but before anyone could do anything Murasakibara looked up from his food and spoke.

"From his Asperger's Syndrome, duh."

Asperger's Syndrome. The term, despite being foreign, was somehow still familiar. Where had he heard it from?

Wait...Asperger's Syndrome...was part of the autism spectrum disorder.

Takao looked up at the greenette, who looked white as a sheet. Had Midorima really not told him?

"Shin-chan, you're autistic?"

The shooting guard looked away, but he still answered.

"Yes."

They didn't even speak on the train. Takao wanted to say something. In truth, he felt a twinge of betrayal. Why hadn't Midorima told him anything? When he got home, he was curious, so he searched up facts about autism and Asperger's Syndrome. After looking up everything he could, he felt he understood Midorima a little better. His obsession with horoscopes and lucky items were routine, and it explained why he would get extremely irritated when he couldn't find what he needed. His constant taping of fingers was explained as well.

But, why hadn't he told him?

It seemed it was only the GoM that had known because everyone else's faces had 'surprise' written all over.

But the others were different. He and Midorima trusted each other a lot, and he had never expected something like this.

They didn't speak to each other all weekend, but once it was time for school Takao was determined to find Midorima. Takao was a little hurt when Midorima seemed to turn away from him after they spotted each other. He waited for lunch so that he could figure out what he wanted to say.

Once lunch came about, Takao barged into Midorima's class, and despite the latter's protests, dragged him to the roof. Midorima tried to turn away but Takao grabbed him and forced him to look. However, Takao didn't expect this.

Midorima looked...afraid?

Really, it was more like insecure. He seemed to be sweating a lot and was darting his eyes back and forth. Then, he looked straight at Takao.

"Takao-"

"Shin-chan, why didn't you tell me?"

This...surprised Midorima. He expected ridicule and anger, but not this. It seemed to him like Takao was concerned, but usually people just turned away. What was going on?

It took Midorima two minutes. Takao could tell he was thinking carefully, but that it was also an uncomfortable topic. His mouth was clenched tightly. Then, he spoke, although it seemed like he was forcing the words out.

"Takao, I couldn't tell you. You'd probably make fun of me or something of that sort, or just think of me as another autistic person..."

"Shin-chan, I have no idea what made you think that, but that's not true. I would never. All I wanna know is why the other miracles know and why I don't."

Midorima seemed to relax a little, but only slightly. He sighed, and then sat down. Takao copied Midorima's actions, and once again waited patiently for the ace to start.

"I had actually never planned for them to know. In elementary, the other kids used to tease and mock me. All they ever saw was the autism. I decided that I would hide it as best I could. However, Akashi was smart. He obviously figured it out and confronted me about it. This was in our first year. After he confirmed it, he said that it would be best to tell the others just so that they would understand. Aomine and Kise didn't seem to care, Kuroko had no problem, and Murasakibara acted normally. None of them had problems with it. It didn't stop Akashi from making me vice-captain later on either.

However, not everyone could be like that. Obviously, not everyone is going to act like they did. So, I decided no one in high school would know either. As for you, we weren't close at the beginning so I saw no reason for you to know. By the time we got as close was we did, I...I...didn't know how to tell you. I was also worried that you'd treat me differently."

Midorima let out a heavy sigh. He was known a huge tsundere, so talking about his feeling like that was extremely difficult. The whole time he felt like he was going to choke and he just wanted to leave.

Takao seemed to think over all this information. He was thinking about the best course of action to take. He didn't want to lose Midorima's trust, but he also wanted to address it. The rest of the team, or at least the captain and the other starters should know. They were his senpai, after all, they'd understand. After sitting in silence for a few minutes, Takao spoke up.

"Shin-chan," he said, waiting for Midorima to look at him, "I am never, and I repeat, never, going to make fun of you or look down at you just because of this. I want you to know that you can trust me, and the rest of the senpai as well."

Midorima finally relaxed. It seemed he even had a small smile on his face. There would be no ridicule to face, only trust.

"Do you want to go tell the senpai now or after school?" Takao asked.

"I...I think I'd prefer now," he answered back.

Takao smiled. He was sure that once the senpai knew, they'd be more understanding. If anyone ever dared hurt him in any way, Takao and the others would be sure to protect him.

"Great!"

Inspired by a few other fics. I don't own any of the characters. Dunno where all this came from, hope it was decent.