When Akashicchi called everyone to tell them what was going on, he advised them to consider carefully before going to visit. Kise felt that this advice might have been specifically aimed at him. "Tetsu-kun is under an enormous amount of stress," Akashicchi had said. "He is very angry and protective, as I'm sure we can understand. Even friendly visits right now will be initially perceived as a threat. We should give the situation some time to settle and for Tetsu-kun to begin to feel safe before we do anything to add to his distress, including visiting him."

"But Akashicchi," Kise couldn't help but protest. He could hear the high whine in his own voice and he didn't like it, but he couldn't reign it in. "Tetsuyacchi will feel better with friends to support him, won't he? Even if it feels like a threat at first, once he gets over it he'll be glad we came."

"I'm not sure that's true," Akashicchi said. "I'm not sure he found my visit soothing at all, and you know how close we've gotten over the past couple of years. He allowed my presence, but he was almost completely focused on Kagami, and that was clearly his preference. He's too polite to say so, but I'm certain that he wants privacy right now. We need to give him time."

Kise tried. He really did. But he just...couldn't focus. Nothing the teachers said seemed to make any sense. Everything sounded muffled and distant. And honestly, he was shocked that there was still school on a Tuesday when something like this was going on. Shouldn't the world have shivered to a halt when Kise's precious friends were suffering so greatly? He didn't understand it.

So he left. Akashicchi had cautioned against going, but he hadn't withheld the hospital name and room number where Kagamicchi and Tetsuyacchi were staying. Kise took his time getting there, wandering desultorily through public transport and taking care to hide his hair and shade his face so none of his fans would notice him. He didn't feel like smiling and playing nice right now. He wasn't sure he could.

He was afraid that his leisurely pace had backfired on him, though, when he arrived at the room and found it empty. Kise stared around with wide eyes, trying to suppress his panic. The sheets were mussed up and Tetsuyacchi's jacket still hung from the back of the chair, so it wasn't like he had the wrong room. What had happened? Kagamicchi couldn't have... No, he couldn't have. Akashicchi would have called him again. Unless it just happened...

Kise swung away from the room and jogged down to the nurses' station, dodging a man in a wheelchair on the way. He leaned over the desk, almost in the face of the woman who sat there, staring at a computer screen. She recoiled, eyes going wide, and Kise forced himself back a few centimeters. "That room..." he started breathlessly.

She blinked at him and raised her eyebrows, not nearly as concerned as he would have liked. Kise's hand clenched into a fist on the counter. "Kagamicchi... Kagami Taiga. Why is the room empty? Did he...?"

The nurse raised one finger and looked back to the computer screen, then began clicking her mouse. Kise almost flew to pieces, but he realized that she might be checking for him, not ignoring him, so he held it together. After a moment, she looked at him again. "His kidney function was deteriorating, so the attending physician ordered surgery to repair the damage. He's in the OR now."

Kise trembled. "Where? What floor? How long has... No. Just tell me where. Please."

She gave him directions, her eyes softening with sympathy, and Kise raced off with a hurried "Thanks!" over his shoulder. The operating room was ridiculously far away. He didn't know what he was going to do when he got there, he just knew that he had to go. As quickly as possible.

It took Kise some time to find the correct room in the maze of hallways, all blank and empty except for a single sign over each door. Then he saw something ahead and skidded to a halt, panting, hands clenched into fists at his sides. Tetsuyacchi was sitting on a bench opposite a certain door, his hands clasped together and pressed between his knees as he stared blankly across the hall.

"Tetsuyacchi..." Kise held still for a moment, just looking at him. He saw what Akashicchi was talking about. He'd never seen Tetsuyacchi look quite like this, not even when he was going through that terrible ordeal two years ago. Despite his determination to come, to offer whatever he could no matter how unwelcome he might be, Kise hesitated.

Tetsuyacchi looked...brittle. He had gotten a little taller over the years, but never physically imposing. Though Kise knew how strong he was, both physically and mentally, it was easy to overlook that strength even when staring directly at him. Now, Tetsuyacchi sat straight on the bench, his shoulders square, his eyes unblinking. He was obviously doing everything he could to be strong, to be calm, to take care of his brother even when he couldn't see him. But Kise was afraid that if he touched that slender shoulder, Tetsuyacchi would splinter like a frozen branch bent too far.

He considered leaving. Considered taking Akashicchi's advice, for once, and staying out of the way. But it felt like a lump of stone had suddenly appeared in the middle of his chest, heavy and hard and threatening to crush his heart, and he couldn't. He couldn't turn away. He could only move forward.

He moved slowly, at least. He kept his footsteps soft, his movement subtle, rather than bursting in with his usual enthusiasm. When he was a few paces away, Tetsuyacchi's eyes flickered sideways and found him there. He looked forward again without acknowledging Kise's presence, but Kise thought his shoulders might have relaxed, just a little.

It was all the encouragement Kise needed. He perked up and crossed the last little distance, then sat next to Tetsuyacchi and joined him in staring at the operating room door. He said nothing, did nothing. He could feel Tetsuyacchi radiating anger and terror and grief like a small nuclear furnace, and it was all he could do just to endure.

It was Tetsuyacchi who spoke first. "They said it was a routine surgery."

"I see." Kise kept his voice as soft as his movements.

"They said it's not unusual for...wounds like these...to develop complications hours or days after they're inflicted. The doctor acted like... Like Taiga-nii's kidneys starting to not work anymore was a normal thing. Completely normal."

"Hmm."

"A nick on his kidney. That's what the doctor called it. A nick on his kidney. Like Taiga-nii just cut his thumb while he was chopping vegetables for curry. A nick."

"Oh."

Tetsuyachhi whirled on him, his eyes fierce and hard. "Nothing about this is normal. Nothing about this is trivial."

Kise blinked at him. "No," he said. "No, it's not normal at all. Kagamicchi was attacked. That's not normal. It's not trivial. It's evil and terrible and unendurable, and we will never, ever forgive whoever did that to him."

Tetsuyachhi stared at him for a moment longer. His eyes seemed to blaze with their own heat, hard and blue and burning, like an unforgiving star. After a long, considering interval, as if he was gauging Kise's sincerity, Tetsuyacchi nodded faintly to himself, then looked forward again. His eyes still seemed to burn, but at least they were no longer aimed at Kise. Kise couldn't help slumping in relief.

"Taiga-nii is going to be okay," Tetsuyacchi said, his voice low and certain.

Kise nodded. "That's right. We're not going to let him be anything else."

"Life has knocked him down lots of times. He always gets back up."

"I know he does. I've seen him do it."

"Did you know his mom left when he was ten? Just walked right out the door. After yelling at Taiga-nii and his dad that she couldn't endure them, of course."

Kise's breath halted in his throat. "I didn't know that, no," he said after a moment, painfully. "That's horrible."

"He's doesn't like to talk about it. It's probably the worst thing that ever happened to him, even worse than when he got bit by a dog, or when Aniki said he didn't want to be brothers anymore."

Kise drew a shaky breath. "I wouldn't want to talk about it, either."

Tetsuyacchi nodded. "He gets disrespected a lot, because he still acts kind of American sometimes, and he can seem clumsy and awkward. I know he's no scholar, but he's not as stupid as some people think he is. And I hate..." He fell silent.

"You hate it when Kagamicchi isn't treated with the appreciation he deserves," Kise said.

"Yes." Tetsuyacchi stared even harder at the door, as if he could see past it if he just tried hard enough. "Taiga-nii is my big brother, and he's been taking care of me almost since the moment we met. But he takes care of other people, too, without even noticing that he's doing it. He's big and bright and strong and hardworking. And he is so, so kind. I don't think people realize just how kind he is, because we get used to it. We get used to having him around, always looking out for us, cooking food for us, asking if we're all right and catching us when we stumble, winning games and performing impossible feats just because he can't bear to see his friends cry. We're used to watching him get up when the world pushes him down, when he loses, or gets hurt, or cruel words cut him down, or someone close to him pushes him away."

Kise wasn't sure where this was going, but he was glad that Tetsuyacchi was talking to him, at least. He nodded along, because all of this was indisputably true. "Kagamicchi is a very special person," he said, not quite cheerfully, but strongly and whole-heartedly.

Tetsuyacchi nodded as if this went without saying. As it did, honestly. But sometimes it was important to say unspoken truths aloud.

"We're used to watching him get up every time," Tetsuyacchi said softly. "But what if a time comes when he can't?"

Kise's heart stuttered in his chest. But the answer was easy. "Then we'll pull him up ourselves."

Tetsuyacchi was quiet. He leaned forward, still pressing his hands between his knees. Kise realized that he was doing that to keep his hands from shaking.

"Tetsuyacchi." Kise leaned forward, too. "You forgot to mention one other time that was really difficult for Kagamicchi. Maybe even the hardest of all."

Tetsuyacchi turned to his head to stare at him, unblinking.

Kise drew a breath. He didn't much like remembering this. "Two years ago, when we were all so scared that we might lose you. You were kind of caught up in it, so you don't know... But Kagamicchi was terrified. The rest of us were too, but he... He took it the hardest. But he got through it. And so did you. We're not gonna let this time be any different."

Tetsuyacchi looked forward again. His shoulders fell down.

"This is a routine surgery, right?" Kise said, not as a question at all. "The doctor treated it like it was no big deal. Not because it isn't a big deal—it certainly is, to us, it's a terrible, horrible, awful thing that we will all have to deal with—but because the doctor knew exactly what to do. The doctors here fix damaged kidneys all the time. They know what they're doing. It's no big deal to them because they do it so often. And that's a good thing. It means that Kagamicchi is going to be just fine."

Tetsuyacchi was still for a while, considering this. Then he nodded. It was slow and weary, and his eyes fell half shut, hiding that burning blue fire. Kise breathed out a sigh of relief.

"I'm gonna stay with you, okay, Tetsuyacchi? I don't want you to be alone while you wait. Is it okay if I stay here?"

Tetsuyacchi blew out a breath and sat up straight again, then leaned back into the wall. "Yes, it's okay. Thank you, Kise-kun."

"Think nothing of it." Kise leaned back, too.

Tetsuyacchi's shoulder pressed against his, just barely. It was trembling. Kise bit his lip and did his best not to mention it.

"I bet you haven't eaten since this started, have you?" he asked instead. "When Kagamicchi is out of surgery, we should get some food for you."

"That would be nice."

Kise did not mention the other thing, that it certainly would be nice if Tetsuyacchi could get some sleep, too. He was clearly running on ten percent adrenaline, ninety percent rage. But Kise was smart enough to recognize an impossible task when he saw it. One step at a time.

Tetsuyacchi wanted to take care of his brother. That was fine and good and exactly as it should be, of course. But in the meantime, Kise would do what he could to take care of Tetsuyacchi, too. It was why he hadn't been able to stay away.

Kagamicchi would be happy that someone was looking out for his little brother while he couldn't. Kise was glad to take responsibility. Maybe the world wouldn't stop when his precious friends were in trouble, but Kise certainly would.