This is a light transition chapter, which came together pretty quickly. I hope you all enjoy it regardless. I've been really moved by everyone's support. There's not so much nice in the world that we can afford to take the kindness offered to us forgotten, so please understand that your support is profoundly motivating to me, and very appreciated. I'm nervous every time I post a new chapter, so I hope you continue to enjoy the story.

It was noisy, Kuroko thought, annoyed. People were murmuring, and... what was that beeping? It was too bright, too. Kuroko scrunched his eyes, and tried to reach for his blanket, but something was attached to his arm. Both of his arms, he realized, twitching slightly.

"I think he's waking up!" Kise? Kuroko was bemused. Why was Kise here?

"Shut up!" Aomine? "The doctor said not to disturb him!" Disturb who?

"Kuroko," Unlike the other two, Akashi gentled his voice, and spoke to him directly. "Are you up for talking to us a little?" Was he? Why did Akashi-kun think he might not be? What was that really annoying beeping? Wanting answers, Kuroko forced his strangely heavy eyelids open. Was opening his eyes always that hard?

Hospital. The noise, the light, the smell. The answer to where he was was the hospital. Why? Looking around the room, he saw all of his old friends. Momoi sat in a chair on the right side of his bed, sadly hugging herself. Aomine and Kise were standing on either side of her, and all three looked haggard. Aomine and Momoi were both in their uniforms, but they were wrinkled and unkept. Even though Aomine wasn't a tidy person, his parents would never have allowed him out of the house looking like that, and Momoi was careful about her uniform. Kise was dressed casually, but the bags under his eyes ruined his usual good looks. Murasakibara and Midorima were standing at the foot of the bed Looking down at him. Murasakibara holding an opened box of pocky in his hand seemed weird, and Midorima had what appeared to be bright pink nail polish in one hand, and a tea cup in the other. Were they both his lucky item? What was going on? Akashi's presence on his left was, as always, powerful. Looking at all of them, they seemed drawn and tired. Even Momoi's flamboyant pink hair seemed lifeless.

"Aka-" He tried to force the words out, but his mouth was so dry. Why was it so dry?

"Don't panic," Akashi-kun said quickly, moving forward to hold Kuroko's hand. "I'm going to talk, and you're going to listen." Kuroko nodded slightly, glancing down at at IVs in each of his arms. "We found you 21 hours ago-" If Kuroko were someone who gaped, he would have been gaping at Akashi. Whatever Akashi-kun saw on his face was enough to bring a wry smile to his lips. "You were in Millenium Park." Ah, Kuroko began to remember, but it was fuzzy. "You fractured your leg while fleeing from your father." His leg? Kuroko glanced down, and sure enough there was a cast encasing it. He didn't feel anything, though. Kuroko looked back at Akashi-kun, putting his questions into his eyes. "You were in the park for three days before we found you," Akashi answered. "You were very seriously were admitted in serious, but not life-threatening, condition."

"We were so worried, Kuroko!" Kise must have been, if he was actually using his name. Kuroko fought to think clearly. "Your heart beat was weird and-"

"Don't ever scare me like that again, Tetsu." Kuroko had never heard Aomine sound that drained. Had his condition really been that bad?

"Yes," Akashi answered, earning another glance from Kuroko. He hadn't precisely forgotten what it was like to be with someone who could read his every thought, but it had been a while since it had happened.

"Tetsu-kun." It was Momoi's watery smile that was the hardest to take.

"Don't be like that, Satsuki!" Aomine reprimanded. "The doctor said he'll be fine."

"I know, but..."

"Do you want a milkshake, Kuro-chin?" Murasakibara asked. Kuroko felt his eyes widen. A milkshake sounded...

"No," Akashi answered. "He can have a sports drink, instead." Kuroko turned, to Akashi, incredulous. Seeing that he was entirely serious, Kuoko put on his best pout. Akashi just smiled. "When you are released from the hospital, I will buy you a milkshake."

"But sports drinks aren't yummy," Murasakibara protested. Kuroko sent him an approving glance. Akashi continued smiling, unaffected.

"Even so." Kuroko gave Akashi a stink eye. "Won't work," Akashi's eyes were laughing at him.

"Well if Aka-chin says so," Murasakibara came up, and ruffled Kuroko's hair. Kuroko frowned, but didn't have the energy to make a fuss about it. Murasakibara left humming, satisfied to have an errand to do for Kuroko.

"I don't know why you're upset when he pets your hair,"Aomine said, chuckling. "It's not like anything he does can make that bed head of your worse." You're just jealous, Kuroko wanted to say, but his throat was still too dry to get the words out.

"He's not jealous," Akashi assured Kuroko.

"We watched you sleep, Kurokocchi," Kise said smiling, as if that wasn't a mildly disturbing thing to do. "You didn't move at all, but your hair!" And just like that, the tension in the room finally broke into laughter. It was good to hear. It had been a long time since he had heard them laugh like that. Kuroko smiled at them, happy, despite the circumstances, to be together again.

"I've got a comb," Momoi said, rousing, and pulling one out of her bag. She tackled his hair with almost frightening determination.

"Oi! Satsuki!" Aomine protested, pulling her off Kuroko. "Let him rest!"

"Actually, Momoi," Akashi intervened, "We need to discuss what we will do now before things go any further." Akashi instantly held the undivided attention of everyone in the room.

"What do you mean, what we will do?" Midorima asked, speaking up for the first time since Kuroko had woken.

"Shouldn't we wait for Murasakibaracchi to return?" Kise questioned simultaneously.

"I'll speak to Murasakibara later," Akashi assured Kise, but didn't directly answer Midorima's question. "Kuroko, do you remember what happened on Monday?" Kuroko searched his memory, and, miraculously, everyone stayed quiet while he thought. Tentatively, he nodded. "I will tell you what I think happened. Shake your head if I make any mistakes." This would have sounded like the beginning of a long yes-no game had anyone other than Akashi suggested it, but it was impossible to have that concern with Akashi. "I will begin when you left school after practice." Kuroko motioned for him to continue. "You left, and realized fairly quickly that you were being followed." Kuroko nodded, hoping his voice came back soon. Choosing not to speak was very different from not being able to speak; even with Akashi in the room, it was frustrating. "I assume that your father and another man - Sawada-san, by name -" Kuroko felt his eyes widen. He had no idea what the stranger's name was.

"Satsuki and I saw your father-" Aomine spat the word out, like he was trying to rid himself of a foul taste in his mouth, "and a man he identified as Sawada-san looking for you in Millenium Park yesterday."

"Thankfully, they left before Muk-kun found you," Momoi added. Kuroko couldn't quite suppress a shiver at the near miss. Unfortunately, every person in the room noticed his fear. I will protect you, they thought, for once, entirely united in purpose.

"They were most likely watching the school gates from a distance, waiting for you." Akashi hesitated, then seemed to decide against whatever he was going to say. "Once you realized that you were being followed, you headed to the park, because there weren't enough people on the streets to loose yourself in a crowd. You pulled out your phone to call for help-" everyone except Kuroko seemed to hone in on those words, "but dropped it in your flight." Kuroko nodded again, unsurprised that he didn't need to correct anything Akashi had said so far.

"Who were you-" Aomine began to ask, then seemed to decide against finishing the question. Akashi glanced at him, but didn't comment.

"After you fractured your leg, it's obvious that you couldn't get help." Akashi continued as though there had been no interruption. "At best you could have taken a few steps to hide before you collapsed. You are attracting more notice now, but you had hidden behind the bushes before you fainted, and complete strangers weren't going to find you there." Kuroko sighed. He hadn't seen any good options; if he hadn't ducked behind the shrubs, his father would have found him, and having hidden, he ended up in the hospital three days later dehydrated. The pain in his leg - which he now remembered vividly - may also have impacted his ability to think clearly at the time.

"The only thing I find unclear, is how you actually fractured your leg," Akashi confessed. Kuroko fought not to smile, despite the situation. Meeting Akashi's eyes, he began gesturing.

"Isn't there a game like this?" Kise asked. His tone was casual, but his eyes were sharp.

"What's that?" Aomine replied, only partially paying attention to the blonde.

"Where you act out a word and everyone has to guess what it is!" Kise sounded aggravated at Aomine's dismissal, but then that was normal for Kise. Aomine snorted.

"He's not acting out a word, he's acting out a story," Aomine corrected, "and wouldn't it suck to play a game like that against Akashi?" Akashi paused and glanced over.

"It would," he confirmed, before turning back to Kuroko, who seemed to be finishing up. "I don't believe you," he told Kuroko. Kuroko made wide eyes at him. Everyone turned to stare at Akashi, but he kept his eyes on Kuroko. The two gazed at each other before Akashi sighed. "You're honestly telling me that a purse snatcher on a bicycle slammed into you so hard you broke your shin crashing into a bench? And your father didn't see where you went because the transvestite who had been robbed ran the thief down and created a scene?" There was a moment of silence and then laughter erupted into the room.

"Aha, you're the best, Tetsu!" Aomine roared, tears forming in the corner of his eyes as he clutched his stomach laughing. Kuroko fought to keep his face blank. Out of all the ways he could have been injured, it had been such an improbable cause. Of course, he had escaped his father so many times before, it had taken something truly bizarre to cause a problem.

"Kurokocchi -" Kise began, but the blond couldn't get any more words out as he double over laughing.

"Don't laugh at Tets-kun! He was hurt!" Momoi chastised, but even she was struggling to keep the smile off her lips.

"I suppose it's acceptable that Akashi wasn't able to predict that," Midorima said, and when he pushed his glasses up, and looked away, Kuroko was fairly certain he was hiding a smile. Murasakibara walked in and looked around.

"...did everyone try laughing gas, Aka-chin?" He asked, and Kuroko had to admit, it was as good a theory as any under the circumstances.

"No, we were just discussing how Kuroko injured himself." Murasakibara handed Kuroko the sports drink while Akashi replied. Kuroko looked at the drink in dismay.

"Why is Kuro-chin's injury funny?" Murasakibara asked, petting Kuroko again. Not waiting for an answer, he continued, "they didn't have vanilla, Kuro-chin," Kuroko wasn't sure there were vanilla flavoured sports drinks, but if they did exist, Murasakibara would know about them.

"The point," Akashi said, as Aomine and Kise finally calmed down, "is that you can't return to Seirin, Kuroko." Kuroko stared at Akashi, hurt. He had expected this, under the circumstances, but hearing it hurt.

"Wait a minute!" Aomine exclaimed, "he loves that school-"

"No," Momoi cut him off sharply. "Akashi is right. If Tetsu-kun's father was waiting outside of school for him, it's not safe to let him go back."

"Akashi," Midorima intervened, "do you think that Kuroko's father was looking for Kuroko at school, and only went to the park afterwards? Is that why we were able to find Kuroko first?"

Akashi smiled at Midorima like a teacher pleased with a gifted student. "He didn't know that Kuroko was absent from school, so he started his search there. After not seeing him there for two days, he went back to the last place he had seen Kuroko, Millenium Park."

"Why is he," Kise said that word like a curse, "so determined now? He didn't stalk Teiko like this, even after Akashicchi moved Kurokocchi out."

"I took the opportunity to do some research on this Sawada character," Akashi replied. "It turns out that he is Kuroko-san's new head of department." Kuroko felt his eyes cloud with tears as he realized what his father had intended. He fought them back, knowing how much more it would upset his friends to see him crying.

"What does that mean, Aka-chin?" Murasakibara asked, not catching on as quickly.

"It means that Kuroko-san intends to use Kuroko. He is most likely looking for a promotion and having Kuroko would tip the balance." The room had been quiet before, but now it was ominously still.

"That's so cold," Momoi said, her voice breaking on the words.

"He's a monster," Midorima added scathingly.

"Kuro-chin should let me crush him," Murasakibara voted.

"Yeah, we should pound him into the ground." Kuroko had never heard Aomine sound so savage.

"Kurokocchi, I love you!" Aomine caught Kise by the scruff as he threw himself towards Kuroko.

"I assume that you have not changed your mind about pressing charges against him," Akashi confirmed, his tone both resigned and frustrated. Kuroko nodded, despite the hurt clawing at him. "In that case, you need to be somewhere safe."

"What are you suggesting, Akashicchi?" Kise asked, watching him carefully. It was strange, but in some ways Akashi and Kise were a lot alike in Kuroko's eyes. Both of them knew what it was like to have people try to use them for their own advantage, so perhaps Kuroko's situation resonated the most with them. They were both exceedingly careful in who they held close, having been hurt in the past.

"As much as I would simply like to transfer Kuroko to Rakuzan-" The protests were instantaneous and loud.

"What the hell?! If he's going anywhere, it should be Too!"

"No way! Kurokocchi would look so much better in a Kaijo uniform!"

"That's not the point, Kise!"

"Shutoku has an excellent library." Midorima's comment could barely be heard over the ruckus.

"Kuro-chin should come to Yonsen. It's the furthest away, and then we can eat snacks together."

"Enough." Akashi was able to cut through the noise without difficulty. Captain or not, he was still Akashi. "I expected everyone would want Kuroko," the way you said that is a little misleading, Kuroko thought, fighting a blush, "so I'm going to arrange for him to be transferred to each of our schools for a period of two months."

"You're saying that he won't be at Seirin for the rest of second year? Even though we're only a couple months in?" Momoi clarified. Kuroko frowned, torn. He didn't want to leave Seirin, he was so happy there, but he wasn't willing to go back to his parents. And no matter what his friends said, he couldn't bring himself to press charges against them. Good or bad, they were all he had. He couldn't just give up on them. Maybe one day he would be able to have a good relationship with them.

"We can draw lots. Since Momoi-san and Aomine both go to Too, only one of you will be able to draw." Aomine opened his mouth to argue, but then seemed to remember that he was talking to Akashi, and shut it. "Murasakibara, give me the pocky."

"Eh?" Murasakibara stared at the pocky in his hand, before slowly handing it over. His reluctance was obvious in every movement he made.

"Now," Akashi began, opening the box, then breaking the bottoms off. Keeping the tops, he handed the bottom pieces to Murasakibara, who ate them, pacified. "The shortest lot gets Kuroko first, the longest gets him last, understood?" Everyone nodded, staring intently at the pocky in Akashi's hand. Kuroko watched, feeling a great deal like a prize in a raffle.