The subject of Ayumi was dropped after Kuroko's collision with the lamp-post, and Hana didn't try to think much after that. 'Try' being the key word here. The only thing really distracting her, though, was the bottle of pain meds that she had stored in her kitchen cabinet. They were calling her name, their voice growing louder and louder with each passing minute. The ice pack that was strapped to her ankle was melting faster than predicted, so the pain it had been suppressing till now was making its way up her body; an unwelcomed addition to a growing headache. It had been stupid to try and ignore the state her leg had been in at work. But instead of badgering herself about it, she tried to let the constant motion of Kagami's body as he walked lull her mind into a semi-conscious state. She was so exhausted.

Closing her eyes to rest them for a moment, she sighed.

"You okay?"

Stirred by the deep voice, Hana's head separates from the male's broad shoulder. "S-sorry!"

Surprisingly, he looked unfazed by their close proximity. The stuttering mess he'd been in a while ago, now in odd contrast to his current demeanor. "You're tired," he says. It's not a question.

Her mouth is sticky and dry, but she answers. "Yeah. It's been... It's been a really long day," she breathes out.

There's a flash of a smile. "Yeah, it has. But you don't have to worry anymore, cuz we're finally at your place."

Lifting her head, she sees the familiar trees that surround the park suddenly appear beside the sidewalk, obscuring the moon above them. As they crossed the street and approached the 3-story building, Kuroko handed Hana her purse and stepped toward the convenience store. "I'm going to pick up some things first. You'll be okay, Kagami-kun?"

Before Hana could say anything, Kagami nodded. "I got it."

The blue-haired boy grinned, amused by the change in his friend's attitude throughout the evening. He looked at Hana. "On which floor is your apartment?"

"O-on the second floor. It's the one right next to the stairway, so you can't miss it."

"Okay, I'll be right back."

And with that, Kagami readjusts Hana in his arms before starting toward the stairs. "A-are you sure, Kagami-kun?"

He lifts an eyebrow. "Of what? You think I can't handle this, either?"

"No! I just-whoa-!" Her body swayed back and forth at his steps, and she panics at how high she's off the ground with the addition of Kagami's height. It was silly since she wasn't afraid of heights in the first place, but in her anxious mind she imagines herself on a tightrope, prompting her to grab onto him for dear life. And as she does just that, she's met with the sound of a chuckle.

"Relax. If I couldn't handle this much, don't you think I would've dropped you by now?"

"I-is that supposed to be comforting!?"

"Eh? Are you seriously scared?"

She was. He was bounding up the flight of stairs so quickly, Hana was beginning to doubt he was human at all. Did all basketball players have this crazy amount of stamina? He'd been carrying her this entire time, so shouldn't his arms be in complete agony? This guy was unreal!

Luckily for Hana, Kagami's long legs got her to the second floor in record speed. Walking toward her doorway, he calls in a nonchalant way: "Special delivery!"

They're met with silence before she reminds him, "...I live alone, remember?"

"A-ah! I forgot."

She caught herself smiling as she retrieves her keys from her purse. It was a silly thing to feel giddy about, but it almost brought a sense of familiarity between the two of them. As if they were close enough to let each other's families know that they'd walked the other one home... Rolling her eyes at the obsurdity of where her imagination was taking her, she manages to unlock her door and open it to reveal familiar territory. Finally, the finish line.

"You can let me down now."

Kagami hesitated at that. "Are you sure?"

She nods, eager to take things from here. The sudden readjustment to gravity, however, makes her head spin. When her good leg meets the ground first, she finds herself wobbling a bit as she tries to keep herself from putting too much pressure onto her swollen ankle.

"Hey, careful!" he says worriedly.

Hana stays upright with Kagami's steady arm around her waist, the ring dangling from his neck lightly bouncing off her cheek from having rushed forward. When the side of her foot presses against the door, she drew a sharp breath.

"Here, I'll help you get inside." He reached forward, having seen an outline of the light switch, and squinted his eyes a little once the lights were turned on. Hana's gaze dropped to the floor, then suddenly back up to her ceiling. He'd scooped her into his arms again and muttered, "Excuse me," as he carried her through the entrance and past the small kitchen. Making his way into the living room, he uses his elbow to turn on the rest of the lights, preventing himself from tripping over a coffee table before gently placing the girl onto a soft couch.

Still cringing from the pain, Hana watches in curiosity as the teenager began to collect the cushions from the armchair beside them. "What are you doing?"

"If we don't elevate your leg it's going to get worse," Kagami said warily. "Here, you should put this behind your back, too." He motioned for her to sit up, and then positioned the cushions behind her. Her ankle may have been hurting, and her head throbbing, but the boy that had swooped in to assist her had her staring back in fascination. "Um..."

Hana flinched. She realizes he's on his knees now and looking at her. "Y-yes?"

"I'm... I'm going to put some cushions under your legs, so" -he scratches the back of his neck in mild embarrassment.

"O-oh! Sure, go ahead." By now, even the headache has been momentarily forgotten. One of his arms slips under her bare legs, careful to avoid her injury as he lifts them up and slips the cushions beneath her in one swift motion. Once the deed was done, he gives them one final inspection before dropping his head and giving a sigh of relief. The composure he'd been keeping till now vanished. Even her suspicions of him being inhuman were proven wrong when he began to stretch his aching arms, and groan as he cracked his neck in several places. He was dead-tired.

"Sorry, Kagami-kun."

"Again?" he murmured. He huffed out a small breath before resting an elbow against the glass coffee table behind him, and smirked. "It's no big deal. I said I could handle it, and I did, right?"

Hana's heart tightened in her chest. "Yeah, you did. Thank you for that."

He gives a faint wave of his hand before repositioning himself on the floor, letting his eyes wander around the room for the first time. He'd been so preoccupied with helping her that he'd nearly forgotten where it was he'd walked into.

My house. He's in my house.

Hana's fingers nervously intertwine in her lap as she stares at him. He looked so out of place sitting in the corner of her tiny living room. Surrounded by soft colored furniture, and facing a dish filled with sweet-scented potpourri on the coffee table. Just seeing him in her home at all was like trying to attach a puzzle piece to a crossword puzzle.

"Oh, crap!"

"Wh-what?" Hana asked.

"I forgot to take off my shoes before coming in here!"

She watches as his eyes whip behind him in horror, as if measuring the distance he'd walked from the main entrance to where he was now. Hana looked on in amusement. "It's kind of too late to be worrying about that now, don't you think?"

"Eh? Uh, y-yeah." He gives an awkward chuckle before absently reaching behind him and scratching his back, unsure of what to do with himself or where he should look. "I wonder what's taking Kuroko so long," he grumbled, but mostly to himself. "I don't think he mentioned anything about what he was getting, either..."

"I don't think he did," Hana murmured. Her head ached dully as she tried to relax against the couch. "But he said he'd be right back."

"I guess." Kagami's brow furrows in annoyance as he hunches over, letting his elbow dig into his thigh.

Why had he gone to the convenience store? Hana wondered. Weren't they just supposed to drop her off? She glances up at the polka-dotted clock that hung on the wall above her. 7:35 p.m., she noted. There was a teenage boy sitting in her living room, and it was getting late. He couldn't have left them alone on purpose...?

When nerves began to bubble, she ordered herself to get a grip.

"K-Kuroko-kun said that you were at the park earlier," she babbled out, trying to fill the silence that loomed between them.

He looked at her, surprised. "Oh, he did?"

"Yeah, um, when we were at the restaurant," she explained. She hated the pounding of her racing heart. "He said you wanted to practice more since basketball ended so early."

He merely lifted a brow. "That's pretty random."

"Y-yeah, I thought so too." Even with her head lowered, the blush that warmed her cheeks was still visible. This was so awkward.

"Um, I wanted to ask earlier...," He began, but then lost himself in his thoughts. She could hear the indecision in his voice as he trailed off, the uncertainty.

"What is it?" she asked weakly, feeling her heart jump to her throat.

Blinking, he just looked at her for a long second, then looked away.

Something told her to push. "What?"

"Ugh... How did you end up like this?" He asked, his voice low, gentle. His eyes were soon drawn to her leg. "I mean, I know it isn't any of my business, but..."

Hana's mind flashed with images of the other day. A marmalade cat that had waited for her at the shelter. A former bully from junior high who continued to look down on her. A blur of red that had spooked her in the bento aisle, and a boy who had saved her from a harsh tumble down the stairs. Her leg had only been sore then, but because she'd been so careless with the injury, it had ended up in the state it was now.

She didn't even know where to begin. "Um, it was..." She hesitated as if she couldn't decide if she should continue or not. "It was an accident..."

"Was Kuroko with you when it happened?" Kagami asked carefully.

"I was talking to him," she explained and tucked a short curl behind her ear, "while I was mopping up a mess from across his table. But I slipped on the water and Kuroko-kun caught me."

"Really? That's it?" He seemed a little surprised.

"What do you mean?"

"Well... To have an injury like that from just slipping on water..."

"Th-that's because I've been hurting for a while," she confessed. "But I've been so busy, that I couldn't take the time to properly treat it. I just sort of kept hoping it would get better on its own. Stupid, right?" Her hand subconsciously reaches up to her head, anxiously awaiting his pity or judgment. But it never came. After a few more seconds of silence, she glances at him. Kagami hadn't moved, but his vision had been focused elsewhere as if he were thinking deeply about something or remembering… "Kagami-kun?"

"You were with Kuroko, then, too," he murmurs, meeting her eyes at last.

Her pulse spiked. "Huh?"

"And I... I bumped into you that time." He shakes his head and looks down at his lap, seeming to have finally remembered what had happened a few days ago. It feels as though Hana's body momentarily paralyzes. "I scared you and you ran off... And then... you were with Kuroko at the bottom of the stairs." Silently, the dots began to connect in his head. "Was... was that why you fell? You're ankle ended up like this because of-"

"N-no!" she cries out. She was instantly sitting up and waving her hands, shaking her now pounding head. This was what she'd been afraid of- this was what she'd wanted to prevent. Him blaming himself. Him misunderstanding. "I-it's not like that!"

"It isn't...?"

"Not at all! Th-that night, I was really upset because of what had happened earlier that day. It wasn't because of you, I swear! It was because Inohara was with Marmalade. Because I had left Marmalade behind. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I'd tuned everything out and was just surprised when you suddenly spoke to me. It wasn't your fault at all. It was 'cause of my crummy mood that I ran off like an idiot!" Her hands were shaking uncontrollably and her chest felt uncomfortable, as if a dog was playing tug-of-war against her and her chest was pulling back. She wasn't even aware of what had begun to roll down her cheeks until it reached her lips; it tastes salty.

His arms flailed about as he stared at her with a shocked expression. "Wh-why are you crying? Was it something I said?"

Her hands rub at her face. "I-It wasn't! I just don't want you to think it was your fault, 'cause it wasn't!"

"O-okay! I got it!" Kagami stammered. He was a fumbling mess as he tried to comprehend what it was that he had done wrong. But the tears that dripped from her eyes were like kryptonite to him, and he throws himself down on all fours as buckets of sweat drip down his face. "I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean to upset you. I mean, I guess now that you've explained it- not for the other night, but for now instead? I mean- ugh, I'm just sorry okay!?"

Her face feels hot and she moves her hand to hold her forehead. Her brain was beginning to ache again. She looks down at his bent over form, and pushes against the corner of the couch, wishing she could dissolve into the furniture right then and there. This wasn't at all what she'd imagined when she'd planned to confront him about everything thus far. She'd reacted like a complete lunatic. Like she'd been backed into a corner. If she'd known she was going be hysterical, she'd have preferred to have avoided him altogether. What a mess.

The frizzy-haired girl sniffs and drags her palm across her cheek. There was still a whole list of things that she had to talk to him about: like the whole thing with Ayumi and the phone numbers, or that time she'd caught him staring at her to name a few. But she just couldn't work up the courage to bring any of it up.

Why are you hesitating again? What are you so afraid of?

Hana's head swam with anger and humiliation and just plain fatigue. Her arms wrap around her stomach and she stares down at her knees. Then begins to breathe deeply.

"Iwasaki-san?"

Her heart leapt, but she maintained her measured breathing as she looked up. Kuroko had been standing in front of the opened doorway for who knows how long. And now, as he stepped inside, the lights that illuminated his face showed a serious expression, one tinged with worry. "Where's-?"

"K-Kuroko! What the hell took you so long!?" Kagami was so relieved that his words gushed and tripped over each other. He was instantly on his feet, though still visibly shaken by what had occurred, and ran over to him. "You've got some nerve-!"

"Did something happen?" Kuroko cut in. Not even Kagami's steady stream of chatter could cut through the tension in the room, and the ginger instantly stiffened.

"Ugh...um..."

"Nothing did," Hana said softly but urgently. She was already shaking her head in protest. "I was trying to convince Kagami-kun that I could do things on my own. But then I moved a bit too suddenly, and the tears just sort of happened. Right, Kagami-kun?"

"R-right."

I'm sorry, she told him, hoping that in some way her thoughts could reach him. You didn't have anything to apologize for. You didn't do anything wrong...

For a moment, Kuroko pursed his lips, as if assessing the situation."I see..."

No, he didn't look the least convinced at all, but she worked around it. "Did you get what you needed?" Hana asked, absently wiping at her eye. "You were taking a while."

For a second, she thought that he would push his question again. She could tell that he wanted to. Instead, he gave a curt nod. "It was actually stuff that I thought you might need, Iwasaki-san."

As he removed his shoes at the entrance, Kagami remained awkwardly by, once again unsure of himself and what it was he should be doing. He opted for recovering his school bag from Kuroko so that he'd have something to distract his hands. "So... That's why you went to the store?" he asked him though the question itself sounded hollow somehow. Suddenly he seemed really interested in whatever it was his shorter friend had bought.

Hana was interested as well.

Setting his own school bag aside on the floor, he left the front door open as he carried the plastic bag with him toward Hana in the living room. He was studying her openly and intently again; in that way that she found so intrusive. She swallowed and tried to focus her attention on the bag instead. Her face still felt a little sticky from crying, but she hoped to God that she didn't look as disheveled as she felt.

"I bought bandages and some medicine in case you were feeling pain," Kuroko told her. He set the bag on the coffee table by the potpourri plate and waited for a response.

Hana's eyes widened. "Y-you didn't have to do that. I thought you were just dropping me off..."

"I know. But it didn't feel right to just leave you like this," he said. He brought out the bandages and grabbed the medicine. "I'd have preferred it if you went to a doctor, honestly. But that's why you felt so uncertain about who to call for help, right? You didn't want to worry your parents because you live alone."

Disbelief caught whatever else was going to leave her mouth, and she sat there, staring at him.

As he began to unravel the roll of bandages, he glanced at her and noticed her expression- Could see her thought process. "Ah, Nozomu-san was the one who mentioned that," he explained. "That you don't like to worry your parents, I mean."

This time the flow of thoughts and theories that had culminated in her head came to an abrupt halt. Maika again?

"Are you in any pain?"

He was looking her way. "Pain?"

"You said that you'd moved unnecessarily..." he murmured, reminding her of the excuse she'd given him for crying.

The splitting headache rippled through the left side of her head as if on cue, and her hand flew up to press against it. At least she couldn't lie about that.

"Kagami-kun."

Said redhead shifts in his seat at the kitchen table, where he'd apparently decided to hang back and observe from a safe distance. "Yeah?"

"Could you get a glass of water for Iwasaki-san?" Kuroko asked him, looking over his shoulder. "She'll need it for the medicine."

"Th-there's water bottles on the counter," Hana says meekly. With her head down, she remained silent as she listened to Kagami's footsteps walking around the kitchen, and the sound of the plastic wrap being ripped open as he reached for a fresh bottle through pounding eardrums. As much as it compelled her to see him standing in her own kitchen, she managed to resist the urge to look up.

"Are you okay?" Hana's eyes zipped to Kuroko beside her. She noticed that he'd finished unpackaging the bandages and was hovering by her injury. He started to move his arm out, but then stopped as though he thought better of it. "Should we wait for you to take the medicine before I bandage it up?"

"Bandage...? You don't have to."

"But I've already bought them," he said, waving them in his hand.

A part of her still felt guilty about all this. "Yeah, but I mean, I've already taken up enough of your time. I don't want to be-"

"You're not," he interrupted.

You're not a nuisance, she swore she heard him say.

Something in her expression seemed to soften at his words. And stupidly, she felt the backs of her eyes fill with heat again. Tired, she told herself. She was just tired, that was all. Hana sighed and rubbed her temples, trying to soothe away the headache and whatever tears were left. "Okay."

Kuroko visibly relaxed and nodded. With her permission, he removed her shoes and began to wrap the gauze around her tender ankle.

His hands were bigger than she'd expected, but felt different from Kagami's. They weren't as calloused as Kagami's hands. The fingers were long and bony. Strong, yet gentle all at the same time. Watching the way his hands moved with such consideration made her feel some of the tension ease from between her shoulders. It seemed as though he was experienced in treating injuries like this. Then she remembered that the boy in front of her was on the basketball team, and had probably had to care for similar injuries on more than one occasion. Him doing this was just him being considerate. It wasn't anything special.

"Here's the water."

Kagami came up beside them and held out the water bottle and medicine for her. Still feeling self-conscious and embarrassed about earlier, Hana manages to give her thanks before taking a small swig of water and gulping the medicine down. Staying carefully quiet, Kagami walked back to the kitchen table. He set his bag aside, but didn't sit. Hana could feel his eyes on her.

"Are you hungry?" Kuroko asked.

Hana was in too much of a daze to catch the question. "Huh?"

Kuroko got up and reached for the bag on the coffee table. There seemed to be something bigger left in the bag, and when he reached in to take it out, Hana's eyes widened.

"Wh-what? N-no way."

"You don't want it?"

Hana shook her head and hands in front of her in a panic. "I-I couldn't."

"But it's the same as the one you spilled the other night," Kuroko murmured. He looked down at the label as though to double check. "Was I wrong?"

"Bento?" Kagami asked. His mouth was practically watering as he eyeballed the food.

Kuroko ignored him. "I could get you a different one if you'd like."

"If you don't want it, I'll take it," Kagami offered shamelessly.

She smiled nervously. "I-It's fine, but I mean- I...I couldn't possibly accept-"

"You can't take the medicine without having something to eat," he told her, not backing down.

Her gut twisted. Not in an unsettling kind of way, but something close to butterflies. A nameless sort of feeling.

Reluctantly, Hana accepted it.

Kuroko smiled and took a step back. "Good. Well, I hope you feel better. We'll be taking our leave now."

In the process of opening the container, Hana glanced at her ankle and noticed that he was already done. The bandage was wrapped firmly to support her ankle, but was loose enough for her to move it without any trouble.

"Are we seriously done now?" Kagami asked him, raising a suspicious brow toward his teammate. He slung his school bag over his shoulder and eagerly followed behind him. "'Cause I haven't eaten yet, and you owe me, remember?"

"You don't have to remind me," Kuroko murmured. He was already by the entrance and putting on his shoes.

"Wait," Hana spoke.

She watched Kagami's shoulders jump slightly in response, showing just how nervous he'd become at the sound of her voice. Strangely enough, seeing him avoid looking at her- despite her having done the same earlier- made her falter. Kuroko, on the other hand, shifted his full attention in a snap. "Yes?"

Crap. She could scarcely think. Her brain was muddled. Why did she feel the need to call out?

"I..." She stared at the two of them as she searched for something to say. Anything that could keep them here for a moment longer. So that she could fix things. So that things wouldn't be left the way they were now. Despite all the time she'd spent psyching herself up to put all of their misunderstandings to rest- to break off this weird relationship that she had with Kagami- seeing him act like this was harder than she would've expected.

It made no sense.

Sure enough, something akin to worried guilt must've crossed her face because Kuroko began to step toward her.

"I... If you're going to go to Maji Burger, tell them about the 50% discount."

Kagami's eyes widened. Hana felt a shaky breath escape her lungs.

"Discount?" Kuroko asked.

"I-it's an employee discount. Ami should still be at the counter... Actually, I think everyone would recognize you at this point..." The scene at the restaurant replayed in her mind and she felt her smile stiffen. Showing her face there again was going to be a real pain. "If it's you guys than there shouldn't be any problem."

"No way. 50%?" Kagami repeated, as if the idea of such a thing was totally unheard of.

"You said you were hungry, and I... I want to thank you guys. I hope that's okay."

Kuroko opened his mouth to say something, but Kagami beat him to it. "Looks like you just saved yourself a shit-ton of money!" Kagami cackled. He slapped Kuroko between the shoulder blades and practically danced. "50% off! Holy crap!"

"You can get another milkshake, Kuroko-kun," Hana told him. Seeing Kagami grin ear to ear like that made her feel bad for Kuroko's wallet, but hopefully he'd take advantage of the discount as well. "The one you were drinking got knocked over when you rushed to help me... I hope this makes up for it."

He looked at her. His whole body was turned toward her as the redhead celebrated by the door behind him, but it didn't actually feel like he was looking at her. Though his expression doesn't change, Hana could tell that his mind was somewhere else.

After clearing her throat, she repeats his name. "Kuroko-kun?"

He came into something resembling focus. He smiles. "Thank you."

She smiles back.

Kagami thanks her twice before stepping out of her apartment, having gotten over much of the awkwardness. And Kuroko waves to her as he begins to shut the door behind them.

This is good. This is better. She tells herself. She feels giddy again, like the way she'd felt before when Kagami had called to her door when they'd first arrived. As if they'd always been close.

Kuroko's figure disappears and Hana drops her hand on top of the warm bento in her lap. Her headache was replaced by the pounding of her heart.

Why do I feel so relieved?


A/N: Writing this chapter was an emotional roller coaster for me, but necessary =u= Hope to see ya'll in the next one~!