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Part 4 of the Shattered arch.

Kuroko's gone quiet and still, startlingly small as his shoulders hunch down, too tired to come up defensively – and the silence is something thick, something palpable that has the potential to kill.

Hyuuga doesn't know what he's doing, doesn't want to be there – but at the same time he wants to, because he's not so much of a coward that he'd turn and leave Kuroko alone. Again.

He glances around him and helplessly frustrated gazes meet his – Riko, her hands kneading the edge of her sweatshirt with anxious, angry motions; Kiyoshi, his large eyes serious and unlaughing and unreadable; and Kagami. Poor Kagami, who wants to help more than anyone else, and doesn't know how, any more than they do, and it's killing him.

He crouches down in front of Kuroko, slumped on the bench still in his uniform, head bowed and forearms resting on his thighs, his hands hanging between his knees, and so very lost. Hyuuga looks up at him, into his pale face and red eyes – because with this last betrayal Kuroko has finally learned how to cry again – and reaches out to hold Kuroko's hands.

"I don't know what they told you," he begins, and he flails for his words like a drowning man for something to keep afloat, "but I don't care. I don't give a damn, because it's not true."

There is not a sound in the gym, except for his low voice and Kuroko's slow breathing right next to him, so soft he's sure the others can't hear.

"They're words, Kuroko. Just words. Words don't mean anything. You know that, I know you do. It's the actions that matter."

Kuroko's eyes are on him, as blank as they ever were – but Hyuuga holds them, like there's nothing else in the world, and really there isn't.

"And they are nothing more than words. They don't deserve you. You know you're something special, Kuroko; you've always been, and it's their fault for not seeing it. You don't deserve to be treated like that. "

Blue, blue eyes; desolate and alone. His hands are utterly still in Hyuuga's, and he can feel the others' eyes, burning into his back.

"But it doesn't matter. Because it'll never happen again. I won't let it happen. We won't let it happen."

He's walking a cliff edge with a thousand feet drop; he takes a deep breath and steps off.

"You're a part of our team now; and no one ever, ever gets left behind."

The universe holds it breath.

And slowly, Kuroko nods.