Roppi's POV again

[My mama was nice. Really nice. She loved me a lot. But she was really really sick. And I didn't get to see her much. She died when I was 7.]

Tsukishima lower his head sadly.

I tried not to feel to bad. Such is life, I always say. Bad things happen. And saying 'I'm sorry' would be stupid, because I didn't kill his mother.

"That's tough. What about your dad?"

And with my earlier hesitance forgotten, it took me a moment to realize my mistake.

Tsukishima was already closing himself off. I could hear his breathing pick up. His shoulder started to slump and he wasn't even making an effort to type. He had that lost look he had when I'd ask what'd happened to him that day in his room.

His entire being went lax, and I just couldn't let him go this time.

"Hey!" I turned toward him on the bench and gripped his arm. His whole body tensed and his eyes closed tightly. I was wary of his clenching fists. "Hey look at me! Stay here with me!"

He turned his face away. I stood up and got in front of him. I gripped his face and turned it towards me.

His eyes shot open. They were panicked. His fists started to rise and I steeled myself for a punch.

"Listen to me," I was vaguely aware of the scene we were making, but what did I care bout what those random park-goers thought about us? "You can't do this! Stop shutting me out! You'll never feel better if you keep blocking things out."

He shook his head vigorously, as if he was trying to get something out of his head.

"Stay awake! Stay here with me and talk to me!"

Psyche would probably have an aneurysm if he knew I was doing this, 'That's not how you handle a mentally disturbed person, Roppi-nii! You'll make him worse!'

Well you know what?

my mind supplied, Fuck Psyche and his degree.

"Talk to me, Tsukishima!"

The blonde fists shot forward, nailing me in the chest. The hit was hard enough to knock the wind out of me, but not enough to hurt. It was nowhere near as hard as that other time.

He shut his eyes again and pressed against my chest in an attempt to push me away.

I grabbed his wrists and shook him a bit. His eyes opened again and this time the were wet and cloudy.

Okay, maybe this isn't the best place for this,I thought, looking around. I spied an alleyway a bit down the street and pulled Tsukishima off of the bench.

When he saw where we were going, he started to flail and buck like a horse trying to throw off his rider.

I then realized how bad an idea it was to drag the blonde into an alley. So I changed tactics, pulling him into the coffee shop we'd went to one time.

The costumers and workers in the shop turned to look as I stalked by them pulling a still hyperventilating Tsukishima behind me. I ignored them all and went into the men's bathroom.

After making sure no one else was inside, I locked the door and pulled Tsukishima in close. Into a hug.

I could feel my face flush at the affectionate gesture. Tsukishima started off tense, but slowly relaxed and put his head on my shoulder. His shoulders were heaving, but I could feel him slowly relax before hugging me tight.

"Are you okay?"

He shrugged, refusing to lift his head off of my shoulder.

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

There was a pause. But then he nodded.

It took a little effort to push him off of me, but I managed it. He wiped his face with the end of his scarf just as I felt how damp my shoulder was.

I pulled him so that we were side by side against the bathroom wall and slid us both down to the floor.

I winced as I avoided thought of how dirty the floor must be. This was more important, dammit!

The blonde took a few minutes to regain his bearings.

Then he told me everything.

And I had never felt so sick to my stomach.