The rest was details. By the arrival of Hiroshi's lawyer, Saeki Toshiko, Kuroko-san had regained his composure. He was unable to look anyone in the eye, though. Hyuuga and Kiyoshi removed themselves from the booth, uncomfortable with being in such close proximity with this person anymore. Hiroshi didn't blame them. Even sitting across from the guy made his skin crawl, despite the way he'd managed to attain a very small portion of understanding and compassion for him.
In the end, Hiroshi had been convinced that some part of Kuroko-san truly did love his son. It was small and bitter and twisted, but it still lived. And now he'd lost him. Forever. Through his own actions, yes, but bad circumstances and unfriendly fates had played a role, as well. Kuroko-san was a truly pitiful man.
Hiroshi couldn't blame anyone for being upset over losing Tetsu, after all. Even the smallest and most despicable of souls had to be aware on some level of how much light and loveliness shone from this boy. Even the darkest of creatures could sense the nearness of purity and could mourn when it moved hopelessly out of reach.
Tetsu's head remained limp and heavy on Hiroshi's shoulder. Hiroshi could hear the wheeze in his breathing that Taiga had mentioned, so he was probably asleep or close to it. One of the Seirin members brought them another cup of water, and Taiga wet a napkin and wiped it over his forehead and cheeks. The moisture seemed to burn off in seconds, Tetsu's skin was so hot. And yet he shivered.
"Dad..." Taiga's voice was low with anxiety.
"I know," Hiroshi said softly. "As soon as this is over. Before the ink dries on the paper, we'll be out the door."
Finally, after an almost unbearable length of time, Hiroshi saw Saeki Toshiko looking around in the front part of the restaurant. She stood out from the casual crowd with her tailored business clothes and long, straight black hair swept back from her face, so it wasn't hard to spot her. Just as he noticed her, she lifted the hand holding her briefcase to look at her watch.
It hurt Hiroshi's heart, but he had to move. As gently as he could, he shifted Tetsu off his shoulder and into Taiga's arms. Tetsu murmured at the loss of contact, his eyes fluttering open for a moment. "H-Hiroshi-s-san..."
Hiroshi slid out of the booth, then turned back to lay a hand along his cheek. "I'll be right back, I promise. Taiga will take care of you."
"K-Kagami-kun..." Tetsu head fell sideways to rest on Taiga's chest, his eyes falling shut again.
Taiga's arms tightened around him, holding him secure. "I'm here. Hold on, Kuroko. We'll take care of everything."
Tetsu sighed and relaxed.
Hiroshi tore himself away with great difficulty. The sooner they finished this, the sooner they could get Tetsu the help he needed.
"Saeki-san!" Hiroshi rushed over to greet her. "Did you bring the papers?"
She turned to face him, then blinked, probably at his harried appearance and urgent tone, as well as the way he had skipped right over the proper greetings. Saeki very rarely blinked. Hiroshi logged the moment away as one to remember.
She nodded coolly. "Hello, Kagami-san. It's nice to meet you in person. Yes, of course I brought them. I thought we were only planning to discuss the situation, though."
"Things have changed." Hiroshi led her back over to the section controlled the Seirin team, back to the booth where his sons waited for him. "We have all the parties available. An agreement has been reached. We need to sign right away."
"Ah." Saeki's unflappable demeanor was back already. Hiroshi would have been amused if he'd had the time.
He had known she was a good one when one of his old friends still in Japan had introduced them over video chat earlier in the week. Once he'd laid out the facts—a child had been horribly mistreated, he intended to adopt the boy and safeguard him from now on—she had been as firmly Hiroshi's friend and ally as if they had known each other since kindergarten. She hadn't even blinked when he'd explained about the blackmail. A lawyer with morality, but not scruples. Truly a rare find.
At the booth, Saeki only raised her eyebrows as Hiroshi introduced her first to Kuroko-san, then Taiga and Tetsu. She bowed to each in turn, the proper depth and no further. Kuroko-san didn't even raise his head. Taiga grimaced. Tetsu opened his eyes a bare sliver, then closed them again.
Saeki looked to Hiroshi. "I see why you are so eager to have this done."
"Right away, please." Hiroshi fetched a chair from one of the tables so she could sit at the end of the booth. Then he slid in next to his boys again, one hand automatically reaching out to card through Tetsu's hair, then rest on Taiga's arm.
Saeki accepted this rough hospitality with all the grace of a queen ascending a throne. She set the briefcase on the table and snapped the latches, then opened it and removed a slim file. She closed the briefcase and set the file on top.
Hiroshi stared at the plain manila folder. "Is that all?"
She nodded, unsmiling. "This is only the custody agreement. It's more of a side document, necessary because this case is exceptional. Kagami-san will need to register the actual adoption in person." She glanced at Tetsu. "But I gather that you will be busy for a little while."
Saeki looked to Kuroko-san. "This is a contract. It is binding. Once signed, it cannot be dissolved except by mutal agreement by all parties involved."
Kuroko-san stared at her, then across the table at Tetsu. Sensing the attention, Tetsu opened his eyes again, though his eyes were glassy and it was clear that he saw very little. Taiga's hand rose to cover his forehead as if he was checking his temperature, but then it stayed there. The gesture was immensely protective, and Taiga's body was tense except where he had gentled himself in order to cradle Tetsu against him. Everyone in the room understood what he meant.
Leave my little brother alone.
"Kuroko-san?" Hiroshi tried to sound confident and assured, but he could hear the stress in his own voice. "Will you sign this contract, as you agreed to do?"
Please don't let him delay any longer. Please don't let him do anything ridiculous like read the entire document. Please let this be done.
Kuroko-san hesitated. His eyes were fixed on his son. "Will I..." His voice broke. He swallowed and tried again. "Will I ever see Tetsuya again?"
Hiroshi held very still. "That's...up to Tetsu-chan," he said after a long moment. He met Kuroko-san's eyes frankly. "If it were up to me, no. Never. You have harmed him too often and too deeply. But we both know that Tetsu-chan has an unfathomable depth of forgiveness in him. If, in a few months, or years... If he wants to see you, I will abide by his wishes."
Kuroko-san's eyes could not hold Hiroshi's. He looked away, staring at Tetsu again. Tetsu remained limp on Taiga's chest, breathing shallowly, his eyes shut.
"I'll never allow him to be alone with you, though," Hiroshi said quietly. "I won't risk that."
Kuroko-san's eyes fell to the table. He nodded. Then he looked at Saeki and nodded again.
She opened the folder and set the documents in front of Kuroko-san, then smoothly pulled a fountain pen from her breast pocket and placed it in his hand. "The documents are in triplicate," she said, and pointed out where to sign.
Kuroko-san didn't read the documents. He signed. Hiroshi signed them as well, in the indicated places. Each were given a copy to keep. Then Saeki put the third copy in the folder, placed it back in her briefcase, and stood up. "Gentlemen." She bowed to each in turn, then spun neatly on her heel and swept away.
She had made it all seem very smooth. Easy. Quick. Efficient.
Kuroko-san stared at the document in his hand. So did Hiroshi. It was done. Well, there was more to do, but this... This was done.
"Dad," Taiga said urgently. Hiroshi blinked and looked over to him, then started and jumped to his feet.
Dammit, Tetsu looked even worse than he had a few minutes ago. "Can someone flag down a taxi for us?" he asked, looking around with wild eyes.
One of the Seirin boys—it might have Izuki, from Taiga's descriptions—was already out the door, hurrying toward the street. Hiroshi folded the document in thirds and stuck it into a pocket, even though part of him wanted to keep it pristine and frame it to hang on a wall somewhere.
Miraculously, a taxi pulled up to the curb just as Hiroshi was desperately longing for one. Izuki looked startled, too, but shook it off and ran around to speak to the driver. Meanwhile, a short, balding man in a suit exited the back of the taxi and stood on the sidewalk. He stared up at the Maji Burger sign with disgust clear in his expression.
Hiroshi gaped at him. "Who...?"
Kuroko-san broke out of his funk enough to notice. "Oh. That's my lawyer. I'll get rid of him."
He dragged himself to his feet, moving slowly and painfully, and moved over to stand by Hiroshi. The document was crumpled in his fist. He stared out at the lawyer, then looked at Hiroshi. He looked awful. Almost as sick as his son. The son who wasn't his anymore.
"Take care of Tetsuya," he said. "Take care of my boy."
Hiroshi's heart burned in his chest. "I will. He will be treasured. I swear it."
Hiroshi bowed, and it was a gesture of respect, no mere display of etiquette. Kuroko-san bowed back to him. Then he trudged away. He had come here thinking that he would take his son home with him, and now he left with nothing at all.
Hiroshi could hear Taiga, behind him. "Kuroko, c'mon, wake up. Just a little, that's it, open your eyes. We're leaving now. Can you stand? I'll hold you up."
"Where..." Tetsu's voice was a mere breath of air. "...going..."
"Hospital, Kuroko, we're going to the hospital."
Hiroshi turned around just in time to watch Tetsu collapse. He and Taiga had been standing next to the booth, probably for mere seconds. Now Tetsu's eyes rolled up in his head, and he would have fallen to the floor if Taiga hadn't caught him, muscular arms wrapping around his body in a sudden tangle of limbs. Taiga lost his balance and fell down to sit on the booth seat again, his eyes wide and terrified.
"Dad!" His gaze found Hiroshi. His voice was a harsh bark of alarm.
Hiroshi all but ran the few steps back to them. He took Tetsu's face in his hands and watched his eyes, willing them to open at once. "Tetsu-chan," he murmured, his voice tight and small. "Tetsu-chan. Wake up."
"Dad, he passed out," Taiga said, high and terrified.
"Calm down, Kagami-kun." It was Coach Aida's sharp voice. She leaned against the other side of the booth to look in his face. "It's not like Kuroko-kun hasn't passed out before. He passes out all the time."
Tetsu's eyes began to slide open. As soon as the smallest hint of blue was visible, Hiroshi's shoulders relaxed and his head bowed for a moment. "He's awake."
Tetsu's lips moved. "H-Hiroshi-san..."
"I'm here." Hiroshi gently disengaged him from Taiga's grip and scooped him into his arms, picking him up with one arm beneath his knees and the other wrapped around his back. The boy was small. Hiroshi was no athlete, but he wasn't a weakling, either. Taiga had his genes. "I've got you."
Slowly, slowly, Tetsu reached up and twined his arms around Hiroshi's neck, his head resting on his shoulder. Hiroshi's arms tightened around him. Taiga stood next to him. He pressed closer than usual, his shoulder touching Hiroshi's. He was trembling.
"All right," Hiroshi said. He looked around at the team, all of these kind boys watching him with enormous worry in their eyes. Most of them were on their feet, fists clenched and half stepping toward him. They all longed to help, but knew that they couldn't.
Hiroshi bowed his head to them because he could not bow his body. If he could, he would give them all the deepest bow he'd ever given anyone in his life. "Thank you, Seirin basketball club," he said hoarsely. "Thank you very much."
Then he hurried out to the taxi. Someone opened the door for them, but he couldn't even see who it was. Every last bit of his attention was now focused on the fevered child in his arms.
"It's going to be okay, Tetsu-chan," he whispered. "Everything will be okay."
Tetsu nodded sluggishly, his fluffy hair brushing the side of Hiroshi's jaw. It was more than he had hoped for.
They had to get to the hospital right away.
AN: I've done a bunch of research on Japanese custody and adoption, and I still have no idea if this would work. Let's just assume that Saeki Toshiko is amazing and figured out a way. (She is the cousin of Kageyama's mom in A Split-Second of Violence.)
Anyway, welcome to the sickfic portion of the story. If you thought Kagami and Papakagami doted on Kuroko before... Well. You have not seen doting.