A/N: Thank you for all those who reviewed the previous chapters! 3 Here's chapter 4, where the boys will start answering those mysteries from earlier.

kuroshiro.19: Yes they are such bros with their former-captain. And we'll seeeee =3=

Fiammie: Thank you so much for the lovely review! It's exactly like you said-he took care of them when they were still middle school babies so they are still bbs towards him 3 Which is definitely new for everyone else haha. And don't worry! This chapter and the next couple of chapters will delve into exactly what happened with Nijimura and the GoM. Stay tuned!

Kise was someone who had a lot to be proud of, but one thing in particular that he personally took special pride in was his stamina. Back in his middle school days, Kise had pretty good endurance to get him through numerous sports until he found basketball, and once there, the Spartan training he and his teammates had to go through upgraded their level of stamina to last them a whole tournament season, and then some. Because of his ability to copy moves and his Perfect Copy, Kise had also learned to efficiently conserve energy and survive rigorous physical activity and effectively last longer than most people, even Aominecchi.

There was no doubt that Kise was one who could endure long bouts of mental and physical work, and he was fully open to welcoming Seirin and Shuutoku into the restaurant he was working in as they entered, but when he spotted Kagami entering behind them, he had to put his foot down right there.

"No," Kise snapped, blocking Kagami from entering. "You will not eat here."

Kagami frowned at him. "Why not? I'm coming in as a customer."

"You mean food vacuum," Kise grumbled, fists on his waist.

An arm suddenly went around Kise's shoulders, making him stagger. "Hey, one Kagami is equal to a whole team. That's really good business, right?"

"Aominecchi!" Kise exclaimed, and then tried to elbow Aomine's face. "You unfair little—"

"Whoa!" Aomine ducked under Kise's arm, and then smirked at Kise's scowl. "Hey, I won our game of rock-paper-scissors fair and square. And that was after you lost to me on our one-on-one. I am super fair."

Kise huffed, straightening himself up. He looked like he was about to smack Aomine for good measure when a voice called out, "Oi, Kise! We need refills over here!"

"Ohh!? Kasamatsu-san!" Takao jumped, head popping out from behind his teammates.

"Ah, it's Kaijo!" Hyuuga pointed.

"Oh, Seirin and—Shuutoku?" Kasamatsu Yukio, seated on a table, exclaimed.

Everyone turned to find Kaijo High's regulars having dinner together at a table to the side, apparently with Kise serving as their waiter. Takao bounced towards Kasamatsu, clearly delighted to see him.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked.

"Kise told us he was working part-time at a restaurant," Kasamatsu answered. "So we're paying him a visit."

"Are you all here for Kise too?" Moriyama asked, squinting.

"We're here for food," Kagami announced, clutching at his stomach.

"How did you somehow end up together?" Kasamatsu quipped, noticing Midorima, Murasakibara, Himuro, and Aomine.

"It's…complicated," Takao chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "We and the Seirin guys sort of got together to stalk fellow teammates. And one thing led to another and we ran into these guys."

"Stalk…?"

"It's a long story," Miyaji said, raising a hand. "We can talk about it while we eat."

"Why don't you guys sit down," Kise grumbled at the group—or more like Kagami. He stuck out his tongue when Aomine passed by him, and then glared at Kagami as they sat at a table beside Kaijo's, grumpily refilling his teammates' drinks. Takao positioned himself nearest to the aisle next to Kasamatsu, and Midorima sat across him. Seirin's group occupied the rest of the table, flanked by Shuutoku's table and another table with Aomine, Momoi, Murasakibara and Himuro. Kise took a moment to process the amount of work he was looking at, and then gave up after a few seconds.

"Ohh? More friends of yours, Kise?" an elderly man chimed in, suddenly appearing beside Kise. The group looked up to see a pot-bellied old man wearing an apron, one hand armed with a very sharp-looking knife.

"Yeah, boss," Kise said, smiling crookedly. He gave Kagami a solid pat on the back. "You'll love this guy. He's gonna tire us out tonight."

"Hmm? Really?" the old man said, beaming at Kagami. "Big appetite, eh? We'll make sure you're filled up, no problem!"

Kagami grinned, his eyes lighting up. "I'm looking forward to it."

The old man smacked him on the back. "Good lad!" he bellowed, and then looked at the gathering of large high schoolers. "Looks like it's good business tonight!"

The group laughed as Kise handed them the menus. The old man passed out a few when he noticed Aomine, and surprisingly went to ruffle his hair.

"Ohh, Aomine!" the old man boomed. "Seems like you got off lucky tonight!"

Aomine smirked, ducking away from his hand. "Yeah, Kise sucks at winning."

A menu crashed down Aomine's head. "Oh, sorry," Kise spoke, pulling back the menu in his hand. "Your head was so big, the menu got caught up in it."

Aomine punched Kise's side, making him gurgle. Kise smacked the menu over Aomine's head again, and they all but started beating each other up when the old man laughed, loud, grabbing both Aomine's and Kise's heads and bonking them together, the impact making a very audible THUD that sounded rather painful.

"Gah!" Kise reeled back, clutching his head.

"Fucking hell—" Aomine cursed, similarly ducking under his arms.

The old man turned to the group of highschoolers, smiling triumphantly. "I've discovered that this is the most effective way to cease their endless bickering," he lectured, and the basketball teams nodded. "Hard-headedness is useful when used together."

The others laughed again, and Momoi patted Aomine's head sympathetically. The old man pushed Kise to take their orders, and he grudgingly complied. When it got to Kagami's turn, Kise had started trying to negotiate a less abundant selection of meals, and the old man gave him another one of those shuddering smacks to the back as he made Kise take every order Kagami made—which more or less comprised of at least half of the menu. After taking up more than four sheets of paper, Kise rattled off their orders, and then grunted in defeat as he started for the kitchen, rubbing his throbbing head.

"You know the chef, Aomine?" Kagami asked, trying to distract himself from his grumbling stomach.

"Huh? Yeah, he's also the boss here," Aomine replied, arms still curled up around his head.

"How do you know him?" Kagami pressed.

"Why did you say Kise's 'sort of' working here?" Takao joined in.

"My head hurts," Aomine simply grumbled, poking at a bump that was probably swelling on his head. "I don't want to answer your questions."

"It's related to Nijimura-san," Kuroko offered.

"Are you talking about Nijimura-senpai?" Kise suddenly appeared, and the others gaped in amazement at the collection of food atop large trays that he was balancing rather masterfully on his arms.

"Holy crap, that looks delicious," Kagami breathed, drooling.

"Aw yeah, I'm finally gonna be able to eat this stuff," Aomine sat up, eyes sparkling.

"As if you haven't sampled every meal you were supposed to be serving," Kise huffed, setting the meals down. Aomine simply grinned at him and picked up his chopsticks.

"What do you mean by that?" Kagami poked, peering very excitedly at the meals Kise was distributing.

"Eh? They didn't tell you yet? Aominecchi and I both work part-time here," Kise said, and then scoffed. "But today he got off lucky on our shift."

"What?"

"This is what we meant by things being complicated," Midorima grumbled.

Kise had somehow disappeared and then came back with a new set of meals, going rounds along the tables and dispersing the food at an impressively efficient manner. The others somewhat applauded, and consequently started feasting.

"I'll be back again with the rest of your offerings," Kise groused at Kagami, who proceeded to stuff his face with very open appreciation.

It wasn't long before the large assortment of basketball players leaned back in contentment at finishing their dinners. Some ordered light desserts, and the others settled for extra drinks, while Kagami was still in the middle of his gorging the last of his meals, and Murasakibara was going through some gigantic dessert mountain. Kise had retreated to the counter to make sense of the bills and how they were split up, dragging Midorima with him to help out with the math.

"So," Takao piped up, picking his teeth with a toothpick. "Let's hear the story."

Kuroko looked thoughtful. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything," Kagami mumbled, mouth occupied with various slices of meat.

Hyuuga smacked him. "Don't talk with your mouth full."

"I suppose I have to start from the top," Kuroko said.

"If you have to," Riko remarked. "Just don't take too long."

Kuroko gave a small smile. "It's not that long, really. Nijimura-san was hospitalized four days ago, starting Saturday—"

"Why?" Kiyoshi blurted, visibly concerned. "What happened to him?"

"I guess you could say this restaurant was one of the reasons he got hospitalized," Kuroko answered. To the side, Aomine, Murasakibara, and Momoi looked downcast, going quiet.

Just then, Kise and Midorima returned, looking harassed and disoriented. Midorima sank down into his seat across Takao, and Kise pulled a chair from a vacant table to sit in the middle of Seirin and Kaijo's tables, plopping down on it with a tired sigh.

"You okay?" Kasamatsu patted Kise's head.

"Yeah, just fine," Kise mumbled, leaning back. "I finally got a break. Are you still talking about Nijimura-senpai?"

"Yes," Kuroko said.

Kise huffed. "How is he? I heard he woke up."

"He's okay," Aomine replied. "He tried to leave as soon as the doctors left."

Kise chuckled at that, looking lighter. "Just like Akashicchi said. He's the one looking after him right now, right?"

"Yes," Midorima nodded. "He switched with Murasakibara."

"What exactly happened?" Kagami butt in, down to his last two meals. "Is he really okay?"

"Supposedly," Kuroko answered. "The doctors said if he stays in the hospital for at least a week or so, he should be able recover fully if nothing comes up."

"You see," Momoi chimed in, regarding the group. "Nijimura-san is the one who actually works here."

"Here? In this restaurant?"

"Yes," she bit her lip. "He also has two other jobs."

"What?" Kagami exclaimed. "You mean he has three part-time jobs?"

Momoi nodded, grave. The Generation of Miracles and Kuroko were quiet.

"Nijimura-san is the eldest of his family," Kuroko spoke. "And he's the one supporting them. So aside from school, he's juggling three jobs, being a waiter at this restaurant included."

The others seemed to take it bit by bit, processing what they had just heard, and already finding Nijimura's position incredibly daunting.

"Damn," Kasamatsu breathed, slumping back on his chair. "That's gotta be hard."

"I already have a hard enough time with the school part," Hyuuga said. "I can't imagine juggling not just two, but three jobs on top of that."

Kise nodded, looking down. "Yeah. When we found out he was hospitalized, we decided to help however we could."

"How did you find out?" Riko questioned.

"Akashicchi's family partially owns the hospital, and he instructed the people there to tell him if ever a 'Nijimura' gets hospitalized."

Kagami raised an eyebrow. "Why? Sounds creepy."

"Nah, it's nothing like that," Kise waved his hand. "Nijimura-senpai's father was once hospitalized there, but he got better after a while and was discharged. Akashicchi wanted to be informed if he did get hospitalized again, so that he'll get proper attention and treatment. It just so happened that this time it was a different Nijimura that got hospitalized. It was worse."

The tables were silent, a grim air settling around them.

"But hey, he's alright now!" Kise said, perking up. "We'll just keep up the work until he gets better!"

"So you're filling in for his jobs while he's hospitalized?" Kasamatsu said, looking like he was proud of Kise.

"Yeah," Kise answered, smiling more happily now. "Aominecchi and I are filling in for him in this restaurant, while Kurokocchi and Midorimacchi take shifts at a fitness center."

"Fitness center?" Takao cocked his head to one side.

"Nijimura-san's other job is at a fitness center," Kuroko said. "He takes appointments for physical training and sometimes mans the front desk."

"Is that where you've been going during practice?" Hyuuga asked him.

Kuroko nodded. "Yes. Nijimura-san has scheduled appointments during practice hours so I had to skip basketball practice to attend to them. I'm sorry."

"No, it's alright," Riko spoke. "It's a valid reason. We understand."

Kuroko blinked at her, somewhat surprised, and then smiled. "Thank you."

"Then what does Midorima do there?" Miyaji inquired.

"We take turns with the appointment hours," Kuroko said. "Since sometimes there's more than one appointment a day."

"How do you decide who takes what?" Takao said, eyebrow raised in suspicion. "I don't expect that you'd volunteer to take the shifts during practice hours."

Kuroko answered determinedly. "Rock-paper-scissors."

At that, Takao burst out laughing, patting Kuroko on the back repeatedly. "I know how you feel, man!" he sniffled in between laughs. "I've never won against Shin-chan at that!"

Kuroko grimaced, but looked determined. "Someday," he declared.

Takao laughed again. "Tell me when that someday comes. I'll treat you to a drink when it does."

Kuroko smiled. "I'll hold you to that, then."

The two freshmen shook on it, forming a new bond of kinship against Midorima's rock-paper-scissors prowess. Midorima scowled at them, pushing up his glasses and hugging his eggplant closer. The restaurant boss then came back with the bills in one hand and a bowl of noodles in another. He handed the bills to the captains of each table, and gave Kise the bowl of noodles.

"Here's a treat for your hard work," the boss said, beaming at Kise. "Specially made for you!"

Kise looked like he wanted to cry. "I love you."

The boss cackled and gave him a heavy pat on the back, then ruffled Aomine's hair, sitting at a chair between the tables.

"So," he said, leaning back. "How's Nijimura?"

"He's getting better," Aomine grunted, rubbing his hair. "He keeps trying to leave and get back to work."

Boss frowned, eyebrows scrunching. "That Nijimura's always such a hard worker. Tell him that there's no problem if he takes his time to recover. He's got good kouhai helping him out, so he has to come back fully healed."

Kise smiled. "Thanks boss."

"You can go ahead and visit him, Kise. Since Wakana's offered to take Nijimura's shift tonight, you can leave early. Oh, tell him that some regular customers of his have left extra tips just for him," the boss grinned, standing to return to the kitchen. "They're worried and want to see their favorite waiter again."

Kise chuckled. "I will, thank you."

"Nijimura-san seems like a nice guy," Takao smiled.

"He's a stubborn guy, that's what he is," Aomine huffed. "Akashi too."

"Speak for yourself, Aomine-kun," Kuroko sighed.

"I was surprised by Akashi, though," Hyuuga said. "I didn't think he would compromise like that."

"Out of all of us, Akashi knows Nijimura-san best," Midorima pondered. "The deal he proposed is the best possible agreement in this situation. Nijimura-san is stubborn, but he's smart and sensible, so he obviously knows that he's not strong enough yet. He's just too responsible for his own good."

"But why me," Kagami groaned.

Midorima shrugged. "Akashi probably expected you to visit at some point. Since you don't personally know Nijimura-san or the details of his hospitalization, there's less risk of you losing in a match as compared to us going against him."

"A match? What match?" Kise was looking around in confusion.

"So keep it up for at least a week, Taiga!" Himuro yelled.

"Why," Kagami groaned again, finally setting down his chopsticks. "Aren't you concerned? You just said that since you guys know why he was hospitalized, you won't win if you wrestled with him."

"Wrestle?" Kise's eyes went wide.

"Arm wrestle," Kuroko poked him.

"Hey," Aomine growled at Kagami, rising from his seat. "We are concerned. I know your team has some kind of history with hospitalizations and shit but this is different. He almost fucking died and he's treating it like it's nothing, and I hate the fact that we're leaving it to you of all people to keep him from ending up like that again."

"A-Aominecchi…" Kise muttered, hand tentatively raised as if to reach out to him.

Aomine let out a ragged sigh. "But if even Akashi resorted to something like this shit, then it's your responsibility, you got it? You can complain to us all you want about owing you afterwards, but you better as hell do your job because we're trusting you with it."

He gave another huff, and then skulked away from the table, grabbing the back of Kise's collar. "Oi Kise," he grumbled. "You wanted to visit him right? Let's go."

"A-ah? Eh? What?" Kise stammered, flailing at getting dragged backwards. "Wait—ack—Aominecchi!"

"H-hey! Dai-chan! Wait!" Momoi spluttered, clambering from her seat. She rushed to follow but paused to bow. "Sorry Kagamin!" she grimaced. "I know he's being a jerk but that was his way of saying 'please'. And he's always a total buttface about it, but he actually really cares, he just doesn't know any decent way of being honest. Sorry!"

She gave another bow and rushed to follow the two out, Kise's disoriented wails fading as they left the restaurant. The remaining people gaped at the wake of their departure and at what Aomine and Momoi said, and Kagami blinked before groaning again.

"What the hell," he exhaled.

"Sorry, Kagami-kun," Kuroko said. "You're probably confused as to what to feel about what they said."

"Sure as hell am," Kagami grumbled, looking down. "What did he mean by Nijimura-san almost dying?" he asked, a strain in his voice.

Kuroko's eyes shifted. "He was exaggerating a bit."

"But it could have happened," Midorima said glumly, his lips drawn in a thin line.

"Tell me about it," Kagami said, expression grave and serious.

"But—"

"Hey, it's in the past, right?" Kagami pushed. "And you guys are putting me through this so at least let me know."

"I'd also like to hear about it," Takao said, nodding at Midorima. "If that's alright."

Midorima averted his gaze, hiding his eyes under his glasses. "It's not like I really care if you know."

Takao and the other Shuutoku regulars just laughed, ruffling his hair.

"Same here," Kasamatsu spoke. "Anyone who Kise and the Generation of Miracles is fussing over is someone I'd like to hear about."

"Yeah, me too," Kiyoshi smiled.

Beside him, Hyuuga snorted. "I can actually relate to Aomine," he griped, flicking a pointed glare at Kiyoshi. "So I want to help out with hospital idiots like him."

Kuroko gave a small smile, feeling a warmth bloom in his chest. "Alright. Thank you."

"Yeah," Kagami said, smirking. "But before you tell us, let me order some more food."

Kuroko sighed.

Four days ago, Saturday

It was a peculiar thing, Nijimura thought, to stay up at night long enough to see the sun peeking through your curtains. There was a solace in the silence of 'today' quietly and seamlessly blending into 'tomorrow', making 'today' turn into 'yesterday', and 'tomorrow' take its place as 'today'. Yesterday didn't seem so far off, and time didn't feel like a flowing line that you followed. The past felt like so long ago and yet just a while ago, and tomorrow was just a sliver of light away. When it grazed his hand, Nijimura paused his work to watch the sunlight trying to crawl into his room, seeping from under the curtain and poking warmth wherever it reached.

He didn't realize that he forgot to sleep that night. At least he had finished all his schoolwork for the next week, and had completed most of his advance study notes to give him some free time during the weekdays. He set his pen down and quietly stood up, slowly blinking as he felt a strange weight settling over his body—something he's been experiencing more often recently, but started learning to get used to. Nijimura rolled his shoulders and shrugged it off, going to the kitchen to put together some meals for his siblings, and grabbing some granola bars for a quick breakfast. He packed his bag as he ate—in a couple of hours, he had work at the dojo, and after that, he had at least four hours before his restaurant shift: he could catch up on sleep then.

He felt his eyes trying to lose focus as he walked out, and decided to jog lightly the rest of the way to work, at least to get his body energized. He greeted his seniors and fellow instructors upon entering the dojo, and some of the students started filing in by the time he went back out after changing.

Nijimura was put in charge of some of older elementary school and middle school kids, and he was going around as usual correcting stances and movements when he felt his chest throb. He winced, breathing deep, and forced himself to exhale it out. It had happened a few times in the past month, and he supposed he should get that checked out, but it always slipped his mind. He made a mental note to visit the school infirmary on Monday.

"You alright, Nijimura?" his partner instructor asked, forehead creased with worry. "You're looking a little pale there."

"I'm good," Nijimura said, pulling on a small smile. "I was up late studying is all."

"Always so diligent," the man smirked. "We'll go into some sparring rounds later, so get your brats ready."

Nijimura waved a hand. "Don't worry about them, they'll beat your side no sweat."

The instructor barked a laugh and ruffled Nijimura's hair, lighting up at the challenge. "Hey, you may have that intense Spartan training you picked up from middle school, but my brats are tough."

"We'll see," Nijimura grinned.

"Alright, time for a break!" the head instructor called. "Ten minutes! We'll do some sparring afterwards!"

Training slowed to a stop, and Nijimura's partner instructor dropped onto a bench by the wall as the students shuffled to their packs to drink. Nijimura gave another huff, his head somehow feeling light. The lack of sleep was probably getting to him, he thought. He pinched the bridge of his nose while breathing deeply, eyes closed, feeling a muted throbbing at his chest crawling up to his head. When he opened his eyes, things seemed brighter and more faded, but he grunted and bent to pick up his water bottle.

His vision blurred again, and his breathing hitched somewhat. He dropped on a knee without really thinking, and felt the cold touch of his water bottle and focused on that. He faintly heard someone to the side talking to him, and he truly wanted to understand what that person was saying, but it all sounded muffled and he felt like he couldn't breathe—

"Nijimura? Did you hear what I said?" his partner instructor glanced at him from the seat. "Hey, are you really alright?"

Nijimura wanted to reply, but he was trying to figure out what to clear up first—his vision, his head, his breathing—it felt like everything was throbbing and that his lungs had closed up—

"Nijimura? O-oi!Niji—!"

And he felt the world shift, and vaguely registered that he was lying on the ground. He thought of trying to get up, but something heavy settled over him, and he couldn't feel his arms—just the faint chill of his water bottle's moist. And he forgot about his ragged breathing when everything went black, and his eyes fluttered shut, welcoming the darkness that came with it.

[tbc]

A/N: The flashback continues in the next couple of chapters! Stay tuned! Reviews are always appreciated 3