A/N: A sort of short chapter this time. Thanks to all of you who're reading!

Fiammie: Thank youu! Haizaki is very tsundere yes. He's got his moments. Thank you so much for all your reviews! School is eating up my life but writing and drawing help keep me happy. I'm glad you like this, and thanks again for your support!

Kariko-chan: I'm sorry in advance for this chapter oops but yes bonding!

booklover1209: Tsunderes are abundant in KnB haha! They're all babies. Thanks for the review!

"Haizaki-kun."

"Fu—agh!" Haizaki almost squealed, stumbling forward and smacking hands over his mouth, almost tripping and falling on the ground. If he hadn't had a number of experiences like this back in middle school, the sound that almost came out of his mouth would have thrown him into an endless pit of embarrassment. "Goddammit Kuroko—!"

To his side, Kuroko merely blinked. "I'm sorry if I surprised you."

Haizaki grit his teeth, glaring at Kuroko while he tried to calm his heartbeat. It had been a really long time since he'd last gotten a surprise from Kuroko like that, and damn it was never good for the heart. "What do you want?"

Kuroko, who still had a hand on the door of Nijimura's room, quietly pushed it open. "Come back inside for a bit," he said softly.

"Hah?" Haizaki hissed, finding himself half-whispering. "Why? I just left—"

Kuroko slipped into the room, still inviting Haizaki in. "You don't have to talk or anything, just come in."

Eyebrows scrunched and eyes squinted, Haizaki gingerly followed Kuroko back into Nijimura's room, and he was barely past the door when he heard someone say:

"I didn't think Haizaki would care so much."

Haizaki blinked, squinting even more, trying to keep himself from being seen, though Kuroko's misdirection seemed to rub off on him.

"He's still got a crap attitude about it though."

"He's only like that with Nijimura-senpai," he heard Ryouta say. "I think I saw tears in his eyes."

"Damn that Ryouta…" Haizaki grumbled, forcing himself to keep his back close to the door.

"He looked really concerned."

"What was that about his dad?"

"Have some tact, stupid. It isn't something you should just ask lightly!"

"It's alright." Haizaki heard Nijimura speak, making him freeze. "I was a lot like Haizaki once. Probably even worse."

Haizaki felt his hands twitch at his sides, and he wasn't sure how to feel about what he'd just heard, feeling like his feet were glued to the ground.

"What, really?"

"Yeah, you can't really tell, huh? When I met Shuu—Nijimura in LA, he was surprisingly used to fighting."

"Why was there fighting in the first place…"

"It's a long story." It was Nijimura again. "But yeah, I was a lot like Haizaki once. Had a rough, hot-blooded phase and everything. It was my dad who got me out of that rough spot."

Haizaki unclenced his fist, huffing. He had heard of something like that—stories of his former captain getting into all sorts fights and striking fear into the hearts of many. When he met Nijimura for the first time, even before he'd joined the basketball team, he knew there was something formidable about him. Haizaki wasn't one to get easily spooked, but after Nijimura's eyes had looked straight at his, just by chance, he was intimidated. He was stopped by those steely eyes with nothing but fire in them, yet filled with so much life that it felt like Haizaki was hit with adrenaline, and despite being daunted by his senior, he saw him as a challenge—someone he wanted to reach (and, though Haizaki would never admit out loud, or even to himself: someone he wanted to become).

Those feelings never waned when he'd gotten to know more about Nijimura—how he'd win every fight he was involved in, how he was practically a black belt in karate and very effectively kicked ass, and how he'd joined the basketball club and was promoted captain in his second year. A halo seemed to veil the silhouette of Nijimura, and Haizaki could barely follow in the shade. But Nijimura would always pull him back—always beat the shit out of him and drag him to practice or matches or even school. Haizaki didn't expect that side to Nijimura, and even more that he—he felt happy about it.

"And well," Nijimura continued. "Haizaki reminds me of myself from back then, so I couldn't just leave him alone. Especially because he doesn't have a dad."

A jolt went through Haizaki, making him look forward, eyes widening, imagining how Nijimura was lying on the hospital bed and not marching around smacking his hand over Haizaki's head or flicking his finger at Daiki's forehead or being their captain. Former captain. Their senior. Big brother.

"And his dad…" someone said. "Died from—"

"Overwork." It was Akashi who spoke. "Officially, it was a stroke, but it was due to stress from work."

Haizaki remembered it well. How his dad was juggling multiple jobs, but always found time to bring over some snacks that he and his brother loved from the convenience store. How he'd once given Haizaki a basketball and tried to teach him how to play despite being swamped with work. How he'd always ruffle Haizaki's hair when he'd come home, with his big, warm hand—

How one day, he didn't come home.

"So it's true, about his father," Midorima said, somber.

"I didn't know about the overwork part," Daiki spoke.

"Well yeah, I was your captain, so I found out eventually," he heard Nijimura sigh. "And like I said, I just couldn't leave it alone."

"So you're the one who sets him straight."

"Yeah. At least, I tried to. I know I couldn't do it in his father's place, but I tried to be someone close enough. He has a crap attitude, but he isn't a bad kid."

Haizaki didn't know when he'd turned his back to face the door, or why his vision got blurry all of a sudden. His fists were clenched at his sides, and he exhaled heavily, clamping his eyes shut.

"Haizaki-kun?" he heard Kuroko say.

"Shut up," Haizaki snapped, and it was barely a whisper. He opened his eyes and reached for the door. "I'm leaving."

Kuroko looked at him, something soft in his eyes, and gave a small nod, the corners of his lips curved gently upward. "Alright. Thank you for coming."

Haizaki silently pulled the door open, avoiding Kuroko's gaze. He huffed. "Yeah, whatever. See you."

He wasn't looking, but he was sure Kuroko was smiling when he said, "See you soon."

The next day, Friday

Even though it had been almost a week since filling in for one of Nijimura's jobs, Midorima felt relief when he received a message telling him that he and Kuroko were free for the afternoon. It wasn't that he didn't want to help his former captain—it just turned out to be a lot more tiring than he had expected. It was only one extra responsibility to take on, but it ate up a lot of both Midorima's physical and mental energy, and it was something that took adjusting to.

(Midorima would also wonder, a little awestruck, how Nijimura-san managed triple the amount of responsibility while just being a year older. Nothwithstanding the fact that he'd been hospitalized, it was something not many could do).

Normally, Midorima would stay behind after practice to do his regular shooting rounds, and on that afternoon he would have made up for the days he wasn't able to if it weren't for the day's horoscope: Gemini was in last place. He only did a third of the number of shots he needed to do before deciding to wrap up and go look for Gemini's lucky item, a task which Takao volunteered to take part in.

"So what are we looking for?" Takao chirped, skipping lightly at Midorima's side.

"I didn't ask you to come with me," Midorima said, pushing up his glasses. "For Gemini it's a basketball keychain."

Takao sniggered, his eyes lighting up. "Ah, I think I know where we can get one!"

Midorima side-eyed his partner. He knew a few places that could have the keychain, but there were no guarantees of it's availability, and they were far away. "Where? Is it nearby?"

Takao grinned. "Yeah, just 'round the corner, actually."

"Hmph," Midorima huffed, averting his eyes.

Takao gave a light chuckle, putting his hands behind his head. "You alright Shin-chan?"

Midorima looked downcast for a moment. "I have a bad feeling."

"About Nijimura-san?"

Midorima gave a small nod. Takao smiled, then smacked Midorima's back.

"We're getting his lucky item for today right?" Takao reassured. "And Nijimura-san's a strong guy, I'm sure he's gonna get out of there in no time."

Midorima adjusted his glasses, looking away. "Yeah."

Another light chuckle escaped Takao's lips, and it calmed Midorima, easing away some of the dread that clung to him. He did think of maybe becoming a doctor someday, but it wasn't a pleasant feeling, knowing that someone he knew—a senpai, even—got so close to never waking up again. It came as a painful surprise, and something of a reminder, but it came so abruptly that it was hard to fully adjust.

Midorima focused on arranging his thoughts, and he felt like he was doing well up until Takao yanked him to the side, making his glasses slide off of his nose. "What the—"

"Try watching where you're going Shin-chan," Takao snickered, snorting. "You almost ran into that post."

Squinting, Midorima repositioned his glasses and looked over his shoulder at the post that was just inches away. He blinked, stepping away from it, while beside him Takao sniggered some more.

"That's so cute, Shin-chan," he laughed. "You're so worried."

"Shut up," Midorima hissed. "I'm not worried."

"Yeah, yeah," Takao smirked, eyebrow raised. He turned right and made to enter a small building. "Here. The arcade on the second floor gives out keychains for a few dozen tickets. Last I checked, there was a whole tray of ball keychains."

Midorima followed him inside and up, feeling a wave of nostalgia hit him—back in middle school, he and the team (minus Akashi) had gone to an arcade in search for a new flavor of snack for Murasakibara, and by the end of the day, they managed to get a photo together, at least after a couple of tries where Kuroko would actually be noticeable. It was a weird feeling, Midorima thought, how time passed so quickly and yet feel like so long ago, and how now it was as if that day just happened yesterday. It wasn't something Midorima thought of that often, but in the past week, he'd been hit with so many pangs of nostalgia to the point that he actually somewhat missed it, those days.

Although right there, looking at stupid Takao enjoying himself with a ball game in the arcade, he felt content with his current place.

He made a small smile, watching Takao fail horribly at the timing of dropping a ball into the 100-ticket jackpot hole and instead getting just two. With a wail, Takao pulled out the tickets and turned to hand them to Midorima.

"You're rather successful at this, aren't you," Midorima said, smug.

"Oh shut up," Takao fussed, pouting. "Let's see you do better."

"Hmph, I can earn a hundred times more than you in the right game," Midorima bragged, walking towards a corner of the arcade which he'd spotted upon entering.

"Aw that's unfair!" Takao cried, running after him. Midorima simply inclined his head, proud, and inserted a token into the game, and a small gate released four basketballs down a ramp in front of Midorima, who pushed up his glasses, picked one up, and shot it towards the basket.

The ball hit the rim before tumbling into the net, and Midorima tsked, stepping back some more and adjusting himself to shoot without putting too much strength—the balls were lighter than regular basketballs, the hoop was almost eye-level to him, and the ceiling was way too low—he almost hit it with the high arc of his shot. He tried another shot and did hit the ceiling then, and although the ball still went in, it bounced around the rim before falling through.

Behind him, Takao tugged on his shirt with a chuckle. "Move back some more Shin-chan," he said, grinning. "I'll pass them to you."

Midorima looked at his partner once, and then took a few steps backwards, putting a bit of a distance between him and the mini basketball shooting game. He glanced at Takao, who picked up a ball and swiftly passed to him, and in one smooth motion he took the shot, and it went into the hoop perfectly. Takao gave him a huge grin, and continued passing to Midorima, who made shot after shot and effectively beat the high score of the game by a stupidly large margin, eventually hording an abundant roll of tickets which he used to trade almost a dozen basketball keychains with.

Content, Midorima stuffed the remaining tickets in his bag, carrying in another hand a plastic bag of clinking basketball keychains. Beside him, Takao was fighting back his laughter, practically wheezing as they left the building and headed for the hospital.

"That was fun," Takao said, wiping a tear in the corner of his eye. "Let's do that again sometime."

"We can do that in practice," Midorima pointed out. "With a better hoop. And more basketballs."

"Aw, but we don't get prizes there," Takao whined. "In fact, we might even get hit by pineapples."

"Only if your passes are bad."

"When have they been bad!" Takao laughed. "And hey, I helped you out with those keychains, didn't I?"

Midorima gave him a sidelong glance, squinting, and simply pulled out a keychain from the bag and practically shoved it at Takao.

"Huh? What? What?" Takao blinked, automatically putting out to hands. "Are you giving this to me?"

"Just take it," Midorima muttered, turning away. "There's too much in here anyway."

Takao stared at him, eyes wide and mouth ajar, and snorted. "Uwah! I'm touched, Shin-chan."

"Shut up."

"You're welcome."

Midorima squinted at his partner again, then strode forward. "Hmph." Behind him, Takao's light laughter followed.

The sky was getting dimmer as they neared the hospital, and they were still a few blocks away when a dark car pulled up beside the sidewalk they were on. The two Shutoku regulars paused, squinting, then a window rolled down to reveal Akashi sitting inside.

"Shintarou," Akashi nodded, then looked at Takao. "And Takao Kazunari, yes?"

"Yessir," came Takao's immediate reply, to which he did a double take at (did I just say 'yessir?' he thought, almost laughing at himself).

Midorima gave him a look before turning to Akashi. "Are you going to the hospital?"

Akashi nodded. "Yes. Come in. Let me give you a ride there."

"What—"

"I insist."

"Ngh," Takao grunted, flinching slightly at Akashi's strong eyes. Midorima shrugged and opened the door, tugging at Takao to follow. Takao silently felt like shriveling up where he sat, and focused instead on the basketball keychain in his hand.

The silence almost became awkwardly drawn out when a phone rang, and it was Akashi who pulled out his cell to answer. He took a look at the caller before flipping it open.

"Who is it?" Midorima asked.

"It's Daiki," Akashi answered, eyebrow raised suspiciously as he put the phone next to his ear.

"Akashi?"

Daiki's voice sent a pang of unease through Akashi—the way it was rough and laced with urgency and anxiety, all evident even after hearing just one word.

"What is it?" Akashi asked, trying not to let his mind jump to assumptions.

"It's—Nijimura-senpai." It was obvious that Daiki was forcing himself to stay calm. Across him, Shintarou and Takao looked at him with concern, sitting straight and alert.

Akashi gripped his phone tighter, his mind already racing. "Did something happen?"

He tried to brace himself for the reply, but it seemed like no amount of prior preparation could have lessened the weight of dread that dropped at the pit of his stomach when Daiki answered,

"He's not waking up."

[tbc]

A/N: (apologies for the cliffhanger oops)
Ahem, anyway, in case it wasn't clear, the first part of this chapter was what Kuroko did when he 'disappeared' after Haizaki walked out of the room (in the previous chapter). Also, in the second half of the chapter, the part where Midorima was reminiscing about going to an arcade with his former teammates is a reference to -Replace- (the first of the light novel series), specifically Chapter 1: Teiko Basketball - After School.

Thank you to everyone who's reading! And thanks for all the reviews! Those are what keep me going :)