"Tets'ya..." The man's voice was slurred and difficult to make out. "Why're you meetin' me at the door like this? Didn' I tell ya t'stay outta my way?"

"I wanted to make sure you were safe. It's late. Did your trip home go well?" Kuroko's voice was utterly calm.

"Don'...don' make funna me. You..." Kagami heard sounds of stumbling, of heavy, clumsy feet on the floorboards of the hall.

"Father, please... Let me help you take off your shoes, at least..."

There was another thump, an intake of breath from Kuroko. "Why? 'Z it so hard to keep the floor clean? 'M I gonna mess up your precious floor with my filthy feet?"

"Please... I'll help you get to your room. You can lie down and sleep. You'll feel better then. I won't be in your way, I promise. Just let me help."

Sounds of fumbling, rough thumps, a rustle of fabric. Kagami dug his fingers into his thighs to keep from moving. So Kuroko had a useless drunk for a father. The man in that photo? It was hard to imagine. He had seemed ordinary in the picture, an ordinary father with his own worries, but enough care and affection to lavish on his wife and son.

How many years had passed since that picture was taken? What had happened in the meantime? Kagami couldn't begin to guess.

"Leggo a me!" The man's voice rose, intemperate rage sharpening his tone. "Don' touch me with those dirty hands a yours!"

"Father, I'm clean, I swear, just..."

"No, you're lying to me! I can see the dirt all over ya, I can see it, I can..."

Footsteps on the floor. Kuroko's soft pads, followed by the heavy feet of his father. Kagami swore he could feel the vibrations through the floor, thick and heavy, so heavy. Kuroko and his father were moving away from the entryway, now.

"Come, your room is right this way." Kagami could hear the stress in Kuroko's voice, as hidden as it was. Kuroko's father no doubt heard only his son's usual serene monotone. You had to pay attention to notice the differences in Kuroko's tone of voice, and this man did not seem the kind to pay attention to anything outside his own world, his own pool of cares and concerns and wasted nights.

"Leggo a me!" Sounds of sliding fabric, and the footsteps stopped. Kuroko's father was silent, panting harsh and loud. Kuroko was so still that Kagami couldn't even hear him breathe. Were they looking at each other, standing frozen in the hall? What expressions were on their faces?

"Little bastard..." The man's voice was thick with rage, rapidly building. Kagami found himself climbing to his feet without making a conscious decision to do so. How dare he, how dare he speak to Kuroko that way, to his own son that way, how could he...

"You're a demon." The father's voice was low and grinding. "I've seen it before. I see it now. Don't you come near me. Don't you touch me, you filthy little beast."

Then there came a sound Kagami knew he recognized. A rush of air, a heavy thud. Kuroko's small body slammed into the wall, then slid to the floor. Kagami could feel the blow rattling the walls, threatening to shake the building down.

He'd hit him. Kuroko's father had hit him. Hit him hard enough to knock him to the floor.

Kagami was moving. A red haze rose in the corners of his vision, but his central view remained clear. He couldn't stay still now. His body would not accept that, sitting in the main room, helpless, listening. He couldn't do it now. He just couldn't.

There were things he needed to do. First and foremost, he intended to punch Kuroko's father in the face.

He rounded the corner, his fist raised to strike, and then he halted. Kuroko's father was bent over, leaning on the wall with one hand. His hair was mussed, his tie loose around his neck, and his face was deathly white. He looked seconds from throwing up on the floor. He wasn't a large man, by any means—shorter and slighter than Kagami, he'd be no match against Kagami's fists, no matter that it would be a grown man versus a high school boy. But in that moment, leaning on the wall and almost passing out in front of Kagami's eyes, he was pathetic. Small and pathetic and worthless. It didn't seem right to hit him, and Kagami's fist began to sink in the air.

Then his eyes fell on Kuroko, and the fist raised again. Kuroko was slumped on the floor with his back against the wall, his head down as he wheezed for breath. He was curled up around his stomach—was that where his father had hit him?—and he, too, looked like he was close to fainting. But this wasn't because of drunkenness. It was because of pain and injury.

Kagami took a step closer to the awful scene, his face screwing up in rage. "Oi! Bastard! What did you do?"

Kuroko's father snapped his head up to look at him. His eyes flashed, and he was the one who looked like a demon. "Who are you?" He looked at his son, his lips pulling back from his teeth. "You...you brought him here, didn't you? What did I tell you about outsiders? What did I...!"

He raised an open hand, preparing to strike Kuroko again as he knelt on the floor, unable to dodge, unable to defend himself in any way. Kagami rushed to meet the blow, placing himself between Kuroko and his father. The hand struck his arm and bounced harmlessly away. Kagami grimaced but didn't flinch.

That was a hard blow. Kuroko's father was stronger than he looked. It would have made Kuroko's head ring like a bell.

"Don't do that again," Kagami growled, his voice low and fierce. He felt like a guard dog bristling before an enormous threat. If that man moved so much as a centimeter, Kagami was going to go for his throat.

"Kagami-kun…" Kuroko's voice was breathless, desperate, almost inaudible. Kagami wanted to look at him, but he couldn't take his eyes off the pathetic, dangerous creature he faced.

He turned his head slightly to speak behind him, his gaze never wavering from Kuroko's worthless father. "Can you stand?"

Kuroko struggled for breath. The air wheezed in and out of his lungs. It hurt to listen to. "I...can stand."

"Then do that. Stay behind me."

Kagami was giving the orders now. He would accept no argument.

The father stared at Kagami as he leaned on the wall with his head down, stance wavering. His face was twisted with hate, but he made no move against him. He must have been able to see the murder in Kagami's eyes.

Kuroko remained on the floor for a moment longer, breathing in whistling pants, then began to struggle to his feet. He pushed his hands against the wall, the floor, levering his winded body into an upright position. Kagami stood so close that he could feel him trembling, feel him starting to fall again as his knees gave way. Kuroko caught himself with a hand on Kagami's back, fist clenching in the material of Kagami's shirt. Then he found his balance and stood quivering on the floor, pressed in the narrow space between Kagami and the wall. He let go of Kagami's shirt, but his hands pressed flat against Kagami's back. He wasn't pushing, wasn't trying to get Kagami to move away, so Kagami remained where he was.

Kuroko stood there, letting his palms rest on Kagami's shoulder blades. His trembling eased slightly with the contact, but it didn't disappear. Kagami frowned at Kuroko's father.

"I'm sorry, Kuroko," he said.

Kuroko stopped breathing for a second. "Wh...what?"

"I should have tried harder to find out what was going on, why you've been so scared and quiet and depressed. I'm sorry I assumed it was just a bully, some petty little jerk at school. I'm sorry I thought it was something simple that I could take care of in a moment for you. This is much worse than I thought it was going to be. I wasn't ready."

He glanced over his shoulder for a second and caught Kuroko's eye, staring wide and astonished, then looked forward again. "But I'm here now. I understand now. Everything will be all right."

Kuroko's breath hitched. Then Kagami felt him nod. Good. That was one battle won. Kuroko was going to accept Kagami's help.

Kuroko's father was not satisfied. His lip curled, and his hand rose again. It curled into a fist this time. "How dare you come into my house and speak like that to my son! You filthy delinquent! You insult to the earth! How dare you…!"

Kagami didn't move. The fist flew toward him, and he caught it. His hand was larger, and he wrapped it around the fist and squeezed. The man gasped, eyes bulging with the pain, and his knees began to buckle. Kagami squeezed his fist and let him fall, sliding down the wall. He stared down at him, never breaking eye contact, until this monster who called himself Kuroko's father was on the floor.

"I told you not to do that," he said.

With the demon subdued for the moment, Kagami dared to look behind himself and meet Kuroko's eyes for a little longer. "Go and pack a bag. We're leaving."

Kuroko blinked, slow and dazed. Though he had chosen to accept Kagami's help, he still was having trouble following all of these rapid events. "Where...where are we going?"

Kagami gave him a smile. "Home. You're coming home with me. And you're never going to have to come back here again."

He waited for Kuroko to protest, to deny, to declare that this was his home and he couldn't leave it. That he had responsibilities here to this place, to the memories that littered the walls and wafted to the air. To the father who had turned out to be no father at all. But after a long moment to process this news, Kuroko only blinked again. And he gave Kagami a nod, slow but sure. It was the best Kagami could have hoped for.

Kagami moved forward from the wall, forcing Kuroko's father back as he went, and Kuroko slipped out from behind him. He was moving slowly and carefully, and Kagami wondered what injuries he carried. How many bruises, how many abrasions, how many deep-seated scars.

Kuroko was quick. After a few minutes, he returned with a duffel bag slung over one shoulder, stuffed full. He trembled under the weight. He was carrying Kagami's bag in his other hand, packed with the things he had set out in the main room what seemed like eons ago.

"Do you have everything you need?" Kagami asked. "Did you remember your toothbrush?"

Kuroko nodded. "I have enough."

"All right. Let's go."

Kagami glared down at Kuroko's father, daring him to move, daring him to protest, daring him to do anything at all. The man remained slumped against the wall. By now he looked nearly catatonic. Kagami didn't care. He let go of the disgusting fist he'd been holding and took the bags from Kuroko, slinging them lightly over his own shoulder. He positioned himself between Kuroko and his father as they made their way out the door.

Kuroko paused on the threshold, swaying on his feet as he wavered between the hallway and the place he had called home. Kagami stood behind him, waiting patiently. After a moment, Kuroko's foot moved forward. He stepped into the hall of the apartment building and walked away.

He didn't look back. Neither did Kagami.