AN: I made a playlist for this story. The link is on my profile.

Aomine rested his elbows on the railing and leaned over, staring out on the Tokyo landscape. Kagami's apartment was pretty high up, but Aomine wasn't nervous about the height. He liked the sensation of being suspended in midair, in the darkness and the myriad lights of the city. It helped him gain some distance, some perspective.

His head was still pounding, his blood racing in his veins. He knew where Tetsu lived—he'd gone there to pick up Nigou a month ago. He could go there now. He could ring the doorbell, and when that bastard answered, he could punch him in the face. He imagined how satisfying it would be, the crunch of cartilage under his fingers, the spurt of blood, the shout of pain.

He could do it. He could do it anytime. Aomine held onto the thought with all his strength. It was always an option.

Just knowing that he could go do this, anytime he wanted, helped Aomine regain his calm. He could do that. Tetsu wouldn't like it and would be upset if he knew, so Aomine wouldn't do it, for Tetsu's sake. But he could. He always could.

That crazy bastard fuck. The things he did to Tetsu...

Aomine leaned back and grabbed the railing with both hands. He held so tightly that his knuckles and wrists began to ache. No, he couldn't keep thinking like this. He couldn't go back inside while all of this rage was still pouring through him. All he would do was scare Tetsu half to death, and Tetsu didn't deserve that. He didn't need anger right now. He needed...

Well, he needed whatever Kagami was doing, obviously. Aomine had thought it was weird at first, the way Kagami had apparently decided that he was now a mother hen and Tetsu was his chick. He'd even built a literal nest for the guy.

But the more time Aomine spent around them and the more he found himself drawn into the world they had created in this apartment, the more he saw that this was exactly what Tetsu needed. Tetsu needed someone to look out for him and cook him food and put cream on his sores and make him take medicine for his fever and his pain. Aomine couldn't do that. He'd never been that person, not even back in middle school when he'd threatened to quit the basketball team for Tetsu's sake. It wasn't his style of caring.

So yeah, thank God for Kagami Taiga. Thank God for rude, stubborn, Americanized returnee brats who were perfectly fine with giving traumatized child abuse victims everything they possibly could. Including probably a million hugs? Aomine wasn't sure how many times Kagami had hugged Tetsu in the last few days, but it had to be up there.

Before he left, Aomine had to make sure he hugged Tetsu at least once. It would be a challenge, but he would figure it out. He couldn't lose to Kagami in this.

That was the thought that finally had Aomine's feet moving him back toward the door, back into that apartment. Back to the close little space, to the horror of Tetsu's words as he calmly gave them the plain, unvarnished facts about the awful things that had happened to him, that had been done to him. Aomine set his hand on the door and pulled in one last breath of cold, clear air before he moved inside again.

He slid the door shut quietly behind him and tilted his head at the soft conversation coming from inside the blanket fort.

"So what do you think she and Lisa were talking about for all that time? Like, how to take care of fish or whatever?"

A heavy sigh. "No, Kagami-kun, she turned into a little girl, remember? Lisa wouldn't need to know how to take care of fish."

"Well, how to take care of a fish that turned into a little girl, then?"

"How would that be different than just taking care of a little girl?"

Silence for a couple of seconds. "Maybe Lisa was the one reassuring her that everything was going to be okay, then."

Aomine slumped, suddenly exhausted. Those two nerds were talking about Ponyo. He sauntered over to the blanket fort and knocked his fist against one of the chairs. "Oi. Talk about something more interesting."

The other two were quiet for a beat. Then, "Aomine-kun. Come sit with us again."

"Fine." It wasn't like Aomine had planned on doing anything different. He moved back to the opening of the fort and crouched down to squint in at them.

Kagami and Tetsu were pretty much like he'd left them, lounging around in the swamp of pillows and bedding on the floor. Kagami was still on his back, but he'd propped up his head and shoulders with a wad of blankets. Tetsu was still cuddled up on his shoulder, but he looked a lot less tense now. Nigou had crept under one of the chairs, just his nose sticking out from the blankets. How long had Aomine been gone?

Long enough for them to start discussing the finer points of Ponyo, apparently.

"Aomine," Kagami said. "Settle something for us."

Aomine frowned at him in confusion, but crawled into the fort and found a place to sit where he could see both of their faces. "Yeah?" he asked, slow and cautious. Was this going to be something about Ponyo? He'd liked the movie, but he really didn't have any further thoughts on it.

"Kuroko said he believed me, but I'm not sure he did," Kagami said. "So just set him straight, all right? Tell him it wasn't him you were angry at when you stormed out of here."

Aomine froze in horror for a moment, his eyes going wide. "What? No!" His gaze flew to Tetsu, found him watching him warily, with the eyes of a cornered animal. Not sure whether to run or not, whether the creature approaching it was a threat. "Damn it, Tetsu, is that what you thought? I was angry, yeah, but not at you. Never at you. You didn't do anything wrong."

"See?" Kagami nudged Tetsu's shoulder. His voice was stupidly smug. "I told you."

Aomine couldn't take his eyes off Tetsu. He felt like he'd been doused in ice water. Just how messed up had things gotten for this kid? Why would he even think that?

Tetsu was still watching him with those wary eyes. "But...I lied to you."

Aomine had to think hard to even come up with what he was talking about. "You mean...the allergy thing?"

Tetsu nodded.

"You're feeling guilty about that?" Aomine shook his head. "Forget it. Even if you'd tried to explain the truth to me, I doubt I would have understood. What would you have said? 'My dad's a psychotic bastard and he's decided to stop taking his medication, and I don't want Nigou to get kicked across the room when he's in a bad mood.' Something like that?"

Tetsu looked away.

Aomine rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I thought not. Look, I get why you lied. You were trying to protect your family. And of course now that I know everything, if I could go back in time I would get you out of there before anything bad happened to you. So would Kagami. But we understand why you did what you did, and we don't blame you."

"But...it didn't even work." Tetsu rubbed a fist against his eye, hunching into himself as he tried to process this. "I tried so hard, and it was all useless in the end..."

"Nothing is useless," Aomine burst out. Tetsu's gaze flew back to him in shock. Aomine sighed, his shoulders slumping. His voice fell low in remembered shame. "I know...I said other things to you in the past. I hurt you with my words, and I regret it now. I don't even have the excuse of an illness. I was just caught up in my own selfishness and apathy. But I recognize that now, and I'm going to try not to do it again. You...and Kagami..." He nodded to the other. "...showed me I was wrong. And I'm grateful for that. So stop thinking you're useless, okay? You're not. You couldn't save your dad, but that's not on you."

Tetsu's breath came harder and rougher, as if he was fighting tears. "But it had to be me. There wasn't anyone else. He doesn't have anyone..."

"That's still not your job," Kagami said. His arm tightened around Tetsu, pulling him closer into his side. His voice was firm and grim. "Your father is supposed to take care of you, not the other way around. He dismissed you. He put his own desires over you. That's not the way a father is supposed to be. None of this is on you. None of it is your fault."

"But if I had been able to convince him somehow, if I'd been able to figure out a way, if I'd been smarter or stronger or more persuasive...this all could have been avoided..."

"If, if, if!" Kagami huffed out a breath in exasperation. "Are you listening to yourself? Sure, we could win every basketball game if we were superhuman. We could fly to the moon if we had wings and could breathe in the vacuum. It's a meaningless argument. You did everything you possibly could, including things you feel guilty about now, like lying to Aomine. You have to stop blaming yourself for not being able to do the impossible."

Tetsu went silent. Maybe he was thinking about it. Maybe he'd just decided that talking meant nothing at this point.

"Tetsu." Aomine tried for the same tone Kagami was using, firm, allowing no argument. "Your father really should be in jail."

Tetsu's entire body went stiff, his hands clenching into fists. "You too?" His voice was pure frustration. He pushed off Kagami and sat up to face Aomine, and his eyes were sparking with heat in the dimness. "How many times do I have to explain this? He's sick. He doesn't know what he's doing. He doesn't need jail—he needs help!"

He turned to Kagami, shaking now with distress. "Do you still think that, too? Now that I've told you everything, you still don't understand?"

Kagami's jaw set in stubborness. "I understand just fine," he said. "I'm sorry, Kuroko. I don't want to fight with you. And I know it hurts you to hear this. But your father is dangerous and cruel, and he belongs in jail."

"They'll make him take his medication in jail," Aomine pointed out. "You couldn't force him, but they'll be able to do it. If you really want to get him back, this is the only way."

"No..." Tetsu deflated, his fists falling down at his sides. Frustrated tears were rising in his eyes. "How can I make you understand..."

Aomine blew out a breath. He wanted to ask the same question.

"Kuroko." Kagami's big hand reached out and landed on the top of Tetsu's head, covering it almost completely. He was sitting up now, leaning forward as he tried to catch Tetsu's attention. His face was etched with concern. "Kuroko, will you answer a few questions?"

Tetsu swiped at his eyes with his fingers and nodded, slow, painful.

Kagami closed his eyes for a moment. "Did your father never...in all the time that he was stable, when he was taking his medication... Did he never hurt you at all during all those years? Never hit you, never grabbed you, never left a bruise? Never spoke cruelly to you?"

Kuroko held very, very still. It was like he'd been carved in ice. The answer came in a breathless hush. "No."

Aomine's fingernails dug into his palms. So his father had hurt him. It had been going on for all this time. And they'd never noticed.

Kagami nodded slowly, as if he'd expected nothing else. "And after he quit taking his medication, how many days passed before he hurt you again?"

Kuroko trembled. "Three."

Kagami nodded again. "Three," he echoed. "Three. All right, last question. When your father was whipping you, beating you, did he say it was because you were a demon and something he had to fight? Or did he say it was because you were a bad son and you weren't showing him the proper respect?"

Kagami and Aomine's eyes met briefly. They already knew the answer to this one.

Kuroko sagged. He knew they already knew.

"Tetsu," Aomine dared to ask. He could barely hear his own voice. "When was the last time he whipped you?"

"It was...Wednesday night."

"The day before I came over," Kagami murmured. "I knew it had to be recent, but..."

Kagami ran out of words, too. His hand slid away from Tetsu's head. Tetsu held himself up with his hands on the floor, his head bowed, his body shaking.

Aomine watched them both sadly. He'd never felt pain like this before. It stirred something deep inside his chest.

He moved forward, getting up on his knees, then crouching over to put his hands on Tetsu's shoulders.

"Tetsu. Forget about your dad's sickness for a moment. It doesn't matter. He's not cruel to you because he's sick. He's cruel to you, and he also happens to have an illness. You can't excuse the first one based on the other one."

Tetsu shook his head. His elbows started to collapse, unable to hold his weight. Aomine tightened his grip on his shoulders and held him up.

A lump had risen in his throat. But he'd gotten a flash of understanding now, and he needed to express it. "I get that it was important for you to believe that. You had to believe that if your father could be cured, if you just found the right medication, if you just acted the right way to avoid making him angry... That everything would be okay. It gave you hope and it helped you survive.

"But you don't need that anymore. You're here. He's never gonna touch you again. So now you can look back at it with clear eyes and understand how false that hope was. It'll be hard and it'll hurt, but I believe you can do it."

Tetsu shook his head. "No..."

Aomine felt like crying. "You can, Tetsu. I know you can. Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow, but soon. None of this was your fault. I know it. Kagami knows it. You can tell this story to anyone you want, and they'll know it, too."

Tetsu paused. His breath came wet and ragged, torn. He was on the edge of something, Aomine could feel it. "You sound...so sure..."

"That's because we are," Kagami said. "You know how different the two of us are. You know it better than anyone. But here we both are, telling you the same thing. This wasn't your fault. We know it. We'll tell you a thousand times if that's what it takes."

"Aomine-kun..."

Aomine had to whisper around the lump in his throat. "It's not your fault. It's not your fault. It's not your fault. There, that's three. Do you want me to keep going?"

"Aomine-kun..." Tetsu shook his head. He dragged himself upright, raising his head so he could look Aomine in the eyes. His face was screwed up in a grimace of pain. Then he fell forward into Aomine's chest and hid there, his face buried under Aomine's chin.

Aomine froze for a split second, not sure of what to do. His eyes flew to Kagami, who just raised his eyebrows as if prompting Aomine to go on. Aomine looked down at Tetsu, then slowly, hesitantly let go of his shoulders and put his arms around him instead.

He held him lightly, delicately, afraid of hurting him. Tetsu snuffled and shifted closer, pressing harder into his chest. Aomine raised a hand to cradle his head the way he'd seen Kagami do. Tetsu released a tiny sigh, as if that was exactly what he'd been looking for, and relaxed against him.

Well. This wasn't so bad. Aomine didn't hate it even a little bit.

Kagami Taiga was an idiot and a brat and a mother hen. But he had the right idea on this one. Aomine wasn't too proud to admit it.

Just to himself, though.