Again, thank you for all your reviews and comments. I wish I had the time and energy to answer them all individually. You are immensely valued. I would like to answer a few questions, though.

1. Will I develop a romance between Kagami and Kuroko or any of the other pairs in this story?

No. I am aromantic myself. Romance does not interest me, and I prefer to write platonic relationships. I know my writing can be kind of borderline, though, so I don't blame you for asking. (I mean, golly, the last chapter had two high school boys holding hands and then hugging. In Japan, even lovers are very unlikely to do that while standing on a balcony in full daylight. But whatever. I couldn't write it any other way.)

2. How am I updating so quickly? Did I write this story ahead of time?

No, except the initial first five chapters, as mentioned in my first note. I just have some time on my hands because I work in a call center and we've been pretty slow lately, so I've been writing between calls. (I can't reply to reviews or anything during that time, though, because the internet is only for business purposes. That's good, though. Keeps me from getting distracted by tumblr.) I also have been thoroughly captured by this story and these characters, which makes the writing pretty easy. Except when it's hard, because it's so emotional and wrenching.

3. Is any of this story based on personal experience?

Yes. I wrote kind of an essay on my tumblr about that. Short version: I was abused, too, though not the same way as Kuroko. But a lot of our reactions and problems are similar or the same. In particular, when I wrote about how Kuroko feels like the world is split into two groups of people, those who know and those who don't, and how he doesn't want Kagami to treat him differently now, but he also kind of really NEEDS a lot of tenderness and kindness... (Don't look at me like I'm broken, even though I am.) Those parts are basically transcriptions of my experience. Also the denial of how bad it was, the self-blame, the emotional repression. I've had problems with PTSD and self-esteem and depression, too. For years. I'm healed now, but I still remember it all clearly. That's one reason the writing of this can be both very easy, and very hard.

I've also done a lot of research on the subject, naturally. But if anything feels particularly authentic and true-to-life, that's probably because it is.

On with the story.

"Are they going to be all right?" Kagami's voice and expression were worried, trained on the two that had just gone out on the balcony. He kept eating without pausing, though.

Midorima looked behind himself through the glass door. Kuroko was leaning on the rail, as was Kise, a meter or two of distance between them. Kise looked at Kuroko, his concern clear on his face. There weren't a lot of things that Midorima was comfortable trusting Kise with, but this was one of them.

Midorima faced forward and gave Kagami a solemn nod. "They'll be fine. Kise's affection for Kuroko is uncomplicated, but that doesn't mean it isn't deep."

If any of Kuroko's former teammates were suited to provide the kind of simple, unswerving kindness that Kuroko needed right now, it was Kise. Kagami probably was, too, but Kise needed this opportunity almost as much as Kuroko did. That was why Midorima hadn't bothered to stand up with them when Kuroko suddenly rose and said that he needed some air.

Kagami grunted in acceptance and concentrated on his food again, though he kept an eye on the balcony.

Midorima couldn't help seeing Kuroko's absence as an opportunity for himself, as well. He looked at Kagami frankly. "What sort of arrangements have you made to ensure that Kuroko will never go back to that place again? Have you contacted the police? Have you retained a lawyer? What do your parents think about him staying here? Has Kuroko's father made any attempt to contact you?"

Kagami's eyes widened a bit more with each question. He set his spoon down by his plate, apparently resigned to not eating for a bit while he dealt with this new challenge. "Um... Can you repeat those one at a time, please?"

Takao bumped Midorima's shoulder with his own, and Midorima abruptly became aware of how tense he was. He sat back and forced his shoulders to loosen, then stretched his neck back and forth. His left hand ached, reminding him that basketball practice was going to be difficult for a few days. "Sorry," he said much more calmly. "First off, have you contacted the police or retained a lawyer?"

Kagami shifted where he sat, and a scowl appeared on his face. "For the first one, no. Kuroko wouldn't let me. He didn't want to go to the hospital, either. I'm sure you can imagine how reluctant he's been to share pretty much anything. I only found out to begin with because I was there when his worthless father took a swing at him."

Midorima nodded slowly. He hadn't really expected anything different.

"And for the lawyer thing... I'm still not sure what we're gonna do to make sure Kuroko can stay here. My brother is working on it. He said it's good that we didn't go to the police, though, because if they get involved Kuroko is pretty much guaranteed to end up in an orphanage. I don't want that. Neither does Kuroko."

Midorima frowned. "Your brother..."

"Not by blood." Kagami's hand rose to touch the ring he wore on the chain around his neck. Midorima watched him silently. He'd always been curious about that ring, especially after he found it and gave it back to Kagami when he lost it on the court at the Winter Cup. "Himuro Tatsuya. He's at Yosen with your giant purple tree buddy. He's been helping me out."

Aomine made a noise. "That guy? Man, he's good. I really want to play him someday. I can't believe you're related."

Kagami glared at him. "I said it's not by blood. We met in the States. He's the one who introduced me to basketball."

"We all owe him a debt, then." Midorima hummed in contemplation. Kagami blushed and looked down. For such an intense guy on the basketball court, he could be surprisingly shy in other contexts. "If either of you needs an introduction to a good lawyer, I can assist you."

Kagami nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

"What about your parents?" Midorima asked. "Are they not involved in this?"

Kagami rubbed the back of his neck. "Sometimes I forget that you guys don't actually know anything about me, we've all been up in each other's business so much... But yeah, I live alone. My dad is a business consultant, and we were supposed to live here together, but he got called back to the States. My fees for Seirin had already been paid, so I stayed here. And I haven't...actually...told him about Kuroko yet, or anything. Once I do, though, I'm sure he'll have no objections to Kuroko living here. He might even insist on it. My dad is a good guy."

"And your mother?"

Kagami's jaw hardened. "She's not in the picture."

There was a story there, but it was nothing Midorima needed to pursue. He nodded. "You said your father is a good man. Do you think he would go so far as to adopt Kuroko?"

"Huh." Kagami blinked, once. "That would solve a lot of problems, wouldn't it?"

"Yes. But Kuroko's father would be an obstacle to that plan, presuming we're not involving the police. That's probably what your brother is working on."

"Oh." Kagami fiddled with his ring again. "Yeah, that makes sense. And as for my dad... Yeah. Yeah, I think he would go that far. He'd fly out here tomorrow if he thought I needed him badly enough. He was never happy about leaving me alone in Japan."

"A good man indeed," Midorima murmured. He looked down at his empty plate, reaching up to adjust his glasses as they slid on his nose.

"I know he'll love Kuroko as soon as he meets him. My dad is that kind of person."

The certainty in his voice was...rather heartwarming. Midorima could feel his heart settling in his chest, reasserting a more comfortable and relaxed rhythm. Kuroko had fallen in with good people, here. Midorima had known it from the moment he met the Seirin basketball club, and this just confirmed it again.

Takao made a high-pitched noise and nudged Midorima's shoulder, and Midorima turned to find him twisted around, staring out the window to the balcony. Midorima looked, too, curious about what could make Takao produce a noise like that... Ah. Kise and Kuroko were hugging.

"So cute," Takao squeaked out, soft and heartfelt.

Midorima's eyes narrowed. Kuroko's fingers were clenched tight in the back of Kise's shirt, visibly trembling, and his face was hidden. Kise's eyes were wet, and it was a fair wager that Kuroko was crying, too. Not an entirely cute picture, then.

But Takao's hands had finally stopped shaking. Midorima wasn't going to remark on it.

He turned back around and found Kagami staring out the window, too, his eyes soft and large. Kasamatsu and Aomine, sitting next to him, looked just as affected. Midorima sighed and folded his hands on the table in front of him. Kagami blinked and looked at him.

"You had one more question, right? About Kuroko's father?"

Midorima nodded. "Has he tried to contact Kuroko?"

Kagami shook his head. His face was grim. "I thought we were rid of that bastard for good. Hoped so, anyway."

"Kuroko is wise. He would not have left any information in that place that could lead his father to your address. But there's always the possibility that such an unstable, unpredictable man will try to come after the two of you, anyway."

"What about you?" Kagami's eyes flicked to Midorima's bandaged hand. "You punched him. I'm incredibly envious, by the way. I called dibs a long time ago, but you got there first."

Midorima's lips pressed together. "We...came to an agreement. He won't come after me."

Kagami looked suspiciously between him and Aomine and Kasamatsu, who looked pained and grim, respectively. Takao was still smiling at the scene on the balcony. "What kind of agreement?"

"Mutually assured destruction. If he goes to the police to complain that I punched him, I will tell the police why I punched him." Midorima raised his chin. "He's a business man. He will not risk losing his reputation because of a broken nose."

"Aw, man, you even got to break his nose?" Kagami's fist flexed on the table. "That just makes me even more envious."

Midorima ignored this. "Of course, I thought Kuroko should go to the police, anyway. But I'm glad now that we've had time to re-think that. I had not considered the delicacy of the situation. You're right. None of us wants Kuroko to be victimized again by the system."

Kagami subsided, looking down at his curry. "No, we don't."

He met Midorima's eyes again. Midorima had never seen such a fierce light before. The closest he could remember was Aomine when he was truly fired up, back before everything changed and his passion became boring to him. Come to think of it, that light had only come back to Aomine's eyes when he met Kagami in that fateful match. And now Kagami had a similar light, but this was not passion for victory. At least not victory on a basketball court. This was much, much more important.

"I get why you're worried," he said to Midorima, his voice low and calm. "But Kuroko's father is never going to touch him again. He's not even going to get a chance to come close. I'll die first."

Midorima snorted. But he lowered his head, closed his eyes, and smiled. "That would be unfortunate. Who would be Kuroko's adopted brother and make sure he always had nutritious food to eat if you weren't around?"

Kagami turned very, very red and deteriorated into mumbles. It was beautiful and hilarious. Midorima realized that he didn't feel tense at all anymore.

"Ah, they're coming back," Takao said, and quickly turned around before Kise and Kuroko caught him staring.

The balcony door opened and the two stepped back inside the main room, side by side. Kise's arm was still wrapped around Kuroko's shoulders, holding him lightly but with no intentions of letting go. Kuroko's hand gripped the front of Kise's shirt, as if he needed the contact, and Midorima didn't miss the way he leaned into Kise's side, letting him hold him up. They were both a bit damp and shaky around the edges, but Kuroko was calm and Kise was smiling.

"Ah, Kagamicchi!" he called. "We were just wondering if you'd made any dessert to accompany your delicious curry!"

Kagami scowled at the hated nickname, shoulders going stiff. "Of course not. As if I would ever expend that much effort on you bunch of louts."

"But Kagamicchi, you made curry for us..."

"Curry is easy. Good desserts are hard."

Kuroko blinked at him, cool and serene. "But Kagami-kun, you still have chocolate chips, don't you? You could make cookies. I've heard that those aren't too difficult."

"I don't want to give away my precious chocolate chips, either! Besides, you wouldn't even eat any." Kagami gestured at Kuroko's bowl of rice porridge in disgust. "You didn't even eat a third of your proper meal."

"That's true." Kuroko eyed the porridge with remorse for a moment, then returned his wide gaze to Kagami's face. "I think I could eat a cookie, though. Especially if Kagami-kun made it."

Kagami held firm for about five seconds, his face turning slowly redder and redder. Then he made a strangled noise of frustration and popped to his feet. "Fine! Cookies!" He pointed at Kuroko. "But only for you! The rest of this bunch can get dessert at the convenience store."

Kuroko smiled, and it only wavered a little. "Thank you, Kagami-kun."

Of course, they all ended up getting cookies. Kagami's kitchen was a horrible mess before the task was halfway through, since Kise, Takao, and Aomine all insisted on "helping." Midorima, Kuroko, and Kasamatsu watched from the other side of the counter, occasionally offering advice but mostly just taking amusement from Kagami's increasingly flustered behavior as he tried to shoo the other three away from his work with marginal success. Miraculously, Kagami still made sure not a single cookie was burned. A few were a bit under-done, but that just made them extra soft and gooey, and Kuroko declared those to be his favorite kind, anyway.

For such a bad beginning to the evening, it ended rather well.