Kagami yelled a lot, of course.

"Idiot, idiot Aomine! What were you thinking? Or did you think at all?" He advanced on Aomine with his hands clenched into fists, practice abandoned.

Aomine didn't back down, but he did cross his arms over his chest in a defensive posture. "I was just trying to help! He said he was feeling better!"

"That doesn't mean he was ready for that! Why did you keep pushing when he told you no? Several times?"

"I was trying to help! I thought he could do it if he tried!"

"Idiot!" Kagami was in Aomine's face now, still shouting at the top of his lungs. Every muscle was taut, and tendons stood out on his neck. "Kuroko is hurt! You don't go to someone with a broken leg and tell them that they can run a marathon if they just try hard enough!"

Aomine opened his mouth to reply, then paused. He closed his mouth for a moment, scowling. Then he yelled back, "Well, I didn't think of that!"

Mitobe and Koganei looked at each other. They didn't know the details of what was going on with Kuroko, but they knew it was something bad. The whole team had heard him sobbing outside the gym last Friday, though they all tried to pretend that they hadn't. Kuroko and Kagami had skipped weekend practice, and then this week Kuroko had been quiet and withdrawn, as if he had been forced to retreat inside himself to recover from whatever had happened to him.

And now this. Aomine had gone about trying to help in absolutely the wrong way, but he was right. It wasn't like Kuroko to give up. It wasn't like him to run away. But that was exactly what he had done.

"Shut up, both of you!" Hyuuga ordered, stalking toward them with his fists clenched, too. "That's not important right now. We need to go find Kuroko, wherever he went."

Coach Riko nodded urgently. "That's right. The forecast said it's going to rain today, and he ran out in only a t-shirt. It's already cold. We need to find him right away."

Kagami disengaged from Aomine without a word and stomped out of the gym, pausing only long enough to scoop up Kuroko's jacket from where it lay along the wall. Aomine was at his heels. The rest of the team followed, Kiyoshi still carrying Nigou. Outside the gym, they fanned out to cover the area.

Mitobe followed Koganei into a narrow lane between the gym and the building next to it. Neither of them really knew what they were doing, but Mitobe trusted his friend's instincts. They weren't a one hundred percent sure-fire solution, but when they hit, they hit dead on.

The school had planted bushes along the sidewalk back here. They were big and leafy now, flourishing in the new spring. Koganei trailed his hands through the bushes, enjoying the touch of nature in this urban environment. Then he paused, turned, and parted the bushes with his hands.

Mitobe leaned down to look. Kuroko sat there, hidden behind the bushes, his knees drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. His eyes were enormous and pleading. "Please don't tell anyone I'm here," he whispered.

Mitobe and Koganei looked at each other. Mitobe raised his eyebrows. Koganei nodded. Then they pushed their way into the bushes and sat next to him, one on either side. The bushes sprang back into place as they moved, hiding all three of them in a leafy green cave.

Coach was right—it was cold out today. Kuroko's arm felt too cool where it touched Mitobe's, though he hadn't begun to shiver yet. Mitobe took off his jacket, and he and Koganei worked to wrap it around Kuroko. It was big enough on him that they were able to zip him into it without making him move at all. The empty sleeves trailed to the ground, and Kuroko hugged his knees tighter to his chest and ducked his chin below the collar of the jacket, his eyes half-closing.

Then they sat quietly. They could hear the voices of their teammates, some calling Kuroko's name, some talking to each other. Kagami and Aomine still sounded angry, though they were calming down, worry replacing their irritation with each other. Nigou yipped, and Kuroko opened his eyes wider at the sound, then closed them almost shut again.

He huddled into himself. "I'm not okay," he whispered.

Mitobe looked at Koganei. Koganei wrinkled his nose in question, and Mitobe nodded. Koganei slouched down next to Kuroko.

"Mitobe says that that's okay."

Kuroko looked at him, then at Mitobe. His eyes were narrowed almost in suspicion.

Koganei shrugged. "He means it's okay to not be okay. You don't have to be okay. Something really bad happened to you, right? So it's normal to not be okay for a while. It makes everyone sad and worried, because we want you to be okay, but we understand why you aren't."

"Oh." Kuroko stared forward again. He ducked his head even further into the jacket, so only his nose and eyes peeked above the collar. "I don't want to make people sad and worried."

"You can't help that," Koganei said. "Everyone feels how they feel. You can't make them feel otherwise. You just need to take care of yourself right now. And let us take care of you, too, if that's all right with you. That's the best thing you can do for us."

"All right. Thank you." Kuroko let his eyes fall shut and just sat there, resting.

Mitobe and Koganei watched over him. Mitobe's heart ached. He couldn't help thinking what it would be like if this was one of his little brothers or sisters who was so hurt and quiet and afraid. If it was one of them, Mitobe would know what to do.

Well, he could try, at least. Mitobe leaned over and bumped his shoulder gently into Kuroko's to warn him, then reached up and started petting his hair. Kuroko's eyes opened wide in surprise at the first touch, his body stiffening for a moment. But he relaxed almost immediately, eyes falling shut again, head falling forward to rest on his knees.

Kuroko's hair was soft. Mitobe ran his fingers through it, slow and repetitive. He wished he could do more, but for the moment, this seemed to be helping. Even if it was only a little bit.

The sounds of their teammates' voices were getting farther away. Mitobe regretted making them worry unnecessarily, and he was sure that Kuroko felt bad, too. But if Kuroko needed to hide for a little while until he felt strong enough to face everyone again, that was all right. Mitobe would stay with him until he was ready.

On his other side, Koganei hunched down, scooting closer to Kuroko until their shoulders pressed together. "Hey, Kuroko," he said in a low, urgent voice, as if he was sharing a secret.

Kuroko's voice was muffled in the material of the jacket. "Yes, Koganei-senpai?"

"You know everyone on the team really cares about you, right? We all like you very much."

Kuroko let out a tiny snort. "I don't know why."

Koganei looked at Mitobe over Kuroko's head. His eyebrows were high. Mitobe shook his head, frowning.

Koganei looked back to Kuroko. "Well, part of it is because you're amazing at basketball, of course. We would never have won the Winter Cup without you. But mostly it's just because you're very likeable."

"But why?"

Mitobe pressed a hand to his chest, though his other one did not pause running through Kuroko's hair. Why would Kuroko sound so confused by this statement? Koganei was shocked into silence, eyes going wide. He cast a worried glance to Mitobe, then did his best to respond.

"Well... Because you are. I can't think of a single reason not to like you."

Kuroko was silent for a long moment. Then...

"Tell that to my father."

Mitobe had to strain to hear that one. Kuroko's voice was small, and bitter, and very, very sad.

Koganei hesitated, tilting his head, then tried again. "It's okay if you have trouble believing that right now. But I wanted to let you know, anyway. Even when you don't feel like it's true, even when you're having a hard day, or a hard month, or a hard year, there are lots of people who love you."

They were quiet again. The voices were getting closer now. Mitobe could hear Nigou barking, loud and sharp. Maybe they had finally gotten smart and set Nigou down so he could go find his master.

Kuroko tensed up between them and began to tremble. It was barely there, little more than a light shiver that could have been attributed to the cold. But Mitobe and Koganei both understood. He wasn't ready yet.

Koganei patted Kuroko's shoulder and rose up to a crouch. "I'll try to delay them for a while. Everything will be okay, Kuroko."

He pushed his way out of the bushes again. Mitobe listened to his footsteps recede down the sidewalk. Kuroko let out a shaky sigh, and his trembling eased but did not disappear. Mitobe stroked his hair.

"Mitobe-senpai, can I tell you a secret?"

Kuroko turned his head to look at Mitobe with one eye. Mitobe considered, then nodded solemnly. He brushed the hair back from Kuroko's forehead.

"My father beat me, Mitobe-senpai. He beat me with a strap. Over and over again."

Mitobe caught his breath. His fingers, buried in Kuroko's hair, stayed where they were. He could feel the warmth of Kuroko pressed against his side, the trembling of his head against his palm. Tears filled Mitobe's eyes, and he did nothing to stop them.

Kuroko smiled, thin and watery. "You're the first person I told who didn't know already. And hey, look at that? You're upset, too. I'm sorry."

Mitobe shook his head.

"He hit me, too. And called me names. He said I was a worthless creature. He said I deserved the way he treated me. I knew it wasn't true, but... I think I started to believe it, anyway. He had so much power over me... I wasn't strong enough to resist him."

Mitobe started stroking his hair again. His hand was shaking now, too. Rain began to fall, light at first, one drop at a time. Most of it was caught by the leaves above their heads, but soon it would start pooling down on them. Mitobe hadn't cooled down from practice. It would be dangerous to stay out here much longer.

Mitobe remained where he was.

Kuroko turned his head to hide his face again. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "It wasn't fair of me to put that burden on you without any warning. I'm taking advantage of your kindness. It just... It felt dishonest to sit here, letting you comfort me, when you didn't even understand what was going on. When you didn't even understand what kind of person I am."

Mitobe shook his head. His pressed his hand against Kuroko's head, holding him firm, and wrapped his other arm around the small, curled-up bundle of limbs and sadness that Kuroko had become. His lowered his head over Kuroko's, shielding him from the rain, but a couple of his tears dripped out and landed on Kuroko's forehead, instead.

"I don't need Koganei-senpai to interpret what you mean, this time," Kuroko murmured. "Thank you, Mitobe-senpai. You are kind and wise."

They stayed there, hiding, until Nigou found them. The bushes parted to reveal the worried faces of Aomine and Kagami, the rest of the team right behind. Koganei was somewhere in the back being scolded by the captain for trying to lead them astray. Mitobe remained curled around his wounded teammate and would not let them pry him off until Kuroko began to move on his own.

Even then, he stayed close by. He wouldn't leave until Kuroko told him to. And Kuroko didn't.