Tetsu stared at his phone. He wasn't sure he understood the text message he had received. Wasn't quite sure it was real, even though he was sitting here, staring at it, reading it over and over, and the words were clearly there. They clearly weren't changing. At all. He still couldn't believe it.

From: Akashi
I'm going to come and visit you. When would be a good time?

"Oi." Taiga's voice startled him, and Tetsu jerked his head up and almost snapped his phone shut in sheer reflex. Taiga looked embarrassed, backing off a little with his hands up. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I just wondered what had you sitting still for so long. Did something happen?"

"I don't know." Tetsu looked down at his phone for a moment, then simply held it out to Taiga. He'd been laying on the floor, sunning himself in the early evening sunlight that flowed through the ceiling-to-floor windows while he sent his text messages. Taiga crouched down next to him and took the phone, frowning at it with narrowed eyes.

"Ah, scissors-friend. You texted him about the name change."

Tetsu nodded. He had decided to inform all of his contacts about the change as casually as possible, hoping that it could simply be accepted without too much fanfare. He had been much too optimistic. Everyone except the Seirin team (and Aomine, Midorima, and Kise) had immediately responded with a barrage of confusion and questions. This was the first one who had threatened to come over to demand an explanation, though.

Taiga huffed out a breath and handed the phone back. "What are you going to tell him?"

Tetsu stared at the phone some more. "I don't know."

"You can tell him not to come, you know. He didn't even ask for permission, just told you he was gonna come here like he rules the world or something. You don't have to put up with that."

"He was polite enough to ask when would be a good time, though."

"Yeah, that's not winning a lot of points with me." Taiga shook his head. He was not particularly fond of most of the Generation of Miracles, but Akashi was his least favorite by a wide margin.

Taiga lowered himself down to sit next to Tetsu, sprawling out with his hands behind his back to hold himself up as he leaned back, eyes closed and face turned toward the sun. Tetsu looked up at him, watching his profile. Taiga's presence was a comfort in every situation, he was beginning to believe. Even in such a trivial matter as responding to an estranged friend's text message.

"Is Hiroshi-san going to make me stay home from school tomorrow, too?"

Taiga opened one eye to look at him. "Are you still having trouble walking to the toilet without falling over?"

Tetsu heaved a sigh. They both knew the answer to both questions was yes.

Taiga closed his eye again and basked in the sun. "You still need a little more time to regain your strength. Don't worry. You're coming along fine. You'll be able to go back to school next week. You know, just in time for finals."

Tetsu gulped at the thought. "I'm not strong enough for that."

Taiga smiled. "Dad already talked to the school. They're going to make accommodations for you. You'll have extra time to study, and you'll take the exams a little later than everyone else."

"That's...unusual." Tetsu frowned. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of his teachers treating him as a special case.

"No, it isn't. No one can blame you for falling seriously ill right before the most important tests of the year. The school would do the same thing for any other student who had a medical problem."

Tetsu hummed.

Taiga opened an eye to look down at him again, frowning deeply. "You're not still putting yourself down and thinking that your problems are no big deal and you should be able to deal with them on your own, are you? I thought we fixed that. For pity's sake, Tetsu-chan, you were in the hospital for two days, and you could barely move for another three. That's a serious medical problem. You deserve accommodations."

"Okay, okay." Tetsu rolled over on his side, putting his back to his brother. "I got it, I got it." He held his phone up to his face to look at the text message again, angling it so the sun didn't white out the screen.

"Idiot," Taiga said fondly. He nudged Tetsu's back with his knee.

Tetsu had the answer he needed, anyway. He tapped out the response.

To: Akashi
I'll be home tomorrow and all weekend. You can come over whenever you like.

The answer came with astonishing swiftness.

From: Akashi
I'll see you tomorrow. 2:00 PM.

He didn't ask for an address. Tetsu blinked at the screen for a moment longer, then rolled onto his back again to look at Taiga. "Did Akashi-kun come visit while I was fevered?"

The flesh around Taiga's eyes wrinkled. "We were pretty sure you wouldn't remember that. You were really, really out of it at the time. That's why he didn't stick around for long. Said it would be a wasted effort. I figured he was just being his usual high-and-mighty self, but I guess he really does want to have a conversation with you. One you'll remember."

"I suppose." Tetsu closed the phone and slipped it into the pocket of his sweats. He didn't have the energy right now to answer all of the other texts he'd received. He truly did need to apologize to Momoi-san, though. She had been crying when she visited, he remembered that much. "He's coming over tomorrow afternoon."

"On a Friday, huh? Never took the Emperor of Rakuzan for a truant. I thought that was too common for the likes of him."

"Taiga-nii, you're not being fair." Tetsu aimed a light slap at Taiga's side, which he was far too lazy to dodge. "Akashi-kun changed back to the way he used to be after the Winter Cup. He doesn't deserve your recriminations."

Taiga scowled. "You really do think it was that much of a difference, don't you? Well, I don't care. It's not like he ever tried to reconcile with you. And I still haven't forgiven him for the way he treated you in middle school."

Tetsu's eyes widened, and he stared up at his brother in astonishment. So that was why Taiga was so hostile toward Akashi, and that hostility had never faded, even while he had managed to find some kind of equilibrium with the rest of Tetsu's former teammates. "That's awfully protective of you, Taiga-nii," he said with some wonder. "Were you my big brother before you were my big brother?"

Taiga opened both eyes and turned his head to gape at him for a moment, then blushed and looked away, muttering. "You always say such embarrassing things."

Tetsu giggled and turned away. "You were. You really were my big brother before you were my big brother. I'm glad I met you, Taiga-nii."

"Shut up, brat." Taiga gave his shoulder a shove with absolutely no force behind it, then rolled up to his feet. "I'm gonna go the convenience store and get you something to eat. You want onigiri or sushi or what?"

"You're not gonna cook for me, nii-san?" Tetsu asked, half-teasing. "I thought you were going to cook every meal for me from now on."

"I'm an okay cook and I even kind of like it, but six times a day is too much even for me. When you get back to three meals a day, I'll take over again."

"Taiga-nii is so lazy."

"I said shut up, brat." Taiga nudged him gently with his foot. "So what do you want?"

"You pick. I'm sure I'll like whatever you get." Tetsu yawned and stretched out in the sun again. "Just don't take too long. My stomach is growling already."

"Pushy little jerk," Taiga muttered, but his tone was far too soft and amused to match the words.

Tetsu smiled and listened to him walk away. He'd been under the impression that fights between brothers were usually a lot more vigorous than this. Maybe it would be different when Tetsu regained more strength, but he doubted it. Taiga was too much of a softy. Tetsu felt sorry for everyone who didn't get to have him as a big brother.

But what did Akashi want to talk about? Tetsu couldn't imagine that it was going to be an attempt at reconciliation or anything like that. If Akashi had wanted that, he'd had plenty of time since the Winter Cup. Conversely, Tetsu could have tried to contact Akashi first, but he never had. He had been content to see his old captain return and to be aware that he'd had a hand in restoring him. Nothing else had seemed necessary.

Well, fretting about it wasn't going to change anything. He would find out tomorrow, that was all. No matter what it was, it was sure to be interesting.

Predictably enough, Taiga returned with both onigiri and sushi, along with melon bread, chocolate Pocky, and three kinds of candy. They really should know better than to let Taiga go to the convenience store unsupervised. He was almost as bad as Murasakibara.

Okay, no one was as bad as Murasakibara.

Taiga came in the door with a "Tch!" sound so loud that Tetsu opened his eyes and craned his head back to see what the matter was. Taiga didn't notice him, his eyes glued to his phone, a fierce scowl on his face. He dug into the plastic bag hanging on his elbow and pulled out a packet, then moved down the hall to stop at the office before coming back to the main room were Tetsu was.

The phone had already been put away by the time he got there, though the scowl had not. Taiga dropped the plastic bag down by Tetsu and practically fell to the floor to sit next to him, as well. He dug in the bag and pulled out several onigiri and a tray of sushi, then presented them for Tetsu's inspection.

Tetsu sat up and accepted the sushi. "What was that about?"

"Eh?" Taiga raised his eyebrows and looked up from the onigiri he was contemplating. He looked back toward the hallway and the office. "Oh, Dad likes those purple sweet potato Kit Kats, so I got some for him. He seemed grateful. He was in the middle of arguing with some guy called Josh."

Tetsu shook his head, though he had to grin at the image of Hiroshi-san chowing down on purple Kit Kats while he argued in English with a person named Josh. "No, I mean, what was on your phone that made your face go that way?"

Taiga made the face in question, wrinkled in a grimace, his tongue sticking halfway out of his mouth, and Tetsu laughed out loud. "Yes, that face. That's the one."

Taiga's grimace became less silly, more sincere. He eyed Tetsu morosely. "We screwed up, Tetsu-chan. I'm sorry."

Tetsu sobered, too, caught halfway through chewing his first piece of sushi. He didn't like how guilty Taiga looked. He was sure that whatever it was, it wasn't as bad as Taiga thought it was. "Please tell me what happened."

"I got a text from Aniki." Taiga heaved a sigh. "Your giant purple tree friend got suspicious and decided to snoop on his computer. And he found some photos that made him...very upset."

Tetsu went still, his hand pausing between the tray and his mouth with an uramaki roll. "Oh no."

Taiga nodded glumly. "I would blame my brother for having terrible password security, but apparently he shares his computer with Murasakibara for school, so it wouldn't have done any good."

"Murasakibara-kun probably got his own computer corrupted with viruses by downloading games from disreputable sites."

"Yeah, that sounds like something he would do."

Tetsu sighed and ate his sushi. He didn't have the wherewithal to be disturbed by this. So all of his friends probably knew now exactly why his name was being changed, except perhaps Momoi. Though she was probably pestering Aomine at this very moment, judging by her text messages, and Aomine was bound to crack sooner or later. As soon as Murasakibara discovered the truth, he would tell Akashi, because he still thought of their former captain as an authority figure in his life. That left...practically no one.

Except maybe Ogiwara. But he was one of the few who hadn't responded to the text message. Maybe he didn't care anymore. Tetsu had entertained some hope, after Ogiwara and his new classmates had shown up at the Winter Cup, that he might be able to make it up to his childhood friend somehow, that he might be able to undo some of the damage done in that disastrous last game of middle school.

But they hadn't talked. Later, Tetsu had been too afraid to reach out first, and of course Ogiwara had had no reason to contact him. The text today had probably seemed like a bolt out of blue. Maybe Ogiwara had deleted his contact information, so he had no idea who that text had even come from.

"Hey." Taiga reached out and knocked a fist gently against his head. "I can see you being a worrywart again. Cut it out."

Tetsu shook it off and looked up to give him a smile. "I'm sorry. It's all right, really. Murasakibara-kun was bound to find out eventually. I'm just sorry that he saw those photos. That's a terrible thing to inflict on anyone, and he's probably the least able to handle that of any of my friends."

Taiga sighed, shoulders drooping. "Apparently he kind of wrecked Aniki's room."

Tetsu winced. "Please apologize to Himuro-san for me."

"No way." Taiga shook his head. "Aniki has no one to blame but himself. If anything, he owes you an apology for not being more careful. I know you didn't want anyone seeing those pictures. I sent them to Aniki as part of the plan, but after that, it was his responsibility to take care of them."

Tetsu nodded slowly and ate more sushi. His stomach was getting full already.

"Anyway, they're both coming down from Akita to visit this weekend. Are you okay with that? I'll tell them not to bother if you can't handle it."

Tetsu shook his head. "No, it's fine. I might as well talk to Murasakibara-kun sooner rather than later. Maybe I can get him feeling better about things before he has to take his finals." He might as well make an appointment with Momoi-san, too. Akashi on Friday, Murasakibara on Saturday, Momoi on Sunday? That might work.

"I'm sure he'll be glad to see you." Taiga gave him a smile. "We all feel better when we see that you're recovering, you know. It makes us happy to see you happy."

Tetsu rolled his eyes. "So sappy, Taiga-nii."

"Nii-sans are allowed to be sappy about their little brothers."

"You're not as cute as you think you are."

"Hey! I'm adorable and you know it. I'm the cutest brand-new nii-san in all of Japan."

Tetsu paused for a moment to think about it. Taiga had been an official nii-san for a little more than five hours, now, since Hiroshi-san had finally gone and taken care of the paperwork earlier today. There might be cuter new nii-sans somewhere in Japan, tiny boys whose mothers had just given birth, that sort of thing. But Tetsu kind of doubted that any of them were more delighted, more overjoyed, more incandescent and shining and bright over their new status than Taiga was.

So he tilted his head and gave Taiga a smile in return, one that was just as bright and dazzling as Taiga's, if Taiga's dazed blinking was any indication. "Yeah, you probably are."

After a moment of startlement, Taiga laughed and lunged over the food to shove him down and ruffle his hair. "Shut up, brat! I swear, you are the worst little brother ever. How dare you say that so sincerely! You're unbelievable!"

Tetsu giggled and accepted the hair-ruffling. Having a nii-san was great. He didn't think he would ever get tired of it.