AN: The cml tag in my profile now has a new playlist. Because I'm following my self-made rule of making a second playlist when the fic crosses 100k words.
"I want to go to the convenience store."
Murasakibara's voice was petulant. Tetsu didn't look up from his book, nor did he move from his position, sitting on the floor with his back leaning against Mura's side as they rested on the floor in front of the sofa. Akashi sat cross-legged across from Mura. The two were playing card games while Tetsu worked on finishing his novel.
Tetsu was grateful that Akashi had decided to spend the day. He had left for a few hours in the morning, which happened to be when Murasakibara and Himuro arrived, but he'd come back not long after Himuro and Taiga left for weekend practice at Seirin. Tetsu was grateful for the distraction Akashi provided for Mura.
Murasakibara was...clingy. There was no other word for it. After their conversation when Murasakibara woke Tetsu up from his nap, Murasakibara had hugged Tetsu for a very long time. At first it had been good, a reconnection long overdue. It seemed like it had been a very long time since they were middle school friends who hung out after practice and traded snacks back and forth (Tetsu had had a particular talent for spotting and procuring varieties Murasakibara somehow missed in his endless search for food). And yes, perhaps there was a part of Tetsu that had believed that they weren't friends anymore after they fell out over their fundamental disagreements about basketball and the worth of hard work.
Murasakibara seemed determined to destroy that idea forever. The hug must have been necessary for him, too, to reassure himself that Tetsu was all right, that he was healing, that he still valued their friendship. But it just went on for such...such a long time.
Tetsu put up with the discomfort for as long as he could, but he finally started to shift a bit in Murasakibara's grasp. "Murasakibara-kun... I need air..."
Murasakibara's arms only tightened at first, but when Tetsu literally gasped for breath and started to struggle in earnest, he reluctantly let go and leaned back from the bed. His knee still touched Tetsu's foot, though, as if he couldn't bear to relinquish all contact. "Kuro-chin is a good size for hugging," he muttered. "You're like a little plushy basketball player."
Tetsu huffed out a breath and smiled at him. "I'm sorry to take that away, then. But I think maybe I should get out of bed."
"Are you hungry?" Murasakibara asked. That was always the first question on his lips whenever anyone seemed to be in the slightest distress.
It happened to be correct this time. Tetsu nodded. "Let's go to the kitchen. I'm sure Taiga-nii has left out some snacks for me."
Murasakibara frowned. He pressed a heavy hand on Tetsu's shoulder, preventing him from getting up. "You call him nii-san?"
Tetsu raised his eyebrows. "Well, he is my nii-san, you know. We're adopted brothers now, and he's older than me."
"This is weird." Murasakibara pouted. "I don't want to call you Kaga-chin. There's already a Kaga-chin. You are Kuro-chin. You should stay Kuro-chin."
"I can't stay Kuroko anymore," Tetsu said gently. "It's not my name now. And I don't want it to be. I'm happy to be Kagami Tetsuya. I'm very, very happy, Murasakibara-kun. I wish I could make you understand just how much better I feel now that I'm part of this family."
Murasakibara blew out a hefty sigh, his lips pursing. "I can see it," he grumbled. "You smile and laugh a lot now. More than you ever used to before. I know you're happy. Maybe it will make me happy, too. I hope it will. But right now it's still weird."
"I understand that. It's a big change. It will take some getting used to. And you don't have to call me Kaga-chin if you don't want to. You could call me Tetsu. Or you can keep calling me Kuro-chin if that makes you more comfortable. I know you don't mean any harm."
Murasakibara nodded. "I'll...try..." he said slowly. "But hey, Kuro-chin, if you needed to be adopted, you should have told me. You could have been in my family. I have three older brothers and an older sister, you know. You would have had a bunch of nii-sans and a nee-san. And we would all think that you are very, very cute, and we would all make sure that you always had plenty to eat."
Tetsu grinned at the image. "I'm sure that's true. Are all of your siblings as tall as you are, Murasakibara-kun?"
"No, I'm the tallest. But only by a handful of centimeters."
Tetsu giggled. "Would I really be a little brother in that family? Or would I be more like a little pet?"
Murasakibara pretended to take this seriously, tilting his head in thought. "I don't know, really. Either way, though, you would be our precious Tetsu-chin, and we would take very good care of you and give you lots of pats and hugs."
To demonstrate this, he reached out and patted Tetsu's head, his hand heavy and lingering, fingers digging into his hair. Tetsu winced and tried to smile. "Are you envious of Taiga-nii, Murasakibara-kun?"
Murasakibara nodded solemnly. "I would be a good nii-san. I've always been the baby in my family. It would be fun to have a little brother."
"Then you can call me Tetsu-chin if you want to, and I'll call you Mura-nii."
Murasakibara pretended to fight this, but his eyes lit up immediately. "I...guess I'll get used to it," he mumbled sourly.
Tetsu grinned. "Thank you, Mura-nii. Let's go get a snack now, all right?"
Finally mollified, Mura let him stand up and lead the way to the hallway and the kitchen. He kept a hand on Tetsu's shoulder for the entirety of the trip, though. It seemed that he couldn't bear yet to lose contact with him. So Tetsu put up with it, even though the constant touching was beginning to wear on him. Mura didn't have any of Taiga's sense for when Tetsu was getting overwhelmed and needed some space.
As expected, they found Taiga and Himuro and Hiroshi-san in the kitchen, preparing lunch. Taiga had put out some onigiri and cut vegetables for Tetsu to snack on, and he and Mura both availed themselves of the treats. Tetsu wondered absently if Himuro was going to tell him to call him Aniki now, since they were sort of brothers, connected by brotherhood with Taiga. Tetsu did seem to be acquiring new family members at an astonishing rate. It seemed a lifetime ago that he had told Kiyoshi that he didn't have an older brother, but if he did, he'd want him to be like Kiyoshi.
Maybe he should start calling Kiyoshi -nii instead of -senpai. Tetsu didn't want his Seirin family to feel left out.
Himuro didn't say anything before he and Taiga left for practice after lunch, though. And Tetsu found himself completely occupied with handling Mura-nii. He just...wouldn't let go of Tetsu. Ever. Hiroshi-san occasionally tried to intervene, but Mura gave him glowering looks, heavy and menacing, and Hiroshi-san waved his hands in amusement and backed away. He gave Tetsu a wink and nod to advise him that this was his problem and he had to deal with it. Tetsu sighed morosely and nodded in agreement.
It wasn't really a bad problem, after all. It was just Mura being...clingy. But it was stifling and annoying, and Tetsu was beginning to feel pressured by all the attention. Hiroshi-san had been right—he wasn't used to it, and it felt distinctly unpleasant. Tetsu should get used to it now, before he returned to school and had to deal with attention from people who were not as friendly and harmless as his former teammate and brand-new nii-san.
Still, it was with great relief that Tetsu greeted Akashi's return. Akashi's eyes immediately divined Mura's attachment and Tetsu's discomfort. Instead of making the situation worse with a high-handed order, though, he mildly suggested that he and Murasakibara go to the main room to divert themselves with games. Tetsu slumped with relief and said that he was going to fetch his book while they were setting up, and when he returned, he pre-emptively placed himself at Mura's side and leaned comfortably against him to give him the contact he was craving. And the three of them passed the time quite pleasantly together.
Until now.
"I need snacks," Mura said, dropping his cards on the floor. "I'm out of potato chips. I want to go to the convenience store."
Tetsu shifted uneasily. "You can go to the convenience store if you want. There's one nearby. Hiroshi-san can give you directions."
"Don't want to ask Kagami-san. You come with me and show me the way, Kuro-chin."
Tetsu went still. Something in him instantly rejected the idea of stepping foot outside that door. No...not just "something." He knew right away why he didn't want to go. But he didn't want to say it. It was...unworthy. Embarrassing.
His face began to heat up. He could feel Akashi's eyes on him, watching carefully from across the way. Tetsu shrank into himself. Slowly, he placed a bookmark in his novel, closed it, and set it aside. His knees had been raised, providing a platform for his book, and he curled his fingers around them and stared at his hands. He willed them not to tremble.
"I don't...want to go..." he said slowly. "I'm not hungry."
It was not the reason.
Mura made a disgusted noise. "You don't have to be hungry to get snacks."
"Nor do you need to be hungry to take a walk with your friend," Akashi said softly. "Are you feeling all right, Tetsu-kun? Still getting dizzy when you walk?"
Tetsu wavered. It was an easy out. It was kind of Akashi to offer it.
But it was not the truth.
He shook his head. "No, I'm feeling much stronger. I just...don't want to go."
The others were quiet. Then Mura spasmed in irritation, almost dislodging Tetsu from his side. He turned toward Tetsu, big hands on his shoulders to hold him up, and dragged around so he could look in his face. "What is this, Tetsu-chin? Why don't you want to go? What's happening? It's not like you to be so..."
He stopped. Blinked. Perhaps he could see the sudden terror in Tetsu's face. His grip on Tetsu's shoulders softened, and his face fell. "Why are you scared?" he murmured. "Are you scared of me?"
Tetsu shook his head, his eyes widening. "No, no, I could never be afraid of Mura-nii..." But he couldn't help the way he was shaking. All over. Convulsively.
It was... Tetsu shivered, trying to figure out what had happened. His heart was pounding so hard that his vision wavered with each beat. His mind had gone back, back to the last time he left this apartment on his own, and when Mura grabbed him, he'd felt...
He'd felt another hand on him. A large hand, gripping tight, pulling hard, dragging him away from safety and back to the place of fear. He had resisted, but he hadn't been able to stop it, too weak, too beaten down, his fingers sliding away where he tried to grip the table, the back of the booth...
"Murasakibara, let go of him." Akashi's voice. Close but not too close. Low and soothing.
The hands on his shoulders vanished, and suddenly Tetsu could breathe again. He gulped for air. But he was still shaking, and he still didn't understand what was happening to him.
"Tetsu-kun." Akashi's face replaced Mura's in his vision. "You're panicking. Take a deep breath."
He tried. It was hard. Please don't touch me. He would shatter like brittle ice.
Akashi seemed to hear him. He didn't reach out, just leaned in carefully where Tetsu could see him. "Another breath, Tetsu-kun. That's it. You can do it."
He breathed. He breathed. He was fine. He was fine. Why was he so scared?
"You're having a flashback," Akashi told him gently. "It's all right. Just ride through it."
Another breath. His chest ached and burned. "Akashi-kun..." His voice was a wisp. "I don't want to go."
"I know," Akashi said. "It's all right. You don't have to."
"The last time I left this place... Something bad happened."
"I know. Your brother told me. Did you know we talked last night after you went to bed? He was still suspicious of me, and I asked him to tell me what happened to you. I wanted to know...exactly how much you suffered because I did nothing two years ago. So he told me. Not every detail, but enough. I think he wanted to hurt me. And he did. But I know now. I know what you've been through. I understand. You have every right to be frightened."
"He grabbed me... He was going to take me away..."
"But Hiroshi-san didn't let him. Your father didn't let him."
Tetsu shook his head. That was true. That was true. His throat began to open up a little more.
"I don't want to go outside."
"I know. Your mind might tell you that you're safe, but your heart is unsure. The person who hurt you is still out there. He isn't in jail. He walks free on the streets, just like you do. The odds of him finding this place might be very low, but they aren't zero. Your fear is reasonable. You aren't being foolish."
"But...I feel... I feel foolish... I feel weak and small and..."
Akashi shook his head, slow and measured. "You are none of those things. You are very strong, Tetsu-kun. You are iron, like your name. You will come through this. You will be tempered steel. You will be a sword. But the fire is hot, and it burns."
Another breath. "It hurts," he whispered.
"I know. And I regret that very much. Please do your best to breathe."
He did. Slowly, slowly, it became easier. His heartbeat no longer pounded in his ears. The ache in his chest and the burn his throat began to fade.
"Tetsu-kun, would you like me to tell you what I was doing this morning?" Akashi's voice was still low and soothing. Tetsu wished he could grab it with his hands.
He settled for wrapping his arms around his stomach and nodding as strongly as he could.
"I went to meet with an officer in my father's corporation here in Tokyo. My father's corporation is very large, with many smaller companies under its umbrella. The officer I spoke to is in the Human Resources Department, one who determines where to allocate resources. Which branches of the company need which employees, that sort of thing."
Tetsu's eyes widened.
Akashi smiled. "We discussed the fate of a certain employee. We determined that his services were no longer required in Tokyo, and he would be more useful in a different branch. A very, very far away branch. Russia, we decided."
"Oh." Tetsu's voice was so small that he could barely hear it.
"He'll never trouble you again, Tetsu-kun," Akashi said. "I won't allow it. None of us will."
"But...he's still in Tokyo..."
"Today? Yes. He's still here today. But it's a very urgent transfer. He is required to be in Russia by Monday. No doubt today he is very busy packing up his belongings. If there's anything you want from there, we can send Aomine. I'm sure he'll be happy to help. Tomorrow, that man will be on a plane. And Tokyo will not require his services again."
"So you and the officer in your corporation have determined."
Akashi nodded. "So we have determined."
Bit by bit, the fear bled away. Tetsu drooped into himself, suddenly exhausted. Tears pricked his eyes. Tears of gratitude, of shame. Of happiness and relief.
"Better now?" Mura crowded in again, pushing Akashi out of the way. His voice was tight with anxiety. "Are you okay, Kuro-chin? Tetsu-chin? Little brother? You're not afraid anymore?"
Tetsu nodded, and Mura grabbed him another hug. This time, it didn't feel too close and overwhelming. It felt warm and sheltering, and Tetsu welcomed it.
"He's still in Tokyo today only," Akashi said. "But if you'd like to go outside, we'll go with you. Will you trust us to protect you? We can all go together. We'll ask Hiroshi-san to come too, if you want."
The question was voiced lightly, casually. Akashi wasn't pushing him either way. Just offering the option.
Mura, though, was not as gentle. "Snacks," he grumbled in Tetsu's ear, squeezing him fiercely.
Tetsu huffed out a laugh against his shoulder. "All right," he said, and he wasn't afraid at all. "Let's go to the convenience store."