Kise was already on the courts when they arrived, his dour-faced senpai loitering behind him. Kise lit up as soon as they appeared and raced to meet them. Tetsu halted, waiting, and Kagami stopped beside him for moral support. Himuro, Akashi, and Murasakibara stopped, too.

"Kurokocchi!" Kise's arms were outstretched as if he planned to bowl Tetsu over, but he saw the forbidding look on Kagami's face and pulled up short at the last second. He danced on his feet, fidgeting and grinning. "I'm so glad you're here! Are you feeling better? You look like you're feeling better." Again he started to reach out as if to touch Tetsu, then remembered himself and pulled back. He spared a grin for the others, too. "Hello, Akashicchi, Murasakibaracchi! And Kagamicchi too! What a wonderful day!" His attention immediately returned to Tetsu.

Tetsu gave him a smile. "I'm happy to see you, too, Kise-kun. And yes, I'm feeling much better. Everyone has been taking very good care of me."

"I wanted to come visit you again, but Akashicchi said we shouldn't overwhelm you while you're recovering. I got your text, though... Did your name really change?"

Tetsu nodded. "It did. My name is Kagami Tetsuya now." As always when he talked about his new name and his new family, a sudden smile bloomed on Tetsu's face, brilliant and overwhelming. Kagami was getting used to it, but Kise blinked, dazzled, and even Kasamatsu, slowly approaching from behind, widened his eyes in astonishment.

"Ah, I see." Kise leaned back on heels, rubbing the back of his head. "Should I call you Kagamicchi now?" He cut a glance to Kagami, as if worried that this would bother him. Kagami snorted. If Kise just called him "Kagami" without the silly ending, he'd be happy.

"You can do that if you want," Tetsu said softly, shy as always when discussing the subject of nicknames. It was as if he still didn't quite believe that anyone would want to express their closeness and affection for him in such a public manner. "Or you could just call me by my given name. I don't mind."

"Tetsuyacchi?" Kise grinned so hard his eyes almost shut. "That's cute! I really like it."

Tetsu smiled warmly. He looked to Kasamatsu, as well. "You could call me Tetsu, if you prefer, Kasamatsu-san."

Kasamatsu nodded solemnly. "Thank you, Tetsu-kun. You honor me."

"I must thank you for your help earlier. Your support was very important for Kise-kun. And your words to me were very kind."

Kasamatsu offered a soft crook of the lips, almost a smile, tender and a bit confused. "I'm glad to see you feeling better. And I'm glad to see that you brought your basketball. Are you going to play with us today?"

Tetsu glanced down at the basketball in his hands, as if he'd forgotten it was there, then raised his head and smiled again. "I would like to, yes."

"Good."

"Tetsuyacchi!" Kise danced backward, waving both hands at Tetsu to gain his attention. "C'mon, let's go play while we wait for the others to show up! C'mon, the court's right over there!" He pointed his thumb back over his shoulder.

Tetsu hesitated. He looked up at Kagami, almost like he was looking for permission. Or encouragement, anyway. Oh, yeah. Kise was one of the few who didn't know that Tetsu had lost his basketball, in addition to all the other horrors he'd suffered. He would expect Tetsu to be the same as he'd always been and wouldn't know to be patient with him.

Kagami shrugged. "You don't have to if you don't want to. Tell him to buzz off if you don't feel up to it. I'll help you chase him away."

Kise halted, his face dropping in dismay. "Kagamicchi! You would chase me away? So mean!"

"Only if Tetsu-chan wants me to." Kagami squared his shoulders and leaned forward, ready to throw his weight around if his little brother required it.

Kasamatsu threw back his head and laughed. "You've met your match, Kise. Kagami isn't just a nii-san, now. He's a guard tiger, too. Never mess with the cubs when the mama is around."

Kagami squinted at him, not sure if this was an insult or not. At least he hadn't called him a mother hen. And Kagami was inclined to take the comparison to a tiger as a compliment. But there iwas/i the "mama" in there...

Kise saw where he was beaten. He turned his appeal to Tetsu. "Save me, Tetsuyacchi! Tell your overbearing nii-san that you want to play basketball with me!"

Tetsu hesitated, then offered a smile. "I promised Aomine-kun that I would do floor bounces with him. I need to keep that promise, first. I'll join you later."

"We'll come," Akashi said. He stepped toward the court with a brief touch to Murasakibara's arm to bring him along. Murasakibara followed him amiably. "Two on two? We'll let the three brothers keep an eye out for the others here at the park entrance."

"All right, all right," Kise agreed, happy with this solution. He turned and jogged to the court, the other three behind him.

Tetsu watched them go, and Kagami didn't think he was seeing things when he thought he read longing in his eyes. "You okay, Tetsu-chan?" he asked softly.

Tetsu shook his head gently, not in answer so much as just shaking off whatever mood had gripped him. He offered Kagami a tentative smile. "I knew this would be hard. I want to join in, but... Slowly, I guess."

"Take all the time you need. Aniki and I will cover for you."

Himuro nodded, solemn and strong as a mountain. "It's a good idea to start with floor bounces. Something easy and fun that you can do with just one other person. I don't know Aomine-kun well, though. Will he be kind to you?"

Kagami had his doubts, but Tetsu nodded right away. "Aomine-kun lost his way for a time, but he's been a very kind friend to me for the past couple of weeks."

Kagami considered, then gave a slow nod. "He's been a little more sensitive since Tetsu-chan yelled at him last week."

Himuro raised his eyebrows. "Really? Tetsu-kun yelled at someone?"

"It's hard to believe, I know. But Aomine was asking for it. I yelled at him, too."

Himuro snorted out a laugh. "You yell at everyone, Taiga."

"Still. He was being a jerk."

"He meant well," Tetsu said. "I was rude, too. And I wasn't handling things the way I should have been. I was lying to myself and everyone else about how I was feeling. Aomine-kun refused to let me stay mired in my apathy and despair. Without his push, I don't know how long I would have stayed like that. I should thank him, really."

"Ah," Himuro said softly. "So he returned the favor. That's good."

Kagami shook his head. "If you want to thank him, here's your chance."

Aomine and Momoi were approaching from the street. Aomine slumped along with his usual insouciance, and Momoi waved frantically as soon as she spotted Tetsu. Nigou was with them, barking and tugging at the end of the leash. Momoi grabbed Aomine's free arm and pulled him along when he didn't speed up, and Aomine ended up being dragged down the sidewalk by a dog on one side and a girl on the other. Kagami would have laughed if it wasn't so irritating to watch. What was wrong with the Generations of Miracles? Every single one of them was weird.

Tetsu, of course, just smiled. "Hello, Aomine-kun, Momoi-san," he called, his voice barely louder than it usually was.

Momoi lost patience with Aomine and raced forward to meet them. "Tetsu-kun!" Unlike Kise, she did not halt herself at Kagami's forbidding look, but crashed right into Tetsu as she seized him with both arms. Tetsu grunted and almost toppled over, but Kagami and Himuro each grabbed a shoulder and held him up. Kagami wouldn't swear to it, but he was pretty sure there were tears in Momoi's eyes.

Tetsu had dropped his basketball at the impact, and Himuro went to chase it down while Tetsu awkwardly patted Momoi's head with one hand, his other limp at his side. "Momoi-san, please calm down."

"You scared me!" she sobbed, squeezing tighter. "You shouldn't scare me like that!"

Tetsu winced, but made no effort to escape. "Please forgive me," he said softly. "I didn't want you to see me like that. I never wanted to make you cry."

"What do you mean, 'You didn't want me to see you like that?'" Momoi pulled back, though she held onto Tetsu's arms with both hands. Tears were streaming down her face. "You were in pain. You were...you were so badly hurt. And I had to hear about it from Dai-chan!" Aomine had reached them at this point, and Momoi let go of Tetsu with one hand so she could slap his arm. "And this idiot was stubborn about telling me, too! You are both so stubborn!" Nigou danced around their feet, barking. Kagami tensed up but forced himself to be still.

Tetsu winced again. "I'm sorry," he said miserably. "I didn't want this to happen. It's wrong for boys to make girls cry."

Momoi went still for a moment in shock. Aomine made a face at Kagami that clearly expressed, Wow, he's really done it now. Then Momoi burst into fresh tears, loud and messy. She was completely unashamed by this public display of emotion.

"Idiot!" She even stomped her foot, though she still didn't let go of Tetsu's arm. "Idiot!"

Tetsu cast a helpless glance at Kagami, but he just shrugged. He had nothing to offer for this situation. Girls had always been a mystery to him and probably always would be. Aomine, having known Momoi since childhood, probably could have given more insight. But he had scooped Nigou up in his arms and removed himself from the situation, leaving Tetsu to deal with it.

"Tetsu-kun, you're an idiot!" Momoi declared for the third time. "It would be wrong for you to hurt me and make me cry, but this wasn't you! It was someone it else, it was... It was your father, and that's horrible. That's the worst thing I've ever heard! But you aren't the one causing me pain. It was him! You can't take responsibility for his actions!"

Tetsu looked stunned. Kagami could have sighed, but did not. Yet another angle on this entire mess where Tetsu had to be convinced that something wasn't his fault. Momoi had pierced straight to it like the head of a spear, though. He was grateful for that.

"But you did hurt me by not telling me, idiot!" Momoi scolded once more. She aimed a slap at Tetsu's arm, but it was much, much lighter than the strike she'd taken at Aomine. It barely made any noise at all. "Don't make me have to hear about these things from Dai-chan! He's horrible at sharing!"

"Ah." Tetsu slowly relaxed from his stunned posture, back on solid ground again. He offered a hesitant smile. "I'm sorry, Momoi-san. Please forgive me. I've been told many times, by many different people, that I should not hide my difficulties from my friends anymore. I will do my best to remember that and never hurt you that way again."

"Good!" Momoi let go of Tetsu with her hand and threw her arms around him again, grabbing him so hard and fast that he had to spread his stance to stay on his feet. She squeezed him fiercely and rocked him where he stood. "Good, good, good. You'd better remember your promise! We can't do this again. It will kill us. Every single one of us."

"I understand. I won't forget." Tetsu patted her head again, clearly uncomfortable but beginning to relax into the hold.

A few passersby stared at the scene, but Tetsu did not seem in the least embarrassed, just smiling gently down at Momoi's head pressed to his shoulder. Kagami was still American enough that he found this public display annoying rather than shameful, mainly because it was so loud. Himuro kept his poker face, as usual. If anyone looked embarrassed and awkward, it was Aomine.

After the hug had been going on for a while, Aomine shifted from foot to foot and cleared his throat. "Ah...Tetsu. Want to go play basketball now?" Nigou yipped in his arms and wriggled to be put down, and Aomine set him on his feet.

Tetsu nodded. "Yes, I would like that. I promised to do floor bounces with you."

"Right." Aomine smiled. "I've been looking forward to it."

"Is that all right, Momoi-san?" Tetsu asked.

Momoi sniffled and nodded into his shoulder, then finally pulled back. She dashed away her tears and gave him a smile, shaky but genuine. "Yes, of course. Let's play basketball."

So they did.

X

A/N: We're officially into epilogue territory now, folks. I'm almost completely certain that the next chapter will be the last one.

Later I will add a link for a new playlist that I was given by braceletmemories. It's in the cml tag on my tumblr, and it's beautiful.