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Nii-Chan

"Tetsu?" Aomine called, his rage immediately turning into worry. "Tetsu?"

"Tetsuya," Akashi called then walked past Aomine to see if the toddler had run somewhere in the mansion.

"We're home!" Kise called.

"Arre? What is it Aka-cchin?" Murasakibara asked when he saw Akashi's and Aomine's face.

"Have you seen, Tetsu?" Aomine asked.

"N-no," Kise said, "Why?"

"He was just standing behind me a minute ago," Aomine said, face flustered. "I don't know where he went,"

"We need to find him," Akashi said, "Search the mansion,"

***

He ran as far away as his little legs could take him, tears blurred his vision as thunder grumbled from the sky, signaling a rain will be coming. But for Tetsuya, it meant that the angel Sei-cchi was looking for his younger brother Tei-cchi.

Visions of his mother hitting him appeared before his eyes the moment Akashi hit him. He remembered her screaming at him to die. He remembered how many times he cried whenever she mistreats him.

He reminded himself that he was a bad boy and that nobody loved him. Not even his brother.

He tripped at his own foot and only did he realized that he didn't know where he was. Tears streamed down his face as the scrape on his knee stung.

With one final grumble of thunder, rain poured like a shower, immediately soaking Tetsuya from head to toe. It was almost winter in Japan and the rain only made everything colder that when Tetsuya sought shelter under a tree, he was already shivering and emitting fog from his every breath. He shivered, clutching himself to keep the small amount of warmth his numbing body has before passing out from the bitter cold.

Lightning stroke and thunder clapped, but Tetsuya wasn't afraid of it anymore because Sei-cchi was looking for Tei-cchi for them to go back home together.

Little did he knew that his older brother was doing the same thing.

***

"I see," Aomine said, his voice dangerously calm as he talked with his fellow police officer on the phone. "Thank you,"

When the call ended, Kise was the first to check upon him. "What did he say, Aomine-cchi?" he asked worriedly.

"It's policy to wait 72 hours before they start the search," Aomine said then went to his room and got his coat out. "But, to hell with the policy. It's pouring outside and we don't know where Tetsuya could've gone,"

"I'll come with you!" Kise said, taking his coat as well.

"Count me in, Mine-cchin," Murasakibara said.

Akashi stayed silent, looking at the flickering fire of the fireplace.

"Akashi," Aomine called before leaving. "If something were to happen to Tetsu, I won't ever forgive you. I don't care if your brothers by blood or not. But I will take him away from you if you don't get yourself straightened up,"

Akashi seemed to be awoken by what Aomine said. He returned to his office to get his coat and run after the others when he saw the page Tetsuya drew on. A tall purple stick figure stood in the middle of the paper holding hands with a blue stick figure and green stick figure that stood on either side of the purple one. Next to the blue stick figure was a yellow stick figure that held its other hand, while a red stick figure held the green one. A baby blue stick figure was drawn on top of the purple stick figure.

Akashi remembered the scene from where they took a group picture at the zoo where Tetsuya displayed his first smile to them.

"If something were to happen to Tetsu, I won't ever forgive you. I don't care if your brothers by blood or not. But I will take him away from you if you don't get yourself straightened up,"

He remembered why he took Tetsuya in after hearing his story. He felt the same way as Aomine felt now— the strong urge to protect Tetsuya from harm. He was broken like Akashi who longed for his father's love; like Kise who, despite his happy stature, longed for victory as he was always compared to his friends; like Mirodima whose dreams of becoming an author got silenced by his father's will to make him a doctor; like Murasakibara who longed for his parent's approval and accepted of becoming a chef instead of a lawyer like them; like Aomine... who longed for a whole family to love him unconditionally.

Somehow, every one of them was just as broken as the cyan-haired boy. But his brokenness was what made their group whole and their brokenness was the reason for Tetsuya to be fixed again.

Akashi grabbed his coat and ran outside, trying to look for the cyan-haired boy. He scolded himself for hurting him and how he wished to erase the memory of Tetsuya looking up at him in fear, tears forming in his eyes as the boy never thought of Akashi hurting him.

Akashi panted, feeling exhaustion wrap around his body while his mind rambled on thoughts and images of where Tetsuya might end up. It was raining heavily and with the boy not being able to see the busy streets might get hit by a speeding car, or he might run into a dark alleyway where lowlife people reside and take him for granted, or—

His thoughts immediately stopped when his eyes caught a glimpse of a familiar cyan colored hair. Huddled under the shelter of a thick rooted tree, Tetsuya lied on the wet ground, cold, afraid and pale like how he looked when Akashi first saw him. His body immediately reacted the moment he saw the boy and scooped him up to his chest, trying to give him warmth as best as he can.

The rain kept pouring but the lightning and thunder had gone. If Tetsuya wasn't unconscious, he would've smiled-- Sei-cchi finally found Tei-cchi to bring him back home.

"Tetsuya," Akashi whispered, breathing into the boy's cold hands. "Nii-chan is here... nii-chan is here to save you... please... please wake up. I'm sorry... nii-chan is sorry,"

"Akashi-cchi!" Kise called from a distance as he, Murasakibara and Aomine ran to him.

"Call Shintaro!" Akashi ordered, clutching the pale boy in his hands.