"Ahh— Good job everyone! Let's wrap everything up now so we can get started on an early lunch after one hell of a morning!" declares Wakamatsu Kousuke, a senior police officer, while he patted his sore left cheek from having been punched by one of the drug dealers he had arrested earlier.

He was only too happy that the drug bust operation that had taken over his life for the past month is finally over with great results. He couldn't wait to finally get some proper shut-eye after being placed on lookout duty for most of the nights in the previous week. He was gleefully all set to start the car engine and leave the site of the abandoned warehouse after shoving the last crook into the police transport when Aomine Daiki, the newly promoted Assistant Police Inspector, interrupted his jolly mood.

"Wait, wait. Where's the big white container?" said Aomine Daiki, the field supervisor for that morning's drug bust operation, as he glanced over the pile of items that the police squad had confiscated.

"Oh come on— It has been a loooongg morning. What white container? Didn't we already check out everything on the investigation report? 6 good-for-nothing drug dealers and 22 laundry sacks filled with Class B drugs! We've completely wiped the place clean! What else are you trying to pick on now?" a disgruntled Wakamatsu asked in return.

"When we were observing this place two nights ago, I saw a dark blue van pull over the entrance and a huge white container was carried into this building. I don't see anything of that description right now," Aomine said firmly as he took another look at the exterior of the warehouse.

"I was with you that night. How come I didn't see anything?"

"Because you were fast asleep on the job you idiot."

"Are you sure you were not sleeping too and dreamt up this mysterious white container? Why didn't you write it down in the observation report?"

"Tsk— I hate writing things down so I just kept a mental note. But I know what I saw that night so I'm going to go in again to have another look around."

"DAMNIT YOU POLICE SCUM! WHY ARE YOU SLACKING OFF NOW? CHARGE US NOW AND BE DONE WITH IT!" one of the drug dealers yelled frantically after overhearing Aomine's statement.

"Heh, this isn't slacking off. It's called doing a thorough job," Aomine replied nonchalantly at the agitated drug dealers in the police transport.

"YOU ALREADY HAVE EVERYTHING! WHAT MORE DO YOU EXPECT TO FIND?" another drug dealer yelled at Aomine.

"Hmm… Based on your reactions, I'm starting to get really curious if we did indeed forget something back there—" Aomine smirked.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARDS— THERE'S NOTHING LEFT IN THERE—"

"Suddenly you guys are making a lot of noise after I mentioned the white container— Means it's still in there," said Aomine as he yawned and stretched himself to get ready for another trip into the warehouse.

"Need back-up?" Wakamatsu asked.

"Nah, we got all of them anyway—" said Aomine as he disappeared into the warehouse.

It wasn't a huge warehouse. The place used to be a small storage facility for a pottery factory before it closed down due to the bad economy a few years back. Now the place is deserted and nobody has laid claim to it yet making it a popular spot for all sorts of illegal activities. Other than the vastly empty storage space, a front entrance and a smaller back entrance, there was only one small room which could have been office at one time. Aomine sighed in frustration as he had already gone through every inch of the warehouse and it was starting to get ridiculous that he couldn't spot the container he saw the other night. As he finally gave up on his search and turned towards the main entrance, he caught sight of Wakamatsu smirking at him.

"What? Happy that you could be right about me dreaming up the whole thing?" Aomine said in an annoyed tone.

"Heh. Not really. I just found an entrance to an underground cellar at the back of the warehouse. With a new lock on it—"

"Then why the hell are you still standing there? Did you check what's inside?"

"Not yet. Unlike you, I need back-up," Wakamatsu gloated before Aomine smacked him in the face on his way out.

Now that he was standing at the back of the warehouse, he quickly spotted the entrance to the cellar that Wakamatsu was referring to and wondered how he had missed it earlier in the morning when they had ambushed the place.

"The entrance was obscured by that huge wooden board. I just thought it seemed out of place and when I looked closer, I saw that it was covering some sort of door. Judging from the new lock on it, I'm sure there's been some recent activity here," Wakamatsu said when he appeared behind Aomine.

"Right—" said Aomine as he fired two shots on the lock with his handgun immediately reducing the lock into obscured pieces.

"Whoa— You know we could have gone back to our police vehicle and get special equipment to dismantle the lock right?"

"Too slow," Aomine mumbled as he pulled open the cellar doors for a peek inside.

When he found his footing on the basement floor, all he saw was a dimly lit open space with the white container he had in mind strangely parked in the middle of it all. Upon closer inspection, he took note of the sight of a used, old mattress right next to the container with a few used condoms scattered on top of it. He also noticed a couple of vibrators lying around in the vicinity and came to a quick conclusion that some sexual activity must have taken place on that very spot.

"Doesn't look like anything related to drugs— I probably just caught them bringing in a container of sex toys and those guys were too embarrassed to admit that they were having some fun down here—" Aomine mumbled to himself in a disappointed tone as he made a brief circle around the container whose lid was slightly ajar.

Aomine was about to call out to Wakamatsu who was waiting outside to grab a few more of their officers to help him carry the container to ground level when he heard a faint but slight movement coming from inside the container.

Curious, Aomine slowly pushed the slightly open lid to discover that there was a person in the container causing him to leap a step back in surprise of what he just saw.

"What the hell— Oi! Wakamatsu! Call an ambulance right now!"

"Huh? What's going on?" a curious Wakamatsu peeked in from the entrance only to have Aomine glare back angrily at him for being very slow.

"Don't come any nearer. Just… Just call an ambulance!" he yelled back at Wakamatsu who was stunned from Aomine's sudden outburst and was gone instantly to make the necessary calls.

Aomine took another brief look at what he just saw in the container earlier, swallowing the view of a naked guy with messy blonde hair, gagged and blindfolded with both his hands and feet secured tied with masking tape. He winced when he caught sight of a dildo shoved painfully in the back entrance of the guy and panicked over what he was supposed to do now. Despite being gagged, Aomine could guess that the guy was aware of his surroundings and the first thing Aomine did was to push the container so that it fell onto its side before dragging the captive out. The guy was trembling and mumbling louder this time from the sudden, intense movement and Aomine hesitated twice about pulling the dildo out of the guy's entrance but did it anyway in one swift movement.

"Ngghh—" the guy moaned as he ejaculated on Aomine's uniform.

"Ah, shit. Damn, sorry but I had to pull that thing out. You looked like you were in pain," Aomine apologized frantically as he started to pull out the gag from the guy's mouth. He then proceeded to unravel the blindfold and found himself staring into strange but striking, tearful amber eyes.

"Wha— Who—" the blonde guy mumbled which shaking uncontrollably in fear.

"Shh… You're safe now. Hang on for a bit. Help is coming," Aomine assured the captive before he decided on taking off his jacket to cover the guy's nakedness and held him tight against his own chest to provide some warmth for the cold, trembling figure as he waited anxiously for Wakamatsu to return with the help he asked before.

"Oi— They just arrived so— Wha? Who is that? Where did he come from?" asked Wakamatsu surprised with the turn of events gesturing to the paramedics to hurry up and help the captive.

"Human trafficking I guess? Damn… Let's just get him to the hospital first and ask questions later," Aomine said worriedly as he slowly released the blonde figure from his grasp to allow the paramedics to do their work.

Just a short distance away from the warehouse, two tall figures were braving the chilly autumn air as they stood underneath a tree and observed the hectic activity going on around the warehouse. They had arrived just in time to see the paramedics carry a blonde figure on a stretcher into the ambulance before it left the scene in a hurry with its sirens wailing.

"Hai— I told you we should have dealt with this before we stopped by that store to buy snacks on the way here," grumbles the smaller figure, a stunning-looking guy with slick black hair obscuring his left eye and a tiny beauty mark just underneath his exposed eye.

"Won't make much difference. Even if we had arrived earlier, the police were already all over this place. Let's just use that as an excuse…" replied the other figure, a lazy giant with messy, shoulder-length purple hair and a half-eaten chocolate bar in his right hand.

"No way am I going to be the one telling Akashi-sama. That's all on you," scoffs the first guy as he stomped away from the scene with the giant trailing behind him munching hungrily on his chocolate bar.

"So it's definitely Kise Ryouta?" Wakamatsu asked Aomine anxiously at the hospital waiting area.

"Who's Kise Ryouta?"

"I know you're living under a rock but have you seriously not seen that face even once in your pathetic life? How else did we identify him immediately when he has absolutely nothing on him? He's a model! A legit one compared to your Mai-something!" Wakamatsu scoffs.

"Horihata Mai you mean! Don't you dare talk about her like that! I could stare at her all day then look at your deformed face for even a minute!"

"Whatever. But seriously Aomine-kun, what is going on? How does Kise Ryouta fit in all this? That guy has a squeaky clean image and is loved by all of Japan!"

"Maybe he was just an unlucky victim in all this. Since you said that he's an idol, the drug dealers might have kidnapped him for ransom as a side source of income. Has he been reported to be missing?"

"No, no. That's the thing. I called the station and there was no missing report filed for Kise Ryouta. You would have thought that his agency or just about anyone would have noticed if he had gone missing. Unless his disappearance is kept under wraps to avoid the media making a big deal out of it and endanger his life at the same time… Well, you know how the entertainment industry works…"

"Actually I don't. Why don't you go back to the station and settle the report for this morning's operation. I'll take care of this one," Aomine said shooing Wakamatsu away.

When Kise finally woke up, he felt that he was completely drained of all his energy as he lay helplessly on the hospital bed, in a cubicle with the curtains drawn in. He could immediately guess that he was in a hospital from the buzz going on around him and the uncomfortable feeling of an IV tube in his right hand attached to a drip. As he tried to make himself comfortable with the unfamiliar environment, he was suddenly alerted to the presence of another person on the left side of his bed.

"Shit— Police," Kise cursed aloud under his breath as he glared at the person in police uniform seated on a chair right next to his bed, reading what looked like an indecent gravure idol magazine.

"Huh? Oh good. You're awake! And that's not a nice way for you to greet your saviour!" Aomine grinned at Kise.

"Eh? Saviour?"

"Uh-huh. I heard that you're a famous model… Hmm… Do you think you could put in a good word for me to my superiors for saving you from those bad guys? Hahaha," Aomine joked nervously.

Kise was slightly perplexed with Aomine's reaction towards him but upon guessing that the police officer wasn't there to arrest him, he tried to relax a bit and threw a baffled look at the officer, hoping that he can get some sort of information on his current situation.

"You… Saved me? From those guys? What happened to them?"

"Staying overnight in the stuffy prison cell of my station. I have people sorting out the paperwork to charge them for their misdeeds. They should be escorted to one of the precinct prisons by noon tomorrow and locked away for a while. So uh, can I ask how you got involved in this? We have been watching those guys to bust them for drug dealing for over a month and you sort of came into the picture a couple of nights back… It didn't make much sense to us… Eh, don't worry. I'm not writing anything down here. Only a few people knew about you being here. Wakamatsu told me to keep this one quiet to protect your image."

"… Thanks… I… I… I don't know… How I got into this… Maybe… They wanted ransom money," Kise muttered without looking at Aomine.

"That's what I thought too! A crime of opportunity! Hahaha— Oh damn, I'm so sorry. That was quite rude. You must have gone through hell back there with uh, what they did to you," Aomine said with a concerned look as he recalled the state Kise was in when he first found him.

"I'm feeling much better now... Maybe they could let me out soon…"

"Is there anyone you wanted to give a call to? Your agency maybe? I could probably drive you back to your place or something! I don't think you're in any danger anymore since we've already caught all those guys from this morning!"

"Uh… I—" Kise's words were interrupted when the cubicle curtains were pulled back by a tall, bespectacled, green-haired doctor wearing a birthday party hat.

"Kise-kun, it's because you did not bring your lucky item for Tuesday that you got yourself into this mess— Oh sorry, I didn't see you," the doctor said as he adjusted his glasses upon seeing Aomine with Kise. "I thought I discussed with the other police officer just now that the hospital will take good care of Kise-kun and that there is no need for you guys be here anymore," he continued grimly.

"Whatever Wakamatsu said to you does not apply to me. Anyway, we're not treating this as a police case… Unless Kise wants us to," he glanced back at Kise nervously. "But uh, I do feel responsible over everything that has happened this morning so I'm staying here until Kise is well enough to leave the hospital."

"That's… Not required. You should just go—"

"It's fine Midorimacchi… I could use some company after all that's happened," Kise said much to Midorima's surprise.

"Wha— No, you—"

"It's fine."

Midorima threw a disapproving look to Kise before he mumbled something about wanting to check his vitals first before taking his leave.

"You know that doctor? Sounds like you're familiar with him…" Aomine asked curiously.

"He… He's a family doctor."

"Oh right— Anyway, are you sure you're okay? You still look quite pale… I couldn't imagine what you must have gone through when they kidnapped you and uh… Gosh, if only I could make it all up to you…"

"I don't get it. Why do you want make amends for me? You didn't do anything—" Kise asked puzzled with Aomine's interest in him.

"That's it! I didn't do anything. I… I practically saw the guys brought you in the container and I thought nothing of it. Actually, I didn't even know you were in it at first but I… I… You see… I've only just got this promotion at work two months ago which means more paperwork duty for me and I'm way behind on those things. We could have busted the group a couple of weeks earlier but we were delayed… Because I forgot to send in the paperwork for an approval on our planned operation to the headquarters and damn… If we have caught them sooner, you wouldn't have gotten into this mess in the first place!" Aomine said apologetically.

"… I see… Well, there's no need for you to feel bad. I'm still alive and well here."

"Uh, are you sure? You don't feel… Uh, defiled or anything? I'm surprised that you're taking this pretty lightly… I would have imagined that normal people could have been severely traumatised over this incident. Is that how models work?" Aomine asked curiously. "Ah, sorry, sorry. I'm talking nonsense. But seriously, if you ever need anything from me, just ask. I'm based at the station a few blocks from this hospital so feel free to drop in anytime if you need any help from me."

"How about you run out and grab me a drink? Oolong tea. Cold," he demanded.

"Right! I'm on it! It's my treat too!" said Aomine excitedly as he rushed out to find the nearest vending machine.

As soon as Aomine was out of sight, Kise struggled to peel off the plaster over the IV tube on his right hand and proceeded to disconnect himself from the drip. He mustered enough energy to get off the bed only to wobble a bit before he started to feel light headed and tried to grab hold of the curtain to stabilize himself. He was determined to leave the place before the police officer comes back when a throbbing headache hit him at that exact moment causing him to stumble and lose his footing.

Only he didn't hit the floor right away but was caught just in time by Aomine who had returned with his drink.

"Whoa— What are you trying to do? Do you need to go to the toilet?" he asked out of concern as he helped Kise get back on his feet.

Kise cursed his bad luck in his mind and was saddened with how pathetic his current condition is. No matter how much he tried to stand on his own, his legs kept giving way as if drained entirely of their strength. He could still feel a searing pain in his back which came from the previous night's activities, when those men forced themselves on him as they interrogated him. He shut his eyes tightly as he tried to block the memory of those men having their way with him for what felt like ages of torture until he blacked out from the pain and humiliation. He was only snapped out of his dark thoughts when he heard his name being called out repeatedly by the police officer.

"Kise? Oi, Kise! Shit—" Aomine cursed aloud as he repeatedly pressed the emergency call button by the bedside until a flustered male nurse came in.

"Kise-kun? What is it? What happened?" the male nurse asked frantically.

"He's not feeling good. Is there anything you can do to make him feel better?" Aomine demanded.

The nurse barely paid any attention to Aomine as he helped Kise back onto his bed.

"Takaocchi…" mumbles Kise as he started to sulk helplessly.

"Just rest for a bit, will you?" the nurse spoke gently as he tucked Kise into his bed and patted his head lightly to reassure him that everything is going to turn out fine.

"Family nurse too?" Aomine teased Kise. "Damn, you're popular."

Kise woke up in cold sweat from a bad dream and was breathing heavily as he looked everywhere frantically at the unfamiliar environment around him. He could hear soft footsteps and a murmur of activity a short distance away before he remembered that he was still at the hospital. He could see a digital clock on the wall indicating that it was 05:07 in the morning and he started to take in deep breaths to calm himself down.

That was when he realized that the police officer from the day before was still by his side, seated on the same chair, sound asleep and snoring lightly. He squinted his eyes so he can have a better view of the police officer's name tag, "Aomine Daiki" it said. At least he finally knew who the police officer is since he had not bothered to ask for his name earlier on. While Kise wasn't happy with the idea of a police officer being this close to him, his presence alone was enough to make Kise feel safe for some odd reason. It was a comforting feeling and Kise soon found himself falling asleep again.

The next time around when Kise woke up, the buzz of activity going on around him was much louder than before and the ward seemed brighter since it was almost noon. He was still in one of the cubicles of the male patient ward and he slowly rose himself up as he started to think about what he should do next.

He was slightly relieved when he noticed that Aomine was no longer there which only meant that things are starting to look up for him. He made a mental note to himself that maybe, just maybe, he could put a good word on Aomine's efforts for saving him after all of this is over.

While he was plotting his escape, Aomine suddenly showed up with a couple of bento sets much to Kise's disappointment.

"Oh good, you're awake. Did you sleep well? You were totally knocked out! I heard the hospital food here is terrible so I bought this from a restaurant nearby. Their bento sets are pretty good," he grinned as he offered one of the bento sets to Kise. "I went home for a while just now to shower and informed the station that I'm taking an emergency leave of absence for today."

"Aominecchi, do you always like to help out strangers?" Kise asked out of curiosity.

"What did you just call me? Ah— Right, I guess it comes with the job. You know, being a police officer and all. I had to help those who are in trouble."

"Are you expecting something in return?"

"Hell no! Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not giving you special treatment because you're a popular idol— If it was anyone else in your situation, I would be going all out to set things right for him too! You don't owe me anything! Don't feel that you are forced to show gratitude to me or something. Even if we don't see or talk to each other at all after this, I won't take it to heart. I just genuinely want to help you get back on track," said Aomine as he gobbled up his food.

Kise wasn't exactly crazy about the food Aomine bought for him but he still finished it all anyway.

"I'm going to ask to be discharged after this. I'll take a taxi home, you don't have to do anything for me anymore."

"Are you sure? I can call the station to send over a police car to drive you home. Since you don't have anything with you from yesterday, how are you going to pay for the taxi?"

"I'll figure something out."

"But—" Aomine's words were interrupted by both the doctor and male nurse from the day before barging in all of a sudden.

"Time for a final check-up Kise-kun. You're free to go after this but make sure you carry this with you," the doctor said as he handed a golf ball to Kise. "Lucky item for today."

"Could you please wait outside Aomine-kun?" the nurse ordered upon noticing that Aomine was there.

"Can't I just stand on this side—"

"Outside Aomine-kun," the nurse growled this time.

Aomine glared back at the rude nurse and walked out in a huff.

After they were sure Aomine was finally out of the way, Midorima finally spoke.

"Murasakibara-kun and Himuro-kun were here to get you last night but you were asleep and that police officer was here waiting on you. Since both of them are familiar faces to the police community, they left shortly to avoid attracting any unnecessary attention. I'll give them a call to pick you up after this since you're looking much better now."

"He's a bit too dedicated with his duties no?" said a disgruntled Takao as he glanced at an anxious Aomine through the opening between the curtains.

"He doesn't seem to know anything so we're all good here," said Kise.

Both Midorima and Takao nodded their heads in agreement before they excused themselves.

"Someone is coming to get Kise-kun very soon so you're free to go Aomine-kun," said Takao with a fake smile.

"Don't mind me. I'll wait with him at the exit," Aomine replied.

Takao rolled his eyes and shook his head sadly at Kise's direction.

"Honestly Aomine-kun, you have done enough. You can go now," Kise pleaded.

They were both seated on a sofa close to the main entrance where they have a good view of the cars going in and out at the main drop-off point.

"Don't worry about me. I just want to make sure that you're in good hands after this."

"You're not a stalker fan or something are you?" Kise asked suspiciously.

"What? There's no such thing! I only knew about your very existence yesterday! I don't exactly follow the entertainment industry so I'm completely clueless on those sort of things. I'm sorry if you don't like my company at all but I'm honestly worried about you. You don't seem to be affected by all this at all! That doesn't seem normal to me and it bothers me!"

Kise only gave a bored, blank stare at Aomine before he turned his attention back to the pick-up point.

"Midorimacchi said that they will pick me up half an hour ago… What's taking them so long? Maybe they didn't want to show themselves with Aomine next to me? Damn, I knew I should have gotten rid of this persistent guy—" Kise thought to himself when he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

"Sorry Kise-kun, phone call for you at reception," Takao said with a serious tone.

Kise straightened himself up as he followed Takao to the reception and was glad that Aomine wasn't on his trail this time.

"Hello?" Kise spoke into the receiver.

"Are you okay Ryouta?" said a firm voice.

"Hmm… Akashicchi— You know they can't break me easily," Kise said smiling into the receiver. "Is someone picking me up?"

"… That man with you… The police officer. He's the new Assistant Police Inspector. He's been calling the shots now in our turf…"

"Aominecchi? Seriously? I thought he was just some low-ranking police grunt. I guess you can't trust people based on their looks nowadays."

"You can say the same thing for yourself too Ryouta. By the way, those guys who did this to you have been taken care off as we speak."

"Awww, you didn't have to Akashicchi! I could have dealt with them myself after this. I was just a bit careless back then. Anyway, I don't think Aominecchi can see me from where he's sitting right now. If I sneak to the back right now and find a way out, you guys can pick me—"

"No Ryouta. No one is picking you up. I need you to do something for me…"

"What is it Akashicchi?"

"That police officer… Is a hindrance to our activities as of late… I foresee that it would be useful if we can have someone keep a close eye on him for us…"

"I see…"

"But only if you're willing—"

"I got this Akashicchi."

"—This time I'll have a couple of our people on the lookout for you. If it gets too dangerous, get out."

"Aominecchi?"

"Huh? Is everything okay? Who was that on the phone?"

"My agency… They're telling me to keep a low profile in the meantime… Suddenly, I'm not sure if I want to go back to my place on my own…"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You were wrong when you said that I wasn't affected over what just happened. I'm just really good with keeping a straight face… Umm… Were you serious yesterday when you told me that I can ask you for anything?"

"I don't throw around empty promises as I like Kise! When I said that I'll take responsibility I really meant–"

"Good. Can you let me stay at your place for a while? I promise you that I won't be a bother."