A/N: Sorry I haven't been posting anything recently, but the typical excuses... School being the biggest one. I pray everyone continues to like these chapters as much as I enjoy writing them! Blessings to you all!

After a beautiful day of doing only a few routine checks at work, Kagami was thankful he could just go home, flop onto his couch, and watch some television. However, actually getting home and sprawling himself over the couch felt wrong to Kagami. Kagami felt like there was something he was forgetting, or something, but no matter how hard he tried, Kagami couldn't place his finger over what it was he thought was missing. Of course, not remembering what in the first place would probably be why. Groaning, Kagami rolled off the couch, landing on the floor with a small thud. Just moments later, Kagami felt a cold, wet something touch his exposed ankle.

Kagami sprung up onto his feet, staring wide-eyed at the small dog that was two feet in front of him. Before he could scream though, Kagami bit his tongue. He didn't know why the dog was in his home, nor how the stupid mutt got in, but now he had to deal with it. Kagami's nose crinkled in the realization that he would have to go out and get food for the puppy, and other necessities for a dog that is not even his, nor one he would want in the first place. And so, with a loud moan of frustration, Kagami grabbed his keys and wallet, and headed for the closest store he could buy dog food.

Murasakibara stared at Kuroko from across the table. They were waiting on a cake that Murasakibara had recently put into the oven while the two finished eating dinner. The day had gone by so quickly, Murasakibara felt that it just wasn't enough time to spend with Kuroko. After all, they didn't even do anything save for getting a little snack at a small store, and then going straight home. Murasakibara was more than a little jealous that Kagami got two nights with Kuroko, while he only got one. And he had to take Kuroko to Akashi's house too. At least it wasn't Aomine... It was the small victories that mattered to Murasakibara.

They were only five minutes into dinner when Murasakibara noticed Kuroko was merely picking at his food.

"Kuro-chin needs to eat more."

Kuroko shook his head. "I can't... I'm full, Murasakibara-kun."

Murasakibara hummed in reply, wondering how he should go about this. He should have guessed Kuroko was a bird-type eater, but he didn't prepare for that properly. He sat there, half of the food on his plate gone, while he watched Kuroko's chopsticks pushing around the rice and vegetables aimlessly. Kuroko yawned, rubbing his eye gently. Even though it was only six in the evening, Kuroko was feeling unreasonably tired, and tried to portray this to the purple haired man before him, though his attempt was for nothing since Murasakibara said nothing about it.

A couple more minutes passed, with Murasakibara finishing his food and eyeing Kuroko who was still picking at the food left on his plate, when a soft ding rang in the small home.

"Oh... The cake is done..." Murasakibara stood from his place at the table to take care of the cake, also taking his empty plate with him.

"Mmmm... I wonder if Kuro-chin wants any..." Instead of asking the boy, Murasakibara decided to cut Kuroko a piece, knowing it was going to be eaten one way or another.

Murasakibara reentered the dining area, immediately taking notice of the empty chair across from his original seat. The food still sat there, the chopsticks haphazardly strewn on the table. Murasakibara might not have known much about Kuroko, but he knew the boy would never leave the table without permission first. That much, everyone could tell, was instilled into him by his father.

"Kuro-chin," Murasakibara called out to the otherwise empty house. "I cut you a slice of cake, don't you want any?"

Murasakibara listened carefully for any noises that were out of place for his home, but came up with nothing but the noisy pipes that were constantly running water. Instead, Murasakibara walked down the hall to search for Kuroko because he knew that the boy would not come out when called.

The only problem was, the more Murasakibara looked, the less he could actually see. Opening doors only to close them again, to come back to those same doors to repeat the process slowed things down, and he knew it would be impossible to find him now.

"Kuro-chin, the cake will get stale if we don't eat it. It's vanilla... Don't you like vanilla?" At this point, Murasakibara was trying to see if his voice would set Kuroko off into trying to find a hiding place further away from himself, but his plan wasn't really working as well as he'd hoped.

Sighing, Murasakibara went back to the dining area, finally noticing the quivering form underneath the table.

"Ah... Kuro-chin, I found you."

Kuroko didn't react to Murasakibara's voice, remaining the way he was.

"Kuro-chin?" Murasakibara asked, kneeling down next to the table to get a better view of Kuroko.

The boy's face was covered by his knees, his hands covering his ears. He was murmuring something that Murasakibara couldn't hear, though could make an educated guess as to what the words were about.

"Ne, Kuro-chin, it's me, Murasakibara Atsushi," the giant said. He may have been childish, but he wasn't a fool. "I picked you up this morning from Kagami's house, remember? Kagami took care of you for a couple nights so your cousin, Kise Ryouta could go to work. You wanted to go back to Kagami's house, but I wanted to spend some time with you too. Not to mention Aka-chin... Akashi Seijuro wouldn't be very happy if I didn't listen to him." Murasakibara continued on his ramblings until Kuroko finally looked over to him. His eyes weren't teary, despite what Murasakibara was thinking, but the kid did look awful.

"Nigou," Kuroko whimpered, sniffling. "Where's Nigou...?" he asked tentatively.

"Nigou?" Murasakibara inquired. "I didn't pick up Nigou, only you, Kuro-chin."

"Oh," Kuroko murmured, refusing to meet Murasakibara's eyes.

"Kuro-chin... Do you..." Murasakibara didn't know how he wanted to word his question. He had no idea what was wrong with Kuroko, let alone how to approach him in this unstable state of mind. Murasakibara decided that the floor underneath the table was no place Kuroko should be, so he reached out a large hand towards the boy to help him to his feet.

However, that's not the way Kuroko saw the hand. Instead of grabbing onto the hand, Kuroko flinched back and screamed. All children are capable of making louder noises than adults can; even if that child is Kuroko Tetsuya. Murasakibara's hands immediately went to his ears to mute the sound as much as possible.

Kuroko took advantage of that moment to run forward, heading towards the front door. He didn't really understand why he needed to leave. He just did. Kuroko felt unsafe for some reason. He knew Murasakibara, knew that Murasakibara would never actually hurt him, but he was still afraid. Just as Murasakibara realized what was going on, Kuroko got the front door open, and began running. There was no breath to spare in his lungs to scream as Kuroko ran.

Kagami begrudgingly walked down the street, a six pound bag of dog food hanging from under his arm when he felt something touch just the back of his legs. The feeling was so insignificant that he almost ignored it, but what Kagami could never ignore was a breathless voice try to say his name. He nearly dropped the dog food when he saw none other than Kuroko Tetsuya standing there, cheeks red, and completely out of breath.

"Kuroko!" Kagami couldn't stop himself from shouting. "What are you-" Kagami abruptly stopped talking when he noticed a lone tear slide down Kuroko's cheek. A tear that was followed by others until the boy was sobbing.

"No, nononono, hey, it's okay... What.. er... What's wrong?"

The only answer Kagami got was sniffling as Kuroko tried to stop his crying.

Kagami bit his lip as he put the bag of dog food down, kneeling down next to Kuroko. Kagami would be the first person to admit that he wasn't the best person for comfort; especially small children, but there wasn't anyone else who could do the job without causing more problems. After all, Kuroko escaped to come to Kagami, and just with that information, Kagami knew he was the only one the boy wanted at that moment... No matter how horrible he was at comfort.

People walking by stared at Kagami as he did his best to calm Kuroko down. It wasn't until someone running with their dog that Kagami realized what Kuroko needed.

"Hey, Kuroko... Let's.. Erm... Let's go back to my place for a little while. I bet..." Kagami berated himself for being unable to remember the mutt's name. "I bet your dog is getting pretty hungry..."

Finally, Kuroko looked Kagami in the eye. "N-Nigou?" he sniffled.

"Yeah," Kagami was quick to agree. "Nigou is at my house, but we have to get going there so he can eat. Okay?"

Kuroko rubbed his eyes weakly, but nodded nonetheless.

Kagami's door easily swung open, revealing a small puppy sitting loyally on the floor next to the other shoes placed by the door. Kuroko immediately went to the yapping pup, holding the tolerant mutt close. Even though Kagami did not particularly enjoy dogs, he would admit that the sight before him was endearing. However, he wasn't going to just let them continue this in the entryway.

"Hey, Kuroko, I think your dog is hungry," he informed the kid, shaking the bag of food for effect.

Kuroko nodded, and followed Kagami to the kitchen, Nigou in tow. It wasn't long before Kagami had a bowl of dog food on the floor, Nigou eating it swiftly.

"Kuroko, what were you doing outside by yourself?" Kagami inquired. Even though a lot of kids were seen walking around without their parents, for someone as young as Kuroko to be doing so by himself, no less, was concerning for Kagami to know.

Kuroko looked away, not willing to make eye contact with Kagami.

"Kuroko, look at me," Kagami commanded, though Kuroko ignored the order. He didn't. "Kuroko," Kagami repeated with a sterner tone this time. Kuroko looked up cautiously. "What happened?"

"I... Ran away," Kuroko answered reluctantly.

Even though Kagami wanted to reprimand Kuroko for his reckless actions, he merely sighed. "Why?"

"I... I don't know."
Lies, Kagami thought immediately. "Are you sure you don't know?" he pressed.
Kagami could see Kuroko having a mental battle with himself, which meant Kuroko was considering telling Kagami the truth. Kagami took that as a win.

"I was afraid," Kuroko finally managed to say.
"Afraid of what?"
Instead of giving a clear answer, Kuroko shook his head, burying his face into Nigou's fur as the puppy finished off his bowl of food.

Kagami found himself sighing again. Sometimes, he just couldn't deal with kids.
"You know you're supposed to be staying with Murasakibara so I can work, right?"
Kuroko nodded.
"Then how come you've decided to come back here?"
Kuroko shrugged.
"Well, you should really go back to Murasakibara. I don't want Akashi to be mad at me."
Kuroko shook his head rapidly. "I don't want to."
"You can't stay here, Kuroko. I've got work tomorrow. If you don't want to go back to Murasakibara's, then where do you want to go?"

"I want to stay with Kagami-kun."

"You can't. I already told you that I have work tomorrow, and I can't leave you here by yourself."
"Can I come with?"
Kagami shook his head. "No way. It's too dangerous for a kid like yourself. Besides, my time is up for watching you."

Kagami's phone began ringing, stopping the conversation completely. Kagami stared at the number from his caller ID. It was an unknown number that he thought he recognized from somewhere. On a whim, or perhaps instinct, Kagami answered. Before he could even say a word of greeting, the voice on the other end spoke.

"Taiga."

Kagami swallowed thickly. Akashi. Bad thoughts swarmed in Kagami's mind as he started thinking about what would have happened to him if he hadn't answered.
"Akashi, to what do I owe the honor?"

"Is Tetsuya with you?"
"Wha? Yeah, he's here," Kagami answered, looking right at Kuroko, who was too focused on Nigou to notice.

"I'm sending someone for him."
"And he won't be able to run back to me?"
"Precisely the plan. Send the dog with."

Without another word, Akashi hung up, leaving Kagami standing there, staring at his phone telling him the call had been ended.

"Akashi's coming to get you," Kagami told Kuroko.
"No he's not. He's sending someone to get me for him," Kuroko replied.
Smart kid. Too bad he doesn't use that brain of his for more important things. Kagami instantaneously berated himself for thinking such things. Just how was he expecting Kuroko to go to school if no one signed him up, or even took him to school since the fire?

"Don't worry. Soon enough, you'll be back here with me. Okay?"
Kuroko nodded.
"And you know that you'll have to apologize to Murasakibara?"
Another nod.
"Good..." Kagami didn't really know what to say after that. What else was there to say? Kuroko wasn't exactly in a talkative mood, and with whatever just happened with Murasakibara, was clearly still on the boy's mind. What was Kagami supposed to say in a situation like this? Of course, it was also easy to forget just how young Kuroko actually is considering his mental age is much older than his physical.

Fortunately for Kagami, the car to pick up Kuroko arrived not long after Akashi had called. And who else should step out but Murasakibara, the one in charge of Kuroko as of earlier that day.

Kuroko walked over to Murasakibara, resignation drawn all over his face as Nigou obediently followed his owner. No words were exchanged, only glances and nods as Kuroko climbed into the vehicle, followed by Murasakibara.

He'll be fine, Kagami thought to himself in an attempt to reassure himself. It's not like Murasakibara was trying to hurt or scare Kuroko. He just forgets his own strength sometimes... Oh God, Kuroko's going to be killed by Murasakibara, and Murasakibara won't even realize why.

Those thoughts scared Kagami much more than he would ever like to admit, but at the same time, Kagami knew that the giant was smart enough to realize that children were much weaker than adults. Please, just last one night with him, Kagami asked of Kuroko though it was neither spoken aloud, nor said to Kuroko himself. The only thing Kagami had that calmed him down slightly was the fact that Akashi, or even Kise, would murder Murasakibara if anything happened to little Kuroko.