"It's better to feel pain than nothing at all."


Time seemed to tick by slowly as Atsushi and Midorima watched the NBA game. Akashi had long since fallen asleep and was now resting his head on Atsushi's lap. The purple giant himself was, too, nearing sleep as he zoned in and out of the game. Midorima sighed and turned down the volume a bit, watching the giant go into dreamland a few minutes afterward. He watched the two sleep peacefully, suddenly remembering the old times where they wouldn't have to worry about Akashi's father. It was never long but it still felt damn good to finally rest in peace knowing Akashi was safe from the deranged man.

Midorima sighed, knowing those days were long past them and got up to go get some more tea. However, his phone started ringing as he moved to pick up his tea, bringing out the device and flipping it open to see a rather peculiar caller ID on the screen.

'Incoming Call: Kise Ryota'

Raising a brow the megane contemplated on whether or not to actually answer the call. He knew from experience that the blonde called really only to chat their ears off and make them bleed, but Kise did have a mature side to him (contrary to what others might think).

After much hesitation, he answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Midorimacchi!" Midorima had to pull the phone away from his ear or he was sure he would've gone deaf, "How have you been?"

The other grunted in reply, "Why did you call me Kise?"

The other fell silent and Midorima thought he had hung up had it not been for the slight shift of fabric and him saying, "We uh...we wanted to check up on Akashicchi."

Green eyebrows rose high in surprise and for once, Midorima was actually speechless. He shifted the phone onto his shoulder for better mobility while he picked up the now cold tea.

"..I'm surprised that you all actually cared enough to call," he finally said, taking a long sip of his tea and frowning when he tasted the bitterness in it, "After what transpired earlier."

"Ahh...about that.." Kise sounded sheepish, "Kagamicchi said he's really sorry for what he said about Akashicchi. He wasn't thinking what he said through. All of us are also sorry for not doing anything.."

"I'll believe you when he tells me himself that he's sorry."

An exasperated moan was heard as Midorima heard the sound of air, possibly the phone being transferred to another person. He waited impatiently, foot tapping against the rug as he faintly registered Murasakibara shifting before getting comfortable once again.

"Yo."

Midorima frowned, "So you finally decided to answer."

"Uh..."

Midorima waited as he heard the other sputter, faint background noise with what he could only assume was shouting encouragement.

"Listen, I'm..." Kagami took a long breath, "I'm really sorry, okay? I-I wasn't thinking straight about what I said about Akashi and...I'm sorry."

The silence seemed to last forever as Midorima heard quiet mumbling on the other line.

"Midorimacchi?"

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to, " he said at last, "You should be apologizing to Akashi."

And promptly hung up.


Midorima sighed as he gazed out the window, dawn breaking through as birds chirped outside. He felt tired but didn't want to sleep. Maybe he was paranoid about Masaomi coming and taking Akashi away from them. He didn't know.

The sun landed on Murasakibara's face as he groaned, eyes scrunched together and mumbling something along the lines of "Five more minutes..." before rolling over.

The megane sighed and shook the giant's shoulder, "Murasakibara, wake up. You're going to crush Akashi."

Another moan as amethyst eyes opened and glared at the perpetrator, "Mido-chin~" he whined, "I was having a good dream~"

"Too bad," he grunted, "You're crushing Akashi."

"Eh?" the giant looked down in his arms to see a small tuft of red being squished between his large body and the couch; he gasped, "Aka-chin!" and quickly let the small figure go.

A small, muffled groan was heard as the redhead shivered at his loss of warmth. He curled into a ball as a blanket was wrapped around him.

"'M sorry Aka-chin," the giant mumbled, delicately picking him up as if he were a fragile piece of glass. He laid the captain down in a more comfortable position, afraid to touch him any more.

"Atsushi..." the redhead murmured, eyes hazy, "C'mere." he made a grabbing motion with his hands, like a child seeking attention.

"But I almost crushed Aka-chin aga-"

"I don't care," the other mumbled, still making a grabbing motion, "I need a body pillow..."

Frowning, Atsushi moved a bit closer to Akashi but still not close enough for the redhead. Akashi frowned sleepily as his arms got tired, lowering them back onto the couch.

"Murasakibara..." Akashi whined, closing his eyes before opening them again so ruby eyes were present, "Please?"

Shuffling closer Atsushi hesitantly got back on the couch, however, this time he picked the redhead up and laid him on his chest to make sure he wouldn't crush him. Akashi didn't seem to mind and just mumbled something incoherent before falling back into slumber. Midorima sighed as Atsushi shifted before settling back down. His large hand stroked Akashi's hair, holding the redhead in his arms securely.

For awhile the only sound heard was Akashi's soft breathing and the sound of the kettle boiling in the kitchen. Midorima got up and came back with three cups of green tea, placing them down on the table.

"Mido-chin?"

"What?"

"I'm hungry."

Midorima sighed at the childlike behavior, watching amethyst eyes look up at him pleadingly, "Alright. How about we go out for lunch? That way we can give Akashi some time to rest."

Atsushi nodded happily and went back to petting Akashi's head. Deciding to get some rest too Midorima quickly finished off his tea ( he was drinking a lot of it today) and sat down in a love seat, closing his eyes as sleep took over him.


When Midorima came to, the room felt noticeably colder. He groaned and shifted, glancing at the clock; 11:45. He sighed and figured he'd get Atsushi and Akashi up off the couch; however, when he looked their way all he saw was the purple giant fast asleep, yet there was one thing missing.

Akashi.

Midorima sat up with a start which – surprisingly – awoke Atsushi as well, mumbling a sleepy, "Mido-chin...?" and sitting up groggily.

"Where's Akashi?" Midorima tried not to let any of the hysteria he was feeling into his voice, looking around frantically to try to find the small redhead.

"Wah.." Atsushi glanced around, "But he was sleeping on me when I fell asleep..."

Midorima cursed under his breath and began to search the house, knowing Akashi couldn't have gone too far from the living area. Hearing something in the kitchen he dashed towards it, slowly followed by Atsushi.

"Mido-chin you're overreacting. I'm sure Aka-chin's fi-"

The two had stopped dead in their tracks when they first got into the kitchen. Atsushi was the first to react by screaming, "AKA-CHIN" and running towards the redhead's side. Midorima was slower to react as he just gazed upon the scene, nearing the point of passing out.

There Akashi lay, in the middle of the kitchen, with a butcher knife in his back.