Two days after Niko spilled everything to Tōru and Hajime, the libero still had not spoken to any of her teachers, the coaches, or her parents about what was going on. Not only that, she had still managed to dodge that conversation with Asahi several times. Every time she was questioned by one of the dastardly duo, Niko danced around and made excuses for not doing so.

"He's busy practicing, I don't want to distract him."

"It's too late, I'll text him tomorrow."

"I've been busy today."

"I just forgot."

"He won't want to hear about my silly insecurities, so it's okay."

It frustrated both of her best friends to no end. No matter what they did, they couldn't get through to her that Asahi would want to know and that keeping it from him was worse than whatever he might say when she told him.

Those same feelings of frustration that Tōru and Hajime felt on the subject were what led them to the gymnasium they were now standing outside of. The only sounds coming from within were the voices of the players, and the distinct sounds of cleanup time - meaning the duo had arrived just when they'd wanted to.

Tōru stood just behind Hajime's shoulder, surprisingly quiet. Reaching forward, Hajime gripped the handle of the grey sliding door to pull it open. The sound of the door had made several players turn towards the entrance, so when Hajime glanced over the volleyball team most of them were staring with wide eyes.

"Great King?!" The orange-haired shrimp was the first to speak. "What are you guys doing here?!" Hinata was in front of them in a flash, standing with his hands on his hips as he stared up at them. "Come to forfeit Spring High already?"

Where Hajime simply raised a brow at the ball of fire, Tōru scoffed and stepped out from behind his friend. "Like we'd do that. You should be the ones begging for our mercy, Shrimpy-chan." The grin that the setter wore was quickly turning devilish as he looked down at Hinata. A sharp slap to the back of his head from Hajime forced a whine from his mouth.

"We're here for Goa-Azumane." Hajime covered up the near-lapse of judgement with a cough as he corrected himself. He'd been calling Asahi 'Goatee' so regularly that he'd nearly… Well, nonetheless. His gaze shifted to watch as his fellow ace straightened up with a frown and took a step forward.

"Is Niko-"

"Not here. Just us. We need to talk to you." Hajime grabbed Tōru's shirt and yanked him back next to him as the setter began inching towards Kageyama with a wicked grin. "Keep at it, and I will throw you in the nearest dumpster, Trashykawa." His next words came with more bite, and he narrowed his eyes at his friend.

"What? I wasn't doing anything!" Pouting, Tōru brushed Hajime's hands off of him before putting his hands on his hips and looking at Asahi. "Goblin is being an idiot. You are the Goblin whisperer. Therefore, you need to come with us." A sigh escaped Hajime's mouth.

While it wasn't quite how he'd have put it, it seemed mildly effective as Asahi began walking towards them. Hajime had to admit to himself that it'd been a gamble coming here. A gamble he was pretty sure they'd win, but it still could've gone wrong. Neither of them knew Asahi, and were not one what could be considered 'friendly' terms with his team.

Despite that, when Tōru had brought up the idea to go to Karasuno to retrieve their friend's soulmate, Hajime had no qualms agreeing. Despite his moronic exterior, Tōru was extremely smart - and fiercely protective of Niko just like Hajime was. It'd been of no surprise to the ace when he'd suggested it.

With the rest of Karasuno watching curiously, Hajime waited patiently for Asahi to stop in front of them. Daichi and Suga were hovering nearby, clearly unsure whether or not they should approach. "Ah, Daichi- could I…" Asahi shifted his gift to his captain, motioning vaguely.

A quick glance around the gym showed that there was still some cleanup to be done, so Hajime shrugged off jacket and looked over at Daichi. "We'll help you finish cleaning up, if you want." Yet before Daichi could reply, the ace was already throwing his jacket against the wall before walking towards the net, which had yet to be taken down.

"Sure, thanks." Daichi smiled, catching up to Hajime easily. "Everything alright with Kobayashi-chan?" He glanced over as he spoke, stepping onto a chair to begin dismantling the other end of the net. Behind them, Tōru let out a dramatic whine before ever-so-slowly meandering onto the court, collecting balls and tossing them into the cart as he went.

"Eh. She's got stuff going on." Hajime frowned, pausing long enough to help Daichi fold the net. "She needs to talk to Azumane about it, but keeps making excuses" He bent down, pulling the shortened pole from the ground easily. He carried it in both arms, earning a raised brow from Karasuno's captain, but no other commentary. "We came to see if he'll go to her house to talk to her. She can't make excuses if he's right in front of her."

Less than a meter away, Asahi frowned as he straightened after picking up another volleyball. Tōru chose that moment to come up beside him and speak. "If you say no, we'll just stuff you in a bag and take you anyway." When Asahi jumped in surprise at the sudden voice beside him, Tōru simply began laughing. "I'm joking. Probably." Just as quickly as the setter came, he went.

Slowly, the team grew more comfortable having the two Aoba Johsai players help with their cleanup. Despite receiving several perplexed looks from the members, Hajime and Tōru were quick to simply fall into their own rhythm. Daichi and Hajime hit it off surprisingly well, and spent the rest of cleanup talking to one another. Tōru, on the other hand…

"Wow, Shrimpy-chan, if you keep going at that pace, we'll be done by the time I'm fifty." The setter stated with a good-natured smile on his lips. Hinata had been pulling the scoreboard towards their equipment room at what Tōru had deemed 'slug slow'. As the orange-haired firecracker let out an indignant squawk, his senpai simply hummed and threw the last volleyball into the cart.

Grabbing the handles, Tōru pushed it towards the storeroom and slid it inside surprisingly neatly. "Now!" He shouted and whipped around - making several nearby players jump at his loud tone. "Goatee Ace!" Hajime glanced over, eyes narrowed dangerously. Despite the laugh-covered-by-a-cough that escaped Daichi's lips at the nickname, it wasn't enough to convince the ace not to teach his friend some manners.

A quick glance around the gym let Hajime know there was one ball left - and Kageyama stood with it in his hands. "Kageyama." The first year visibly stiffened and his eyes widened a bit as he slowly turned towards Hajime. With one brow lifted, the third year held out a hand. "Can I see that ball for a sec?"

For a moment, it seemed like Kageyama was going to decline - he gripped the ball a bit tighter and brought it closer to him. Then, he nodded and threw the ball up, hitting it with his fist as it came down. Hajime caught the ball and lifted it up in one hand as he glared at Tōru's back.

Oblivious to the dangers he was about to face, Tōru walked up to Asahi and put his hands on his hips. Staring up at him with the most innocent smile he could muster, the words he said next were in direct contradiction with the look he wore. "If you even think about making Niko cry, I will crush you-" Asahi's eyes had widened marginally and he'd opened his mouth to reply when the lone volleyball suddenly connected with the back of Tōru's head… quite harshly.

One hand clamped to the back of his head, Tōru whirled around and came face to face with Hajime. Immediately, his hands went up and he laughed. "C'mon Iwa-chan, that was mean. I was just-" He shut up when his friend grabbed the volleyball again and held it towards him threateningly with a scowl on his face.

"Ah, no, uh- No problem, Iwaizumi-san. I get it." Asahi had lifted his hand, rubbing the back of his neck lightly as he looked at the duo. He was surprisingly forgiving for someone who'd just been on the end of overprotective Tōru. Another point in his favor, Hajime noted to himself.

Through the months since Asahi and Niko had met, she'd always been so eager to talk to Hajime and Tōru about her soulmate. She would sit and talk about him, about things that he said or did, their plans, and everything in between for hours on end if they let her. Hajime could never bring himself to ask her to talk about something else. As much as he adored her… he didn't need to know every detail of their relationship.

Yet he remained quiet, because he knew she needed it. She needed to talk about it, she needed to share it with them because that was her - she was so incredibly happy, she wanted to simply revel in it. He'd be a pretty shit friend if he didn't let her do that, Hajime had told himself. All those talks with Niko had proven to him one thing, though. Asahi was a genuinely nice person, and despite not knowing him directly, Hajime would be willing to bet he'd never do anything to upset their little libero on purpose.

"Stop being a moron, Trashykawa. We need him to be willing to come with us." Hajime slowly let his hand fall to his side as he glared at Tōru. After another moment, he glanced to the side and tossed the ball to Kageyama. "Thanks. Everything done, Sawamura?" He shifted to look at the captain as he came over.

Laughing, Daichi nodded. "Yeah. Thanks for helping. Feel free to kidnap Asahi now. Or should I call him Goatee Ace?" Sugawara came up beside his captain, laughing brightly. Luckily for Tōru, it seemed they had taken to the nickname for their teammate. How he'd have managed to explain that one away, Hajime didn't know. Luckily he didn't have to find out.

"As long as he's returned in one piece, we don't mind." Sugawara grinned, coming up to clap Asahi on the back. As the ace stumbled forward, Suga looked at Tōru with a brilliant grin. "He'll be in your care, then." If the setter noticed the sour look on Aoba Johsai's captain's face, he gave no indication. "Alright, get your stuff together and let's head out."

The loitering players snapped into action, dashing to finish last touches before they began making their way outside. Hajime and Tōru followed the group out of the gymnasium, only to stop a few feet from the door. "We'll wait here for you to change." Hajime said to Asahi, shoving his hands into his pockets. Asahi simply nodded, heading towards the locker room with the rest of his team.

The subsequent walk to the station and train ride back to their city was silent for the Aoba Johsai duo and their 'hostage', as Tōru had taken to calling him in their group chat with the rest of their volleyball team.

Once they stepped off of the train, Hajime shifted the bag slung across his shoulder and nodded. "We live like ten minutes away, so may as well explain some of it now." He shot a glance towards Tōru, then at Asahi, before looking ahead of himself. Asahi sped up a bit, walking next to him. "Niko's being a trash goblin. She's got stuff going on with that international youth camp."

He paused for a moment, debating on whether to tell him more. No, that'd be better to leave to Niko. "I won't go into detail, because she needs to be the one to talk to you about it. Long story short, though, something was said that is upsetting her. Rather than talk about it, she's choosing to ignore the problem." His eyes narrowed a fraction, and Hajime subconsciously gripped the bag a bit tighter.

"We told her to talk to you." Tōru came up on Asahi's other side, huffing a bit. "She keeps saying she will, but then comes up with some idiot excuse not to-"

"Which is why," Hajime looked at his friend with a frown, "we chose to take you to her. If we can't convince her to talk to someone else about it, then maybe you can. Because part of it has to do with you."

There was a long pause between that and the next time anyone spoke. Asahi walked silently, hands in his pockets as he mulled over their words. "Are you… sure she's going to be okay with me just showing up?" He frowned, half mumbling the words. As to be expected, from what Hajime knew of his personality.

He nodded. "Yeah. We'll let her parents know what's up, then let you take over."

"She'll be h-happy to see you." Tōru spoke the words with great difficulty, grimacing and sticking his tongue out in disgust. It was progress, Hajime supposed. Despite his antics, Tōru was happy for their friend - even if he refused to admit it out loud yet due to her soulmate being from a rival school.

Asahi nodded, paying no mind to the mild hesitation Tōru had exhibited. "Alright…" The trio fell silent once again - none of them knowing quite what to say now. It wasn't like Hajime or Tōru could explain the situation, and Asahi was too focused on trying to figure out what was going on with Niko to even think about holding a halfway decent conversation.

The rest of the walk to the Kobayashi household was spent in mildly uncomfortable silence. If Hajime didn't know any better, Tōru even sighed in relief when they stepped up to the front door. The setter was quick to yank the door open and walk right inside, whereas Asahi froze and wavered between following and waiting outside.

"It's fine, we're part of her family by this point in time. Her parents won't mind you coming in." Hajime paused, waiting for Asahi to walk in before him. He got where the taller ace was coming from, though. If it wasn't for the fact that he knew Niko's parents so well then he'd have had him wait outside.

After a few long moments of hesitation, Asahi nodded slowly and stepped through the doorway. Tōru had already delved further into the house, and judging from the sound of things he was in the living room with at least Niko's father. That was where Hajime led Asahi to.

"Hey, Isao-san." Hajime called out as he stepped through the doorway, grinning a bit as the older man turned away from Tōru and stood up. He crossed the living room in a few strides and pulled the ace into a hug.

"Hajime! It's good to see you! For a while there, I thought you'd left this old man out to dry. You manage to only come around when I'm gone for work!" Isao laughed loudly, clapping the teen on the back. It was then that his gaze landed on Asahi. Standing a little behind Hajime, Asahi was rubbing the back of his neck nervously as he stood waiting. "Ah! You must be the famed Asahi! It's good to meet you, son!"

When Isao walked up and grabbed Asahi for a hug as well, Hajime couldn't help but choke back a laugh. The goatee ace looked like a fish out of water. He'd clearly not been expecting a hug - but kudos to him, he reciprocated it after a brief moment of awkwardness. Isao was definitely the parent that Niko got her touchy-feely-ness from.

"Darling, don't petrify the poor thing already." The sound of Niko's mother arose from behind Asahi, and made Isao laugh as he let go of the teen.

"Me? Petrify him? No, no, I'm sure Niko has already done that for us, darling!" Turning, he motioned for Asahi to follow him as he walked back to the couch. "Come, sit down for a bit! Niko's in her room, but I'd like to meet my future son-in-law before I just hand him over to her again!"

Honestly, Niko's parents were way more accepting and open than he'd expected them to be. Asahi had been told by Niko several times that her mother was especially protective of her. For some reason, he'd pictured her dad being even more so. So when Isao had promptly pulled him into a hug, it'd definitely been a shock.

Come to find out, Isao was pretty much where Niko got her personality. Unlike both Niko and Isao, Ren was a calm and much quieter individual. Asahi hadn't even had to comment on her similarity to Niko, because Isao had blurted it out first. "My Ren went and created a clone of herself with Niko! She's the spitting image of her mother! Luckily she got my charming personality, though."

It'd been enough to make Asahi chuckle, and he began to relax. Just like Hajime and Tōru had said, Niko's parents were extremely open to him, and welcomed him into their home without hesitation.

"When Niko first told us she'd found her soulmate a few months back, she was so excited. She kept finding reasons not to bring you home, though." Ren smiled good-naturedly as she spoke. At first, Asahi had blushed and began to apologize, but the woman shook her head. "No worries, it's not your fault. I think she just wanted to keep you to herself for a little longer."

"Oh, I remember how that is. Just being able to bask in your soulmate, and wanting to do that for as long as possible. Ahaha, to be a teenager again." Isao grinned, casting a sidelong glance at his wife. Asahi'd been sat down, and the two of them had proceeded to sit on either side of him. Hajime had shot him a wry grin, sitting in the armchair across the room while Tōru took the last spot on the couch. "Has she met your parents yet?"

Instantly, Asahi's face flushed. "Ah, no… I haven't, um, invited her over yet…" His hand inevitably found the back of his neck again, and he averted his eyes. To his right, Ren laughed and pat his arm lightly.

"I think you are quite the perfect fit for our little ball of energy. You seem to be good for her. I've not heard anything but positives about you, so that's to be expected." Ren stood up, walking from the room. "I'll go grab some snacks and drinks. I'm sure you're tired - Tōru told us earlier that they'd snatched you right after practice."

"Snatched?! We didn't snatch him-"

"Uhh-huh, sure you didn't, Tōru. I think my wife and I know you two well enough by now that it's clear what happened." Isao cut him off, grinning widely. "You probably barged in and demanded that he follow you back here. I know how you are." He gave the setter a mock-glare before laughing again. When Tōru didn't deny the accusation, Isao nodded resolutely.

Asahi couldn't help but laugh as well. Isao's deduction had been pretty spot on. "So, what are your plans after high school, Azumane-kun?" He should've expected this question. Instantly, Asahi grew nervous again. What would Niko's parents think of his decision to not go to college? Would they be disappointed or annoyed?

"Asahi? Dad! Don't pester him!" Saved by the Niko, clearly. Asahi's head lifted and he saw that Niko was standing in the entryway to the living room. She was staring between him, her father, and her best friends incredulously. "What's-"

"This is an intervention." Tōru declared as he stood up. With a wide grin, he walked over to Niko and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Come along, Goblin. We promise not to be too mean to you." He started pulling her towards the couch, but Niko was much more nimble than him. She slipped out from under his arm and instead darted to the opposite end, towards her soulmate.

He barely had any time to open his arms before Niko slid into his lap and grabbed his arms, wrapping them around her midsection firmly. The sudden closeness - in front of her friends and family - made Asahi's skin darken exponentially. He'd expected a hug, not- A low cough drew his attention to the doorway again.

"I see the dragon has come from her cave to claim her treasure." Ren said with a smirk as she walked into the room with a tray of sandwiches and a pitcher of what Asahi assumed was juice of some kind. "Didn't take you very long. Were your soulmate senses tingling?"

"Moooom! Shut up!" Despite what she said, Niko was laughing as she reached forward to snatch a sandwich. "I could hear Dad all the way from my room, and I came to save Asahi from more embarrassment." Tilting her head back, she grinned up at Asahi. "You're welcome!"

Chuckling softly, Asahi tugged her closer against him and leaned down to kiss her forehead lightly. "It wasn't that bad. Your parents are great." Her skin reddened just a bit before she tilted her head back down to look over at Hajime with a pout.

"Not that I don't love the fact that he's here… why did you bring him home?" She squeezed his hand lightly, and Asahi knew that was her way of making sure he knew he was wanted here. Niko took a bite of her sandwich and stared at Hajime, waiting for his reply.

"You're being an idiot, so we brought him to you so you can't run away from your problems anymore." He shrugged, getting up to retrieve a sandwich. Niko's body had stiffened against Asahi, but she made no move to leave. When he peered around to look at her face, she was staring at Hajime with wide eyes. Her mouth opened and closed several times, but nothing came from her lips.

There was a long pause before Ren appeared with napkins and cups. "Why don't you two go up to your room - door stays open please - and talk it through? Take a couple sandwiches - they won't last long with Hajime and Tōru around." Setting down her load of items, the blonde woman sat down next to Asahi again and looked at her daughter with a smile.

No one else spoke again until Niko finally nodded slowly. "O-okay." All bravado from earlier seemed to disappear, and Asahi felt her sag against him a bit. A small frown curled his lips down, and he tilted his head down to kiss the side of her head softly. Niko swallowed slowly before untangling herself from Asahi and standing up.

She was quick to grab his hand again, stuffing her sandwich in her mouth before grabbing a few more with her free hand. Without another word, she tugged his hand and mumbled around the sandwich. What she said, Asahi wasn't quite sure.

"Um, okay- ah, thank you- for the sandwiches, Kobayashi-san. I'll-" The moment he was standing, Niko wasted no time and promptly yanked him forward and out of the living room. Behind them, Asahi heard her parents laughing - but that did little to stop the blush from spreading across his face.

Niko dashed up the stairs, forcing Asahi to do the same lest he fall too far behind. It took only a few moments for him to be pulled into her bedroom. The door was slid mostly shut, and only then did Niko still. Looking up at him, she began to lose the steam she'd built up. Asahi could do little but watch her face fall as she began chewing on her lower lip.

Still silent, he slid his hand out of hers and wrapped his arms around her waist. Pulling her close, he let Niko work through her own mind in silence. It was clear to him that she was struggling to put whatever it was into words. Until she was ready to talk, Asahi would simply hold her. She reached up, hands gripping his shoulders softly.

Together, they moved to sit on the bed. There, Niko wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned against him. Asahi held her close, thumbs rubbing circles in her back as he waited. For her, he could have all the patience in the world.

A/N: I know, I know, Niko wasn't present very much in this chapter, but I felt like this was a great point in the story to start building a friendship of sorts between the two best friends and the soulmate. Plus he finally meets her parents! As always, thank you all for your continued support! It means so much to me :)

euinoiapaint: Heck yes we do! No toxic friendships here :) Thank you again! I always look forward to reading your reviews, so thank you so much for your support!

narutolover10110: Thank you so, so much! I appreciate your support so much, thank you for sticking with me through the story!