"and i hate how much pain
your heart has known
but i'd like a place
in whatever space
you choose to exist"

~r.h. Sin

-Kuroo's POV- (While waiting on Mikia to come back from the kitchen)

The morning had definitely already been a bit of a roller-coaster. Endou letting me hold her when I found her trembling in the room when her ex showed up was a welcome surprise. It meant that she was starting to trust others besides just Kenma, not that there was any rush. And I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel nice to hold her like that, even if that wasn't in the forefront of my mind. There is something surreal and heartbreaking about watching someone you've seen layout men almost a foot taller than her, crumbling to pieces at the voice of a man who clearly didn't see her worth.

"Kuro, she's going to need clothes," Kenma's voice cut through my thoughts, bringing me back to the situation at hand. I perked up a bit.

"You convinced her to come stay with us?" I asked, excitement a bit more in my voice than I had intended. Kenma simply nodded.

"She'll feel worse if we buy her new clothes. Do you know any girls that could donate clothes to her?" Kenma asked, and I raised an eyebrow at him before giving it some thought. Then, my mind went to Lev since he knew Endou as well, but I remembered at that moment that Lev had a sister.

"We can ask Lev if his sister has any clothes Endou can have, or if she has any friends that do," I said to which Kenma made a face of obvious distaste at the mention of Lev but nodded in agreement anyways. I quickly pulled my phone out of my pocket and went to Lev's contact and pressed the call button. Fortunately, the silver haired giant answered in 2 rings.

"Hey, Kuroo-san. What's going on? You never call!" Lev's voice was way too hyper for 9am, but I decided to refrain from telling him to chill out since I was about to ask him for a favor.

"Hey, Lev. Something came up. I was wondering if your older sister has any clothes she was wanting to donate or get rid of," I answered, getting straight to the point and wanting to finish the conversation before Endou returned.

"I think so. I mean I can ask her. Why? You wanting to get a gift for a girl? You should really buy something new for her then, Kuroo-san," Lev started rambling, and I took a deep breath before cutting him off.

"It's nothing like that, Lev. There's just a girl I know who is in a rough spot, and would feel bad if anyone bought her new clothes. Can you please just ask your sister for me?" I asked, not wanting to give out too much information that wasn't mine to give out. Silently, I hoped he would understand that the situation was a bit sensitive and drop it with the questions. Lev may still be excitable like he was in high school, but he had definitely matured a fair bit too.

"Alright, Kuroo-san. Give me just a minute," Lev said, followed by the sound of him speaking in Russian followed by his sister's voice. To my surprise, the next voice that addressed me was not Lev, but his sister.

"Kuroo-san! Hello! Levotchka mentioned you have a friend in need of clothes right? Do you know her size or height?" Alisa's voice rang out on the phone.

"Um…. I honestly have no idea on her size. But I'd say she's around 5'8" maybe 5'9", super athletic, so toned and muscled a bit," I answered honestly, blushing a bit at trying to describe Endou's body. It was a bit awkward for me.

"What about her chest? Big, small, average?" Alisa continued her interrogation. If my face wasn't red before, it definitely was now.

"Um… A bit above average I guess?" I answered, my voice showing how nervous I was earning a laugh from the woman on the other end of the line.

"Awww… Levotchka, your old captain is getting all embarrassed! It's adorable!" Alisa called out to which I heard Lev begin to laugh before she addressed me again, "Anyways, yes, Kuroo-san I have a bunch of clothes to donate that I got from different companies I've modeled for. They should fit your friend. And if they don't, let me know, and I'll help find some clothes for her okay? I'll give them to Levotchka and he can bring them to you." I smiled in relief and snickered when I heard Lev whine in the background.

"Thank you, Haiba-san. I greatly appreciate it," I said honestly, "Tell Lev I'll text him when I can meet up. I've got a couple of things to do before I can do that." She agreed to do so before we said goodbye and hung up. I let out a sigh of relief. That took care of that major concern.

Following that conversation, Bokuto proceeded to pout and complain that he had wanted Endou to stay with them, but we all knew she couldn't. Her ex could find her way too easily here. It was safer for her to stay with Kenma and I. We also had a room that wasn't being used at all, and she was comfortable with Kenma. So our place was the most logical place to stay for now.

Soon after, Endou entered the room, and we all prepared to leave. Akaashi had left early this morning for a bit and gotten her a scarf, some shoes, and a jacket since it was getting cold out, and we found her in not much in terms of warm clothing. Thankfully, she accepted the items without argument. I figured it was difficult to argue considering the look in Akaashi's eyes. He was clearly thinking of his older sister, and my heart went out for the guy.

As we made it outside, I noticed Endou looking up at the sky with a couple of tears falling from her face. I cleared my throat, getting her attention as she quickly wiped her face as we quickly made our way away from the apartment complex. I noticed Kenma keeping an eye on our surroundings, probably keeping an eye out for her ex, which I realized I had no idea what he looked like. Endou walked between us, head held high as though she wasn't afraid of anything. Her strength was admirable to say the least, but I was starting to get a bored of the silence.

"So Endou-san -" I started.

"Mikia," she corrected quickly, gunmetal blue eyes darting to mine as if daring me to argue.

"Alright, Mikia-san," I corrected with a smirk, "Lev says you suck at Russian. Why are you even studying such a complicated language?" She looked a bit annoyed at then sighed.

"I'm a linguistics major. I want to be a translator, and to do that I need to be fluent in four languages," she explained and then smiled a bit to herself, "And Russian may be complicated, but I think it's quite a beautiful language. It's the only language I have left that I'm seriously concerned about passing my fluency test for." I raised an eyebrow in surprise. Four languages was a lot. Hell, my English was terrible and I studied it since elementary school.

"Damn. I have no idea how you keep all four languages straight. I'm assuming two of them are Japanese and English. What is your fourth language?" I asked, one to keep her distracted from being nervous about her ex finding her, and two because I was sincerely curious.

"Español," she answered, her voice taking on an accent that I wasn't quite familiar with, causing her to smirk a bit at my slight confusing, "Spanish, Kuroo-san." I rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment and chuckled a bit.

"Yeah. I knew that," I responded earning a low giggle from the girl next to me, causing my cheeks to heat up a bit. I cleared my throat to try and regain my composure, "Also, Kuro is fine. That's what Kenma calls me anyways, so you'll hear it a lot." My request seemed to take her a bit off guard as we made our way onto the subway. A far off look glazed over her eyes as Kenma gently grabbed her arm and guided her onto the train, each of us taking protective positions around her.

The rest of the walk back to our rental house was quiet, a silent agreement between Kenma and I that maybe Mikia needed some time to process everything. She was no doubt a strong woman. Anyone could see that within minutes of being in her in presence. Confidence and strength rolled off of her in waves. At least, they usually did, but right now, she was more like a candle that was being covered up, starting to die out, desperate for just a bit of oxygen to feed its flame. It was as beautiful as it was sad, and my only thought was that I hoped Kenma and I would be able to help the woman beside us get even just enough oxygen to burn bright again.

"Home sweet home! Welcome and sorry about the mess!" I announced as we made our way into the house and I showed her the kitchen and living room.

"Thank you both so much. I'll be in your care and I won't be a burden to you both," Mikia said, sincerity and seriousness dripping from every word. I gave her a soft sincere smile, not one of my usual smirks and placed my hand softly on her head, moving slowly as to not startle her.

"I know you won't. We're happy to have you here, Mikia-san. It gets a little mundane having just me and Kenma here all the time," I told her, "We've known each other since elementary school, so we know each other a little too well sometimes." Kenma scoffed in obvious annoyance at that.

"Ignore Kuro before he starts going on reminiscing like an old man. I'm going to show you your room, Mikia," Kenma said quickly cutting me off with a look as his cat like eyes darted to the digital clock on the microwave, reminding me of the little trip I needed to make.

"Yeah. Take some time to get settled in, Mikia-san. I've got a couple of errands to run," I stated, removing my hand from her head.

"Make sure to grab food while you're out. No need to subject Mikia to our terrible cooking immediately," Kenma stated bluntly, to which I rolled my eyes.

"Just because you don't like vegetables, doesn't mean my cooking is terrible," I shot back with a smirk.

"Um, I can cook dinner for you guys," Mikia spoke up, "I'm not a fantastic cook, but I'm pretty good at it. What do you guys like to eat?"

"I like fish or really any traditional food," I answered, "But you don't need to worry about cooking for us. Just get settled in for today." The caramel haired girl shook her head in protest, a fierce look back in her eyes that told me she would not be backing down.

"I enjoy cooking. Now, what would you two like to eat tonight?" she asked again, her voice firm, earning a small smile from Kenma that she couldn't see. This was his first time seeing this side of her, and it was reassuring for both of us.

"I like any kind of fish honestly. And Kenma just hates vegetables. Other than that, neither of us are that picky of eaters," I answered honestly. Mikia nodded and thought for a moment.

"If I give you a list of ingredients, would it be too much trouble for you to pick them up on your way back? If not, I can go get them after I finish working on my Russian homework," she replied to which I gave her a thumbs up.

"No problem. Just text me the list. Kenma has my number," I said before going back to the front door and putting my shoes back on, "I'll be back in a bit. Make yourself at home, Mikia-san." The small smile she gave me made my heart flutter a bit as she walked up to me and wrapped the scarf she had on earlier around my neck.

"Thank you so much for everything, Kuro-san," she said using the nickname I mentioned earlier, though with the unnecessary -san, "But make sure to take care of yourself too. I'll be fine. You and Kenma-san both need to take care of yourselves, and that includes dressing for how cold it is outside." With that, she finished the tying the scarf and turned around and walked back to where Kenma was standing waiting to show her to her room. Meanwhile, I just stood there with what I'm sure was a stupid grin on my face as I shook my head to clear my thoughts as I headed out the door, locking it behind me.

"Mo,m please help me if she ever realizes the effect she already has on me," I said with an amused smirk playing on my lips as I looked up at the sun peeking from behind the clouds. I took it as a good omen. Mikia definitely deserved one of those right about now.

-

Song: Ally by We The Kings