Chapter 1

Day One & Two

Earth|Sky, Day|Night

The stars were beautiful tonight, Daichi thought as he leaned against his squad car. Not a cloud in the sky, but no moon either, and it gave the stars a chance to shine brilliantly against the black sky.

He usually hated the night patrols of the city. They were usually long and uncomfortable, and he was always too wired to get some sleep when he got home, so he always ended up staying up for nearly 24 hours.

But tonight, at least the views were beautiful. It was a peaceful scene. Not an interruption in sight—

"Sergeant!"

A loud knocking on the squad car's window pulled Daichi from his thoughts, and he took a long, deep breath to try to calm himself. He glanced inside his cop car to see his partner, Koji, frantically knocking to get his attention.

Daichi sighed and then opened the car door and climbed inside. Koji was fairly new to the force. He was a little bit of a nervous nelly, but he was nice enough.

"What is it, Koji?" he asked.

"We have a situation," Koji said, putting on his seatbelt.

Daichi's heart leaped, and he quickly yanked his seatbelt on and started the car.

"Where?" Daichi asked.

"Ah, down by the college. Someone broke into an apartment," Koji explained.

Daichi nodded and turned on the sirens on the car, and then he booked it down the street towards the address that Tanaka provided.

"I heard that there might've been a scuffle or something," Koji said, "but Mei-san was talking too fast, so I couldn't really tell."

Daichi rolled his eyes. Their dispatcher was a complete spazz—she would always freak out whenever a call would come in. It reminded him of a certain blond-haired co-manager that he used to know in volleyball club so many years ago.

Ah. He missed those days.

"Ah, there it is!"

Daichi blinked back to reality at the sight of red and blue flashing lights in the distance. He pulled in and turned the siren off, leaving the lights on. He stepped out of the car first and hurried into the apartment complex, his hand on his gun at his hip. Koji scrambled behind, and Daichi could hear his footsteps pattering against the carpet of the hallway.

They ascended one flight of stairs and walked down to the middle row of rooms where a few officers had gathered. When they reached the opened doorway of the apartment, Daichi's eyes widened.

He only had a view of the living room, but it was already a mess. A bookshelf had been knocked over, scattering several papers and thick looking science books everywhere. The coffee table looked busted, and a lamp had shattered on the floor.

It was definitely a break-in, but it looked more severe than that.

"Wow, this is… nuts," Koji said, following Daichi into the damaged apartment.

"Yeah, no kidding," Daichi said. There was even a hole in the wall. How did that happen? "Did Mei say anything about there being damage to the property?"

Koji shook his head as they assessed the room. "No, she didn't mention anything about it."

Daichi sighed, looking around the mangled apartment. Was there a scuffle?

He glanced at Koji and rubbed the back of his neck. "All right, I guess we can inspect the room and talk to the resident, if they're here."

"Ah, I think he is," Koji said, pointing off in a direction behind Daichi.

Daichi nodded. "Okay. I'll go see what happened."

Koji nodded and gave a silly salute, moving to look at the damage done to the property.

Daichi smiled and rolled his eyes, turning around to face the kitchen area. He nodded to a fellow officer as he passed by. He could hear voices talking in the kitchen, which meant that another officer had already started questioning the resident.

"And you're sure you don't know what he looked like?"

"Sorry. I didn't get a good look at his face. He was wearing a ski mask."

Daichi's stepped stuttered at the voice, his heart fluttering wildly in his chest. He increased his pace as he rounded the corner, nearly tripping over his own feet as he stepped into the kitchen.

His eyes widened at the sight.

Wide, broad shoulders.

Long legs with thick thighs.

Black hair that stuck up in odd directions.

So he hadn't heard wrong.

It was that damned cat from Nekoma.

"Kuroo?" Daichi said under his breath, too quietly for anyone to hear.

The officer in front of Kuroo had twisted lips, looking a bit frustrated. He hummed lightly and wrote down what Kuroo had just said.

"That makes things complicated," the officer said, furrowing his brows. "It helps if you at least got the color of the guy's hair or something."

Kuroo winced a little, and that was when Daichi noticed that he was holding his right arm a little too tightly for it to be just nervousness. He looked hurt.

"Yeah, I know. He was about my height, if that helps," Kuroo said.

The officer looked him over once and then nodded, writing it down. Kuroo winced again when the officer said nothing, and Daichi felt his blood boil. Kuroo was obviously in pain, but it seemed that the officer only cared about his own agenda.

Daichi moved forward as the officer rattled off another question, and he stopped right next to Kuroo and glared at the officer.

"I think that's enough questioning for now," Daichi said.

Both the officer and Kuroo snapped their heads towards him, their eyes wide.

"Sawamura?" Kuroo said.

Daichi gave him a brief smile before turning back to glare the other officer down.

"Ah—Sergeant!" the officer said, nearly dropping his notepad. "I was just taking notes here. Trying to get more information."

"Did you put anywhere on those notes about Kuroo's injury?" Daichi said, placing a hand on Kuroo's shoulder.

Kuroo jolted, looking at Daichi like he had two heads, but he allowed Daichi to turn him so he could get a good look at Kuroo's arm. It was obviously broken, but his sleeve on the underside of his arm was also soaked in red.

"Um…" the officer fumbled.

"Did you call an ambulance?" Daichi hissed, looking to the officer.

The officer stiffened. "No, Sir."

Daichi sighed, raking a hand through his hair. "Fine. I'll take care of things here. You file the report."

"Y-Yes, Sergeant!"

The officer scampered away, leaving the two of them alone in the kitchen while the rest of the officers inspected the battered apartment.

"Ah, so I see you've still got the same charm as always, Sawamura-kun."

Daichi glanced up at Kuroo's face, watching as it twisted into his usual smirk. Daichi smiled back in return, cocking a brow at him.

"And you're still as ugly as ever," Daichi said.

Kuroo tilted his head back slightly and moved to put a hand over his heart.

"Oh, you wound me! Why must you be so cruel?" Kuroo said, his voice a bit strained. After his little charade, he hissed slightly and moved his hand back to his right arm, holding it tightly.

"That looks bad," Daichi said with a frown.

He gently moved Kuroo by his shoulders to get a good look at his arm. It was definitely fractured, but he couldn't quite figure out where the blood was coming from.

"Well, if it weren't for the stab wound, then it'd be alright," Kuroo said with a slight shrug.

Daichi nearly got whiplash from how fast he looked up at Kuroo.

"Stab wound?!" Daichi exclaimed. He glanced back down at Kuroo's arm and gently took it in his own grasp, lightly turning it so he can better assess the damage.

"A-Ah." Kuroo, for once in his life, looked stumped. He swallowed and took on a more somber expression. "Yeah, but it's superficial. It's not that deep."

Daichi frowned when he saw more blood dripping onto the floor. "Well, let's leave that for actual doctors. C'mon."

He grabbed Kuroo's opposite shoulder and started leading him out of his apartment.

"Huh? Wait, where are we going?" Kuroo asked.

"Hospital," Daichi answered.

Kuroo's brow creased. "Can't you just call an ambulance?"

"That would take too long at this point. Too much backtracking," Daichi said. He glanced over at Koji who was staring at the broken flat screen on the wall in dismay. "Koji, I'm taking him to the hospital."

Koji jumped and looked towards them, his eyes wide when he saw Kuroo's bad arm. He glanced back to his Sergeant, looking a little frazzled.

"Oh, uh! Did you need me to come with you?" Koji asked.

Daichi waved him off with his free hand. "Don't worry about it. Just take point here, okay?"

Koji nodded, his back stiff, and he quickly walked off to speak to another officer. Daichi didn't get to hear much of what he said, as both he and Kuroo were leaving the apartment, but he was confident that Koji could get the job done.

"I didn't mean to put you out like this," Kuroo said, his voice soft. "Aren't I getting in the way?"

Daichi rolled his eyes. "Now you're talking about getting in my way? Where was this talk when you and Bokuto tormented us during the training camps?"

That put a smile back on Kuroo's face, but it wasn't quite his usual playful smirk. Just soft and gentle.

Daichi helped into his squad car and then he got in to start it up. He kept the lights on and started down the road, hurrying towards the hospital. It was quiet for a few moments, which was unusual. Kuroo was normally the type to keep a conversation going the whole time.

Out of the corner of his eye, Daichi could see Kuroo trembling a bit. He wondered if he was just frazzled out of his wits by what happened.

"So…" Daichi started, trying to distract Kuroo from his mind. "You live around here now?"

Kuroo nodded. "Yeah. I'm working on my Ph.D. at the university," he answered.

"Wow, that's really admirable," Daichi said, looking at him. "Must be difficult work."

"Eh, not too bad. I'm a TA there, so I usually have late nights at the lab," Kuroo said. He frowned and held his arm closer to his body. "I was actually out late tonight, and when I came home, that guy was there."

Daichi frowned and did a quick glance over Kuroo's injuries before looking back to the road.

"Did he attack you?" Daichi asked, turning at an intersection.

Kuroo nodded. "Yeah. I actually thought I had walked into the wrong apartment at first, heh."

His chuckle was weak as he leaned against the door of Daichi's car, looking out the window and up into the sky. They fell into a tense silence that had Daichi scrambling for something to say. It wasn't as if he and Kuroo were the best of friends in high school—heck, they'd only run into each other a handful of times. And once nationals was over, so was their constant communication.

In all the times that he had known Kuroo, he was always the one to talk first. So now, Daichi felt out of his comfort zone. He had no idea what to do.

"The stars are pretty tonight," Daichi said. "Sometimes we don't get a good view of 'em around here."

Kuroo breathed out quietly, tilting his head back to look up. He huffed a small breath, his smile slightly pulling up on one side in a faint smirk.

"Aren't you the romantic?" Kuroo teased.

Daichi smiled and chuckled softly. "Well, Suga tells me I'm too dense when it comes to that stuff."

"Is that right?" Kuroo wondered. "Well, I'd be happy to be someone you can practice on, Sawamura-kun."

He wiggled his eyebrow at Daichi, who in turn, rolled his eyes. "In your dreams."

Kuroo sighed and leaned against the headrest. "Your loss."

Daichi smiled again, finally feeling more at ease. But his gut was pulling at him in an odd way.

Was it just him, or did Kuroo seem a bit disappointed?

Daichi twisted his lips as he concentrated on the road. Kuroo was probably just tired from the day's events.

Yeah. That was probably it.

Daichi pulled into the emergency wing of the hospital and rushed to help Kuroo out of the car.

"Such a gentleman," Kuroo teased, but his voice was tight with pain. He was looking close to passing out.

Daichi wrapped an arm around him and held his waist.

"Save it for later, Kuroo. Let's get you inside," Daichi said.

Kuroo nodded stiffly and allowed Daichi to help walk him inside the emergency room, where nurses immediately rushed to his side with a wheelchair. When they forced Kuroo to sit down, his eyes widened and shot to Daichi, a desperate look appearing on his face.

"I'll wait for you here," Daichi said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Kuroo creased his brows and opened his mouth, as if he were about to protest, but Daichi was not about to let him do that.

"No, you're not bothering me. My shift ends in like 10 minutes anyway, so I'm basically off the clock," Daichi said, folding his arms across his chest. "So you're going to let the doctors do their thing, and then I'm going to drive you back. Sound good?"

Kuroo slumped, any willpower to argue completely gone from his body. He nodded and smiled gratefully at him.

"Thank you, Sawamura," Kuroo said.

Daichi nodded and then waved him off. "All right, go on. Get healed."

Kuroo smiled and lifted up his good hand in a silly salute. "Aye-aye, Captain."

"It's Sergeant," Daichi corrected as Kuroo was wheeled away. He could hear Kuroo scoffing as he disappeared beyond the double doors.

Daichi took in a deep breath and sighed, allowing his body to finally react to the night's events. He hadn't realized how wound up he was from it all. He had dealt with much worse, being in this job and all. But now that it was with someone he knew… well, Daichi supposed that made things more complicated.

After another moment of internal panic, he walked over to the seats in the lobby area and sat stiffly, his eyes glancing down at his watch.

This… was going to be a long night.

After catching himself almost nodding off a few dozen times and almost three cups of coffee, Kuroo finally emerged out of the double doors with a nervous smile and a sling around his neck. His forearm and wrist were covered in a thick, red cast—fitting for someone like Kuroo. He must've been given the choice on the color, but Daichi didn't know they made red casts.

A doctor was walking next to him, showing him some paperwork. Kuroo seemed anxious and overwhelmed as she tried to explain something on the forms to him. He looked in desperate need for some rescuing.

"Kuroo!" Daichi called, pushing himself to his feet. Kuroo looked up from the paper and locked eyes with Daichi, his shoulders immediately dropping just at the sight of him. Daichi hurried over to his side and looked him over. "Everything okay?"

Kuroo averted his eyes for a moment, looking shy. "Ah, yeah. It's not too bad."

The doctor quirked her brow. "Not too bad? Your radius was broken in two places!"

Kuroo winced, and Daichi frowned in confusion, looking to Kuroo for help. Kuroo rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's one of the bones in the forearm," Kuroo explained.

"Ah," Daichi said, unsure of what else to say.

"Yes, and not only that, he has stitches from the stab wound. He needs a day of rest at least," the doctor said. "And he needs to get this prescription filled for painkillers. The break is going to hurt a lot this week."

"Oh, r-right!" Daichi only just now realized that she was talking to him. As if he was Kuroo's keeper. "I'll keep an eye out for him."

The doctor smiled and bowed, handing Kuroo the paper prescription and leaving the two alone.

Kuroo let out a tired sigh, the bags under his eyes more prominent. He fidgeted in place and fiddled with his cast—obviously unused to it and already showing signs of agitation.

"Thanks for staying. You really didn't have to," Kuroo said.

Daichi smiled. It was rare to see such a shy Kuroo. "Don't get all mushy. I was just doing it for the job," he teased.

Kuroo raised a brow. "Didn't your shift end a while ago?"

Daichi gently put an arm around his shoulders. "Details. Whatever. Let's just get you home."

Kuroo let out a huff of laughter and followed Daichi out to the car. It was still dark out, luckily, which meant that Daichi could get home and get a few more hours of shuteye before the sun made its way into the bedroom to wake him up.

The car ride was silent, and Daichi wondered if Kuroo was too pumped up full of pain meds to speak. But every time he glanced over, he would see Kuroo still awake, his eyes staring out the window. Daichi would try to start a conversation but it always fell flat, leaving the air thick with awkwardness.

In all of the ways that they could've seen each other again, Daichi never expected that this would be their first meeting after a few years. It was insane how life worked sometimes.

While Daichi regretted that Kuroo was hurt in the first place, he was thankful that he got to be on the case. If another unit had been called instead of Daichi, then... then he never would've reunited with him.

The thought sat heavily in Daichi's stomach as he drove.

When they pulled up to the apartment complex, all of the squad cars had left. Daichi got out of his car first and then helped Kuroo out.

"I still have one working arm, you know," Kuroo pouted.

Daichi smiled. "I know. I'm just wanting to help."

Kuroo managed a small smile and sighed, looking up at the apartment complex.

"I hope they locked up my place," Kuroo said, hand on his hip.

"Ah, I texted Koji and asked him to lock up for you," Daichi said. "And he said they tried to clean up as best as possible."

Kuroo's face changed into surprise, his eyes wide and lips parted. He nodded and thought it over a bit. He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck again.

"Oh," Kuroo said. He took a moment to recover from the surprise, and when he did, he looked up at Daichi and smiled. "Thank you, Sawamura."

Something fluttered inside of Daichi's chest, and with a start, he realized it was he treacherous heart that had made a phenomenal leap.

He had never seen that kind of smile on Kuroo's face before.

And Daichi had certainly never felt his heart do that before.

He cleared his throat and put on a smile, trying to act as calm as possible.

"You're welcome," Daichi managed to say.

Kuroo let out a breath from his nose and then glanced up at the sky. His eyes sparkled.

"I thought I'd be bored moving to this city. It's not as fast-paced as Tokyo," Kuroo said. He took a deep breath and sighed. "But… the stars are nice."

Daichi smiled as he gazed over him, his heart squeezing at a different sight.

"Yeah. They are."