New chapter, people! Sorry for updating so late, but school is a lot more demanding that I had expected. Thankfully, I have a few more days until everything settles down and then I will have more free time. It's not a long chapter, but I hope you like it. Read and enjoy!

Midorima looked around, feeling his annoyance grow. No matter how much he narrowed his eyes and frowned, he still couldn't spot the one person he was looking for. Which made him even more agitated. It was unlike Takao to disappear for so long without telling anyone what he was up for.

The shooting guard had tried calling him a few times, but the other's phone was switched off, cutting all conections to him. Before coming to school, he had even thought about personally going to Takao's house, but then he remembered that he had no idea where his friend lived.

He had hoped that this idiot would show up at school. Wrong he was. No one knew anything. Midorim gripped the basketball in his hands, trying to control his anger. What was Takao thinking? There was a grad competition coming in a few weeks and that bastard was skipping practice. Again. For the second time that week. Wasn't it Takao the one who had sworn that Shutoku was going to win the Winter Cup? Midorima's hand was holding the ball so firmly that his knuckles had went white. How were they suppoused to win when in the current state Shutoku was there were almost none chances of winning against Rakuzan. Not to mention Kaijo, which now had a stronger Kise on their side. Or Touou, which was using all of their time to utilize the power of their ace. Or maybe even Seirin?

Damn you, Takao...

Midorima threw the ball he was holding to the basket but he barely managed to get in throgh the hoop. Something was messing with his accuaricy that day. His fingers were shaking, his mind was distracted... Maybe the horoscope was right again. It was going to be one of the worst days for the year.

"Oi, Midorima, what is going on?" Miyaji teased him and draped an arm around the green haired's shoulder. The grin on his face annoyed Midorima. "Why is your aim so off today?"

The shooting guard pushed him away and took another ball, staying silent for a few seconds.

"Today's a bad day for Cancers like me," he explained simply and shot the ball again. This time it bounced off the ring and didn't even go in.

Miyaji narrowed his eyes. He had never seen Midorima miss a shot. Not even when he was dead tired.

"You are worried," he assumed and crossed his arms, watching how his team mate frowned. "About Takao," Miyaji finished.

Midorima shook his head a no even though he knew the other boy was right. For some reason, he was concerned. According to his precious Oha-Asa, people like Takao, Scorpios, were about to expirience something really bad. And horoscopes were always right.

"When is the coach coming back?" he asked, remembering that their coach had gone to the princaple's office to get some information on Takao's wareabouts.

Miyaji was about to answer when he heard the door to the gym being opened and a whisle was blown immediately, signaling the end of the practice.

Midorima froze, when he was the expression on coach Maasaki's face.

"Everyone, gather your things," he instructed in a flat tone. "We are going to the hospital. Takao has been hospitalized."

The shooting guard droped the ball to the ground, his blood turned into ice.

That is not possible.

No one told them what exactly was going on. The coach was called to the doctor's office but the team was left outside Takao's room to wait. The door closed but the windows allowed him to see his friend lying on the bed with his eyes closed. He shivered at the sight of Takao's too pale skin and the white bandage around his friend's forehead. The cloth was marred by a few red stains that were obviously blood. His left hand was casted and now it rested beside the sleeping boy's frame.

Takao...

What had hapened to the boy? Midorima took a step forward, leaving his team mates behind to stare. He placed his shaking hand on the door knob and opened the door. The scent in the room was the suffocating one that reminded him of hospitals. He hated it. He hated the white colors that were too... simply too white for his liking. And they didn't suit Takao at all.

Midorima pulled a chair to the hospital bed and sat down slowly. He noticed the familiar phone on the side of the bed and took it. It was Takao's and it's battery was obviously dead. Frowning, he put it in his poket.

"Shin-chan?" a dazed voice mumbled and Midorima looked at his friend to see Takao trying to focus his eyes on the shooting guard. "Why are you here?" Midorima certainly didn't like the way Takao's voice sounded. It was too weak and tired.

He leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms.

"Came to see you, idiot," he answered flatly. "Rest," he ordered.

Takao closed his eyes and a smile curved his lips.

"I must be dreaming..." he whispered before falling back asleep with his head turned to Midorima.

Midorima took the medical record that was left on the table beside the bed and opened it with shaky fingers. His green eyes narrowed at the words as he assimilated them, using the knowledge he had gained from his father, who was a doctor. From what he could translate in normal language, Takao had a fracture on the head that had led to a considerable blood loss. His arm was broken in two places, but thankfully, it was something that would heal in a couple of weeks. His friend was also suffering from malnutrition. Midorima stopped here and tried to think of the last time he had seen Takao eat at school. Wasn't that before he left for the USA? Midorima frowned. He wanted to ask what had happened. He wanted to know why Takao was lying in a hospital bed but he knew the other boy was probably under the effect of some medicine, so he opted for leaving this for later.

Placing the folder aside, Midorima leaned back in his chair and just stared at his friend. There was something in his chest that was aching. But he chose to ignore it.

"I tried to contact his mother, but she doesn't pick up her phone." the coach said and rubbed his chin. "Hmmm..." he closed his eyes for a second and tried to concentrate. "Takao-kun doesn't have any other relatives besides his parents, but both are out of reach for the moment."

Midorima looked at his teammate, who was still sleeping soundly in his hospital bed. He was no fool, so it was easy for him to conclude that Takao's family were the one to be blamed for his current condition. Letting him go back to them was out of question.

"How long are they going to keep him here?" asked the green haired boy, trying to sound calm. There was no way he was going to let his anger control his actions right now.

"The doctor in charge said that they would release Takao-kun tomorrow," the coach looked at his phone and tried calling Takao's mother again, but failed. He sighed.

Midorima was about to say something when a woman in her early thirties interrupted them and cleared her throat.

"Excuse me," she said and smiled with a professional smile. " I am Megumi Hitomi, I work for the child services."

The green haired boy froze and felt how his heart stopped beating for a second.

"We received a signal about child abuse, " she looked at the papers in her hand and frowned. "Takao Kazunari , 16 years old."

The coach scratched his chin and hesitated for a moment. But he stretched out his hand.

"I am Masaaki Nakatani, Takao-kun's coach." He introduced himself and Midorima watched as the two adults shook hands. For some unknown reason, he did not like this woman at all.

And it had nothing to do with her ugly yellow blouse or her too short skirt.

"And you must be?" she asked, looking at Midorima, who had put on his stoic face.

"Midorima Shintarou, Takao's best friend," he said calmly although he wasn't sure if he could be called best friend after not being able to realize that something had been terribly wrong with Takao.

The woman nodded but didn't offer her hand, noticing the reluctance in the teen's eyes.

"Is there a family member that I could talk to?" she asked and looked around. However, the three of them were the only people around since the Shutoku's team had left a few hours ago.

"No, we have failed contacting his family," said the coach.

The woman looked over at Takao's bed.

"Who found him?" she asked and looked at Midorima, but he shook his head.

"A neighbor heard an argument and went to his flat to check what was going on, but he found the door open and Takao unconscious," Explained Masaaki, rubbing the back of his head tiredly. He hadn't slept in nearly twenty-four hours and now the lack of sleep was taking it's toll on him.

Hitomi nodded and wrote something down on the papers that were obviously about Takao.

Midorima felt slight fear creeping up his spine.

"What is going to happen to him?" he asked with slightly wavering voice.

The woman looked up at him and her brown eyes told him all he was afraid of.

"We are going to put him into a foster family until we can find his parents and then we will decide what to do with Takao."

Takao was feeling too tired to try opening his eyes. His head was throbbing like crazy. His arm weighted more than it usually did and moving wasn't an option. Not to mention that his mind was in haze. What was that smell? It reminded him of a hospital and it made his insides turn inside out. But he had not business in a hospital, right? Come to think of it, he couldn't really recall what had happened after getting back home. All he could remember was opening the door of his apartment with shaky fingers. Then it was all darkness.

"You have got to be kidding me," he heard Midorima's voice in the distance and this made him stop his thoughts for a moment.

"Midorima, keep your voice down!" scolded him the Shutoku's coach and Takao was even more confused. It was unlike his friend to lose his temper like this.

What happened next caught him even more off guard.

"I won't be quiet!" protested Midorima even more loudly. "You expect me to stay silent when they want to take Takao away?"

Takao's heart skipped a beat and he felt uneasiness wash over him. What was Midorima talking about?

"You have to understand that it is not up to me," said coldly unfamiliar voice of a woman. "We can not leave Takao-san here given the fact that we can't get in touch with his family. He is still underage."

Takao felt all coming back to him in one wave. His father waiting for him to get home, attacking him and pushing him against the wall. He remembered the sound of a bone being broken and then the pain of his head colliding with the wall. And then the blackness... If he was really in a hospital, then that meant his father had abandoned him. Strangely enough, Takao felt relieved finding that out. Maybe that man wasn't going to come back ever.

This meant his personal hell on earth was over.

Until he realized something else.

They were going to take him away from Shutoku. From all o his friends. From Midorima.

He clenched the fingers of his hand into fists and ignored the pain shooting up his broken arm.

"No..." he managed to choke out loud enough for the people outside the room to hear the sound.

Midorima immediately rushed inside and his beautiful green eyes widened in surprise.

Takao lifted his eyelids enough to focus his gaze on the three people.

"I won't leave Shin-chan..." he muttered just before loosing consciousness again. The effects of the medicine still hadn't worn out.

Next update: on Tuesday!