"One day this pain will make sense to you."

Midorima lifted his head as light filtrated into the room. He saw a tall shadow being cast on the ground and didn't even have to guess who it was.

"Murasakibara," he barely whispered, watching the giant come into the room and close the door so only a sliver of light could be seen.

"How's Aka-chin doing?" the giant murmured, being careful to keep his voice low.

"Fine," Midorima said, glancing over at the redhead who was blissfully unaware. "He hasn't woken up, but that's to be expected."

"I haven't seen an attack that bad before since..."

"Yeah..."

A silence fell between the two as the only sounds heard were Akashi's soft, even breathing and the low tune of the television in the living room where everyone else was at.

"You were thinking about when we were little, weren't you?" the giant inquired after about a minute in silence.

Midorima hesitated, "Yes," he finally answered. "That attack just...brought up some memories."

Murasakibara nodded in understanding, staring at Akashi's motionless figure laying on the bed.

"Kaga-chin was really nice to let us stay here," he stated, still looking at Akashi.

"Yes, I suppose he was."

Bleary eyes opened up to a dark room as they blinked in confusion, shakily sitting up and wincing at the headache they had. The room spun slightly but he braced through it as he stepped down from the bed on shaky legs. He stumbled blindly and hissed when he bumped into what he could only assume was a table. He (thankfully) managed to get to the door without knocking over or bumping into anything else on the way.

He opened the door slightly and was blinded by light. Blinking his heterochromatic eyes, he carefully stepped into the hallway and heard slight laughter coming from another room. Walking quietly, he stepped into the living area and found Kiseki no Sedai, as well as Kuroko and Kagami there too, watching a sit-com on television.

His eyes trailed to Midorima and Murasakibara, who were watching indifferently as the others laughed and were having a good time.

Murasakibara seemed to be the first to notice him, "Aka-chin," he said in surprise, putting down the bag of chips he was eating.

Everyone turned to look at the doorway where, sure enough, Akashi was standing there with slight confusion plastered upon his face.

"No...you're the other Akashi," Midorima stated, glaring into heterochromatic eyes.

"Is there really a difference?" Kagami sighed.

Bokushi flinched and Murasakibara glared at Kagami, walking up to protectively hold the smaller redhead in his embrace.

"Don't say those things Kaga-chin," he mumbled, holding the redhead against his chest.

"What, I'm just saying the truth."

"And what truth is that?" Midorima asked.

"That Akashi and the other Akashi are basically the same when it comes down to the basics," everyone froze. "How do we know there are even two Akashi's? Maybe he's just doing this to mess with our minds! He could be putting in a gold contact when we're not looking and fooling us this whole time!"

Shut up...

"He's just playing us like one of his shogi pieces!"

Shut up already...

"We're all just little toys playing into his hand!"

"SHUT UP!" Midorima exclaimed, catching everyone's attention.

"Midorimacchi...?"

"Shut up already! How would you know?! You don't all the shit's Akashi has been through!" Midorima ground out, glasses glinting dangerously. "Come on, Murasakibara; we're leaving."

Murasakibara only nodded, and gently guided Akashi towards the door as the three left, leaving the others shocked into silence.

This is just a note to remember for you all: The GoM will probably not be showing up for a while. No, I don't hate them, I just feel that they wouldn't be as understanding as Murasakibara and Midorima.

Also, as a review pertaining this, there will be little if any romance in this. It will mostly focus on Akashi's mental state and his hardships (though there may be Murasakibara x Akashi and Midorima x Akashi moments, but nothing too extreme, mostly just friendship for the time being).