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Description
"Please come again!" The brunette calls after her last customer, who was leaving the shop with a wide smile and breathes out heavily, reaching behind herself to undo the apron. She walks around the counter and flips the sign over before pushing the door open to keep the vases of flowers outside.

"Aw, are you closed already?" She looks up to find a man looking at her with a wide grin and straightens herself to face him properly. She then bows with an apologetic look on her face.

"Yes, we're closed for now. Please come earlier the next time." He lets out a sigh and shrugged.

"I guess so. See ya tomorrow then." He turns around and waves his hand as he walks away, leaving her to stare at him, dumbfounded until he disappears.

"Oh no! It's getting late!" She quickens her movements and locks the door securely before hurrying home. Upon entering her house, she throws her keys into the glass bowl and removes her shoes, placing them by the side.

"Granny! I'm home!" She calls out and frowns slightly when she hears no reply. Pushing open the door to her grandmother's room, her hands feel around for the light switch and her breath hitches when she sees her grandmother's unconscious figure of the floor.

"Granny!" She rushes over and looks around in panic, not knowing what to do. Right. Ask for help. Ask for help. She mentally repeats and runs to the front door, pulling it open and almost bumps into the man before her.

"Woah, lady. Calm down." He holds his hands in front of him and a single tear rolls down her cheek.

"Please help my grandmother." Her plea comes out as a whisper and the man looks over her shoulder, spotting the elderly woman on the floor. He immediately grabs her shoulders and looks her in the eyes.

"Okay, listen to what I have to say, alright? Use my phone and call an ambulance, okay? Just breathe and call the number." He hands her the device and walks past her straight to the room, kneeling on one knee to check on the old woman's vitals. She stares at him for a moment and remembers that she has to call the ambulance.

"H-Hello? Is this 911? I need an ambulance here. My grandmother is unconscious..." She rambles on, giving the details of her grandmother's condition which the man tells her and tells the operator her address. She finishes off with a 'Please hurry' and hangs up, sitting on the floor next to her grandmother.

"Please be safe.." She says, barely above a whisper and clasps her hands together in a prayer. Feeling a warm hand on her shoulder, she opens her eyes and looks at the man with wide eyes.

"Don't worry. You granny will be fine." He says with a warm smile and squeezes her shoulder gently in assurance. Unable to help herself, she leans into him and begins to cry. The man awkwardly pats her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her until he hears knocks on the door.

"Hold on. I think there are medical personnel at the door. Stay with your grandmother." He pats her on the shoulder once more and rushes to get the door to let the medics in. He ushers them to the room whereby her grandmother is and pulls her to her feet, moving her aside to give the medics space.

"Miss, may I ask for your name?" She looks up at a woman before her and nods quickly.

"Sorry. My name is Kiku, Akita Kiku." She gives the medic her personal details while her eyes watch the medics tending to her grandmother. Noticing this, the man nods at her then juts his chin in the direction of the woman before her. Her cheeks heat up and she re-focuses. He lets out a soft chuckle at the sight and watches the medics instead.

"Nice job, Aomine. We'll see you at work tomorrow." The redhead said to the blue-haired man and left.

"Thank you, Akita-san. Would you like to come to the hospital with us?" She widens her eyes slightly when she hears the question and blinks.

"May I?" The shorter woman laughed and nodded her head before turning her gaze to the tanned man.

"You're coming too, Aomine." With that, she leaves the house first, leaving only Kiku and Aomine standing rather awkwardly in the room.

"Ah, why don't we get going? I think they're waiting for us." Kiku says as she gestures to the door and he nods quickly, crossing the room in three long strides. He waits for her to lock her door before walking to the lift with her, where the others are waiting.

"Took you long enough, Aomine. Were you doing something to her?" The shorter woman asks in a teasing tone of some sort and he sighs, his hand covering the right side of his face.

"Oi, Riko-san, stop trying to damage my nice image in front of others, will you? I'll spill your secrets to Hyuuga-san." The woman named Riko shrugged nonchalantly as she smiled at the tall man and got into the ambulance.

"Go ahead. Hyuuga knows everything about me that he has to already." He lets out another sigh when the redhead pipes up before shutting the doors.

"Then again, since when did you have a nice image, Aomine?" Kiku, unable to suppress anymore, lets out a short laugh before covering her mouth with both her hands and wide eyes.

"Sorry about that." She quickly apologizes but Riko waves her hand in dismissal.

"If anything, I'm surprised you didn't laugh the moment you saw his ugly mug." The brunette smiled lightly at the older woman's words and she felt less worried, that's for sure. As if he had read her mind, Aomine grinned at her.

"Feel more relieved now? Told you not to worry." He glances at Mrs. Akita and then back at Kiku. She nods with a soft smile and she finds herself staring at Aomine's flawless features. He has a narrow, oblong face with angular cheekbones and a sharp jawline. His blue eyes were piercing and playful, sitting below trim eyebrows which seemed to curve as a natural extension of his sharp nose.

Realizing that she was staring longer than intended, she stares at the floor with red cheeks. What are you doing, Akita Kiku? You're supposed to be worried about your grandmother, not stare at some handsome stranger who saved your grandmother. She scolded herself and bit the insides of her cheeks.

"Akita-san, we're here." Riko announced as the ambulance comes to a stop and the doors fly open, a bunch of strangers outside the vehicle.

"Let's get off, Akita." She nods and jumps out, standing aside once she's out. Once she sees her grandmother being wheeled into the hospital, her initial worry and fear comes back to her at once and her body starts to shake. Her knees buckle under her all of a sudden and a strong hand on her arm stops her from falling.

"Woah, be careful there, Akita." Aomine says in a gentle tone and looks at her face before continuing.

"Let's get you in there, shall we?" He doesn't wait for her response as he picks her up in his arms. She wraps her arms around his neck and looks away partly in embarrassment and partly in guilt.

"Sorry." She mutters and hears him chuckle.

"Nah, it's fine, really. You gave me an excuse to carry a pretty girl." Her eyes dart to his face, where she can see a broad grin and her lips curve into a small smile. They reach the bench all too quickly and Aomine sets her down on it, settling down next to her.

"Aren't you going off to do your own thing?" He smiles and shakes his head.

"How can I leave a pretty girl who might cry all alone? I might get a chance to be the shoulder she leans on." Her cheeks pinked for the nth time in the night as she looks away, staring at the long, white hallway.

"Mine-chin? Why are you back in the hospital?" Both of them look up at a purple-haired giant and Kiku gasps in shock. She has never seen such a tall person in her life before and she stares with wide eyes. Chuckling at her reaction, Aomine pats the space next to him.

"Will you take a seat? You're scaring the girl here, Murasakibara." He grunts and flops down onto the bench, causing Kiku to jump slightly.

"Are you Mine-chin's friend?" She shakes her head slowly and looks at Aomine, who smiles playfully.

"Yeah, Murasakibara. She's not my friend, she's my girlfriend." Kiku chokes on her own saliva and stares with wide eyes as Aomine gestured for her to stay silent.

"Eh, is that so? You never told us about her, though." Just before Aomine can say anything as a retort, a sharp voice cuts in and all eyes fall on the owner of the voice.

"Alright, Aomine, stop disturbing her and Murasakibara." Another redhead, shorter than the first one and with a lighter red, stands on the left side of Murasakibara along with another male with sky-blue hair. Judging by their coats, they should be doctors. Aomine looks rather embarrassed when he does as told and rubs the back of his head.

"Akita-san, am I right?" Said girl nods her head as she looks up at the new redhead and he puts on a small smile.

"My name is Akashi Seijuurou, I'm in charge of your grandmother. From our initial observations, she is fine, she just has low blood pressure." Kiku sighs in relief, truly relieved right now.

"Thank you so much, Akashi-san." She says, smiling as she cried and feels a hand on her head.

"How are you even crying while smiling?" Aomine asks with a chuckle and she sniffles, her lips puckering into a small pout.

"Stop teasing her, Aomine." He chides and turns to Kiku.

"Your grandmother has to be hospitalized for the night for observation but if her health turns for the better, she may be discharged tomorrow." The brunette's smile widens as she bows deeply in thanks. He waves his hand with a smile and walks off to go on his rounds.

"See, I told you she would be fine. Now are you finally calm?"

"Yes, I am. Thank you so much, Aomine-san. I'm really extremely grateful to you for your numerous attempts to cheer me up." He chuckles and grins widely.

"Is that sarcasm I hear?"

"Oh no~ Why would I be sarcastic to you? That would make me rather ungrateful, no?" She laughs along with Aomine when a man walks past them. She can't help but stare because there was something about him that she can't explain.

"Hello~" She blinks when the blue-haired man snaps his fingers loudly next to her ear.

"What's up? Is there someone that you know?"

"Ah, it's nothing much." She smiled as her eyes search the hallway for the man once more but there is no sign of him. A nurse comes along to tell Kiku to do up her grandmother's admission matters and Aomine leaves along with Murasakibara, with promises to visit the next day. The brunette bows in thanks as they leave and quickly proceeds to her grandmother's ward. Upon reaching, she hears her grandmother's voice and was about to slide the door open when she hears: "Don't you dare come near her again."

She is surprised at the amount of anger in her tone and feels worry because the old woman has always been a amiable and friendly one. Frowning slightly, she opens the door and pokes her head in.

"Granny?" She takes a look and deepens her frown when she finds that the light isn't even on. Pushing the door fully open in hopes of taking a better look at the shadow at the foot of the bed, Kiku advances with her fists clenched, ready to fight but the shadow simply flashes something like a grin and jumps out of the window.

"Wait-!" She shouts and runs to the window, looking down.

"Kiku?" She turns around at the sound of her name and smiled at her grandmother.

"How are you feeling, granny?" Wanting to ask about what had just happened, the petite girl refrained from doing so and settled for sitting next to the elderly lady as she grabs hold of her granddaughter's hand.

"I'm fine." Her eyes seem to be searching any hint of a something in Kiku's face as she paused before putting on a motherly smile and reaches out with her free hand to stroke her granddaughter's head.

"I'm sorry. You must have been so worried and scared, my child." She shook her head with her eyes shut tight and pulled back from the old lady's hold, wrapping both her arms around her grandmother's waist. Chuckling, the older woman wrapped an arm around the younger's shoulder and began stroking her hair in a familiarly way, coaxing the young woman to sleep.

"There has been too much for you to handle today. Rest for now, my child." She reached down to press a kiss to her temples before adjusting her pillow to make it comfortable and fell asleep with her granddaughter in her arms.

-----

Akita Kiku awoke to a loud, rapid bleeping and furrowed her brows as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She comes face to face with her panting, pale and sickly-looking grandmother. She is instantly awake as she held her grandmother in her arms, looking around for someone to help and the doctors rush in with the nurse ushering her out. Once out, the brunette falls to her knees and holds her shaking hands together in a prayer.

Did the doctor not say that her grandmother simply had low blood pressure? By right, she should have recovered by now, no? Kiku began hyperventilating as thoughts of her empty house, without her only kin, came to mind.

"...ku! Oi, Kiku! Look at me!" Someone forcefully grabbed her shoulders and she came face to face with an unfamiliar man. A sharp pain at the right side of her head causes her to lose consciousness almost immediately and she collapses into the man's hold.

"Ah, geez. I come to her after such a long time and she doesn't even call out my name but faint."

"Shut up and bring her to the goddamned A&E right now, you idiot." The man easily lifts her up in his arms with a grin and does as told, with the other man trailing behind him. A man falls into step with them and glances at the female in his arms.

"Ah, she fainted? It's all your fault, O. She fainted because of your ugly mug." The chestnut-haired man feigns shock as he gasps loudly and widens his eyes.

"It's false and you know that, K. She used to praise me on how handsome I was."

"Keyword is 'was', O. I knows it and he is definitely on my side." The raven-haired male smirked as he looks at the shorter man with the same hair color as he does.

"Isn't that right, I?"

"Hey, I! You're supposed to be on my side!" The man pouts and a frown appears on its target as I reached out to push his face away.

"Shuddup, you trashy idiot. We're here. Get off." He refrains from delivering a kick to the frivolous man's butt, remembering that the girl was still in her arms.

"You're so mean, I." He complains but still does as told and proceeds ahead. But instead of the A&E, they've arrived at the carpark, where a Cherokee Jeep is waiting for them.

"TOOK YOU GUYS LONG ENOUGH!" The trio sigh collectively at the loud voice that greeted them the moment the car door was pulled open. The short, dark-haired male pinches the bridge of his nose and holds up his hand when he sees the man wanting to open his mouth to speak again.

"I'm going to have to stop you there, B. We got her and we don't want her waking up too soon because of your loud voice." The white-haired male grinned sheepishly and turned back to the front, waiting for them to get onto the car. The taller black-haired male secures Kiku and signals for the driver to start driving.

"Man, how long has it been since we saw her, though? Two, three years?" An uncomfortable silence settles over the trio in the back as the brunette attempts to break the tension with a awkward laugh.

"Yeah, it's been somewhere there. You know, I saw her last night, actually!" One hand grabbed his collar while another pulls out a gun and trains it on the brunette.

"What. Did you just say?" O stares with wide eyes at the two raven-haired male before him and held his hands up in defense while the white-haired driver glances back repeatedly, anxiously.

"Woah, guys. I never said I talked to her. I said I saw her only. Relax." The shorter male retracts his hand while the taller one keeps his weapon.

"It better be that, Oikawa. It better be." Said man knows better than to reply when he hears his real name instead of his code name and gulps, looking out the window. He can still feel the murderous glares directed at him and curses inwardly. At this time, they hear a groan and the car comes to a sudden halt, bringing all eyes to the girl in the centre.

"Where the hell...?" She rubs at the side of her head and comes to the realization that there were several pairs of eyes staring at her. Two in shock and two in some sort of an affection?

"Who are you guys? Where are you taking me?" Her guard is immediately up and she looks in between the four men warily when Oikawa laughs loudly.

"You really don't remember us? We were your old friends, y'know!" She blinks rapidly at the sudden introduction and tilts her head.

"Old... friends? My grandmother never told me about you guys." The brunette man shrugged and smiled.

"Well, your granny thought we were bad friends, so she never let us see you again. I'm Oikawa, Oikawa Tooru." He holds out a hand and she hesitantly took it, shaking it quickly before letting it go.

"Well, the guy with a grumpy face is Iwa-chan! Or Iwaizumi Hajime." He quickly adds on when he sees that his good friend's murderous aura increased.

"Guy at the back in Kuroo Tetsurou and guy in the front is Bokuto Koutarou. We were really, really, good friends of yours. If you don't believe me, we all had matching tattoos that you made us get. Also, there are more back at our hide-hangout, so prepare yourself for a whole lot of fun!" The door opens and a beautiful woman stands there with her hands on her hips as she scans the SUV, her eyes falling onto Kiku.

"Kiku...!" She pulls the slightly shorter woman out and wraps her arms around tightly.

"I've missed you."

"Oh? It's Kiku! Hey, Kiku's back!" Another five men and two other females come rushing out when they hear her name and surround her in no time.

"It's been such a long time, Kiku. It's good to see you again." Looking at the taller man with a kind smile on his face, Kiku relaxed as a sense of familiarity settled in and a smile of her own appeared. Maybe this isn't as scary or dangerous as I thought it would be.

Description
"Please come again!" The brunette calls after her last customer, who was leaving the shop with a wide smile and breathes out heavily, reaching behind herself to undo the apron. She walks around the counter and flips the sign over before pushing the door open to keep the vases of flowers outside.

"Aw, are you closed already?" She looks up to find a man looking at her with a wide grin and straightens herself to face him properly. She then bows with an apologetic look on her face.

"Yes, we're closed for now. Please come earlier the next time." He lets out a sigh and shrugged.

"I guess so. See ya tomorrow then." He turns around and waves his hand as he walks away, leaving her to stare at him, dumbfounded until he disappears.

"Oh no! It's getting late!" She quickens her movements and locks the door securely before hurrying home. Upon entering her house, she throws her keys into the glass bowl and removes her shoes, placing them by the side.

"Granny! I'm home!" She calls out and frowns slightly when she hears no reply. Pushing open the door to her grandmother's room, her hands feel around for the light switch and her breath hitches when she sees her grandmother's unconscious figure of the floor.

"Granny!" She rushes over and looks around in panic, not knowing what to do. Right. Ask for help. Ask for help. She mentally repeats and runs to the front door, pulling it open and almost bumps into the man before her.

"Woah, lady. Calm down." He holds his hands in front of him and a single tear rolls down her cheek.

"Please help my grandmother." Her plea comes out as a whisper and the man looks over her shoulder, spotting the elderly woman on the floor. He immediately grabs her shoulders and looks her in the eyes.

"Okay, listen to what I have to say, alright? Use my phone and call an ambulance, okay? Just breathe and call the number." He hands her the device and walks past her straight to the room, kneeling on one knee to check on the old woman's vitals. She stares at him for a moment and remembers that she has to call the ambulance.

"H-Hello? Is this 911? I need an ambulance here. My grandmother is unconscious..." She rambles on, giving the details of her grandmother's condition which the man tells her and tells the operator her address. She finishes off with a 'Please hurry' and hangs up, sitting on the floor next to her grandmother.

"Please be safe.." She says, barely above a whisper and clasps her hands together in a prayer. Feeling a warm hand on her shoulder, she opens her eyes and looks at the man with wide eyes.

"Don't worry. You granny will be fine." He says with a warm smile and squeezes her shoulder gently in assurance. Unable to help herself, she leans into him and begins to cry. The man awkwardly pats her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her until he hears knocks on the door.

"Hold on. I think there are medical personnel at the door. Stay with your grandmother." He pats her on the shoulder once more and rushes to get the door to let the medics in. He ushers them to the room whereby her grandmother is and pulls her to her feet, moving her aside to give the medics space.

"Miss, may I ask for your name?" She looks up at a woman before her and nods quickly.

"Sorry. My name is Kiku, Akita Kiku." She gives the medic her personal details while her eyes watch the medics tending to her grandmother. Noticing this, the man nods at her then juts his chin in the direction of the woman before her. Her cheeks heat up and she re-focuses. He lets out a soft chuckle at the sight and watches the medics instead.

"Nice job, Aomine. We'll see you at work tomorrow." The redhead said to the blue-haired man and left.

"Thank you, Akita-san. Would you like to come to the hospital with us?" She widens her eyes slightly when she hears the question and blinks.

"May I?" The shorter woman laughed and nodded her head before turning her gaze to the tanned man.

"You're coming too, Aomine." With that, she leaves the house first, leaving only Kiku and Aomine standing rather awkwardly in the room.

"Ah, why don't we get going? I think they're waiting for us." Kiku says as she gestures to the door and he nods quickly, crossing the room in three long strides. He waits for her to lock her door before walking to the lift with her, where the others are waiting.

"Took you long enough, Aomine. Were you doing something to her?" The shorter woman asks in a teasing tone of some sort and he sighs, his hand covering the right side of his face.

"Oi, Riko-san, stop trying to damage my nice image in front of others, will you? I'll spill your secrets to Hyuuga-san." The woman named Riko shrugged nonchalantly as she smiled at the tall man and got into the ambulance.

"Go ahead. Hyuuga knows everything about me that he has to already." He lets out another sigh when the redhead pipes up before shutting the doors.

"Then again, since when did you have a nice image, Aomine?" Kiku, unable to suppress anymore, lets out a short laugh before covering her mouth with both her hands and wide eyes.

"Sorry about that." She quickly apologizes but Riko waves her hand in dismissal.

"If anything, I'm surprised you didn't laugh the moment you saw his ugly mug." The brunette smiled lightly at the older woman's words and she felt less worried, that's for sure. As if he had read her mind, Aomine grinned at her.

"Feel more relieved now? Told you not to worry." He glances at Mrs. Akita and then back at Kiku. She nods with a soft smile and she finds herself staring at Aomine's flawless features. He has a narrow, oblong face with angular cheekbones and a sharp jawline. His blue eyes were piercing and playful, sitting below trim eyebrows which seemed to curve as a natural extension of his sharp nose.

Realizing that she was staring longer than intended, she stares at the floor with red cheeks. What are you doing, Akita Kiku? You're supposed to be worried about your grandmother, not stare at some handsome stranger who saved your grandmother. She scolded herself and bit the insides of her cheeks.

"Akita-san, we're here." Riko announced as the ambulance comes to a stop and the doors fly open, a bunch of strangers outside the vehicle.

"Let's get off, Akita." She nods and jumps out, standing aside once she's out. Once she sees her grandmother being wheeled into the hospital, her initial worry and fear comes back to her at once and her body starts to shake. Her knees buckle under her all of a sudden and a strong hand on her arm stops her from falling.

"Woah, be careful there, Akita." Aomine says in a gentle tone and looks at her face before continuing.

"Let's get you in there, shall we?" He doesn't wait for her response as he picks her up in his arms. She wraps her arms around his neck and looks away partly in embarrassment and partly in guilt.

"Sorry." She mutters and hears him chuckle.

"Nah, it's fine, really. You gave me an excuse to carry a pretty girl." Her eyes dart to his face, where she can see a broad grin and her lips curve into a small smile. They reach the bench all too quickly and Aomine sets her down on it, settling down next to her.

"Aren't you going off to do your own thing?" He smiles and shakes his head.

"How can I leave a pretty girl who might cry all alone? I might get a chance to be the shoulder she leans on." Her cheeks pinked for the nth time in the night as she looks away, staring at the long, white hallway.

"Mine-chin? Why are you back in the hospital?" Both of them look up at a purple-haired giant and Kiku gasps in shock. She has never seen such a tall person in her life before and she stares with wide eyes. Chuckling at her reaction, Aomine pats the space next to him.

"Will you take a seat? You're scaring the girl here, Murasakibara." He grunts and flops down onto the bench, causing Kiku to jump slightly.

"Are you Mine-chin's friend?" She shakes her head slowly and looks at Aomine, who smiles playfully.

"Yeah, Murasakibara. She's not my friend, she's my girlfriend." Kiku chokes on her own saliva and stares with wide eyes as Aomine gestured for her to stay silent.

"Eh, is that so? You never told us about her, though." Just before Aomine can say anything as a retort, a sharp voice cuts in and all eyes fall on the owner of the voice.

"Alright, Aomine, stop disturbing her and Murasakibara." Another redhead, shorter than the first one and with a lighter red, stands on the left side of Murasakibara along with another male with sky-blue hair. Judging by their coats, they should be doctors. Aomine looks rather embarrassed when he does as told and rubs the back of his head.

"Akita-san, am I right?" Said girl nods her head as she looks up at the new redhead and he puts on a small smile.

"My name is Akashi Seijuurou, I'm in charge of your grandmother. From our initial observations, she is fine, she just has low blood pressure." Kiku sighs in relief, truly relieved right now.

"Thank you so much, Akashi-san." She says, smiling as she cried and feels a hand on her head.

"How are you even crying while smiling?" Aomine asks with a chuckle and she sniffles, her lips puckering into a small pout.

"Stop teasing her, Aomine." He chides and turns to Kiku.

"Your grandmother has to be hospitalized for the night for observation but if her health turns for the better, she may be discharged tomorrow." The brunette's smile widens as she bows deeply in thanks. He waves his hand with a smile and walks off to go on his rounds.

"See, I told you she would be fine. Now are you finally calm?"

"Yes, I am. Thank you so much, Aomine-san. I'm really extremely grateful to you for your numerous attempts to cheer me up." He chuckles and grins widely.

"Is that sarcasm I hear?"

"Oh no~ Why would I be sarcastic to you? That would make me rather ungrateful, no?" She laughs along with Aomine when a man walks past them. She can't help but stare because there was something about him that she can't explain.

"Hello~" She blinks when the blue-haired man snaps his fingers loudly next to her ear.

"What's up? Is there someone that you know?"

"Ah, it's nothing much." She smiled as her eyes search the hallway for the man once more but there is no sign of him. A nurse comes along to tell Kiku to do up her grandmother's admission matters and Aomine leaves along with Murasakibara, with promises to visit the next day. The brunette bows in thanks as they leave and quickly proceeds to her grandmother's ward. Upon reaching, she hears her grandmother's voice and was about to slide the door open when she hears: "Don't you dare come near her again."

She is surprised at the amount of anger in her tone and feels worry because the old woman has always been a amiable and friendly one. Frowning slightly, she opens the door and pokes her head in.

"Granny?" She takes a look and deepens her frown when she finds that the light isn't even on. Pushing the door fully open in hopes of taking a better look at the shadow at the foot of the bed, Kiku advances with her fists clenched, ready to fight but the shadow simply flashes something like a grin and jumps out of the window.

"Wait-!" She shouts and runs to the window, looking down.

"Kiku?" She turns around at the sound of her name and smiled at her grandmother.

"How are you feeling, granny?" Wanting to ask about what had just happened, the petite girl refrained from doing so and settled for sitting next to the elderly lady as she grabs hold of her granddaughter's hand.

"I'm fine." Her eyes seem to be searching any hint of a something in Kiku's face as she paused before putting on a motherly smile and reaches out with her free hand to stroke her granddaughter's head.

"I'm sorry. You must have been so worried and scared, my child." She shook her head with her eyes shut tight and pulled back from the old lady's hold, wrapping both her arms around her grandmother's waist. Chuckling, the older woman wrapped an arm around the younger's shoulder and began stroking her hair in a familiarly way, coaxing the young woman to sleep.

"There has been too much for you to handle today. Rest for now, my child." She reached down to press a kiss to her temples before adjusting her pillow to make it comfortable and fell asleep with her granddaughter in her arms.

-----

Akita Kiku awoke to a loud, rapid bleeping and furrowed her brows as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She comes face to face with her panting, pale and sickly-looking grandmother. She is instantly awake as she held her grandmother in her arms, looking around for someone to help and the doctors rush in with the nurse ushering her out. Once out, the brunette falls to her knees and holds her shaking hands together in a prayer.

Did the doctor not say that her grandmother simply had low blood pressure? By right, she should have recovered by now, no? Kiku began hyperventilating as thoughts of her empty house, without her only kin, came to mind.

"...ku! Oi, Kiku! Look at me!" Someone forcefully grabbed her shoulders and she came face to face with an unfamiliar man. A sharp pain at the right side of her head causes her to lose consciousness almost immediately and she collapses into the man's hold.

"Ah, geez. I come to her after such a long time and she doesn't even call out my name but faint."

"Shut up and bring her to the goddamned A&E right now, you idiot." The man easily lifts her up in his arms with a grin and does as told, with the other man trailing behind him. A man falls into step with them and glances at the female in his arms.

"Ah, she fainted? It's all your fault, O. She fainted because of your ugly mug." The chestnut-haired man feigns shock as he gasps loudly and widens his eyes.

"It's false and you know that, K. She used to praise me on how handsome I was."

"Keyword is 'was', O. I knows it and he is definitely on my side." The raven-haired male smirked as he looks at the shorter man with the same hair color as he does.

"Isn't that right, I?"

"Hey, I! You're supposed to be on my side!" The man pouts and a frown appears on its target as I reached out to push his face away.

"Shuddup, you trashy idiot. We're here. Get off." He refrains from delivering a kick to the frivolous man's butt, remembering that the girl was still in her arms.

"You're so mean, I." He complains but still does as told and proceeds ahead. But instead of the A&E, they've arrived at the carpark, where a Cherokee Jeep is waiting for them.

"TOOK YOU GUYS LONG ENOUGH!" The trio sigh collectively at the loud voice that greeted them the moment the car door was pulled open. The short, dark-haired male pinches the bridge of his nose and holds up his hand when he sees the man wanting to open his mouth to speak again.

"I'm going to have to stop you there, B. We got her and we don't want her waking up too soon because of your loud voice." The white-haired male grinned sheepishly and turned back to the front, waiting for them to get onto the car. The taller black-haired male secures Kiku and signals for the driver to start driving.

"Man, how long has it been since we saw her, though? Two, three years?" An uncomfortable silence settles over the trio in the back as the brunette attempts to break the tension with a awkward laugh.

"Yeah, it's been somewhere there. You know, I saw her last night, actually!" One hand grabbed his collar while another pulls out a gun and trains it on the brunette.

"What. Did you just say?" O stares with wide eyes at the two raven-haired male before him and held his hands up in defense while the white-haired driver glances back repeatedly, anxiously.

"Woah, guys. I never said I talked to her. I said I saw her only. Relax." The shorter male retracts his hand while the taller one keeps his weapon.

"It better be that, Oikawa. It better be." Said man knows better than to reply when he hears his real name instead of his code name and gulps, looking out the window. He can still feel the murderous glares directed at him and curses inwardly. At this time, they hear a groan and the car comes to a sudden halt, bringing all eyes to the girl in the centre.

"Where the hell...?" She rubs at the side of her head and comes to the realization that there were several pairs of eyes staring at her. Two in shock and two in some sort of an affection?

"Who are you guys? Where are you taking me?" Her guard is immediately up and she looks in between the four men warily when Oikawa laughs loudly.

"You really don't remember us? We were your old friends, y'know!" She blinks rapidly at the sudden introduction and tilts her head.

"Old... friends? My grandmother never told me about you guys." The brunette man shrugged and smiled.

"Well, your granny thought we were bad friends, so she never let us see you again. I'm Oikawa, Oikawa Tooru." He holds out a hand and she hesitantly took it, shaking it quickly before letting it go.

"Well, the guy with a grumpy face is Iwa-chan! Or Iwaizumi Hajime." He quickly adds on when he sees that his good friend's murderous aura increased.

"Guy at the back in Kuroo Tetsurou and guy in the front is Bokuto Koutarou. We were really, really, good friends of yours. If you don't believe me, we all had matching tattoos that you made us get. Also, there are more back at our hide-hangout, so prepare yourself for a whole lot of fun!" The door opens and a beautiful woman stands there with her hands on her hips as she scans the SUV, her eyes falling onto Kiku.

"Kiku...!" She pulls the slightly shorter woman out and wraps her arms around tightly.

"I've missed you."

"Oh? It's Kiku! Hey, Kiku's back!" Another five men and two other females come rushing out when they hear her name and surround her in no time.

"It's been such a long time, Kiku. It's good to see you again." Looking at the taller man with a kind smile on his face, Kiku relaxed as a sense of familiarity settled in and a smile of her own appeared. Maybe this isn't as scary or dangerous as I thought it would be.