It had been already a week since the team's defeat, and almost everything was back to normal.

Almost.

Keishin entered the gym for afternoon practice and scanned the room. Hinata and Kageyama were at each other's throats, like usual, Niahinoya and Tanaka were trying to impress Kiyoko, who wasn't paying attention to them, and Daichi was getting mad at everyone. However, one person was missing from all this mess, whom was usually throwing the balls to the setters for spike practice: Haneul.

The coach crossed his arms with a sigh. "Has anyone heard from Haneul?" He asked, making everyone stop what they were doing and walk towards him. "No, I didn't see her in the bus," Tadashi said. "She didn't come to morning practice either," Asahi added. In those moments, Takeda walked inside with a stack of papers in hand. "Haneul-chan didn't come to class today either. She's been M.I.A. for a week now, so it's time someone goes to see how she's doing."

Takeda turned to Kei, "Tsukishima, since you take the same bus route, could you take this to her and see if she's alright?" The sensei motioned to a stack of homework he held. Before the middle blocker could respond, Hinata complained, "Why Tsukishima?! He's a jerk! I can take it to her, it's on my way home anyway!"

This caused an argument along the team members, where they all shouted excuses as to why they deserved to check on her, when they were all interrupted. "That's enough!" Everyone turned to look at Takeda, who had an angry look on his face. In astonishment, Keishin let his arms loose, looking at the sensei.

"I chose Tsukishima because, unlike some of you, his home is close to hers and doesn'thave to bike for 15 minutesover the mountains, and he doesn't do any personal practice," he started, giving the papers to the tall first year. Practice resumes soon afterwards, with a different aura than before.

As practice culminated, Keiahin called for Kei, who walked towards him. "Yes, coach?" "I'll drive you. Actually, I'm concerned about Haneul, and I'm getting a bad feeling about all of this. So go get changed, we'll take the truck." The blond boy nodded and walked to the club room.

The car ride was silent halfway through. The only sound accompanying both blonds were the occasional bumps in the road, and the radio chatter who's volume was close to zero. "I know what you're thinking," Keishin started, taking a glance at Kei. "Let's hope nothing bad happened."

"The reason why she lives with her uncle," Kei started, hesitant if he should actually say anything, "It's because her parents passed away." Keishin was surprised, and looked at the middle blocker with wide eyes. "Not recently, though. I know that much. Haneul doesn't like to talk about it," Keishin nodded at Kei's words, finally arriving in front of the shop.

It was currently closed, which seemed sketchy, since it was around 5:30pm. Keishin parked the car and turned the engine off, getting off. Kei closed the car door and started walking the stairs up to the apartments while Keishin waiting, smoking a cigarette. The coach looked around the street, finding this part of town to be the sketchiest.

As Kei was half way up, they both heard some muffled yelling coming from the apartment Haneul lived at, followed by a shattering of glass. In a rush, Kei dashed up the rest of the stairs and knocked on the door. Keishin was now on his way up the stairs as well. The yelling stopped once Kei knocked on the door, but he could hear sobbing through the door. "Haneul?" He called.

Keishin now stood behind Kei in the small corridor, and heard a muffled, "K-Kei-k-kun?" They looked at each other, with Keishin nodding at the tall boy. "Yeah, it's me. Could you open the door?" "N-no, wait-!" It was all they could hear, before the yelling started from inside, followed by some bumps. Keishin pushed Kei aside and started kicking on the door to pry it open. "Haneul-chan!" Keishin yelled, followed by more glass sounds. Kei joined him in kicking down the door, and were able to achieve their goal.

The lock came loose and the door flew wide open, revealing a half-conscious Haneul on the small kitchen's floor, with a man standing above her, holding a broken beer bottle. He was obviously drunk, with a red blush spread on his cheeks and his eyes half closed.

What caused Kei to freak out was the sight of blood on the carpet aside the pale girl. Keishin rammed the other male onto the wall, leaving him unconcious. "Take her to the car!" He exclaimed, but Kei was already half way out the door with Haneul in arms.

Kei got into the back of the truck, placing Haneul's head on his lap, trying to examine her for any stab wounds. Her head was bleeding, and had a gash on her face. The girl wore a pair of green shorts and a blue t-shirt, making visible the bruises on her arms and cuts on her legs.

"Haneul, can you hear me?" Kei asked, cuping her face so she could look at him. "K-Kei-kun..." Haneul stuttered, moving her face towards his hands. Her face was cold, and his hands were warm. Keishin then got in the car, throwing a bag to the passenger seat and speeding off.

Kei had to sit Haneul in his lap and hold her tight, since Keishin drove way over the speed limit, taking the turns in full speed. At one point, Haneul started to nod off, and Kei pressed his hand to squish her cheeks. "Don't fall asleep, Haneul!" He exclaimed, and her eyes fluttered open, but she kept going in and out of consciousness.

"They called her guardian. She'll be here any minute," Keishin said, entering the hospital room. After arriving at the hospital, Haneul rapidly identified herself as a foster child, being able to give her emergency contact information. There were cops waiting outside the room for her guardian to get there to start the investigation on her uncle.

Kei sat aside her coat, where she was sleeping. He was caressing her head as she slept, since Haneul had asked him to do that. "The doctor said she had a small concussion, but other than that and her bruises, she's fine. He won't get into detail because I'm not her guardian, though," Keishin explained, sitting on the other side of the room. Just as he did, a woman slammed the door open.

"M-mom?" Kei muttered as the short haired blonde woman walked inside. "Kei? What are you doing here?" She asked, walking towards him. "Don't tell me you were the one that brought her here," she continued, crossing her arms. He nodded, "Yeah, this is Haneul. She's... my friend..." The lady introduced herself to Keishin as Tsukishima Hiyori, Kei's mom and Haneul's social worker.

It was a long process. Hiyori went to speak with the officers and her doctor, who told her everything. Haneul didn't  need stitches on her head injury, but she did suffer from a small concussion, which meant she couldn't do sports for three days. Her cuts had been taken care of, and most of her bruises were fading away anyways. When Haneul awoke while the nurses changed her I.V., she gave her aide of the story to the cops.

"What will happen now?" Keishin asked Hiyori as he watched Haneul sleep. Kei had left to get the two adults coffee from the vending machines. "I'll have to take her in while they find another foster home for her. However, I think there aren't any in Miyagi..." Hiyori trailed off, letting go of a sigh. "What does... What does it take to keep a foster child?"

The next day, Haneul woke up to see Kei asleep aside her in the cot. He had changed his clothes and was now in his yellow sweatshirt and black sweatpants. He looked so peaceful that she didn't want to wake him, but her movements woke him up anyways. "What?" He asked, rubbing his eye. "I'm sorry-" "Don't apologize, it wasn't your fault," Kei interrupted, grabbing some pills and a glass of water and handing it to her. Even if he didn't mean it, his words sounded harsh.

"Then... Then, thank you, Kei-kum," Haneul smiled at him with a blush, downing her pills. "For everything," she finished. Kei sighed, putting his hands under his chin, "Yeah, well, you owe me." "What, u-um, what would you like me to do?" Haneul fidgeted with the hem of the blanket, as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. "A strawberry shortcake." "L-like from camp?" Kei nodded, and Haneul smiled. "O-okay!"

Haneul got discharged later that day, and found that Hiyori's team had picked up all her things from her uncle's apartment and brought them to her home. "You'll be sleeping in Akiteru's room," Kei said, motioning to the room aside his. "I have to go back to work," Hiyori said, grabbing her bag. "Kei, help Haneul unpack and settle, okay? See you!" And she soon left.

Hiyori had always worked half a day at the office, but now that Haneul was going to need a new foster family, and had to oversee the lawsuit on her uncle, her schedule changed to overnight hours. Haneul took her things and walked into Akiteru's room, followed by Kei. "Akiteru likes to drop by unannounced. Just a warning," the tall blond said, closing the door behind him.

She only had one big suitcase and her school bag, which was a bit weird, considering she had moved from another country before. Haneul laid it on the bed, taking out her school uniform and hanging it on the wall. "I'll wake you up tomorrow," Kei said, turning to leave.

Haneul took hold of the back of his shirt, causing him to turn around. She blushed a deep red, and looked down. "C-could you... stay with m-me? I-I just... I don't, um... I don't want to f-feel alone..." Kei looked down at the small girl, getting a small flashback of the time she hugged him during a game.

Hesitantly, Kei nodded, and he was soon sitting on his brother's bean bag chair, reading a manga while Haneul fell asleep in the bed. Half an hour later, she was fully asleep, so he stood, properly placing the covers over her, and exiting the room.