Chapter 22

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"What lawyer? You have to get a good one. Even if you have a lot of evidence, she'll call it fake. I know she's going to say you verbally abused her. She's probably got your daughter in on it, as much as I hate to say, and Leo isn't reliable because of how young he is." Nishinoya said.

"I'm gonna work with one of Kenma's friends. He's a lawyer and Kenma said he trusted him." Asahi said.

"Oh, I know who you're talking about! Yeah, he's a good guy. You'll have a chance with him." Nishinoya nodded. "I'm sorry I didn't notice it sooner. I was hired to protect you and I failed." He frowned, hugging his knees. 

"Hey, you did what you could. In the end, I figured it out and, bonus, I'm still alive. This isn't gonna end up like those movies you used to watch in high school. The good guys are gonna win, the wife is gonna get punished, and I'm gonna live. Okay?" Asahi smiled and pat Nishinoya's head, turning to Suga. "How's your knee?" 

"Better, thank you. You've changed a lot since high school. It's nice." Suga smiled. 

"I have?" Asahi chuckled a bit nervously and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I see it. At least it's a good change, unlike some people." He frowned, then shook his head and smiled. "Anyway, I'm probably being a bother right now. Sorry."

"Not too big a change, eh Suga?" Noya said jokingly. Suga laughed and smiled, nodding his agreement. "You're not bothering us Asahi. I swear it. I don't mind your company, it's nice."

"I'm glad." Asahi said. "Listen, I'm staying at a hotel with Leo for now. If you need me, here's the number. The cops said my phone might be used as a tracker to get to me so I don't have it right now."

"What about Leo? What are you gonna do about his schoolwork?" Nishinoya asked. "They know his school and who his teacher is. He can't continue to go there." Worry for his little friend tugged at Nishinoya's heart. 

"He's staying with me, Suga's gonna help him with school work and they have Kuroo taking packets to us for him. He'll still get his education, it's just gonna be like homeschooling for a while. That's all. There's no need to worry about it, Nishinoya. We've got everything covered." Asahi said, trying to soothe the boy's nerves. 

"Well, surely you aren't going to be alone all the time, are you? I left you alone and you almost died!" Nishinoya frets, wrinkling the blankets in his fists. 

"Nishinoya, calm down or Asahi has to leave," Suga said calmly, texting someone on his phone. Nishinoya shut up immediately, taking a few deep breaths to calm down. "Good, now Asahi, please do your best to calm his nerves."

Asahi explained his situation and how protection would work, adding in bits and pieces of seemingly irrelevant information he knew would calm Nishinoya down even further knowing. After he explained, he said Noya was free to live with them until it was all calmed down after he had healed up and was signed out by a professional doctor saying he was capable of living on his own and healthy enough to resume work.

"Oh, I'm definitely moving in when I'm out of here. I need some serotonin that's not taller than me, Leo would be the perfect buddy. I can teach him so many things." Seeing Asahi's look of dread, Nishinoya smiled at him and pat his hand. "I'm not talking about murder, Asahi, I'm talking about simple mundane things. Like how to tell if an animal is poisonous, what plants you can eat, how to catch fireflies. Cool uncle things, y'know?" 

"Right. Wait, when did you become his uncle?" Asahi lifted an eyebrow curiously at the shorter male, leaning back. 

"Oh, last time I saw him he said I looked like your younger brother and I didn't correct him because the tiny man had a point. We didn't look so much alike in high school, but now that we're adults, we're pretty similar. I've been called your son at least twice now. By staff. Who have our files available to them." Nishinoya chuckled and leaned back on the pillows. "I'm kinda tired, so I'm gonna sleep. You should get home. Tell little Leo I said hi, will ya?"

"I will Noya." He smiled and waved goodbye, leaving to go to his temporary new home. 

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AN: 

I try not to do a whole lot of ANs but I had to apologize for the short chapter. The book is being wrapped up, we're almost to the end! Thank you so much for all your support throughout this, I can't believe we've got this far, you're all truly amazing people!

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