Guardian

Chapter 4

Asahi went for nearly two weeks with no worry as the trial of the man continued. He hadn't been in contact with Nishinoya since and felt terrible for letting him leave without a proper thank you. His wife seemed more relaxed with him gone and he realized she probably felt uncomfortable knowing he was there all the time. One day, he woke up with a terrible headache and an upset stomach. He called in sick and apologized profusely as he did so. 

"Hey sweetie, what's wrong?" His wife asked. Himari seemed worried, scared for her husband's health. "Do you need anything from me? Should I take off of work?" Asahi just shook his head quietly. She felt his temperature and frowned worriedly. "Azu, your burning up. I'll make some breakfast and see what we can do about that." 

"Okay." His voice was scratchy and Azumane tried to sit up, only to be pushed down by his wife. She shook her head and left. He sighed and grabbed his phone, seeing it dead. He checked the charger and plugged it in. On an instinct he didn't understand, he hid the phone. Himari came back with soup and helped Asahi sit up so she could spoon-feed him. 

"You need rest love. I'm sure it's just food poisoning or something from the clams. That restaurant was very suspiciously vacant." Asahi nodded in agreement and laid back down, rolling onto his side. In an attempt to break his fever, Himari added another blanket to his covers and turned off the fan. She left the room and Asahi sighed, closing his eyes. 

His sickness didn't get better. In fact, it seemed to get worse. He was awake less and less and eventually he could barely keep awake long enough to eat or drink water. His kids were scared for him, his wife was worried, and he couldn't explain what was wrong. One day, he woke up around 3 am and grabbed his fully charged phone, writing up an email and clicking send before shutting his phone off and removing the battery. His sickness brought on paranoia and he didn't tell his wife about the email when she fed him breakfast.

Hopefully, his email sent through...

...

In a different part of the city, a computer screen brightened as a notification popped up with an email. The subject just said 'Help' and it seemed like a short email. The dark-haired man sitting in front of the screen clicked on it and read the email. 

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Help
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I know we agreed that it was over, but I'm beginning to think that
it is not as over as we thought. I've caught some strange illness
and can no longer take care of myself. I haven't gotten better. For
old times sake, please come by while my wife is at work and check
the place for possible reasons. I understand if you don't but thank
you anyway. 

Yours, 
Asahi Azumane
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nishinoya jumped up and snatched his coat. He heard a surprised yelp from his co-worker and sped past him. "No time to explain! I have to go!" He shouted. "I'll be back next week!" He waved goodbye quickly and ran all the way to the train station. Once on the train, he stopped and sat down, panting. A kind older lady put a hand on Nishinoya's arm. 

"Young man, are you alright?" She asked, looked exactly like a worried grandmother would look. Nishinoya nodded, too out of breath to speak, and smiled softly at her. "Would you like a water?" She offered a small water bottle. He declined politely, but she insisted. He gave in and downed the water bottle, throwing it away. 

After helping her off of the train and getting to the surface, he once again broke into a dead sprint all the way to the Asahi household. He looked at the two-story wonder and knocked rapidly after confirming Himari's car was gone. Leo opened the door and smiled brightly. "Hey, kiddo," Nishinoya spoke before Leo could. "Is your daddy home? I need to talk to him."

Leo's smile fell and he nodded, looking down. "Daddy's sick. He's in his room." Leo said, then stopped and coughed a little. "I have a cold too. That's why I'm home." He let Nishinoya inside and locked the door, obviously having been taught to do so. 

"Why don't you go lay down, okay? I'll bring you a snack in a minute and we can watch tv or play a game. Sound good?" Nishinoya smiled and Leo nodded, running off to his room. Nishinoya searched the house and found a crock-pot with stew. Judging by the heat from it, it had only been on for about an hour and probably had an hour or two left before it was finished. He checked it and smelled the familiar tang of rat poison. Poison!

He ran up to Asahi's room, knowing the house well from his time working for him, and slammed open the door. Asahi startled and he opened his eyes weakly. "Noya, you came." He smiled a bit and coughed violently before leaning back, obviously struggling to stay awake. 

"Asahi, listen to me," Nishinoya said as he texted a friend in the emergency services. "I think someone's been poisoning you with rat poison. I can't confirm nor deny who it is yet, but I know you're in danger. I think someone's been breaking in. Possibly the man that sniper worked for. I have a friend coming to get you and Leo to the hospital and-" 

"Leo? What's wrong with Leo?" He asked, struggling to sit up. 

"He's showing similar symptoms to you and I just want to be safe. They're going to check your systems and make sure that it's the food that's poisoned and not the water or drink you were given." Sirens outside. "I'll grab Leo, don't worry, you'll be in good hands." Asahi nodded as a pair of people ran in. One was an old friend. 

"Asahi! It's worse than I thought." Daichi Sawamura, their ex-volleyball captain, was now working in the hospital with their friend Sugawara Koshi. "I'll grab him, you get the kid." He told Nishinoya. Nishinoya nodded and went to Leo's room. 

"Hey, Leo. Do you wanna go for a ride? I'll bring cookies, okay?" Nishinoya smiled and Leo smiled back, letting Nishinoya lift him up and carry him on his hip. He grabbed cookies unopened from the cabinet and got in the ambulance before Asahi was pushed in. 

"What's wrong with Daddy?" Leo asked, chomping on a cookie from the packaging. 

"He's sick, so we're gonna take him to the doctor's so they can make him better. They're gonna make sure your okay too. I'll be right there with you. Okay?" He smiled at him. 

"Okay, mister. If you say so." Leo shrugged and ate another cookie. They arrived at the hospital and Nishinoya went back to the room they had Asahi in, sitting on the other side of a curtain. Sugawara walked in and exchanged greetings with Nishinoya, getting a list of symptoms from Leo. 

"Okay little guy, sounds like you've got a cold. Has Mommy been giving you any medicine?" Suga asked, writing things down on a notepad. Leo shook his head and Suga scribbled again. "Okay, well I'm just gonna give you a checkup and a blood test. Sound good?" Leo paled and shook his head, hiding his face in Nishinoya's shoulder. The two had grown close the few weeks he'd worked for Asahi. 

"I don't like needles." Leo whimpered. Nishinoya held his hand. 

"What if I do it with you? Can you be brave then?" Nishinoya asked. Leo nodded and Suga agreed to it. So, Suga poked both boys and drew blood, doing Nishinoya first to prove it wasn't that bad. Once he got their blood, both boys got dinosaur bandaids and a smile as Suga walked off to hand to blood to someone else. Nishinoya stayed with Leo and Asahi until the police came for his statement. 

It was going to be a long week.