Guardian

Chapter 3

A short car ride after breakfast brought them to a meeting in a different building from the one Nishinoya was in the previous day. He stuck close to Asahi and found that, while standing behind the taller adult, he was practically invisible. Like a ghost. He smiled at the realization. That was his job, wasn't it? To ghost Asahi.

"Mr. Asahi. You're a bit early." A man said. Nishinoya looked him up and down and determined him not an immediate threat, devising a way to knock him out in under five minutes if needed. He recognized his train of thought from his ex-job as a hitman and shook himself to rid it from his head. 

"Yes, just a bit. Is that a bad thing? My apologies." Asahi rubbed the back of his head and looked to the side. Nishinoya suppressed the urge to hold his hand like he did when they- 

"Stop it." He whispered to himself, pinching himself. "This isn't high school. Stop it." He continued listening to the conversation.

After a short conversation, Asahi walked past into a conference room. Nishinoya looked around and kept an eye out for possible threats nearby. He didn't see any but still stayed alert. Asahi was only there to meet about sales and possible partners in work. Nishinoya thought of it as secretary work, but he knew Asahi better than that. Even if he was shy, he loved being involved. It also made it easier to blame himself if something went wrong. 

The day breezed by and Nishinoya cleared a third of the building from being suspects. Asahi being closely involved seemed to make him likable throughout the company. It made his job easier. Asahi seemed pleased with it and stayed late to finish up his paperwork instead of staying up once at home. 

"It's quite different from what I expected it to be when I took the job," Nishinoya admitted. "I kinda thought you'd have more enemies. You could be really scary back in high school." He glanced at Asahi and cracked a smile. "Guess you always were more like Jesus." 

Asahi laughed and smiled. "You guys crucified me on the volleyball net." He accused, provoking a small laugh from the ex-libero. "It was pretty funny though. I had a lot of fun back then." 

"Kids huh? How many anyway?" He asked. "Himari is pretty. I bet you have like, twenty kids. I'm surprised you had any." 

"I only have three. I'm as surprised as you are, but Himari is a lot like you. She's strong-willed and very forward." He said. Nishinoya nodded in understanding. 

"I'm glad your happy now. Himari seems like a good fit for you." Nishinoya admitted. At least he was happy. 

"How are you doing Nishinoya? What have you been up to?" Asahi asked, changing the subject. He brushed hair behind his ear as he picked up his things and cleaned his mess, preparing to go home. 

"Me? Well, I was a-" He stopped. Could he really tell him that he'd been a hitman? He had licenses for hunting and had made sure that they all seemed like hunting accidents but who knew how Asahi would react. "I was a delivery guy." He shrugged, leaning on the wall. 

"Quite an upgrade then, huh?" Asahi laughed. "Sounds like something you'd do. Take a few martial arts classes, make yourself a bodyguard. Yeah, I can see it." He picked up his bag and tilted his head towards the door. "Come on, I have a few errands to run." 

"Yes sir, boss man," Nishinoya said jokingly, following Asahi out the door then down to his car to drive off. They stopped by a shop to pay off a bill, cashed a paycheck, picked up some groceries, and headed back to Asahi's house. 

"Daddy's home! Daddy's home!" Leo shouted happily as they drove up and hugged Asahi's legs. Nishinoya grabbed as many groceries as he could and walked around the car. Something caught his attention. On Asahi's hair was a red dot. No, just his headband. Nishinoya's eyes widen with realization and he set down his bags, tackling Asahi seconds before a loud gunshot sounded followed by glass shattering. The bullet that would've killed Asahi instead shattered the garage window and embedded into the concrete wall. Leo shrieked and Nishinoya jumped up, scanning the trees and roofs across the street. A figure ran off and after a split second of making sure no one else was nearby, he ran after the person. 

"Nishinoya stop!" Asahi shouted, panting as he began to hyperventilate. Nishinoya didn't hear him and tackled the guy, digging his knee into his back. Using zip ties from his pocket, he put his hands together and dragged him up, returning to Asahi's home. "What did you do?" Asahi demanded, looking at the bruised man Nishinoya had captured. 

"I caught the man trying to kill you. I'm doing my job." Nishinoya said. He turned to Leo and crouched down to him. "Hey, Leo. Can you run inside and tell your mom to call the cops for me?" Leo gave a mute nod and ran inside. "Are you alright? You weren't hurt were you?" He asked, turning to Asahi and examining his head. 

"I'm fine Nishinoya. Why didn't you stop when I told you to?" He demanded, batting his hand away and glaring at the shorter man. 

"You did? I didn't hear you yell. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have run off like that but it was worth it! I caught him!" He said. "You don't have to worry about it anymore. You don't have to look at me or think about how I failed." 

"You didn't fail. I was more worried about Leo than I was myself. You didn't make sure he was the only one." Asahi accused. 

"Wrong. That was the first thing I did. I made sure he was alone and when I confirmed he was, I ran." He said. "It may not have seemed like it, but I did." 

"I didn't realize it, I'm sorry." Asahi hung his head but looked up when he heard sirens. The cops pulled up and dragged the guy away. A medic was close behind and made sure Asahi was alright. Confirming he was, they checked out Nishinoya and found that in his mad dash he had dislocated one arm. They quickly fixed it though he refused to ride to the hospital, claiming he would be alright with some rest. "Thank you." Asahi said. 

"For what?" Nishinoya asked. 

"Saving my life." Asahi said. "I would have died." 

"I was just doing my job. I'm glad you're alright." Nishinoya replied. "I guess this means goodbye?" He asked. 

Asahi nodded. "Yeah, this means goodbye." He said. "I'll send you a check in the mail." Nishinoya nodded and shook his hand. 

"I'll see you around Asahi. Be careful and don't be afraid to call me." He waved and walked off, hoping for a good job later on.