Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Akito's instincts were usually pretty good. Whenever he suggested a change in the set list for Vivid Bad Squad's performances, the changes were always received well. When Ena feigned being okay for the sake of simply being left alone, Akito always knew what was up. So why did he go against what his gut had told him today?

It was a Friday, the weekend was right around the corner. But more importantly than that it was Rui's birthday. Akito had prepared a present and knew he should meet the older male as soon as possible to give it to him and spend the rest of the day together. So why didn't he decline when the soccer club had once again asked him to help out?

Sure, Rui had told him that it was fine since his university lectures would only end at around 5 pm, but Akito still felt like he shouldn't have accepted. Though, it was too late to regret it now - he had already promised to go so he had no choice but to spend the next three hours with the club and then hurry over to the station to catch the train that left 10 minutes after the training ended. Everything should work out just fine if he could leave the cleanup to the club members and run to the station, then he would arrive at the campus around 4:45 pm and celebrate just like he had planned.

At least, that's what should have happened – but today nothing was in the redhead's favor.

First, the team captain ran late because he forgot to get the gym keys from the teachers, making practice go on for an extra five minutes to make up for the time they missed. Fine, Akito thought. If he didn't change out of his gym clothes, he could still make it. When practice ended, he explained that he had to be somewhere and couldn't help with cleanup...And then all hell broke loose.

“Don't tell me you're still dating that Kamishiro creep?”, one of the club members spat, showing absolutely zero respect for Akito despite the redhead being a senior student now.

“Excuse me?!”, Akito growled back. “What does it matter if I am? I seriously don't have time for this shit right now.”

He threw his school bag over his shoulder and made his way to the exit, only to be blocked by the captain who leaned against the door frame, not letting Akito pass.

“You agreed to help us out today. That includes cleanup, you know?”, the captain said pointedly, leaving no room for argument.

Akito was honestly becoming annoyed by now. How hard was it to understand that he didn't have any time today? Didn't he already do enough for this club that he wasn't even a part of?

“Look, I'll make it up to you some other time, but today I really have to leave. So move out of the way already.”

The redhead checked the time on his phone...only six minutes till the train left – he had to run now. He wanted this day to be absolutely special to Rui, so he just had to make it...

“Oh, why is it so important that you leave right now? Will Kamishiro refuse to fuck you if his favorite bitch comes home late?”, another member of the soccer team asked in a genuinely venomous tone and when Akito turned to look at him incredulously, he sneered. “Why do you look so shocked? It's not like you even bothered to hide the hickeys and rope burns, so everyone in this room knows you're Kamishiro's whore.”

Akito was seething now. Where did all those accusations come from? “Why you-”

“And I personally know that today is his birthday, too. So it's not hard to figure out what you're up to.”, the team member continued riling Akito up as he shook his head in disapproval. “Personally, I think it's hurtful that you put him above us considering what he put us through.”

“I don't give a damn about what he did to you, it has nothing to do with me!”, Akito yelled and clenched his fists.

Why were these guys insisting on being so difficult? Yes, it was no secret that Rui wasn't the most liked person and that some members had to suffer a series of mysterious misfortunes when they messed up the planter boxes that were in Rui's care. But it was all in the past now and it didn't excuse the behavior of the club members one bit.

Akito stood his ground, shaking his head. “Do you honestly think badmouthing me and him is going to make me want to help you guys ever again?”

“No. Honestly we don't really care for your help any more since we got some amazing new members this year.”, the captain spoke up, closing the gym door and turning the key to lock the door. Suddenly Akito's blood froze – the atmosphere had changed completely and the creepy smirk that the team captain had on his lips made the redhead take a step back. “But we had a bet - if you had just quietly done as we said we'd let you go.”

“But you didn't do that, now did you.”, another voice behind Akito chimed in.

And then more and more of the team members joined the conversation as well. Damn it, Akito should have guessed something was up when only six people left to change – everyone left in this room was out for blood.

“You know, my girlfriend left me because she fell for Kamishiro. And he had the audacity to turn her down – all because of you.”

“Yeah, what's so good about you anyway?”

“You better be a good fuck because everything else about you is mediocre.”

Akito's eyes darted around and he saw everyone in the room close in on him like a pack of rabid animals. He wanted to scream at himself for not listening to his gut earlier, he should have known that something was off since the soccer club didn't usually ask for his help on Fridays...

But this wasn't the time for such thoughts, he needed to get out of here first and foremost. He grabbed the strap of his school bag tighter and waited until he saw a hand dart out to try and grab him before he took his bag and smacked it straight into the guy's face. More hands began reaching for him, so he gave the guys a swift kick before following up by swinging his bag at them again. If they decided to play dirty and go five on one, he wasn't going to pull any punches either. He got into a defensive stance, all the while trying to figure out a way out of here.

It was summer so the window was open, but it was so high up that Akito couldn't reach it without any help.

He could try slamming his body into the door-- wait, the door opened inwards, so that wasn't going to work either...

As he thought that and defended against the people trying to assault him he didn't notice one person suddenly going missing from the group. Or at least that was until he saw a baseball bat being swung straight at his head. He tried to dodge, but he was just a second too late and the hit connected, knocking Akito down to the floor.

The redhead fell over and covered the sore spot with his hand to try and ease the pain. When his fingers touched where the bat landed the hit, he felt a strange wetness and the skin burned. Wait, really?

Akito pulled the hand back and looked at his palm – sure as hell, there was blood on it. That explained why it hurt so much to even think about standing up now. But he knew he had to. Who knew what these guys planned to do to him if he didn't?

Akito didn't want to stick around and find out. He scrambled to get up, trying to ignore the throbbing pain that spread through his skull as he did.

He had to get out and run now.

He had to.

He had to!

Panic set in as he saw the five students surround him and watch his pathetic attempts at getting up in his dizzy state, only to have the club leader end his struggle by giving a hard kick to Akito's stomach, knocking all air out of him.

“You know, we were thinking about this sort of payback for a while now, but usually Kamishiro would be around to stop us.”, he sneered and stepped onto Akito's chest. “But now that he's finally graduated, we can give him this special birthday present.”

Akito grit his teeth as he squinted to see the smug face of the team captain clearer. Damn it, it absolutely pissed him off how he looked down on him like he accomplished something grand when all those guys did was gang up on him for a stupid reason.

The redhead lifted his own leg and swung it upwards, kicking the team captain in the groin to get the leg off of him. It worked and the older male grunted in pain after which Akito finally scrambled back to his feet again only to be tackled from behind by two other guys, making him fall flat to the floor again.

It was really hopeless, huh?

“Shit..!”, the captain cursed, doubling over in pain and taking a few seconds to get over it before he hissed out “Now I know why that bastard keeps tying you up. You need to learn your place you fucking bitch!”

Akito struggled against the grip of the two younger teens keeping him pinned to the ground, but he couldn't get away when they practically sat on his back, making it impossible for Akito to shake them both off of himself.

“Let me go!”, the redhead screamed out, his attempts to get free becoming more desperate and frantic.

“Just lie down and take it like a whore should!”, the captain yelled back, angrily stomping on the leg that Akito had used to kick him before. He clearly went mad seeing as he kept stomping on the leg with more and more force just to make Akito scream in pain until another team member stepped in.

“Hey, man. We should hurry up or we'll be here all weekend and honestly I got other plans after this. Besides, with how much he's screaming, a teacher might notice.”

It made the whole act sound like it was boring for him and like he was the one in pain. Akito honestly felt like he was gonna barf at how twisted this whole team was...and they said Rui was the monster?

That thought didn't get to linger for long seeing as the two teens pinning him down had grabbed him underneath his arms and dragged him over to the bars that separated the main gym from the supply storage and kept him there.

Another team member went into said storage and got two skipping ropes out of it, securing Akito's wrists to the bars. Now the redhead was genuinely terrified of what that entailed. Should he try and beg them to stop this? Honestly with how mad the captain looked Akito doubted it was going to help him in any way.

“Alright, that's more like it. Now our dearest Akito-kun can feel right at home.”, the captain said sardonically, pulling the redhead's shirt up. “We owe so much to him after all, might as well make it a day to remember, right?”

Akito shook his head and struggled against the bindings. “Please, don't do this...”

He had never heard his voice be this weak before, why wouldn't it work when it mattered most? With how weak his plea sounded, it was no wonder those people didn't hear him...

Akito's shirt was lifted and the team captain began touching his bare chest, pinching his nipples and tracing his hands down Akito's abdomen. Then, another set of hands joined, both exploring Akito's body like they could understand what made Rui so infatuated with him by mapping out every inch of his bare skin.

“Stop it!”, the redhead said more firmly, shivering at how disgusting he felt.

When the people just laughed at him for saying that it was clear to Akito that they only got more eager the more he asked them to stop.

This wasn't about mere lust or curiosity in the end – these guys wanted to break Akito. To them, it was all about revenge. Though the redhead could tell that they also got off on the power they had over him, all five of them were visibly hard.

He gagged a little at how repulsing it was, but held back from actually puking since he was afraid what the consequences of that would be. He swallowed the bile back down and bit his lip to keep quiet even if he wanted to scream. He pulled at the restraints, trying to somehow get them off, but he only managed to make his wrists bleed as the coarse rope dug into his skin.

“Struggle all you want, I've always liked the feisty ones.”, another guy said and joined the other two, grabbing a fistful of Akito's ginger hair and forcefully turning his head so he could bite down on the redhead's neck.

Tears finally fell from Akito's eyes as the realization set in that no matter what he did, he would only make this situation worse.

Those hands that were so foreign were touching him in places where only Rui had touched before. Akito felt absolutely filthy at having these people touch him like that, so he tried to focus his gaze anywhere other than the hands, spotting one guy sitting across from him and pointing his phone camera straight at him.

Following the green eyes, the team captain looked at the camera before meeting the redhead's gaze.

“You know what this means, right, Akito-kun?”, the captain purred as he removed the redhead's sport shorts and underwear, robbing him of whatever protection the teen might have felt he had. “If you tell anyone about what has happened here, this video is going straight to the net and the reputation you have as a musician will simply cease to exist. You'll be forever known as an absolute slut – flushing all those years of hard work down the drain.”

“Please don't...”, Akito tried begging again, more tears streaming down his face. He didn't want this, he didn't want any of this...why did he come here today, why didn't he go straight to Rui like he should have?

It was all his fault, wasn't it? If he had just kept his mouth shut and helped with cleanup, he'd be on his way into his boyfriend's arms now. Sure, he'd be late, but every outcome was better than this.

“If you're a good boy, we'll keep this video to ourselves.”, the team captain said and it made more bile rise up from Akito's stomach, the acid burning his esophagus as the redhead once again forced it down.

The redhead's mouth remained open to get some oxygen back into his system with how much he was crying. That was when he felt someone – he didn't want to open his eyes and see who it was – lick into his mouth. On instinct, he bit down on the intruding tongue, making the assailant hiss.

“You fucking--”, he grabbed Akito by the hair and slammed his head back against the metal bars a few times to punish him for this transgression. “Weren't you just told to be good?! Apologize or this video is going straight on the internet, you cunt!”

It hurt so much and Akito's vision was swimming by now with how many blows to his already injured head he had received, but he knew if he passed out now, he'd probably die right here.

Maybe that wasn't such a bad idea?

Akito felt his mind shut down more and more as those dark thoughts overtook him and yet something primal took over in feeble attempts of survival, making him look up at the one who just tried to kiss him.

“I'm sorry...”, he said in a shaky voice and luckily that apology was accepted as the assault on his head stopped.

His mind went completely blank after that – he could feel teeth, lips, tongues on his body. He could faintly feel the tongue that rubbed against his own be replaced by someone's dick – his throat burning as it was relentlessly fucked into. He could feel his body being split apart as someone entered him dry and without any prep.

Everything hurt so much.

Akito barely registered himself screaming, more pleas to stop, stop, stop leaving his lips and yet those words didn't even feel like his own any more. He couldn't even hear himself scream any longer – did he just imagine yelling all those things?

They called him a good boy for taking all this, a fucking slut for letting them come all over his violated body and when all five had their turn it finally ended. They untied him and let him fall to the floor like an old toy that had been tossed aside.

Akito could distantly hear them talk about leaving him in here until Monday morning as they fixed their own clothes. He heard them say that the teachers wouldn't care to check the gym since the soccer club took good care of it every time. And Akito wanted to scream that that would be cruel, that he had to get home or his family would worry...but honestly all he wanted right now was to be left alone. If he called their attention back to him, who knew what they'd do to him?

Akito would rather stay locked up here until Monday than face even more pain than he was in right now. He closed his eyes and tried not to move until those people would leave. But even when he heard most of the voices fade away, someone walked over to him and moved Akito's body until he laid on his stomach, after which the redhead felt something rough scratch against the skin on his back. He braced himself for more pain to follow that feeling, but it never came. Instead, the person who did that to him simply left the room again, a click indicating that the gym door was now indeed locked.

Finally, Akito let himself be taken by the inviting darkness. The danger was gone, he could finally rest.

Chapter Text

Rui stood outside the main gate to his university, rereading the messages he got from Akito. Did he misunderstand something?

[1:35 pm] Akito

Ugh...got roped into helping the soccer club again. I'm not even in the club dammit.

[1:37 pm] Rui

I have uni courses until 4:55, so it all works out. Don't worry about it and have fun, okay?

[1:38 pm] Akito

Oh, okay. I'll meet you at the front gate at 5 pm sharp. Sorry about this...

[1:38 pm] Rui

Don't worry. I'm looking forward to later~

Love you!

[1:39 pm]Akito

Love you too. See you later then!

And since then...nothing. It was already close to 6 pm and still no sign from the redhead. Rui looked up major train delays today, but the line that Akito would have used to come here was right on time the whole day. Did something happen to Akito while he was on his way here? Rui swallowed hard as he looked for his boyfriend's phone number in his contact list. He dialed the said number and waited a few minutes, but no response came. Instead, as per usual, an automated message played after two minutes of Rui holding the line.

The number you are trying to reach is unavailable. Please leave a message after the beep.

Rui hung up before the beep came, genuine worry rising in his gut. Should he go home and get his drone so he could scout the area better? Then again, it would waste valuable time, so if something indeed happened to Akito every minute wasted could be a matter of life and death. He decided to make his way to Kamiyama High and look for clues underway, maybe he'd even run into the redhead. Who knew, maybe Akito was just late because he had forgotten to bring the present with him or something?

The purple-haired male kept his cell phone in his hand as he made his way over to the station, ready to respond immediately if someone contacted him, still hoping for the best-case scenario. Just as he was about to enter the train station he felt the phone buzz in his hand and quickly checked the notification.

“Unknown number?”, Rui hummed curiously and was about to ignore it, but then he read the preview text and immediately tapped on the notification.

[6:05 pm] Private number

Your birthday present from Akito Shinonome is here!

Did Akito hire some sort of service to deliver him a present and didn't come out because it hadn't been delivered yet? That silly man. He could have said as much instead of hiding from him, it's not like Rui would have been mad. Rui's mouth twitched into a smile and he wanted to call Akito again when he saw that the unknown number had also sent a photo.

Oh, did they also send a picture of the place they put the present in? Since Rui wasn't at home, it should be in front of his door--

The smile he just had on his face immediately fell and Rui felt a pit in his stomach. This photo was something he'd hoped he'd never had to see. It was a picture of Akito, lying face down on the floor. Rui couldn't see the redhead's face , but it was undoubtedly Akito – he wouldn't mistake his boyfriend for anyone else, even from behind. His body looked completely bare and there was something written on Akito's back in black marker.

The purple-haired male zoomed into the picture, making out the words “Happy birthday you stupid piece of shit” written across Akito's entire back.

Rui hastily typed a reply back, he needed to know where Akito was and who did this to him.

“Where is he?”, he entered into the text bar and hit send, but immediately got an error message back saying that this number was no longer in service.

Rui tried calling the unknown number, only to achieve the same result – this number didn't belong to anyone according to the automated message.

Damn it...whoever did this was a crafty bastard, using a calling app to set up a fake number just for this. Rui went back to the photo of Akito and decided to look for context clues to get an idea where Akito could be.

He didn't notice it upon the first viewing, but there was clearly blood in Akito's hair and on the wrists that rested at the redhead's sides. Rui's whole body shook with rage by now, but instead of letting that feeling take control of him, Rui looked at the floor that the redhead laid on. Polished maple wood that reflected the basketball hoop above...

He'd recognize that flooring anywhere after having P.E in that hall for three years – it was the school gym!

So then...did the soccer team do this to Akito? No, that wasn't what's important right now. He had to get Akito some urgent medical care right away!

Rui dashed through the terminal gates to catch the next train that would get him to Kamiyama High, his leg impatiently bouncing up and down the whole train ride there. Were those people still in the gym? Was Akito their means to ambush him? He had to be careful, but he knew he also had to hurry... Damn it!

The college student quickly typed out a message to his best friend, just in case this was indeed a trap.

[6:25 pm] Rui

Tsukasa, get to the Kamiyama high gym asap. If I don't come out by 7 pm, call the police. No time to explain, it's urgent.

It felt like an eternity until the train finally stopped at the station next to the school and the purple-haired man immediately broke into a sprint when he got off, ignoring the loud protests of pedestrians he pushed past as his mind counted off every deity he was familiar with, praying to them that Akito wasn't being harmed even more right now.

When he finally got to the school, the school gates were already locked for the day, so Rui had to climb the fence to get inside. Not the first time he had done something like this considering he sometimes got inside the school on Sundays, so that wasn't a massive challenge for him. And it seemed that it wasn't a challenge for Tsukasa either, seeing as the blond was already eagerly waiting next to the gym door.

Before the older male could ask what was up, Rui quickly covered Tsukasa's mouth just in case someone was inside listening to any noises.

“Stay right here and be quiet.”, Rui mouthed, earning a nod from the blond. Only after Tsukasa agreed to that did Rui finally reach out to the handle and try the door, only to find it locked.

Well, that was weird if the soccer team did indeed try to ambush him. Rui sighed a little in relief, but then tensed up again. What if he got the location wrong after all? He grit his teeth. This was no time to hesitate, he had to look for Akito and even if the redhead had already been moved from here, there were bound to be at least some clues on what happened there.

Rui nodded to himself and got out the toolkit he had to bring for his robotics course, looking for something to serve as a lockpick.

He pulled out two flat tools that could feasibly fit inside the keyhole, prodding around until he heard the cylinders snap into place and carefully turning the lock until the door opened.

“Rui, for real, what's going on here?”, Tsukasa asked in a hushed whisper. Why was Rui breaking and entering into their old school? The two of them had a bad enough rep as it was, if they got caught now, they'd be in deep trouble considering they were both adults.

That question got ignored by Rui once again, with the purple-haired man rushing inside and going past the changing rooms. He tried the inner gym door, only to find it locked too. Nothing to it but to do it now.

Rui unlocked the inner door in a similar fashion to the outer one, pushing it open and looking around the gym. Nobody seemed to be there except for the lone body lying in the far back, over to where the supply storage was.

After confirming it was safe to go, Rui immediately dashed over to his boyfriend and touched his shoulder, only to have Akito flinch at the touch.

“Please...no more...”, he heard the redhead's voice beg weakly, after which Akito tried to curl up in on himself, only to wince in pain once more.

“Akito...”, Rui tried gently calling out to the younger male and immediately the redhead jumped up, his eyes widening in fear.

Why was Rui here? No, no, no, no no! Rui wasn't supposed to see him like this – Rui wasn't even supposed to know he was here!

Akito looked down to the floor – too ashamed to face his boyfriend, fresh tears prickling his already red and irritated eyes. The redhead hiccuped from all the tears he had shed already before squeezing his eyes shut. “Rui...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...”

The full gravity of what had happened began catching up to Akito and he couldn't help but keep apologizing. The day that was supposed to be so great with them celebrating Rui's birthday together and maybe even Akito spending the night at his boyfriend's house... But all of that was ruined now. He was tainted and filthy – Rui shouldn't be touching him right now, not after they did.

“You don't have to apologize for anything...”, Rui choked out, trying to keep the absolute pain and rage he felt under control. This wasn't the time to be emotional, Akito needed help now. There was so much more blood than Rui had thought... “Let's get you to the hospital, you're still bleeding..”

“Hospital...?”, Akito swallowed. “No...I don't want anyone to know about this...”

Nobody should ever know who did this to him or the video would get uploaded, then everyone would know what happened to him. In these past two years Vivid Bad Squad has grown so much that they were genuinely considered celebrities in this town, he didn't want to ruin this for everyone.

A third voice chimed in at that “Our family knows a private doctor. I could give him a call-”

Akito looked up, seeing the concerned amber eyes of his former upperclassman staring straight down at him in compassion. Why was he here? Why did these two come here when he didn't want to be seen by anyone?

“Don't look at me!”, Akito shrieked and his own loud voice made his head spin again. He frantically looked around for the clothes that have been discarded somewhere, he wanted to hide, to cover up all the marks that were proof of what had happened earlier. He could feel Tsukasa's and Rui's eyes on him and he couldn't help but break down crying. “Please...I don't want anyone to see. I don't want anyone to know...”

Rui was conflicted. He knew he shouldn't force Akito to go to the doctor, but he also knew that his boyfriend needed professional help. Rui knew a little about general medicine from the few courses he managed to sit in out of general curiosity, but he was no expert, especially not when it came to internal wounds which judging by the blood trail on Akito's thighs definitely happened.

“Tsukasa-kun, would you go get Akito's uniform?”

Rui pulled his crying boyfriend into a gentle embrace as Tsukasa went to get the clothes, holding him close and letting Akito just cry on his shoulder. He wanted to soothingly rub Akito's back when he saw the black marker still staining the unmarred skin. It made Rui's blood boil again.

It honestly seemed like every inch of Akito's body had been defiled. Bruises, bite marks, bleeding wounds and a cracked lip telling the whole story of what had happened here.

But honestly what had suffered most was Akito's psyche. Rui had never seen his boyfriend this fragile, like one wrong word would make him burst into a thousand pieces. And while he had seen the redhead cry a few times during their relationship, Tsukasa had not. Usually Akito would put on a strong front around the blond, usually he wouldn't be so open with his emotions.

But then again, if this had been a normal day like any other, Akito wouldn't have been raped and locked up here, now would he?

Tsukasa finally came back to the two taller men, handing Akito the uniform that the redhead hastily put on, feeling much safer with the clothing covering up most of what happened to him. The only visible signs now were his bruised neck and the hair sticking together from the dried blood.

His legs were also bearing some marks, but those would be fully covered up with his pants and underwear, so--

Akito screamed out when he tried lifting his left leg, an indescribable pain shooting through his whole body like his nerves had been set on fire. Right...this was the leg that had to bear the assault from the team leader's kicks. Was the bone broken if it hurt this much to move it? If so, why didn't he feel any of it earlier?

Rui frowned and kneeled in front of Akito, gently helping him into the pants so he wouldn't have to strain his muscles and hopefully it would reduce the pain he felt in his leg a little. Though, he knew he couldn't hope for much with how badly bruised the thigh and shin areas were.

Still, being dressed helped Akito calm down at least a little, he was happy he could cover up the disgrace that was his violated body.

The redhead took a deep breath and let it out again, trying to sort out his thoughts that were running a mile a minute. He knew he should probably at the very least get his head injury looked at, it would be unreasonable to decline any sort of check-up considering the state he was in. He wanted to say as much, but then remembered it was still Rui's birthday. He couldn't just make this day about himself and his boyfriend probably didn't want to spend his special day at a clinic, especially not after such a nasty surprise.

“S-So, what would you like to do?”, he asked Rui awkwardly, visibly confusing the older male. When the redhead saw the questioning look on Rui's face, he elaborated. “It's your birthday, so we should celebrate.”

Tsukasa and Rui exchanged a worried look at how Akito forced himself to be strong for him. Sure, Akito probably didn't want to think about what he had gone through right now, but that didn't negate the pain and trauma he had to endure.

“Right now, it's most important for me to see that you're fine, Akito. So, if I can be selfish, might I ask you to have the private doctor take a look at your injuries?”, the tallest of the three said in a gentle tone, so that Akito knew he appreciated the thoughtfulness.

Akito's shoulders sagged and he looked at Tsukasa, unsure of how to put it into words. He'd be lying if he said that Rui's words didn't sound like the most sensible course of action, but at the same time he didn't want to impose on the blond...

“Don't worry, I'll call the doc right now.”, Tsukasa said and pulled out his cell phone, immediately understanding the hesitation that Akito showed. After all, this wasn't the first time the younger male struggled to ask for help when he clearly needed it.

And neither Rui nor Tsukasa were about to let Akito fight that battle alone.

Chapter Text

“He has a pretty severe concussion and his left leg is broken, so he definitely needs a cast for that.”, the doctor explained calmly, but the deep crease between his eyebrows had shown how distressed he was about Akito's condition. “I'll prescribe some pain killers and an ointment for his internal wounds.”

All the time during examination and even now with the announcement of the results, Akito just laid on the bed and vacantly stared off into space, almost like his soul has temporarily left his body. He still responded when being spoken to, but only replied in short sentences and in a monotone voice. It was really worrying how detached from reality the redhead was but neither of the older men could blame him considering what he just went through.

Rui and Tsukasa nodded to each other when Akito didn't even react in any way to the diagnosis and Rui got up. “I'll go contact his family now, they should at the very least know that he got hurt.”

“I...I'll do it myself.”, the younger man protested, holding out his hand for Rui to give him his phone.

After all, Akito was sure that Rui would just give his family the details that they didn't need to know. He didn't want his family to know what a disgrace he was...after all he brought this upon himself. If it wasn't for his brash and confrontational nature, he wouldn't be in this mess right now. If he had just cleaned up with the team, he would be happily celebrating Rui's birthday right now instead of having Rui cooped up with him in this clinic.

“Feel free to make that phone call. I'll get everything ready to make the cast and I'm afraid you'll have to spend the night here, Shinonome-san. You shouldn't move around much with your concussion.”, the doctor said, making Akito cringe.

Absolutely no chance of getting out of here, huh?

Akito looked down and began typing in the phone number to his house while Rui and the doctor left the room. He felt slightly uncomfortable with just Tsukasa in the room, but since the blond kept his distance, Akito just took in a deep breath before finally calling his family.

Rui meanwhile followed the doctor, which seemed to annoy the older man. “With all due respect, Kamishiro-san... I would like to have some privacy as I work.”

The purple-haired male shook his head and moved in front of the doctor, stopping him in his tracks. “You took a sample earlier in the examination – would you mind letting me know the results when you're done analyzing it?”

“That info is strictly confidential and should only be known to Shinonome-san and his family if he so wishes.”, the doctor countered and shook his head. “So I really can't--”

“Please.”, Rui insisted, his face contorting in pure anguish. “Akito won't tell me anything that happened or who did it and he doesn't want to notify the police either. Do you really think he would let his family know? I just want to be able to offer him the support he needs, so he can recover from this...”

A half-lie. He did want to be there for Akito every step of the way, but he knew he wouldn't let the bastards get away with what they did to him. He would make sure they'd break, every single one of them. But for that to happen he at least needed to know how many people he was dealing with. He knew it couldn't be just one, Akito was more than a capable fighter after all.

The doctor saw that Rui wouldn't give up, so he reluctantly nodded. “Sure, but only on one condition. If you say that Shinonome-san won't tell his family about what happened, I need you to give me a number I can contact his family with. After all, they might worsen his state if they just treat him like they normally would. His mental state is very delicate.”

“Then it's a deal.”, Rui nodded and wrote down both his and the Shinonome residence's numbers on a piece of paper from his college notebook. “Here you go, doc. Please contact me when the results are in.”

The older man reluctantly took the contact information and continued on his way to make the cast while Rui returned to the room Akito was in. The redhead looked at him when he entered before casting his gaze up to the ceiling again.

Well, that was awkward...

Rui shifted his eyes to look at his friend instead, seeing the blond clench his fists and shake in anger like he wanted to scream at Akito for doing something he shouldn't have done. And yet, Tsukasa remained silent despite the anguish on his face. It was as if the older man was mad on Akito's behalf since the redhead didn't show any emotions whatsoever.

“Must be boring to be stuck with me here.”, Akito finally spoke up, cutting through the silence that weighed on the three of them. “Why don't you two leave? There's still some time until your birthday is over, Rui. You might as well spend it with your best friend.”

Rui opened his mouth to speak, but Tsukasa was quicker. “Rui said he wants you to get better and that that's what most important to him right now. Why can't you-”

“Well, none of you two are doctors, are you?”, Akito snapped back even if it lacked the usual bite to it. His voice sounded so hollow and lifeless like he didn't even have the will to argue any more and yet he did. “So, if you really want me to feel better, I want you to get out of here and enjoy yourself. It's supposed to be your special day, after all.”

Akito shivered at his own words and turned his back to the two college students standing beside his bed to hide his inevitable breakdown.

Might as well make it a day to remember, right?

Tears began rolling down his cheeks as the face of the team captain flashed behind his closed eyelids. He took a deep breath so he wouldn't fall into hysteria while Rui and Tsukasa were still here, but it failed to erase the image from his mind. Still, he managed to keep his voice steady even through the tears.

“Your present is in my bag, Rui.”, he said in a finalizing tone. “So take it and go enjoy yourselves – that's honestly the best thing you can do for me right now.”

That's what his voice said, but deep in his mind Akito knew that was a lie. He was so grateful he was out of the dark gym, he was so grateful that these two were there for him, he wanted them to stay here so he'd feel safe and less alone...

But he wouldn't say it. He didn't deserve all that kindness after practically giving himself to the team members today. It was all his fault that this happened. It was his fault he was in this situation, so he shouldn't keep Rui here much longer.

“Are you sure you don't want us around?”, Rui said in a gentle tone – too gentle, in fact. It was so soft like Akito would break if he spoke any louder.

And Akito hated it. He hated how considerate and kind his boyfriend was after everything he put Rui through today. “I'm sure.”

But he wasn't. He knew that he wasn't okay being left alone right now, he knew he wasn't okay with some stranger touching his bare skin even if it was for medical reasons, he knew he just wasn't okay.

And yet he forced himself to be stern with his boyfriend, just so Rui wouldn't have to see him break down. Akito knew it was coming now that he wasn't blocking out the pain any more, but he also knew he has ruined enough. He shouldn't keep Rui here on his birthday, no matter how terrible he felt. So before it was too late, he knew he should draw the line and send these two on their way.

“Okay.”, the purple-haired male said, looking down. He didn't want to leave, but what should he do? It wasn't like he could force Akito to let him stay. He reached into Akito's school bag and pulled out the wrapped gift, putting it into his own bag. “Thank you for the present and...if something comes up please call me.”

“Sure.”, Akito replied curtly, curling up in on himself as much as the injured leg would let him. “Happy birthday.”

Tsukasa wanted to scream at Akito for being so dishonest with himself and with Rui, but he knew it would do more harm than good. Thus, he couldn't help the tears prickling his eyes in the frustration over just how helpless he was. He looked up to Rui, seeing the taller man dejectedly looking back at him.

“Thank you Akito.”, Rui replied, grabbing Tsukasa's shoulder and turning to leave the room. “We'll see you around.”

Akito simply nodded wordlessly and listened to the footsteps as the two left his room, only allowing himself to break down once he heard the door to his room drop shut and the two sets of footsteps fade away. He was glad Tsukasa hasn't said anything, especially considering he had heard the phone call he had with his parents. He wouldn't be able to bear it if Rui knew just how scared and hurt he felt. He didn't want his boyfriend to worry, but at the same time he wanted to be protected by him.

Akito honestly didn't know what he wanted any more.

“So, what got you so worked up, Tsukasa-kun?”, Rui asked nonchalantly as the two of them made their way to the Tenma residence.

The blond clicked his tongue and shook his head, refusing to give his friend a straight answer. “Says the one who was barely holding in his anger back at the gym. Shouldn't it be obvious?”

“I mean, yes. I know you also like Akito a lot so it probably affected you just as much as it did me.”, Rui agreed, but then backpedaled. “But that doesn't explain your behavior back at the clinic. You looked like you were about to scream at him.”

“Did I?”, Tsukasa asked, still avoiding the question. Rui didn't really need to know what made him so mad. So mad that he still felt a pit in his stomach whenever he thought back on it.

Rui wasn't satisfied with that, grabbing his friend by the shoulder once more and squeezing hard.

“Tsu~ka~sa~kuuun~ You know better than to leave me in the dark like that. Or should I bring the special training regimen back on Sunday?”

“That's straight-up blackmail!”, the blond protested, shaking his head vigorously. “You'd be mad too if you heard that so I'm not telling!”

“Hmm...let's see. Maybe I should get a box full of live bugs to throw on you this time around?”, Rui continued his intimidation tactic, grinning a little. “That should definitely get rid of your fear, don't you think?”

“Geh!”, Tsukasa knew there was no winning against their troupe director. “Fine, I'll tell you. You know how Akito insisted to contact his parents himself?”

“Yeah, what about it?”, Rui asked, already suspecting that the redhead lied about the reason for his hospitalization.

Tsukasa lowered his head and shook once again. “He said he's hospitalized because he fell during practice today. I heard his father yell something on the other end of the line and then...”

Tsukasa couldn't hold in his tears any more as his mind flashed back to the way Akito smiled so genuinely, as he let out a sigh of relief like he needed to hear someone scold him. And yet he could see the way Akito's hand clenched in the sheets at the pain he was clearly masking behind that surface-level relief.

“Then he honestly smiled and said 'Yeah, it was all my fault.'”, the blond finished his sentence, breaking down as all the emotions took over him.

Rui stood there and stared at Tsukasa in disbelief. Did Akito actually believe that? Was that why the redhead sent them both away? If so, didn't that mean that Akito didn't actually want them to leave?

“Damn it..”, Rui cursed as he also began shaking. “What do I do? He didn't really want me to leave, did he? He must be so scared right now...”

“Rui...I think it's best if we just come back to visit him tomorrow morning. Tomorrow he won't have the excuse of you 'wasting your birthday'”, Tsukasa said, doing air quotes as he said that last part.

Rui gave his friend a tired smile and nodded. He'd much rather go back now, but knowing Akito it would only make him shut down even more. “Well then...mind if I crash at your place for the night?”

“Not at all. We still have a birthday to celebrate.”, Tsukasa said with an encouraging smile.

The taller male didn't really care about his birthday after what happened, but he nodded anyway. Might as well go along with it, if just for Akito's sake.

Chapter Text

“I've found traces of five different sperm samples, so it's safe to assume there were five assailants. Perhaps more if not all of them have ejaculated inside.”

Rui still couldn't believe what he heard when the doctor called him about the results first thing in the morning. Five people? Five?! And yet Akito was still putting Rui's well-being before his own. Honestly, the redhead was far too good for this wretched world. Why was it Akito that had to suffer? Akito did nothing wrong to the soccer team – he always helped out and it was thanks to the redhead that this team even came this far. How dare they do something this cruel to Akito?

And Rui was almost 100% certain that it had been the soccer team that assaulted his boyfriend. After all, how would someone outside of the team even get access to the gym key and sneak into the gym without arousing suspicion?

But if Rui was seething now, there was a whole storm coming. When he entered the room Akito had stayed in overnight, he was greeted with another unpleasant sight. Akito was crying as he begged for something on the phone – so frantic that he didn't even see Rui standing there.

“No, please! I haven't told anyone-- not even Rui knows it was you! Please don't--”, Akito pleaded, his voice cracking in the middle of it.

Hm...well, someone must have let you out. How will you prove that this someone doesn't know what we did to you?

“I--- I don't know, I swear I haven't said a word! Please don't share it--”, the redhead cried and shook with the intense fear that coursed through his body. “I... I'll do anything you say, just--”

Anything? Very well. Come to school on Monday and we'll have some more fun.

Akito's breath hitched. He wasn't ready for that, but he also didn't want to ruin his teammate's reputation by having the video going live. What should he do? Should he listen and get hurt even more in the process? He let out a pathetic sound and only then did he notice Rui standing in the room, gasping in shock and hurriedly ending the call.

“R..Rui?”, he squeaked, looking at his boyfriend like a deer caught in the headlights as he tossed his phone aside. “Y-You're awfully early today.”

Akito began frantically wiping his tears and gave the taller male a shaky smile so he wouldn't worry, but it was already too late. Rui pieced together what was going on even just by hearing Akito's side of the call. So the attackers didn't just rape him, they also had some blackmail material on Akito? He really needed to find out who it was – and fast!

“Who was that on the phone?”, Rui asked coolly, looking at the device that laid face-up on the blanket. Just as he saw the screen, it lit up with a notification coming in.

I better see you on Monday, slut.

Rui's blood boiled. Akito didn't deserve any of this. He was always so kind and caring, so why did he have to go through this hell?

“A-Ah, it was Toya. He found some embarrassing video of me and said he'd share it, so..”, Akito lied, but he could see that Rui wasn't buying any of it and his forced smile finally fell.

“So Toya calls you such slurs as 'slut'? That's news to me.”, Rui pressed on, hoping to pry something out of Akito. “You can tell me what really happened, Akito. I won't judge you and I'll do everything I can to help you.”

The redhead shook his head as more tears streamed down his face. “I...I can't. I can't tell you who it was. The people who did this filmed the whole thing, so if I tell anyone...they'll share it and...”

You'll be forever known as an absolute slut – flushing all those years of hard work down the drain.

Akito shook his head. “I'm sorry Rui. I...I can't just let the others lose their dream because of me.”

Rui's heart tightened painfully as he heard that – it was always about others, Akito never really cared about what happened to him, huh? Still...the redhead couldn't be okay living like that, always at the beck and call of those assholes just because of the video. Rui knew he had to do something about that and he had just the idea in mind. But that idea would take a lot of preparation, so Rui wouldn't be able to stay here...

“Akito..I'm so sorry.”, Rui finally breathed out and wanted to reach out to hug his boyfriend only to have Akito flinch back. Immediately the older male withdrew his hand and looked aside in shame. “I..I'm sorry.”

“No, I should be apologizing.”, Akito said, looking down on the white blanket. “Y-You can hug me if you want.”

Damn it...why did he ruin everything again...it was his boyfriend, he should be okay with Rui touching him. He should be grateful that Rui even wanted to touch someone who was as filthy as him. He should be grateful to Rui for not having broken up with him after five people had their way with him...

It was his fault. And only his fault.

Akito knew he had to make things right, so he'd just bite his teeth together and bear it if Rui wanted to touch him – he owed as much to his boyfriend. He squeezed his eyes shut and expected the strong arms to envelop him, but it never happened. Instead, he heard Rui's footsteps as the taller male moved to leave the room.

“I'm sorry, Akito.”, the purple-haired male said, opening the door to leave. “I'll see you later, okay?”

And like that, he was gone, leaving an absolutely stunned Akito behind. The redhead began to cry as he curled up into a ball once more, his brain feeding him the answers to questions Akito didn't even know he had.

You're filthy.

You're worthless.

He doesn't love you any more.

It's all your fault.

And Akito knew that it was all true. Not only did he just beg another man for something in exchange for 'anything he wanted', but he lied to Rui and worst of all, he protected the people that did this to him. Didn't that mean he wanted it?

Fucking slut.

The redhead laid down again and closed his eyes, letting out a shaky exhale. In the end, that's all he was, wasn't he? And now Rui wanted to break up with him for it, but pitied him enough not to say it directly. Why else would he leave like that? This time Akito even said that Rui could hug him if he wanted, but that never happened. So the logical conclusion was that Rui didn't even want to hug him.

And Akito was right to think that Rui wouldn't come to visit any more. Even after he got the okay to go home from the doctor and his family picked him up, Rui didn't visit him. Neither for the rest of Saturday nor on Sunday. And just like that, Akito had to make a decision. He knew that the video would definitely get released if he didn't come to school on Monday, but at the same time, the doctor forbid him from going out or exercising too much and with how dizzy he felt most of the time because of his concussion, Akito knew he shouldn't disobey the doctor's orders.

But at the same time, he also knew that the video would put the reputation of everyone in his group in jeopardy. His thumb hovered over the call button as he stared at the name of the team captain in his contact list and he suddenly felt numb all over again. His thumb pressed down and he dialed the cursed number, waiting for him to pick up.

“Look who's calling”, a snarky voice on the other end spoke. “How can I help our favorite slut? You better not be thinking of canceling on us tomorrow – we got big plans for you.”

“Actually, I was...”, Akito said, sighing in defeat. “My leg is broken, so I can't really walk properly and-”

“Do I look like I give a damn? Listen. You either come to the gym after school and do as we say or the video gets uploaded – simple as that.”

“But I---”

The call ended abruptly, leaving Akito no other chance to explain himself or find more excuses. There was really no way out of this, huh? The redhead briefly considered calling Rui, but shook his head and put the phone away again. After all, what would Rui even do? It's not like Akito could just casually give out the names of the people who did this...

Besides, would Rui even care? Honestly, Akito doubted that.

Rui promised to be there for him, but if he did, where was he now? Why hasn't he even texted him about his day at the very least? Was Rui really this sick of him?

If that was the case, then the present he gave his boyfriend was even more useless than he initially thought. After all, why would Rui want something that was entirely about a person he was sick of?

Akito pulled the blanket tighter around himself and closed his eyes, deciding to get the much needed rest. He'd skip school tomorrow and only go after lessons have ended – he needed every bit of energy he could get before he inevitably had to face the people that practically owned his life by now.

Chapter Text

Rui worked tirelessly all through the weekend and enlisted the help of a person he got to know during his programming class for his plan to work. He knew the soccer club practiced before school, so he disguised himself and made his way over to the gym where his friend was already setting everything in motion.

“Good morning!”, Rui's friend called out to the soccer club, holding out a signature sheet. “I'm from Wonder Electronics, here to set up a WiFi connection at your school. Would you mind testing out the router before it goes live for the rest of the students?”

“A WiFi at our school? Neat!”, a team member said, signing his name under the tester list.

The team captain frowned and looked at the foreign man, hesitant to put his name on the list that had been empty when presented to them. “Why are we the first ones to test this thing out?”

“Simple, you're the first students here, so I thought you'd be interested in testing the connection speed before anyone else.”, the man said, shrugging a little. “And I need multiple devices to be connected to the network to be able to accurately analyze the speed changes.”

“I see.”, the team captain said, still seeming unconvinced about the whole thing. And yet, he signed his name on the sheet, pulling out his cellphone. “So...'Kamiyama Free WiFi' is the router I need to connect my phone to?”

“Yes...a little uninspired for the name, but the headmaster insisted that it would be simpler for everyone to find it like this.”

One after another, the soccer club members signed their names and connected their cell phones to the router which immediately allowed Rui to access the data on their phones. Six of the members seemed to have no suspicious things on their phone. One had the video that Akito mentioned as their most recent file, so Rui swiftly made a duplicate of that on the laptop he had brought with him before deleting it from the guy's phone...and then there was the group chat these five remaining members had together.

Even just briefly glancing over it made Rui's blood boil.

Imagine that, he tried to cancel on me because of a broken leg.

Oh, boo hoo. He can use crutches or something, he should know better than to cancel on us.

Well, I think he'll show tomorrow – either that or we release the video.

I'd love to upload it now – that bitch bit my tongue and left a bruise on my face with his stupid bag.

Patience. Let's have our fun with him for a while first.

Right...He's so obedient when his stupid music career is threatened.

Rui took a deep breath and copied all the chat data to his computer, just so he could pull more damning evidence from it later. These guys looked stupid enough to have planned the attack in the group chat as well, so if he had it in written form that would provide him with some really great material against these guys.

He continued copying data from the cell phones that were connected to the router he specifically designed for this day, he would analyze everything in detail later. After he was done, he gave his college friend a signal from the rooftop he was on.

“Is everything working fine?”, the man asked the soccer team, after which they all nodded.

“That's some high speed internet considering it's free! Our school is the best!”, one of the guys cheered, making the college student smirk darkly and adjust the baseball cap that was obscuring most of his face.

“Very good. I'll go make arrangements with the headmaster then. Thank you for your time.”

And with that, the man left and collected the router, leaving the school grounds together with Rui who wore a brown wig and a similar fake electrician uniform. Only after they were far away from the school did Rui's friend talk again.

“Are you sure we got the right people? They were so gullible that it's hard to believe they would orchestrate something so dastardly.”

“Oh believe me, we got a bingo.”, Rui nodded, patting his laptop case. “All the evidence is right here. And with the help of your signature list, I have the bastards' names too.”

“You're welcome. I hope it helps you with reporting them to the police.”

Rui's gaze darkened. The police? That would be a much too mild punishment for what these five have done to Akito. He would make sure to make their lives absolute hell...Still, he didn't want anyone to know about his plans, so he simply replied “Yes...it will definitely help me a lot.”

And so, another day had passed without Rui going to see Akito – too busy analyzing the files he obtained to actually think about anything else.

Akito somehow made it in time to the school. His good leg was shaking the whole way there, making it difficult to balance on the crutches. More than that, his head ached with an indescribable intensity and his vision was blurry. Still, he somehow made it to the dreaded gym and with a heavy heart, he tried the door.

Nothing .

It was locked, that was strange. Wasn't he specifically called here by these people? If so, then why weren't they here?

Akito looked around, not finding a sign of anyone around the gym. So, was this all just a prank to make him walk all the way over here despite his injuries? Sure, that was cruel to have an injured person walk all the way here for nothing and Akito was mad he let himself be manipulated like this...but he also felt relieved. He honestly didn't think he could take any more of this, so the soccer team being absent was a real blessing.

The redhead turned away and began making his way to the courtyard, only to have his arm grabbed by someone, making Akito stumble and fall to the ground.

“What--”, Akito began, only to be cut off by a fist flying straight in his face.

“You told someone, didn't you?! You fucking bitch, I knew I should have leaked the video straight away!”

Akito's mind caught up to the situation just as a second punch connected with his cheek. This was the team captain! What did he mean by that? “W-Wait, I swear I haven't told anyone! Why do you even think that?”

The man that was sitting on his torso hissed and grabbed Akito's collar, pulling him up a little. “Yeah? Then how do you explain that suddenly some files went missing from my phone?! It was your fucking boyfriend Kamishiro, wasn't it?”

Wait...Rui actually went out of his way to deal with the soccer team himself? That was kind of sweet, but at the same time the thought terrified Akito. Just how much did Rui know? And for that matter, did the team members already upload the video?

“I...Rui did something to you?”, the redhead asked in a daze, shaking his head as he realized he voiced that thought. That really sounded a little too hopeful and would inevitably only anger the man sitting on top of him even more. “I-I didn't tell him anything! If I did, why would I even come to school now like we had agreed?”

“You fucking--”, the team captain yelled out in pure rage and was about to punch Akito again. His fist was already high in the air when a third voice resounded through the otherwise empty lot.

“That's quite enough.”, Toya stepped in and pushed the team leader off of his friend. “I thought I had to scold Akito for missing an entire day of school, but I see now that it won't be necessary.”

“Aoyagi is in on this too, huh? You really are a slut, Akito.”, the man hissed as he landed on his butt ever so unfashionably. “Mark my words, you bastard. You'll regret the day you messed with us. Show your face around us again and you're dead meat!”

With that, the soccer team captain scrambled to his feet and dashed away, leaving a confused Toya and a terrified Akito behind. The taller of the two wanted to ask what that was about, but when he saw his friend shake in fear, he realized that was neither the time nor the place.

“Let's get you somewhere safe, Akito.”, the dark-haired male said, tapping on the song that would bring the two of them to Sekai.

Akito didn't stop shaking even when the scenery around them changed, realizing what those words meant. It was too late, the video would get released and everyone would hate him. Toya...Toya spent so much time convincing his father to pursue this dream with him and now because of Akito it was all in ruins. Hell, if enough people got wind of this, that might even affect Ken-san's reputation for always letting them practice in his locale.

“Toya, I'm sorry...”, he forced out as he sat on the concrete ground of the street sekai, pulling his healthy leg up to his chest.

He couldn't face his partner like this, he couldn't face any of the other members like this. He really wanted to just get back out, but that would be even more shameful since he'd just run away from his responsibilities. His responsibilities to see that Vivid Bad Squad thrived without him, to take the sole blame for what happened without pulling the others down with him.

Toya looked on in confusion as his partner began crumbling down more and more. What happened to him? The cast on his leg and the bandages around his head were signs that something had transpired this weekend and the way the soccer team captain pummeled down on Akito and yelled at him made the dark-haired male realize that it might be something bigger than he thought, but what was it exactly...?

He didn't get to hold this thought for long as An and Kohane appeared next to him, cheerful as usual.

“Hey guys! Sorry we're late, but--”, An interrupted herself as she noticed the redhead simply sit there and break down in the middle of the street. “Akito, are you okay?”

She wanted to slap herself for that question because obviously Akito wasn't okay at all. Not only was he hurt physically, but the tears streaming down his cheeks and making the pavement underneath him wet were a sign that he was not okay mentally either.

Not answering her question, Akito looked up to the two girls with pure anguish written all over his features. “I'm so sorry...Please forgive me, it's all my fault.”

An and Kohane exchanged a puzzled look, after which the blond girl stepped closer and put a hand on Akito's shoulder, but withdrew it just as quickly when she saw the redhead flinch under her touch.

“I don't know what you're apologizing for, but it'll be fine! W-We'll work something out together, like we always do, okay?”, Kohane tried reassuring their friend, only to have Akito shake his head vigorously as more tears streamed down his face.

“Nothing is okay!”, he yelled at the three, but immediately caught himself and continued in a softer tone. “I ruined your reputation, because of me, you are...”

He didn't get to finish that sentence as another figure stepped forward and with just a small touch made Akito disappear to the real world again. The three people surrounding Akito stood there in shock for a moment as they saw their friend disappear on the spot like that. Toya was the first to snap out of his stupor.

“Hey, Miku! What do you think you're doing?”, the dark-haired male got genuinely mad for what felt like the first time in forever, glaring daggers at the said girl.

Miku's gaze sharpened and she shook her head like Akito's expulsion couldn't be helped. “Sekai are born from feelings and exist to nurture them. Akito's feelings changed – he doesn't share the same dream as you three do any more.”

“Huh?”, An's eyes widened and she stomped her foot. “You could have at the very least let him finish his sentence! He was about to tell us what's been bothering him!”

“Yeah...also what do you mean he doesn't share the same dream?”, Kohane pressed on, clasping her hands together as the memories of how passionate Akito was about his singing flashed through her mind. “He was the most determined to see this through!”

“Well, his destructive feelings were putting this Sekai in peril.”, Miku explained and turned her back to the three. “Right now, he doesn't belong here...his feelings are extremely twisted. I have banned him from re-entering this Sekai and I think it's best if you three give up on seeing him back here too.”

An was seething upon hearing that and turned to Toya, looking at him pointedly. “You have entered together with Akito, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you should drop out somewhere close to him when you exit.”, she grabbed Toya by the shoulders and gave him a desperate look. “Go and see what's wrong – we clearly can't leave him like that! I will join you later, just text me where you--”

Kohane's phone buzzed in her hand before An finished her sentence and the girl tapped on the notification, immediately shrieking in horror and tossing her phone aside. That loud scream drowned out whatever An was about to say and interrupted the taller girl. Kohane only saw about two seconds of the video that began playing, but she knew she couldn't watch more. Suddenly it made sense why Akito was so vulnerable and apologetic. Suddenly it made sense why the redhead didn't want to continue chasing his dream...

Akito probably didn't want to do anything any more after going through this.

Toya and An glanced down at the discarded device when their friend didn't elaborate on what made her scream like that and their faces turned pale when they saw the screen. This was horrible – to think that people like this went to the same school as them. To think that Akito had helped those people time and time again only to get this in return...

This was just inhumane!

“I'm going after him.”, Toya said, fumbling with his phone to leave the Sekai.

Chapter Text

Akito was long gone by the time Toya made it to the real world. When he saw the notifications slowly flooding his phone, he instantly knew what was up and he just wanted to run and hide. It was too late to go back now, too late to try and beg the soccer team to hold off on uploading the video...

It was all ruined.

[The_Baddest_Dog]: Wait, is this real?

[VividsBest]: Looks like it, That's @ShinonomeAkito, isn't it?

[Colorful]: Idiot, don't tag him in this!

[The_Baddest_Dog]: Doesn't he have a boyfriend? Wonder what his thoughts on this are...

The redhead couldn't read past that. It was enough. He had enough. There was nothing more he wanted to do right now, nothing he wanted to live for. He made his way home, glad that both his parents didn't even seem to notice him return and Ena wasn't at home with her college courses running until late into the evening. This way nobody would try and stop him or tell him any lies about how everything would work out.

Nothing was going to work out when this video was circulating out there. Nothing would be okay any more.

He carefully closed the door to his room as soon as he was inside, like nobody would see and judge him if he just shut the rest of the world out.

This was fine, right? It's not like anyone would be sad over his death.

Akito slumped forward and laughed humorlessly, this was just the bitter, painful truth, but he didn't even feel like crying any more. It was like all his emotions were gone, a pleasant numbness taking over his body. This was fine – the less real this whole situation felt, the easier it would be to actually commit to his plan.

As he stood there with his head pressed against the doorframe he could hear his parents arguing downstairs and he heard his name fall, so he listened closer for a moment. What made them argue over him? Did they also see the video and realize he lied to them about simply 'falling down'?

“You can't just deny how badly he's hurt!”, Akito heard his mother say “He needs all the rest he can get now so he can recover properly. His head needs to heal or he might suffer lasting damage!”

The gruff voice of his father didn't seem too impressed with how soft his wife was. “But you need to realize that the more school days he'll miss, the harder it will be for him to get back on track.”

“I know, but--”

Once again, the deep voice cut her off. “Come on, if he can't enroll in college, he'll just end up like those useless people you see on TV! You don't want our son to be useless, do you?”

Useless.

Akito had to laugh even harder at how pathetic he was. Even his own family had given up on him, huh?

Then he shouldn't worry about anyone being sad over his suicide, right?

Sure, he felt somewhat bad that his parents would have to deal with his corpse, but at the very least they'd have one less burden to carry. And his sister was happy at her art university, so she wouldn't even notice him being gone. Maybe when he died, mom and dad could support Ena more financially since they wouldn't have to save up for his college funds any more.

Everything would be better if he just died. The members of Vivid Bad Squad would avoid all bad publicity as well. Sure, it might take a little while for the media to calm down, but everything would turn out perfect in the end.

Nobody needed him any more.

The redhead let himself fall down to the bed and took the container of painkillers that the doctor had prescribed him from the nightstand, examining the outside of it. These were quite strong, so taking a handful of those would undoubtedly kill him, right?

His mind briefly wandered to Rui and his heart clenched painfully, but he quickly shook it off.

Rui wouldn't care if he was gone. He hasn't gotten even a single text in these past three days, so Akito killing himself would just spare Rui the burden of having to awkwardly break up with him, right? He was tainted and broken now, Rui didn't need someone like that by his side. And even if the purple-haired male didn't say it, his actions proved just that.

Besides, even if Rui still loved him now, he'd definitely stop once he saw the video.

Did Rui even know how many people have had their way with him? Would he even care or did it suffice that someone else laid their hands on him?

Whatever, it didn't matter any more...

Akito sat up again to stop this useless train of thought and grabbed his water bottle, popping in one pill after the next and washing them all down. He didn't know precisely how many he had swallowed, but his gut told him it should be enough, so for once he listened to it and just drank one more swig of water, laying down on the bed and closing his eyes as he waited for death to take him.

He could faintly hear the doorbell ringing, then his cellphone buzzing...but he didn't care about any of it as he fell into a deep slumber, the welcoming darkness taking Akito into its embrace.

Rui thoroughly read through all the files and pulled his hair in frustration. These crafty bastards really knew how to rile him up. They had planned this months in advance, just as soon as he graduated. Hell, even before that there were enough mentions of harming Akito in some way.

This was not just premeditated, this was a nasty plot two years in the making. Just as soon as he and Akito began dating did those bastards begin to talk about getting to him through Akito.

And all that just because of some silly pranks Rui pulled on them for ruining the planter box he spent so much time working on. Well, that and some stupid personal shit that Rui honestly wasn't sure even had to do anything with him.

But that was besides the point. He needed to look for some ways to get back at them for it. He needed to make sure they wouldn't even dare to look at Akito, let alone touch him or hit him. Maybe he should take a look at their social media pages, surely they put some juicy information about their fears on there?

He browsed through the pages until night fell, searching every nook and cranny of the sites for anything he could use. And he found just what he was looking for. One of them was scared of bugs, so that was an easy task considering how much he teased Tsukasa with those. Another one was scared of snakes and Rui knew he shouldn't have a problem finding a live snake.

As for the other three, he decided to take a more direct approach since he couldn't find any specific fears. After all, every human was scared of death, right?

Thus, Rui began crafting the devices he'd need, knowing he had to be quick if he wanted to sneak them inside the school before the sun rose again.

He sauntered and welded the metal parts together before putting them into a bag and sneaking that bag inside the school. He once again broke in with his lockpicking skills, putting the devices into the shoe lockers of the five sportsmen and attaching the mechanism to the handle. This would definitely give these bastards a wake-up call to be zapped like that

After he was done, he went to their respective classrooms and wrote down a special message on the chalkboard.

“I know what you've done.” - followed by the name of each student that had wronged Akito.

Rui knew this was the long and tedious way to go about this, he could just straight out write 'rapist' on the desks of these five, but he wanted them to slowly go insane instead of coming forward with his claims. He would slowly break these bastards from the inside out, make them tremble in fear just like they did to Akito.

They would pay, no matter what.

He quickly made his way back out of the school after making sure everything was properly locked like he had never been there. He wouldn't stop tormenting those people no matter what. Maybe next time he'd just go straight to their homes and deliver some special mail?

Rui grinned to himself as he went back home, many ideas forming in his head on how to deal with these people. He would definitely be busy for the next few weeks, but he couldn't wait to share the results with Akito when all of this was done.

Chapter Text

Akito opened his eyes, seeing white. White walls, white ceiling...the covers on his bed were also a pure white color. Did he actually die and go to heaven? Hah, as if. He didn't deserve such a luxury. Then, what was going on?

He looked around the room some more, noticing Ena sitting a little ways off, her long brown hair gently swaying in the breeze that came from an open window. She was sketching something on a notepad, unaware of her brother's gaze yet.

Everything just felt so surreal to Akito, like he was dreaming. Or was the numbness coming from all those painkillers he swallowed? He honestly didn't know...

The redhead cast his gaze upwards, noticing an IV drip that seemed to connect to his right arm and when he clenched and unclenched his fist he felt that indeed, there was a needle going straight to his vein.

So he didn't die and was instead in the hospital again, huh? Talk about worst possible outcome. And the fact that Ena was here meant that his sister knew what he did. He hoped she wouldn't confront him about it-

“Akito, are you awake?”, the brunette asked in a soft voice, calling her brother's attention to herself.

The redhead gave an affirming hum, tilting his head to meet Ena's gaze. “How long have I been out?”

“A little over 34 hours now, it's Wednesday morning...”

Akito gave another hum and then went silent. Had Ena been here the entire time? Did their parents also come by? Did anyone else know he tried to commit suicide?

“You know, if there's something bothering you, you can always talk to me, right?”, the brunette continued, her gaze shifting to avoid that of her brother.

She knew what was up, after all that damned video was pretty much viral by now and so many people had asked her if Akito was okay, if he needed anything...and yet the only one that kept quiet about it all was Akito himself. Even after her careful nudge, the redhead acted like everything was okay.

“Where did that come from? I'm fine.”, he said sharply, turning around in his bed so he could avoid those burning hazel eyes. She didn't need to know.

Like hell you are! - is what Ena would have liked to say, but she knew yelling wouldn't do Akito any good in his state.

“Are you sure? You tried to--”, Ena tried, but couldn't finish that sentence. She didn't want to face the reality of what had really happened even if she saw it with her own eyes.

After coming home from her university courses on Monday, she heard their parents yell to each other about Akito's future, so she wanted to go see if her brother was alright, but she didn't expect to stumble onto such a scene. A half-empty pill bottle that had fallen over on the bedside table and her brother's lifeless body splayed out on the mattress were deeply burned into Ena's brain, the image haunting her nightmares these last two days.

She refused to believe it at first, but when she tried to wake her brother up and he wouldn't respond, she immediately called an ambulance.

Still, despite seeing all of that first-hand, it was hard for her to bring herself to say these five words, like saying them out loud would shatter Akito into pieces.

You tried to commit suicide.

That wasn't something she wanted to confront her brother with when he was this fragile, but at the same time, she wanted to scream at him for how much of an idiot he was. There was no need to put up a strong front around her, she would be there for him – those were all things that laid on the tip of Ena's tongue, but never left her lips. Instead, all she could muster was a pathetic whine.

“I should have read the instructions more carefully, but my leg hurt so much, so I took too many pills.”, Akito said in a finalizing tone, still closing off his heart to his sister. There was no way she didn't know what was up and he was fully aware of it. Still, he avoided the topic to let her know he didn't want to talk about it even if she brought it up.

Ena hiccuped as tears began welling up in her eyes, but she understood her brother perfectly.

“You silly goose.”, she forced out, smiling through the tears. If this was what Akito wanted for now, she would play along. “Be careful next time, okay?”

Akito couldn't help a smile of his own. His sister was far too good to him – she always was. His heart gave a painful twinge as he realized that Ena began crying, but he couldn't bring himself to apologize for it either.

After all, there was no excuse for him trying to do something so selfish.

More days passed and Toya and Tsukasa came by to visit, but were unable to get anything out of Akito either. The redhead wouldn't admit it when they confronted him about his suicide attempt, using the same excuse of accidentally taking too many pills when his leg began hurting. And just like that, he successfully shut everyone out.

He didn't reply to messages any more, he didn't allow visitors when he got the okay to get home and honestly for a while it was liberating to just not feel anything. He didn't feel the pain from his injuries, he didn't feel cold when he left his window open overnight, he didn't feel hungry, he didn't even feel the desire to do anything, simply lying in bed and wasting away his days.

But the days turned into weeks and Akito began feeling terrified. What if he would never feel anything again, just living his life in a daze, like he wasn't even really there?

Akito took out his phone and ignored the array of unread notifications he had – none of which were from Rui – and began searching for the song to enter the street Sekai. Maybe Meiko could help him with some advice or at the very least with some liquor to drown out his worries now that he was old enough to drink.

It wasn't there any more.

No, that couldn't be...was he not welcome there any more? Then again, he hadn't visited ever since the day Toya brought him in and he hasn't contacted any of the group members either, so it was no wonder he wasn't welcome or wanted any more.

As he scrolled through his music list though, he noticed a different odd song – he didn't remember putting it there. The title didn't even ring a bell when Akito thought back to browsing new releases at the music shop...

“Composing the Future”, huh? That was certainly new.

The redhead pressed play on this mysterious song and immediately the familiar feeling of being transported to Sekai overtook him. He squeezed his eyes shut at the blinding light – his eyes weren't used to this much brightness ever since he stopped going outside. Only when the red glare beneath his closed eyelids subsided did Akito open his eyes again.

Grey sky, reflective floor as if he was walking on water...and nothing else. This world was absolutely empty and silent, as if mirroring Akito's current state with perfect accuracy. The redhead took a few steps forward, his steps echoing through the empty space as he looked around for any landmarks, but didn't find any. There were a few broken pieces of...something lying around here and there, but nothing else. And the world didn't seem to have any bounds either, wherever Akito looked, it was just gray, gray and even more gray.

He sat down on a piece of rubble and looked down into his own reflection, looking into the dull, lifeless eyes that stared back at him. His hair has gotten longer too, but then again, it always grew quickly. The ends of his hair reached down to his shoulders now and the usually spiky and wild hair at the top was now also laying flat, the strands becoming too long to properly spring upwards.

He honestly looked more androgynous now, especially with his body becoming thinner as he continued to skip out on meals.

Fucking slut.

Akito felt like his own reflection had said that to him, but honestly even that didn't elicit any sort of response from him. He simply maintained eye contact with the mirror image, his blank expression staring right back at him as he sat there like a doll that had been placed on the shelf and forgotten.

He didn't know why he could enter this Sekai or for what reason, but he kind of liked it here. He could isolate himself from everyone for as long as his phone charge would last, without getting yelled at by his parents to get it together, without Ena worriedly telling him to finally eat something.

Without his friends reaching out to him only to be ignored again. Why did they even bother with him any more? They should just give up on Akito like he did on himself – it would be easier for everyone that way.

But they didn't, still clinging to him like letting him go would make him disappear...

And Akito knew it probably would. After all, he already tried to kill himself once, what's to say he wouldn't try it a second time?

Who's to say he shouldn't try it again?

As all these thoughts drifted through his mind, hours passed and Akito still hasn't moved from the spot.

Somewhere else in the same Sekai though, four people were having a chat together with Miku.

“So, the artwork is still not done yet?”, Mafuyu asked, tilting her head to the side. “Then we'll have to push the release date of the video back by a few weeks...”

“Well, excuuuse me! I am a full-fledged college student now, so my time isn't as abundant as it was before.”, Ena huffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest, but then her standoffish facade fell and she looked aside. “Besides, I haven't been able to focus much lately...”

Kanade shook her head. She knew it has been hard on Ena with everything happening in her family right now. She wasn't fully aware of the situation, but knew just enough to understand the delay. “It's all fine, please don't push yourself. We can put up some tracks without visuals in the meantime.”

“Ain't that great, Ena?”, Mizuki asked in a teasing tone, trying to cheer the brunette up. “You get some slack, so go and make us proud with your art!”

“You don't need to tell me twice! I'll show everyone who doubted me just how great of an artist I can be!

Miku smiled softly and nodded. “And I will be here...if you ever feel like singing together.”

“You bet I'll take you up on that, sometimes singing is a great way to get motivation back.”, Ena agreed and looked to the virtual singer. “Thank you Miku. Do you think Rin would also be up for it?”

The silver-haired virtual singer just stood there, staring off into the distance blankly before turning her back to the four, like she had seen someone in the distance. A few moments passed with Miku just staring off into space before she finally spoke up.

“Someone's here....”, she finally elaborated on her behavior, pointing to where she had been looking. “A man...”

“A man?”, Kanade asked in shock.

Who could it be? This Sekai was only visited by them and the virtual singers and all the singers that had appeared here so far were female, so...

“Maybe Kaito-san or Len-san wanted to see this world too?”, Mizuki suggested, only to have Miku shake her head.

“A human...wanting to disappear.”

Ena's heart tightened as she heard that. A man that wanted to disappear? No, that was still too vague to point to it being Akito. Still, she couldn't shake the dreadful feeling she had, so she simply pushed past Miku and ran towards where she had pointed, her friends following her closely.

“Ena, what gives? Why are you suddenly running like that?!”, Mizuki protested, but seeing the desperate look on her face, it was all clear.

Mafuyu looked around for a sign of any person that had stumbled into this Sekai, spotting a lone figure sitting in the distance. She pointed to it as they got closer. “...Someone you know?”

Mizuki gasped as they realized who was sitting there. That was clearly Akito! Sure, the hair was a little longer than usual, but...

“Akito...”, Ena tried carefully, making her brother jump.

The redhead turned to look at the four standing there, with Miku slowly catching up with them. He forced a smile to his lips and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Sorry, I didn't know it was your Sekai. I'll get out now.”

“Wait, you don't have to leave!”, Ena offered, but it was too late, her brother had already tapped on his phone, disappearing before she could say anything else.

Kanade looked at her compassionately, clutching the fabric of her jersey. She hoped she was wrong with her assumption, but.. “Was that...your brother?”

“Yeah...my younger brother, Akito...”, the brunette forced out, biting her lip to force back tears. Her shoulders shook in genuine frustration and now that Akito couldn't hear her, she could finally scream out what had been eating her up inside all this time. “If he's hurting so much, why won't he say anything?! Why does he keep pretending that everything's fine?!”

Mizuki tried to calm Ena down. “H-hold on, we don't even know if he really wants to disappear yet, maybe Miku misinterpreted something..! R-right, Miku?”

The virtual singer shook her head. “He definitely...wants that. The feelings within him...are even more hopeless than those when I first met Mafuyu.”

“No way...”, Mizuki gasped, worriedly looking at Ena, only to have her shake her head.

“I'll be fine.”, she said, now even more determined to work on more songs with this group. “Kanade, I hate to ask this of you, but...”

The silver-haired girl smiled in complete understanding and nodded. “Leave it to me. I'll make a song that will save him for sure. But for that, we all have to work together.”

Chapter Text

Akito was glad his sister didn't confront him about getting into her Sekai or anything related to that. Hell, he didn't even know why he was able to go there, it wasn't formed from his feelings, so he shouldn't be there...

But it matched his current state so perfectly.

And yet this pure nothingness that had been comforting so far began to suffocate him, he was sick of feeling like he was just watching his body move through life from afar. He was sick of not even feeling anything when his parents once again came to lecture him about how lazy he had become.

Not that they were wrong. Akito's head and leg have healed completely now that it had almost been a month since the attack. He could feasibly go back to school considering his physical state and yet he refused.

Why did he refuse again? He couldn't even remember any more...

Everything felt like it was covered in thick fog and his instincts told him not to look for the answer, warning him of a danger that lurked just beneath the numbness.

Just stay at home, in your room. It's safe here, you don't need anything else.

It was true – Akito felt safe with the fog covering his mind, he felt safe when ignoring the messages his friends sent him since he knew he'd be reminded of something gruesome if he actually dug deeper. He knew he should just keep this state up, just give in to the feeling of living in a dream. He had his safe space, he should just keep it instead of prodding at things that might make him revert to crying every day instead.

But what if he wouldn't feel anything ever again? Was that fine, to just be wasting away like this without any sense of purpose or any motivation?

Akito let out a shaky sigh, getting up from the bed. He knew he was about to do something stupid again. Ena would yell at him if she noticed, but...He just wanted to feel something again, anything other than this cotton-like feeling in his limbs.

Right now, he really felt like a lifeless doll, just making his way to the bathroom on autopilot, led by someone pulling the strings.

...He was about to cut those strings off.

Akito moved over to the sink, seeing his father's old razor blade. He hadn't used it in some time and it showed with the rusty spots on the thin piece of metal that had been long replaced by a new blade, but for some reason it had never been thrown away.

The redhead never felt more emotionally connected to an object ever before.

After all, he was just like this. Stained, broken...and yet never fully abandoned.

Why did the people around him care so much when all he wanted was to be tossed aside so he could waste away in peace? So nobody would stop him when he inevitably tried to take his life again...

The redhead rolled his sleeve up, pinching the metal plate between his fingers as he stared at his milky skin. For a moment, a vision of an array of bruises flashed on the unmarred skin and Akito suddenly felt dizzy. His mind shut down completely to prevent the vivid memory of those hands, lips, teeth to creep back into Akito's head and the redhead began blankly slicing at his own skin, as if to carve out those phantom bruises forever. The blade wasn't very sharp any more, so it stung when he dragged it across his wrist – but that was what he wanted, right?

He finally felt something again as he saw those crimson drops roll down into his palm and drip down onto the clean white porcelain of the sink. It was mesmerizing and the pain that spread through his wrist made Akito feel alive again.

He smiled at his tired reflection in the mirror and the smile he got in return made the redhead feel like it was the right thing to do. It was almost like his reflection approved of his actions, telling him to go on ahead, cut more, cut deeper...

And so Akito did, digging the blade into his flesh where it wouldn't harm any major arteries, watching more blood pool in the sink before it slid down the drain. He put the blade away as he reached where his hoodie was bunched up at his elbow, not wanting to stain his clothing. Ena would notice it if he left any mess behind and he didn't want to worry her unnecessarily. He honestly didn't feel like he was doing something wrong here.

After all, how could this be bad when it made him feel so alive?

The redhead turned on the faucet, carefully sliding his injured arm under the running water. The warm water burned as it hit his fresh cuts, adding to the almost euphoric sensation he had. Finally, the emptiness was gone. He relished in this feeling for a while, simply closing his eyes and letting the water run until it wasn't tinted red any more.

He took out the first aid kit from the bathroom cabinet and carefully bandaged up his cuts before cleaning the sink.

Once he was sure there were no traces left, he pocketed the razor blade and went back to his room like nothing happened.

He wasn't planning on doing this every day or anything since digging his fingers into the cuts gave him a similar rush...but he knew that he'd have to do this every now and then, whenever the wounds would inevitably heal.

He began talking to his sister more often again too, though only about some trivial things. Whenever the topic got too serious, he'd shut down again. Luckily Ena realized that after a few times of them speaking to each other and would be careful to only talk about light topics instead, like how her art major was going or which cute dresses she'd wear for her date with Mizuki.

Akito honestly paid only half a mind to all that, but he was glad Ena seemed so chipper. He was happy she enjoyed living her life, it made the redhead feel like he wasn't as much of a burden as he initially thought or at the very least not as much of a burden as their parents made him out to be.

Whenever Ena would leave for college, Akito would quickly disappear into the bathroom again, indulging in his new-found addiction. Some part of him still screamed that it was wrong, that his relatives would definitely yell at him and make him stop if they found out...

But another part of Akito thought that the danger of being found out was what made this whole experience even more exciting. He felt a rush of euphoria with every cut he made, listening to footsteps of his parents every time he pressed the blade to his skin. When he would hear that they were still far away, he would slice, only to listen closer again when he prepared for another cut.

The redhead didn't know what it was that made him forget the world around him when he made the cut, but every time he sliced through a fresh patch of skin, it was like deafening music blared in his ears, as if his own body made the music.

Or perhaps he was misinterpreting the voice of conscience that screamed and wailed for him to stop?

Akito shook his head as he rinsed his arm like he had done so many times before already. How long has it been since he started now? It had to be about two or three weeks since his hair had grown past his shoulders now and Akito had to keep it in a ponytail to prevent it from obscuring his vision. The blond strand of hair that he had kept in his fringe has also grown way past his cheekbones now and was in desperate need of a refresher.

But that was also all meaningless trifle – who would even see him if he shut everyone out and shut himself in?

Akito carefully bandaged his arm again, cleaning everything up meticulously like it had become some sort of ritual by now. When he went to clean the blade he noticed that the rust had spread, staining most of the blade now. The outer edge even began peeling as the steel couldn't withstand the damage any more.

The redhead felt betrayed. Wasn't this supposed to be just like him – stained, but still holding on to his life? Why did the blade break so easily?

Despite the brittle state the metal was in, Akito still pocketed the blade and finished his cleanup, a deep crease forming between his eyebrows. He didn't like it, not one bit. This blade had become something akin to a companion to him, something that prevented him from slipping into a state of utter numbness again and yet it was about to break apart and leave him to his own devices.

Then again, Rui also--

“Akito, when you're done in there, come downstairs!”, a knock on the bathroom door interrupted the redhead's thoughts and his whole frame stiffened.

This was his father's voice...and from the sound of it, he wanted to talk about something very serious. Akito didn't want to talk to this man, he was tired of getting chewed out for his laziness and uselessness. And most of all, he was tired of this fog coming back whenever his parents spoke to him.

Still, he knew better than to decline, so he simply pulled down his sleeves to hide the bandages and opened the door, looking at the taller man expectantly. “Can't you just say what you need to say right here?”

“No can do. Your mother and I need to have a chat with you.”, the man insisted, leading the way down into the kitchen.

So it wasn't simply a serious matter, it was utterly grave.

Every step down the stairs echoed inside Akito's mind like a toll of a bell announcing his end. Every inch he got closer to the kitchen where his mother sat at the table expectantly painfully tied around his chest and made breathing harder on Akito. Why wouldn't the numbness take over like it usually did? Was there still too much euphoria coursing through his nervous system to be able to tune out these harsh words like he always could?

“Sit down.”, the older man said curtly, sitting next to his wife and leaving Akito no choice but to sit across from them.

He felt like a prisoner about to be sentenced to death as he sat there and looked at the two. He didn't dare speak up, his father looked really angry and even his mother's face was stiff and her eyes were unusually cold.

“It's been almost two months now since your...”, the woman paused as she looked around for a fitting word, but not finding any, she just vaguely gestured to Akito. “...incident.”

The father nodded. “That's almost two months of you missing school and we decided it's time to intervene.”

Both his parents looked at him with such cold eyes that the redhead couldn't help a cold shiver running down his spine. Why did they make it out to be his fault? It's not like he could go back when they---

Wait, why couldn't he go back again?

“The doctor told us what happened, so we understand it must have been hard on you.”, his mother said, trying to give their son at least a tiny bit of comfort.

Akito's father however only shook his head. “But you should have known something like that would happen when you were so openly gay with Kamishiro-san.”, he said pointedly, his eyes burning in anger. “So since you should have been prepared to take responsibility, I see no reason to keep treating you any differently than I treat your sister.”

It was his fault?

Right. Everything was his fault after all...

The memories Akito tried so hard to suppress began resurfacing and tears rolled down his cheeks as he blankly stared at the light wood of the dining table. He didn't want to listen anymore, he knew he wasn't going to like what his father said.

“You have left me no choice.”, the man said like he was the one falling apart. “You either go back to school on Monday or you pack your things and leave this house this instant. You're an adult now, it's about time you start acting like one!”

And suddenly the whole world deleted itself for Akito.

Chapter Text

Akito's frame shook and he bit his lip. Go back to school? Go back to where these people were?

Akito wrapped his arms around himself and gripped onto his upper arms, squeezing hard. His tears never stopped and his breathing quickened as what happened two months ago began vividly playing back in his mind. Those hands grabbing onto him, those voices calling him a good boy for taking all of the abuse...

He gasped frantically as he saw an arm reach out to him.

No, please stay away! Don't touch me!

The hand that came towards him was swiftly slapped away, but he only winced when he realized what he just did. Resisting only made everything hurt more, so he should shut his mouth and obey. He should do as those people told him to or they would make him suffer. Now two hands extended towards him, grabbing him hard by the shoulders, fingers digging into his skin as they held him down.

Show your face around us again and you're dead meat!

The redhead shook his head. No, he didn't want to die – not like this! They would make this hurt till the very end, beat him until he lost his consciousness...

“I'm sorry..!”, he yelped as the hands grabbed him and shook him. He needed to say something to get those hands off him... “I'll do anything you say, so please...”

Pleading seemed to work since those hands finally left his shoulders, allowing Akito to curl up into a ball by placing his feet up on the chair and putting the knees up to his chest. The redhead didn't stop shaking and gasping for air, not trusting the attackers to have stopped their advance. After all, this wasn't the type that gave in to pleas, at least not thus far.

“You'll do as I say? Then there's no need to prolong this conversation.”, Akito's father stated and left the room together with his wife, leaving their son to deal with these overwhelming emotions on his own.

Akito didn't know how long it took until he finally felt safe again, how long he continued to just sit there curled up into a tight ball, shaking and crying. All he knew was that during that time his father came by again to get water, but left just as quickly. Of course, not without another scathing comment.

“Still here? Ridiculous. I thought I raised you better.”

Akito didn't respond to that, but now that he had calmed down a little and fully registered those words, that statement was honestly pure venom. The underlying message was how much of a disappointment he was, even though his father hasn't said it directly, that was what he meant.

As Akito finally found the strength to get up, he couldn't help a crazed smile tugging on his lips. That's right...he was a disappointment, that was all he was. An eyesore to his family, a worthless slut to his peers, a burden to his sister. Did his life have any value like this?

His mind ran in circles as he tried to find a reason to keep living, not finding any. He was thrown out of the sekai by Miku last time and hadn't been allowed back in. Rui hasn't contacted him for two months, so it was clear the purple-haired male didn't love him any more either. His teammates at Vivid Bad Squad? He locked them out and now they surely hated him for that. Ena...he lied to Ena so much that there was honestly not much he could do to make up for it.

And his parents...they only would keep him around if he did as they said and went back to school.

School...

Akito shivered and his eyes widened, the sole mention of the word making his blood run cold. No, he didn't want to go back!

Now that the video was out, not only the soccer club, everyone would know just how easy he was. Everyone was a potential threat and if they wouldn't physically hurt him, Akito was sure they would bully him for what happened. They'd laugh at him and mock him as others would put their hands on him and make him relive the same pain over and over again.

He had never felt so weak and helpless before.

Akito's breathing quickened and his heart began to race, announcing another panic attack about to set in, but the redhead would have none of that. It would all end today. His pain, his fears, those feelings of absolute isolation...he would cut them all out with the trusty blade. Cut it all out until there was nothing left of the person known as Shinonome Akito.

The redhead closed the bathroom door, deciding against doing this in the bedroom so his parents would at the very least have an easier time cleaning all that blood up. So that he wouldn't be a burden to them until the very end. Still with that thought in mind, he climbed inside the bathtub and sat down, rolling his sleeves up and getting the blade back out of the pocket.

Now that he looked at it, this piece of metal indeed still perfectly represented him. So broken and brittle, but still sharp enough to carry out this final task. Akito firmly gripped the blade between his thumb and index finger, making a long cut through the bandages he had affixed earlier, revealing his scarred and cut-up skin that nobody but him had seen in this state before.

His final attempts to stay sane in some way would now become the thing that took his life. But it was fine. He'd rather take control of his death than to be powerless once again as he got beaten to death at school.

Akito let out a small laugh as tears stung in his eyes.

No, don't think about it too much!

This time Ena wouldn't find him with her spending the night at Mizuki's. Their parents have also left the house earlier, so tonight was the night to do this. Akito could die this time without the fear of being held back.

He let the blade slide over his skin, making methodical long cuts across his forearm. He was no expert in medicine, but he was sure he could cut through an artery if he cut along the whole length of his forearm a few times. Then he'd bleed out quickly with no chance of being saved. After all, he didn't want to be saved. He wanted to be free from this torment. He didn't want to feel pain any more, he didn't want to feel this crushing loneliness...

But he knew he didn't deserve to wish for happiness either. He shut out the people who tried to stand by his side just because he was too scared to face the truth. He hurt so many people with his brash words in the past, he ruined so many opportunities by being honest where he shouldn't have been. And now he also disgraced his family and destroyed the reputation his band had built up over the years. And Rui...it was obvious why the older male didn't even want to talk to him anymore.

Akito practically cheated on his boyfriend with five other people – who would want to still date him after this?

The green eyes focused on the blood as it ran down his arm in streams, dripping down onto Akito's clothes and into the bathtub, not quite reaching the drain that was just beneath Akito's feet. It still wasn't enough to kill him, right?

Akito rolled up the other sleeve too, hissing a little at how tensing his arm muscles hurt his open wounds. He switched the blade from right to left, clumsily tracing the edge of the metal across the skin to match with his left arm, but just as he set the blade down for a second cut he noticed just how hard it was to focus. His vision was blurry and his eyelids began to droop and he honestly had trouble lifting his arm up again.

Thus, he simply dropped both arms down to his sides and watched the blood slowly trickle down the drain. It was kind of beautiful to see the essence of life drift away like that, like death was really pulling him into its embrace, this time for sure.

He couldn't keep watching for long though, his eyes finally dropping closed and his head dipping forward as his whole body went limp.

Tsukasa was restless. What the hell was Rui doing? He couldn't get a hold of his best friend, seeing as Rui didn't answer the door or his worried texts. It's been about two months since the incident and yet the purple-haired male didn't even contact Akito when he tried committing suicide, let alone go and see him. For as long as the redhead was in the hospital, Tsukasa went to see him every day. Sometimes together with Toya, sometimes alone. And now, he still tried to visit him every day, even if Akito vehemently turned him down. Just hearing the redhead call out to Ena that he didn't want to see anyone was enough to at the very least let the blond know Akito was alive.

Sure, Akito wasn't much for conversation, but he at the very least tried to be there for him. Why did Rui, his supposed boyfriend, not come to see him even once during this whole time?

Well, it wasn't like the blond was absolutely clueless what his friend was up to, seeing as a member of the soccer team mysteriously turned himself in to the police, saying he wanted to be locked up in order to escape the madness happening at school.

But that didn't excuse him not going to see Akito at all..

Tsukasa knew he had to talk to his friend, but how could he do that when Rui was MIA all the time?

Thus, he did the next best thing and decided to go pay Akito a visit. This time he wouldn't let the redhead send him away, at the very least not without seeing him again. He made his way to the Shinonome residence and rang the bell, only to be met with silence. Was nobody in the house?

Well, it was quite late now that he thought about it...

The blond looked around the house. The windows were all dark, save for one. If he recalled from his previous visits, that was where the bathroom was... Weird, shouldn't there be more lights on, like in Akito's room for example if the redhead stayed at home all the time?

Besides, where were his parents? Tsukasa looked to the driveway where the family car usually stood, only to find it gone.

Did they seriously leave a suicidal person completely alone at home? Or...was Akito actually doing better now?

Tsukasa hummed in thought. He could try and break in, but that would be a little weird if the parents indeed turned out to be at home, just somewhere where he couldn't see the light. How would he explain breaking in and how would he even start to explain how he got so good at picking locks?

As he stood there and considered what to do, a female voice called out to him from behind.

“Ah, Tsukasa-kun! What brings you here?”, Ena chirped. “Here to see my brother despite his endless protests?”

“Ena! Perfect timing!”, the blond cheered, pointing at the entrance. “Could you let me in? Nobody is opening the door and your parents seem like they're gone, so...”

“They're out?!”, Ena seemed outraged, giving Tsukasa the answer to his previous question. Akito wasn't better at all. “They know I am supposed to spend the night at Mizuki's, I just came back to get my phone charger...jeez...”

Nonetheless, the brunette opened the door and let Tsukasa inside, both taking off their shoes. As soon as that was done, Tsukasa bolted upstairs into Akito's room, throwing the door open. Akito wasn't here...

Damn it! He hated to do this since Akito might just be taking a bath, but he still wanted to be sure...

Holding that thought, the blond carefully opened the bathroom door and his heart sank immediately. The whole room was filled with the smell of iron, giving Tsukasa the chills. The college student stepped inside and looked around, finding something he hoped he wouldn't.

Akito's lifeless body laid inside the tub, his skin looking even paler than usual. Or maybe it was just that the red blood that covered most of his forearms contrasted against it so much? Either way, Tsukasa knew he couldn't hesitate. He darted over to the side of the bathtub, hooking his arms under Akito's armpits and slowly lifting him out of the tub to make giving him first aid a little easier.

“ENA!”, he yelled out as loud as he could. “CALL AN AMBULANCE!”

He was glad the girl didn't question him, he faintly heard her talking to a dispatcher a little further down the hallway. Tsukasa meanwhile checked Akito's vitals and gave the brunette the information the paramedics needed. With that done, he pulled out the first-aid kit and began applying a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

After the girl finished talking to the dispatcher and was told to wait fifteen minutes until the ambulance arrived, she finally dared to look inside the bathroom and immediately regretted it. Tears began streaming down her face, but she persevered and rushed over to the two men, helping Tsukasa patch up her brother.

“Seriously...would it hurt him to talk about his feelings with us for once?”, she complained, her heart twisting in pain. Why did Akito insist on facing this alone? This was clearly too much for him to handle...

Tsukasa shook his head as he began cleaning the wounds. “He probably thinks dealing with him would be a burden to us. He most likely doesn't even realize that his death would hurt so many people.”

Also, there was Rui. Tsukasa was sure that while Akito didn't say anything, he most definitely missed his boyfriend and wanted Rui to come see him at least once.

But Rui never did.

Tsukasa was still absolutely mad at him for neglecting Akito like that and yet, he knew to have his priorities straight, so he would help Akito get to the hospital before he'd confront Rui. He would put an end to this and have Rui finally be a boyfriend that Akito needed right now.

Even if that meant camping in front of the Kamishiro residence for the next few days.

Chapter Text

When the doctors confirmed Akito's condition as stable, the older Shinonome sibling sighed in relief and slumped in the chair that stood in the waiting room. That was definitely not something she wanted to ever experience again, it shook her to the core to see her brother like this. Akito was such a strong person after all...

Or at least, he has been.

She wrapped her arms around herself and drew a few deep breaths in to calm herself, the fingers on her right hand gently patting down the bandaid on her left arm. She gave some of her blood to Akito since they coincidentally had the same type and getting to the blood bank would take a longer time. Honestly though, that was nothing but a minor inconvenience when it was the thing that ultimately saved her brother.

Right...she was actually at Mizuki's to work on saving her brother!

She had to get back on that as soon as possible...but she shouldn't leave here either, right? Who would be there to be there for her brother if she was gone?

Right. Tsukasa was also here...

As soon as she calmed down from the initial shock, she looked up at the blond man standing next to her and smiled softly. She was glad Akito found such great and caring friends. If Tsukasa hadn't been with her, no doubt she would have panicked and forgotten something. But this man was able to keep a cool head and perform first aid like it was his second calling to be a doctor.

“It's not the first time I have to give first aid in such a manner.”, Tsukasa elaborated, as if reading her thoughts.

Ena immediately understood the subtext of 'it's not the first time I had to help a person who tried to commit suicide' and sighed heavily. “I'm sorry you had to go through such a situation before. It really hurts to see someone close to you like this...”

“Yeah...but remember that whatever happens, none of it is your fault.”, the blond tried reassuring her. It would help nobody if she just let this eat her up inside. “Give one such dark thought the time of day and it will swallow you completely.”

The brunette nodded. “I'll try not to. But I can't help but think that I'm to blame for at least some of it.”

“That's not—”

“Well, I have been working on something that might help him for the past few weeks...but then I think...'shouldn't I have spent all this time trying to talk him through it instead'?”, Ena interrupted, looking aside. Sure, it wasn't like she abandoned Akito, but to the redhead it might have felt like it.

Tsukasa looked up to the ceiling instead and hummed. “Well, he hasn't been much for conversation with any of us so I doubt it has been any different for you.” When he saw Ena nod, he continued. “So, you're just taking an alternate path to helping him. You're still trying to help him and don't abandon him, so that's more than enough.”

Ena looked up into the amber eyes and gave Tsukasa a hopeful smile, tearing up a little. It felt like someone forgave her for actions she couldn't quite forgive herself for and it was funny how much easier it was for her to breathe all of the sudden. Tsukasa was really a good and strong person – she was happy they got to talk to each other, even if she wished it would have happened under different circumstances.

“Weird, I barely know you and yet...”, she took a deep breath, but never finished that thought. Instead, she gave the blond a firm smile and nodded. “Thank you.”

“Don't mention it. We both care about Akito a lot, so it's only natural I'd be there for you too.”, the blond gave a smile in return that had the same warmth as a summer afternoon. A smile so bright that it was absolutely impossible to see how worried and hurt Tsukasa himself was.

“Well...if you put it like that...”, the brunette fumbled with her words and began nervously playing with the ends of her hair that by now reached down to her chest. “I have...a b-big favor to ask.”

So both siblings were bad at asking for help, huh? Ena's pout and her overall nervous demeanor almost exactly matched Akito when he used to ask Rui for help in tutoring him for upcoming tests. Tsukasa laughed a little and sat down next to the brunette.

“Sure, I'll do whatever I can to help.”, he offered gently.

“Do you mind...staying here with Akito? I don't want him to wake up alone..”, Ena asked carefully. Then she hastily continued speaking so Tsukasa wouldn't think she just wanted to run away. “Ah, it's just...I really want to get this thing done for him so I can bring it back with me tomorrow. Then he'll hopefully understand that it's okay to rely on us...or at least that's the message we want to convey to him.”

Tsukasa nodded energetically and pounded his chest with his fist, speaking in his theatrical voice. “Don't you worry, I'll keep him company and talk to him!”, he then added in a more earnest tone. “In all seriousness, I was planning on staying anyways, so don't worry and go, Ena.”

Immediately, Ena stood up and bowed to the blond in gratitude before rushing off. If she hurried, she could still make it to the last train. She would finish the music video to Kanade's song today. A song that was composed specifically for Akito.

When Akito came to, he experienced a sense of deja vu. Everything around him was white, sterile and painfully familiar. He was in the hospital again, wasn't he? So then, was Ena again the one that found him and had him brought here to be saved again?

The redhead looked up, casting his gaze to the chair his sister was sitting in last time, only to find someone completely unexpected. Blond hair with a fade to peach at the tips that looked like liquid gold in the morning sun, those tender and warm amber eyes looking right into his green ones...

Akito's heart clenched, squeezing painfully with all the emotions coursing through it. He was happy that someone stopped him... yet at the same time he wanted to scream because ultimately it was pointless. If he didn't die now, he would when he went to school and got torn apart by his peers. But more than this feeling of inner conflict, Akito felt shame.

Shame over the fact that Tsukasa was trying so hard to fix him and keep him alive and yet here he was, squandering that effort. And this wasn't the first time he tried committing suicide either. He knew Tsukasa wasn't dumb enough to buy into the excuse that he accidentally swallowed that many pills the first time.

He did all that after the older man went through the trouble of calling up a private doctor for him...

Despicable.

“Tsukasa...”, he choked out, dropping his gaze down to the blankets. He was too ashamed to look into these eyes that held absolutely no malice or reproach in them...Tsukasa was just too kind. Everyone has been too kind and patient with him – he didn't deserve it. “...I'm sorry..”

The blond shook his head. It hurt to hear an apology like that because he knew it wasn't for the right reasons. He didn't blame Akito for anything he has done, but he wished the younger man would trust him a bit more and rely on him instead of taking the last resort.

“It's fine, don't blame yourself for this. I know you must be scared of what others think about you after what happened.”, the blond said calmly and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “And that includes people who genuinely care about you, such as your teammates, me and also Rui. So, I understand why you feel like you don't have anyone to turn to and why you'd rather shut us all out.”

Akito's heart sank at the mention of his boyfriend's name and he bit his lower lip. Tsukasa was the first to say that name out loud in front of him and hearing that name spoken just hurt so much. “I...”, his breath hitched as he failed to suppress the tears that began welling up in his eyes. “..R-Rui must really hate me after what happened...”

“Huh?”, Tsukasa hummed in confusion. Where did that thought come from? What kind of beast would hate their significant other after a sexual assault? Then again...two months without contact was bound to give the redhead the wrong idea.

“You saw the damned video, didn't you?”, Akito countered the question with one of his own, hoping that his friend didn't, but honestly it was unrealistic to expect such a thing when his cellphone was still blowing up with notifications relating to it every day. When he didn't get a reply for some time, the redhead simply continued speaking. “I basically asked for it. What happened was my fault, so now everyone must think I'm totally easy...”

And Rui was above dating a slut like himself. Understandable, really.

Tsukasa couldn't contain himself any longer, coming up to the redhead's bed and pulling him into a bear hug. When he felt the younger man tremble, he let go for a moment and looked into the green eyes with pure hurt and compassion, tears prickling his own eyes and just threatening to spill.

Why was Akito so convinced that he was to blame for what happened?

“Can you explain to me which part of you screaming 'No, stop, it hurts' is asking for it? You begged them to stop and yet they didn't. They took away your freedom and your choice, there's nothing about it that is your fault.”, the blond said, once again hugging Akito close. When he felt that the redhead didn't shake as intensely as the first time, he continued. “You didn't deserve any of what happened to you and you don't have to justify or explain any of their acts of violence against you.”

Akito broke down crying, finally accepting the hug and carefully hugging back as to not pull out the IV still hooked to his arm. Those words were so soothing to his aching heart. Maybe he wasn't the one at fault here? Maybe there really was nothing he could do to prevent this, even if those guys said he could have changed the outcome by simply helping with cleanup and not struggling as much...

His self-blame morphed into something more akin to fear as he clung to Tsukasa's shirt in hopes of finding some comfort and yet he knew he had to actually keep talking if he wanted to soothe that ache somehow.

“T-Then...what about the others? All those people commenting on that video before it got taken down...All those people still messaging me about it...”, he drew in a shaky breath, afraid to actually voice his thoughts. When Tsukasa continued silently rubbing gentle circles on his back, Akito knew the blond wanted him to actually speak out about it. “...doesn't everyone else still see me as a slut...like those people said..?”

Akito shivered at that word finally audibly leaving his own mouth, solidifying in his mind that what had happened was indeed real. He couldn't escape back to the cozy state of nothingness, not when he actively confronted his thoughts and his trauma.

“I don't exactly know what the people are thinking, but have you tried reading through the comments? It might give you an idea of the general view they have on you.”, Tsukasa suggested, only to have Akito shake his head vehemently.

“But what if they actually think that? What if...those guys actually succeeded in ruining my whole life?”, the redhead let out a pathetic whimper and hid his face in the older man's chest. “..I'm so scared...”

“But if you just keep thinking that everyone hates you without any proof, wouldn't that be even worse?”, the blond offered, taking a seat next to Akito. “Here, let's read them together. I won't leave your side and no matter how bad it is. Remember you still have your friends to lean on no matter what the public thinks, okay?”

“But if this proves me right...”, Akito wanted to protest, but then shook his head. Tsukasa was there for him. Toya and the others probably also didn't blame him considering they went out of their way to text him and visit him even though he turned them away. He was pretty awful to his friends for no reason at all, wasn't he?

He leaned his head on Tsukasa's shoulder, surrendering to the gentle gaze in those warm amber eyes.

Tuning out how loud his heart pounded inside his chest from the anxiety he felt over looking at the notifications he ignored for so long, he unlocked his phone and tapped on the browser app, typing in the URL of the site the video had been posted on. As the site loaded, he gripped the device in his hands tighter, feeling Tsukasa's hand give his shoulder a reassuring squeeze in return.

He could do this. No matter how bad the comments were, he would endure them...or at least that's what he thought. When he actually scrolled down to the comment section, his eyes widened in shock – nothing could have prepared him for this.

Chapter Text

The whole comment section was full of supportive and encouraging messages once everyone had gotten over their initial shock. This was so different from what Akito had expected that he couldn't help the tears that began falling down his cheeks onto the device he held in his shaky hand. What did he do to deserve such amazing fans? No, that wasn't quite right. Even strangers commented in such an encouraging matter that Akito couldn't help but shed a tear.

[The_Baddest_Dog]: Reported this and notified the police. We'll get those creeps that did this to our precious Akito!

[VividsBest]: Akito, if you can see this, please don't give up! Hang in there and know that your music has gotten me through some tough times, so I'll never stop listening to it and supporting VBS!

[Colorful]: You got this, don't let those bastards get to you! We'll be waiting for the return of our king!

[Anonymous]: I don't know this person, but I've been in a similar position and all I can say is: Don't give up! There's so many amazing things in life, don't let those assholes take them from you.

[JustInTime]: Eh. He had a pretty shit personality himself, so he got his just desserts.

[Hana]: @JustInTime Are you even human if you think like that? Nobody deserves this! And Akito was always kind to others, so I don't get what you're even talking about...

[Anonymous]: @JustInTime Wow. People like you are the worst.

Even with some people trying to justify what happened to him, more people came in to defend Akito and spread more and more positivity with every scathing comment that was made. It was honestly so encouraging that the redhead didn't know what to do with himself. He was still scared to actually go out, going to school still sounded like hell and he absolutely wasn't ready to go perform in front of hundreds of people.

And yet, it made Akito want to get up and fight again, to reclaim the things that were forcibly taken from him. His life was his own to live and he finally felt like fighting again. For all those people that believed in him, that waited for him to create more music. For his friends who never gave up on him even when Akito gave up on himself.

And most importantly, he would fight for himself.

“Tsukasa...”, he said, turning off the screen of his cell phone to face the blond. “...do you happen to know any good therapists? I don't think I'm quite ready to go out yet, but...”

“Leave it to me! There's an amazing specialist that worked with my sister, so I'm sure she'll be able to help you too.”, the blond nodded and smiled, tearing up a little. This was a huge step in the right direction, Akito was willing to accept help and even asked for it on his own accord – Tsukasa couldn't be more proud. “She also does house visits, so you won't have to leave the safety of your house until you're ready to.”

Akito's heart sank when he heard that. Home, huh? How would this work out when his parents already made him go back to school on Monday? He looked down to the blankets and began to shake again. There was just no time – only one more day was left until he'd have to go back. There was just no way out of this now...

“Actually, forget what I said. I'll be fine without a therapist.”, he muttered and his tremors intensified, his breathing becoming more frantic as his heart rate quickened. School absolutely terrified him, he felt like he couldn't trust anyone there any more. After all, it wasn't just the soccer club that held a grudge against Rui..

Tsukasa leaned down to gently meet Akito's eyes, frowning a little at the sudden change of mind. Just what made Akito backpedal like this? He decided to voice the question that was on his mind. “Why did you suddenly change your mind?”

How could Akito answer this question? He didn't even know where to begin without sounding too desperate. But there was no way of putting it mildly, so he just shook his head and forced out “My parents said I either go back to school on Monday or I have to leave the house.”

“They can't be serious...”, the blond said in disbelief. There was no way someone could be so cruel...

Akito laughed bitterly. “But they are. They have no need for a useless child, and that's all I am right now.”

“Akito...”

Tsukasa's voice was shaking with anger as he said the younger man's name. How could some people be this cruel? And why was Akito just accepting those insults as though they were a fact? He couldn't hold back his emotions any longer, all those words he tried to hold back just bursting from his chest and out of his lips.

“Your parents are absolutely horrible. They know what happened to you and yet they treat you like this?! This is beyond inhumane...”

“It's fine.”, Akito shrugged and forced himself to put on a smile. “I should have known something like that would happen since I never covered up the traces of my escapades with Rui...I had it coming.”

He quoted his parents, those words stinging deeply in his chest. And now Rui didn't even want to see his face any more. Quite ironic, wasn't it? He couldn't help a bitter laugh shaking his frame, his mind circling back to the initial thought he had.

It's all your fault after all.

Tsukasa grit his teeth, this was just too much. Still, he tried to contain the anger he felt when he heard this. “So that's what your parents told you, huh?”

Akito nodded and looked away, staring at the beautiful clear sky outside until his eyes burned. He wasn't used to seeing the sun anymore. “Rui must think the same. He hasn't even tried to text me this whole time after all...”

And even back at the hospital, he refused to hug Akito when the redhead had clearly said it was okay. Sure, he would have tensed up a little, but that was to be expected, right?

But then here he was, casually leaning on Tsukasa like nothing happened. Was he this desperate to throw himself onto the next man who would touch him? Honestly, he was absolutely the worst of the worst...

Seeing the younger man's expression darken, Tsukasa knew he should steer away from the topic of Akito's parents for now and instead try and reassure him. Rui didn't give up on Akito, even if he was being an absolute blockhead about it.

“Look, Rui is just a little stupid despite his genius. He needs to get his focus straight, but that's all. He still loves you and has been working behind the scenes to get the soccer club members arrested and punished for what they did to you.”, he explained, pulling out his own phone and scrolling until he found the article again. “Look, one of them turned himself in two days ago, so it's only a matter of time until the rest are caught.”

The redhead widened his eyes in disbelief. So that's what his boyfriend has been up to...He worked all this time on making the school feel safe for him again...he hasn't forgotten about him at all! Akito's heart leapt in joy as he got confirmation that he wasn't completely cast aside by Rui. And while the purple-haired male had forgotten to text him, he only had the best intentions in mind when he focused on this one task.

“I...I see...”, Akito sobbed, his shoulders slumping in relief. He was so afraid of losing Rui. The man that had shown him so many joys in life, whom he shared so many warm and special moments with... He really missed Rui and his stupid teasing voice, his outrageous ideas and most of all that warm and sweet smile. “I...really want to see him again.”

Tsukasa nodded. “I'll come by with him in tow later, but I think there's someone else that really wants to see you right now.”

Akito looked up, following Tsukasa's gaze to where three people were standing in the doorway to his room. It was Ena, Mizuki and another girl that Akito didn't know, but he recognized all three as being the people he saw back in the empty Sekai.

He had been so deep in his thoughts that he didn't even notice them open the door. Judging by the dark rings under their eyes, all three of them pulled an all-nighter, too. He was about to say something to greet them, but his sister was quicker.

Ena clutched the laptop she was holding under her arm closer to her chest and smiled softly at her brother. “Sorry if we interrupt something, but...”

She couldn't find any words to describe what she was feeling. She was so happy that Akito seemed to look much livelier than he ever did in those past two months, but it only made her want to give her brother the song they composed together even more so. She wanted Akito to smile again, for him to see that even if he felt like it was hopeless, there was still more, that he could turn his life around.

Tsukasa smiled and got up, shaking his head. “I'm sure Akito won't mind some time with you as I go talk to a certain blockhead.”, he chuckled and gave the redhead a cheerful smile. “I'll be back later with him, I'm sure you have a lot to say to each other.”

Akito nodded and waved Tsukasa goodbye, watching the blond leave his room before he turned to the three new visitors. Ena was still awkwardly standing there and looking for the right words, so Mizuki took over, snatching the laptop out of their girlfriend's hands.

“Hey, Lil' Bro. Ena's a little bad at words and I don't think I can say quite as much as she could...”, they greeted before opening the laptop and setting it down on Akito's lap. “But let me tell you one thing. I'm happy you're alive and I hope you'll continue to live! I'd be happy to have you come back soon, Toya's no fun to tease since he believes everything I say--”

“I...don't think that's important right now.”, Kanade interrupted, looking at Akito compassionately. “I'm Kanade Yoisaki. I'm...not very good with words, so I try to express myself with music and um...”

Ena finally found her voice again and chimed in. “We made this song for you...I'm also not very good with words as you already know...so please just listen to it.”

She pressed play on the video that loaded up on the laptop, watching with bated breath as her brother listened to the song the four of them had composed. Mafuyu was out tutoring today, so she couldn't come to see how their song would affect the redhead. Still, every member of the group helped out and created a song that would hopefully save Akito, if only just a little bit.

When the brunette watched her brother, she saw those eyes change from curiosity, to surprise and then finally Akito broke down crying again, closing the laptop when the song ended. It was a calm melody, but the beginning was chaotic as the dissonant notes clashed against each other before shifting into a cohesive and pleasant tune.

The video was made with the art of a flower being plucked from the garden and wilting as it stood in a glass without water, only to have another pair of hands come in to give the flower the much needed water, then another pair of hands sprinkling some nutrients and finally a third pair placing the glass with the flower in it into the sun.

The flower sprouted some roots and was placed back into the garden where more flowers already bloomed, the symbolism of healing through the help of others and surrounding yourself with people who understood you and would stand by you becoming clear to Akito immediately.

And the lyrics cut so deep into the exact feelings that swirled around within Akito that he couldn't help the tears just spilling from his eyes. He didn't feel like putting up his strong facade, he didn't feel the need to act strong in front of these people who barely knew him and yet read him like a book.

“Ena...”, he muttered, looking up at his sister with glassy eyes, a tired smile on his lips. “...your art is really beautiful.”

That was all he said and yet the three couldn't unsee the pure gratitude and happiness that was written all over Akito's face. Even if he didn't say anything for now, the impact the song had on him was undeniable. Still, the redhead felt that he should at the very least say thank you, so he turned to Mizuki and Kanade, looking at the two.

“Thank you all so much. You're really great musicians.”, he said, wiping the tears from his eyes before adding “And...sorry that I barged into your sekai like this.”

The silver-haired girl just shook her head “That just meant your feelings happened to align with some of ours. Besides, I'm really glad I met you there.”

“Yeah, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to help you like this.”, Mizuki agreed, nodding eagerly. “Kanade makes music in hopes of reaching people who might need to hear her songs, so she can try and save someone.”

Akito smiled more firmly as he looked at Kanade, who bashfully looked away like what she was doing wasn't a noble cause. He opened the laptop again and looked at the video, tapping his index finger on the edge of the device. “Music is a powerful force. It can influence people's feelings, motivate them to pursue a dream or even completely crush their soul.”

He closed his eyes and found himself standing back at RAD WEEKEND, cheering as Ken-san laid down a performance he could never forget. Yes, music was indeed a strong driving force...and apparently his own music also helped someone through some tough times, so he couldn't stop now. He would work on getting better mentally and then he'd write the best song he ever performed.

“What you're doing is really noble, Yoisaki. I will take the song you've given me and move forward, I will create more music of my own so your efforts won't be wasted.”, he nodded in determination, looking down at his bandaged arms.

He was still alive. He didn't believe in God or destiny, but him surviving twice had to be a sign that there was still something he had to achieve, something he still had to fight for.

“Dummy.”, Ena said with a fake exasperated sigh, putting her hands on her hips. “You don't have to do everything alone, you know? We're all here for you, so don't bite off more than you can chew.”

“Got it.”, Akito said, leaning back in his hospital bed. He looked out of the window again, smiling happily. He wiped away the last of his tears before adding in a more quiet voice. “...Thank you.”

He had people willing to help him and support him...and Akito decided that he would accept the help he was offered instead of feeling bad about it like he usually did. After all, he owed as much to Ena and her friends – the song they made was specifically about accepting the help of others and that it wasn't a burden to people.

And even if he ended up weighing people down, he promised himself he'd repay all the debts when he got better and could stand on his own.

He would reclaim the stage and the voice that had been taken from him, no matter how many hurdles he had to overcome for that.

Chapter Text

Tsukasa had promised Akito to bring Rui to him, but that was honestly easier said than done. He tried to call Rui's phone a few times, but couldn't get through as usual. Then he went over to the taller man's house, ringing up a storm with the doorbell. But once again, his attempts were absolutely ignored.

How did he know Rui wasn't just too busy or hasn't gone out this time?

Simple, he could clearly hear the man hammering away on something from within the house. And yet Rui was blatantly ignoring all his attempts at contact. Tsukasa briefly wondered if he would have done the same if Akito was the one trying to reach him, but he decided against going down that rabbit hole. He shouldn't get unnecessarily angry after all...

Instead, the blond walked around the house, searching for a different way inside. He would bring Rui with him to see Akito, no matter if the purple-haired man wanted to go or not. Rui owed as much to his boyfriend after everything Akito has been through.

As he made his rounds to see where he could break in from, he spotted the balcony door standing wide open and grinned. Bingo.

Tsukasa climbed up a tree that grew next to the house and made his way onto the branch closest to the balcony on the second floor. For once he was grateful he didn't slack on his practice, allowing him to maneuver from the branch onto the solid floor of the balcony in one precise swing without getting himself hurt.

He stepped through the open door leading into the study and immediately spotted his friend hammering away on a metal plate, constructing some sort of a mechanism with the bent plate. He continued looking at Rui so completely immersed in his work, but when the taller man still didn't pay him any mind, Tsukasa sighed and took a look around the room instead.

It was obvious how much Rui had been working in here in the past two months, there was litter everywhere and the countless empty cup noodle containers told Tsukasa just how invested Rui was in making those people suffer for hurting Akito.

Honestly, the blond could understand this feeling especially after seeing how fragile Akito had become and yet he couldn't allow this to continue. Especially not when his gaze stopped on something he couldn't quite believe he saw right.

On Rui's desk, just past the mound of noodle cups and blueprints, was a painfully familiar rectangular package. Still pristinely wrapped in a metallic green wrapping paper with a neat orange bow adorning the side of it...

It was Akito's birthday present to Rui, just sitting there and gathering dust, completely unopened these two months.

Tsukasa clenched his fists and charged at Rui, slapping him squarely across the face. How could his friend do something like this? It was like he had completely forgotten about Akito!

“Tsukasa-kun, just what do you think you're doing?”, Rui asked calmly and held his sore cheek, his eyes narrowing. “Breaking into my house and then assaulting me like that?”

“No, Rui.”, the blond countered, grabbing the taller man by the collar and shaking him. “The question is what do YOU think you're doing?! If you don't love Akito anymore, say so straight out! I think it will be better for him to know the truth rather than wait for a boyfriend who will never come!”

Rui seemed to get genuinely mad at his friend “Excuse me?! I'm doing everything I can to free Akito from the influence these people have on him! I even got rid of the video they used to blackmail him, so--”

“You mean the video where those five people raped him? The video that got uploaded onto the internet two months ago and made Akito resort to attempting suicide?!”, Tsukasa spat, shaking his head. “Wake up and face reality, Rui. What you're doing right now is merely for pure self-satisfaction.”

“That's not—”

“Well then tell me, what else is it?! You could have gotten rid of these people quietly with all the evidence you have. You had access to the video, you know their names and faces. If you really loved Akito, you'd just submit an anonymous report to the police and get those bastard arrested quickly to instead care for Akito!”, Tsukasa finally let go of Rui's collar and got up, heading over to the desk. When his friend didn't respond, the blond continued speaking.

“Instead, you ignored Akito for two months straight, let him think that you don't want to see him because he 'cheated on you' and weren't there for him when he tried to take his own life twice.”, Tsukasa said bitterly, taking the wrapped present and softly brushing the dust from the wrapper. “And you didn't even see what he had given you as your birthday present, so I hope you understand why I came to the conclusion you don't love him any more...”

Rui still remained quiet, his thoughts running a mile a minute. It has been two months since the assault already? Well, judging by the amount of empty cups on his desk it checked out... But more importantly, the very thing he tried to prevent happened.

These bastards kept a backup of the video somewhere and he was stupid for not considering this possibility. And when he deleted that video from the people's phone, he only made the situation worse since they were suddenly aware of someone meddling with their affairs and released the video as a last ditch effort of breaking Akito. And worst of all – they succeeded.

Rui sat on the floor, completely shell-shocked. He then looked up at the blond man and voiced the first coherent sentence that came to his mind among the flood of thoughts that plagued him. “Is...Akito alright? I want to see him and apologize. I'm to blame for what happened to him. If only I hadn't deleted that video so hastily...”

“He's awake and I promised him I'd bring you to see him...but I won't let you go anywhere until you take care of this.”, Tsukasa said pointedly and handed the wrapped present to his friend. “Seriously, I can't believe Akito was so relieved and happy just to hear you don't hate him when you're so negligent with him and the things he gives you. He needs to seriously raise his standards.”

Rui laughed bitterly and took the present, unwrapping it. “That he does. Akito is seriously too good for me. I gotta catch up to him...”

And it was true, Rui felt so blessed to have such an understanding and caring boyfriend, especially after years and years of being treated like an absolute weirdo. And he knew he messed up really badly by neglecting Akito like that, so he would be there for him every step of the way to his recovery from here on out if the redhead would still have him. And he would start this by finally taking a look at the present he got.

When the purple-haired man pulled off the wrapper, he stared at the contents in confusion. It was a CD case with a single disk inside. A simple message of “Happy Birthday Rui!” was written on the disk in black marker, giving the whole gift a very homemade feeling.

Rui got up and shoved aside the clutter on his desk to access the disk drive of his PC so he could play the CD. As soon as the disk loaded, Akito's voice resounded through the room. The audio was very crisp and clean, meaning the redhead actually recorded this at a studio despite Rui's initial assumptions.

Hey Rui, Happy Birthday! You once said that you loved the way I sing and that you'd buy a VBS album if we ever released one just for my voice alone. Well, we're still working on that, but I decided I'd give you this exclusive disk as a birthday present! Ahem...that sounded a little narcissistic, I'm sorry. E-Either way, I decided to sing some of the songs you and your group performed before. Otori-san helped me by providing the instrumentals, so I have to thank her too...

Rui could practically hear the blush that was on Akito's cheeks as he said that and he couldn't help but smile. He really missed his boyfriend's cute mannerisms, though he would never say that out loud or else risk Akito blowing up at him for calling him cute.

So, once again, Happy Birthday! I recorded this message on a separate track by the way... so you can just skip my blabbing next time.

And just like that, the next song started, the intro to 'KING' playing in the otherwise silent room as the two men listened intently. Akito's voice was smooth and deep as he sang the song and Rui couldn't help his heart squeezing painfully once again. Akito had such a beautiful voice and the message before the music reminded the purple-haired man of all the good times he had with his boyfriend, how bright and strong Akito really was.

He would help Akito regain that strength, regain everything that had been taken from him.

“Tsukasa, let's head out.”, he said curtly and stopped the music playing, getting the disc out and putting it back into the case before stowing that away in his bag. He would cherish this gift and treat it as his good luck charm, as a reminder of what his mission was so he wouldn't let Akito down ever again.

The blond smiled and nodded, glad he got through to his best friend so easily. Then again, it wasn't like Rui was an unreasonable man. But when he got hyperfocused on something, it was like Rui forgot the rest of the world existed, so it was nothing new to Tsukasa.

“Just go do something about that stubble of yours or Akito will know you have been neglecting pretty much everything about your life up until now.”, he teased the taller man and smiled slightly. If he hadn't known Rui for so long he would probably be shocked over how sordid his friend had become. “Oh and let me cut your hair, it's grown out quite a lot too.”

“Gonna make me look my Sunday best for the big emotional reunion? Thank you, Tsukasa-kun.”, the purple-haired man said, smiling teasingly.

Tsukasa laughed and shook his head. “Don't get the wrong idea, I just don't want Akito to have to worry about you on top of everything he has going on in his head right now.”

Like the issue with his parents.

But that was a topic better left for later. Tsukasa already had just the plan formed in his head as a solution, after all.

Before any of that could be dealt with, Rui and Akito urgently needed to talk.

Chapter Text

When Rui and Tsukasa made it to Akito's hospital room, the redhead was seemingly asleep. At the very least his eyes were closed, giving him an oddly serene appearance despite the obvious damage that he had suffered.

Rui stood there, just taking in the sight of his boyfriend for a moment. His calm and even breathing and overall relaxed demeanor were a stark contrast to the bandages around the entirety of his forearms and the dark rings under his eyes. His hair was also much longer than when Rui had last seen him, the long tendrils spreading over the white pillowcase and reaching to the very edge of the pillow.

“Akito...”, the taller male whispered into the room, his heart clenching at the sight of the consequences to his actions. This had really happened, Akito had really tried to commit suicide because of his inability to return to his normal life.

All because Rui didn't support him like he should have.

As if feeling the tender gaze on him, the redhead stirred from his sleep and cracked an eye open sleepily. Immediately upon seeing his boyfriend, his other eye snapped open and he stared at Rui in disbelief. Was his drowsy mind playing tricks on him? Was it just his wishful thinking to see the taller man that projected this image to his mind?

“Rui...?”, he meekly called out, as if speaking louder would make Rui disappear again. “Is...is that really you?”

That doubtful, quiet tone utterly shattered Rui's heart. Though, he knew he only had himself to blame that Akito didn't quite trust his eyes. He slowly approached his boyfriend's bed and put his hand on top of one of Akito's, smiling firmly to reassure the younger man.

“I'm here. I'm finally here, Akito and I'm sorry it took so long.”

The redhead's eyes widened once more as he heard that soothing and reassuring voice before he squeezed his eyes shut and sat up in his bed only to slump forward and rest his head on Rui's shoulder. Immediately as he did that he was fully overwhelmed by the soothing and familiar smell of shampoo, fresh clothes and... just Rui and he couldn't keep his tears in any longer. It was really him. It was really Rui sitting there before him...

“Rui...”, he sobbed, calling the name more firmly this time. “..I'm so sorry.”

He wanted to apologize to the older man for so many things. For what happened with the soccer club, for him not contacting Rui even once, for trying to commit suicide. He didn't know where to start, so he simply trembled and allowed his boyfriend to soothingly rub his back like he had done so many times before. Those slim, gentle hands were so familiar and gave Akito a sense of normalcy despite everything that had happened.

Rui continued trying to calm Akito down despite his own urge to cry. He really didn't expect his boyfriend to be apologizing for anything since none of it the redhead's fault. “No, please don't apologize, Akito. It's really not your fault – nothing of this whole situation is. I promise I will be here for you from now on, like I should have been from the start. We'll get through this together, okay?”

Akito raised a hand to search for purchase on Rui's shirt, clinging to the fabric desperately as he just cried on Rui's shoulder. He shed many tears quietly, but it was obvious there was still something weighing heavily on the redhead. Akito didn't let his boyfriend guess this time though as he pulled back a little to be able to look into Rui's eyes.

“Do you...really still love me?”, he choked out, dropping his gaze down to the blanket.

Rui's hand moved from Akito's back to his head, gently stroking over the ginger hair. “Of course. Why wouldn't I?”

“Well, I let them have their way with me and even told them I'd do anything they wanted...”, Akito's eyes were staring straight through Rui as his mind began to wander to darker and darker places. “I'm just pathetic and useless, so you should be above staying with someone like me...”

That monotone voice, those unblinking eyes – Tsukasa knew that demeanor quite well. Akito wanted to confront his fears, but his mind wasn't quite ready to hear the truth yet so he began to dissociate. The blond went over and put a hand on Rui's shoulder so his friend wouldn't answer quite yet. He knew Akito wouldn't be able to process what Rui said if he said it now and that wouldn't be good in the long run.

“Akito, what is Rui wearing right now? Make sure you properly look at him when you talk about such serious topics, yes?”

Akito finally blinked and looked Rui up and down. “Huh? Well it's obvious he's wearing a white dress shirt and a blue cardigan and the black jeans....”

...The black jeans that he had recommended to his boyfriend when he unexpectedly came to visit him during his shift at the store in Vivid Street.

Huh? All of the sudden the fog that had began creeping into his mind dissolved and he could see Rui much clearer now, like he had just woken up from a long dream. When has his mind begun drifting like that?

“Okay, now that you're back with us Rui can give you his answer.”, Tsukasa said with a soft smile, which Akito returned shakily.

It was scary how quick Tsukasa was to react when Akito himself hadn't realized he began dissociating yet. Though it made sense, he was really scared of his thoughts getting confirmed by Rui. He looked up to meet the golden eyes again and dug his nails into the palm of his hand to keep his mind from drifting again by grounding himself through pain. Of course he did so covertly or he knew his boyfriend would worry.

“Akito, you didn't 'let them have their way', you were forced into something you clearly didn't want or consent to. And then those bastards also blackmailed you with the thing that's most important to you, so of course you'd give them what they wanted. I would have done the same if I was threatened with what I hold dearest...”, Rui said calmly and gave his boyfriend a bitter smile “...which is you.”

“M-Me?”, Akito asked incredulously, but it all made sense. Why else would these people take their rage and hatred they held for Rui out on him if not to break that which Rui held dearest?

“Yes, you. I love you more than anything in this world, Akito.”, Rui said and once again pulled the redhead against himself. “Which is why I completely lost it when I saw what they did to you – but I was so blinded by my rage that I left you hanging and I promise I won't do it ever again.”

Akito unclenched his fist so he'd stop hurting the palm that already showed crescent-shaped indents, instead simply hugging Rui back and squeezing him as tight as he could – which due to the cuts on his forearms hurting wasn't very tight, but he wanted to just hold Rui for now, that was all that really mattered to him in this moment.

As they just sat there holding each other, they completely missed the door to the hospital room slide open, or at least they would have if it weren't for Tsukasa announcing the visitor.

“Oh, Ena!”, he called out, putting his hands on his hips and greeting the older of the two siblings. “Perfect timing, I wanted to discuss something with you and Akito.”

The brunette raised an eyebrow and looked at the blond quizzically. Discuss something? That sounded awfully important. She crossed her arms and simply nodded, sitting down in the chair standing by the window. “So, what is it?”

Akito also pulled away from Rui, a little miffed their special time got interrupted, but nonetheless ready to hear Tsukasa out.

“I want you two to get out from your parents' house.”, Tsukasa stated bluntly. “I'm sure Rui can house Akito and if you have nowhere else to go, I'll gladly offer you a place at our house, Ena. But point is – you can't continue living with people who blame the victim of assault for the said assault.”

“Huh?”, Ena exclaimed, looking between Akito and Tsukasa in sheer confusion. “Just...what on earth happened? I know our parents aren't the best and have yelled at both of us...but victim blaming?”

Akito took in a shaky breath and looked at his sister. “They said I got my just desserts since I never covered the marks Rui left on my neck. And that I have to go back to school on Monday or they'll kick me out.”

“Which is why I thought it'd be best for Akito to leave the house so he can get the therapy he needs without those people standing in the way of his recovery.”, Tsukasa added, also looking at Ena. “But if we just get Akito out of there and you stay, I fear that they will shift focus and blame you for everything instead.”

Ena hummed. That all did sound logical...but at the same time she couldn't imagine living separate from her brother after so many years of being room neighbors. More importantly though, she didn't want to impose on the Tenma household like that – especially since she barely knew Tsukasa for long enough to accept such an offer.

Seeing the gears turn in both Akito's and Ena's heads, the blond huffed and shook his head. “Seriously, you don't have to feel bad to accept help that's offered to you. I know it's a big step to just move out all of the sudden, but-”

“They're still paying for my college tuition, so I can't just leave. I don't want to have to drop out of college, especially now that I actually managed to enroll in the academy I wanted to go to...”

Akito nodded. “That's a really nice offer, but I don't want to be left stranded after I graduate either...”

“If it's all about money, I could just hack their bank accounts, you know...”, Rui offered, genuinely mad at Akito's parents. That was just horrible – how could they dare to say something like that to Akito...

The redhead softly pushed against the taller man's chest, pushing Rui away just enough to shoot him a stern look. “I don't want to have to visit you in jail, thank you very much.”

Well, that left only one option for the purple-haired man. “Tsukasa, what do you say we pay the Shinonomes a visit?”

“You're right, let's do that.”, Tsukasa nodded and then both looked at Ena expectantly – she was their key in after all.

The brunette looked between the two men looking at her with mischievous grins on their faces and sighed in exasperation. “Sheesh...fine, I'll come with you and let you in.”

Akito hung his head low, sad about being left alone again just when he began truly enjoying the company. But he understood that it was necessary and since he wouldn't be discharged until tomorrow, he just looked up at Rui with a hopeful gaze. He didn't know how to put his feelings into words, but he didn't need to, seeing as the purple-haired male understood him perfectly even without him saying anything.

“Don't worry, I will come back as soon as I can.”, Rui promised and dug through his bag to pull out the CD Akito gifted him. “I will not stop supporting you until you get your voice and your confidence back, I promise. And even when you do, I will still stand by your side.”

Akito blushed at this passionate confession and quickly pulled the covers over his head, hiding from his boyfriend. “...be safe out there..”

The redhead couldn't see Rui's expression or his reaction, but he felt a gentle kiss on his hair before three sets of footsteps were heard, growing quieter and quieter as the three people left.

For the first time in so long, Akito felt happy despite being left alone again.

Chapter Text

Akito honestly didn't know what Rui said or did to his parents, but with how absolutely nice they were suddenly treating both him and Ena he was honestly too afraid to ask. Not that it was really important since all that mattered in the end was that he could stay at home for a little while longer and actually get the therapy he needed. The professional had been very accommodating, coming to the Shinonome residence and talking with Akito in private.

With the guidance from the specialist and the support he got from his friends and Rui, Akito was able to go back to school after a month. He mostly got over his anxiety of facing so many people at once and with his assailants all behind bars thanks to a report from Rui, he felt safe most of the time.

It was so great to be outside after such a long time of staying indoors and the people at school seemed to be very understanding and accommodating, helping Akito catch up on the things he missed. Of course it stung deep down since it implied more people had seen that damn video than Akito originally thought, but he appreciated their kindness nonetheless.

And so, another two months passed with Akito getting used to his regular daily life. Toya began carefully prodding him if he'd like to do another show, but Akito just said he wasn't ready yet. His teammates all seemed to understand that and left him to recover properly, asking him to just tell them whenever he was ready.

Everything seemed fine until the forum that was mainly used for fans of VBS to notify each other of new events and to discuss the new set lists began buzzing with the same message being spammed over and over. It seemed like almost every user of the forum copied and pasted the same one sentence in every thread.

Akito Shinonome solo live at Barrel House this Sunday, 9 pm – pass it on.

Of course that rumor didn't go unseen by the other members of Vivid Bad Squad and they confronted Akito about it.

“Huh? No, that's not about me. Either someone else has the exact same name or they're pretending to be me...”, Akito hissed and shook his head. “I'd say we go in and investigate who this impostor is. I wouldn't want our fans to go there and leave the performance disappointed...”

“Agreed. Though, that's quite a ballsy move if they really used your name to get in...”, Toya mumbled, looking troubled by the news. Akito wasn't ready to go back yet and someone was taking advantage of that? That's just below scummy.

An chimed in “All the more reason for us to go and check it out!”

Kohane simply nodded, but had a worried look on her face as she looked up to Akito. Seeing that look, the redhead really had to hold back the grin that threatened to spread on his lips. They all believed it just like that! He usually was extremely bad at lying, but this time it actually worked!

If only they knew...

“Where the heck is Akito?!”, An whined and checked her clock. It was 8:55, the performance of that phony was about to start...

Toya sighed and shook his head. It was disappointing and yet he understood why Akito didn't show. “Well, it's probably still too much to him to go into such a large crowd. Come on, let's go. We'll just give Akito the info later.”

And so, the three of them made their way inside, arriving just in time to see the lights dim for the next singer to step onto the stage. It was time for the big reveal – who was the person who dared to impersonate Akito when the redhead was still recovering?

“Huhuhu, you three made it!”, a teasing voice resounded next to them and immediately Toya understood what was up.

That chuckle, that teasing tone...and the fact that Rui even knew they'd be coming could mean only one thing. “Kamishiro-senpai, is he-”

Before Toya could ask anything a deep, smooth voice drowned out his words. Akito spoke confidently through the mic as soon as the lights turned on, the crowd going wild just by seeing him back on the stage after such a long time.

The redhead had his hair cut to the length he used to have it before the assault and refreshed the color in his fringe, the blond strand standing out even with the bright light shining down on him. Akito was wearing the outfit that they had worn to their very first big gig, giving his whole performance an undertone of a restart or a new beginning.

“I'd like to thank you all for coming here and for making this all possible, you guys are the best fans I could ever wish for!”, Akito said into the mic enthusiastically, scanning the area for the familiar faces of his teammates. He saw a small light signal of Rui flashing his phone twice and smiled. They were definitely here. “And while this is a solo performance, I don't plan on leaving Vivid Bad Squad any time soon.”

The crowd cheered because everyone including Akito himself knew that the group really brought out the best in him. Still, Akito knew he needed to do this alone today. He wanted to stand on his own two feet so he wouldn't become a liability. And he was determined to pull this off, to reclaim his former self and grow from there.

“But enough of me blabbing, get ready to make some noise!”, he cheered and he heard the crowd cheer back, suddenly feeling like he was on top of the world again.

The rush of excitement he felt when performing wasn't comparable with anything else, he knew he loved music. He was given so much support and encouragement by his friends, his sister, Rui and even strangers, who went out of their way to compose a song just for him. He knew he had to pass all of that onto someone else who might need it and he would do just that with his new song, a song he spent the past two months writing, composing and polishing until it reached the form it was in today.

It might not be as kind and soothing as the song that he had gotten from the members of Nightcord at 25:00, but he hoped that even his rough and somewhat aggressive sounding song would get through to someone. That it would light a fire within someone and give them back the will to fight and a motivation to turn their situation around.

Kicked down, underground

Hope is nowhere to be found

Rise up and reclaim your crown!

Scream out, yell out-

Let your voice be heard through the entire town!

It's too early to give up,

Get out of this fucking slump,

Don't let them bury you alive-

You're still breathing till' this day

And you're gonna survive!

Now follow me to the top of the world,

Don't make no excuses

When your anger and passion

Leave everyone else feeling cold

He delivered the song with a passion that he wished he could have shown to his past self, a passion for music, for life and for everything that was yet to come. A passion that just two months ago he thought was lost forever.

Since Akito couldn't travel back in time and give this song to his suicidal self and tell him that it would all be okay, he hoped he could reach someone else with those words. Someone who might be in a similar situation or might have lost their spark for whatever reason.

Akito's view and style of music was so different from Kanade's and yet it was thanks to the silver-haired woman that he realized just how much power music held over someone. How words and rhythm could influence one's state so easily. He wanted to give this song as a token of thanks to the people who helped him get back on his feet.

When he finished singing, he was left panting, but he didn't stop there, delivering two more, more familiar songs from his old set list. His time slot was almost up, but before he left the stage, he took up the mic once more.

“I want to take the rest of the time to thank you all for your support and my teammates for being patient with me. It took me a long time, but I'm back for good!”, he proclaimed and clenched his fist and raised it up in the air like he had grasped something. “I will keep aiming for the top together with Vivid Bad Squad, so I hope you'll continue supporting us.”

Akito finally left the stage after that declaration, descending the stairs to the dressing room to the overwhelming cheers of the crowd.

It all went so well, he was the happiest he's been in what felt like forever and he hastily changed out of the costume so he could meet up with the others. He was so excited to hear what they had to say about the performance and he hoped he managed to surprise them in a pleasant way. Thus, he hurried over to where Rui had texted him they were waiting and gave the four a casual greeting.

“Talk about an over-the top dramatic comeback.”, An teased him, but her smile showed just how excited she was to have the redhead back. Still, the teasing tone was pleasantly refreshing and familiar.

Kohane on the other hand just beamed up at him and seemed completely in awe over his show. “That was amazing! You must have practiced a bunch for the song to be so polished!”

“Yeah, how did you even manage to keep that practice secret from us?”, Toya pondered, but gave one of his rare smiles as well. His chest felt tight with how proud he was of Akito and he couldn't help but give his partner a look of pure admiration.

Akito was glad his friends were so understanding and happy for him. He decided to address the questions one by one. “Well, I snuck out to the Sekai at night and Kaito, Len and Rin were kind to practice with me and help me compose.” He was glad that he was allowed back in once he sorted his feelings out, though he was still bitter about Miku just throwing him out like that.

The redhead then turned to An and gave her a lopsided grin. “If you didn't like the dramatic comeback, blame Rui for that. He's the one who even started the rumor on the forums when I told him about going back on stage.”

An looked at the purple-haired man incredulously, only to have him shrug as if he was unaware of the fact that Akito stated. But the cat-like grin told her everything she needed to know. She laughed a little and shook her head. “Always a fan of theatrics, huh? Some things just never change.”

The redhead continued speaking, taking everyone aback. “But I know that I wouldn't have done it any differently. After all, I wouldn't be satisfied with a lackluster comeback. I wanted to take back what has been taken from me and make everyone see that I'm not just a helpless victim that has to be pitied and treated like glass.”

“I...I'm sorry that I treated you like that.”, Toya said, not realizing that it had bothered his partner so much. He was surprised to see Akito shake his head at that apology.

“It only shows how compassionate you are, so I'm not mad at any of you for supporting you in your own ways.”, Akito admitted and gave his teammates a tired smile. “But I just knew that for me to be able to start this over again I had to make my comeback become a bigger sensation than that video they shared.”

“Reclaiming everything they took from you, including the shape of your image online.”, Rui hummed in full understanding. He was really proud of Akito, not denying what happened to him but taking it and motivating himself to surpass that shadow.

He really loved his boyfriend more and more each day, even when he thought it wasn't possible to fall even deeper in love. It would still be a long way until Akito recovered fully, especially when it came to others touching him, but seeing the redhead make such great progress Rui was sure that together they could do it. They could overcome whatever life threw their way as long as he didn't let what's really important slip his mind again.

The purple-haired man clutched the bag that hung off his shoulder tighter, feeling the weight of the CD Akito gave him even though it made up only a tiny fraction of the contents inside. But that was so much more than a simple disc to him – it was a promise he made with Akito.

And that was a promise Rui was sure to keep no matter what. He would stay with Akito through thick and thin and support him however he could.