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"Call it a spur of the moment decision as I was driving by." Azriel replied with a bit of a half smirk. "And you're right. He wasn't my property at the time... but your underling lied to Soto-san if you forget. I'm not the only one who wasn't playing by the rules, sensei."
He was going to stand fast on that point.
Ono had lied.
Katsu had given no visitation notice.
They both had broken the rules and while Azriel hadn't exactly intended to snitch on the surgeon... he really had no choice now that he knew of the experiment in detail...
The Doctor would know that easily.
"I had my eye on Oreo-kun before this experiment took place. If I had know he would be fodder for your experiments, I would have purchased him sooner. As it was... I've been a bit too busy to properly deal with my new managerial position in the upper realms of the PIT."

Nakai didn't mind the jam session at all. In fact, he had partly counted on this happening. The guitarist enjoyed his musical conversations with the mercurial man and for once there was nothing to get in the way of their creative minds just letting lose.
"You know, I'd be happy to play like this with you any time you're free and need a little bit of inspiration." Kai spoke with a wink, not quite flirting really... just being his usual self.
Shou was perhaps one of the few men that he really didn't feel this overwhelming need to jump in the sack with. It wasn't because the man lacked anything in the looks department. Far from it. But there was a part of Kai that felt he could connect to Shou on a musical level. Not to mention they were both rivals of Narcissus as well.
"Tablet? No not an ipad. You know those things made of trees called paper and a pen or pencil?" Kai teased.
He wasn't that big on tech... in fact it'd taken him a long time to figure out his damn cell phone, much less a tablet. The blond liked to keep things simple after all.
"Mmm yeah I almost dated him. Then he ended up with that violinist so I moved on. Would've been hot though... dating someone who could be your mirror image." he spoke as he strummed his guitar, imitating the bits that Shou had seemed the song might need. "But he's a bit too high maintenance for me it seems. I like guys who don't cling. Just got out of a rather clingy relationship though... I technically haven't officially broken that off. Ugh... that kid'll kill me when he finds out. Don't get me wrong, I'm fine being friends with the guy but... I couldn't stick around." the guitarist shrugged his shoulders, thinking back on his relationship with Chiyou. "Haven't found the right one, if there is any. Besides, I've got to live my life, you know? I don't want a moment passing by where I have to think, 'should I just stop?'." there was a mischievous smirk on the blond's lips as he went through a series of cords. "The way I see it, guys like us... we need freedom, you know? I mean yeah we need acceptance and love too but freedom's more important. Getting tied down to a committed relationship just isn't something I ever planned on doing at this stage, you know?"

All throughout the drive, Azriel didn't move an inch. The backseat of the car was warm and he curled himself up in the corner, knees to his chest, face hidden from the world.
Takatori had kindly put a spare blanket from the car around the young man, but it did nothing to stop his shaking. It was as if Katsu were chilled to the very bone.
Fear...
Gut wrenching terror...
Every time Azriel closed his eyes he saw that twisted man's face... every time he thought of anything else... it was there... at the edges of his mind... tormenting him... mocking him...
When the car pulled up, before it had even come to a complete parked stop, Katsumi flung open the door and scrambled out of the vehicle. Lucky for him Hiroki's butler was standing on the step, the door to the estate open. Blanket clutched around his shoulders, Katsu dashed into the grand house.
"He is upstairs resting." the butler spoke plainly as the bat flew past.
Somehow Azriel heard him and the young man raced up the stairs in a blind panic. Throwing open Hiroki's door, Katsu threw himself against the man, grabbing him tightly around the waist and clinging fast, though somehow mindful of the elephant's injuries at the same time.
Tears were streaming down his cheeks as the bat buried his face in Hiroki's neck.
"Gomen, Asato-kun... Ore dakishimete kudasai... onegai..." he whispered softly, unable to stop his crying and wanting more than anything to feel warm and alive...








(((OOC: And this is exactly what Az feels like right now...



HAHAHAHA!)))

Breathing deep, Katsumi just lay there, clinging to Hiroki for the longest time until finally... eventually... his body relaxed.
For a while it seemed like the bat was asleep...
But then soft words issued from his lips in the quietest of whispers. "Gomen... I was frightened... and cold..."
Azriel didn't do much more for a time. He sighed gently, tilting his head back to look up into Hiroki's eyes.
"I'm safe here... aren't I?" the bat whispered softly, his dark eyes red. Gently one hand reached up, black nails caressing the side of the older man's face. "Oreo was in trouble... I tried to save him but..." for a moment he retracted his hand as if stung, those sharp nails going to the marred skin of his own neck. "Perhaps I can't save anyone... Perhaps... I'm not as strong as I think myself to be... Those eyes..." Azriel's own gaze slipped closed and he shivered, burying his face into Hiroki's neck once more. "You loved me, ne? You knew how sick and twisted I was... how I still am... But you loved me, ne... Asato-kun?" He shook his head slowly. "Nightmares became reality and I left him to them... I left him..." Katsumi broken into tears again, arms wrapping around the older man once more. "I don't deserve it! I don't! In the face of my fears I aban... abandoned him! I ran and ran... I was so cold... Ba... bakemono... Ore bakamono!"

















Akihiko knew that Nakai wanted to break things off with Chiyou... and while normally it wasn't his place to meddle in something like this...
The kid needed to know.
"Perhaps I'm being a bit too blunt with you, Hideki but you've never known me to be anything but and I would expect you to understand my honesty and why I'm telling you something that was in my confidence in the first place. Nakai is on tour right now because he needed a break. From you."
Narcissus walked over and sat down on the sofa beside Chiyou. He knew this would perhaps be even harder to take... but better to let those hopes die then to foster them falsely. "When you slept, Hideki... Nakai was awake all night working on compositions. It isn't that he doesn't care about you because if that had been the case then I don't think he would have stayed with you at all. But he remained. When Ruki and I weren't here and you were alone, Nakai was there. Now though, he needs his freedom. You've admitted yourself that you're getting better at doing things on your own and perhaps you don't need him at your side constantly." his blue gaze flickered to Izzy, knowing that the other man wasn't quite liking how the young tiger handled this. But it couldn't he helped. He wouldn't dance around such an important issue.
"Nakai needs some space. I'm not telling you he's dumping you or leaving you because I can't make that call. But he needs some time to himself. All artists feel like that from time to time. It's only natural, Hideki."

Nakai laughed, spinning his guitar in his hands. "Least I'll know who it's from then." he teased, letting his fingers slide down the frets and back up.
It was such a comforting feelings. The instrument in his hands. He wasn't one for crazy showmanship with his guitar, but he did do a trick or two every now and then when he felt really into the moment.
"Over huh? Hmm... Well I think I got over my desire to screw myself." Kai winked, tossing his own pick to Shou. "Now try that one and tell me if the sound's the same as the product."
His fingers made a sliding whine sound on the strings as he pulled his hand down the frets. "Confrontation, ne? Maybe... or maybe I feel kind of responsible for what got us to this point. I kept saying I wasn't the commitment type but..." the blond shook his head, fingers picking lightly at the strings. "Kid just fell too hard. And maybe I just need a break or I need to fool around for a while. Who knows? What's important is just trying to be true to yourself and having fun along the way, right?"
But then the blond sat down on one of the amp cases and laughing. "What turns me on, ne? Might be better to ask what doesn't..." Nakai teased, leaning back a bit but keeping his guitar happily in hand. "Not sure I could change my ways... unless I found someone who understood those ways almost as much as me, if not more. Jealousy's got no place in my world, Shou-san. If I don't want to commit, I don't expect my partner to either."


















Ono had been watching... and he had been watching carefully.
As soon as Katsu dashed out... when he saw that look in the Doctor's eyes...
The words "GET IN HERE NOW!" hadn't even completely left the mad man's mouth and the door was opening up.
"Sir?" Takashi spoke carefully, knowing without a doubt that he was in a LOT of trouble.

In The Pit

"WHAT is going on Ono-kun? When did Katsu-kun arrive? Start talking?" The doctor hovered over Oreo who really just wanted to crawl under the bed. He feared that this man might go crazy on him at any moment. He had seen just inside the Doctor's pocket a glint of steel, a sharp razor like blade. What else the man had on him Oreo could not guess. But he was very much afraid.

kawaita tsumori ame ga tsuzunaku katari kakeru
namida wa seijaku ni...samayou yoru ga akeru




The words that passed Narcissus' lips now hurt Hideki far worse than the news he'd just gotten. Not being allowed to perform...he could tolerate. Being faced with further surgeries...he'd deal with.

The thought of Nakai leaving him now...when they'd only become an "official" couple not too long ago...it cut the young man right down to his core.

"N...nani?!" Chiyou practically choked, his chest tightening and lungs burning from the effort it took him to hold back the anguished scream he wanted to let out.

What had he done wrong? Was he really so horrible to be with that he'd pushed the man away so quickly? Had...had Kai only stuck by him out of pity this whole time?
He couldn't help but muse that this was all some kind of horrible karma for all the bad things he'd done in his life. Perhaps he deserved this. He probably deserved to suffer for one reason or another.

Maybe it would have been better if Naoko had gone ahead and killed him rather than just leave him sightless. With so many things weighing down on him now, the kid really didn't know how he was going to keep facing life with any kind of happiness. It seemed it was his lot in life, to have everybody reject him in the end. His mother, Ruki, now Kai. Kai, who he'd come to truly love in every way.

Silently, Hideki put his head down on the table and began to weep.



karada o tsutau ame ni furueru awai omoi
guren no yuuwaku ni...samayou yoru ga akeru