A/N: This story is rated M for a reason. There is some sexual content but mostly the rating is there for violence and a general twisted mood behind the entire story itself. Please keep this in mind as you read on. I do not condone any of the actions of the characters herein, it is simply a work of fiction.

---------------------------

A sharp knock at the bedroom door pulled Gakuto out of his slumber, and though it marked the end of his sleep he knew it was merely the beginning of the nightmare. They always started this way, the worst of his days, yet as much as he wanted to pretend he'd never heard that knock he knew that ruse would never work. It was almost as though Atobe gave him enough time after each kill to pull himself back together, forget that he had murdered someone in cold blood on the very bed he slept in each night.

The new bed linens were of course greatly appreciated, but there was only so much hydrogen peroxide Gakuto could stand before the scent made him gag and he learned to move his furniture to cover the blood stains on the carpet. Not that it helped to erase the memory; in fact it did nothing but enhance it. Yet, just when Gakuto was beginning to forget what it was like to slit someone's throat and feel their warm blood flow out over his hands there was a knock at his door in the middle of the day.

Gakuto groaned and rolled over in bed to bury his face in his pillow, his fingers curled into the blankets as if he could somehow cling to those last vestiges of sleep. But as usual they didn't even wait to hear from him before the door opened, and he growled under his breath as the light from the hallway spilled into his room.

"Atobe is sending someone by. Make sure to read the file before he arrives." There was the distinct sound of something being set on the low dresser by the door, and then the door closed with a loud thud.

"God dammit." Gakuto groaned into his pillow before finally rolling over and glancing over at the dresser. Sure enough, a manila folder had been set there, but in the darkness of his room he couldn't tell what color it was. Judging by the time of day and the abrupt nature of the call, Gakuto had a sinking feeling it was red. And sure enough, when Gakuto finally crawled out of bed and stood to flick on the light, the bright red of the folder glared up at him from the dresser.

Immediately Gakuto winced, and then took a deep breath before reaching out to pick up the folder and plopping back onto his bed with it in hand. Inside there were a few loose papers with information about this man that would soon be arriving. The first had his name, job, family details; that Gakuto skimmed, hardly even reading his name before he flipped the page. On the second was all the information Gakuto could ever need about the man's kinks and weaknesses, the latter of which he also skipped since he handled these things differently than Atobe's posse of serial murderers.

"These fuckers really need to get more original..." Gakuto growled angrily to himself, closing the folder roughly with the pages all out of order and sticking out the sides. As he stood again to put the folder this time in the bottom empty drawer of the dresser, he gave a resigned sigh and stripped out of the baggy t-shirt and pair of striped boxers he'd slept in. Reluctantly he pulled open the top drawer and stared blankly at the impressive collection of various sex toys; from whips to dildos of different shapes and sizes, anal beads to costumes and most importantly the bottle of lubricant off to one side that Gakuto pulled out as he picked through the unorganized mess.

After a few more moments of searching, Gakuto finally pulled out a pair of leather handcuffs and balanced on one foot to push the drawer closed with the other as he buttoned one of the cuffs around his right wrist. He tossed the bottle of lube onto the bed haphazardly before crawling back to the head of the bed on all fours, debating for a moment before rolling onto his back and looping the chain connecting the cuffs around one of the metal poles of the headboard. For a moment he struggled to get the cuff to button around his left wrist, but eventually he heard it snap closed with a click and finally relaxed.

He didn't know how long he lay there waiting but it felt like an eternity, and when the door finally pushed open he flinched and felt his heart leap into his throat. Yet there was nothing he could do but try to even out his breathing and steel himself against what was to come as the door swung all the way open to reveal his client in the form of a well-dressed businessman in the doorway. Gakuto's heart raced and for a moment he wondered what the hell Atobe had gotten him into this time, until the man set eyes on him and he watched that look darken to greedy lust. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. The man gave a dry laugh, his eyes traveling the length of Gakuto's body as he removed his suit jacket and tossed it onto the end of the bed.

"Atobe certainly doesn't disappoint, does he?"

Gakuto fought against the nerves and now the anger coursing through him and managed to give the man a smile. "Atobe-sama makes sure each of his clients get exactly what they deserve." Gakuto replied carefully, keeping the vindictive tone out of his voice only by an extreme force of self-control.

The man gave another laugh as he loosened his tie and slowly unbuttoned his shirt, still not making a move toward Gakuto and certainly taking his time about getting undressed.

Gakuto shifted awkwardly against his bonds, his wrists already a little stiff from the wait, and the noise of the chain against the bedpost caught the man's attention.

"Such an impatient little whore, aren't you?"

Inwardly Gakuto winced, the anger rising up and forcing him to quite literally bit his tongue as he spread his legs and curled them up against his body to give the man a better view. "Always~" He replied, somehow managing to sound infinitely more confident than he felt at the moment.

The only thing Gakuto knew for sure was that whatever sympathy he'd had for this man that he was meant to kill had already up and disappeared and they hadn't even begun. But the man seemed to like the change of view and the confidence in Gakuto's voice, because he stepped out of his pants rather quickly and climbed onto the bed.

As he crawled forward Gakuto tried to give him an inviting look, and was doing a pretty good job of it until the man's knee bumped into the bottle of lubricant Gakuto had tossed onto the bed before his arrival. But it wasn't the man's discovery of the bottle that had Gakuto's confidence wavering, rather it was the way he glanced down at the bottle and then pushed it with one hand so that it rolled off one side of the bed and onto the floor with a quiet definitive thump.

A flicker of fear went through Gakuto's eyes, and he made sure to close them before the man caught sight of it; arching his back and tugging slightly at the cuffs to hide his growing anxiety. He only dared to open his eyes when he felt that he had that fear back under control, but was instantly glad that he opened his eyes when he did.

There was a faint ripping noise, and as Gakuto's mind raced to catch up he realized the man must have grabbed a condom from the box that sat open and obvious on the bedside table. Gakuto's eyes drifted downward to watch as the man rolled the condom over his cock, and had just enough time to take in a sharp breath and attempt to relax before the man loomed over him; pressing his legs back further until his knees were digging into his shoulders. He lined his cock up at Gakuto's entrance and thrust into him with one quick greedy snap of his hips, his eyes sliding closed in pleasure as Gakuto stiffened beneath him.

Gakuto could no longer control his reactions as that pain lanced through him; he threw his head back against the mattress and screamed. It took every last ounce of self-control that he possessed to keep from shoving the man off with his legs and refusing to go through with it, and half the reason he didn't do it was because he was afraid he wouldn't be able to overpower the man that was damn near twice his size.

Yet Gakuto struggled against the hold the leather had on his wrists because the pain of just that one thrust was severe enough to steal the wind from his lungs. But his fighting only seemed to encourage the man above him, because he pressed down harder on Gakuto's legs as though he sensed those thoughts and pulled out of him with an aching slowness. It pulled roughly at every muscle that already ached, leaving Gakuto trembling violently just before the man quickly thrust back in and drove another scream out of Gakuto's throat.

Normally Gakuto would bide his time, wait until the man was so lost in pleasure that he didn't notice what Gakuto was up to until it was too late. But that blinding pain drove him to act earlier than he would've liked, his fingers inching down against the sheets between the bed and the wall; clawing at the edge of the mattress and barely managing to hold back a sob as the man thrust into him again. Fighting against the pain to concentrate, he bit into his lower lip so hard that it brought tears to his eyes; forced his hand further back behind the bed and slipped his fingers between the mattress and box spring for the hilt of the knife he knew was there.

With his hand hidden behind the bed he flipped his wrist in the handcuff to snap open the worn button and reached his fingers just that little bit further until they bumped that sleek metal handle and he slowly eased it out.

But just before Gakuto got the knife free, the man above him moaned and his eyes rolled back in his head; that thrusting stopping for a blissful moment but the muscles still stretched and aching enough that Gakuto hesitated. There was a nausea setting into the pit of his stomach from the pain and the adrenaline, but he quickly swallowed it down and closed his eyes as he wrapped his fingers firmly about the hilt of the knife and in one quick movement brought it up to the man's throat.

Gakuto waited that extra moment for the man to open his eyes, waited for that look of fear and confusion and then somehow managed to smile through the tears as he drew the blade across the man's throat. It cut through his flesh cleanly, and Gakuto could hear him choking on the blood as it filled his lungs.

One of the man's hands came up to grab at his throat, fingers slipping in the blood and his eyes wide in disbelief as he tried to stop the blood pouring from the gash in his neck. Gakuto gagged at the sight and had to close his eyes, though it didn't help when he could feel the man's still warm blood dripping down over his legs and stomach, coating his body in a thick, slippery red sheen. Moments later the man sagged over him as the life slowly drained out of his body with each beat of his heart, his eyes still wide but now unseeing and his fingers finally giving up their fight against the inevitable.

Gakuto released the knife from his grasp and let it fall to the bed beside him with a dull thud, his eyes still shut tight as he used both his arms and legs to push the man off of him. When he finally felt that now flaccid cock slip out of him and that weight fall off to one side he quickly scrambled out from under it and somehow managed to find his legs enough to stand beside the bed. He took a couple of shaky breaths and slowly turned around, opening his eyes finally and putting a hand over his mouth as he doubled up and gagged again; just the scent of blood thick in the air enough to churn his stomach, the sight of it notwithstanding.

"Fuck." Gakuto muttered through his fingers, swallowing the bile that had risen in the back of his throat. "Fuck!" He yelled out, taking a step backward, and then another until his back hit the wall and he pressed the heels of his hands against his closed eyes.

Gakuto slowly collapsed, sliding his back down the wall until he was curled up on the floor with his knees pulled in to his chest. Finally he gave in to the sobs that had been threatening to overtake him, pressing his palms a little harder against his eyes to keep the tears from streaming down his face. Still they somehow leaked past that pressure, and Gakuto's entire body trembled with the effort of holding back the shock.

"Isn't gonna... fucking help..." Gakuto grumbled to himself, taking his hands down from his eyes and clenching them into fists at his sides as he tried to get a hold of himself. "Get the fuck up." Slowly Gakuto opened his eyes and glared at his own knees, hitting his thigh lightly with one fist to get his uncooperative leg to move.

Using the wall for support Gakuto stood again, making sure to keep his eyes diverted from the bed; but there was blood everywhere, and as long as he stayed in this room he knew he couldn't avoid it. Walking around to the end of the bed, Gakuto carefully faced the door and picked up the discarded white dress shirt off of the floor. He used the shirt to wipe as much of the blood as he could manage off of his stomach and legs; ignoring the fact that for the most part it was only smearing the blood around and tinting his skin a dark rusted red.

By the time he dropped the shirt back to the floor it was soaked through, and he'd given up on getting it off completely. Gakuto picked up his own shirt from next to the dresser and tugged it on over his head; and it didn't even matter that the shirt was the one he'd slept in and all wrinkled and unkempt, as were the boxers he pulled on next. In fact, he didn't even bother to search for a pair of pants; he just knew that he had to get out of that room before he lost his composure for good. So, he left the room.

Bedraggled, barefoot, and hardly dressed Gakuto walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him. It was still too early for most of the others to be up, so thankfully the halls were practically empty as he walked the familiar route to the last room on the right. Just before he reached the door he heard someone coming up the stairs and quickened his pace, but he didn't quite make it before the cute young blond reached the landing.

Usually Gakuto would have at least made an effort to act normal, but under the circumstances Gakuto could do nothing but glare. Much to his chagrin, the blond cocked his head cutely at him and smiled before walking past him down the hall. Gakuto frowned at the display, and as he reached the door he opened it without knocking in an attempt to get out of the hall faster.

It was only pure luck that saved him from an awkward situation as he walked into the room and shut the door behind him to find that Taki was alone. For a moment he was left standing just inside the room in the dark, but the soft glow of a lamp soon lit the room from a table beside Taki's bed. He watched the brunette rub sleepily at his eyes, and then the flash of shock pass through that expressive gaze.

"Oh, sweetie..." Immediately Taki was pulling back the covers and climbing out of bed, taking in Gakuto's appearance as he crossed the room.

It didn't matter that they hadn't seen each other for more than a passing moment in weeks, nor that Taki was completely naked. As soon as Taki reached him, the redhead clung to him and buried his face against Taki's chest.

"They made you do it again?" Taki asked softly, leaning down to mutter against Gakuto's ear. Gakuto only nodded in response, the fingers of one hand clutching at Taki's side. Taki held on to him for a moment before slowly spinning them around and gently pushing Gakuto down to sit on the bed, though Gakuto clutched at him and resisted.

"Shh, sit down. I'm going to go get something. You'll be fine, Gakkun." Gakuto whimpered softly, but reluctantly sat down and bit his lower lip as Taki pulled away. Taki gave him a reassuring smile and gently rubbed the pad of his thumb over Gakuto's cheek just under his left eye, causing Gakuto to flinch lightly as he wiped away the drop of blood Gakuto couldn't have known was there.

"You sit tight, okay? I'm going to go grab something to clean you up." Only when Gakuto nodded did Taki stand up fully and turn to open the door.

"'Suke." Gakuto called, and Taki turned around with a questioning look. "You're naked."

The redhead pointed out carefully, and though his tone of voice was deadpan Taki caught the barest glimmer of amusement in his eyes. Taki looked down and then glanced back up at Gakuto with a hint of a smile, gave him a shrug and walked out the door.

Gakuto shook his head lightly as the door closed behind Taki and then leaned forward to let his head droop as he covered his face with his hands. Being in the room alone waiting for Taki to return reminded him too vividly of the man he'd been waiting for under a half hour ago and he quickly uncovered his eyes, not wanting to see the picture of that dead body in his mind's eye. He stayed frozen there as he waited, staring through his spread fingers at the carpet below and tracing the pattern of it with his eyes to distract his mind.

When the door opened he didn't move, he simply listened to the footsteps as they moved past him and the soft thump as he heard Taki set something on the bedside table. Then the footsteps trailed back to the door which clicked closed just before Taki knelt down in front of him and gently pulled his hands away from his face.

"You okay?"

Gakuto paused before deciding to offer Taki an earnest shrug which he seemed to appreciate.

"Come on, let's get you out of those clothes." Taki reached for the hem of Gakuto's shirt, and Gakuto hesitated for only a moment before sitting up from his slouched posture and lifting his arms so that Taki could pull the shirt up over his head.

As soon as Taki set eyes on the amount of blood streaked across Gakuto's stomach he let out a low whistle, but distracted from it by hooking his fingers behind the waistband of Gakuto's boxers. Gakuto leaned back and propped himself carefully up on his elbows to lift his hips up off of the bed, watching as Taki tugged the garment down off of his hips and let them fall to the floor.

Taki quickly took advantage of Gakuto's elevated hips and leaned forward to tentatively run his tongue along the ridge just under the head of Gakuto's cock.

Immediately Gakuto stiffened and dropped his hips back down to the bed, staring up at Taki warily. Taki smiled at him and dropped his head to take the tip of Gakuto's cock into his mouth, staring him in the eye and waiting for him to relax. But Gakuto simply watched Taki for another moment and then reached down with one hand to gently push him away. There was a slight tremble to his fingers that belied the extent to which he was controlling his emotions; reigning in that fear and adrenaline to keep from harming the one person he could consider to be something of a friend in this hellish place.

Sex was all Taki seemed to think of. The one thing he always resorted to when Gakuto came looking for comfort, and the one thing that Gakuto didn't want to have anything to do with after a morning like this one. So he gently pushed Taki away, and though the brunette's eyes narrowed in confusion he backed off without a word and used the damp cloth he held in one hand to slowly wipe away the remaining blood from Gakuto's skin.

Finally Gakuto relaxed, and Taki seemed to as well; though Gakuto could see the way he was cautiously weighing his choices and trying to figure out how to get something out of this for himself after all. Deciding quickly that he should do something before Taki made another move and created another awkward moment between them, Gakuto forced a yawn and curled his fingers around Taki's wrist to still his hand from where he'd been slyly moving down over Gakuto's stomach.

"I'm tired, 'Suke. I've got to sleep more or I'm gonna be dead tired tonight." Taki somehow managed a smile and pulled away, taking a moment to turn around and collect himself; hanging the pink-tinged cloth on the doorknob before turning back around.

"Of course, you need your rest." He replied evenly, walking around to the side of the bed and pulling back the covers; his eyes diverting to the bedside table as Gakuto turned over and crawled toward him on all fours. And his eyes only turned back when Gakuto had slipped safely under the covers and rolled over onto his left side; his legs pulled up into a loose imitation of the fetal position.

Taki took that slim invitation for what it was worth, sliding in behind Gakuto and reaching behind himself to turn off the lamp on the bedside table. But when Taki turned back over and wrapped his arms about Gakuto's middle, the redhead faked a well-placed soft little snore. The noise didn't escape Taki's attention; he actually gave an annoyed sigh in response, pulling away from Gakuto and climbing out of the bed in the dark. He didn't stumble even once as he walked around the bed and into the bathroom, though when he turned on the light he spun in the doorway to look back over his shoulder at the little redhead curled up in his bed before quietly closing the door behind him.

Gakuto was fast asleep by the time he returned, and when he woke up a few hours later Taki was nowhere to be found.