A/N: Assumes that Noiz never left after he was released from the hospital at the end of his GE. Written because I believe there's no way Aoba didn't have nightmares about what Scratch did to him. And I wanted an excuse to write shameless NoizxAoba fluff. Enjoy, and please be sure to leave a review.
Summary: Aoba thought he had forgotten about what happened with Scratch. He really did. But relapses can occur at any time, most commonly in the form of a nightmare. It's a good thing he doesn't have to deal with it alone.
Disclaimer: I sadly do not own DMMD.
Warnings: Flashback to attempted gang rape, slight cussing.
Aoba sighed, snuggling closer into Noiz's embrace and letting out a small yawn. "I think I'm ready for bed."
Noiz blinked at him, the corner of his mouth pulling up a bit. "Already?" He pressed his lips to the back of his lover's head, inhaling the scent of his freshly washed hair. "You don't want to do anything with me tonight?" he murmured suggestively. Aoba turned his head enough to give him a friendly glare.
"Perverted brat," he said fondly, rolling his eyes. "Even if I wanted to, Grams is still here, remember? You know her rules."
Noiz made a 'tch' sound, pulling his boyfriend closer to his chest. "Rules can be broken every once in a while." He reached for Aoba's hand with his own, entwining their fingers together. "But if that's the case, I suppose I can do with just this for tonight."
Aoba yawned again. A small, content smile was drawn over his face as his eyes drooped shut. "It's enough for me. Good night, Noiz."
Letting his own eyes close, Noiz felt a warm surge of affection bubble up in his chest. "Good night, Aoba."
Aoba struggled to open his eyes, head pounding. He groaned, trying to place a hand over his aching temple. His eyes suddenly widened as he realized that his arms were bound behind his back. In a panic he scanned the room, trying to figure out where he was. It was a dark room and was hard to see anything…
"Do it."
He started at those words, anxiety creeping up on him. What did that mean…? Aoba saw multiple figures step out from the shadows, and felt uneasiness welling up. What were they going to do…?
The looks on the gang members' faces greatly disturbed Aoba, and he inhaled quickly as he was pinned to the ground. Vaguely he felt someone tugging on the back of his jacket. If I can get these restraints off, maybe I'll have a chance. Some part of his brain told him he was an idiot for even considering the idea.
"Make sure to hold him down hard."
Aoba let out a strangled gasp, finally figuring out what was going to happen to him. Shivers ran down his spine. No… no way… He squeezed his eyes shut, renewing his vigorous efforts to free himself of his restraints. There was no way in hell that he would let this happen to him.
"Let me go!"
His heart jumped as he felt the restraints loosen enough for him to free his arms, but quickly sank as he was pinned down again. Aoba gritted his teeth, staring down at the filthy ground. He glanced over to the one in charge. He believed that one of the gang members had said his name was Mink. What an asshole… how could he just sit back and watch them do something like this…?
Aoba's countless pleas to be released were ignored, in favor of unnervingly calm discussion among themselves. He flinched as his shirt was removed, feeling nauseous as a stray hand made its way up his chest. Go away…
"Get off me!" he yelled, trying to put on a tough front. His response was a quick fist to the gut, completely knocking the breath out of him. He gasped ruggedly for air, stars dancing before his eyes.
Aoba was pulled roughly to the ground, wincing as his back collided with the hard surface. Alarms went off in his head as he felt someone vigorously undoing his belt and unbuttoning his jeans. The feeling of rough fingers running down his hips and legs made him want to puke. A third hand returned to his chest.
"Let go!" he cried, voice close to cracking.
"Shut up! Gag him!"
A wad of cloth was stuffed into his mouth, and Aoba shut his eyes in an attempt to prevent the tears from welling up. No… Stop… He tried to shut out the lewd comments that the men shamelessly threw around, shuddering.
"Hurry up already, so the rest of us can have a turn!"
He shivered involuntarily as the lower part of his body was suddenly completely exposed, cold air hitting his bare skin. He looked away, shame burning up within him. After a short discussion, hands started touching him again. They ran over his lower regions, one actually pressing into him. The feeling was absolutely repulsive, and nausea nearly overwhelmed him.
Aoba tried to tune out the world around him, feeling his mind go numb. Why… why? The hands wouldn't go away, becoming more and more daring by the second. God, someone help me…! He cast a dull glance at Mink, who was still watching with a neutral expression. Did this not bother him in any way?
Why…
Why did this have to happen to me?!
Why?
Why?!
Please stop touching me…
Please leave me alone…
Go away…
Go away…
Don't touch me anymore…
Aoba's eyes snapped open, breathing heavily as he took in the dark room. He panicked once he realized a set of arms was wrapped around him. "Let go!" he shouted, trying to pry himself from the powerful grip.
"Aoba? What's wrong?" a sleep-muddled voice asked.
"Get off of me!" he gasped, succeeding in freeing himself in Noiz's confusion. He practically threw himself off the bed, curling up on the floor and wrapping his hands around himself. He stared blankly at the wall, chest aching and nausea welling up. Stay away… don't touch me…
"Aoba?" a worried voice asked. He blinked, the soothing tone of his lover's voice pulling him back to reality. Aoba turned his head, gazing up at Noiz.
"N… oiz?"
"Yeah it's me," Noiz replied, cautiously climbing down from the bed. He laid next to Aoba, face-to-face with him. His eyes softened at the terrified look on Aoba's face. "What's the matter? Nightmare?"
He nodded, tears suddenly blurring his vision. Aoba let out a strangled cry, burying his head in Noiz's chest. The latter started to wrap his arms around his boyfriend, but hesitated remembering Aoba's reaction earlier. He settled with planting a gentle kiss on his head, letting himself linger there for a while. "What was the nightmare about?" he asked softly.
Aoba hiccupped a few times, face still buried in Noiz's chest. After he had calmed himself down a bit, he pulled his head back to look Noiz in the eyes. "D-do you-" He paused after hearing his voice crack, but cleared his throat and continued. "Do you remember when I was kidnapped by Scratch?"
Noiz nodded slowly, eyes narrowing a bit.
"Well, when they brought me there… I woke up in this dark room. I could hardly see a thing… And all of Mink's men started coming towards me. I thought they were just gonna beat me up, but they… they…" Aoba choked, fresh tears welling up in his eyes. "Th-they wouldn't stop touching me, they touched me everywhere… I told them to stop but they didn't, and Mink just watched! He didn't… he didn't care… Noiz, they wouldn't stop touching me, no matter how many times I begged them not to… They wouldn't stop! They wouldn't leave me alone!"
Aoba's words became more and more incomprehensible through his sobs, and Noiz felt an intense anger course through his body. Mink, that bastard… I knew there was something off about him. Scratch was made solely of prisoners, of people who didn't know what morals were. But to think that they did that to his Aoba…
He was going to kill every last one of those fuckers.
Noiz slowly pulled Aoba's face towards him and kissed him gently. "You're here with me now. I won't let anything like that happen ever again." I swear it.
Aoba nodded, tears still falling from his eyes as he pushed deeper into the kiss. He couldn't stop a few stray sobs from bubbling up from his lips, which caused Noiz to reach for his hand and intertwine their fingers.
"Everything will be fine, liebe," Noiz mumbled against his boyfriend's mouth.
Aoba let out a shaky laugh. "I don't even know what that means."
Noiz smiled. "It means 'love'," he said, pressing his forehead against Aoba's. "You are my one and only liebe, and I would do anything to protect you."
Aoba's already red face turned redder, and he turned away slightly. "You brat," he muttered, embarrassed. "Since when did you get so sappy?" Noiz's smile widened, and he planted another deep kiss on the boy's lips.
"Ich liebe dich."
"..."
"...it means 'I love you.'"
The next day, Aoba woke up tired but content. He yawned, wincing as he stretched his aching arms over his head. That's what I get for falling asleep on the floor, I guess. He sat up slowly, groaning slightly. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, then noticing something that jolted him right awake.
Noiz was gone.
Panicking, Aoba jumped up and looked around the room. He'd definitely left. A sinking realization suddenly hit him. Noiz had gone to fight Scratch, alone, hadn't he…? Aoba quickly dialed his boyfriend's number on his coil, listening to the machine ring as he ran downstairs. It ran twice before going to voicemail. That stupid, reckless…
He pulled his shoes on as fast as he could and continued running out the door. He wasn't exactly sure where Scratch's hideout was, but he knew the general vicinity. He needed to find Noiz before he did anything he would regret.
Aoba finally stopped about 10 minutes later to catch his breath, worry clawing at him. Noiz was an excellent fighter, of that there was no doubt. But against that many prisoners? And Mink? He shuddered as he remembered Mink's demonstration of what happened to those who defied his orders. The image spurring him forward, he began running again.
Noiz stumbled, breathing heavily as his arm throbbed in pain. He had managed to take out quite a few Scratch members… in fact, more than he had planned. It was extremely gratifying to fight his way through the crowd of prisoners and land a solid punch on Mink's smug face. Things had gone downhill from there, but he felt he'd gotten his point across.
He glanced at his mangled left arm, blinking in curiosity. He tried lifting it up, but was rewarded with a sharp stab of pain. He winced. "Ow…" He would've never thought a broken arm would be this painful.
"Noiz!"
He looked back up, trying to focus his blurry vision a bit. "Aoba?" he asked, wondering why he was here. Noiz stumbled again, this time not bothering to catch himself.
Aoba rushed over to support him, out of breath from running for so long. "You… stupid… idiot…" he said in between breaths, throwing Noiz's good arm around his shoulders. "Why did you think you were doing, running off by yourself?" Noiz mumbled a response, turning his face away from Aoba and closing his eyes. The blue-haired boy leaned in closer, frowning a bit. "What?"
Noiz opened one eye. "Punched the smug look right off his face," he said, grinning slightly. "Put him in his place."
Aoba sighed in exasperation, smacking his lover on the back of the head softly. "Idiot. And look what they did to you." He scanned Noiz's fresh injuries worriedly. "Especially since you can feel everything now, that must be killer."
He shrugged indifferently, though the effect was lessened when he grimaced from the pain in his left arm. "It was worth it." Noiz looked away.
Aoba smiled gently. "Hey, Noiz…" As soon as he looked over, Aoba planted a kiss on his lips. "Thank you," he whispered.
Noiz tilted his head, then smiled. He went to kiss Aoba back, but was confused when he pulled back. Aoba grinned.
"We need to get you to the hospital, you reckless brat." Noiz pouted slightly and mumbled a quiet "don't wanna go back there", which made Aoba laugh. "That's what you get for being stupid."
"...will you come visit me every day again?"
"...duh."
Noiz grinned. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
It turned out to be a little shorter than I thought, but I haven't written anything in a while. Since I've become completely obsessed with this game/anime lately (and needed to vent), this happened. In any case, I hope you enjoyed this little one-shot and please make sure to leave me a review on your way out!