LEGAL DRUG (GOHOU DRUG) FANFIC

Title: Sanguine

Written By: RinoaDestiny (Ann Koo)

Author's Note: I was playing around in my head with the concept of irony, since CLAMP seems to enjoy that so much. What if Kazahaya were to find Rikuo one night, during the same time of the season, but not in the same kind of situation? And what if Rikuo's plight is shaped by his past? It was an idea that sprang out of my love for Gohou Drug, and my frustration at CLAMP for its discontinuation. I also love Rikuo – what a guy. As for the honorifics, I'm only to use them when the person speaking is addressing someone - too many Kakei-sans, Saiga-sans, and Kudou-kuns are going to drive me nuts.

Also, had to correct a few things. I kept seeing Kakei and Kazahaya as blond for some weird reason. Oops!

Disclaimer: Gohou Drug belongs to CLAMP in its entirety.

CHAPTER 1

It was such a sickening, frightening irony. The sepia-haired youth shook his head, unable to move forward. He shouldn't be seeing this on Christmas, late at night when the snow fell and turned cold on his skin. For once, he was grateful for Saiga's grip on his body, for he felt like fainting from horror and shock. Even Kakei, normally smiling and calm, had commented in disbelief, "Oh, this is a terrible turn of events."

For Kazahaya, "ironic" was the only word he could think of to apply to what they found. As if the memory of being lost that one winter, nearly frozen to death wasn't enough to nettle him, discovering Rikuo shattered his calm. For reasons that Rikuo wouldn't mention, he'd disappeared weeks ago, with nothing more than the clothes on his back. Kazahaya remembered the rain slicking the pavement that day. It was dark and cold, much like tonight. And Rikuo, introverted and hardened, left like a shadow from Green Drugstore that evening, slipping away into that torrent.

Rain had turned to snow. Snow should've been white, unmarked and pure. Not like this, Kazahaya thought as he forced himself to step forward, free of Saiga's comforting grip. He walked numbly towards the sheltered wall, towards the kneeling form of Kakei, and towards the shivering shadow he knew to be Rikuo. It should've been the Rikuo – arrogant, condescending, and infinitely superior – that he knew from several weeks back; however, it looked as if their roles had abruptly reversed.

There was something unsettling about that.

"Rikuo," he said softly, kneeling down to join his boss, disregarding the wetness seeping through his jeans. What he couldn't ignore were the large patches of sodden red, which marred the snow like raw open sores. Even in the faintly illuminated alley, he could see smears of blood on rough brick. He didn't want to touch the wall – he was afraid of what he'd see. But those fears fled to make room for tightness in his chest as he stared down at what should've been his brash peer. Rikuo Himura was not himself; perhaps, never would be again.

His skin was too drawn; too tight and shallow against his bones, Kazahaya thought. Already lightly tanned, Rikuo was now pale, with a pallor that approached the whiteness of death. His arms lay lifelessly on the snowy asphalt, already encased by a thin sheath of ice. One of them appeared to be broken or disjointed, for it lay at a strange angle. He had lost weight, and being perfectly hale next to him, Kazahaya felt as if Rikuo had shrunk in comparison; thinking back, it was funny how intimidating Rikuo used to be next to him. He saw Kakei's fingers gently brush back damp dark hair, and how Rikuo's pale green eyes rolled back even as his body arched, shuddering. His mouth moved but no words came out.

"Saiga!"

The dark-haired man reacted, his shaded face expressionless as he obeyed Kakei's command. "What is it, Kakei?" Rarely did Kazahaya see Saiga's contribution to their cause but now, he saw the older man in a new light besides being a dirty old lech and a dozing dead weight. When push came to shove, Saiga played a big role in their operations.

"We need to get him back into the drugstore, if not a hospital for treatment. He's trying to scream but he's lost his voice. Kudou-kun, break the ice around him."

"Okay." Ice cracked beneath his fingers, mingling with the bloodied slush around him, and Kazahaya grimaced distastefully. Busy though he was, he managed to get an eyeful more of Rikuo's condition than he'd wanted. Strips of torn clothing, probably ripped by Rikuo himself during a panicked moment, served as makeshift bandages over a severely lacerated torso and a mangled shoulder. The remains of his shirt barely covered his bruised chest, which exhibited patterns of yellow and dark-blue mottled patches like a rash. Kazahaya didn't even want to think about Rikuo's back. "Kakei-san, is this enough?"

He hoped it was.

"Good job, Kudou-kun. Saiga, give me a hand in lifting him."

"I'll lift him, Kakei. Don't get yourself all bloody." Gently, the suited man removed the youth from his frozen prison. Kazahaya winced as Rikuo suddenly reacted, his hand clenching as the ice ripped frozen flesh off his torn back. Rikuo's hand flailed, seeking Saiga's eyes, only to glance off his shades. "I told you these would come in handy," Saiga said flatly. "Kakei, do you have a tranquilizer on hand? Himura's getting violent."

"He would, wouldn't he?" The brown-haired owner of Green Drugstore stepped towards the two, and grasped the struggling boy's hand in his own. "Shhh, Rikuo. Don't worry – we found you. You're safe now." There was the faint gleam of sterilized steel, and the frantic rustling of clothing as Kazahaya witnessed the younger man's attempts to resist Kakei and Saiga. Saiga swore as Rikuo nearly fell out of his arms, and Kakei backed off to avoid stabbing the syringe into his face. With so much commotion, Kazahaya couldn't believe people didn't hear or notice them. Then again, that was what dark alleys were good for. He shuddered when he thought about the red streaks of blood on the wall.

What had happened beforehand?

Suddenly, he found himself face to face with Rikuo, who squirmed even now from Saiga's protective hold. Rikuo's eyes, once scornful and serious, were now filled with unmentionable terror that even Kazahaya could feel. The fear was tangible and the fairer-haired boy swore he saw tears in Rikuo's green eyes. He had never, in the time that he knew Rikuo Himura, seen him cry. He'd seen him looking down and stoic when Saiga once spoke to him long time ago, but besides that, Rikuo was either being an asshole or close to hitting on him for amusement.

There was none of that, now.

"Hold him, Saiga!" Kazahaya quickly shifted as strong hands came around to grip Rikuo's shoulders, looking like manacles about to break porcelain. Rikuo, for all of his height, appeared scrawny and fragile; if anyone wanted to break his neck, one hand would be enough. The thought unnerved him, and Kazahaya, without thinking, reached forward to gently grab the grimy hands of his co-worker. As he did, the beginnings of Rikuo's nightmare-filled world opened before him.

The older boy could only react in one way to that kind of hell.

Kazahaya screamed.

"Kakei! The tranquilizer! Hurry!"

There was blood and pain, sweat and tears. There was defiance, a challenge – but of what kind, Kazahaya couldn't tell. He was being drowned in these bloody images, crushed beneath Rikuo's suppressed despair and overwhelming sense of defeat. Jigsaw puzzles of words, phrases, of harsh laughter, and the gleam of a knife. Surmounting horror, swept over by something blacker. And in the darkness, in that stifling void, a figure stood out; it was a woman's form, elegant and bloodstained. Every other fragmented image faded before that enigma; that shadow.

Tsukiko.

Then, Tsukiko faded as well, and Rikuo's hands stilled in his. "Kakei!" He faintly heard Saiga say. "Tend to the other one. I'm taking Rikuo back to the store." Those cold hands – with callused and broken fingers – slipped out of his grasp.

"Kudou-kun!"

Kazahaya fainted.