Disclaimer: I do not own Crows Zero or any characters associated with it. All I own is the plot to which this story was though up from and created from.

Pairing: Ryo Urushibara/Taiga Narumi

Genre: Friendship/Romance

Rating: Mature

Warnings:Mentions of child abuse, rape, and violence. Though nothing overly graphic for these topics. Slash, meaning a relationship between two male characters will be involved.

Summary:There was a reason why Ryo had turned out to be the way he was, and there was a reason he listened to Taiga.

Chapter 1

Ryo stood by the river that ran along the edge of the bustling city. It was late and the lights from the city lit up the river making it look like it was sparkling. He liked it here, it was quiet and relaxing.

He ran his hand through the water and gave a small smile at the nice cool feeling. He was crouched down by the river holding his black umbrella. Even when it wasn't raining he always had it. He didn't know why but he felt he should always have it when he was outside.

As he crouched by the river side he felt a hand on his shoulder. Now Ryo did not like to be touched by anyone, except one person. He turned ready to throw the person off him but froze when he saw it was that one exception Taiga Narumi. His best friend- well only friend-the King of Housan and the only guy able to control Ryo's fierce power.

Taiga crouched down next to him and gave him a small smile and copied his movements running a hand through the water then through his hair.

"You didn't come to school today," hestated looking out at the river- which seemed to sparkle in places from the city lights. Ryo shook his head.

"I had some things to think about," he said his body tensing slightly. Taiga saw this and started to understand what he had been thinking of. He knew that Ryo had had a hard time as a child and sometimes little things or a word would make him think of his parents who made his life a misery.

"I understand mate, take the time you need," he said patting his back.

"Will you stay here with me?" Ryo questioned, his hair falling from his shoulders in a black wave.

Taiga nodded and they sat there in silence as Ryo thought of many things. The abuse he had suffered at the hands of his parents had made him the near silent man he was now. He never spoke to the other students about what happened, Taiga was the only one he told. Before him he had been a walking wreck fighting with every person letting out his rage and putting quite a few in comas. Taiga had slowly gained his trust just by being there but not saying anything and when Ryo realized he was not a threat he spoke to Taiga one day as they stood on the roof of Housan.

"Will you help me?" he had asked simply but Taiga had known what he being asking for help with and over time they became close and eventually became best friends.

Back in the present Ryo had not noticed that he had in fact been crying. Taiga, however, had and wrapped an arm around the thinner male rubbing his shoulder and wiped the tears away.

'How are you feeling now?" he asked Ryo quietly. Ryo glanced at him and sighed.

"Tired. Tired of hiding who I really am. All the others never see the real me they just think I'm an emotionless fighter," he answered.

"Do you want them to know?" Taiga asked knowing the answer and sure enough Ryo shook his head. He knew Ryo would not want them to take advantage of this.

"Come on, come back to my place and we can talk some more," he commanded gently while standing and waiting for Ryo to follow.

Once they got to Taiga's place Ryo felt himself relax a bit more. When he was inside he knew he didn't have to worry about hiding everything from everyone. His shoulders relaxed visibly and he placed the umbrella down by the door.

Taiga went to the kitchen and made them both some green tea and sat down with him. Ryo took the tea and sipped it quietly before he begun to talk about his parents constant fighting and shouting. How they would often take it out on him once they got bored of each other. Ryo suffered the most abuse from his Father but there were darker things that his Father did to him apart from beating him that he had yet to tell Taiga.

"Ryo, I can see there's something you're hiding. Don't be too scared to tell me," Taiga said placing a hand on Ryo's. Ryo's hand trembled as he held the tea thinking if he should tell him or not. Taiga took the tea from his hands and placed it down before he took Ryo's hands in his and rubbed them.

"Tell me what happened," he commanded in a soft tone.

Ryo looked down and quietly told him about how when his Mother had stormed out the house after a fight his Father would come to him in his room and pin him down and use him for his own sick pleasure. This was yet another part of the reason why Ryo didn't like being touched- by anyone except Taiga.

Taiga felt so angry now. He already hated Ryo's parents but now that anger was beyond anything. He growled and pulled Ryo into a tight hug, being the only person allowed to touch him in anyway.

At this Ryo just burst into tears and clung to Taiga as he was rocked by Taiga who held him protectively.

"God no wonder you hate being touched. Ryo, please tell me you know I would never take advantage of you in such a way," he said looking into his eyes. He cared a lot about Ryo, dare he say it, and even he loved him. He'd never force him to do such a thing.

"I know you wouldn't hurt me like that….I feel safe with you," he sniffed wiping the tears that kept falling down his pale cheeks.

Taiga rubbed his back till he calmed and stopped shaking. Then he refilled the tea cups and they sat watching the TV for a while before Taiga saw Ryo had fallen asleep. He switched of the TV and standing he lay Ryo down and put a blanket over him. He walked to the heater and made sure it was on and warm for Ryo before he went to go clean up.

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Please review and let me know what you think! Constructive criticism is always appreciated too.