"Honda? Why are you walking like that?" Ryou questioned, his brows raised quizzically at his friend, who was walking with his legs rather clenched together, and in a hurry.

Honda stopped just as he passed Ryou, blushing and smiling haplessly, "Well I uh... I drank a can of Pokko on the way over here and I forgot how quick it goes through me!" He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. Ryou looked rather bashful about the information, but smiled back with a small nod. "I'll catch up to you guys and the others in class! Promise!" he affirmed while heading into the bathroom, Ryou walking toward the classroom door across the hall.

"Okay!" Ryou replied as he opened the door, waving.

After a few moment in the bathroom stall, Honda let out a content sigh as he zipped up his pants. He noted to himself to not drink Pokko before the morning walk to school, which undoubtedly he'd forget tomorrow. He was about to turn and open the door when, suddenly, he heard a hushed noise.

"Ss..! Ow..." He hadn't seen anyone else in the bathroom when he walked in. Most of the students were already in class. He leaned over, peeking through the stall. Otogi stood there, facing the window, dabbing on make up with a pained face. When he looked closer he could see the faint hint of purple bruising over the other's cheekbone and under his eye. Otogi dabbed as gently as he could, but it wasn't laying a thick enough layer of make up. He lowered the pad, his hand shaking, and accidentally knocked the compact of cover-up tot he floor. "Shit..." he said shakily, then ducking down. When he stood back up, he saw Honda in the mirror behind him.

"Otogi?" Honda said, voice carrying the same confusion and worry that could be seen on his face, "What happened to you?"

Otogi tensed, his brow knitting and his eyes shutting as he shook his head. "Nothing. It's nothing. I just... I slipped in the kitchen this morning and hit my cheek on the counter." He waved his free hand. "I'm fine."

Honda kept quiet, but his eyes conveyed his lack of belief. "... Are you sure that's what happened? That's a real shiner."

"Yes, yes, I'm sure!" Otogi answered, voice more insistent.

It would have been improper to push further, Honda assumed, but he just sighed and looked away. "Okay... I'll meet you in class." Otogi quietly nodded, returning to putting his make up on.

The day in school continued as normally as it could have, for Honda. He couldn't keep his eyes off of Otogi, as subtle as he wish he could have been. The other boy looked so thoughtful, and was uncharacteristically quiet. He kept away from chats and conversations in the hall or cafeteria, which only troubled Honda further. A simple fall in the kitchen couldn't have caused him to act like that. He had to let someone know what he was noticing, but he had no idea who. It had to be someone he could trust; someone who would understand the situation.

Jonouchi.

"Hey, Jono!" Honda called out to the other teen, who was heading home from school. He stopped, turning and letting Honda catch up, "Hey, can I talk to you about something?"

Jonouchi tilted his head, but nodded all the same, "Sure thing," he said, turning and continuing to walk, "What's up?"

Honda rubbed the back of his neck, looking down at the sidewalk as he kept by Jonouchi's side, "It's... It's kinda hard to explain," he admitted, "Did you see Otogi, today?"

"Hmm..." Jonouchi tapped his bottom lip, shaking his head, "Nah, he wasn't around much, today. I think I saw him once in the cafeteria."

The other teen glanced away, nervously considering, "Well..." he began, looking back to Jonouchi, who met his gaze with confusion, "You can't tell anyone else this, but... When I went to the bathroom before class, I saw him putting make up on over a... a bruise on his face. A pretty big one, too."

He could tell that just by describing the situation, Jonouchi was reminded of an all too personal scenario. Jonouchi fell into silence, brows furrowing and eyes falling to the ground. They walked in quietness for a few moments, and then Jonouchi spoke, "... So I'm guessing you're already thinking what I am."

"I don't know what to do, Jono..." Honda frowned, "I mean, he probably thinks it's none of my business."

"Listen up," Jonouchi cut in, "If you think something's going down, you need to find out for yourself. Find out where he lives and pay him a visit. See what his home life is like."

Honda's lips drew thin as he thought about it, "If I had done that to you you woulda kicked my ass."

Jonouchi smirked, "Yeah, well... I'm tough enough to handle myself. Otogi's a different story." He securely tucked his hands in his pockets, "And you probably have a better chance of getting to him, since you're the only one who's seen evidence."

He mulled it over in his head, slowly nodding, "Alright. I'll find out where he lives by tonight, and go over there... He might get pissed, but it's worth it to make sure he's okay." Jonouchi, bumped Honda's shoulder playfully with his fist, giving him a thumbs-up and a smile.

Unfortunately, his sister had been rather strict in telling him to finish his schoolwork before anything else. He tried his very best to focus on it, but found it impossible. Just thinking about Otogi made his chest fill with nervous emotions. He'd apologize to his older sister later. Right now, he had to focus on his friend.

It took quite a few calls, mostly because finding out where he lived directly from Otogi, himself, would have given Honda away immediately. He eventually reached a friend or a friend of an acquaintance who had the address. With no surprise, it was a girl on the cheer team. It had been hard to convince her to give it, but he insisted the importance of it. He jotted down the address, thanked her, and grabbed his coat. It was time for a walk across half the city. After, of course, sneaking out of his room through his window.

By the time he got there, the sun had mostly gone down, and he looked over the brand new condo complex. Otogi certainly did lead a rather lavish life. He could easily tell that just from the business that Otogi worked at. He rode the elevator up, looking at the apartment number he'd been given. Third floor, condo seventeen. He waited anxiously for the elevator doors to open, and once they did, he walked down the hallway. He spotted a few very small dots of stains on the carpet of the hall, near the condo where Otogi lived, but was unable to make out the color. As he approached the door labeled '17', he noticed it was cracked open just slightly.

"... Otogi?" he called cautiously. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a can of mace that he always carried when walking through the city. He carefully and slowly paused the door open, seeing nothing but darkness. Unable to find the light switch, he instead opted to flick open his phone, lighting the room. The moment the light flashed on, he felt sudden fright and nausea at what he saw.

Otogi lay there, in a crumpled position on the hardwood floor. His hair had been knocked loose from it's normal style, and was resting over his face in wet tangles. Blood had seeped onto the floor around his head from a spot under his messed hair and from his mouth, which hung limply open. "... O-... Otogi!" Honda finally shouted, clumsily stumbling down to try and get to him, "Otogi, wake up! Answer me!" he shouted, reaching over and gently shaking Otogi's shoulder. There was nothing in response, and he felt cold, but not dead. His hand trembling horribly, Honda placed two fingers on Otogi's neck to feel for a pulse, which he found. It was faint, but there. He stood back up, scrambling along the walls to find the light switch, finally feeling it under his palm and flicking it on.

Suddenly, there was a loud yelp, and from behind the kitchen, a crazed looking man leapt out. Honda reacted by instinct, holding his hand out and backing up. The man, holding some sort of broken and sharp piece of porcelain, swiped the sharp edge across Honda's palm, making the young man shout out and stumble backward.

The man tried to leap on top of him, eyes open as wide as they possibly could have been. Honda forced his leg out, catching the man in the stomach and flipping him directly over him. The man rolled along the floor clumsily, struggling to his feet as Honda forced himself to his. Honda looked at his hand for only a moment, but once he heard the man's feet thumping on the floor in a run, he shouted after him, "Hey! Wait!" As he began to give chase, his mind snapped back to the more important matter of Otogi. He could chase the man down right now, not when Otogi had been so obviously seriously hurt. He growled out a curse under his breath, then ran back into the condo.

Seeing Otogi in full light was almost worse, but he returned to the other boy's side instantly, dialing '119' into his phone. Before he hit the call button, his eyes were caught by the sight of a bloody pipe on the floor a few feet away. He didn't dare touch it, but he could see the jagged edge which had undoubtedly been the cause of the blood coming from Otogi's head. He continued with the call. The very instant he heard a voice answer, "Hello, emergency services, what's your emergency?" he fell into a panic, with rushed and wavering words.

"H-Help me! My friend! He's-! Oh, God, he's hurt! Please help!"

The woman on the other end continued in a calm tone, "Alright, sir. I need you to slow down and tell me what's wrong with your friend. How is he hurt?"

Honda nervously checked Otogi over, noticing the wet section of black hair over his temple. Gingerly, he tugged the fallen clumps of hair out of Otogi's face. His stomach felt the instant effect of his growing squeamishness, and he swallowed to fight back the nerves. Otogi's face was covered in the blood that had seeped from the open wound. He looked away, eyes falling upon the pipe again. "He's... He's bleeding from the side of his head. There's blood everywhere! There was a man here, and he tried to attack me, too! I... I think my friend got hit with a pipe that's on the floor." He looked back down at Otogi, who hadn't moved an inch from the position he'd been left in. "You've got to help him!"

"Okay," the operator stated, "Where are you? Is the man still there?"

"N-No. He ran off..." Honda paused, "I'm... Uh..." He dug into his pocket with his injured hand, pulling out the paper, and in the process, smearing blood on it. He read the address, albeit slowly.

"The police and an ambulance is on the way. You're very close to the hospital. Don't worry. Do you want me to stay on the line with you?"

"Y-Yes!"

The operator was correct. The ambulance was there in just about five minutes. Otogi was swept up into the paramedics' care. Honda watched helplessly as the paramedics manipulated Otogi's limp and seemingly lifeless body onto some sort of board, then onto the stretcher. It took three paramedics to do so, and they simply told him there wasn't enough room for him to ride along. That was, until they caught sight of his injured hand. Then, they agreed to take him along, one of the paramedics climbing into the front passenger side.