Seven. Eight. Kyoya was so intent on not crying out from the lashes he was silently counting that he didn't even hear the door open. Nine. Ten. Damn that redheaded sadist. He'd been at it, in different ways, for quite a while now. Who knew Kaoru had so much stamina?

"Wow, I didn't know Kyoya-chan liked to play these kinds of games!"

Dear God. That voice was unmistakable. Kyoya stiffened, blind under the mask the twins had put on him.

"Mitsukuni, we shouldn't interrupt."

Mori too. When did they get here? Was anyone else with them?

"Don't worry, you're not interrupting." That was Hikaru. Although Kyoya still couldn't tell them apart visually, after weeks of being their personal plaything he'd learned to identify the twins by their voices.

And their levels of cruelty.

Smack. That one caught him unprepared. Kyoya cried out and instinctively pulled against the leather straps currently keeping his arms raised well above his head. He heard a small laugh behind him. "Oh dear, you were doing so well too," Kaoru said softly.

Kyoya's cheeks burned. It was bad enough to have Honey and Mori here, but he had a wrenching feeling in his gut that the twins were going to use that little "failure" as an excuse for something much worse.

One year, Kyoya thought to himself. Only one year.