"How is he Matthew?" Yao asked as Matthew exited the interrogation room.
"He still refuses to admit anything," Matthew said with a sigh. "Have you ever heard of Stockholm syndrome?"
"Yes, I have. I am a doctor you know."
"Yao-nii, what does he mean by that?" Matthew glanced to see the three other children standing next to Yao.
"It means that your brother believes he is in love with that bastard," Matthew replied as he answered Im Yong Soo's question.
"But why?" this time it was Meimei who asked the question. Matthew just smiled at the 12 year old girl.
"Stockholm syndrome, or capture-bonding, is a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and have positive feelings towards their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them. These feelings are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who essentially mistake a lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kindness, or sometimes love," Matthew replied.
"So since he is no longer with him does that mean that nii-san will go back to normal?" Kaoru asked as he looked at both Yao and Matthew.
"It's not that simple Kaoru, it's going to take a while for your brother to go back to normal. And for that he will need all the help he can get from all of you." All three kids nodded before Matthew turned back to Yao. "Alfred is still interrogating him. So you guys might want to sit back down. I'll tell you when it's over."
APH
"Don't trust anything that they tell you. Everything they will say is nothing but lies. They are doing it to confuse you, and then they will lure you in and hurt you. I am the only person you can trust."
"Lies! He never harmed me!" Alfred sighed as he stared at the nineteen year old sitting in front of him.
"We want to help you Kiku. But we need you to tell us everything that happened."
"He never harmed me. Why don't you guys understand that?"
"Then what are those?" Alfred waved his hand at the bruises that were visible around Kiku's neck and some that were on his face.
"He didn't do anything," Kiku stubbornly replied remembering everything he had been told about them. About everyone that claimed to be his friend.
"They will pretend to be on your side. They will try to feed you lies to turn you against me. Don't believe any of them."
'That's right. Don't believe them.' Kiku thought as he began ignoring what the policeman was telling him.
"Lies, you are telling me nothing but lies," Kiku finally replied after Alfred's mini speech about all the monstrosities Arthur had done.
"You know I am not lying. You saw and experienced everything he has been doing until now. You are lucky you didn't go the way many of the others went."
"Lies, you say nothing but lies."
"When will you see that he has been using you?"
"He is not using me! He loves me and I love him!" Kiku exclaimed as he slammed his hands down on the table and stood up. "Why are you people trying to tell me otherwise? You are all nothing but liars!"
Knock. Knock.
Alfred sighed and he stood up and opened the door.
"The interrogation is over now Alfred. His family is here to pick him up." Matthew said as he pushed the door open even more. "Come Kiku your family's here." Kiku just stood there and stared at Matthew, obviously wondering whether to trust the detective. Then after a while he slowly walked over to Matthew and allowed him to lead him away.
"Kiku-nii!" Kiku stumbled a bit as he was almost tumbled over as he was hugged by his three younger siblings. He just stood there as all three of them snuggled into him.
"Remember. Don't let them know you are suspicious of your family. Just be warned. They already turned your family against our relationship. But we can't let them know that. So just act normal around them."
"I missed you guys," Kiku said as he finally hugged his siblings back.
"We missed you as well," Meimei exclaimed as they finally let go of Kiku. Then Kiku was pulled into another hug as Yao hugged him. Kiku sighed as he snuggled into his older brother.
"Yao-nii. I missed you as well," Kiku mumbled into Yao's shirt.
"Oh, Kiku. I am so happy that you are alright. Now come, let's go home." Yao said as he led Kiku out of the police station. "Thanks for all your help, Matthew and Alfred." Both of them watched as the family left.
"Is there any sign of him yet Alfred?" Matthew said with a sigh as he turned to look at Alfred.
"None at all. Ivan is still searching around, and he is trying to get some of the other police departments to help us as well."
"I hope we catch him soon," Matthew sighed as he looked at the file he had in his hand. "And I believe he might be the clue we need in order to catch him."
Author's Note:
I know, I know. The summary is lame. I actually came up with this story before The Ninja and the Pirate and Fear Garden. But I kind of got hooked up on those so I actually delayed a while (about a month) to actually write Chapter 01. Will be posting next chapter tomorrow!