"Mikado.."

Mikado nearly jumped at the familiar confident voice. He turned from flipping the burger meat in the pan, turning around to see his best friend. He smiled gently.

It had been a few months and Mikado had kept the investigation with Izaya and Celty under wraps. He didn't want Masaomi to worry anymore than he needed to. Especially when he was slowly getting back to himself.

"Masaomi...you're not whispering." Mikado said gratefully, looking up at him. He watched Masaomi open his mouth, almost like he was going to tell a confident lame excuse like he always did but he watched the blonde relax and shut his mouth once again, before glancing away. Whatever Masaomi thought must have stopped him from saying his next words. Masaomi usually always had some sort of sexual content to his conversations, which had probably stopped him from continuing.

"It was getting too quiet in here," Masaomi spoke again. "It was...quiet. Too."

Mikado frowned at his best friend's words. He knew what they meant. It was quiet where he was raped, when he was raped. He shot the blonde a weak smile, "Dinner should be ready soon, why don't you go take a shower?"

Masaomi sighed, before turning around, moving into the small bathroom, opening a cupboard and laid the towel on the counter. He started to remove his clothes. He pulled his hoodie over his head, throwing in on the ground. He turned and stared at the bruises and scars that still looked so fresh and had seemed to get bigger everytime he stared at them. Bruises and scars used to be something he would be proud of. The signified that he fought for his friends, he was loyal, he stood up for himself. Those scars he would show off to his friends and go on and on about how badass he was. Now, they were reminders of how he couldn't protect his own body. How would he ever be able to protect the people he wanted to ever again?

He pulled down his pants, kicking them under the counter as he removed his boxers as well. He turned on the shower, waiting for the water to get warm.

Mikado had set two small plates of hamburger helper on the table for them along with two drinks. He heard the shower and the shifting of the water, signaling that Masaomi was indeed using the shower. He was thankful for that at least. In the beginning when he told Masaomi to use the shower, he would often find his friend standing in front of the shower in just his boxers, talking to himself.

He flipped his laptop open, figuring he could get some work done while Masaomi was in the bathroom.

Tanaka Taro logged on.

PRIVATE CHAT WITH TANAKA TARO, KANRA, AND SETTON.

Tanaka Taro: Has anyone figured anything out yet?

Kanra: Have you got me anything else to work off of? There are a lot of underground basements, masked rapists out there.

Tanaka Taro: He's stopped whispering. He's got his voice back, at least.

Kanra: Hm~

Setton: If he's speaking regularly, why not try to get Bakyura-san to talk about the incident? If he's...ready, I mean.

Kanra: Yes, and then maybe we can work on what were supposed to be doing~

Mikado heard the shower shut off and he quickly gave his farewells before closing his laptop. He stood up and moved back into the kitchen, sitting down in front of his plate. He smiled up at the blonde who was wearing a loose t-shirt, and very, short pajama shorts, tossling his wet hair across his face.

Mikado grunted as he felt the tent in his pants start to form. Fuck, why did he look so goddamn good? No wonder people wanted a piece of him. He was gorgeous. Mikado shook the thoughts from his head. Oh god, what was he thinking? This was his best friend. His best friend who just got raped.

Masaomi took a seat in front of his plate, blinking. "Are you okay, Mikado?" He asked, seeing his friend fidget. Mikado laughed nervously, shaking his hands in front of his face. "Ah, n-no! Of course not!" He smiled weakly, trying to will his erection down.

Quick. Think of something terrifying! Mikado thought to himself. Orihara Izaya. Getting a vending machine thrown at you. Erika and Walker going on and on about their favorite manga. Sonohora-san's boobs.

Kida blinked, raising his brows up at his friend's contorted facial expressions. "Are you sure, man? You don't look so good."

Mikado felt the tent in his pants collapse and he sighed of relief. "Ah, no. I'm fine. Sorry. Stomach cramps." He winced at his lie. Could he have said anything more girly?

Kida seemed to have bought it because he began to push his fork around his plate, taking small bites of his food.

"Masaomi...?"

Kida looked up from his food, over at his best friend.

"Ah, uh...do you want to...talk about it?" He suggested softly. He watched his friend drop his head, and he moved his hands up in front of his face again, waving them frantically. "Ah, y-you don't have to say anything if you're not ready yet! I-I'm sorry. It was bold of me.." He apologized quickly. "It's just-"

"Okay," came a softer voice from Masaomi that seemed to cut into Mikado's rant.

The dinner table both fell silent rather quickly. Mikado waited for Masaomi to start, knowing this was hard for him.

Mikado noticed Masaomi twirling a loose hair around his finger tightly, knotting it. It was something that Masaomi did when he was nervous or scared, Mikado had noticed. It was cute.

"I...can't exactly remember everything. I have numerous nightmares with different rapists in different situations. It's hard to keep them all separated from...what really happened. They all seem so real." He began softly.

"If you need time to think about it before speaking, take as much time as you want, Masaomi." Mikado reassured the blonde who was now fiddling with his hands.

"I never thought this would happen to me. I was supposed to be able to protect myself and other people. How the hell am I supposed to do that now?" Masaomi said softly, his hands balling into fists in his lap.

"Masaomi, this isn't your fault."

"Then who's is it?" He snapped at the raven-haired boy which caused Mikado to back up a bit at his response.

"That bastard who raped you." Mikado said calmly, frowning. Masaomi avoided eye contact for a long time with Mikado before he abruptly stood up. "I'm going to bed." He stated, turning on his heel and walking down the hallway.

Mikado sighed, staring down at the two nearly full plates. He stabbed his fork into a piece of meat.

That went well.

"Now, Masaomi-kun. I know this may be hard for you, but can you walk me through what happened during the time you were raped?"

Masaomi shifted uncomfortably on the couch in a therapists office. Mikado and Anri pushed the blonde to go and at least talk about it, and Mikado even offered to go with him.

"It's hard for me to remember what exactly happened." He admitted nervously, before glaring up at the familiar informant who was sitting next to the therapist on the opposite couch.

"It's okay, Masaomi-kun, take your time." The therapist responded softly while she wrote some things on her clipboard. "Now, Masaomi-kun, whenever you're read-"

"What the hell is he doing here?" Masaomi glared up at the broker.

Izaya let out an amused chuckle, "now, now, Kida-kun~ Just think of me as...a cop." He said nonchalantly. "I'm merely here to collect information and that's it. I promise no spreading of the information unless you deem it okay." He smiled over at the blonde who still seemed to be intimidated by him, even more so than before.

Kida frowned, turning back to staring at the balled fists in his lap. There was a short silence until the therapist broke it casually.

"Masaomi-kun, what do you remember about the night of the attack? Can you tell me what you were doing before?"

Kida began to chew on his fingernails while he thought about the night and began whimpering to himself without realizing it, he snapped back to reality when he felt a hand on top of his. He slowly looked over to the raven-haired boy sitting next to him who was giving him an encouraging smile.

"I was visiting someone in the hospital and...when I was walking home...someone grabbed me from behind and put a gag in my mouth. I tried – I tried to fight him off but he had a good grip.."

"Do you remember where you were at the time when he grabbed you?"

Masaomi frowned, "the only thing I remember is...I was about a block away from the hospital before I got dragged into an alley." He murmured softly, and the therapist leaned forward but was still taking notes on her clipboard. "And then what, Masaomi?"

"I...don't really remember where he took me too. I was terrified that I was going to die, that I wouldn't be able to graduate, or travel, or confess my feelings to the one..." he stopped, "to the one I...love." He softly, almost like it was a revelation to himself.

At this time, everyone had their eyes on Kida intently, hanging on every word and waiting for his next. "And...would the one you love – do you think they would be the type of person to do this?"

Kida's head snapped up, his eyes wide as saucers. He shook his head quickly, "never!" He shouted so loudly – it caught everyone off-guard after having such a quiet speech the entire time.

"Okay, so – what was your attacker wearing? Take your time."

Masaomi chewed on the inside of his lip, "he was wearing all black, and he had a ski mask on..."

"Did he ever say anything to you while you were being attacked?"

Masaomi shrunk back into the sofa, he felt small, very small. He felt like the people in the room were giants and he was just a small, insignificant ant, just waiting to be stepped on. "I-" he started softly, just above a whisper. "He-" he felt the tears fall down on his face. He didn't even realize he had started – this situation had made him feel so numb.

"Okay, one last question, Masaomi-kun. Do you know why anyone would have any reason to attack you like this?" She asked the now-shaking boy.

Masaomi had shook his head quickly, not wanting to answer anymore questions. He knew that wasn't the right answer because he knew there were many people who would want revenge on him from last year, from the Yellow Scarves vs. the Blue Squares, from not saving Saki, from the certain informant sitting right across from them as they spoke.

"I wanna go home. I wanna go home." Masaomi repeated, looking over to Mikado, "Mikado, I wanna go home."

Mikado simply nodded over at him, pulling Masaomi into a tight hug. "We'll go home, okay, Masaomi?" He turned to the therapist, giving her a sweet smile. "Can we make another appointment for another day? I think he's had enough for one session." The therapist was about to agree before the blonde cut her off.

"I don't wanna come back. Don't make me come back!" He yelled.

"Masaomi – this will help yo-"

"NO!" He pushed his friend away, "No! It's my choice! I don't wanna come back!" He said, moving to wipe away his tears but the waterworks just kept coming. He couldn't stop them. His next words shocked everyone in the room. Masaomi stood up, glaring down at Mikado, "you're just like the rest of them! Always telling me what to do when I can say no! No means no!" He repeated the three words that were grained into their brains during every after-school special. He stormed out of the small room and ran into the stairwell, falling back into a corner, covering his face while he cried – hoping the tears would stop soon and he could actually feel some sort of emotion in his body than just this numbness.