Fuji stood there in the bathroom just staring at Ryoma with confusion. He couldn't figure out what exactly the younger boy was talking about. Ryoma wasn't the type of person to joke about things…not things this serious.

"Fuji-senpai," Ryoma looked up at his with a glint of melancholy in his eyes. "Why aren't you saying anything?"

"I don't understand what you mean, Echizen. There's no one there for you to go home to?" he blinked a few times trying to think of anything that would make sense.

The younger boy bit his lower lip if he was becoming nervous. "I just don't want to go back…"

"There has to be something more to it than that."

"I don't want to talk about it."

Fuji placed his hand on the boy's right shoulder. "Echizen."

"Please don't make me," he pulled away from Fuji's touch. "It's uncomfortable."

"Lets go back to my room," Fuji placed a smile on his face that wasn't true. He headed out of the small bathroom and down the hall towards his room. Behind him, Ryoma trailed along. Even though Fuji wasn't looking at him, he could feel the sadness within each step Ryoma took.


Back in Fuji's room, Ryoma almost instantly placed himself on the bed. He scanned the room and noted his surroundings. When he spotted the cacti still sitting by the window, he shook his head as if he was disappointed in what he had done. Quickly, Ryoma shot his head to the left when he heard the door click closed.

"Is something wrong?" Fuji questioned as he walked up to his dresser which rested next to his closet. Opening up the top drawer, he pulled out a pair of pajamas in light gray.

"What are you doing?" Ryoma leaned himself slightly forward as he intently watched the taller boy move closer to him.

"It's getting late, and I'm starting to get tired."

"What time is it?"

"There's a clock next to you," he pointed to a small black box on the stand next to the bed and began to change clothes.

"It's ten already?" Ryoma glanced at the clock.

"How long have you been walking around outside?"

"Since I got up this morning at eight."

"No wonder you had a temperature," Fuji reached out his hand and placed it on Ryoma's forehead. "You're still a little warm."

Ryoma flinched and once again moved himself away. "It's uncomfortable."

"Are you scared of my touch?"

"Fuji-senpai…" he held his head down low as he wiped his eyes with the back of his right hand. "Don't make me go back there."

At that moment, Fuji was completely convinced that something bad had to have happened in order to make Ryoma act this way. Not wanting to go home and feeling uncomfortable when touched, Fuji's mind came to a conclusion; some one at the Echizen residence was hurting Ryoma.

"What has happened to you, Echizen?" Fuji's voice was demanding, and he wasn't going to let Ryoma get away with saying he didn't want to talk about it.

"It's not important," the small body of Ryoma's began to shake as tears dripped from his eyes and down onto his legs.

"Echizen…"

"I don't want t―"

Ryoma's words were cut off as Fuji wrapped his arms tightly around him. Within his grip, Ryoma flailed around and screamed as if he was being hurt.

"No!" he panicked. "Don't hurt me!"

Right when those words were uttered from his lips, Fuji let go of him. "Don't tell me that it's not important when there is obviously something wrong."

"Fuji-senpai would…he wouldn't…" Ryoma vigorously shook as he covered his face with his hands. "Fuji-senpai…wouldn't…"

"Echizen, what has happened to you?"

He looked up through the strands of his messy hair. "It hurt…so much…and no one cared. There was no one there to care about me. I wasn't making it up…I was telling them the truth. They don't believe me…it's as if there's no one to go home to. Why should I return? I…I don't want to…"

"What hurt? What didn't they believe?" Fuji got on his knees so he could look Ryoma in the eyes. "I'll believe you, so you don't have to be afraid to tell me."

"He came out of no where…I just wanted to get home safely. Momo-senpai…he usually walks me home…but not that night. That night…I don't want to go back to that night…"

"Echizen, where you―"

"Don't say it."

"But―"

"It hurts enough…please don't say it…"

"We have to do something about this. Tell me what you remember," Fuji placed his hand under Ryoma's chin and lifted it slightly. "You can't just pretend this didn't happen."

"I just want to have a peaceful night," Ryoma shifted his eyes away from the older boy.

"Promise me you won't keep anything a secret from me."

"Senpai…I know I can trust you."

A sincere smile was painted on Fuji's face. "I would never hurt you, Echizen."

"Thank you…"

"Lets try to get some sleep. You can sleep in my bed for the night."

"Um…Fuji-senpai…I'd feel safer if you were in the bed with me," Ryoma's cheeks had a red tint showing that he was embarrassed by saying such a thing.

"I understand."


That night, Ryoma slept next to Fuji while clinging to the back of the older boy's gray shirt. Every hour, he seemed to wake up, but when he noticed Fuji by his side, he felt slightly relieved and easily fell back asleep. Having Fuji present gave off this safe feeling which calmed Ryoma's shaken mind. Ryoma was at finally at ease, though, he knew that it wouldn't last forever.

NOTE: Chapter two is completed! No cliffhanger this time around. Haha. I'm very content with how this chapter came out, and it made me feel better about myself. I was having a really bad day because of a review I got for another one of my fics. The review kind of hurt me, and it actually made me feel as if I failed as a writer. I'm not going to ramble on about that thought because people don't really need to know about it.

I'm trying to get back on track and update all my fics regularly. The next update for this fic will come no later than Tuesday (January 26th). All of my fics will be updated about once a week. I want to point out that I have a poll in my profile that I would like you all to vote on. It's for the next fic for me to start. I will take the poll down on January 25th because that's when I plan on starting my next fic.

I'm sure you all can tell what has happened to Ryoma. I didn't know what people would think if I brought this topic in. I'm not afraid to write about anything, so there isn't really any subject that I don't mind touching on. Anyways, I'm just going to say this now. Ryoma was raped. If you do not like this topic, please tell me. If I have a lot of people saying they won't read this fic because of the subject of rape, I will change it. I can easily make it where he was instead beaten by some random stranger. I personally don't think there is anything wrong with talking about this topic. I actually made this the main subject of my novel (that I do plan on trying to get published once I'm finished editing it). I want to keep all my readers happy, so please tell me your opinion. If don't want to review, you can just message me.

I'd also like to mention that it took me about two minutes to spell "drawer". That is officially on my "I don't like this word" list. Oh, I've also always wanted to use the word melancholy, but I never did so before. I'm pretty sure I used it right. If I didn't, please make sure to tell me.

As a writer, my goal is to make people feel for these characters…not just to read this story. I know that when I write I am always hurting (or going through any emotion) when the character is. I'm sorry if I'm not doing a good job. I will try my hardest to get better…

I'm happy that you have stopped by to read this chapter. It means a lot to me. Thank you for the wonderful reviews. It's you all who make me know I must be doing something right. I hope you'll continue to support me. Thank you~!