"Shinya wait!" Kyo rushed after him, but Shinya ignored him, walking as fast as his sore muscles would allow him to into the alley that led to the parking lot. He had to get rid of the feeling of wanting to be touched by Kyo, it was so unnatural, so awkward he didn't want to be around him until it left. "Shinya!"

"Kyo! I told you already, leave me alone!" Shinya shouted, surprised by how aggravated his voice sounded, how vicious. He blushed deeply, almost in shock by how stern and menacing he had sounded, he turned around, his face bright red. "Just please…Kyo…leave me alone for now."

"Shin-chan, I'm worried about you," Kyo said softly, walking slowly towards him. The short singer stood in front of him and reached up slowly, sliding his hand over Shinya's bruised cheek gently, doing his best not to hurt him. "I want to make sure you're going to be okay, going to be safe as you walk back to your apartment. I can see the look in your eyes, Shinya, you're so scared. I don't know why you would want to walk home all by yourself in this cold weather, especially with the possibility of the American coming back for you. Please, just let me drive you home."

"Kyo, I don't want your sympathy…don't make me feel worse than I already do…please…"

Kyo's lower lip trembled slightly and he licked his lips. "Shinya…I just want to make you feel better…please…let me make you feel better."

Shinya stared at him, his skin tingling beneath Kyo's soft hand, just barely resting against his skin as if taunting him, teasing him and making him desire Kyo's touch even more than he already did. A slight pull brought Shinya's face down to Kyo's and he shut his eyes, seeming to have lost all conscious thought as he did such. As his face neared Kyo's, he felt the singer's hot breath on his lips and that heat seemed to bring him back to reality, back from his trancelike state. He immediately jolted back. "Kyo, I—I have to go," he mumbled, his face turning an even deeper shade of red as his mind raced with questions as to what he had nearly done with Kyo. What was he going to do? He knew he wasn't going to kiss Kyo, he wasn't gay or anything. He shook his head solemnly, seeing the look on the short man's face confused and racing for questions as well. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Shinya turned around and started to walk, but stopped dead in his tracks as he stared at the face of the menacing man only a few feet away from him, lighting a cigarette and grinning at Shinya. He was at a loss for words, immediately recognizing the face he had seen in the passport, the man who had beaten him, who had tried to kill him. "No…no…" Shinya whispered in a frightened manner, taking a step back.

Kyo moved to his side, glaring at the man. "Go Shinya, go home," he said in a monotone voice.

"But…Kyo…" Shinya took another step back as Seth approached him, still not a word emitting from his mouth.

"Go Shinya! GO!" Kyo shouted at him.

Shinya turned and ran as fast at he could, tears in eyes. He wanted to stop and turn back, to go help Kyo, but he couldn't. His mind screamed out against his body's movements, but no matter how hard he tried his legs kept moving faster and faster, fleeing from the scene. He had this horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach like something was going to happen, as if abandoning Kyo to fight Seth was not enough. He knew Kyo was strong, stronger than his short stature would have led people to believe, but he was facing a man that was taller than him and possibly stronger. He prayed Kyo wouldn't be hurt, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't shake the feeling of despair, the feeling something horrible was happening. He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, gasping for air, many pedestrians giving him an odd look.

He jumped a little as he heard his cell phone ring and reached into his bag and grabbed it, opening it and pressing it to his ear. "Moshi-moshi?" he gasped.

"Shinya…it's Kyo…"

Shinya sighed with relief. Kyo was alive, he must've had to fight viciously with Seth to still be with everyone. "Are you alright?" Shinya asked, somewhat reluctantly.

"You could say that," as Kyo the words Shinya heard him cough, and then swear. He noticed the faintness of Kyo's words, how weak and unassertive they sounded.

"What do you mean?" Shinya asked.

"I'm bleeding…a lot…Shin-chan, can you call an ambulance?" the words sounded even weaker than before, even pained.

"An ambulance? What happened?" he sounded somewhat panicked by the words Kyo had spoken. His stomach tightened into a knot, the feeling he had had early, the instinct, it was so true—something had gone terribly wrong.

"Most of it's a blur… Shinya, he stabbed me, there's blood everywhere…I coughed up some blood on my phone…my feet are so numb…help me—"

"Kyo, kyo, listen to me, okay, listen. Call out for help, Die and the others are still inside…call to them as loud as you can, just don't hang up, stay with me, okay? Stay with me—" Shinya started walking back towards the studio, he had to get to Kyo.

"Don't let me die, Shinya, I don't want to, not without—"

"You have to listen to me Kyo, call for them, you need help, I'm coming as fast as I can, but I won't reach you in time…call for help!" Shinya felt more tears welling in his eyes as he broke into a run.

"Shinya, I don't want to die without telling you…I l—"

He heard Kyo gasp and everything became silent. Shinya immediately stopped running, clutching the phone and fearing the worst. "Kyo? Kyo! Kyo, answer me! Don't you dare die on me, don't you dare! I don't want you to die, Kyo! Answer me!" Shinya choked on a sob, his knees feeling weak. Despiar tore through his mind and heart, leaving pain and guilt every which way it turned within him. His knees gave out beneath him and he collapsed to the ground, sobbing. "Please…Kyo…don't die because of me."

Shinya couldn't look at the others as they sat outside Kyo's hospital room, he couldn't face them knowing they knew what had happened, how had run off and left Kyo to fend for himself against a man that was threatening all of their lives. He heart felt as though it had been torn in two and he struggled to control his emotions. He didn't want to cry in front of them, he wanted to be strong. They all looked miserable, absolutely depressed. Kaoru's foot was tapping nervously on the ground, biting his lower lip; Die sat with his face in his hands, no one quite sure if he was crying or not, and Toshiya sat against the wall on the floor, his knees tucked close to his chest, looking around nervously as if he were to be the next victim.

Finally a doctor emerged from Kyo's room and Kaoru stood up, walking over to him. Shinya didn't pay attention to them as they talked, his mind was stuck on his conversation with Kyo. The little singer had tried to tell him something, but he didn't hear what. It sounded like "I lo—" before he had been cut off. 'I' what? 'I love you?' perhaps? Shinya cursed silently to himself, bothered by such thoughts. Why on earth would Kyo tell him that he loved him? Kyo wasn't gay, and neither was Shinya, why in the entire universe would he imagine such a foolish thing?

"Shinya?"

He looked up at Kaoru. "Yes, Kaoru-kun?" he asked in a voice barely above a whispered, frightened that he might be scolded for abandoning Kyo.

"Kyo only wants to see us one at a time and he asked that you see him first," Kaoru explained.

Shinya nodded, standing up slowly and walking over to the door. The doctor gave him a strange look when he saw all of Shinya's wounds and bruises, but he said nothing, ushering him in the room. "Arigatou gozaimasu, sensei," he mumbled as the doctor shut the door behind him. He walked over to the bed slowly, see Kyo smiling at him. He cringed a bit, seeing that Kyo had a black eye, his face had seven stitches near his cheek and it was quite clear one of his lip rings had been torn right out of his flesh. "How are you feeling?" he asked, standing beside the bed.

"We match," Kyo laughed, pointing to his black eye. "I'm fine, my stomach is hurting like hell, though."

"How does the wound look?" Shinya asked, gulping.

"Take a look," Kyo lifted up the hospital gown and pointed to the long gash near his navel that was stitched up with at least 20 stitches.

Shinya blushed as Kyo had lifted the gown, revealing his short legs and his bright red and black boxers, wanting to reach out and stroke Kyo's pale little legs, to feel his soft pale skin beneath his finger tips, but restrained himself and forced his eyes onto the stab wound. He paled somewhat as he looked at the stitches. "I—I'm sorry, for leaving you, I should've helped you," he said solemnly.

"Don't be an idiot, Shin-chan, I told you to leave me, if you hadn't you'd probably be in the bed next to me," Kyo said, not appearing to have been bothered or pained one bit by the wound. Shinya wondered if it was a façade, Kyo trying to stay strong, like he had been trying so hard to do; if his suspicions were correct the little singer was much better at hiding things than he was.

'That's my Kyo,' Shinya thought warmly. His eyes widened somewhat when he reexamined his thoughts. 'My Kyo' he thought somewhat in an absurd tone, 'How is he 'my kyo'? That is a foolish thought, he's not mine, I'm not dating him—' Shinya bit his lip. For some reason everything he reexamined seemed to lead to thoughts of being in love with Kyo, what was wrong with him? Why was he thinking such unnatural thoughts of late? Such strange thoughts—such gay thoughts. It made him wince a little on the inside thinking that, maybe the American man was right, he was gay, he loved men and dressed like a woman; that he shouldn't be alive.

"Shinya?" Kyo noticed he had been spacing off, looking somewhat lost within his own thoughts.

"I'm fine, just a little tired…and worried…about you and all," Shinya mumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets, trying to forget even the mention that he could be gay. There wasn't a possibility, there couldn't be a chance he did—or could there? What about when they were in the alley? When he had gotten too close to Kyo, when it seemed like they were going to kiss…did he intentionally try to kiss Kyo? He shuddered at the thought and tried to focus more on the issue at hand.

"Worried about me?" Kyo mused, leaning back into his bed pillows. "Worried, ne? Why be worried? Look, I'm alive! You see me, you hear me, look, you can feel me!" Kyo grabbed Shinya's hand and placed it on his chest.

Shinya's face turned bright red once more, he could feel Kyo's steady heart beat, he could feel the warumono's lungs taking in air, he could feel the warmth of his soft skin, their skin touching only partitioned by a thin layer of clothing. Slowly, he drew his hand away from Kyo's chest, reluctantly at first, but still confused about his newfound emotion he new he had to do such until he could figure out what they were—what they really were. "I'm just scared…I don't ever want you to do that again, you hear me? Don't ever tell me to leave you…never again!" Shinya said suddenly, once again surprised about the outburst. He took in a deep breath, bowing his head, biting his lower lip nervously.
He felt Kyo's arms wrap around him, gently pulling him close. "I won't die, Shinya, don't worry," he whispered in Shinya's ear.

"No, Kyo, you're not listening to me, I would rather die a thousand deaths than see you die one!" Shinya cried, tears in his eyes. He looked at Kyo, his eyes red and glassy, seeing a look of shock, as though he had been taken aback by the statement. "Please, promise me you'll never do it again."

"Shinya…"

"Promise me Kyo, promise me you will never do anything so reckless ever again!"

Shinya felt Kyo squeeze him tightly, his hands locked behind his back as if he were determined to never let the drummer go.

"I promise you, Shinya, that I'll never do anything like that again," Kyo whispered, kissing Shinya's forehead gently. As the drummer felt Kyo's lips touch his skin he felt as though his entire body had floated away, the sweet warmth of the little singer's soft lips on his flesh was so tantalizing and exciting to Shinya; but at the same time the kiss only lingered for a second, as did the warmth it cause on his skin. He felt as though Kyo were teasing him, waiting for a reaction as to what the shy drummer would do next.

Slowly, Shinya stepped away from Kyo's tight grasp and he sighed, wiping his eyes, and laughing. "I'm sorry for being such a crybaby," he said, trying to stifle his sobs and tears.

"When you're ready we can invite the others in," Kyo said, lying back down in his hospital bed.

"I thought you wanted to talk to us one at a time," Shinya said, somewhat perplexed.

"I fucking lied, 'kay? I just wanted to talk to you in private," Kyo grinned at him. "Come on, let them in, I guess now that this has happened we need to do something about that sick bastard, ne?"

Kyo bounced around the studio, waving the cane that the hospital gave him around at Toshiya, trying to start a sword fight. Shinya smiled as Kyo jump around, twisted and fell to the ground, laughing, a cigarette in his mouth. Toshiya had a plastic wiffle ball bat in his hands, laughing as he fought Kyo with it. The warumono didn't at all seem phased by his stitches.

"Kyo! Calm down! You're going to open your stitches," Kaoru said, looking up, his reading glasses on, surrounded by papers.

"I'm fighting the evil jedi master Darth Toshiyamasa!" Kyo jumped up, hitting Toshiya's forearm.

Toshiya dramatically fell to the ground, dropping the bat and clutching his arm. "Damn you, Master Kawaii!" he yelled loudly, going into a fake scream.

"Oh, you asked for it!" Kyo started hitting Toshiya's leg with the cane.

Shinya turned away from the two, smiling and laughing. The entire group contacted Yoshiki and told him what was going on, and of course he scolded them for not telling him about the threats or when Shinya had been attacked. Yoshiki said it was best that they wait to see if he would send more threats or if he would just disappear. He was just so worried. Shinya walked slowly over to Yoshiki's office and opened the door slowly.

Yoshiki was on the phone, seeming to not notice Shinya as he walked in. "No! I don't give a flying fuck about our agreement, I'll pay you in full, just stop the attacks! There is no negotiation over this, you are going to stop immediately; you have taken this way too fucking far!" he slammed down the phone, brushing his hair out of his face. He looked up and paled as he saw Shinya standing in the doorway. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Uh…I just got here," Shinya lied. "I'm a little worried about this American man. I might get attacked next, I might be killed next time I confront him."

Yoshiki intertwined his fingers and smiled at Shinya. "Don't worry, it's all being taken care of," he said somewhat slyly.

Once again, Shinya's stomach twisted into a knot, and he had the same feeling he did right before Kyo had been stabbed. Something bad was going to happen, something terrible.