A/N:Who wants more Ikuya suffering? Because I sure do!

Also I have no idea what happened at the end, I should probably stop writing chapters so late at night because they end up shitty like the end of this chapter but I reeeeaallly wanted to include Natsuya so whoop, he's here and Rin, he's being a supportive boyfriend to Natsuya.
Anyway, I really need to catch up with this because episode 6 is gonna be really fun to include in this somewhere so yeah I dunno

Also this chapter is pretty violent so please don't read if you're sensitive to stuff like that

It was dark, he couldn't see anything at all. He could however feel the water surrounding him, rushing around him although, instead of the usual comfort which came with being surrounded by the water, he felt a spike of panic. He couldn't move his arms. All he could do was struggle as the water pulled him further and further into the darkness. He briefly saw a hand reach out towards him. Hiyori...However, when he reached to grasp it, a loud, harsh laugh sounded out as the hand was torn away as fast as lightning, leaving him alone and cold.

I'm alone again...No one's going to save me...If that's how it is, I...

Ikuya woke up gasping in his room, covered in sweat as he breathed heavily to catch his breath. After a minute or two of calming himself down, he heard his phone vibrating behind his head. He sat up, waiting another minute before reaching out for his phone, checking the caller ID and feeling a shiver of fear run through his body. Hiyori. Taking a deep breath, he answered the call, quietly steadying his breath as he began to speak to Hiyori.

"Morning Ikuya, Were you awake?" Hiyori's voice sounded sickly sweet and it made bile rise in Ikuya's throat as he remembered what had happened at the tournament the previous day.

"The phone woke me up. What is it?" Ikuya asked, his voice cold. when Hiyori wasn't directly near him, his will to fight back sometimes reappeared, however, it was usually destroyed once again by Hiyori's fists later on, usually accompanied by him shouting about listening to him and not disobeying him again. The hairs stood up on Ikuya's arms in response.

"Nothing, really. Just a wake-up call. I wanted to make sure you won't be late for practice," Hiyori's voice held a sinister tone to it which unnerved Ikuya who shivered slightly in fear.

"I won't be late," Ikuya responded simply, his voice quiet an timid as he shifted slightly, wincing as he felt pain shoot up his spine from Hiyori's 'fun' at the tournament the yesterday. He tried not to let his pain show in his voice although it appeared he had failed when Hiyori said in an amused tone;

"I hope not. You know, after all that happened yesterday...That teammate of yours from middle school, Nanase-kun was it?"Hiyori's voice went from amused to sinister in a second and Ikuya managed to stop himself from curling up into a ball in an attempt to hide, fear rushing through his veins.

"Just forget about that, I'm fine," Ikuya responded. He knew Hiyori was only pretending to be concerned when in reality, he was jealous. Jealous of Haru, and the relationship he had with Ikuya before Hiyori even knew him. He also knew that if his times were affected by his thoughts of Haru and middle school and everything else that was swirling around in his head, Hiyori would know, and he would make him pay for it.

One time, in America, Natsuya had gotten sick. It had caused Ikuya to worry enough to change his time by two seconds. Hiyori hadn't been impressed and Ikuya had been icing bruises for weeks afterwards. That was one of the first times Hiyori left bruises in visible places and not surprisingly, Natsuya had noticed, forcing Ikuya to lie and say he ran into the door handle and bruised his side. Natsya hadn't bought it but he had dropped the subject at least. Hiyori obviously knew that Natsuya was suspicious and had done even more damage, threatening Ikuya to never let anyone know, or else. From then, Ikuya had become better at making excuses and had also become skilled in hiding the cuts and bruises whether it be with clothing or makeup, he managed to hide everything from Natsuya long enough for him to forget it completely.

Snapping back to reality, Ikuya continued;

"I need to get ready, all right? See you later," Without waiting for a response, Ikuya hung up the phone. A small voice in the back of his mind told him that he's regret hanging up on Hiyori later on but at the moment, he was more focused on the shaking in his hands and the burning that made his throat constrict tightly, blocking his breaths and making them shallow and uneven. He began counting slowly out loud and tried to match his breaths to the numbers

I'm okay, I'm Okay. I'm okay, no one's going to hurt me here, Hiyori can't get me...

Yet...

Ikuya made his way down to the pool, quickly getting changed and placing his things in his locker. He had yet to run into Hiyori and he felt a harsh shudder down his spine as he thought about it.

Let's just hope my times haven't gotten worse...

He climbed up onto the diving block, diving into the water and swimming a couple of laps before pulling himself out of the water with ease.

"Kirishima," A voice said as he climbed out of the pool. He looked up to see their coach stood in front of him "Was everything okay yesterday?" He asked, making Ikuya's blood run cold. Surely he didn't know about Hiyori...?

"Yeah," Ikuya lied, subconsciously covering the bruises on his stomach from the other week.

"Your IM was unbelievable," The coach continued " It's a shame that's your only event even though you swim so well. Why don't you enter the freestyle relay?" Ikuya looked away at the question, scared that his eyes would begin watering

"No, relays aren't..." Ikuya began, being cut off by Hiyori's strong voice

"Hoshikawa-senpai, Ikuya doesn't swim relays," Hiyori appeared next to Ikuya and gripped his wrist hard.

"Why not?" Hoshikawa asked, not noticing Hiyori's grip on Ikuya or that expression of pain and fear on Ikuya's face.

"He focuses on individual events," Hiyori spoke for Ikuya. That was how it always went, Hiyori spoke for him and made decisions, and Ikuya went along with them, scared that if he didn't, he would be punched and kicked until he couldn't breathe. This was his life, constant fear and no control over his own decisions.

"Right Ikuya?" Hiyori turned to him. This surprised Ikuya, his opinion wasn't important, it had never been in Hiyori's eyes.

"Yeah I can't perform my best in team events," Ikuya said simply, figuring his opinion was only asked to avoid rousing suspicion.

"What? Come on man!" Hoshikawa said, slightly louder, making Ikuya flinch. His breathing sped up slightly, followed closely by his heart rate.

"Sorry. Excuse me," Ikuya walked away, trying to act normal as Hiyori's eyes followed his every move

"What a waste of talent," Hoshikawa sighed, Hiyori glanced at him before he followed Ikuya out of the pool and into the changing rooms.

"Ikuya," Hiyori attempted to get the others attention but he ignored him, making the anger bubbling inside Hiyori to increase.

"Ikuya! Listen to me when I'm talking to you!" He spoke louder now, gaining Ikuya's attention and a sharp flinch from him. He grabbed Ikuya's wrist and pulled harshly, forcing Ikuya to turn around to face him

"Ikuya, look at me," Hiyori commanded, however, Ikuya ignored him and continued looking down at the ground. A loud slap echoed through the now empty changing rooms as Hiyori stuck Ikuya across the face with his palm. Without saying another word, Hiyori dragged Ikuya into the showers, entering a cubicle and locking the door behind him. He pushed Ikuya so that he was against the wall opposite the door and he stood threateningly, glaring at Ikuya.

"What was that this morning? Hm?" Hiyori asked accusingly, throwing a sharp punch at Ikuya's ribs, hearing a satisfying thump as Ikuya was pushed back into the wall, his breath knocked out of his lungs

"...I'm...S...Sorry...I didn't mean to..." Ikuya choked out between gasping breaths.

Hiyori didn't listen, throwing another hard punch straight at Ikuya's stomach, causing him to cough so hard Hiyori was sure he was going to throw up. Hiyori ignored Ikuyas choking and gasping, walking forwards and wrapping a hand around his throat tightly as he muttered darkly

"Never hang up on me again, and don't even fucking think about ignoring me again bitch," He released his grip on Ikuya's throat and let the other fall to his knees in front of him, kicking his stomach once more before saying

"Get up, you're pathetic. I'll be out at the pool, come out when you're ready to fucking behave, and god help you if your time is worse."

Hiyori left the cubicle, pushing the door closed slightly as Ikuya scrambled over to lock the door so that he couldn't come back through.

Only when he was sure he was alone did Ikuya let his tears fall as he gently held his aching stomach

How could this happen, why me? I can't even escape either...There's nothing I can do...Natsuya...Haru...Makoto...Asahi...I'm sorry I'm not stronger...I need to get stronger...Right...right...

"Right," Ikuya mumbled" Hiyori's helping me get stronger...Yeah, that's what it is... I need to get stronger..."

With this thought in mind, Ikuya stumbled to his feet, making his way back out to the pool with a blank expression which by this point he had practically mastered.

"Sorry I'm so late," Makoto said as he entered the room, seeing Haru and Asahi already talking and eating "Hey, where's Kisumi?" He asked, noticing the pink haired boys absence immediately

"He said his club was meeting up," Haru replied before Asahi took over

"He sure is loving the college life,"

"That's a good thing, isn't it? It suits him," Makoto smiled gently "Anyway do we have a plan to go and see Ikuya?" He continued, asking the question that everyone seemed to want to avoid, especially Haru

Asahi looked away before he began to speak;

"Actually about that...I'm not sure if it's right for all of us to just barge in. So maybe we should have Kisumi go over and talk to him for a bit first," He explained, avoiding all eye contact

"You're not usually this timid," Makoto commented gently

"Well, you know...I told him back then that I wouldn't move again..." Asahi mumbled uncharacteristically

"It'll be fine. Ikuya's not mad about that," Makoto reassured

"You told Ikuya what was going on back then, didn't you?" Haru asked, turning to Makoto who nodded slowly.

"Yeah. A little after you quit the club and Asahi moved away the team broke up, but Ikuya was optimistic about continuing with swimming," Makoto explained

"And he went to America with Natsuya senpai after that?" Asahi asked

"Yeah," Makoto responded

"Who was that guy we saw with Ikuya? A friend from high school?" Asahi wondered aloud. Haru visibly tensed up at this, his eyes wide as the stared at Asahi

"No idea..." Makoto replied before asking;" Haru are you alright?"

"Yeah..." Haru's voice was emotionless as always "I just don't trust that guy, he seems to act weirdly whenever Ikuya is involved," Haru decided not to tell Makoto ad Asahi about his meeting with Ikuya after the tournament yesterday, thinking that he was seeing things and thinking that he imagined the death grip that guy had on Ikuya's wrist, thinking that he imagined the fear in Ikuya's eyes and the pain in his voice when he apologised...

His thoughts were cut off by Asahi;

"And when did Ikuya come back from America anyway? Where'd he go to high school? It seems like...We don't know anything about Ikuya at all...Even though we were all his teammates..." Asahi's words made everyone think for a minute, causing the room to be silent.

All Haru could think about was the fear Ikuya's eyes, the bruises he could quite clearly see despite a poor attempt at hiding them, the strange atmosphere between Ikuya and the new guy...

"We need to go and see him...Something's going on, and I don't think it's good," Haru said quietly, gaining nods of agreement from everyone in the room before everything went silent again.

Ikuya swam and swam until he couldn't feel his arms anymore. He could feel Hiyori's gaze burning holes into his back and could feel the throbbing in his stomach an ribs as well as his head where a raging headache was forming. His mind flashed back to that day in middle school, the one where he almost drowned and his vision went blurry for a minute. He struggled on to the end of the pool with his eyes closed before shakily pulling himself out of the water.

Hiyori was already there, waiting for him as he walked away from the pool.

"Nice swimming Ikuya," Hiyori's words, although they sounded like a simple compliment, Ikuya could sense the venom hidden behind them "Your rhythm seemed a little different from usual though, Is something wrong?" He asked, feigning concern

"No..." ikuya mumbled, avoiding looking at Hiyori

"You're breathing kind hard though," Hiyori pointed out. ikuya began walking away again, saying as he walked past;

"You worry too much Hiyori, Leave me alone,"

Hiyori fixed Ikuya with a glare as he walked over to the diving block again

You've just made a terrible mistake Ikuya...Never tell me what to do, or you'll pay for it...

As Natsuya and Rin made their way out to the restaurant they had been frequenting, Natsuya's phone buzzed, causing him to stop, opening the notification to see a message from Hiyori. The message explained that ikuya's time's had begun to get worse an that he was lacking the power he had at the previous tournament which made Natsuya worry, stopping completely for a moment to think of what could help his younger brother.

"Something wrong?" Rin asked after a while of Natsuya standing completely still

"Message from Japan, it sounds like ikuya's struggling..." Natsuya sighed. He wished he could be there with his brother but for now, he just had to trust Hiyori and hope ikuya was okay.

"Ikuya?" Rin's confused statement prompted a response from Natsuya

"That's my brother,"

"Kirishima Ikuya..." Rin mumbled to himself before being hit by a sudden realization of who Ikuya was.

"Is the message from your brother?" Rin continued

"No it's from a friend of his, they met in America while he was studying abroad," The way Natsuya said the word friend sounded slightly off to Rin but he didn't question it before saying

"Your brother went abroad for swim training?" Natsuya glanced briefly over his shoulder before speaking again

"You and Haruka are friends right?" Rin nodded with a small "Yeah" before Natsuya continued "In the summer of Ikuya's first year of middle school, he swam in a relay with Haruka," Rin gasped as this was said "But Haruka quit the swim club after that. His other teammates moved, or quit, one by one, so the team broke up. Ikuya ended up alone," Natsya paused for a minute and sighed "That's why, in his second year, he came to America where I was studying...When he was there, he became quieter and quieter, he barely spoke to me the last time I saw him...And he was constantly 'walking into things', tables, chairs, doors...They were all terrible excuses...so I asked Hiyori to look after him after I left..." Natsuya put his fingers up in quotation marks halfway through his sentence

"I dunno, I just worry about him I guess...But it's understandable...He has a bad habit of losing sight of everything when he gets absorbed...He pushed himself too hard and nearly drowned from lack of oxygen...No serious damage was done but I guess the mental shock was pretty huge...The last I heard, it's only happened a couple of times since he's been back in Japan. But...sometimes I worry that Hiyori is hiding something from me...He never relaxes whenever I'm around and he always tries to leave if there's something wrong with Ikuya and I ask about it..." Natsuya turned round to Rin once more and chuckled before saying

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm telling you my brother's entire life story..."

"No, no, it's fine, I can understand why you're worried...My friend...injured his shoulder and can't swim competitively anymore, I worry about him a lot, I guess it's kind of the same sort of thing." Rin replied

"Yeah..." Natsuya's eyes focused on the sky as he walked

"You should call your brother and ask him. It might help to stop you from worrying if you hear him say he's okay." Rin suggested

"Hmm, Yeah...I think I might, thank's Rin..."

"No problem," Rin replied as they reached the restaurant, going inside to eat

When Natsuya returned to his hotel room, he tried to call Ikuya however, the phone went unanswered.

Usually he'd be up at this time, I wonder what's wrong...

Ikuya could hear his phone ringing but he couldn't summon the strength to pull himself off the floor. After Hiyori had left, he had remained on the floor, cradling his side which was now littered with bruises. It hurt to move and so, Ikuya let his phone continue ringing until it stopped.

I don't really want to speak to anyone right now anyway...