Chapter Six: Itines ad Recuperatio
In a pale-lit corner of the Hospital's waiting room, Akihiko Usami sat rigidly in a chair with his head in his hands. Dried blood still covered every inch of him and only sound he made was the occasional soft hitch of his breathing. Usami had been sitting in the same position for hours and moved his eyes only once to greet Misaki's brother. Takahiro had made no move to pin any blame on Usami, but Usami thought it would be easier if he had. Takahiro had no knowledge of what Usami had done and how he was responsible for Misaki being here, but if Takahiro knew that, then surely he would hate Usami for it. Already Usami was tormenting himself over and over for what he had done. He thought if he hadn't told Misaki to leave and never come back, that Misaki would be home right now, cooking them a wonderful dinner. Because of him Misaki was like this and Usami felt like he was going to lose the one thing he truly loved more than life itself.
"Usagi..." Usami moved his tear-stained eyes to Takahiro when the man touched his shoulder. He made no move to speak or to brush the hand from his shoulder. Takahiro offered him a cup of coffee and while he didn't want it, he accepted the cup out of what little rational thinking he had left. He thought about trying to get into the room again to see Misaki, but after the fourth time of having to be dragged away, Usami had been told to stay put or risk getting kicked out of the hospital completely. He had begrudgingly accepted to stay here, but with each passing moment he wanted to say the hell with it and rush in again. If not for Takahiro's presence and the idea of being locked out of the hospital, Usami knew he'd already be parading back towards the operating room. A shackled sigh of defeat fell past his lips and Usami silently thanked Takahiro when he felt a blanket being draped over his back and shoulders.
Three hours passed and the cup of coffee in Usami's hands remained untouched. He felt exhausted and near insanity. The sound of heavy footsteps pulled his eyes forward and when he spotted Nowaki, he immediately shot to his feet. The blanket tumbled carelessly into a heap at his legs. He was trembling all over and he nearly recoiled from shock when Manami pulled the cold cup of coffee from his hands. He tried his best to gauge from Nowaki's expression what condition Misaki was in. He visibly relaxed just a hair when he realized Nowaki was alone and not accompanied by a man of the cloth. "Where's Misaki?!" Usami demanded in a raspy voice.
"He's alright, Usami-san. Please, calm down." Nowaki paused and turned to address Usami, Takahiro, and Manami. "The operation went better than expected. They'll be setting him up in a regular room soon and as soon as the okay is given, I'll bring you to him." Nowaki wanted to talk to Usami personally about a few things and about the idea that someone had been hurting Misaki for a while now. Still, he knew he needed to give a report to Misaki's family as well. It was hard for him to think about and talk about everything that had been done to such a precious boy, but in the end Nowaki knew it was part of his job.
"While his life is in no sort of danger, there were some things that could not be fully repaired." Nowaki thought it was as good of a start as anything. "Although we are not able to know to what exact extent, Misaki may no longer be able to speak as regularly as he used to, or at all." It was probably best to spare the details as to why Misaki couldn't. "During the examination, we found marks on his body suggesting that this may not of been an isolated incident." Again he paused before continuing on. " Our tests show he has suffered severe head trauma..." Nowaki stopped speaking at the near simultaneous intake of breathing he heard. He took a moment to breathe in and gather himself before he continued on. "We have no reason to believe any damage was done to his brain, but we did find extensive damage to suggest that his vision may have suffered tremendously. Until we can run further tests, we wont know the extent..."
"That's enough!" Takahiro interjected. Nowaki silenced himself and held his clipboard to his chest defensively. Takahiro began to speak again and Nowaki listened quietly. "Misaki is alive, that's all that matters for now. Please bring us to him as soon as possible.." Nowaki gave a gentle nod and turned to leave before Takahiro's words caught his attention and he turned to face the man once more. "Are you Kusama-san, the one who was with Usagi when you found Misaki?" Nowaki flinched at the anger in Takahiro's voice. He wondered if the man didn't hate him for not being able to do more for Misaki. He felt guilty that he couldn't do more for Misaki and he would understand if Takahiro ended up pinning a lot of the blame on his shoulders.
"Yes, Sir." Nowaki answered softly and honestly. He could see Takahiro's body relaxing and the anger fading from his face. "Thank you, Kusama-san." Nowaki softened at the words and fought to hide back his own tears that threatened to spill. "Thank you very much, Sir... but Usami-san is the one you should be thanking." Nowaki mumbled gently. He gave a polite nod to Takahiro and Manami while casting a sidelong, understanding glance to Usami. "Usami-san, before we can allow you to see Misaki, you'll have to clean yourself up." Nowaki finished and politely took his leave from the waiting room.
An hour later and Nowaki was warning Usami, Takahiro, and Manami of what they were about to see. Usami had taken the initiative to strip off his blood covered vest and dress shirt to leave him in a semi-clean t-shirt. He'd cleaned his arms and hair as best he could too but was still caked in splotches of red here and there. Without waiting for Nowaki to finish, Usami shoved past him and into the room. What greeted him had his steps faltering. Luckily the wall was near and he braced himself against it as he tried to comprehend exactly what he was seeing. He could barely see Misaki at all beneath the layers of gauze and intravenous tubing. His eyes immediately took note of the cast on Misaki's right arm and the way his right eye was covered completely with bandages. The mask over Misaki's face terrified Usami and he tore his eyes to the beeping of the heart rate monitor as if it would give him some semblance of peace in knowing Misaki was alive and not dead.
Usami was terrified that if touched Misaki, he might somehow break him. He blamed himself for everything and for not noticing what was going on. Usami didn't believe for a single minute now that Misaki had been doing anything behind his back. If he had been with any other man, in any type of way, then it wasn't with Misaki's consent. Usami's mind ran away with so many different scenarios that his fear and sadness soon turned into complete rage. He vowed to kill whoever had touched Misaki. He had a good idea of who had done it and he'd strike himself down where he stood if he didn't think Ishikawa had been the cause of Misaki's condition. He berated himself for letting Nowaki stop him from barging in and he was even a little upset at Nowaki even if he couldn't bring himself to take it out on the man.
It was the sound of Takahiro crying that shook Usami from his blood thirsty visage. He wanted to comfort Takahiro but found it undeserving of him to even try. His mind flashed with the idea of jumping from the balcony of his penthouse to end it all. The irregular beeping of monitors tore him from his thoughts with fear, but he was comforted when Nowaki's hand came to his shoulder and Nowaki assured him that nothing outside of the obvious was wrong with Misaki. Hours later and Usami still stood in the same spot while Manami slept in a chair and Takahiro slept with half of his body on Misaki's bed. Takahiro had never once let go of Misaki's hand and Usami wondered if he even had the right to be here. Because of him, Misaki was like this. Because of him, another man had put his hands on Misaki. His teeth grit together angrily and he closed his eyes against the murderous rage that flowed within his mind.
Usami's thoughts were broken when he heard a soft gasp and tore his gaze to see Misaki stirring in the bed. If not for the machines beeping away as normal, Usami might have thought Misaki was taking his last breath. Usami was at Misaki's side in an instant as worried as he was that he might break Misaki if he touched him, Usami gently placed Misaki's hand within his own. "Misaki, Misaki!" Usami ushered out and looked to the boy. He wasn't sure if Misaki could see him, but he knew Misaki would be able to hear him. Usami tried his best to keep his emotions in control for Misaki's benefit, but it was a battle he was having a hard time winning.
Misaki tried to speak, but found it completely impossible. He gave a squeeze to Usami's hand with what strength he could muster to let the man know it was alright. Misaki tried to focus his blurry gaze to the world around him. Soon the beeping of machines, the sterile scent around him, and seeing the room told Misaki he was in the hospital. Alarm bells rang inside of Misaki's head and he immediately began to struggle and try to pull himself up and away from the bed. If he didn't get to Ishikawa's on time, there was no telling what Ishikawa would do. Misaki was sure it was pure luck that had kept Ishikawa from killing him last night. He didn't believe for a second that Ishikawa was incapable of it. He knew if he had pushed Ishikawa any further that the man would have gone overboard and killed him.
"Idiot! Quit moving around!" Usami boomed. Misaki shrank back against the violence in his voice and against the pain it caused to bounce around in his head. He slipped his hand from Usami's and rose it to his head to hold it there. Usami noticed the gesture and immediately felt horrible for yelling at Misaki. Misaki lavished the air that the oxygen mask provided and he breathed in as deeply as he could before he dared to open his eyes again. He finally noticed Takahiro and everything in him froze in panic. Misaki didn't want his brother to see him like this or know anything about what was going on. He felt mortified, saddened and in the end, he felt more angry than he was sure he had ever been in his entire life. The obvious look on his face beneath the mask was pure anger but the anger vanished when he looked to Usami's face. Usami looked so haunted that Misaki wanted to gather the larger man up in his arms and sooth away his fears.
"U...s..." Misaki tried to say. A barely audible, raspy whispered followed and he felt so exhausted for his efforts afterwards. He closed his eyes to fight back the edgings of a headache. He needed to get out of here and to Ishikawa if he was going to save Usami and Kamijou-Sensei from the wrath of that man. With a soft shudder of his breath, he fought to open his eyes but sleep overtook him and he drifted off to darkness once again. As soon as Misaki was fully asleep, Usami took Misaki's hand in his own again and brought Misaki's hand to his forehead. He held it there for many moments and whispered soft, inaudible apologies to Misaki for everything he had done. He didn't expect Misaki to forgive him, but he knew he was as good as dead without Misaki at his side. In order for Usami to survive, he needed Misaki.
"Usagi, please, come with me. Manami will tell us if anything changes. You should finish cleaning yourself up too. We need to be careful or we might make Misaki's wounds worse." Takahiro had other things in mind, but the most obvious thing he could think to tear Usami away was what he went with. He had never Usami like this over anything or anyone and while he loved his friend dearly and thought he was equally stubborn, his mind was swarming with a million and one things to speak about. He hitched in a breath and let it in a soft, broken sigh. Usami reluctantly decided to follow him and Takahiro led the both of them to the cafeteria for some coffee. As worried as he was for his brother and as much as he didn't want to leave Misaki's side, Takahiro cared for Usami too and he could see the torment and sadness in his friend's eyes with every breath he took. He purchased two coffees and gave one of them to Usami before he drew in a breath and spoke what was on his mind.
"Usagi, what's going on between you and my brother? I've saw the way you were looking at him. I may be pretty dense and kind of a space case, but I know that look well enough.." Takahiro paused lightly and wet a few napkins with a bottle of water. He cleaned missed specs of blood from Usami's face before he spoke again. "Tell me and please... don't lie to me about this. Are you... in love with my brother?" He asked softly, but frankly. Usami nearly dropped his cup of coffee at those words but quickly recovered as to not scald he or Takahiro with the hot liquid.
"What... would make you think that?" Usami tried to play it off when in fact, he was terrified to tell Takahiro the truth. He set his cup of coffee down on the condominium bar with shaking hands. Peeling the lid off, Usami busied himself with pouring sugar into his coffee as a distraction. Takahiro knew well that Usami hated sweets and he admitted that it made him slightly angry that Usami felt he couldn't come to him with this. He couldn't say he liked the situation, but far be it from him to stop anyone who was in love. He wasn't so dense at not of seen what was in Misaki's eyes and heart as well. Takahiro closed his eyes for a moment to steady his thoughts before he put a hand over Usami's coffee. Sugar spilled over his hand like grains of sand and Takahiro thought it was somewhat soothing.
"Usagi, please... answer me. Are you in love with my brother?" Usami finally stopped pouring the sugar into his coffee and set the shaker aside. His arms fell to his sides and his eyes turned to looked to the floor in shame. Usami felt like he was betraying Misaki, but the idea that Misaki could hate Usami might've been good for the boy in the long run. Usami balled his fingers into his palms hard enough to nearly draw blood and with a shaky breath, he answered truthfully. "Yes... I'm so sorry, Takahiro." Usami closed his eyes and waited for the screaming and berating to come.
"Akihiko..." Caught off-guard by Takahiro using his name, Usami braved enough to raise his eyes to meet Takahiro's. Takahiro saw fear, sadness, confusion, love, and tenderness there and he wondered if it was such a bad thing that Usami and Misaki had fallen for each other. Takahiro heaved a defeated sigh and set his coffee down before raising his hands to grasp face lightly with his palms. He pulled Usami's face down level with his own and pressed a soft kiss to the larger male's forehead. "It's alright..." Takahiro murmured to Usami. He could be angry and rage, but the fact of the matter was, right now wasn't the time for that and he didn't feel the need to anyway. As horrified as everyone was, he knew Usami must've blamed himself for it all.
Usami's eyes snapped to Takahiro's in a mixture of shock and confusion. He had fully expected Takahiro to punch him and call him names and forbid him from ever seeing Misaki again. It would have been so much easier to deal with, but instead his friend was trying to comfort him when he was undeserving of such things. Usami had tried his hardest to remain strong, but the facade he had put so many years into was slowly crumbling and he found it impossible to keep himself from crying. Usami had never in his life wanted this man of all men to see him cry. Every breath he took was a struggle to keep from crying until Usami's hands fell to Takahiro's arms and balled the material of Takahiro's shirt into his fists. Finally relenting, Usami hung his head and let hot tears sting his cheeks. Usami's crying grew louder with each passing moment and when Takahiro pulled Usami into him and embraced the man, Usami broke completely. Usami had never cried so hard for anything or anyone as he did now. Usami was sure he would die in hell for seeking comfort in Takahiro's arms instead of throwing himself in front of a firing squad for his crimes against Misaki.
While Usami and Takahiro were tucked away in the cafeteria, Manami brushed her fingers through the sleeping boy's hair. She couldn't even begin to imagine what he had gone through and it filled her heart with a deep sadness. Manami couldn't even begin to understand how someone could take advantage of a person as sweet and lovable as Misaki. She remained strong for her husband, for Misaki, and even for the man she could clearly tell was in love with this boy. Manami was very observant and she had suspected something the night Misaki had valiantly defended Usami from Takahiro. Manami could only hope that Takahiro would be able to understand the love that blossomed between Usami and Misaki. She knew she would do whatever she could do to help all three of the men along. Manami sighed and placed her hands over the tiny swell of her stomach. She reflected over how life was supposed to be filled with love, joy, and happiness. With a chaste, gentle kiss to Misaki's brow, Manami rose herself away from the bed for just a moment. Unfortunate for her, being pregnant meant she had little to no control over her bladder. She was sure Misaki would be fine by himself for just a few moments.
As soon as the click of the bathroom door sounded, Misaki snapped his good eye open quickly. He'd been awake for a while now and he knew if he was going to get away from here and to Ishikawa's, he'd have to move quickly. He set up a plan he was sure might work at least just a little. It always seemed to work in the movies and Misaki thought if he was lucky, it would work for him too. He lavished a couple of deep breaths that the oxygen mask provided for him and with a grunt of trying to ready himself for what was to come, Misaki bit back a silent cry of pain and pulled himself out of the bed. He nearly buckled over but worked with determination to stay on his feet. The beeping of the machines spiked momentarily and Misaki eyed the intravenous tubes that were hooked into his wrists and the crooks of his elbows. He yanked the machines with him towards the door to the bathroom and stood for just a second to try and gain his bearings.
With a few shallow breaths, Misaki ripped the intravenous tubing from his body. The sudden shock of pain made him feel sick to his stomach and he nearly hurled, but managed to keep it at bay. His head swam and Misaki swayed slightly and nearly passed out but was able to catch himself at the last second. He grabbed some of the tubing and quickly wrapped it around the handle to the bathroom door, then around a hook that was sticking from the wall behind the door. It was difficult to achieve with one arm but he was sure it would be fine to hold Manami for a while. The flurry of beeping picked up in his room, alarming both Manami and the hotel staff that the machines had either been severed from Misaki's body, or Misaki had just died on them.
With a little luck, adrenaline, and drugs, Misaki managed to make it to the elevator unnoticed. The elevator lurched and again, Misaki nearly passed out. When the elevator stopped at basement level, Misaki stumbled out haphazardly and rested his weight against the elevator door to catch his breath. It was difficult without the oxygen mask but he managed in the end. The dark green of his eyes scanned around to make sure nobody was there before he pulled himself along the wall and to the stairwell nearby. With a renewed vow to protect his teacher and lover, Misaki dragged himself up the stairs and to the door that led out into the back of the hospital. He manged to make it out of the hospital and disappear into the busy city undetected. If Misaki had been feeling any better he'd of boasted about pulling of a stunt that surely only worked in the movies.
Misaki wondered if the world wasn't playing some sick joke on him. Ishikawa's apartment was less than a block away from the Hospital and Misaki had managed to make it up the stairs and to the door of Ishikawa's apartment without a single person noticing him or making an attempt to stop him. Misaki was clad in a half-open hospital gown with bandages covering his body and dark marks of sutures across his pale flesh. The acrid sting of the October cold nipped at him and he hoped that Ishikawa would take pity on him and be kind. Misaki knew better and with the deepest sorrow and fear filling his heart, Misaki weakly rapped against Ishikawa's door with his good arm. Moments later the door swung open to a very annoyed Ishikawa. The larger man pulled Misaki into the apartment by his hair and slammed the door behind him. "You're late, Misaki-kun..." Ishikawa reprimanded and snarled to Misaki.
Back at the hospital, a flurry of panic was beginning to brew. Doctors, nurses, and hotel staff were scampering across the entire hotel in search for Misaki. Nowaki knew Misaki was in no condition to be out of bed, let alone walking around. Nowaki was quick to try and page Misaki back to the room before he paged out to Usami and Takahiro. Within seconds he saw Usami tear through a hoard of doctors to get to Misaki's room. Hoping that the boy was still in the hospital, Nowaki jumped slightly when he heard the raging boom of Usami's voice. "Where the fuck is he?!" He heard Usami shout. Offering himself up to try and calm the man down, Nowaki spoke softly, but firm. "Get a hold of yourself, Usami-san. Misaki locked Manami in the bathroom and escaped. We're not sure if he's still in the hosp..." Nowaki was cut off mid-sentence by the raging Usami.
"I'll kill him, I'll fucking kill him!"" Usami spat out and turned on the balls of his heels. "Takahiro, stay here with your wife! I'm going to get Misaki back." He ordered and took off towards Ishikawa's residence. Luckily Nowaki had finished his shift and decided to trail behind Usami. He could see small beads of of blood drop sparingly from Usami's palms. He severely hoped the man wasn't serious about putting the weight of death on his hands. However, Nowaki knew better than to think Usami had any other plans aside death for Ishikawa. If it came down to it, Nowaki would stop Usami from committing murder. Nowaki followed behind Usami down the stairs of the hospital and out into the bustling city.
"The hospital? Oh Misaki-kun, how dramatic. If you had just listened, you wouldn't be in that condition. Now, you see..." Ishikawa paused and went rummaging around in the drawer to his coffee table before he pulled out the stack of photos he often liked to taunt Misaki with. "If you don't want me to publish these, we'll have to double your punishment for being so insolent." Ishikawa chuckled softly but the chuckle turned into an annoyed smile. He threw the pictures down on the coffee table and shoved Misaki back against the wall of the his apartment. He wanted to punish the boy for being so insolent as to let anyone know where he lived, then to let anyone else touch his play toy.
Misaki let out the barest whispered gasp of pain at being shoved into the wall. His face contorted in pain and Ishikawa's words echoed into his head painfully. "You look so beautiful like this, Misaki-kun. You're so... positively fuckable!" Ishikawa's hands bit into the flesh of Misaki's legs hard enough cause Misaki to grit his teeth in pain. He felt sick to his stomach and nearly lurched when Ishikawa's hands traveled up his legs and settled on his thighs. Misaki shuddered and tried to focus on anything other than Ishikawa. His attempts were short lived when Ishikawa noticed Misaki's thigh was stitched an wrapped in gauze. "What the fuck is this?! You're my plaything! Did I say anyone else could touch you hear? You fucking whore!"" Ishikawa spat at him and shoved his into the wound at Misaki's thigh. The sutures tore apart and Misaki's fingers raked into Ishikawa's arm at the renewed pain. It was all too much for Misaki to handle and he tumbled to the floor in quiet, raspy gasps of pain.
"You're worthless!" Ishikawa spat at Misaki. "Stand up!" He ordered. Misaki was unable to move his leg at all, let alone stand. "I stand stand up!" Ishikawa ordered again. When Misaki still made no move to stand, Ishikawa snarled to the boy and brought his foot up to kick Misaki in the face. Misaki fell to the side and his free hand clutched his battered face in pain. He tried to gasp for air but his throat quickly filled with the iron tang of blood. Misaki coughed enough of the blood out of his mouth to draw in a breath. The world spun webs of darkness around him and it threatened to consume him entirely. He sorely hoped Ishikawa wouldn't kill him, but he wasn't so sure anymore. His consciousness fading in and out in rapid succession, Misaki was jolted from his stupor when he realized Ishikawa had dragged him to the bedroom and threw him violently against the floor. Old blood stains mixed with new specs of blood and Misaki lay at the mercy of whatever it was Ishikawa was going to do to him.
"Misaki-kun, you're so beautiful but you're just not perfect yet." Ishikawa quipped and retrieved his favourite knife from atop the dresser. Straddling Misaki, Ishikawa began to slice away at the hospital gown and bandages until he drew back with a hiss of anger. "What the fuck is this?!" Ishikawa demanded and studied the suture that ran from the top of Misaki's throat to the bottom of his abdomen. Ishikawa found it disgusting and he made a move to rip the suture out completely until his eyes spotted an unmarked patch of pale flesh on Misaki's shoulder. Annoyed more at the unmarked flesh than the suture for now, Ishikawa raised the knife over his head with a sadistic smirk.
At the exact moment Ishikawa plunged the knife into Misaki's shoulder, Usami was kicking the door to Ishikawa's apartment in. The shock from the stab to his shoulder jolted Misaki's body violently and the pain, coupled with the blood thickening in the back of his throat made it impossible for him to breathe. He tried to gasp for breaths of air but could bring nothing in. Misaki wasn't even aware that Usami had stormed into the bedroom and literally kicked Ishikawa off of Misaki's body. Misaki clawed for any sort of air at all as Usami hauled a dazed Ishikawa to his feet and repeatedly pummeled his fists into the man's face. "How dare you touch my Misaki! I'll fucking kill you!" Usami screamed at finally stilled his fists long enough to throw Ishikawa into the dresser aside the door. So caught up in his commitment to killing Ishikawa, Usami hardly noticed that Misaki's flesh was beginning to turn blue.
Luckily, Nowaki arrived moments later and while he wanted to stop Usami from committing murder, Misaki was his immediate priority. Nowaki assessed the situation as best as he could and immediately tried to get Misaki to breath. He noticed the pool of blood in Misaki's mouth and he gently tipped Misaki's head to the side to drain the blood out as best he could, when Misaki still refused to breath, Nowaki knew he was going to have to breathe fir Misaki. He silently apologized to Misaki, Hiroki, and Usami before he covered Misaki's lips with his own and forced air into Misaki's lungs. Finally Misaki coughed and sputtered on his own. Taking Misaki's soft gasps for air as a good sign, Nowaki took the shreds of Misaki's hospital gown and wrapped it around the knife to keep it stable. Pulling the knife from his shoulder may of done more harm the good. He then pulled the thick quilt off of the bed beside him and wrapped Misaki as tenderly as he could within. He wrapped him in another blanket and lifted him softly from the floor to place his battered body onto the bed.
It was when Nowaki turned to pull Usami off of Ishikawa that he spotted a photo of himself from the corner of his eye. He dared to take a look at it and noticing the content of the photos, Nowaki shoved a pillow aside to reveal a stack of photos that contained not only he and Hiroki, but Misaki and Usami. Everything suddenly made sense to him and it made him want to help Misaki kill the man. In the end Nowaki's morals won and he moved quickly to keep Usami from killing the man.
"Usami-san, Usami-san!" Nowaki paused and tried again. "Akihiko Usami!" Nowaki winced quietly softly in apology before he punched Usami in the face. The force of the punch knocked Usami aside, if only for a moment. Nowaki was quick to insert himself between he and Ishikawa. While Nowaki didn't know the extent of damage Usami had done, or fairly care, he wasn't going to let Usami kill the man. Nowaki fully expected Usami's reaction to be in rage and when Usami came at him, Nowaki ducked down and managed to catch Usami in the stomach with his knee. Usami doubled over for a second to gasp in a breath and Nowaki spoke to him in a loud, firm voice. "Now isn't the time for this! You need to get Misaki to the hospital right now or he'll die." Nowaki exaggerated the truth a bit, but figured it was best to drill the idea that Misaki may die into Usami's mind. He heaved in a breath and was thankful when realization seem to wash over Usami's face. He instructed Usami to be gentle and not remove the knife from Misaki's shoulder.
Nowaki heaved in another sigh when Usami disappeared out of his sight and towards the hospital. Nowaki then turned and checked Ishikawa's vital signs. Ishikawa's pulse and breathing were both strong enough that Nowaki was sure no real damage had been done to the man. He nearly regretted not letting Usami kill him, but in the end Nowaki knew it was better of this way. Nowaki noticed Ishikawa was starting to come around and while Nowaki wasn't going to kill the man, he had no qualms about beating Ishikawa within an inch of his life. "Are there more photos?!" Nowaki demanded and hauled Ishikawa to his feet. Slamming Ishikawa back against the wall, Nowaki waited impatiently for the man to answer him. Ishikawa only laughed and even dared to smirk at Nowaki. It enraged Nowaki enough to slam man against the wall a few more times before he demanded once more. "Are there any more?!"
Ishikawa contorted his face in pain for a moment and finally gave Nowaki his response. "Plenty more... and unless you want me to publicize your relationship with your dear "Hiro-San", you'll do exactly as I say." Ishikawa taunted in remembrance of the endearment Nowaki used for Kamijou. The murderous intent he saw flashing into Nowaki's eyes excited him, but he wasn't prepared for Nowaki's response. Nowaki hauled the man off of his feet and pulled him back away from the wall. "Tell me where the rest of the photos are or I swear to God, I'll kill you." Ishikawa sensed the man was telling the truth. He wasn't easy to manipulate and control like Misaki was. Annoyance filtered into Ishikawa's mind and he gave Nowaki an amused laughter. His laughter turned into a sharp gasp of pain when Nowaki shoved his knee full force into Ishikawa's groin. Nowaki shoved him back against the wall again and demanded once more. "Where are they?!"
Forging a plan in his mind as to how to trick Nowaki, Ishikawa nearly purred at his own ideas. He'd tell the man what he wanted to know, but in the end he'd kill him just to see how beautiful the man would look in death. He quickly threw himself into acting mode and he looked to Nowaki with all the fake fear he could muster. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you. In the living room, on the coffee table. There's another stack in the bathroom along with the negatives and a disk. That's all, I swear." He was happy to see Nowaki take the bait so easily. He dramatically fell to the floor when Nowaki let go of him and while he was fully capable of moving, Ishikawa made himself appear immobile and as soon as Nowaki disappeared from his sight, he set his plans into motion.
Nowaki's mind reeled with getting rid of the photos and quickly he went about the apartment collecting photos and stashing them in his black bag he'd forgotten he had with him. He managed to gather the strewn about photos in the bedroom and the living room before making his way into the bathroom. He searched a couple of drawers until he finally found the more images, the negatives, and a disc that he assumed had the same pictures on it. He was thankful Ishikawa was at least somewhat compliant. It had taken all of Nowaki's willpower to search for the photos instead of choking the life out of that Ishikawa bastard. When finally Nowaki gathered and stashed away all the evidence he could, he turned to leave and was met with and angry Ishikawa lunging towards him.
Nowaki was able to move to the side quick enough to avoid a potentially fatal blow to the back of his head. The bathroom was so narrow and he such a large man that Nowaki found it difficult to move at all. Nowaki tried to shove past Ishikawa but managed to tumble backwards and fall into the bathtub instead. He tried to shove himself to his feet when Ishikawa pulled a straight-razor from one the drawers and came at Nowaki with it. Nowaki didn't have to guess that the man wanted to kill him. He moved his hand in the way in time and instead of the razor slicing down through his throat, it managed to barely knick the side of his wrist. Nowaki kicked out viciously and Ishikawa tumbled backwards. Managing to pull himself out of the bathtub, Nowaki made a made dash for the razor that Ishikawa had dropped. He managed to grab it and slid it back into its handle before he delivered another kick to Ishikawa. He jumped over the man's body to get out of the bathroom. Nowaki only managed a step before Ishikawa spun around and kicked at the back of Nowaki's knees.
Pain rippled into Nowaki's legs and he hit the ground hard. Out of habit he rolled to the side and barely managed avoiding a foot to his face. Noticing the razor had fallen from his hand, Nowaki made a lunge for it, but Ishikawa manged to grab it first. Nowaki scrambled backwards and felt a wall behind his back. He shoved himself to his feet and barely missed a jab for his gut. Cornered on three sides by a wall, Nowaki hissed at Ishikawa for managing to corner him. Ishikawa lunged at him again and Nowaki quickly kicked his feet out from under himself. He managed to miss the fatal blow to his throat, but suffered slamming his head into the wall behind him as a result. Everything around him went fuzzy and he tried to gather a grasp on reality. Ishikawa chuckled in his delight and raised the razor above his head. Planning to slit Nowaki's throat, Ishikawa took advantage of the disoriented Nowaki and made his lunge for the kill. Inches before the blade touched Nowaki's skin, a figure appeared behind Ishikawa and the sickening crack of wood and bone was heard. Ishikawa's body fell against Nowaki and the razor tumbled out of his hands and harmlessly to the floor.
Avidly trying to shake the haze from his mind, Nowaki peered up to see a man holding a bat in his hands. The man holding the bat was Keiichi Sumi, one of Hiroki Kamijou's pupils and fellow classmate to Misaki. Nowaki and Sumi stared back and forth at each other for many moments in silence. Both of them were somewhat shocked and finally Nowaki was the one to break the silence. He made a check of Ishikawa's vital signs and realized the man was still alive. He shoved the man off of him and took the hand that Sumi offered to help him up. He was a bit unsteady on his feet at first but was quick to recover. He gave a soft nod of thanks to Sumi for taking Ishikawa out of the equation.
"Is this the bastard who touched Misaki?" Sumi asked and dropped the bat that was in his hands. He felt disgusted and yet elated to know he had just dealt such a nasty blow to the man who'd put his hands on Misaki. He shuddered a minute before he continued to speak. "Kamijou-Sensei told me about Takahashi and I went to the hospital to check on him, but Usami-san was just coming in with Misaki in his arms. He muttered off the address to this place and something about making sure the "tall, dark, and stupid one" didn't get himself killed. Since you're the tallest one here and the other guy down there is a blond, I'm figuring you're the "Nowaki" in this picture. Ah, speaking of... is that guy alive?" Sumi asked and felt his stomach lurch a bit at the idea of possibly having killed someone.
"He's alive... unfortunately. I'm going to just assume you're the Sumi-san that was referenced last night." Nowaki muttered and inspected the head wound. It wasn't as bad as it could have been but bleeding out might be a problem for Ishikawa. It took all of Nowaki's willpower to not leave the man here to die. Leaning down to heft the man onto his shoulder, Nowaki threw Ishikawa onto him in no particularly nice way. Motioning for Sumi to follow him, Nowaki exited the apartment and made his way back towards the hospital. He was positive he'd gathered every last photograph, negative, and disc associated with the incriminating photos.
"As much as I'd love to let this man stay here and die, I need to get him back to the hospital." Nowaki muttered and turned to take the lead with Sumi following closely behind him. Nowaki would have to thank Sumi properly later on for saving his life. If Sumi hadn't been there, Nowaki surely would've had his throat sliced. The thought caused him to visibly shudder but quickly leave it behind. The fact of the matter was that he was alive and this man would not longer be able to touch Misaki or anyone ever again. With that though in mind, Nowaki relaxed slightly and kept his pace to the hospital. He made a move for the emergency room doors and stopped short when his Senpai was outside smoking a cigarette. "Senpai, you know you shouldn't be smoking out here." Nowaki reprimanded softly.
" Yeah, yeah." The blond doctor quipped. "This the guy?" Nowaki gave a nod and let the man slide from his shoulder and into a heap on the ground. Nowaki's Senpai doctor dropped his cigarette beneath his shoe and crushed it before he moved to inspect Ishikawa's wounds. It was obvious someone had been beating on the man. Nowaki's Senpai scratched the side of his nose and looked towards Nowaki. "I didn't see a thing. Go get yourself cleaned up and take your friend with you. I'll handle this." He said. "Oh, and Kusama?" He paused briefly. "The kid is going to be alright. He's damned lucky. I'd check on that overbearing seme of his though, the guy is a freaking brute. He nearly punched my head clear off my shoulders when I took the kid away from him." Nowaki cracked a knowing smile and nearly chuckled. Things seemed to be working out for the better and hopefully Misaki would recover and they could bring justice to the deeds Ishikawa had committed.
Eek. So many spelling/grammar errors. I decided to edit this entire chapter so I hope it's a little better now that I've gone through fixing it! Chapter Seven shall come soon'ish. _;