"I'm back!" Mikado said, moving back into the small room with three cans of soda in his hands, handing one to Masaomi, before looking around. "Where'd Orihara-san go?"

Kida shrugged, "he left." He said, cupping his hands around the metallic can. He let the cool substance flow through his hands as he stared down at the soda.

"Masaomi.." Mikado started, and he watched golden eyes move to him. "Why...?" He asked softly, "Have I...not made you feel safe enough?" He asked, lowering his head. He couldn't help, but feel like this was his fault. Some days, Masaomi was fine, nearly back to himself again – other days, he was like this, he didn't say anything and was almost like a stranger.

Masaomi frowned, moving to snap the the cap open. "It's not your job to make sure I feel safe," he murmured.

Mikado gripped his hands around the can, frowning in response. "Yes, it is." He argued, "you're my best friend."

"A man shouldn't need to be protected," Kida said firmly and it was in a tone that meant he wasn't arguing his part any further and this discussion was coming to an abrupt end. Mikado could understand why being a male rape victim was embarrassing. He wasn't the most emasculate person around either, but he knew that Kida had way too much pride in himself to admit that him getting raped had nothing to do with his strength.

"About that kiss before..." Mikado started, and watched golden eyes lock onto his. He forced a weak smile and reached his arm over to scratch the back of his head. He took a deep breath, and was almost waiting for Kida to respond with some stupid sexual remark, but no, the eery silence was still present and he almost wished Kida had something at least Kida-esque, but given the situation he knew he would have to be the one to come forward this time.

"I think I'm in love with you." Mikado blabbed, and his face turned red, looking straight ahead now, cursing his feet to stay planted onto the ground, his mind swirling about how maybe he should just turn and run now or apologize profusely, saying it was a joke or some kind. Yeah, confess your feelings to your best friend who is a rape victim and then tell him a joke. How romantic.

To his surprise, a chuckle escaped the blonde's lips, and Mikado focused on the teenager in front of him.

"You look like you're constipated when you think too hard." Masaomi laughed, and it hurt to be laughing like that, but it was true, and for once he felt good, like he was safe.

Mikado blinked, dumbfounded. He stared over at his best friend who was now holding his waist from laughing so hard. He smiled softly over at the blonde, and he could almost feel the room brimming with energy solely because Kida was in it. Like how it used to be.

Then he remembered about what Masaomi was laughing about, and his cheeks flushed from embarrassment. "Well?" Mikado asked nervously.

Masaomi looked up, forcing a weak smile after what felt like a lifetime of frowning. "Obviously, most people do." He forced a laugh.

Mikado blinked, something seemed dark about that sentence. Did he mean he thought his attacker forced his love upon him? He took a seat in the chair next to the bedside, and placed a hand on top of Masaomi's. "Most people love you with respect, and wouldn't want anything harmful to happen to you – physically or emotionally, Masaomi." He replied, staring down the blonde's hand. "Like Saki...and Sonohora-san.."

"...and you?" Masaomi asked as he also stared down at their hands moving against each other.

Mikado smiled down, moving his hand under Masaomi's and his breath hitched when he linked their fingers together. "Yeah...and me." He said, looking up at the blonde. "A lot of me feels that way," he admitted.

This time Masaomi dipped his head down and placed his lips against the raven's. Mikado was a little hesitant to kiss back so quickly because he didn't want to make it seem too familiar to Masaomi's recent experience, but damn, was the kid a good kisser. Masaomi seemed to surprise him even further when he opened his mouth to deepen the kiss. Mikado swore he stopped breathing for a minute as he widened his mouth against Kida's as well.

"Ahem," a voice that didn't belong to either of them sounded into the room. They both pulled away from each other and looked away as their faces burned.

"Sorry to interrupt," a man in a white labcoat, holding a clipboard of papers smiled genuinely, and alongside the man was a man in what seemed like a business suit, with black-rimmed glasses. "Can we speak to Masaomi privately for a moment?"

Mikado was about to nod, before he felt a hand link around his arm like a death grip, and he turned around to see Masaomi looking over at him with frightened eyes. "Please stay," he said softly, and Mikado frowned. One minute he was back to his old self, and the next, he was this stranger that had come into his life recently.

"Masaomi-kun, this is my friend, Dr. Wong, he's going to ask you some pretty personal questions and the answers you may say may be different or affected because you have a guest here." The doctor replied.

"I don't want him to leave!" Masaomi argued, beginning to breathe heavily, and he noticed that the new doctor was scribbling down some notes on his clipboard already and it clicked. "He's a psychologist, isn't he?"

"Yes, Masaomi-kun. He just wants to ask you a few questions is all. We are not saying you are crazy, but because of the situation you have been through recently – we feel it's best to ask you some questions and it's a known fact that victims usually keep stuff locked away when friends are present in order for them not to worry."

"I don't want to tell anyone, anything." Masaomi muttered under his breath.

"Masaomi.." Mikado squeezed Masaomi's hand, "you're going to have to tell someone sometime. They aren't trying to tell you you're crazy. They just want you to feel better." Mikado reassured him, "please. Do it for me?"

"There's nothing wrong with me," Kida argued.

"Not physically...but Masaomi...you tried to kill yourself. You need to let something out." He urged, reaching up to brush a hand through the blonde's hair. "I'll be in the waiting room. Can you tell me when you're done?" He turned to the doctors, smiling weakly.

"Of course," Dr. Wong smiled, and nodded. "Thank you for being so cooperative."

Mikado nodded, "I'll be right back," he whispered, moving his arms around the boy's waist, and quickly placed a kiss on Masaomi's cheeks even though the doctors couldn't see it, pulling back and moving out of the hospital room.

It seemed like forever before he saw the main doctor walk out into the lobby and smile over at Mikado, motioning for him to walk over.

"Is everything alright?" Mikado asked worriedly.

"We've diagnosed Masaomi as bipolar. Dr. Wong is now prescribing medicine. It seems that whatever has happened in the incident, or his past has pushed him to the point to actually become this way. It's nothing to be ashamed of and is a very common trait, but mentally-diagnosed patients do need a lot of love and support from those around them to realize this."

Mikado just stood there, shocked and speechless as the doctor went on about how the medicine might affect Kida in the beginning. That...bastard hurt Kida this bad? Mikado pursed his lips, and tightened a fist to his side.

This meant war.


A/N: Don't forget to R&R! :)