-Saturday evening, 7:45 pm-

The sounds of people walking around the city...the noises of cars and everyday occurances...

Takeo took a long drag of his cigarette, kneeling against the brick wall, breathing smoke into the sky. What a beautiful night this was going to be. His knife, coated in fresh blood, layed against his bent leg and he smiled.

Just moments ago, he had stepped inside a church, no one having recognized him and stared hard at the religious statues around him, trying to find meaning. He was, by no means, a religious man, but that didn't stop him from enjoying the arts that religion had created.

He loved art...it was a beautiful thing that changed with the times. Even his art, his murders, changed greatly with every passing year.

A priest walked up to him, asking if he needed guidance and Takeo merely said,

"Father, I face a crisis that has been with me for so long."

"Tell me, my son. Perhaps the word of the Lord can assist you."

"I don't know about that...but...years ago...a friend of mine passed away...and I mean YEARS ago. We were just teenagers. Well...he took something that was mine and well...I'm having a hard time deciding if I should reclaim it or not. It was really special to me...I sort of lost it at some point and my friend picked it up...he held onto it for a long time and I became angry at him for it...then he died and well...I recently found it and it's in the hands of someone else...and I don't know what to do."

The priest was slightly put off with the way Takeo described his crisis, but smiled nonetheless, taking Takeos hand and said,

"We must not show envy towards what others have and accept it as theirs."

"I get that. But this was stolen from me. Right from under me. And I want to get it back. I have to..."

"To what importance is this item, exactly? And why would your friend take it from you?"

"Because...we both loved it. It's a special thing, you know. It had meaning and when I lost it, seeing that my friend had it...I lost control and did some terrible things. I want this item back...because I need it back. I'm lost without it. My friend loved it and it's what led to his death..."

"May I ask what this item is that is so special to you?"

Takeo said nothing but removed his hand from the priest and said, staring up at the statue, sighing through his nose.

"It's hard to describe, Father. I just need it back..."

The priest said nothing more about the subject and offered to pray with Takeo...surprisngly, Takeo agreed.

They sat together, the priest saying his usual prayer for another soul, while Takeos mind was elsewhere. This conversation he shared with a priest, it was helping him just a little. It helped him realise what he needed to do.

Closing his eyes, he started to pray for the first time ever, but not to God...he prayed to someone else.

"Naoki...you stole him from me and now, I'm going to get him back. And I'm going to rub it in your face once we see you again..like I used to do when I beat you in everything else...be patient, my friend...we'll be together soon."

Takeo left the church hours later, blood coating his clothes and a heavy sigh on his lips. It pained him to kill that priest...he was such a nice man.

-Around that same time frame-

Sono shuddered as he slipped his jacket on, not looking forward to this in the slightest.

Seiji had just gotten off the phone with Yakura and informed him of the situation, all while ignoring the mans frantic cries of why the hell had they not told him this sooner. Seiji didn't explain Sonos reasoning as to waiting this long to tell them anything...it didn't matter at this point.

That was an hour ago and now, Seiji was staring hard at his lover, who stared back at him through the mirror. He had a look of uncertainty in his eyes and it made Sono chuckle a low chuckle, first time in a long time.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"Hm? Oh nothing...just thinking."

"About? You were the one dead set on this after I asked. Hell, I tried to push it off as a delirium from blood loss, but you didn't give me much insentive to say no. What's stopping you now?"

Sono turned to look Seiji in the eye and noticed that one of his hands was behind his back. Quirking his brow, the blond looked at him and Seiji nodded, showing him what he was holding and Sono could not hold back to gasp that rose from his throat.

In Seijis hand was a gun, a 9mm semi automatic pistol. But that wasn't what surprised him. What surprised him was the level of comfort Seiji had with it. He looked at it like he had held it many times before.

Pulling a spare magazine out of his pocket and locked it in the gun with a loud click, Seiji said,

"Do you remember when I said my foster dad was a cop?"

Sono nodded, so he continued.

"Well, when I was going out to Tokyo for school, he gave me this for protection, saying that even though Japan is safe, there's always that off chance. He took me out to a range, had me practice for a while and it turns out I'm a natural with this thing. I even have a special permit to carry and use...I figure it's time to use it."

"That's...uh...comforting, I guess. Hehe. My boyfriend carrying a gun. Makes me feel a bit safer I guess."

"Trust me, I don't ever like using this. The fact that I have Ashi hold this for me is enough. I don't ever want this thing in my house...it makes me nervous sometimes to even look at it...but holding it...I feel unstoppable...are you ready to go?"

"Almost...just need a minute to collect my thoughts...you understand what you're getting yourself into, right? Takeo does terrible things to me...I need you to be prepared for that."

Seiji nodded, sticking his weapon in his coat pocket and walked up behind his lover, moving some of his hair aside and kissed his neck, whispering,

"It'll be alright. We've planned this for over a week now. If something goes wrong, we have every possible out imaginable."

"But what if it's not enough...I don't want to die, Seiji but I don't want to see you get hurt. I need you to promise me that you'll be careful. Takeo isn't someone to mess around with. Any notion that something is wrong and he'll kill you before he kills me. Promise me...you'll only come when it's time. No sooner."

Seiji leaned his head against his lovers shoulder, staring at their reflections. He understood fully of what was going to happen tonight and he had mentally prepared himself.

Sono was going to get hurt tonight, he knew that, he understood that...he wasn't looking forward to it. But the blond made him promise to wait until Yakura, the police and an ambluance were present before making a move.

This was going to be tough...Seiji nodded.

"I promise."

Sono smiled and turned his head to kiss him, a long over due kiss. Seiji kissed back, though very hesitantly. And Sono seemed to pick up on his lovers reluctance as he broke apart, whispering,

"I'll be ok...If I've lasted thing long...I'm sure I can last one more night..."

"That's my worry. You said it yourself. Takeo is unpredictable. What if...what if he kills you before we're ready..."

Sono didn't say anything; he admitted quickly that Seiji had a point. If Takeo did decide to kill him tonight...he wouldn't be able to stall him for long.

And something in his heart was telling him it might be more true than he realised. All day, he was having mini panic attacks, feeling little pains here and there. Almost like his body was getting ready for tonight.

But what hurt most was his right arm. Something in his arm tingled and he couldn't figure out why. He would find himself clutching it every few hours to stop its weird feeling.

There was no time for this. It was time to leave.

Sighing, he looked up at Seiji, who looked back at him with a look of determination. The blond smiled meekly at him.

"Alright...let's go."

Seiji nodded again and followed the blond out the door, locking up and remembered to stay within 10 feet away so as not to draw suspicion. The entire walk was riddled with tension as Seiji went over the plan in his brain.

It was simple. Wait for Yakura and the others to show and then make his move. He could do that. He could definitely do that.

Could he do it...could he really just stand by, knowing that his lover was being beaten to holy hell and back...or what would happen if rape was in the picture again? Dealing with doctors about that was one thing.

He couldn't do that again. Gripping the gun in his pocket, he urged himself to stay calm as he watched Sono look around and walk into an alley. This was it. Now all he had to do was wait. Pressing himself up against the nearest wall, he stuffed his other hand in his pocket, ready to call or text Yakura if he felt they were running behind. He prayed inwardly they remembered the times they set up.

Because this was not the day for any delays.

Sono turned into the alley and stopped upon seeing Takeo sitting there, a cigarette in his mouth and a bloody knife by his leg. The made the blond shudder, trying not to think of who the man might've taken down before tonight.

But Takeo looked at his watch, tilted his head and exhaled some smoke from his lungs before saying,

"You're early...10 minutes early..."

"...I just thought you'd like to start a little earlier this time...more fun for you, I g-guess."

Sono cursed the tone of his voice. He could hear the tremble in his vocal cords and he shivered, trying to collect himself.

It seemed like Takeo didn't catch the tremor. His blue eyes widened as he stood and flung his smoke the other direction, walking towards the blond with a look of interest in his orbs.

Sono remained still, not showing a sign of fear, at least he felt like he wasn't showing any sights. Takeo reached up, the blonds eyes shut tightly, awaiting a strike to the face.

What he got was a tender touch his his cheek, caressing under the bruise he left last time. His eyes shot open at the touch, even more so when he saw the look of adoration in Takeos eyes.

The man smiled a dark smile.

"I'm shocked...what's the occasion?"

"No occasion...just...I...I still..."

Sono stopped talking as Takeo lifted his head and kissed his lips, his thin fingers running through his hair and his other hand drifting into his shirt, gently touching the slight scars from his whipping. All the while, he dove his tongue into the blonds mouth, moaning at the familier taste and moved them so he was pressing them both up against the wall.

Eventually, his hands gripped the blonds hips, trying to move his body closer to him. He moaned once more, feeling better than he had in years.

All the while, Sono was positivley reeling in this. His eyes remained wide open, only closing as Takeo pushed him against the wall and caressed his sides. The sudden change was odd and it frightened him more than when Takeo abused him.

Pretty soon, Takeo broke their kiss and looked at his captive straight in the eye, staring into a pit of confusion and surprise.

Takeo smiled, a sight Sono would never be used to seeing again, as the man pressed a soft kiss to his neck, whispering,

"I promise...I'll make it quick."

"Huh?"

Sono was even more put off by those words, making Takeo look at him and asked again what he meant. The man shut his eyes and reached into his pocket for a second knife, holding it against the blonds head.

Immediately, it became clear and Sonos heart felt like dropping into his stomach once again. This was it. All day, he was feeling weird about seeing Takeo again and now he understood why. His intuition was right.

Takeo was going to kill him. Right here.

His brown eyes were as wide as they could be and he stared at the knife for a few seconds before looking back at Takeo, whose eyes were still closed, as if he were thinking deeply about something serious.

Sono had to stall him as long as he could. Just for now. Mustering up his voice, he whimpered,

"Takeo please...I don't want to die...not now."

"That's really not up to us, is it? Besides, you were begging me to kill you before. What suddenly changed?"

"I...I...I don't know, just please, think about what you're doing. I don't want this..."

"Shhhh, don't be scared. I'll die with you. It's what I've wanted for a long time, babe. And besides, don't you want to see Naoki again?"

A strangled gasp left the blonds mouth and he felt he couldn't look away from the mans face. At last, he opened those blue eyes, staring at him and leaned over to caress his face with his free hand. The touch was cold as ice and it made the blond shiver under his skin before Takeo moved to grab something under his shirt and bringing it to the mans vision.

The gold shimmer shown brightly in Sonos eyes and he couldn't help but feel tears swell. His hand reached up to touch Takeos chest, taking it into his hand and opened the locket, showing the picture he had been seeing a lot of these last few months.

"You...you kept it...after all this time?"

"Why wouldn't I have."

Sono was at a loss for words as he stared at the picture in the locket. It looked as though Takeo had taken such good care of it after all this time. His pale thumb traced over Naokis face before looking at his own, seeing how happy he was back then, even in the midst of the abuse and hell he dealt with at home.

He recalled Naoki and Takeo being his perfect peace, the reason he had to live. They were everything to him then...then it all changed.

Looking back into Takeos eyes, Sono said,

"I don't understand...you said you hated Naoki for what he did to you...and yet you miss him...you said you want me dead for breaking your heart...but you still kept this...why?"

Takeo sighed and released the blond from his hold, backing away from him and clutched the locket in his hand, feeling his friends voice in his heart.

He could hear Naokis voice cursing at him, as he had for many years. The threats, the insults, everything. And he could hear Sonos crying from the funeral as he drove him home, saying that his heart felt crushed with their best friend dead.

Yes...Takeo missed Naoki even though he was the reason he died. He couldn't even understand it himself but even knowing what that boy did to him, took away what was his, he'd still have that memory in his mind.

He looked at Sono, still leaning against the wall, watching his every move. And he smiled. He knew very well why he did all this and knew from the moment he admitted it to himself, he knew that Sono Hanasaki would understand. He knew that he'd come crawling back after explaining himself.

Gripped his knife and extending his arms, as if he were presenting a showcase, Takeo said with a gleefull smile,

"Sono, don't you get it? All this...all the things I did over the years...I did this for him...I did it for you. You missed him so much when he died...and yes, I miss him too. I won't lie...I think having Naoki killed was the biggest mistake I've ever made. But that doesn't excuse anything. He had no right to take you from me, regardless of the situation. But that's the beauty of this...we can all be together again. I'll never forgive what he did...but with you...I can reclaim what was mine. And then everything will be perfect. We'll be together like we used to be. Best friends...me...Naoki...and you...isn't that what you wanted?"

For the first time since seeing Takeo again, Sono was dumbfounded and speechless. He pressed a hand to his heart and found it to be beating quicker than ever. This was...unreal.

The sincerity of Takeos voice...it convinced him to be truth. But why? Why was he beliving all of this? How could he believe all of this?

Shutting his eyes, he tried to block it all out, but all he saw was a memory of the three of them at that park, in their new uniforms, looking happier than they had been. Takeo was so different back then. His face...it was gentle. His pale skin and his long black hair combined in that blue uniform...he looked handsome.

He saw Naoki and his childlike attitude. His tanned skin and unruly brown hair that Sono would love to play with occasionally, it was like he never died.

Then that memory warped into that night in the alley, Sono holding a bleeding Naoki, waiting for the ambulance, his hysteric tears blocking his vision as Naoki had promised him everything would be alright.

The horrific graduation night, Sono could practically feel his busted ankle and scarred back once again from Takeos rage filled attack, just for turning him down and for loving Naoki in his place.

It took him years to accept that Naoki was gone and to a certain extent, Takeo was gone too. He had learned to live past it, live his own life, find love where he could...find hope again.

He met Seiji and thought the past was finally behind him. He could move on. He had that chance to move on...Seiji had poured his heart out to him that night, asking him a powerful question and that was his chance to move on...he couldn't give that up.

Not for Takeo...not for Naoki...never again.

In a fit of anger, Sonos fist clenched and came at Takeo so fast, he didn't expect it. He had punched the pale man so hard, Takeos head hit the wall behind him and he let out a growl of shock. Looking up, the man saw the blond standing there, fist shaking and brown eyes ablaze in hate. Takeos own eyes bore that same hate almost instantly.

"You bitch..."

"Me bitch? That's the best you have, Takeo? I used to think I was the one who was pathetic...the one who always needed someone there for me...and you know what...it wasn't anyone elses fault for it except for my own. My own and yours. You twisted my thoughts, played with my emotions and made me feel like I was nothing!...you...you're an idiot...how could you ever think that I wanted you to do these terrible things? That's not what I want! You know what I want? I want to move on from this! From you! I don't know where you got it in your skull that I wanted all this...but you need to wake up...I have my own life to live and I refuse to let you screw it up!"

Sono was shaking hard at this point, from his fist where he punched Takeos cheek to his legs, having just enough energy to keep him standing. And Takeo, while rubbing his face, was none too pleased with being punched so carelessly.

Reaching behind him, he swiftly pulled out his own gun and shot the blond in his calf, hearing a loud scream and a loud thud as he fell. He smirked and stood back up, walking over to him and kicked his stomach several times, each cry getting more and more choked every second.

A particularly hard kick had Sono suddenly cough up blood, staining his cheek. Takeos brow arched and he moved the blond to his back, straddling his hips and grabbed his right arm, slamming it to the ground and with such inhuman force, ripped off both his jacket sleeve and shirt sleeve. Nearly crushing the mans arm, Takeo pulled out his knife again, looked at the slightly squirming blond and muttered with such venom,

"Don't...move."

From there, Takeo began his work, carving into the blonds arm, ignoring the agonizing screams coming from the body below him. He could feel those long legs kicking under him, but he didn't let it phase him. He instead used this to grip the blonds wrist tighter and quite enjoyed the screams that were coming from the blonds mouth. Eventually, as he worked, he found that the blood got in his way of sight, but Takeo was too focused to care.

His other hand held his wrist tighter, feeling his bones struggling to maintain as he carved deeper into Sonos arm, feeling the skin tremble under his blade.

"This is your fault...this is your fault...I could've made it easy on you...I could have killed us both and we wouldn't have felt any pain...but you...spouting out shit about moving on and loving someone else...he's nothing...they're all nothing...you're mine...you've always been mine...Naoki knew that and he died for touching what belongs to me...now you'll see...they'll all see...no one fucks with me...no one fucks with Mizuno Takeo...not anyone...not Naoki...Especially not you!"

He finished his loud thought by stabbing his already bloody blade into the blonds shoulder, cackling at the anguished scream that ripped from his victims mouth. This was a million times better than he could possibly imagine.

Finally, after taking some deep, collective breaths, he was finished and he sat back up, licking the blood from his blade and smiling.

If Sono was pale before, he was a ghost right about now. His eyes were wide open, tears pouring and he was shaking, unable to move.

There was a pretty good sized stab wound in his right shoulder, oozing blood that stained his shirt. But Takeo's biggest accomplishment was the state of the blonds arm...His right arm, soaked in his own blood, clearly showed a perfect carve of the word 娼婦 (whore).

"I must say...it looks good on you...maybe I should carve that same word right into your head?"

Moving his knife so it was sitting next to his leg, Takeo shifted himself to sit on the mans stomach, chuckling at the cringe on Sonos face.

"C'mon, where's that bravado now, slut?"

He smacked the blonds face, cracking his head to the left, then again to the right. He did this for several minutes, his smile fading and a look of pure rage taking over as Sono was not fighting back.

He ceased his assault and unzipped the mans jacket, ripping his shirt and landed a hard punch right about the blond ribs, causing him to cry out suddenly. He was sure one of his ribs was now cracked, thanks to Takeos insanely strong land.

Takeo then landed another assault on his body with a hard punch, this time right above Sonos heart.

This caused the blond to have a very mild seizure, his brown eyes rolling in the back of his head and a scream ripped from his mouth. Takeo could see the two very large bruises from where he had hit and felt that his game was over.

He gripped Sonos throat with both hands, strangling him and knocking his head against the rocks and ground. Both of the blonds hands came to try and pull him away, but Takeo was nearly crushing his neck. He tried spitting blood into Takeos eye, but that spurred him on more.

"Die you little whore...die already!"

He gripped tighter and Sonos vision was starting to go dark, his body was getting heavy.

When Takeo saw the blond was now losing what little fight he had left, he grabbed his knife and held it just over the bruise above his heart, smiling and saying out loud,

"Say hi to Naoki for me...I'll be there soon..."

-meanwhile-

Seiji couldn't hear anything that was going on in that alley. Just a few hushed words here and there.

He was fidgeting, anxiously waiting for Yakura to show up. He had recently gotten a text that said they were on their way and to not engage Takeo directly, no matter the costs.

But not knowing what was going on in there made him nervous and at the same time grateful no one was walking around this area at night.

Playing with the safety on his gun in his pocket, he was shaking violently, not liking that his lover was doing the hard part by himself. He should've followed him, not caring about the chances of him dying. Why should Sono have to suffer this alone?

A loud angry cry reached his ears and it made him gasp and jump, clicking the safety back on and freeze. That cry was instantly followed by a loud thump to the wall, alongside some angry yelling, some of which Seiji couldn't hear.

But he was right to say he heard Sono yell loud and clear,

"I have my own life to live...not screw it up!"

He didn't catch the rest, but he was proud that Sono was at least the brave one in this. Seiji might be the one carrying a weapon, but if he were in this situation, he probably would've rolled over and died from fear.

His thoughts were cut off by the sound of a gunshot...and Sonos anguished scream.

He shut his eyes tightly, not allowing himself to hear this, forcing himself to not intervene this quickly. His heart was racing and he was trying to stay calm. Sono told him this would happen. He would hear his love get hurt tonight...he had to push through it.

But the screams didn't stop. They got worse. It sounded like the blond was being skinned to death by the way he was scre-

Seiji gasped at that thought and pulled out his phone, typing angerly at Yakura, asking where they were.

In a split second, he heard back...and saw the cars turning the corner of the street, almost ghost like with how silent they were. Yakura and Oishi jumped out of their car in seconds, hinting that it was time to move.

Seiji wasted no time as they moved into the alley, hearing Takeo say something along the lines of

"Say hi to Naoki for me...I'll be joining you soon."

At that moment, Yakura fired his gun, shooting the knife out of Takeos hand and making the man cry out in surprise.

"Hands up, Mizuno! And step away from the man!"

Takeo looked behind him and saw 3 men standing there, all guns pointed at him. He was astounded that he didn't hear them, but the sounds of Sono screaming might've drowned out some of the noises and-

His blue eyes widened madly and his face contorted to rage. This was a set up. And the blond played him like a fool!

Turning his attention to the blond below him, he landed a quick punch to his face, seeing him wince and was about to land another before a gunshot the the arm stopped him, making him fall off the blonds body and move away quickly, clutching his bleeding arm.

Yakura mentioned to the officers to move in and detain him; Takeo didn't pay attention to them. He was focused on something he hadn't expected to see.

He was stuck on a man not in a police uniform, setting his weapon down and getting to his knees, gently taking the blond in his arms, gently rubbing his face, wiping the dirt off and pressed kisses to his forehead. He could see that Sono was struggling to raise his tired arms to hold him, but the man had stopped him and looped one of his arms around his neck, propping him up on his knee.

He saw that the man was giving the blonds most likely aching temples butterfly pecks to try and calm him down and it was all Takeo needed to confirm his thoughts.

This man must've been the man he saw with Sono that night they were on the boat...but that wasn't what astounded him either.

He looked...just like Naoki, from the messy brown hair to his tanned skin. It was like seeing a ghost and for the first time ever, Takeo felt afraid. He backed away and hit the wall behind him, eyes wide as the officers advanced on him.

"Mizuno Takeo, you are under arrest for multiple charges of homicide and attempted murder. You have the right to remain silent and whatever you say will be held against you...I've been waiting a long time for this day, Takeo."

Takeo said nothing, but allowed the officers to hoist him up and put his hands behind his back. He knew he had been fooled, but had no strength to stop them. The blond had played him like a tool...only fitting considering that Takeo had done the same to him.

Just before he was handcuffed, he heard from behind him a frantic voice,

"Sono! Stop!"

He turned suddenly, curious, only to be greeted with a bullet in his thigh, making him drop with a scream. It didn't stop there. Another bullet landed in his hip, slightly grazing him but enough to make small contact.

When he finally looked up, he gasped to see the blond standing there, holding his boyfriends gun with his bloody right hand, the whore kanji visible and a dark look in his brown eyes. Takeo knew that look all too well.

It was a look intent on killing.

Sono shot another bulled into Takeos left shoulder, making him cry out and didn't hesitate to shoot him again in the other shoulder. He had been moving closer with every shot.

By the time he had the gun pressed against his head, Takeo saw very clearly the hurt look that Sono had, telling him that deep down, this was what he had resorted to do.

Takeo smiled and shut his eyes, waiting for the bullet through his brain, only to be greeted with the familiar clicking sound of an empty gun.

Sono pulled the trigger several more times, growing more hysterical as no bullets came out. After the 6th time of failure, he screamed, constantly pulling and Takeo had never seen the blond more out of his element. Tear poured from the blonds eyes, his face red with exhaustion and trauma.

The barrel of the gun touched his forehead once again and Takeo looked up at his former lover, his reason for madness and wanted so badly to knock the gun from his hands, kill all these men and just fuck the blond to death into the dirt. But he found he couldn't move; not with the blond looking so delicious.

After a while, the Naoki lookalike came up behind him and embraced him, making the blond gasp and let out a cry of pain, almost instantly putting up a fight and struggling to be let loose. The man held tightly, his eyes locked onto those frantic brown eyes and helped him slid to his knees, feeling him calm down and let out loud, painfilled gasps. He took this opportunity to touch the gun in his hands and said, as softly as he could,

"No more...no more, Sono, it's alright..."

He spoke while rubbing the blonds waist, trying to coax him into trusting him. He nuzzled his sore neck and whispered,

"Let go of the gun...it's alright."

With trembling hands, Sono allowed himself to let go of the gun, breathing hard, feeling his lungs nearly explode and coughed up blood, tears never stopping. Takeo was blown away by how beautiful he looked right now. His golden hair, his pale skin, caked with his own blood, his own anger, his own sadness and now Takeo smiled to himself. All this and more...the blonds heart would stop soon. He'd be dead by tomorrow and Takeo would die afterwards. Naoki would see them shortly after all.

After a short moment, the officers finally pulled Takeo away to their squad cars as the blond was taken to the ambulance, his boyfriend following suite and turned to lock eyes with the madman accountable. Takeo suddenly felt that fear again and scoffed, turning his head away. Seiji said nothing but attended to the blond man in the bed.

The cars took off in different directions and it was torture. In the squad car, Takeo looked out the window, saw the city lights pass by and he couldn't help but chuckle. This night had certainly not gone as he had planned, but it was starting to shape up better than he thought.

In the ambulance, Seiji held onto Sonos hand as they sped down the roads, never taking his eyes off him. The EMT was fitting him with an oxygen mask, checking his pulse and trying to pull out any shards of bullets. His right arm was still coated in dried blood and Seiji refused to look at the markings Takeo made. He'd have to remind himself to talk to the doctor about covering any scars somehow.

Bringing his loves hand to his mouth, he pressed a kiss to his knuckles, tears beading in his eyes. He heard the EMT talk to the others over the radio about the seriousness of the situation and to get any medical professional on site immediately.

His eyes locked to his lovers beaten face and he whispered to himself,

"Don't go, Sono...please don't leave me. Stay with me..."

"...S...eiji...-kun"

His voice...it was weak and strained, but Seiji heard it clear as day. His eyes widened and he found he was staring into his lovers tired eyes. The grip on his hand tightened and he kept rubbing his knuckles with his thumb. His heart was pounding rapidly and he said through panicked breaths,

"I'm here, love...I'm here. It's alright...you're safe..."

Sono smiled through the mask, unable to do anything else. His vision was starting to tunnel and he shuddered at the sudden chill going through his body. The last several hours shot through his mind like a rocket and he wanted to laugh at himself for shooting Takeo so many times...but he could already feel everything shutting down. He wanted to sleep.

Turning his attention back to his lover, who had such a soft yet iron grip on his horribly injured hand, Sono found he couldn't shut his eyes not. Not until he did something for Seiji and for himself. Something he should have done a while ago.

He weakly opened his mouth to speak, having only croaks of nothing leave. But Seiji was quick to move his head down and encourage him to try and speak again. When Sono did, he managed out,

"...A...s...sk...me"

Seijis own eyes widened more in confusion, his near tears almost blinding him. Lacing his fingers through Sonos own, he said,

"Ask you? Ask you what?"

The blond said nothing at first; Seiji was growing frantic at what Sono was trying to say and he saw his left arm struggling to move. The EMT noticed this in a heartbeat and almost tried to restrain the blonds arm. But Seiji pushed him away, a petrified glare in his eyes as he watched Sono struggle to move his arm, a constant cringe on his face. When he stopped moving, his eyes mentioned for Seiji to look down and when he did, his eyes trailed to see that Sono was pointing at his right ring finger.

A lightbulb went off in the mans head and he reached into his pocket, pulling out the ring, suddenly feeling his heart cracking. If this was what he thought it was, then there would be no telling what Seiji would do after the fact.

A shrill sound broke him out of his trance and one of the EMTs said that Sonos heart rate was dropping fast and to get ready to grab the defibrillator. Seiji looked at the man and he heard him weakly say with a small smile,

"Ask...me...aga...in."

Seiji couldn't help the tears finally leaking from his eyes and he got closer to the man, gripping his hand and gripping the ring in the other, asking with such heart break,

"...Sono-san...will you...marry me?"

The question wasn't something the EMT was not used to hearing, especially in a situation like this, but nevertheless, the one assisiting Sono looked at Seiji with such a surprised look, even more so at the ring itself. He looked at the blond and was dumbfounded to see his eyes open, his arm being lifted by Seiji with such care.

Sonos smile through his mask started to become hard to maintain, but as Seji slipped the ring back on his finger, it was back with full force and he felt his heart throb. He looked at it for a few seconds and layed his hand down, looking Seiji in the eye with a gentle look, the same look he gave after their first fight...the look that Seiji knew meant he loved him...the look that he gave him after Seiji proposed the first time.

He felt horrible for waiting this long and putting Seiji through all this hell...perhaps it was worth it now.

"...yes..."

In a split second, the sound of the heart monitor announced the Sono had flat lined.