A faint dizziness and some far away conversation were the first things his abused mind noticed the moment Aoba came back to his senses. That kind of dizziness, set in a tight knot in the pitch of his stomach and going up his throat, slowly but firmly, he could recognise: it was the feeling he always associated with riding a car, poorly used as he was to vehicles, as a perk of having spent almost all of his life in Midorijima. With the realisation that he was indeed in a car, all of the events of the evening came back to him all of a sudden, and the fleeting hope that the voices would belong to Noiz and granny vanished at once.

"Hey, I think he's awake".

That was Trip's voice. Of course, Aoba thought with a grimace. Then, with a start, he thought of Sei and Noiz. Had them escaped safe and sound from Platinum Jail? He managed to open his eyes, but it was dark and he wasn't able to see anything at first. His tongue had turned into a piece of sandpaper and he could feel the bitter taste of sickness reaching the back of his throat. He groaned, still searching around in the darkness.

Then there was a manly chuckle, and someone turned towards him from the front seat, entering his vision field. It was Virus, no surprise there.

"Welcome back, Aoba-San. Would you like some water? Chloroform derivatives tend to leave the mouth terribly dry, you know?"

A plastic bottle was pressed against Aoba's hand, and he took it blindly. When he raised it to his mouth was when he noticed the ties on his wrists.

Virus chuckled again, amused.

"I'm sorry, Aoba-san, but we must ensure you follow us in a well behaved way… Drink your water, please. But don't think of using your voice against us again."

That caught Aoba by surprise, and froze with the plastic bottle already touching his lips. Virus smirked naughtily, enjoying immensely the situation.

"Yes, Aoba-san… Remember we have been by Sei-san's side for years; we surely know more about how Scrap works than yourself. And we have been watching you since we met you, we can notice all the different movements of your throat, so we will know beforehand if you try something."

"Then…" Aoba whispered in a raspy voice, "last night…"

"Ah, well, last night you caught us off guard, so we were partially affected". Virus shrugged like it was nothing. "Perhaps we exaggerated the effect, just a bit, eh, Trip?" His mate grunted, focussed on driving, although Aoba couldn't make their surroundings at all. "But don't worry: we are keeping our word. We promised that we would help you free Sei-san, and that's exactly what we have done. Your little boyfriend and Sei-san escaped from the Oval Tower and Platinum Jail without a problem. Trip and I just thought about adding a little something for us in exchange, a reward you could say. After all, Trip and I have worked hard since we were kids, haven't we?"

"Oh, yes", Trip hummed.

"See? We have done a lot for Toue-san, we have taken care of Sei-san besides of our regular work, and we have even helped you, Aoba-san, with your little problem of getting too carried away in Rhyme… So we felt we deserved a long vacation and a compensation for all our hard work. Hence, we have done as you asked from us, but decided to exchange one brother for the other." Aoba widened his eyes in horror at those words. Virus offered him an almost sweet smile. "Don't worry, we are not going to bring you to Toue-san; we are doing this only for ourselves. Now relax, please, we have a long journey in front of us. Come back to sleep, if you can."

And he turned ahead again, leaving Aoba confused and terrified.

Once both his captors seemed focused on the road, Aoba let his eyes wander around. His vision was getting used to the dim light, and now he could make out his surroundings much better than some minutes ago, when he awoke. The upholstery was made of leather, in a rich burgundy, cool and soft to the touch. The rear windows were tinted black, so he could only have a glimpse of passing city lights and barely more. But, even though he couldn't recognize the streets they were crossing, he was sure now that they were heading towards the small island's airport. Locals and tourists usually came and went by boat, but everybody was aware of the existence of Toue's private airport, which he lent sometimes to his most exclusive guests. Aoba guessed that, being "in the inner circle" as they claimed, Virus and Trip had managed to achieve access to one of Toue's airplanes.

When he was about to despair, Aoba suddenly noticed something furry on the floor, next to his feet, and his heart leaped in joy. Ren! It was Ren! His mind ran through all the functions of the allmate, some of them vitally important right then. If only he could reach Ren and activate him...

Keeping an eye on Virus, he started to lean sideways onto the leather seat, trying to low his tied hands enough to reach his allmate. As soon as he touched his fur, he gripped him and pulled him up onto his lap, hiding him more or less under his forearms and hands when Virus turned a suspicious eye to him. He wouldn't be able to see much of Aoba in the semi darkness of the car at night, but he had obviously heard the rustling of clothes.

"Stop struggling, Aoba-san; I can assure you your ties are neatly done and won't give in. I have done them myself. Try to sleep again, I pray."

And he turned towards the road again. Good, Aoba thought. He slipped his hand against the furry belly of his allmate, looking blindly for Ren's mechanism. He opened the lid and pressed what he was ninety per cent sure that was the 'on' button.

"Warf! Warf!"

The dry barks surprised the three of them. Even the always stoic Trip turned to look in disbelief at the small barking dog.

Ren. Aoba was speechless, watching the tiny form of this allmate, who currently acted and sounded as... an allmate. Ren?

"Oh, for God's sake, Aoba-san! Here, I'll take your robot dog. We have been kind enough to leave your mascot with you to keep you company, don't make me dump it on the kerb now! I'll give it back to you when we arrive to our destination. Now behave!"

Aoba was too shocked to react at Ren being taken from him. Virus' words danced in his mind for a moment. His robot dog. That's what it was right now, that wasn't Ren at all. Ren wouldn't even be able to pretend being like that; if he was there, inside the allmate, he would have kept silence to help Aoba, perhaps. But barking? He hadn't heard him bark, never, not once.

If he was there. Aoba's mind ran back to what Sei had said, perhaps an hour or two before. He said the three of them would be back to share his body, Ren too. But where was Ren? He couldn't sense the other Aoba, either. Had they retired somewhere safe without him? Precisely then, when he needed them the most?

Aoba had never felt this lonely. He was so used to have Ren always by his side, loyal and reliable; and then Noiz arrived, lovely Noiz with his kindness and his understanding and all his love... Even the other Aoba's presence had become welcomed and friendly, despite his peevishness. He knew he could always count with Tae and his other friends, but those three were different, and Sei had clarified him why: Ren and the other Aoba were himself, and well, Noiz was Noiz, he was his heart and the one he would always follow. The fact that he couldn't reach any of them was filling him with despair.

Calm down, he thought, and try to focus. What did Sei say? He didn't say Ren and my other self were going to share my body; he said the three of us would be one again. One... mind? The three of us are now inside my mind? That was what he understood in that moment, in that place inside of Sei's mind, but right then he was so desperate to hear Ren and the other Aoba that a part of him refused to believe it. It simply couldn't be. He needed them outside, wherever it was, but in a place where he could talk to them and ask them what to do. But if Sei's deed had worked, as it seemed given that Ren apparently wasn't inside the allmate's body any more... Then...

It means I am now the three of us?, he thought, with a hint of panic. I am Ren, the other Aoba and myself?

He realised he was so tense that he was digging his nails in the palm of his hands, and opened his fists before they bled. He sighed, as silently as he could, and closed his eyes, trying to make the car and Virus and Trip vanish from his mind. He needed to focus and think.

He wasn't good at thinking. No, that wasn't true: a part of him wasn't good at thinking, but now he had three parts, right? Ren was the most resourceful of the three, so what would Ren do in that circumstance?

He would use his allmate circuits to access Noiz or Tae, for example. But he was now inside of Aoba's body, so he didn't have access to a GPS; that gadget was in his mechanical body, the one he didn't own any more... If he couldn't use his body, he still had his mind.

Snippets of conversation came back to Aoba all of a sudden. "He is Usui, and Usui is him". "Usui is my counterpart." "He is my eyes and my ears in the outside world." Could that mean that Usui was to Sei like Ren was to Aoba? A part of Sei's consciousness? And, perhaps, also an allmate, given that Usui was used as a part of Rhyme. It was all a conjecture, but the possibility was there.

A ray of hope arose in Aoba's heart. Because if a part of Sei shared that kind of connection with the outside world, then it was possible to Ren to communicate with him. After all, Ren's consciousness was still partly a fleeting presence, someone who wasn't completely Aoba but also not an allmate any more, so they could use that feature of Ren to reach Usui, and through him Sei.

Keeping his eyes closed, Aoba concentrated as hard as he could. He focused on the car, and tried to fix an image into his mind: an airport. He concentrated until he felt so mentally exhausted that he thought he was going to throw up (again, that damned car sickness wasn't helping). After a long while, he felt his five senses fading little by little until he fainted.

It was a shout what awakened him that time.

He raised his head, startled, and noticed a trickle of saliva wetting his chin. He wiped it as well as he could against his shoulder, while the racket outside the car grew louder. Trip cursed loudly and started the car again; Aoba hadn't realised they had stopped. Trip started to turn the car back, but he suddenly came to a screeching halt, and Virus opened his door. Aoba recognised some of the voices outside, astonished. He would swear he had heard Koujaku!

Virus opened the door by Aoba's side and grabbed his tied wrists, trying to pull him out.

"Aoba!"

Noiz! That's Noiz! He opened his mouth to call him aloud, but Virus covered his mouth with his big hand. Aoba trashed and kicked at seeing himself being dragged across the concrete of an empty parking lot. He sank his heels firmly on the ground until Virus cursed, unable to move him any further. Trip suddenly arrived to their side, shooting a gun against their pursuers, he saw Virus struggling to keep on dragging Aoba and, without a word, passed the gun to his mate and reached for Aoba's legs. The young man was suddenly falling onwards and left breathless due to a punch to his gut, and before his body touched the ground two powerful arms had lifted him into the air and onto Trip's shoulder, where he was thrown like a potato sack. Black with rage, Aoba used his linked hands as a hammer against Trip's nape and managed to slither down until he could ground a good kick, aimed to Trip's family jewels. He succeeded partly; the bigger guy didn't drop him, as he wished, but at least he had to slow down a bit, cursing and trying to readjust his load.

"Noiz!", he took the chance to yell, "I'm here!"

"Virus, he should leave him", Trip said to his partner, his voice as calm as ever. "He's slowing us down and we might get caught."

"What are you saying?" Virus grunted. "The plane is just there. Once we are inside, there's no way they can stop us. Move faster!"

Without a complain, Trip started to jog. Aoba saw some hangars ahead of them, their obvious destination. He couldn't see Virus, but the shots and shouts kept reaching his ears.

A wide red door was kicked open, and Aoba saw himself inside a medium-sized hangar, with a small plane, not bigger than a van, parked there. There was a man in a blue uniform already jumping down the pilot door and opening the passengers one. He didn't seem surprised at all at the sight of Aoba being carried upside down or the gun currently in Trip's hand.

"Hurry up, they are on our heels!" Trip shouted.

The man nodded and left the ship's door opened, coming back to his place at once. He must be starting up the plane, Aoba thought, horrified. Once I'm inside, everything is lost!

Virus ran to bar the door they had entered, and then to the other side of the hangar to open the huge door facing the airstrips. Meanwhile, Trip approached the plane with Aoba on his shoulder. He waited until they reached the plane door to wriggle and aim a kick to Trip's jaw. This time he succeeded: Trip staggered backwards, with clumsy movements not unlike the ones of a drunk, and Aoba didn't miss a bit and started running towards the door.

Virus cried out at his back, and he knew Trip would react in barely a moment, but Aoba needed to reach the door and unbolt it; it was just a moment, he most surely had that moment…

Someone pulled him by his pony tail, making him gasp in pain and surprise, and dragged him back until he fell on his ass on the hand and dusty concrete floor.

"Nice try, Aoba". Trip voice's was a bit shaky, that was something.

But he was again held down, no matter how hard he struggled and tried to kick. Another punch to his temple made his vision go blurry and his ears ring, and he felt the metallic tang of blood inside his mouth.

A loud bump against the red door echoed on the almost empty hangar.

"Noiz! I'm here!", he managed to yell before another punch on his stomach made him groan, breathless.

"What are you doing!" Virus shouted, enraged. It was the first time Aoba heard him having lost his cool demeanour. "Put him inside the ship, now!"

"They are surrounding us, Virus… Let's go, leave him."

"There's no way I'm leaving without Aoba-san, so you better hurry up!"

Trip pulled Aoba by under his armpits, while Virus held his legs down and together to stop his further kicking. He felt completely impotent, and the motor of the plane was roaring deafeningly, ready to depart.

All of a sudden, a group of young men appeared at the other side of the hangar, blocking the airstrip door. Aoba couldn't recognize any of the faces, but two of them were holding guns and the rest had baseball bats and sticks.

"Aoba!"

Koujaku! Aoba had no idea of how his childhood friend had arrived there, but he couldn't be gladder of seeing him.

The bunch of men yelled and threw themselves on top of Virus and Trip, who dropped Aoba and tried to counterattack their opponents. But then another group of young men appeared at the door, and it was a larger number now, so in the end the two kidnappers shared a pointed glance and ran inside the plane, closing the door in a snap, almost crushing some fingers in the deed. Aoba recognised some of the guys now: they were Ruff Rabbit members, or acquaintances from the Black Needle. So it meant that…

Suddenly there were two strong hands around his torso and he was pulled on his feet again, and his dizzy head registered Koujaku's face in front of him, watching him with a grave expression.

"Aoba…", his friend muttered. "You look so battered…"

"I'm alright", he managed to reply, not very convincingly.

The pilot was trying to pass the plane through the bunch of people hanging from the plane doors and wings and blocking the exit, but in the end he just stopped the motor and went out his door with his hands up. Aoba barely registered all of this, too focused on the two people who were trying to enter the hangar through the small crowd.

"Noiz! Mizuki!" he shouted, relieved.

He ran towards them and bumped against Noiz' chest, leaving the boy breathless and almost making him fall backwards. By his side, Mizuki chuckled and ruffled his hair. He hid his face on Noiz' neck, sniffing his boyfriend's familiar scent, and felt how Noiz embraced him tightly.

"You are alright…", the boy whispered on his ear.

"I wouldn't say 'alright', he's kinda messy", Mizuki objected.

"I don't mind, he's alright", Noiz said. "He will be fine, won't you, Aoba?"

He nodded against Noiz' neck, not wanting to get a single inch apart from him.

"I thought I had lost you again…"

Noiz' voice was cracked, and Aoba felt like crying. He closed his eyes tightly.

"I promised it wouldn't happen", he muttered in a tiny voice. "I will never leave you."

And all the sounds around them vanished from his focus; they weren't important. The plane vanished, and Virus and Trip and the group of people who were shouting them to give up. All that mattered were his friends, Koujaku and Mizuki and especially Noiz. He still didn't know how they had managed to find him, but the explanations could wait for later. At that very moment, he was too busy being glad for being safe; he, and his brother Sei as well.