Asami didn't say anything as he lay there with Takaba, waiting for the boy to calm down, being a comforting person wasn't something that Asami was used to, and for the most part he was rather certain that he wasn't doing that much to help Takaba feel better and the other lay there crying into his shirt.

Asami hadn't really ever dealt with a lot of others in this kind of position that ended up crying on him, most of them just tended to bottle up their feelings and not ever show them until he wasn't around or they'd end up changing those feelings into anger and lash out at him until they understood that he wasn't there to hurt them. The way that Takaba was acting wasn't something that Asami was all that used to having to deal with, so since he really didn't know what to do about the whole situation he just lay there waiting for the other to stop crying.

Takaba could feel his tears as they started to slow down, almost coming to full a stop, of course they decided to stop after his head was already a miserable throbbing mess, and his eyes were red and hurting.

Despite the fact that he had stopped crying, except for the occasional sniffle here and there he wasn't all that ready to pull away from Asami yet, he found that the other's scent was rather comforting to him, for what reason he wasn't certain he just knew that he didn't want to leave the comfort yet. In a way Asami's scent was very familiar to him, as though he had smelled it somewhere before he had even met the older man, the familiarity of the smell helped Takaba to relax some and forget about his current position, about the fact that there was a chance that he could end up getting sold again, that there was a chance that Asami might also decided to abandon him.

Of course his comfort was short lived when Asami suddenly pulled away form him because his cell phone started ringing. Takaba lifted his head to look questioningly at Asami as he sat up, glancing at the boy as he pulled the cell phone out of his pocket. Looking to see who was calling Asami looked at Takaba once more before holding up a finger and getting off the bed, seeming to intent on leaving the room to take this call. Of course Takaba wasn't all that thrilled with the idea of Asami taking a call without him being able to hear who he was talking with since he still had to worry about being sold by the older man.

Though Takaba was starting to have conflicting feelings about his concern, Asami was starting to ask more about him, seeming actually interested to know what happened to him before the two of the met. Takaba understood though that this also could have had something to do with the fact that Asami didn't want anyone coming to look for Takaba and end up getting him caught out if it turned out that he really was involved in human trafficking, but on the opposite side of that, Asami could really be starting to care for Takaba. Just because Asami was starting to take a larger interest in Takaba didn't exactly mean that it was a bad thing for the boy.

Takaba sighed as he rolled himself into his back and snuggled himself into the sheets; these weren't really the type of things that he needed to be thinking about with his head already aching as bad as it was. Takaba glanced at the door from his position under the sheets, he really wanted Asami to come back soon because the length of the phone call was starting to bother him, what if he was wrong about his thinking with Asami?

Asami finally did come back into the room a few moments later, this time though when Takaba looked at him he seemed a little more distant and composed then he had seemed when they were laying the bed together. The two of them started at each other for a short time before Asami turned away so that he could change his tear soaked shirt. Takaba watched the other through half lidded his as he considered how he should approach speaking to Asami. Before he even got the chance to say anything though Asami was already speaking.

"You still haven't eaten yet?" it took Takaba few seconds to respond to this question because coming out of Asami's mouth it sounded more like a statement.

"I'm not all that hungry." Takaba replied as he glanced over at the uneaten food, then back to Asami who was still staring at him.

"Well, you're going to eat something before we end up getting much further in all of this." Asami told Takaba who wasn't at all pleased to hear this. His stomach was still uneasy over what had just happened and he doubted that eating anything would help it to feel better. Takaba glanced over to Asami when he felt the weight on the bed. Asami was sitting at the bottom of the bed staring at Takaba with a very fixed look. "Either I can sit here and wait while you eat, or you can choose to eat later and I can get onto other things." The situation felt rather unfair to Takaba, he didn't really want to eat all that much, but if he wanted to find out more about what was going to happen to him with Asami then that meant that he was going to have to eat like it or not.

"I'll try to eat." Takaba finally conceded with a sigh, it was easy to tell that Asami was pleased with this response by the way that he nodded his head while watching the other sit up before shifting over to the nightstand and staring at the tray food. Takaba wouldn't deny the fact that the food looked good, that biggest problem for him was with the fact that he couldn't eat all that well under stress, and revisiting some emotions that he hadn't exposed for a while had ended up causing him a fair amount of stress. Dealing with Asami watching his every move wasn't helping all that much either, it made him feel rather self-conscious about what he was doing.

Takaba did manage to force himself to eat though, even if he had to do so rather slowly. Asami was rather patient with him though and just sat there watching him while he ate.

Once Takaba was finished eating he didn't feel at that much better, but he was able to take the painkillers and he knew for a fact that those would help his head.

"You worry about me selling you?" Asami's words caused Takaba to look over at him; Takaba wasn't all that certain what expression he was going to see on the other's face, the blank unreadable one that was currently on Asami's face wasn't exactly what Takaba was expecting to see. Rather then trying to find the words to respond to the others' question Takaba just nodded his head, beginning to feel rather wary of Asami again.

"Do you mostly worry about that because of what you saw in my office, or is it because of what Feilong did to you?" Takaba was starting to feel that uncomfortable knot in his stomach starting to tighten again.

"It's-…. It's partly because of that and a mixture of other things." Takaba finally replied, not longer being able to look at Asami. "I don't know if I can trust you, I don't really have anything to hold onto anymore" Takaba said the last part of his sentence in a rather low tone, though Asami was still able to hear what he said.

"Come with me then." Asami told Takaba as he stood up from the bottom of the bed. Takaba hesitated at first but then decided that it would be better to see whatever it was that Asami wanted to show him.

Takaba was rather slow in his way of following after Asami, feeling rather nervous as to what it was that the other was going to be showing to him. The silence between the two of them wasn't making things any easier for Takaba as he stared at the other's broad back as Asami walked ahead of him. Being out of Asami's room was actually causing Takaba to feel rather nervous, he wasn't exactly all that certain what was causing it but the hair on the back of his neck was standing on end.

By the time that the two of the them had gone through the kitchen it was rather obvious to Takaba that Asami was leading him towards his office, unlike before Takaba felt rather wary of entering Asami's office, to the point that he actually stopped when they reached it. Him stopping caused Asami to glance back at him, just by looking at the boy Asami could tell that he was feeling wary about entering the office again. Asami didn't say anything as he stared at Takaba for a few seconds before entering his office to get whatever it was that he wanted to show the boy.

As soon as Asami entered the office Takaba's eyes darted over to the front door, he honestly knew that if he really wanted to there was more then likely nothing stopping him from being able to leave the condo, somehow though the thought of leaving caused a heavy chill to go down Takaba's back. So instead of focusing on the door any longer he pulled his eyes off of it and returned to looking at the Asami's office as he waited for the older man to once again appear, Takaba was really hoping that whatever it was that Asami was going to show him wasn't going to be anything particularly bad.

When Asami finally did come back out of his office he was holding a rather thick looking folder under his arm as he closed the door before turning to look at Takaba who was staring at him rather intently, curious to know what was going to happen next.

Rather then saying anything Asami motioned for Takaba to follow after him, of course the boy did so without questioning, still concerned over what it was that Asami was going to show him.

Asami lead Takaba back into the kitchen where he set the folder on the table before motioning Takaba to take a seat across from him as he also sat down before opening a folder and taking a stack of the papers from the inside out and setting them on the table.

Takaba watched intently as Asami spread the papers out before him, he couldn't see most of the papers very well as Asami set the down, but those which he could see looked rather familiar to him.

"What do you see here?" Asami questioned as he shifted the papers so that Takaba could get a better look at them, though the moment that Takaba was able to get a good look at them he instantly froze, for they were the same papers that he had been looking at in Asami's office the day that he had runaway.

"I see names and numbers." Takaba replied, being able to slightly regain himself under Asami's calm and observing gaze. Asami looked at the paper himself after that Takaba had said, as though making sure what the boy had said was correct.

"There are two names on this paper, what do you think they represent." Takaba stared back down at the papers in front of him, as though trying to find the right way to answer that question, his natural response was to say that the top name was the name of someone who was being sold while the bottom one was the name of the buyer, but if he was in correct he didn't want to end up upsetting Asami by saying such a thing.

"I'm guessing that something was sold between them." Takaba finally replied, glancing up at Asami to see the expression on the other's face, though it didn't help him much since it was still blank.

"And by saying that, I take it that you believe the number is the price?" Takaba nodded his head in response to what Asami was saying. "Does that mean that you think I'm the one who's responsible for these transactions?" Takaba tried his hardest to hold Asami's gaze as he thought over the other's question, Asami would've had to have been the one who was in charge of them since he was holding onto the papers, right?

"IT would only make sense to me that you're the one who's in charge of the deals considering you have the papers here." Takaba finally replied, turning his gaze away from Asami and back onto the papers, by saying what he said though, it was basically no different then calling Asami a human trafficker to his mind.

Asami was rather quiet as he studied the boy, not feeling very surprised by the way that the other was answering his questions though it was very obvious that he was attempting to weigh everything that he said very carefully. Asami's eyes went away from the boy to look down at the papers in front of him, human trafficking in his mind was a rather complicated thing, not something that should've been motioned so easily or that well known about, but the way that Takaba brought it up made Asami think that the boy was very familiar with the whole situation.

"Tell me Takaba," Asami started out his sentence slowly, making sure to grab the boy's attention before he continued speaking, he wanted to make sure that Takaba really understood what he was about to ask the boy. "Do you really understand what it means to be a human trafficker?" Takaba seemed rather surprised by this question.

"I don't quite think I know what it means to be one or what it means to be involved with it. I just understand the basic fact that it's something that tends to go on under the table, something that is illegal to be doing but those who do it don't tend to care about that. I also understand that most people who are put in those kind of positions aren't there because they want to be, but rather because others force them to be there, or they end up having to give themselves up to those type of places to make some more money." Asami seemed to be right with the fact that the boy knew a little more then he should've.

"Then you should also understand the fact that the system cracks down rather hard on the kind of people who are involved in that business, am I correct to believe that you understand that point clearly?" Takaba nodded his head, really seeming to understand what it was that Asami was saying to him.

"My father, he was a police officer, I'm a little better informed about these kind of things then other kids my age happen to be. Don't think that you have to tread softly around me just because I might not know as much about some things as you do." Asami actually smirked when Takaba gave him this bit of information, but it wasn't just because of this, it also had to do with the look that the boy was giving Asami when he said this.

"By that then you should also be able to easily understand that it would be stupid for me to leave proof of such deals going around, don't you agree? Don't you think that I'd be taking a heavy risk by leaving something so important and dangerous out in the open? Do you think that I'd be stupid enough to do such a thing?" Takaba seemed rather taken aback by what Asami was saying, for he hadn't really though of things like that before, the fact that Asami really could get himself into some serious trouble for leaving such things out in the open in his office. Takaba had just figured at the time that Asami felt it was safe to leave them there since he had a lock and key to the office, but that didn't stop someone from at any point in time in breaking into his office and checking them out.

"I hadn't really thought all that much about it." Takaba finally had to concede though he didn't seem at that pleased about having to admit such a thing.

"Then does that mean that you'd also believe me if I were to tell that you I actually havin nothing whatsoever to do with the business of human trafficking, or about the fact that you weren't actually sold to me like that?"

"Not sold to you?" Takaba questioned back, seeming rather confused about what Asami was saying. "I don't think I quite-" Takaba started to say before Asami cut him off.

"You were most certainly sold to me according to Feilong, but that wasn't the way that you were actually sold to me." Asami explained, seeming to only confuse Takaba even more with his words. "Rather I should say that you were given up to me because I paid a certain sum for you, even if Feilong though that he was just selling you to me, that wasn't exactly what was happening."

"Then what about these here?" Takaba questioned, seeming even more confused then before as he pointed down at the documents in front of him, seeming as though he wasn't quite willing to believe what exactly it was that Asami was telling to him.

"Those are people who've been sent to me because they're in the same kind of position as you. I'm the person who's there to help kids, who are in positions like yours, you could think of me more as a foster home or a counselor. That it is at least until another place is found for them. The papers in front as you will notice have quite a few same names as the person who's the buyer, that's because they're the different names of the places that the kids I end up with get taken to, I have to have verification that I've done what my job is to do, as far as the sum of money that it is written on the page, that sum of money if the money that I donate to the places these kids go to, in order to make sure that they're well taken care of." Takaba's mouth was gaping as he tried to take in the information that he was just told, not really seeming to believe what exactly it was that Asami was trying to tell him.

"Then that means I'm not really?" Takaba was trying to find the right words to finish his sentence but they weren't coming to him as he stared at Asami with wide eyes.

"That's correct, you don't technically belong to me as it were, as I told you before you still basically hold your own freedom though I'd prefer if you chose to stay here where it would be much easier for me to keep an eye on you. If you did end up deciding to leave, then that would just mean that you don't agree to my help and would prefer to handle your situation on your own. As long as you do intend on staying here though it would work in your best interest if you would allow for me to help you to adjust to thing again, in other words allowing me to help you get over everything that just happened so you'll be used to leaving the way that you have again, even if you chose not to go to a family." Everything that Asami was telling to Takaba helped him to understand his position better, it also took off the heavy bolder that felt as though it had been resting on his chest for quite some time, he knew that by the way that Asami was looking at him that the relief was evident on his face but he didn't really care all that much about that.

"Why didn't you just tell me that from the start?" Asami was expecting the hurt to take over with the boy, but not as soon as this.

"Because it would've been rather bad for me to tell you that right away, you'd have more then likely done what you did after what you saw in my office, you'd have left without giving staying here a chance and also when it would still be rather dangerous from you to be going out on your own without having to worry about Feilong." Asami replied, though his words didn't seem to sooth Takaba's anger any. "There is also a few other reason why I didn't tell you that right away."

"Reasons such as?" Takaba questioned as he put his arms over his chest, giving Asami a very pointed look as he waited for the other to reply to his question. Takaba at first didn't think that Asami was going to answer his questions as he started rooting through his papers again, as though he was in the middle of looking for something that was rather important.

"The biggest reason being that you're too much like him." Asami replied as he set down a document in front of the boy, a document that actually caused Takaba to reel when he looked at it.

"Feilong?" Takaba questioned as he looked at the clam and reserved boy that was staring at him in the picture.

KyouyaxCloud: Asami will most certainly take care of him, kind of….

: Thank you so much for the good review^^ I have to say that that is somewhere around the amount of times that I read your stories over^^

xXxRizYxXx: I do agree it is said what happened to Aki's parents, but it's all a necessary part of the plot.