Dark Days are Here

Restraints

"Aki? Aki? AKI?! Damn it!" Endou snarled and threw the phone. It bounced off the mattress and the screen flashed 'Call Ended' accusingly at him. He threw the blanket off and stumbled off the bed, only to crash face first onto the floor.

"Endou!" Kidou shouted, and in a flash he was beside his friend. But Endou didn't want him to help him up; he wanted Kidou to go help Aki.

"She's in danger, Kidou! Aki's in danger!" he yelled, scrambling against Kidou's grip.

"I KNOW THAT!" Kidous shouted, pulling on Endou's arm.

"THEN WE HAVE TO GO SAVE HER!" Endou roared back. He could feel a headache coming on but he irritably shrugged the goggled boy off, causing Kidou to fall back with a gasp. They glared at each other. Then Kidou growled in frustration and quickly exited the room, leaving Endou sprawled on the floor.

Endou's headache returned with a vengeance and his stomach twisted itself up in knots. But he cannot let this get him down, not when Aki needed his help – he cannot fail her like he did the others. Grunting, he heaved his body towards the door, his bare feet scraping for purchase on the polished floor. As he neared the door frame, Endou heard raised voices and then the slam of a door. He gripped the wood tight and raised his body, grunting with the effort until his feet finally pressed firmly on the ground and he could stand upright. Only to find himself the target of a fuming Haruna.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" the girl shrieked as she practically barreled into the still struggling Endou. She caught him in a vice grip and heaved his body back to the bed with a strength the goalkeeper couldn't believe she had. And all while muttering under her breath about idiot boys and their idiot attempts of running around with their idiot injuries.

"Just stay here, alright," she ordered once she had Endou situated back in the bed. As if to make sure he obeyed, she stood right beside the bed with her arms across her chest, watching him closely. Intense aches raked through Endou's body, and combined with the look on Haruna's face, his desire to protest was squashed. He let himself fall back with a groan, wincing as his ribs reminded him to move more carefully. He let out a frustrated groan, cursing himself for being so stupid. Haruna's face softened.

"It'll be okay, Endou," she said softly. "Kidou's gone to help her, and he's sending word to the others. We aren't alone."

"What do you know," Endou muttered grumpily, but the tension in his body eased just a little as he considered her words. She was right, he wasn't alone and he had never been. Despite Kazemaru and the other's betrayal, his real friends were ready to take on the new threat even with great risk to their own safety. Kidou, Haruna, Touko… Aphrodi.

Suddenly he shot up. Aphrodi doesn't know about danger he was in just for helping Endou! "Dammit! Aphrodi!" he shouted as he pushed the blankets off, and for the second time he was restrained by Haruna. "Let me go!" he snarled at her, and trying to wrench his wrists from her grasp. Haruna held on easily due his still weakened body. "Please, Haruna, I have to help him!"

"Who, Endou? Just tell me and I will tell my brother or Touko to get someone!"

His body went limp as finally what little strength he had gained was exhausted, allowing Haruna to triumphantly (and perhaps too smugly) arrange him back under the covers. His brain now felt like a sponge being wrung out and then thrown about and his escape attempt had only made his bodily aches worse. Haruna became a blue blur and he couldn't focus his mind on any one thing… anyone…

"Endou, who was it that you need to warn?" Haruna's voice echoed in his ears.

"Got – gotta… warn… Aphro–" His eyelids drifted closed in a slow blink.

- Dark Emperors Headquarters –

Aphrodi opened his eyes to darkness. For a panicked moment he thought he was blind, for he could feel his eyes open and blinking but it was pitch black. Suddenly a painful bright light exploded and Aphrodi squeezed his eyes shut with a pained yelp.

"Awake already?" The blonde stiffened and his breath seemed to be caught in his lungs. Slowly he opened his eyes, wincing as bright spots danced around dizzyingly. Then Kazemaru glided into his vision, smiling smugly. "I hope you're feeling better," the teal head said, and if it were not for the wide grin on his face Aphrodi would have thought his concern genuine. But the more concerning matter on his mind, besides the fact he was in the presence of a murderer, was that he was strapped to a large gurney in the presence of a murderer. The leather cuffs chafed his wrists as he tried to rotate his numb hands, and he honestly couldn't feel his feet. The blood was not circulating in his limbs and might not have been for some time.

"Comfortable, Aphrodi? Or would you like me to loosen those for you?" Kazemaru asked solicitously, and it took everything Aphrodi had to fight the urge to hurl abuse at the creep. He figured pissing his captor off would not do him any favors. Instead, he inhaled deeply and exhaled softly, attempting to calm himself down and ignore Kazemaru. The other boy was not deterred. "Hmmm? Not feeling talkative today? That's fine, 'cause I've got a lot of things I want to say. But pitch in whenever you feel like." The teal haired menace only got a death glare for his effort.

"I know what you did!" Aphrodi ground out.

"Ah, you do talk," Kazemaru grinned and one teal eyebrow rose up in amusement. "And what is it you think I have done?"

Aphrodi snarled, "You killed the Raimon soccer team! You tried to kill Endou! You're a murderer!"

The blonde felt a surge of satisfaction at the wide-eyed look of horror on the other's face. But the feeling was replaced with confusion as tears sprang to Kazemaru's eyes.

"What?! How can you say such things?" Kazemaru asked, sounding wounded. "I – I love Endou, I would never hurt him! And my friends… how could I do such a horrible thing to them?!" He sounded so genuine that Aphrodi almost apologized. But then he remembered their encounter at the stadium, and it had been Kazemaru's face he saw when he was kidnapped. His resolve hardened. The person in front of him is a monster and he was trying to play him.

"How can I believe you when you got me strapped down like this?" he challenged, wriggling his numb fingers.

"How can I be sure that you won't attack me? After all you've been through, it would only be understandable if you were very angry with me," Kazemaru explained. Aphrodi blinked, confused. Right now, Kazemaru talked and behaved absolutely normal. Where were the crazy eyes and the creepy atmosphere?

"But – but at the stadium –?"

"I came to speak with you, that's all," Kazemaru shrugged. "It doesn't matter now. We have bigger things to worry about now."

Aphrodi's eyes narrowed. "Why'd you kidnap me then?" he asked.

Kazemaru gave a long hard look, and eventually said, "I wanted to ask you to join us."

Sorry this has taken so long since the last chapter. I had a totally different scene for this chapter that I had been spending weeks on and then this scenario popped into my head and begged to be written. And then I began working on chapter 15 because I wanted to give you, the faithful, double chapters.