Disclaimer: Do not own anything.

~~ A Deathly Accident ~~

~~ 7. September, Late Morning ~~

He still lay there, near the stairs - unable to move, unable to do anything and soaked in cold sweat. He was panting hard, groaning in pain as the ache in his lungs intensified and ripped the air out of him. He groaned stronger, clenched his sweating body together, calling their names impatiently in his mind. He waited for them, believing that they would come, helping and saving him from his brother's filthy hands. Still, there was doubt - doubt which let him shiver in fright. Nobody was around, Seiichi listened to the empty silence, restraining his last bit of strength and waiting for the right time to get in action. He wasn't called a devil or tensai out of nothing. The bluenette had understood his situation, if he didn't do anything by himself right now, he wouldn't get back to his lovers. Never getting out of his brother's grip.

His heart tightened. His lovers… Ryoma. The dark-haired male took one deep breath, forced his upper body up by his hands. He pushed more and more, sweat streamed out of his pores, exhaustion overwhelmed him. Seiichi managed to push himself halfway into a sitting position, only to fall back onto the hard floor. Lying on his left side and looking straight to the gate of Freedom. The bluenette wheezed and hot puff of air escaped his mouth. Without a single sign, his earlier trembling body stopped to shake, his aching legs turned numb, the illness came back with all its symptoms. Seiichi relapsed; he couldn't feel his legs and feet… felt nothing

…couldn't feel anything.

His eyes widened, his mouth hang slightly open, panic crowed over him. He couldn't escape; his only chance to escape his brother, his father or do something about leaving the city had slipped out of his hands. He had no feelings in his feet! The flesh below his waist was numb, as if he didn't exist.

Helpless.

Like a little boy.

The helplessness ate him up, tortured his soul and self-confidence. He had lived through it once, could he make it twice? Could he go through the never ending days and night with no sign of hope anew? Would he survive another surgery? Was there even time and money for another surgery? Did he want another surgery? A door got opened and closed, rushing footsteps echoed in the big hall and a stressed father sprinted across the hall and up the stairs. The old man wore a dark blue suit with a suitable necktie, folder after folder stayed under his arms and hands, while a cigarette stayed in the mouth. The man stopped in track by the sight of his youngest son. A frown between the eye brows, followed by a tired sigh, before he shouted in an annoyed voice.

"Kyoshi! Get your useless brother back to bed! Hurry! I have no time!" The man attempted to step on but the wheezed words let him truly look at his youngest child.

"Run away and let him rape me. It's better if you don't know that your perfect son has raped an innocent girl and also me countless times. Run and give a rapist the position of the head of a company, I don't care." His father knelt down next to him. Tired eyes watched him carefully, then a hand grabbed his sweaty, messy hair and pulled his head up. A throbbing feeling and dizziness floated his head.

"Don't blame your brother for your incompetence. He is trying his best for you and you do nothing other than go against him. You have no right to lie about him, just because your friend is a rapist doesn't mean your brother is one too!" His head got shoved back onto the ground, making everything swim. "I don't have time for such a childish act!" The man stormed away, along the empty corridor and into one of the many doors.

"Syusuke is innocent! Kyoshi blackmailed the victim! Syusuke is innocent!" Seiichi screamed, yelled after the old man, who had disappeared long ago. The next door got opened and his brother went out. Horror filled the younger brother's face, his heart raced faster, his lungs burnt from the lack of air. His weakness cost him to drag himself further away with his hands. Kyoshi's eyes held an intensive glare, anger and hate were reflected in them.

"You shouldn't tell lies, Seiichi." The gross hand pulled him up, constrained him to stand up with his numb and lifeless legs and feet. All his weight landed on his filthy older brother. A hand run along his left shoulder, southwards to his chest, waist and stayed on his butt. One touch was enough to make him feel dirty and disturbed.

"Let me go!" He yelped, struggled with his already weak hands but Kyoshi's grip was far stronger, held him put. Different calls of 'Seiichi', 'Yukimura' and 'buchou' appeared out of nowhere, the front door smashed open and in rushed a horde of teens in yellow and black outfits.

'You're here? All of you?'

His brother was distracted by a mere second, surprised by the herd of noisy guys who came to help their captain.

"Out of the house!" One step forward.

"Kyoshi!" The bluenette yelped, Kyoshi's hands dug into his skin.

"Go away from Seiichi and let's talk." Genichirou suggested, on the other side - not really meaning it. He would rip his lover out there. No more looking away!

"Talk with you? You filthy fag! You dirtied my brother and brought shame on us. Never will I let any of you get near my brother again." The only thing what steadied him, which were Kyoshi's hands, twirled around. Seiichi stumbled forward with his jelly-like legs, stopping only an inch in front of the steps of the stair. Nevertheless, his view stayed on the dark-haired teen with brown eyes. Dark brown eyes watched him, promised him love and respect, heaven and pleasure. Proud filled him, proud to have a lover who cared so deeply for him, who would help him in any situation, no matter what.

'Genichirou, thank you, my lover.'

Genichirou's eyes met Seiichi's, silently comforting each other. The stoic teen showed one of his rare smiles, bring new strength to his boyfriend. "No, you sick and insane bastard! You're the one who fucks my buchou! You belong to hell, you asshole." Kirihara's eyes turned dark red, his hair changed to silver. The devil arrived. Angrier than ever before.

"Shut up! Leave my house, right at the moment! Leave and I won't do anything to you?"

"Anything to us? You want to fight against us, the unstoppable tennis club of Rikkaidai? You truly are insane, puri." Niou said and imitated an actor in a detective movie.

"You..!" Kyoshi didn't came further. He had unconsciously shoved his brother further forward, the younger sibling had slipped at one of the stairs and was already falling down, pulling Kyoshi also down as the older male had a good grip on him. Worried shouts, screams and yells echoed in the main hall. Seiichi yelped and gasped in pain when he hit the end.

~~ 7. September, Early Midday ~~

Eiji jumped ahead, his heart thumped hard in his chest; fresh air hit his face and gave his cold cheeks a nice color of red. He wasn't even near the door from the house, where his lover waited for him, as the wooden door got pulled open and a person rushed outside. Oishi smiled joyfully, a blush on his face as he widened his arms to an embrace. The redhead sprinted forward, ignored the other males around them, and closely dived into the welcoming embrace. The missing warmth surrounded him, the ache in his soul faded slowly away and his heart loosened up from the tight hold. The familiar and missing scent floated warmly in his heart and soul. Complete, he was finally complete. Blood run again through his hurting muscles and veins, his heart thumped lively in his warm chest.

"I love you, Syuichiroh!"

The arms around his waist and shoulder tightened, held him strongly and safe. A chaste kiss on his hair and another, more passionate, kiss followed on his lips. The world was upside down, the butterflies flew in his stomach like the first time. Tears of joy rolled down his flesh, he sobbed in happiness and nodded his head in agreement, after their lips parted, only to join anew.

'I love you, too. I never want to be separated from you again.'

"Hey, you lovebirds! Get yourself a room!" The shyness returned, the honour student Oishi blushed and let go of his reunite boyfriend, still... ...his hand remained in Eiji's, holding it with a trusting and strong grip.

'Our parents abandoned us, but we're not alone. We sill have us.'

The laughers and whistles around them lifted the already good mood. It gave the redhead a slight blush, nevertheless, he grinned in overwhelming so they thought, because never ending happiness didn't exist in this cruel world. Even the jumpy redhead knew that. However, those two had no intention of thinking about the future for now. They were young, in love and hormones made it hard to think clearly. And if anything would happen soon...

'We have still our friends. Friends, who help and understand us. Friends, who we can trust and rely on. '

His throat was sore from all the screaming, his head hurts from the different scents of acid and his body was as hot as burning flames. The tear tracks had never a chance to dry, he couldn't stop crying from the pain. The people had only stopped after he had changed into the animal. The workers yelped in fear and rushed into the farest corner. His skin, which was now dark fur, was marked with burns and scars. He lay in a big puddle of his own blood, fur and skin in the middle of it. The acid had burnt through his sore and numb flesh. The monster used his weak and fragile moment and had slipped out of him, growling and trashing around to loosen the chains. Useless.

"Finally showing your true self? It took you long enough." The disgraceful voice made him sick. His claws sharpened painfully, Ryoma dug them into the hard metal, leaving scratches and shrill noises. He wanted to see blood. He wanted to see her in unbearable loneliness and sorrow and he would make sure she got that! "I'm surprised that you're still able to feel anything. I have tested quite a few products on you and you're still awake." A liquid got poured down on him, it smelled disgusting and made his already bleeding and hurting wounds burnt. Fire - his whole body was on fire, the heat of the blood rushed across his suffering veins. The animal shrieked, growled out loud with the rest of power he had.

"Seems like there was too much of one substance in th-" Ryoma began to twist and struggle again, his mind was clouded by revenge, pain and a yelling voice. He didn't know what he did, he didn't know what he should do. All he wanted was to see this woman and her company dead and destroyed!

The woman's voice said something, nevertheless, he couldn't hear it. It was muffled, his senses faded away, his human self did the same. The raging animal roared in his heart, needed to be free.

'How much more do you want to be useless and helpless?'

Another young man with shaking hands appeared in front of him. He was pale and his eyes widen endlessly. Ryoma recognized this kind of expression. Disbelief, fear, questioning the truth and the feeling of running away, far away from him. His vision was too blurry as to certainly see the person. Dark silhouettes formed a body.

'How long do you intent of being so weak?'

The silhouette of the woman turned to the new human, she yelped at him as the man let the bowl slip out of his hands. A smacking sound, a slap, echoed in the room. The man fisted his hands... in anger? Or was it fright?

'How long do you want to wait? Nobody will come to help you!'

Ryoma couldn't stop it, not anymore. His inner-walls were breaking, his self-control began to crumble. One of the shadows walked out of the room, the newcomer stayed, his trembling hands remained tightly as fists.

'You're alone, can't you see it?'

The stranger made a step forward, talked to him as if he could understand it. His fur was drowned in his own blood, he must have looked miserable and the red liquid sloshed over the edge of the big silver table. The chains hadn't the color of silver or metal, they had turned dark red and fur with flesh sticked onto them.

'You always had been a loner! Accept it! We belong together.'

The young man spoke further to him, and to his surprise, he closed the distance and fumbled with the chains. The person must have been crazy. Did he truly try to free him? The beast would kill him if Ryoma wouldn't gain back the control.

'I can give you freedom and strength. You'll never be scared again. I can give you peace.'

'Peace? That sounds nice. But does something like this exist for me?'

"..." The sound of someone speaking was muffled by the numbness of his ears. The chains loosened up, fell down onto the dirty and messy tiles. The voice continued to speak to him, hoping for any reaction but Ryoma couldn't, he couldn't move any muscle. His nerves had been to overworked, his muslces ached in piercing sensations. After awhile, something fell to the ground, something heavy, before he lost consciousness.

Kaidoh had finished to loosen the chains, stopped in tracks as he thought about how to move his friend in animal form. The teen had reacted before he knew it. His body and heart led him to help this poor creature, be it his little friend and kouhai or a stranger. He was alone and had finally the chance to change something. He wanted to lift the body up but stopped when the woman came inside anew, seeing his action.

"Get away from it!" She slapped him hard and it clicked inside the hissing teen. All the moments of agony raced through him, the picture of the dead puppy in his hands returned and without any thought, Kaoru fisted his right hand and punched her with all he got. God, it felt good. The female shrieked, stumbled backwards. The cigarette fell out of her mouth, and fire spread out immediately as it landed into one of the puddles of toxic. Kaidoh cursed, panicked and twirled around, searched for a place to escape the already growing fire. The animal was still, not moving and not giving away a single sound. Was it too late to save it? Was it too late to save Ryoma? The woman recovered fast, blood ran out of her nose.

"Y-You dare to... do that every again a-" Smoke entered her lungs and she began to cough. A signal for the snake to step in action. The woman slipped onto the ground, nonetheless, the teen ignored it and tried hurriedly to drag the bigger animal with him. With the upper torso onto his back and the upper part sliding along the floor, Kaidoh made his way slowly forward. In mere seconds, his shirt was covered with the animal's red liquid and some last bit of the acids. It truly burnt itself into the skin. Step after step, the exit came closer when workers appeared from the other door, filling the room with fresh air. With one sway of air, the fire grew rapidly, the light smoke changed to heavy, nearly unable to see through.

He huffed by the heavy and big weight on his back, sweat from panic and exhaustion streamed out of every pore. The teen coughed badly, breathed in the air with thick smoke. Kaoru stopped, put the animal down, took his bandana off of his head and covered his mouth with it. The smoke clenched his throat, making it rough to breath. Ryoma whimpered.

"Ryoma? Are you conscious? Can you hear me?" He said when he shoved the animal back onto his backside, dragging them further forward. Step after step echoed in Kaidoh's ears. His heavy heartbeat, his raged breathing, he listened to it all and tried not to think about the fire.

'I can't panic. Sadaharu told me how to handle a fire. Sadaharu told me. I need to thank him the next time I see him and I'm going to see him again!'

They reached the hall with the glassy cage, people ran out of the company as the fire was too big for them to extinguish. Some rushed past these two, other ones shoved them back - hoping they would burn into this hell of company. The smoke wasn't so strong here. Ryoma winced painfully, when the hissing teen lost his balance because of the pushing workers. Both fell down.

"Ryoma!" He coughed and crawled to the animal who had wide golden and lifeless eyes. Voices began to get louder, steps turned into a disaster of panic. Nonetheless, Kaidoh couldn't look elsewhere, only in those sad golden eyes which spoke these cruel and unforgivable words.

'I give up.'

"C'mon, Ryoma! We need to hu-" A hard smack on his head and Kaoru lay flat on his stomach.

"You fucking brat won't take away the monster and result of years of experiments!" The woman had a scissor in her bloody hand, her eyes revealed the insaneness. The animal growled warningly, entirely awake now.

'Take control, I want to see her in unbearable pain but don't hurt my friend. Promise me.'

His self slipped into darkness, leaving the beast its turn. "You dare to growl at me, you beast? Time for punishment!" She lifted the hand with the scissor, ready to stab it in his flesh.

"Ryoma! Where are you?" She inhaled, listened to the words. The hall had emptied, left the three of them alone in the hall, where the glassy cage stood. "Echizen!" Another voice, familiar but unknown. "Ryoma!"

The woman chuckled evilly. "So my dear son came back with some friends. How foolish! I'll take care of you later, first my son needs to learn a lesson!" She said and walked around the two teens. The beast waited, stayed quietly and patiently there.

"RYOMA! KITTEN, WHERE ARE YOU?"

The animal raised his view, stared at the shadows who made their way through the smoke. The woman waited for them, ugly excitement jolted up in her. The shadows approached them, came closer - closer to the sick woman. Just then, the youngest boy noticed something.

'Rinko. She is like Rinko, the scissor in her hands, ready to stab everyone.'

In mere seconds, everything changed. Four people entered the room, Keigo's mother rose her hand anew and...