"Any idea what happened to him, Rikio?" A man with short blond hair and dark shades asked as he looked toward the slim blond who had called them. Currently the two of them, along with a couple other members of HOMRA, were all standing in the main area of the HOMRA bar. It had been closer than Misaki's apartment so it allowed them to get the smaller ginger out of the rain a lot quicker. Once they had gotten their unconscious clansman back inside the bar, he had been placed on one of the black leather sofas and covered with a couple of blankets brought from the room upstairs.

"No idea, Mr. Kusanagi. When I found him, he was on his knees in the rain and he couldn't even talk to me. Heck, he didn't even want to look at me. Right when I called you, he started to break down again and that's when he fell unconscious." Rikio replied from his seat at one of the tables. The man who had questioned him was Izumo Kusanagi, HOMRA's second in command and the owner of the bar they used as their base of operations. He was also one of their King's oldest friends and one of the founding members of HOMRA, along with Tatara.

"Well, it doesn't seem like the boy is going to be waking up anytime soon… His body temperature is still really low and there's a possibility that he may have gotten a fever. There's no telling how long he was out there…" Izumo let out a bit of a sigh as he walked behind the bar, only to lean himself on it a bit. "What's more...Fushimi wasn't with him this time." Though Izumo had a slight feeling he knew exactly where that boy had gone, believing it however, was a bit more difficult.

"Is the kid alive?" A deep, lazy sounding voice asked, causing the others to turn their heads in the direction it came from. Standing in front of a doorway that led to a set of stairs was none other than the Red King himself. His amber colored eyes shifted from each of the members that were currently standing in the bar, only for them to come to a stop on the one member who was still asleep. Sighing softly, he ran a hand through his wild looking red hair and slowly made his way over to the couch. The only sound that could be heard was the soft thumb of his boots against the wooden floor as he walked. While the others may have still been in the dark about what had happened, Mikoto Suoh was fully aware. He had been to Misaki's apartment when Saruhiko and the Blue King were there. In the end, he had ultimately said that it was Saruhiko's decision on which clan he wanted to join and when he had seen the kid take that tiny step toward the Blue King, Mikoto had left.

"Of course he is, Mikoto. He's not going to drop dead from being out in the rain for too long. He's stronger than that." Izumo put on a small smile as his hazel colored eyes watched their King looking down upon one of their youngest members. Showing emotions wasn' something Mikoto did, but Izumo could tell that his old friend was concerned about their comrade. At that moment, they were all pretty concerned. "Is Anna asleep?"

"Yeah. Made sure of that before I came up here. Didn't want her seeing him in this state… She doesn't need to worry that much." Mikoto let out a small sigh as he lowered himself onto the sofa across from the one Misaki was laying on. Reaching into his dark colored jeans, the red head pulled out a pack of cigarettes and pulled one out to place between his lips. Just as he had been about to use his aura to light it, he heard a metallic click, followed by the smell of burning nicotine. Shifting his gaze to the side, he noticed that Izumo had moved and lit the cigarette for him. He probably should have seen that one coming.

"A smart move. We don't need to worry her." Izumo spoke softly and Mikoto only nodded in agreement as he placed his head on the back of the couch.

"We still don't know why Yata-chan was out there in the rain like that. He passed out before I could even ask him anything." Rikio sighed quietly. He was pretty distressed about not knowing what had led his friend to fall into a state like this. There were still way too many unanswered questions.

"Give it time, Rikio. Also, don't start questioning him right when he wakes up either. That will just add to whatever stress he could be feeling." Izumo's gaze had shifted toward the blond sitting in the chair. His voice may have been relatively calm, but behind his dark glasses, his eyes were giving the other a very serious look. There was no telling how long Misaki was going to be unconscious, so they were all just going to have to be patient and wait it out. Though that was easier said than done.

"And you'll hate me forever…"

Those damn words...why did they keep echoing in his mind? He wanted to forget they had ever been said, but it was like he was trapped in some kind of nightmare that kept constantly repeating them. Each time those words were heard, the sound of screaming and crying followed them, but who was screaming?

"Saruhiko! Don't just walk away from me!"

It was his own voice, but it fell upon deaf ears. The very person he was screaming for continued to fade into the distance, leaving him standing there with so many mixed emotions he couldn't even think straight. Why? Why was this happening? Why wasn't Saruhiko stopping? How could he have just walked away so easily after everything they had been through together? There were too many questions and not nearly enough answers.

"Saruhiko! Please! Please come back! ...please…"

"Yata...Yata! Snap out of it, kid!"

There was a different voice calling out to him now, one that wasn't the voice he wanted to hear. He knew that voice...but he couldn't put the name on it just yet. It definitely wasn't Mikoto's voice...and it wasn't Tatara or Rikio either… It had to be…

"Yata! You have to snap out of it! It's only a dream!"

The voice called out again, followed by a warm hand that had been placed on his shoulder. The touch had been enough to finally jerk Misaki from whatever horrible nightmare he had been having, causing his hazel colored eyes to fly open. As his gaze came into focus, he found himself staring at a familiar looking ceiling, one that didn't belong to his apartment, but to a certain bar he knew all too well. Gasping softly, Misaki bolted up from the couch he had been laying on, regretting it almost instantly. The second he was up, his head started to pound and the room started to spin. Luckily he was still sitting down, otherwise he probably would have collapsed on the floor. Grasping his head tightly, another hand came down on his other shoulder and pushed him back so that he was once again laying on his back.

"You can't be sitting up like that, you idiot. You have a damn fever. Stay put and just try to breathe."

Finally, Misaki's eyes were able to find the person who had been talking to him. Sitting off to the side was a man dressed in a white button up shirt and a red ascot around his neck. So that's exactly who had been calling out to him...Mr. Kusanagi, the owner of the bar. Behind his dark glasses, his eyes were showing a bit of concern for the boy who had just been talking...actually screaming in his sleep. The kid had broken out into a sweat and seemed to be panting pretty hard. He was definitely going to need some kind of medical attention, but first Izumo needed him to calm down. Shaking his head slightly, the bartender removed his hands from Misaki's shoulders and reached off to the side to grab a towel to place on the other's damp forehead. Hearing the smaller boy groan softly, he then got himself up and made his way back behind the bar for a short moment, only to return with a glass of water and a couple of painkillers.

"Have you calmed down a little bit now?" Izumo asked once he had sat himself back down beside the other. He made sure to keep his voice more on the lower side. Everyone else had gone home a long time ago, leaving just himself, Misaki, and Mikoto in the bar, along with Anna but she was asleep and Mikoto had stepped outside for a moment.

"Y-yeah…" Misaki had tried to speak normally, but when his words came out, they were just barely above a whisper. His throat was burning like crazy, probably from all the screaming and crying earlier, along with the sudden outburst he had very little memory of. "What...what am I…?"

"What are you doing at the bar?" Izumo asked, only for the ginger to nod his head slightly. If he moved around too much, his head would just start aching again. "Rikio found you out in the rain a few hours ago and called us right as you passed out. We brought you back here because it was closer than your apartment. Your body temperature was way too low...any longer and there's a chance we could have lost you, kid."

Misaki went silent for a moment. Just how long had he been out there in the rain? Last time he looked at the time, it was 8:45 in the evening...and now he wasn't sure what time it was. His head was continuing to throb, causing thinking to be on the difficult side. Not only that, but it seemed that he had caused the others to worry about him, which didn't make him feel any better. If anything, it only made everything worse. Letting out a small sigh, Misaki slowly rolled onto his side, tucking one arm under his head in order to use it as a pillow, while the other one was clenched into a fist. Once again, the events from earlier in the evening flashed through his mind, causing him to close his eyes tightly. He so badly wanted to forget, but everything kept coming back to him. Everything Saruhiko had said and done before walking away, leaving him out in the rain with so many unanswered questions. The main thing he wanted to know was…

'Why…?'

Why had Saruhiko betrayed them? Why did he say all those things and do that horrible thing to the insignia on his chest? Was he really that ungrateful for Mikoto and the rest of HOMRA taking them in and giving them the power they possessed? Not only that but...what about their partnership? It was supposed to be the two of them against the world, and then they became a part of something bigger. HOMRA was like a family, someone who took them in and accepted them...and he just threw it all away. The only other time he remembered feeling this way...was when his father left, and his mother remarried. Out of that marriage came his younger brother and sister, the start of a new family Misaki never felt that he fit into. That was the whole reason he had left home in the first place. He didn't need to protect his mother anymore because she had her new husband to look after her and the two little ones. He wasn't needed there anymore, and Saruhiko's situation at home had been even worse than his own. Dealing with a psychotic father, and a mother who was never home… After meeting Niki Fushimi, Misaki insisted that Saruhiko move in with him, that way he wouldn't have to go back to that hellhole and now...Saruhiko was gone.

"Yata." Izumo suddenly called out to the ginger, causing him to look up with an exhausted expression on his face.

"Sorry...I'm not trying to seem ungrateful for you guys helping me… I just can't think straight." Misaki replied in the same quiet tone as before. His voice actually sounded more empty and his eyes looked more on the dull side. This kid in front of him...it wasn't the Yata HOMRA knew. This was a different side of him, one he was probably embarrassed to be showing considering how headstrong and confident he normally was, not to mention reckless. As Izumo started to speak again the door to the bar opened, earning the second in command's attention. Standing in the doorway was their leader himself. He wore his usual unamused expression and had a cigarette between his lips. His hands were in his pockets as he started to make his way over to the two.

"So he's finally awake…" Mikoto mumbled lowly as he sat himself down on the couch across from Yata and Izumo. "Kid, you got any idea what time it is?"

"Mikoto…" Izumo held his hand up to try and get the Red King to stop talking, but he was brushed off. Mikoto's amber colored eyes were locked on the ginger lying on his side, but his expression was rather unreadable. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

"Relax. I'm not pissed at him." Mikoto huffed lightly as he removed the cigarette from his lips, only to hold it between two of his fingers. "It's nearly three in the damn morning. Kamamoto found you around ten… Meaning you were out there for a long ass time. We knew you were reckless, but none of us thought you would literally sit out in the rain like that."

"A-around ten!?" Misaki asked a bit louder than intended. The sudden sound of his loud voice caused his head to throb once more, earning a bit of a groan out of him. If that was true...he had technically been out there since 8:30...because he spent fifteen minutes waiting for a certain someone to show up. He was out there way longer than he thought he was...no wonder he was feeling like shit. Well...that and all the crying he had done, but that didn't need to be mentioned...besides, he had a feeling they already knew.

"Calm down. There's no need to get all worked up." Mikoto sighed a bit as he leaned against the back of the couch, only to tilt his head back so that he was looking at the ceiling. "You're still sick, so you need to take it easy for a couple days… If you don't feel like going home, I'm sure we can find a place to put you…" He said that last part just as he looked up again. He was definitely concerned...but he also already knew everything that had happened. There wasn't exactly any way to fix it either, so he decided against saying too much.

That's right...Misaki still had to go home and face the facts that it was just going to be him in that apartment now… Saruhiko's stuff wouldn't be there...it would just be him, and only him. Maybe that's how it was supposed to be. Everything always seemed to slip away from him...his family, so-called friends...and now his best friend was gone… Did that mean it was only a matter of time before he lost HOMRA too? The very thought of that caused his chest to tighten up and suddenly he found that he couldn't breathe. He couldn't bare the thought of losing anyone in their clan...he couldn't…

"Izumo-" Mikoto must have noticed, and Izumo didn't waste any time reacting. The blond stood himself up quickly and moved Misaki into a sitting position. The smaller boy was shaking violently, and he had a terrified look in his eyes as he brought his hands up to his messed up hair. He grasped onto it so tightly that his knuckles turned white, and once again, tears started forming in his eyes.

"He's having a panic attack…" Izumo spoke lightly while gently rubbing the ginger's back. "There's no telling what's going on in his head right now…"

"Yeah well he's about to rip out his damn hair if he keeps holding it like that…" Mikoto let out a soft little growl as he put his cigarette out, only to lean himself forward so he could grasp Misaki's smaller wrists. In that second, the Red King realized he actually had to be careful...otherwise he'd probably snap this kid's arm in half. "Yata, let go of your damn hair…"

Even if he wanted to let go, Misaki found that he couldn't. His body was starting to lock up on him as a numb feeling ran throughout his arms and down to his hands. He was still shaking violently and now he was starting to panic even more because he could hardly move. What the hell was happening to him!? He needed to calm down but he couldn't no matter how hard he tried.

"M-Mikoto...Mr. Kusanagi…" The ginger could barely get any words out before everything suddenly went blurry and he found himself being swallowed into darkness. The moment he blacked out, his hands finally released from his hair, and his shaking had nearly stopped. It took both Izumo and Mikoto to keep the kid from falling off the couch and onto the floor. Once they got him safely lying back down, both of them let out a sigh and exchanged glances.

"This is worse than I thought it would be…" Mikoto let out an irritated sigh and leaned himself back on the couch again. "He's messed up...but then again, who could blame him?"

"So you do know what happened?" Izumo asked, lifting a brow in slight curiosity as he got himself up and started to make his way back behind the bar.

"Yeah. I know." Mikoto kept his response short and simple, but he had a feeling Izumo was going to want the rest of the information. It probably couldn't hurt. If he knew the entire situation, he could relay the message and they could try and figure out a way to help the kid out.

"Mikoto…" Izumo started to speak but went silent when his best friend lifted a hand to silence him.

"Relax. I'm gonna tell you what happened, then you can tell the others." Mikoto lowered his tone as he responded, but was also digging around in his pockets for his cigarettes again. Once he had them and placed one between his lips, he motioned for his best friend to come over so he could get this story over with.

"It started like this…"

Hey beans! Chapter Two is finally done! Sorry if the updates for this one are a little on the slow side (kinda like everything else-). Angst takes me some time to write because I have to be in a certain mood to get it going, and I want it to be done right. Anyways, Misaki's separation anxiety had started to reveal itself, poor baby... I hate that I've done this to him-...but he has Mikoto, Izumo, and everyone else in HOMRA to support and look after him! He's in good hands! Saru-come back though... Anyways, thank you so much for reading and I'll do my best to update again as soon as possible! See you next time!

~~Rai-Chan