"Earlier when I stepped outside for a minute. I noticed a certain annoying bastard talking with Fushimi. I knew he had been eyeing the kid for a while, and Fushimi seemed to be pretty intrigued by him… So when they started walking off, I followed them." Mikoto kept his gaze off to the side while he spoke in his usual low tone. He paused for a moment, only to take a drag from the cigarette in his hand. As he parted his lips, a cloud of smoke formed in the air while Mikoto tilted his head back so that he was looking at the ceiling. After a few more minutes of silence, the red head quietly continued telling his second in command what had happened earlier that evening.

"When I found them, they were standing in that apartment Yata and Fushimi were sharing. They were talking and when I stepped in the room, they both stopped and looked at me. Fushimi looked a bit on the concerned side but Munakata kept his normal facial expression. I knew what was happening before anything was said to me so I told that kid the decision was ultimately his. He could stay in HOMRA or go with Scepter 4… He may not have said anything, but I saw him take a very slight step toward Munakata and that was all I needed. After seeing that, I left and I'm guessing that's when his stuff got packed and moved to Scepter 4 and...well obviously you know how the rest went down." Mikoto's voice remained on the low side as he brought his head up to lay his gaze on the boy still sleeping on the couch across from him.

"So that's what happened… I guess I should have seen that coming though. I knew the Blue King had his eyes on Fushimi for some time now...ever since he accompanied me to that meeting. I remember hearing him saying something about wanting a hidden weapons user but for it to come down to this…" Izumo sighed quietly and shook his head a bit while bringing his own gaze to their resting clansman. "Maybe letting him go back to that apartment isn't the best idea. It would probably be too much for him to handle and I don't want him to do anything stupid…"

"I agree but where the hell are we gonna put him?" Mikoto asked while taking another puff from the cigarette between his fingers. As he exhaled the smoke, he rose to his feet and walked over to look out one of the front windows. It was still raining lightly, but the majority of the storm had finally passed. If Mikoto had to guess...it was probably close to four in the morning now. All their other members had retreated to either their homes or the rooms they had at the bar, leaving just Mikoto, Izumo, and Misaki in the main room. It was probably getting late enough that the two of them should turn in as well, but they had to figure out what to do with Misaki before they could do that. Leaving him in the main area didn't seem like the best idea and taking him back home was out of the question right now. He knew he had told Misaki they could put him somewhere if he didn't want to go home but...he hadn't fully thought that through.

"There's one more room upstairs. I can clean it out tomorrow and we can put him up there. It's going to be better than sending him home without anyone to watch him. If he has any more panic attacks, someone's going to need to be there in order to help him through it… As for tonight though, do you think you can put him on the couch downstairs? It would be better than leaving him here for the others to see him in the morning." Izumo spoke softly as he got himself to his feet in order to join Mikoto by the window.

"Yeah, I can do that for him...at least for tonight anyways." Normally the only one Mikoto would allow downstairs was Anna, and that was because her room was down there while Izumo and Totsuka slept upstairs. It seemed that no matter where Mikoto would go, Anna was always right beside him and he didn't mind her company. She was quiet, and a good kid, one they were all determined to keep safe and protect. Sighing softly, the Red King made his way back to the couch where Misaki was still sleeping and stared down at him for a moment with his hands tucked away in his pockets. There was no telling how this incident would affect their vanguard in the long run...nor any guarantee he would fully recover from it but there was a small chance.

"Mikoto…" Izumo suddenly called out, earning a questioning look from his best friend. "I'll come down in the morning to check his fever and see if it's gone down. If it hasn't...we'll probably need to either go see a doctor or send one of the guys to the pharmacy to get some medicine. We don't want him getting any worse so just...make sure he's covered up pretty well."

"I know, I know…" Mikoto rolled his eyes a bit before pulling his hands from his pockets so he could lean down and scoop the sleeping ginger up in his arms. Upon lifting him up, the red head took notice of just how light their vanguard was. Normally it was Rikio who would carry him around. This was actually the first for Mikoto...just how small was this kid? It was like he was just barely heavier than Anna was. "Damn...does this kid even eat? He's nearly as light as Anna…"

"He does but he's also really active, at least normally he is, so he doesn't weigh that much. Also keep in mind, he's still just a little kid. I'm sure he'll grow some more." Izumo let out a small chuckle and shook head a bit while he walked over to the door that led downstairs to the area where Mikoto stayed. As he pulled it open, he glanced back over his shoulder toward his friend, motioning for him to follow. It was pretty obvious that Mikoto wasn't used to carrying someone around like he was. The guy was actually holding Misaki a bit more awkwardly than Izumo would have liked but...at least the kid was managing to stay asleep.

"If he has another panic attack I'm comin' and wakin' your ass up, I hope you realize that…" Mikoto mumbled softly just as he passed Izumo, who only let out a small chuckle.

"You seemed to handle it just fine earlier." Izumo noted, only to earn a bit of a glare from the red head. How scary.

"I did not handle it that well and you know it. I actually had to watch myself so I didn't end up snapping his arm in half when I grabbed it." Mikoto huffed toward the blond and rolled his eyes a bit. He was way too tired and irritated to deal with anymore of this. After letting out one more little huff, Mikoto made his way downstairs without another word while Izumo closed the door behind him.

As the red head made his way down the stairs as carefully as possible, his tired looking eyes once again shifted to the sleeping boy in his arms. The poor kid looked exhausted and definitely didn't look like he was feeling so well. His cheeks were a bit on the red side and small sweat droplets were starting to form on his forehead and cheeks. He really must have had a small fever...but that wasn't much of a surprise considering he had been out in the rain for an extended period of time. Surely there could have been a better way to do this… Mikoto still didn't know what exactly happened between Misaki and Saruhiko, and he was certain he wouldn't be getting any answers any time soon. It seemed that if the ginger even thought about that kid...he would just start breaking down. It had to have been pretty horrible if it had affected Misaki like this.

Shaking his head slightly, he finally reached the bottom of the stairs and made his way over to the leather sofa that was placed in the center of the room. The lower part of the bar wasn't much but it at least had enough space to make a sitting room and it had two attached rooms that were made into bedrooms for Mikoto and Anna. There was also a small coffee table in front of the couch that held an ashtray and a couple of empty glasses that Mikoto should probably return to the bar before Izumo scolded him for it, but he could deal with that later. Aside from that, the main area was pretty bare but it was more than enough for Mikoto. He was a pretty simple man after all, not really needing much as far as decorations went. As long as he had the bare minimum to be comfortable, then that was all he cared about.

With Misaki now lying quietly on the couch, Mikoto went off to his room in order to retrieve a spare blanket and pillow for the other so he would be a bit more comfortable. Once he returned, the red head carefully lifted up the ginger's head and slid the pillow underneath him, then draped the blanket over his smaller body. Surely that would keep him warm enough, especially since Mikoto kept the downstairs rather warm on a daily basis. Now he just wanted to get at least a few hours of sleep before his recurring nightmare would disturb him from his slumber.

"S-Saru...why…?" A soft voice suddenly spoke as Mikoto had started to walk away. Stopping in his tracks, the Red King glanced over his shoulder toward the couch where he had just placed Misaki moments ago. Sure enough, it had been him who spoke, but he hadn't woken up...meaning it had to be another dream. As his eyes trailed up to the sleeping boy's face, he noticed that Misaki's cheeks were looking to be on the wet side. The kid must have been crying again…

"Saru...please don't go…" Misaki's voice came again, this time sounding a bit more broken than before. Dammit, Mikoto really didn't know what to do in this situation. He really just wanted to go to bed, and that's what he should have done but instead he found himself walking back to the couch and carefully shifting Misaki enough to allow himself to take a seat beside the other. Once seated, Mikoto allowed the broken boy to use his leg as a pillow while he leaned back against the couch. Luckily he could pass out nearly anywhere, so sleeping like this for a few hours wouldn't kill him. Normally that particular spot was only for Anna but...Mikoto decided that he could make an exception, at least this once.

Eventually Misaki's sleep talking faded away and the boy went back to sleeping quietly, which allowed Mikoto to finally shut his eyes in order to try and get some kind of rest before he had to wake back up again. He already knew this was going to be a difficult road for Misaki to overcome...especially after that rather sudden panic attack earlier, but he at least had HOMRA to help him get through this difficult time. They were all like a family after all...and that's what family did. They looked out for each other, even in difficult times like this.

Early morning came all too soon… In the dorms of Scepter 4, a certain boy found himself lying awake with his cold, blue eyes staring at the ceiling of the room he had moved into the previous night. It was quiet...and a bit on the plain side, but it wasn't too out of the ordinary for Saruhiko. If anything, it was similar to a room he once stayed in before ever joining HOMRA...a room in a house he would much rather forget about. At least in this room...he could somewhat relax and be alone with his thoughts. There weren't any loud noises to interrupt his thinking...in fact the only sound was the light rain that was hitting against the window next to his bed. It was a cloudy morning...probably no later than 7AM. Why was he awake this early? Surely he didn't have to be up for another couple of hours, yet here he was staring at the ceiling with a blank expression on his face.

Just last night...his life changed. He made a decision to say goodbye to HOMRA...and to say goodbye to the boy he once called his best friend. As those events replayed in his head, Saruhiko found himself bringing one of his hands up to the spot on his chest that once held his HOMRA insignia...the spot that was now burned out by his own hand. It was still a bit on the tender side, but he should have expected that much. He had quite literally burned his skin just to make a point to Misaki, one that he made sure to get across. The look on his ex-best friend's face...that angry look, it had been exactly what he was looking for. Now any time the two of them crossed paths, Misaki would look only at him with that burning anger in those hazel colored eyes of his. It was the outcome he had been wanting to see...but if that were the cause, why was he feeling a tugging at his chest? Why did it hurt whenever he thought back to what he said right before burning his insignia...why did it hurt hearing Misaki calling out to him as he walked away, leaving the ginger standing there in the rain? Surely he wasn't feeling guilty for doing such a thing. He had nothing to feel guilty for. Misaki had brought this on himself and this was the outcome.

Clicking his tongue lightly, Saruhiko forced himself to sit up in his bed. He then reached over and took his phone off the nightstand. To his surprise, he had no unread messages from Misaki like he had expected to have. Instead, there were zero messages just like there used to be in the past. As he thought about it...Saruhiko decided that there was still one last thing he had to do, one last thing to fully erase the friendship he and Miskai once had. It was something he didn't necessarily want to do, but it needed to be done in order to avoid any kind of temptation to contact Misaki in the future. However, once he had Misaki's contact information pulled up, Saruhiko found himself hesitating for a moment. His thumb was hovering over the delete button, but his eyes were locked on the photo he had saved for the other. It was the two of them from back when they had first joined HOMRA. Misaki had his usual bright smile on his face and an arm draped over Saruhiko's shoulder...and even the raven had the smallest smile on his face in that picture. Smiling was so rare for him but around Misaki...it was nearly impossible not to do such a thing. That kid...he had such a bright personality, one that could easily light up a room though he was also rather loud and obnoxious so that alone was enough to turn a lot of people away from him...but for some reason Saruhiko had managed to tolerate the loud ginger...and now his life was going to be forever quiet.

"It was going to come to this eventually…" Saruhiko mumbled softly while keeping his eyes fixed on the contact he was about to remove. Misaki's number was so easy...so even if it was gone from his phone, he would probably remember it forever even if he didn't want to. He would just have to force himself to forget about it...forget about everything they had been through and everything they used to be. It all sounded so easy but when it came right down to it...it was actually rather difficult, even seemed nearly impossible. Misaki's smiling face...that bright smile and those sparkling eyes that had once always looked at him in amazement...the very thing he now looked at HOMRA's lazy ass king very thought of that caused the raven to clench his jaw tightly. Dammit...this was completely ridiculous. What's done was done and there was no going back to what they used to be. Saruhiko had to accept that now, no matter how difficult it may have been.

"You'll hate me forever, Misaki...you'll always look at me with pure hatred in your eyes, seeing me as the bad guy, the one who betrayed you and your precious clan...when in reality, you betrayed me first...left me behind, and started looking at those other idiots more than you would look at me…" By now, Saruhiko was just talking quietly to himself with his thumb still hovering in the same spot it had been. It shouldn't have taken him so long to hit that damn button. It wasn't like it was rocket science or anything. One little tap and it would all be over, then he could lay back down until someone came to get him.

After what felt like hours, Saruhiko finally let out a sigh and pressed the button to remove Misaki's contact information. Once it was completely removed from his phone, a soft sigh slid past the raven's pale lips as he sat his phone back on the nightstand, only to flop back down on his pillows. Just as his eyes started to close again, a soft knock came at the door of his dorm room, causing him to let out a quiet little groan. He should have known it wouldn't have been much longer before someone came and disturbed him. Maybe if he ignored whoever was on the other side of the door, they would just go away and leave him in peace. Just then, a second knock came...apparently he wasn't going to be left alone so he forced himself out of bed and made his way over to the door. Unfortunately for him, he had yet to put his glasses on which caused him to nearly trip right as he got to the door. Dammit...why had he not put those on yet? How the hell had he even seen what he was doing on his phone a few moments ago? Wait...there was no time to think about that...not when someone was knocking for a third fucking time.

"Dammit, just give me a minute!" Saruhiko suddenly shouted out just as he threw the door open, only to find that he was now face to face with none other than Reisi Munakata...the Blue King and Captain of Scepter 4. "Oh...it's you…" He mumbled while rubbing the back of his head. That was probably not the best first impression but...there was no taking it back now.

"My apologies, Fushimi-kun. I did not plan on getting you up so early but I'm afraid we must go ahead and start with your training. Reports of Strains have been coming in left and right and frankly the others are running around and we could use the extra help." Reisi spoke in a rather calm tone while adjusting the glasses a bit.

"Ehem...no um...my apologies for my sudden outburst." Saruhiko responded, only to shift his gaze off to the side. So they were going to start him off right away? Well at least he wouldn't be too bored and left alone with his thoughts. "Tsk...just let me get dressed and I'll be right out."

"Very well, and again I apologize for waking you up so early. I'm sure you're still exhausted from yesterday, but we appreciate your assistance." The Blue King then gave his newest clansmen a kind smile and turned to walk back down the hallway, leaving Saruhiko alone once again. The moment Reisi was gone, the raven closed the door to his room once again and turned so he could get dressed in order to start whatever work he was going to have to do. As he got himself slowly dressed, he thought back to what he had done just moments ago. Had it been a bit too much? Maybe that wasn't something he absolutely had to do, but he wasn't going to undo it now. It was pointless to do such a thing and pointless to think about it any longer.

Once he was dressed in his uniform, Saruhiko slid his thick glasses over his eyes and grabbed his phone off of the bedside table. After tucking it away in his pocket, the raven retrieved his sword from its spot by the door and exited his room to go meet up with Reisi and the rest of Scepter 4.

"Has he woken up at all?" Izumo's voice called out as he made his way down the stairs, only to find his best friend sitting on the couch with Misaki using his leg as a pillow. If he were to be honest, this wasn't what he expected to find. He expected Mikoto to be in his room, not on the couch with their sick clansman but maybe it was better that way in case the ginger woke up and panicked.

"No…" Mikoto mumbled tiredly. He hadn't really slept much throughout the entire time he had been sitting on the couch. Every time he tried to pass out, he would hear Misaki sniffling softly and it would wake him back up. "He's been crying a lot in his sleep and he started coughing about an hour ago… I think his fever has gotten worse too."

"Has it?" The blond asked while quietly making his way over to where the two were on the couch. Sure enough, Misaki was looking worse than he had a few hours ago. His face seemed to be a darker shade of red and he looked as if he were panting softly. He definitely needed to see a doctor if this got worse, but for now he decided he would send Akagi and Bandou out to get some medicine from the store. "He does look like he's gotten worse… When I go upstairs, I'll have Akagi and Bandou go get him some medicine, then I'll start working on getting that room cleaned out for him.

"Until then, I'll just stay down here with him and make sure no one bothers him. It will just be me and Anna down here…" Mikoto kept his voice low as he brought a hand down to run his fingers through Misaki's messy hair. The touch had the ginger shifting slightly, but he still had yet to wake up. If anything, it was probably a good thing because he definitely needed the rest after last night. "Once they get back, bring down whatever they get for him and I'll make sure he takes it."

"Understood. I'll even make something light for him to eat when he wakes up. Maybe he'll finally be able to tell us what happened last night, but I won't force him to talk about it." Izumo sighed softly and took his own turn to ruffle Misaki's hair. "Take care of him."

Mikoto only let out a grunt in response and Izumo made his exit to go back upstairs. Once it was just the two of them again, the Red King looked down at Misaki and sighed softly. It had been a long couple of hours of the ginger sniffling and coughing during the time he had been sleeping. Not only that but he had been constantly mumbling to himself as well and it was to the point that Mikoto really didn't know what to do.

"M-Mikoto…?"

Hello everyone! Sorry chapter three took so long to get posted but this angsty story is really taking me some time to get updates going! Especially when it comes to writing the parts with Saru. I struggle to write him very badly sometimes *hugging Saru plushy* ...but I'm very proud of this chapter and I'm very glad I finally got it done! I'll do my best to update again as soon as possible! Thank you so much for your patience and I will see you next time! Byeee!

~~Rai-Chan