A/N: This chapter was so hard to write...and I can't believe it's finally done. I'm still not satisfied with it and I could ramble on about everything I dislike about it, but to tell you the truth this fic has been hanging over my head for too long now and I would like nothing more than to finish it and move on. So without further ado...the last chapter before the epilogue.

Daisuke hesitated before he opened the front door to his home. The inside was unnaturally dark and it took a while for Daisuke's eyes to adjust. He vaguely remembered the house always being this dark and guessed that his absence from it had changed the way his eyes received the house light after walking through the door. He kept his ears peeled for any sign of movement from within the dark recesses of the house. He looked at the clock when he entered the kitchen. It was nearing five o' clock in the morning. Ken would be in bed by then.

He crept to Ken's - their - room and carefully opened the door. He saw that his boyfriend lay on the bed, facing the wall, dark hair strewn over the pillow and covering the back of his neck, though exposing the bare shoulder sticking out from under the blankets. Daisuke drank in the sight of Ken resting peacefully. He always loved to see Ken sleeping because his eyes were closed and he couldn't see the mad glint in them, and Ken wasn't doing anything to harm anyone. He slipped his hand into his pocket and drew out the gun, walking to his bedside and slipping it underneath the pillow, pressing the pillow down so it didn't look like it was lifted up any more than usual.

Daisuke crawled into bed and slowly pulled the blankets over himself. He edged closer to Ken until he could feel his body pressing lightly against Ken's. He reached an arm up to reach around Ken and slide down his chest and, since Ken was a light sleeper, felt Ken jerk forward abruptly, turning around and staring at him.

Daisuke watched as Ken stared at him and slowly reached a hand up to touch his cheek.

"You're real," Ken observed softly.

Daisuke sighed softly and nodded, leaning into the caress.

"Where have you been?" Ken asked worriedly.

Daisuke took a deep breath and readied himself for the response to his confession. He couldn't hold it back from Ken any longer; he simply had to tell his boyfriend everything.

"I went to Yamato's house and stayed there for a while...and last night, I sort of...slept with him. But I don't love him, I only love you. I don't know why I had sex with him, I must have been going insane without you by that time, but all that matters is I'm here with you now, right?"

Daisuke braced himself as he waited for a few agonizing seconds for his confession to sink in. He savored the silence and at first thought Ken was going to forgive him and forget it ever happened. He reached up to touch Ken and show him he loved only him, but a sharp pain that knocked his head to the side and made his eyes shut hard stopped him. Daisuke turned to stare at Ken, his eyes filling with hurt as he touched his throbbing cheek. Ken narrowed his eyes, not looking at all sorry that he'd just slapped Daisuke with the flat of his palm.

"How dare you leave me here, for God knows how long, all fucking alone and just waiting for you to come home from wherever the hell it was you went off to?! I was so worried, I thought something horrible had happened to you! Now you come back and touch me while I'm asleep like nothing fucking happened and everything's honky-fucking-dory, and it's NOT! You're touching me with the fingers that touched some other guy a few hours ago, and you expect me to just forgive you? I warned you about him, but you didn't listen, insisting he didn't want to take you away from me, but he did. He stole you and used you and gave you back still used, and I will NOT touch anything that has been used in such a disgusting way."

Daisuke stared hard at the sheets he was gripping in his fists, biting his lip to keep back the hot tears threatening to spill. He absolutely hated to be yelled at by Ken. He couldn't stand the thought of Ken being angry with him. His cheek stilled throbbed dully.

"I...I'm sorry."

"Sorry?! You're sorry?!" Ken laughed, and it sounded choked, and when Daisuke looked up he could see Ken was holding tears back as well. His heart ached horribly at the hurt, betrayed look in his boyfriend's eyes, knowing he caused him to feel that way. "He's sorry!" Ken announced to no one, holding his hands up to indicate the boy before him. "He's sorry!"

"Ken, please stop," Daisuke whispered, looking to the side and feeling a teardrop travel down his cheek and crawl over his nose to drip off of the end. His throat hurt and he didn't think he could raise his voice beyond a whisper.

"No," Ken grumbled through clenched teeth, eyes going from betrayed to angry to hateful all too easily and quickly. Daisuke recognized the transition and yelped, turning around to crawl off of the bed. Ken grabbed hold of his shirt and yanked on it, causing Daisuke to bite his tongue as the collar of his shirt choked him and he fell back onto the bed.

He cried out a name into the darkness that was not Ken's name; it was the last name Ken wanted to hear at that moment, and only angered him further. It was not the first time Daisuke cried that name out that night, nor was it the last.

~ ~ ~ ~

Yamato's eyes were shadowed by the hair hanging in front of his face, and since they were not visible to the crowd before him, no one could see the hurt and sorrow built up and shining in the dark blue pools of his eyes. However, when the last song started, Yamato gripped his guitar in a display of what could easily be strong determination and he shook the hair back from his face, revealing to the audience the emotions the song put into him. The song was originally written to be sung by a female, but Yamato couldn't care less about the fact and merely switched the genders implied in the lyrics as he sang.

Go on and hold him 'til the screaming is gone

Go on believe him when he tells you nothing's wrong

But I'm the only one who'll walk across the fire for you

And I'm the only one who'll drown in my desire for you

It's only fear that makes you run

The demons that you're hiding from

When all your promises are gone

I'm the only one

He felt his eyes burning as he struggled not to let a tear escape while he was on stage, knowing the person he was singing to was not in the crowd that night. He couldn't help it, though, when he closed his eyes and a tear slid down his pale cheek as he screamed out the last line once again, making it sound like a truth he had been hiding from everyone but himself for decades.

I'm the only one

Once the crowd had scattered and people had stopped patting his shoulder and inquiring about the tears he'd shown on stage that night, Yamato sat on top of an amp and strummed his guitar, no longer plugged into the amp and playing for only his ears. He felt more than saw the two people sitting down on either side of him, both turned towards him with concern etched onto their faces.

Yamato stopped strumming his guitar and shut his eyes, leaning down to rest his forehead against the cool surface of the guitar. Waking up that morning to find Daisuke gone from not only his bed, but from his house, with no trace of the boy ever having resided there, had given Yamato a surprisingly deep gash in his still bleeding heart.

Sora frowned and reached a hand up to stroke the blonde's hair out of his face. Taichi sighed and rested a hand on Yamato's shoulder from his other side, offering silent support.

"You really do love him," Taichi murmured quietly, almost as if speaking to himself and not his best friend.

"I didn't know," Yamato said just as softly, lifting his head once again to stare through narrow eyes at the spot at the back of the restaurant where Daisuke usually sat and watched him, "that losing him would hurt this much."

"Who says you've lost him?" Sora asked, trying to look on the bright side. "Maybe he just needed to be alone for a while."

"Why doesn't he want to be with me?" Yamato asked, without turning to either of them, continuing to stare blankly at that same spot.

"Why don't you go after him?" Taichi asked, his voice showing confusion that had struck Taichi the second he realized the blonde hadn't done a thing about Daisuke leaving Yamato's house.

"He obviously wants to live somewhere else," Yamato said. "With a relative, a friend, who knows?"

Taichi paused, his hand tightening on his shoulder hard enough to make him turn and stare at his brunette friend. "What?"

Yamato blinked at him. "Well, where else would he have gone?"

"Back to Ken," Taichi said in a voice that clearly indicated he thought it was the truth.

"No, he wouldn't go back to Ken," Yamato said a little too quickly. "I finally got him to see that Ken was wrong and only wanted to hurt him. He's safe now from that monster, but I don't know where he went."

"Yamato, Daisuke doesn't have any friends...and after his father practically disowned him from their family, don't you think it'd be a very slim chance that one relative wouldn't mind going against the family and taking him in?" Sora asked, staring at him.

"Ken had a very tight hold on Daisuke's mind, Yama," Taichi cut in, making Yamato turn from Sora back to him again. "It won't be broken in just a few day's time."

"What makes you so convinced Daisuke went back to Ken's house?" Yamato asked, suspicion creeping into his voice.

Taichi looked away uncomfortably and then looked back at Yamato in a sorry-I-had-to-be-the-one-to-break-it-to-you way. Yamato gulped and gripped his guitar even harder.

"I saw him walk down the sidewalk and slip into that house last night," Taichi said slowly.

Yamato stared at him for a while as it sunk in. He remembered Taichi lived just down the street from Ken's house, and that was why it had been so easy to drive Daisuke home that first night, since he'd recognized the street name and address.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Yamato asked, the icy edge to his voice sounding a little dangerous and too calm for the situation.

Taichi shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I thought you would have guessed. Plus, I didn't want to be the one to break the news to you, though I guess I ended up doing it anyway."

"So you decided to let me find out on my own? You idiot!" Yamato screeched, pounding Taichi's arm with his fist.

Taichi hurriedly tried to scoot far away from the angry blonde and Sora yanked on Yamato's arm to try and stop him from pummeling her boyfriend. She got up to stand in front of Yamato and shook him lightly, making the blonde forget wanting to beat Taichi up and stare at her.

"Yamato, you have to go and save him! Who knows what Ken's done to him by this time?"

"He'll have told Ken the truth," Yamato said, voice shaking slightly. "I know Daisuke enough to know that he can't keep secrets from Ken without feeling immensely guilty."

Yamato stood up immediately, taking Sora by surprise as she lost her grip on his shoulders and stumbled back a step or two.

"I'm going to go save him!"

"Wait!" Taichi cried, waving frantically after Yamato as he took off to the entrance of the restaurant. "I have an idea!"

Yamato skidded to a stop, turning to glare breathlessly at the brunette for stopping him so suddenly. "What?"

Taichi held a finger up in a silent plea for Yamato to give him a minute as he held a cell phone up to his ear. He paused a few seconds and then asked, "Yes, can I have a phone number for a Motomiya-san in the Odaiba area?"

Yamato's eyes widened in shock and he waved his arms around, mouthing, "No!" over and over. Taichi shushed him and nodded, pulling a pen out from his pocket and scribbling a number on his hand.

"Uh-huh, thanks a lot. Bye." He hung up and began dialing again, staring at the number on his hand and then dialing it into the phone. Yamato had given up waving at him and sighed in exasperation as he walked back towards his friends.

"Hello, Motomiya-san? I'm a friend of Daisuke's. Are you still pissed off at your son?"

Taichi paused and grinned to himself.

"Would you change your mind if I told you he could be dying as we speak?"

~ ~ ~ ~

"Did you call the cops?"

"Yeah," a gruff voice answered him from somewhere to the right.

Yamato nodded and once again peeked out from behind the corner of the building at the only completely dark house in the row of houses they were facing.

"Want to go in and kick some ass, or should we have to wait for the cops to get here and let them handle it?"

"I could do with some ass-kicking myself," the man answered him in a cynical but honest voice.

"Me too," Yamato responded with a twisted grin.

They made their way over the street and the front lawn of the dark house and carefully leaned against the front door, listening for sounds from within.

"I think it's clear," Motomiya-san said quickly, grasping at the doorknob and jerking it in his haste to get inside and find his son.

Yamato had been delighted to learn that Daisuke's father had begun to regret his decision of kicking Daisuke out of the house, and the instant Yamato had filled him in on what his son had to live with since he couldn't live at his original home, Motomiya-san had immediately asked for the address so he could march over and take his son away from the horrible lifestyle he was being forced to lead now.

Yamato had been all too happy to take him to the house, where they were now creeping through the living room and eyeing the destruction within carefully and with a hint of fear for Daisuke's safety. Yamato stepped over an upturned lamp and Motomiya-san warned him to be careful not to step on broken glass, for there seemed to be an abundance of it littering the floor.

They heard a pain-filled moan coming from the bedroom and, after looking at each other in a heart-stopping second, they ran to find the source of the sound. They found Daisuke huddled up on the carpeted floor with a large dark red stain spread out underneath him. A bloody knife lay near his body and the name "Ken" written in katakana was carved into the flesh on the underside of Daisuke's arm, undoubtedly the cause of all of the blood on the floor.

Yamato carefully moved towards Daisuke, swallowing the bile rising in his throat as he carefully avoided looking at the place where Ken had attempted to leave his mark and claim on Daisuke. He ran his fingers through sweat-soaked hair and Daisuke cracked his eyes open to stare at Yamato. His eyes clouded in confusion and he tried to sit up. "Yamato?"

"Just lay down," Yamato said gently, pressing down on Daisuke's chest so he lay still on the floor once again. "I brought your father," he added with a careful smile.

Daisuke's eyes widened even further as he watched his father, the man who had kicked him out of the house and claimed he was dead to him now and forevermore, carefully reached down to rest a hand on Daisuke's unmarked arm in assurance. "We'll get you out of here. Just tell us where he is."

Daisuke's body began to shake and tears spilled out of Daisuke's eyes. "T-the b-bathroom," Daisuke managed to whisper. Yamato turned to look at Motomiya-san and the man stared back into eyes filled with more mixed hate, fear and love than he'd ever witnessed in his life.

"Can I go and kill him?"

"Wait for the police," Motomiya-san replied, resting his other hand on Yamato's shoulder. Yamato nodded slowly and hung his head as he also began to shiver, silent tears slipping down his cheeks.

His head shot up when they heard the door being thrown open and sirens wailing from outside of the house. Daisuke shifted to try and see through the doorway as the Odaiba city police force began searching the house for Ken and paramedics rushed to get him onto a stretcher.

As Daisuke tried to get settled onto the stretcher, he heard a familiar voice shouting and demanding to be let go, and he looked up to stare at the boy he'd been devoted to for the past couple of years as he was carried away by the police. Ken turned to meet his eyes once before being taken outside, and Daisuke shivered when he saw the betrayal and hurt in his eyes had been at least tripled.

Daisuke panicked at first when he learned Yamato could not ride in the ambulance with him, but his father was able to go along with him, and that comforted him somewhat, now understanding that his father was no longer angry at him. As the doors of the back of the ambulance closed, Yamato called out to him that he'd be at the hospital right away and not to worry, that it was going to be okay.

On the ride to the hospital, his father told him about how horrible he felt when he realized Daisuke was living such a bad life away from home, and that he felt it was his fault that he'd been subjected to such torture and had to face it all alone, with no one to talk to about it. Daisuke almost cried when his father asked him to move back in and he promised his father that he would.

Yamato sat with his elbows resting on his knees and his fists pressed against each other, resting his chin on top of them and staring at the white tile. Motomiya-san returned to his chair after turning in the forms he'd just finished filling out. Yamato straightened up and looked over at him, eyes shimmering with the weight of so many strong emotions that he had felt in such a small amount of time.

Motomiya-san lifted a hand to rest on top of his hair, which was surprisingly messy from running around and pulling at it in fits of worrying all day long. Yamato felt touched by the small gesture of acceptance and understanding and his face twisted as he leaned forward against the man's shoulder to sob silently. Motomiya-san didn't pull away or ask him to remove himself, feeling a deep liking for the boy that had helped him save his son, who he knew loved his son very much.

He still felt weird about his son loving another boy, but he had understood the look in Yamato's eyes earlier that day when they'd found Daisuke on the floor and he didn't dare question it and decided to just accept it. When the nurse came to tell them both that Daisuke's arm had been bandaged and he was going to be just fine, Motomiya-san allowed himself to cry a few tears as well.