I really hate to say this, but the last chapter won't be up before I go away. At best, it will be at my beta reader while I'm away. I've been far, far to busy to type up the last page or so over the past week. Therefore I am sorry, but it should be up when I get back, at the lastest by my birthday. If it isn't feel free to find me and pitchfork me! But be nice...I'm tickleish.

Das Kätzchen, Dass in der Dunkelheit Verloren Ging

Chapter 10: Holdingon by aThread

"Good to see you're finally awake, Omi. You scared the shit out of all us." Ken greeted Omi fairly cheerfully. Aya and Youji hadn't come to see him, just Ken.

"I'll be down at the nurse's station. Just page the station when you want to leave, and don't leave till someone shows up. Understood?" Sho drilled the brunette like Ken probably did his kids in drills. Ken nodded a yes and he left closing the door behind him.

Ken sat down next to his teammate's bed, releasing a sigh as he sat. The boy in the bed seemed to refuse to even acknowledge the other's presence in the room. "I'm fine if you don't want to talk, but will you at least look at me, Omi?" he asked looking at his younger teammate. He hadn't noticed it before, probably because of the clothes he wore, but Omi had lost some weight and looked so much frailer lying on the bed.

"Omi? Please, just look at me," begged the ex-soccer player leaning in closer, hoping for a response. Finally he had got one and Omi turned his head towards him and he was taken aback. Instead of the voidless eyes that the soccer player had become used to, they were filled with emotion. The void had been replaced with hurt, betrayal and suffering. They were far, far from being the lively blue eyes that the girls who swarmed the Koneko always seemed to melt every time they saw him.

Ken remained speechless and Omi turned back towards the window, watching a flock of birds fly past. There was nothing but silence in the room as Ken sat there for an hour watching the sunset outside. There was an overhead page stating that visiting hours where over and for all visitors to leave. Ken stood up to leave, saying a quick good bye to Omi. However, on standing the blonde haired teen reached out and as best he could, held onto Ken's sleeve as he leaned to press the nurse call button.

"Don't go," was the entire broken boy said in explanation for his sudden actions.

"But I have to, Omi. Visiting hours is over. You don't want me getting into trouble, or something?" He reasoned with the boy. The eyes nonetheless won him over into staying and he sat back down, Omi still holding onto the sleeve. Ken let him. "If I get in trouble though, I'm going to blame it all on you." He joked hoping to get a smile at least. He couldn't remember when Omi had last smiled. A soft thank you was all he got and he took it as something of a good sign. At least he was talking.

Sho came back and left again learning about Ken wanting to stay. The floor was understaffed and they could use him elsewhere instead of sitting around on suicide watch. The nurse said he would tell the nursing station and security so they wouldn't try and kick him out, and then left shutting the door. Ken called home so that Aya or Youji wouldn't kick his ass when he got home and not have called.

When Ken had resettled himself, he allowed Omi to hold onto his sleeve again. He tried to go for hands, but the younger shied away from that almost immediately, taking hold of the shirtsleeve.

"Why am I alive?" he asked after another long period of silence.

"Youji found you when we came home," was Ken's answer.

Ken and Aya were in the basement, making sure all their equipment was cleaned and safely stored away so that Omi would not have a chance to get at it. Personally, Ken found it stupid to do such a thing. Omi acted as if the life force was sucked out of him. It scared all of them, though they said nothing about it. The kid could barely go to the washroom by himself without being told to. Only Youji kept his wire outside of the safe. It was always on him, and Youji slept with the door locked, giving the youngest member little chance to get his hands on the wire and try something.

Ken waited for Aya to finish storing away the weapons before walking up the stairs from the basement. His footsteps were as heavy as the rest of his body, demanding sleep. It was draining even these days just worry about Omi. Aya has summed it up best when he said that they were trained to stop and kill rapists, not deal with the victims of the rapist. Still he wished like them all that they could do something.

Half way up the stairs, both heard the sounds of Youji swearing loudly at them from the second floor. "Ken! Aya! Call a fucking ambulance now!" he could be heard shouting.

Alarmed, both blotted to the floor with their rooms, Ken reaching Youji's voice in Omi's room first having a head start on Aya. The scene that awaited the two was shocking. Ken stood frozen at the door and the swordsman had to push him out of the way to see what Youji had been yelling about.

It wasn't the blood that made the brunette unable to move, like the rest he was well used to blood. It was the fact all the blood was Omi's and it kept coming. Youji had grabbed two towels off the towel rack and pressed to the long cuts running up the boy's arms. All on autopilot, Aya called the ambulance while Ken helped Youji by holding one light blue towel to his arm to stop the bleeding.

Aya returned and they carried the teen downstairs to wait for the ambulance to come. When it did, there was another rush of frenzy as the paramedics took over and rushed him towards the closest hospital, leaving four confused men in the wake of the sirens.

"That is how you're alive." Ken stated. A shiver running down his back in memory; Omi slowly nodded his head returning to his now silent self.

Eventually Omi drifted into the nothingness of sleep, never once losing his grip of the shirtsleeve of his friend. The soccer player noted it was almost as if it was his security blanket, warding off the nightmares that haunted him so much as of recent. He didn't mind at all. At least Omi was starting to reach out to him. That's the start of what he hoped was a good sign. It was a start, and that was why Ken stayed put the whole night, watching the younger boy sleep till morning.

Oks, I got one review, another reason why it is taking me long to update. No reviews no motivation. Oh well, my friends are liking the story...

artemis347- Thank you frist for being the only review. And you right, Omi does desever better. I think all of the Weiss boys do, but really it wouldn't be such a great show without their inner termoils. As for Omi getting better...time will tell.