Kamia: Well I've recently moved three hours away from all my friend and family for a new university... Things are going to be very hard now. Sorry if I don't post in a long while; gonna need to focus on paying rent and bills. If anyone wants to help out, I do have a P.A.T.R.E.O.N. That would be nice...

Chapter 8

The fresh air outside had settled to a nice chill now that the sun had departed. The wind suffices blowing the cold air around him, one of the only ones who seemed to be walking on the streets. 'Guess people are getting smart.'

"Or it must be that it's so late and you just need to know where to look." Wandering the streets for a few more minutes, he finally found the perfect location. A staircase led down to an underground club that was quite popular. Lelouch had heard about this particular location some time back, but rarely made appearances for fear of being noticed.

Disheveling his hair slightly, it concealed his eyes better before heading downstairs. The smell of smoke and musk assaulted his nose, taking him a moment to adjust. If he could describe the scenery in one word, he would settle on orgy. Moving across the mesh of bodies pressed against each other, he settled on a seat at the bar. "Let me have a whiskey," he called out, lazily watching the people grind against one another.

Lelouch would have found it more entertaining to get involved with the crowd of people but he was still rather peeved about the scenario prior. He never had that type of reaction when people would kiss him, then again it was just to get their guards down. 'I probably am just craving some sort of release,' he tried to conclude in his mind. Mindlessly twirling the cubes in the glass, he failed to notice the figure coming up behind him. "Hey there. Why don't you come have a dance with me?" Turning his head, he took in the looks of the other.

The person standing there in front of him was a male, possibly close to middle 30's with dark blonde hair and bright blue-green eyes. He was what Lelouch deemed a pretty boy and was more than sure that the other guy knew it also. "Oh, and what is going to happen after the dance?" The blonde smiled at the question, reaching over to retrieve the glass from Lelouch's hand. "For you gorgeous, anything," came a purr against his ear. He couldn't stop the smirk forming on his lips as he slid off his chair and followed the man into the crowd.

Large white clouds rolled over the clear sky as a gentle breeze settled on the ground. The sound of leaves rustling along with the racing of water nearby held a calmness in the atmosphere. Emerald eyes remained focused on the fluffy puffs above as he tried to make out the images above. Suzaku laid on the grass enjoying the calm. Hearing the sound of rustling grass, the young boy looked up to see other kids playing in the park. It wasn't the kids that grabbed his attention, as it was a smaller boy, around the age of four, taking a seat next to him. Rubbing his left eye as he sat up, he examined the other. Green eyes caught on amethyst as the kid seemed to smile lightly. "Hi." he said while reaching out his hand for the other to take.

What seemed like hours rolled by as the two children played games and got to know each other. As Lelouch ran into the field to hide, Suzaku closed his eyes as he leaned his forehead against a tree. Turning around the eight year old smiled to himself as he searched out for his new friend. Coming across a bush he peaked through the leaves to see the younger boy with his back turned to him.

"Looks like you found me..." the sky turned dark as Suzaku looked back up to notice the clouds storming together as frost began to fall. He turned his gaze back to his friend only to see the four year old was replaced by a teenager. Lelouch's eyes held a haunted look as he stared at the older male.

"Lelouch?" he questioned as he took a step back. The teen gave off an eerie laugh as he approached. "Can't take a joke, can you?" he smiled as the dark haired boy pulled a knife out from his pocket.

Suzaku opened his eyes as sweat dripped down his back. He looked around his room to see the alarm clock by the bedside table blaring it was six in the morning. He placed his hand to his forehead as he thought back to the dream. It was leaving a very uncomfortable feeling his throat, prompting the detective to get up from his bed and head to the kitchen.

He couldn't stop running. It was in all the desperation that he needed to get back to the apartment. Not for a particular reason, but he felt like he was beginning to lose more grip of the reality around him. He needed the seclusion of his room, the comforting darkness to lull him to sleep. That was all he wanted, all he craved. Especially after what had happened...

After following Kewell into the crowd, they'd danced and drunk a decent fill, enough to get the other one to be tipsy enough to beg for departure. Getting out of that sweaty mess of a club was the best thing that had happened; Lelouch finally felt like he could breathe. However, he had to deal with a drunken partner who was desperate to jump his bones. Without any other selection to be made, Lelouch was yanked into an abandoned walkway near the river.

It was rather obvious that it was used for quick sexual locations due to the discarded contraceptives, making his stomach turn in disgust. Though it was the desire for affections that made them all the more vulnerable to the attack. The older male tore open Lelouch's shirt and attacked his neck with bites and nips. Holding back his voice, Lelouch shut his eyes and mentally stilled himself, waiting out till the perfect time.

It wasn't until Kewell was on his knees, attempting to initiate an erection from the other with fellatio that Lelouch finally reached his limit and kneed him right in the diaphragm. Once Kewell was down, he reached into his bag and pulled out his dagger. "Sorry about that. You are rather fun to play with but if there's one thing you should know, I only get hard when people are begging for their life," he commented, eyes narrowing in sadistic delight.

Jabbing the blade deep into the diaphragm, he simply laughed at the gurgled noises of blood and saliva chocking up in Kewell's throat. "That's right, just like that," Zero purred, stabbing him again. This carried on for a few moments until the sweet sounds of pain slowly died along with the victim. Zero released an annoyed noise, lifting himself from the body. "Well that was pretty fast. Guess some people can't take the hard play." Cleaning up his blade, he tossed it back in his bag before moving the body over to the river. "You are pretty hollowed out now, so you should float," he murmured, dumping the body of Kewell Soresi into the water. Watching it sink to the bottom, he simply shrugged his shoulders. "Or not."

And now here he was, rushing back home. Desperate for some peace and quiet, too tired to care about what else should happen. The cold air was hitting his skin, it was wet from the water he'd dumped on himself to wash off the splattered blood. His clothes were soaked at the top of his pants. Though he was still disheveled as the force from earlier had ripped at his buttons. But that didn't matter. Finally reaching the safe haven of the apartment, he fumbled with his keys before making his way inside, slamming the door shut behind him.

Hearing the front door slam, Suzaku turned his gaze to see his roommate had returned home. Catching sight of the disheveled appearance the other's clothes the drenching of his black hair made the detective rush over to the other. He dropped the bottle of soda he had in his hand as he felt a pit in his stomach sink. Seeing the water dripping off the college student's tattered jacket pool on the floorboards beneath seem to grow darker in a tinge of red, placed the brown haired man into overdrive.

"Lelouch!" he shouted as he approached taking a discarded dishtowel left near the entrance of the kitchen he placed it on the other's damp head. On autopilot, he examined the younger man to see where the blood was coming from. "What happened?" he questioned before finding dark marks scattered all over his friends chest, each in different shades of red and purple drawing lower and lower.

Feeling his heart stop, Suzaku pulled Lelouch closer into a firm hug. "I shouldn't have let you leave... who did this? Who hurt you?"

Lelouch blinked in surprise to see the other standing in the kitchen. It was early, he assumed he would have either been asleep or gone already. In the next moment, Suzaku was in front of him, draping a dishtowel over his head while examining him. "Suzaku?" He felt like a numb figure standing there, which was odd for him. Normally he didn't care or show any emotions related to killing. But for some reason since the murder of Euphie, he seemed to question a lot of things.

"Oh...I had a scuffle with someone..." He was stopped at the other pulling him into a hug. It threw him for a loop. Normally they never really showed physical comfort for one another, it was on really rare occasions. However, lately it seemed that Lelouch always wound up showing the more unfortunate side which was a first for him due to the lack of comfort when he was growing up. Somehow the other always knew how to make him feel better.

"I'm ok...really. I had gone out to drink and clear my head a bit. Wound up drinking too much and some guy I met at the bar kinda stuck around me. However when I started heading home, he followed me and before I knew it I was pinned to the wall and he was trying to have his way with me. I manage to get away, course while running I got soaked by some water puddles as cars drove by." He rested his head on the others shoulder, closing his eyes. "Guess I shouldn't get after you for negligence when drinking. I guess I let my guard down too much, huh? Was pretty stupid of me."

As he held the younger man close, Suzaku listened to the explanation given. As the words flowed right into his ear, anger coursed its way through the detective's veins. Taking the time to see Lelouch's appearance more closely from behind, he noticed the bright red marks littered across his neck and scratches along his back.

He allowed the other to rest his head on his shoulder for a few minutes before pulling away to look at the other's tired looking eyes. "Lelouch, listen close." he began. "This is not okay. What that man did is unforgivable and I will find him and bring his to justice." He took the other by the shoulders and carefully led him to the bar to sit on one of the stools. After removing the soaking dishcloth from the other's hair he threw it into the sink before walking over to the medicine cabinet to pull out a first aid kit.

Not knowing what else to say, he helped the college student remove the ruined jacket and shirt to see what damage was done. Looking hard at the scratch marks on his roommate's lower back had the detective curse. "This might sting a bit." he warned as he kneeled down to apply alcohol on a cotton ball before pressing it as lightly as he could against the scratches.

With the other's shirt fully removed it was easy for Suzaku to see what those marks truly were. Taking a deep breath he looked back up from where he knelt to catch the younger man's eyes focused on him. "Lelouch... You're going to need to make a formal report." he wanted to whisper, but tried to keep calm from the anger and sadness he felt. "The sooner the better... Did he...?" hesitating to find the words, green eyes looked back to the hem of Lelouch's jeans waistline where he could see the beginnings of a bruise peeking out.

"Can you..." taking a deep breath, Suzaku kept his composure. "... Can you remove your pants for me? I know it might be uncomfortable right now, but I need to check on where else you are injured... unless you would rather a nurse do this part at the station."

Lelouch sat there on the stool, allowing his clothing to be removed piece by piece. The others worried expression seemed to fascinate him. Suzaku was fully committed to helping out individuals, especially him. The detective suited his field quite well. Keeping his eyes down at the ground, he hardly made a movement at the mention of bringing him to justice. 'You'll probably find him later today in the river,' he thought to himself. The feeling of alcohol against the scratches did bring some response to his face though.

It was almost as if it really did hurt, which was odd. Everything seemed to be flip sided which made no sense. Blinking a few times, he found himself staring down at the older male once again. "Formal report? I hardly remember what the guy looks like. I am still out of it, and I think I'm more than happy I got away." Lelouch released a sigh, before arching an eyebrow at the semi question. "Did he what?" Upon looking down, he realized the other was looking at his pants.

At the request to remove his pants, he felt his eyes widen. "H-he didn't! NO, he didn't rape me! I didn't give him the chance to, by that time I was more in control of my actions and managed to get him off of me. He had me flipped for a while so by the time he was getting to my lower region I managed to get him off guard." Fumbling with the button of his pants, he slowly undid them, sliding them down. "I know you, you need to make sure... so you can see...but I'm telling you the truth..." he mumbled, face tinting lightly.

Suzaku released the breath he didn't realize he was holding in. Relief flooded through his frazzled nerves as Lelouch relayed the account in a little bit more detail. "Thank God." he sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose with his right hand. Hearing the rustling of fabric, the detective glanced back up to see his roommate stand in nothing but his boxers.

He kept his eyes focused on the younger man's face for a while before standing up to turn on the hall light for a better view. Trying to keep a professional demeanor, the twenty-six year old looked over to where he had seen the beginning of a bruise on his best friend's hip. It didn't appear as though there were any other cuts to be found, but the bite marks, although faint, were still visible. Feeling anger return into his mind, Suzaku placed his hand on the other man's hip while turning him around to see if there were more injuries on his back.

Feeling better at not finding anything to concerning, Suzaku noticed his hand was still holding onto the other's side. Lelouch's skin was surprisingly soft to the touch and he seemed toned, but on the thin side. Casting his green eyes away from the other's rear, he couldn't help but to bring Lelouch's back against him as he crossed his arms around the other's shoulder. Nestling his head against Lelouch's neck, Suzaku released an exhausted sigh. "Thank God he didn't get far... "

Lelouch's eyes widened in surprise when he felt the others chest against his back. "Suzaku?" At the feeling of the others arms around his front, and his cheek against his neck. He felt himself slightly stiffen, he wasn't used to this, at least not from the other. His ear perked at what the other said, causing him to avert his gaze to the side. 'He'd hate me if he knew it was provoking...' Lifting his hand up, he slowly traced it over Suzaku's.

"Hey...I'm ok. I'm sorry for worrying you like this." He released a light sigh, leaning his head against the others. "I'm a big fighter, I have your training books for that. Basic maneuvers really do help out," he said, lightly chuckling. Though he knew this was no laughing matter to the other, it still seemed rather funny to him. Lifting the others hand, he placed light kisses across his palm. "You know, you're probably the only one who would show compassion for me in this situation...no one ever did that for me before," he whispered.

Lifting his gaze from the ground to the others emerald gaze, he brought the others hand to his lips again. "Is it bad for me to crave a sense of belonging? To want to be cared about? Is it bad for me to desire to feel real?"

Tilting his head up at the feeling of a soft caress against his hand, Suzaku's eyes locked onto Lelouch's face. Trying to gauge what it was the younger man was feeling, he listened to everything the other said. "I'm surly not the only one to care about you." he wanted to say, but sensed his roommate was trying to get something off his chest. Deciding it was best to allow the college student to finish, the detective averted his sight back on the messy locks of black hair that was still a bit damp from being splashed outside.

The feel of soft butterfly kisses trailing along his open palm dragged the older adult's attention to what Lelouch was doing. He kept his gaze focused on those pink lips as the college student continued to chaste himself over worrying the other. Feeling a turn in his stomach, Suzaku lifted his head off the other's shoulders, but continued to keep eye contact with his friend.

"You should never blame yourself for wanting to be loved. To be sought after." he reassured. They may have been separated for a number of their teen-aged years, so it was the elder's guess as to what could have occurred within that time span that could have caused his roommate to shut himself away from others. He had noticed it after the other had moved in. At first he attributed the solitary lifestyle to the accident involving the deaths of his parents, but after these past few years he noted that Lelouch never did shed any light on how it made him feel overall. Feeling as if this may have been the first time the younger man had been so honest with him sent a beat into his chest.

Feeling himself leaning closer to the other, Suzaku felt a rush of blood to his head before he pulled away from the hug he had been giving to the other. Trying to play it off as if he needed to cough, the detective covered his mouth to prevent it from revealing the red sure to be spread across his cheeks. "Anyways... We are going to report this assault. That is a given, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy a nice breakfast." walking around the bar to the entrance of the kitchen, Suzaku pulled open the cupboards to search for the coffee grinds and get a pot started. "What is it you desire? You deserve to be spoiled today..." Thinking about what he had been saying, Suzaku couldn't stop a grin from forming. "Heck, I'm taking the day off. This day is going to be all about you, Lelouch."

Lelouch released the others hand when he pulled away from him, a light smile forming on his lips. His reassurance was strangely comforting to him. Looking down at his tattered clothes, he nodded at the mention of filing a report. It was then at that moment he realized how hungry he was. Running from the river back to the apartment was almost 1.5 miles. He lifted his gaze back up to the others, before stretching his arms out.

"Breakfast does sound good right now." It was as if everything was hitting at once, hunger, nausea, sleepiness and a desire to shower. Lelouch was brought back to the attention of Suzaku talking. "Can you afford to take the day off? Not having a hard time at the office? I've been trying to keep up to date with reports on that serial killer, nothing has been heard in a while maybe the spree is over."

'Heh yeah right.' Zero snarked.

Leaning forward, he picked up his clothes before tossing them in a plastic bag. "I'm not sure how much we stacked up for breakfast food. I'll just take two eggs over medium with toast." Releasing a yawn, he stretched out his arms again before running his hands over his body. "God I feel so gross. I'm going to take a shower and hopefully wash away this icky feeling of saliva on my skin." Making his way into the bathroom, he lazily pushed the door closed with his foot, not bothering to make sure it clicked when it closed and shed the only piece of clothing he wore. Turning the water up to a heated warm, he stepped in and allowed himself to be enveloped in it.

Lelouch made sure to thoroughly wash his body, though no amount of scrubbing would wash away the bite and hickey marks. 'Great, how am I going to cover these up when I have to go into work?' Releasing a sigh, he turned off the water and allowed the remnants to drip off his body. Reaching out, he felt around for his towel which made him realize he hadn't brought it in with him. 'Crap.' "Uh...Suzaku? Can you grab my towel for me please? I left it hanging on the back of my door," he called out, slapping his head in frustration at his incompetence.

Hearing the other's concern about him missing work, Suzaku returned with a reassuring smile. "I haven't taken a day off in two weeks. Gino has been covering for me in paperwork, but my boss would eventually demand I take time off when he does find out. This is just making work easier." he admitted. After setting the kettle on the burners to boil water for their coffee, the detective made his way over to where the icebox stood.

Peaking inside, the older man pulled out several eggs from the fresh carton that was purchased last night along with the remaining bacon hidden on the door crevices. As Lelouch walked over to the shared bathroom, Suzaku set to work on heating up the pan, placing bread in the toaster and setting the bar counter with plates and mugs ready to be filled. After sizzling up the last few strips, Suzaku lifted his gaze towards the bathroom where he heard the voice of his roommate.

Turning off the stove, he left the remaining heat to finish the cooking while the twenty-six year old made his way over to the restroom door. "What was that? I couldn't hear you over the sound of th-" With the intention of knocking on the wood while he asked for the other to repeat, the door swung open at the force used.

Lelouch stood near the entrance to the bathtub, water dripping quickly down his lean body. With the grim scrubbed off, the marks given to him during the assault shown clearly against the peach skin. The two stood absolutely still at the sudden reveal. Unable to prevent himself, green eyes followed the trail the hickies made down below the hip line and ending right on the limp appendage between the college student's thighs.

Normally he would have apologized and turned around. Those marks had made Suzaku worry of wrongdoing, but his friend had reassured nothing had happened. With sudden determination, the older man strode into the bathroom and firmly had Lelouch sitting on the toilet seat cover. He didn't hear any protest due to going fully on instinct. Using his left hand to hold the younger man's wrists away from view and the other to help spread his thighs apart slightly, Suzaku examined the dark marks set upon the length of Lelouch's dick. Noting the indentures and purple bruising along the side and base, the detective felt anger course through his nerves as his shoulders tensed.

Sharply turning his head up to see the red face of the other, green eyes locked onto amethyst. "Why didn't you tell me he molested you?"

Lelouch blinked, trying to come to terms with what was going on. Suzaku was staring at him, almost as if in shock for a few moments, eyes analyzing his body. "Suzaku what are you-" His sentence was cut off when the other grabbed him, forcing him to sit on the toilet seat. "What the hell?!" He let out a gasp when his arms were pushed up and his legs were spread. "Have you lost your mind?!" Lelouch felt his face turn bright red at the position he was forced into.

It took him a while to realize just exactly what he was looking at. 'Oh yeah...I forgot that horny bastard was trying to get me off...' He flinched at the angry accusation the other shot at him. Lowering his head, he turned away. "I just wanted to forget about it... the moment he started to do that to me is when I kicked him in the diaphragm and took off running..." tsking lightly, he tried to keep the angry tears from forming.

"All that really matters is that he didn't stick it inside me! As much as I hate the fact that he forced himself onto me, I am grateful that he didn't manage to go all the way!" Releasing a ragged sigh, he lifted his gaze slightly, the frustrated tears falling. "I wouldn't expect you to understand why I always seem to do reckless things, but that sense of desire and need to feel alive is so strong. It's an insatiable thirst that drives me to explore things far beyond the safety of norms. I know this time it went far out of my control and it has made me more aware of what is out there... but haven't you ever wanted something even though you know you shouldn't?"

Seeing the tears form before spilling over amethyst and trickling down rosy cheeks snapped Suzaku out of his sudden burst of frustration. Looking to his hand, still holding the college student's wrist together than down to his other arm where he held onto Lelouch's leg. Blinking a few times, the detective realized just how close he was to the other's member as well as making his friend very uncomfortable.

He quickly let go than stood up to release a sigh. He did feel guilty about having lost his cool, but just couldn't seem to control himself this morning. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to force you into this, but... God damn those are teeth marks on your penis." he cursed before bringing his hand up to push back the bangs from his uncombed hair out of his face.

Casting another look to the younger man's image, he felt worse for his over-reaction. Taking a step closer he gently placed his left hand under Lelouch's chin before carefully lifting his face so they could meet eye to eye. Frowning slightly at the fat tears slipping down, he used his other hand to wipe them away as softly as he could. Having heard everything he needed to hear, Suzaku shook his head slightly. "I don't approve of going at these things alone..."

He leaned closer to whisper in the other's ear. "...but I do know this feeling of holding back. Maybe it's time to admit the truth?" Placing his lips to peck lightly on Lelouch's earlobe as a sort of seal to a secret, the detective felt his heart pace before he leaned closer to seal a kiss on his dear friend's lips.

To be Continued

Special Thanks to my best friend Ayame for helping me with this.

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