Disclaimer: I don't own Junjou Romantica.

-JR—JR—JR-

Misaki's POV

The umbrella dropped from my hand, and I stopped moving with the river of people streaming off campus.

"W-What did you say, Aikawa-san?" I stuttered in shock. "What do you mean h-he's g-gone?" I remembered just that morning, how he bid me goodbye as if he wasn't going to see me for a while, and paled even further.

I didn't let the red head say anything else, hanging up and taking off as fast as I could toward the pent house. As I ran, I dialed Akihiko's number, but every time, the call went straight to voice mail. Some time in my run, I dropped my phone, but didn't stop to pick it up.

I sped through the lobby of the apartment building and skidded into the elevator, breathing heavily and soaking wet. I hit the button violently until the doors closed. The trip up felt like it lasted forever, and I paced anxiously around the small room the whole time.

The doors slip open smoothly and revealed the door to the pent house. I quickly turned the key and swung the door open . . . only to find the apartment empty for the most part. All that was left was the furniture, kitchenware, and probably most of my belongings.

I didn't have to search the entire apartment to know that all of Akihiko's things would be gone. And yet I did anyway. As I made to run back down the stairs and look even more thoroughly, I slipped on the first step and tumbled down the staircase painfully.

I curled up in a ball at the bottom and sobbed brokenly, the reality of my situation hitting me like a train. Akihiko didn't want me anymore, and he probably never would again.

"Why?!" I shouted painfully, my throat scratchy. "What did I do?!"

Something died in me that day, something that could never be repaired.

-JR—JR—JR-

"Guess what, Misaki?" Takahiro asked excitedly through the phone, looking just as excited through the glass he was sitting in front of.

I sighed. "What?" I asked flatly.

"Usagi-san is coming back to Japan!" my brother exclaimed. I only raised my eyebrow in response, but on the inside, it felt like what I had left of a heart had just come back to life. That small, childish part of me had hope that Akihiko would come and save me.

"You know what else?" Takahiro said, beaming. I titled my head to the side, motioning for him to continue. "He has a boyfriend now. They seem so happy together! Isn't it awesome?!"

And that small part of my heart that had come back to life withered away and died, like the last petal on a dying flower.

"Yeah," I breathed, pretending to be happy for him. "It's so awesome. Look, Takahiro, I'm gonna go now, but, um, we can talk more next time." I gave him no time to answer and slammed the phone down on the receiver and let the guard led me back to my cell.

I stood just in front of the locked door, which was behind me, and didn't give any reaction to anything, not even when arms wrapped around my waist and that disgusting voice whispered in my ear.

The only thing I caught from what Haitani was saying was, ". . . take your pain away, little kitten."

Silent tears slid down my face without my consent, as they had been since I'd stepped in the cell.

-JR—JR—JR-

My eyes fluttered open, and I saw a dark, white hospital ceiling above me. I was shocked to feel a wet warmness on my face, and brought my hand up to my face. When I pulled it away, there was a clear liquid on my fingers. With a start, I realized they were tears.

I laughed mirthlessly. Just when I thought I'd cried all of the tears I had for Akihiko, more come. I wiped the tears off of my face and staunched the flow. I wouldn't let anyone see my weakness, not even the darkness that surrounded me.

Realizing that I wouldn't be drifting off any time soon, I sat up slowly. The amount of effort it took to sit up annoyed me. The door to my hospital room slid open suddenly, and I saw an exhausted Akihiko standing in the doorway with an owlish look on his face.

"M-Misaki, you're awake," he stuttered.

I looked blankly at him. "It seems that way." The white haired man didn't say anything for a while. When he realized that he was still standing in the doorway, he went and sat down next to my bed.

He looked at me with guilt in his eyes. "Are you . . . okay? You were in a coma for a month." I stared at him for a few moments, processing the fact that I'd been in a hospital for an entire month.

Frowning, I looked away from Akihiko. "I don't know. I'm a bit sore, but I'm not in too much pain."

Akihiko sighed. "Misaki, are you okay?" The earnest look in his eyes, the need to know, forced me to answer.

"I'm fine," I told him, looking him straight in the eyes. "Why do you ask?" My voice was devoid of emotion. The encounter with Haitani (I still wasn't sure whether it was all in my head or not) shook me to the core, and drained all regained life from me.

The lavender eyed man hesitated. "You just seem . . . different. Empty." I scowled inwardly. Since when did he care? "I'm worried."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I told him dismissively. "There's nothing wrong with me."

This seemed to frustrate Akihiko to no end. "Then why did you run in front of my car?" he asked me, irritation dripping from his words.

This time I did scowl. "I didn't run in front of your car. I tripped. There's a difference."

Akihiko scoffed. "Yes, you just happened to trip as my car passed by. That's believable."

Anger cut through me, and for half a second I considered telling Akihiko what actually happened, but stopped myself before I could make a mistake. I glared at him, and the man glared right back, but behind his annoyance, I could see more emotions hiding. Fear. Relief. Guilt. Worry. All of these were hiding behind his glare.

My glare wavered, and I looked away. "Well excuse me," I muttered under my breath crossly. "Sorry for my bad timing."

A smirk graced Akihiko's face, who had somehow heard what I said with his rabbit ears (Oh, the irony). I flopped back down and turned on my side away from the man.

"I'm going to sleep," I told him, then closed my eyes. Silence hailed in the room for half an hour, and I was still awake. I'd known I wouldn't be able to sleep. I only said that so I wouldn't have to talk to him anymore.

Akihiko, probably assuming I was asleep, started talking softly. "You don't know the effect you have on me, Misaki. You don't know just how much I love you."

I forced myself to stay silent and pretend to sleep, but my thoughts were anything but calm and silent. The words that the goddamn rabbit said echoed and bounced around my head, bumping into my thoughts and making them jumble up until there was a huge, tangled ball that couldn't be undone.

A small part of me wanted to jump up and tell him that I loved him, too, and that I wanted to be with him, but the rest of me wanted to jump up and punch him right in the face, yell at him and make him pay for the suffering he caused me over the years.

'That's right, kitten,' Haitani whispered to me, making me flinch a bit. 'You don't need someone like him, especially not when you have me here to take care of you. And what makes you think he'll want you when he knows about the years that he wasn't there? When he hears about Haruhiko? When he-'

A cool hand started running through my hair, as though trying to calm me. It was then that I realized I was shaking in fear and that my heart monitor was speeding up a bit.

The hand carding through my hair soothed me quickly, and at some point I found myself slipping into sleep.

-JR—JR—JR-

Here's chapter five! I hope you guys enjoyed. Favorite, follow, review, and PM me. Until next time . . .

~O'Malley out!