Early the next morning, Madoka and Gingka convince Ryo to drive them to the hospital despite his date with excessive paperwork, and are surprised to see Kyoya's team already there looking worn.

"What happened to you guys?" Gingka asks. Nile, who seems to be the most put together, sighs. "Kyoya started having these really bad nightmares at about 11:00."

"The hospital called us- Nile had had Benkei leave his number last night- they needed someone who understood the situation to calm him down so we came over."

Gingka blinks in surprise. "Nightmares?"

Benkei nods, face drawn with frustration. "Every time he woke up, he was terrified. We would calm him down again, but the nightmares kept coming back." He shakes his head, like he still can't believe the last eight hours happened.

"So how's he now?" Madoka asks. Demure rubs his eyes and answers, "His fever's a bit lower, and they got a cast on his broken leg. He's just resting now." He pauses and adds, "It's strange though, he hasn't said a word to anyone."

Hesitantly, Gingka suggests, "Maybe when he's feeling better?" To which Nile nods and scowls. "I hope so. If I ever find out who did this, they'll pay."

It's thankful that the infection isn't as bad as it could have been. The stream of antibiotics over the next few days seems to be taking it out, along with the small case of pneumonia that they discover. Gradually, Kyoya starts becoming more aware, though not before a couple of escape attempts that are mostly foiled by his leg.

Both the unfortunate doctors and patient are not happy about having to fix the damage he's done there, so the lion eventually gets the idea and stays put. The police stop by twice to try and get something from him about their new case. However, it seems that trauma is keeping him mum. It makes conversation awkwardly one-sided as well, but Kyoya seems to prefer it to silence, so Gingka and Yuu argue over ice cream flavors a lot more than they actually care to- or at least, Gingka does. Yuu seems really passionate about cookie dough for some reason.

Tsubasa tries to involve him in folding paper cranes, just for some kind of interaction from him. Kyoya seems quite set upon simply watching them, though. The only exception being his team, or really, mostly just Benkei. The bull of a guy was never content with simply talking or little activities, and his frustration at helplessness show strongly enough that it seems to unnerve Kyoya into putting a bit of effort into reacting. Their favorite moment is when he dropped a large bouquet in Kyoya's lap, garnering him to move them and a small nod when Benkei asked whether he liked them. To be fair, Benkei might have started crying or angrily denouncing the organization responsible had he shook no or not reacted.

As nice as it is to see Kyoya doing anything, everyone agrees that Benkei is a bit more intense than should be handled in his recovery, so generally the visits are short. Kyoya seems to agree, as he often falls asleep right after them.

The only other time Kyoya really responds to them is when Yuu brings in a singing card. The kid had run over excitedly and opened the card to show the lion. At the sudden sound, Kyoya flinched. He'd only withstood a couple seconds of the song before reaching out and lightly pushing it closed, so to silence it. Yuu had been very sad about Kyoya's reaction, though not so much that he'd rejected the song as that he couldn't enjoy it. To have something fun turned scary was the worst thing in the world.

...

After a month, Kyoya is doing comparatively better. He's left the hospital with a strict diet, crutches, a few bottles of prescribed medication, and a recommendation for a therapist. Without any stable living environment, he's had to be taken in by Gingka and his father, though it's more than frequent that others come around as well.

Now that he's up and about, it's more noticeable the effects the trauma has on him. The watching that had been so notable in the hospital is more obvious here, where he leers and stares like he's waiting for the other person to make some move against him. He doesn't like corners, yet skirting the edges of whatever area he's in is a quirk that's not only stuck, but strengthened. He doesn't like being approached by multiple people at a time or else he gets wary and aggressive, and loud or sudden noises were a bad idea.

Often, he'd disappear somewhere, like a closet or under a couch, and in no circumstance should they try to pull him out, as it was discovered in the time they did that Kyoya, being in a bad place in his head, would react badly. He'd fight his way out viciously and run somewhere else to hide and quietly deal with a panic attack. He'd be twice as evasive for about a week after.

He did very well with his crutches at least. He needed to be reminded about the medication, but eating didn't seem to bear any problems. The hospital had warned that if malnourishment had been a fixture in his time missing, he might deal with periods of fasting and gorging, but he didn't appear to have that issue. Ryo considers that it might support the theory that he was left to die in the cage.

Ryo understands that finding the right therapist is a big part of the process, but Kyoya seems both stubbornly predisposed to hate new people, and firmly against leaving the house. It's making the whole thing very difficult.

Kyoya's trust might have regained through his bey, but he had yet to join in any bey battles. He just carried it around, looking at it from time to time. Madoka's offer to check it over was met with a blank stare and a tightened grip over his beloved Leone, and since then no one had attempted touching it. In watching him turn it over in his hands, Gingka is reminded of how they realized something had happened to him.

Two month had passed. That hadn't mattered to Gingka, seeing as how the nomad had the tendency to walk off and vanish for long stretches of time. He hadn't worried, or even considered that the other might be in danger. His rival, after all, was a force to be reckoned with, and he pitied the fool who tried to take Kyoya Tategami down.

When Benkei, Nile, and Demure asked if he knew where Kyoya was, Gingka began to wonder. Benkei, after all, followed Kyoya everywhere and by now must have some kind of radar built into his head. For him to have no idea was unusual, but nothing to really be alarmed over.

It wasn't until Leone was found on the ground in some alley that red flags went up. To someone as good as Kyoya, his bey was his life.

They'd enlisted the WBBA's resources and eventually it was discovered that an organization had been behind several bladers disappearances. The law had gotten involved, and once the raid was underway, Ryo had managed to get them permission to search as well.

In hindsight, Gingka regrets writing the clues off. He couldn't have known, but at the same time he regrets not doing something earlier. If they could have saved Kyoya some of the pain he endured, if they had only realized…

That didn't matter now. What mattered now was figuring out how to help him.


*Insert Mulan gif* I LIIIIIVE!

This one has been a work in progress for forever, and it is finally done.

Which immediately puts me back into the "gotta get another stupid chapter done" stage. Yes. So thrilled.

Frankly, this story is easiest to update since its just editing and rewriting what garbage I slapped on DA, so despite my interest being a bar of soap on a greased pig, I can hold it down long enough to add bits and pieces periodically.

Thank you, you beautiful people for bearing with me. I really really appreciate it.