This may suck. I apologize. But it may not.

Summary: —

Warnings: Moderate amount of violence and bad language. Implied sexual content is minimal.

Disclaimer: I don't own Free! Iwatobi Swim Club.

[CHAPTER ELEVEN: "IN THE ALLEYWAY."]

"Well, look here— we've got ourselves some company."

The man behind Haruka snickered and the servant boy grunted, resisting the urge to gasp out in pain as the side of his face was pressed harder and harder against the wall of the alleyway. The figure behind him laughed once more, their hot breath ghosting across the nape of his neck, and the blue-eyed male shivered. Haruka struggled to move his arms, finding that there wasn't much he could do to rebel against his capturer, especially not in such a compromised situation.

He's got me, Haru thought, wincing slightly as the man who held him slid the edge of the knife he was holding from his neck to his throat, the sharp steel leaving a thin red line in it's wake. A very minimal amount of blood trickled out of the fresh wound, the red liquid sliding down Haruka's throat and riding along the edge of his collarbone, only one small stream moving on to make it's way down the middle of his chest. Haruka squeezed his eyes shut, wondering how one small line of blood could feel so warm.

"Let him go!" Nagisa screamed from off to the side, thrashing against his own problem-in-the-shape-of-a-human-male, before gasping, his face contorting as the man who held him in his grasp slid a hand under his shirt. "H-Haru..." The blonde mumbled.

Haruka wanted to tell the men to leave them alone — to let them go, to get the hell away, to just leave — but the words wouldn't come. Not when the knife at his throat was so cold, the warmth against his back so foreign— not when the threat of a million and one possibilities loomed overhead, hovering like a dark cloud. It was dark out, he and Nagisa were stuck to face the threat these two men presented alone, and neither of them were armed, by the looks of it.

If I had my equipment, Haru thought, squeezing his eyes shut as he thought of the dagger he'd carried with him during his near-month of travelling the desert with Baa-chan. If he had that, there was a chance he could turn the tables, stop things before they got out of hand

No, I don't need a weapon to change the situation, Haruka pushed away his thoughts of "if." The boy grunted and leaned forward, pressing himself against the wall further; he felt relieved when the man behind him didn't lean forward as well, glad to not have the man's chest right up against his back. These guys are just like that man back in the desert. I don't need a weapon to take them down, Haruka thought determinedly, not sure whether he was being honest with himself or presenting himself with a sugar-coated lie to help give him peace of mind. Eitherway, he had to do something, or else who knew what could end up happening. I have to save Nagisa— I have to save us.

With a prayer sent up to a God he wasn't even sure he believed in, Haruka pushed away from the wall. He moved back into his initial position — up against the man's chest — and used the space between his feet and the wall to slowly inch his left foot closer, closer, and still closer to the wall. Then, once his toes were pressed against the hard, cold stone, the boy grunted, swinging his leg back, his heel successfully making hard contact with the man's shin. There was a curse, followed by the sound of the man's clumsy footsteps as he stumbled backward. Haru took the opportunity to wheel around, to prepare to face the man and make him buzz off, but he found himself regretting his actions sooner that he would've liked.

The feel of the small knife his assailant wielded was cold and painful against Haruka's skin as the small weapon was pushed into the boy's shoulder, causing him to gasp out. Haru's mouth dropped open, his eyes opening wide as he stared at the man's face, his body registering the pain from his attack, but his mind unable to register what had happened. The male that towered over him looked angered, his face still contorted in a look of slight pain over Haru's kick. "You brat," He grumbled out, pushing the knife in deeper.

Haruka gasped again, a soft groaning noise slipping past his lips as he felt blood flowing from the wound, warm and sticky and flowing from his body in bigger amounts than the small trickles that had escaped from his throat previously. Haru tried not to focus on the warm sensation spilling down his arm and side.

"Ain't nobody asked for any kicks to the shin," The man above Haruka said, grunting as he pulled at the knife in Haru's shoulder, withdrawing it from the boy's flesh. Haru hissed as the weapon left him, gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut. The man put his dagger away and reached out, taking Haruka by the hair. There was a laugh, this one slightly higher-pitched than the one of the man who currently had Haru in his clutches.

"What— can't take a little kick from a little servant boy?" The voice asked and Haru was able to recognize it in his pained, hazy state as the voice of the man he'd heard cursing at Nagisa beforehand when he himself was still safe, positioned just outside the alleyway and still hidden within the shadows. I should've been more cautious, Haru thought, wondering why he'd acted so recklessly. There was no time to ponder that, however, as the male off to the side with Nagisa laughed again, turning to face them. Haruka raised his eyebrows, blue eyes staring at the man. "You..." He mumbled.

Dark brown hair that hung to his shoulders, his bangs side-swept; red eyes that seemed almost unreal. Blue and white garments that Haru could liken to his own ensemble and now recognize as the official uniform of a guard of the royal palace. Add it all together into a whole image and it all became clear. The man that had approached them while they were standing at the fountain back on his first day in town nearly a week ago; the man who had come up and started speaking with Nagisa. Haruka frowned, his eyebrows knitting together.

"A palace guard committing rape? I wonder what the King and Queen would think of that." There was no longer a question as to whether or not a rape had been in the middle of happening as there had been back before he'd stepped in and tried to intervene, he didn't think. Haru didn't allow his eyes to wander too far, but just from looking he could see Nagisa's white pants, once on correctly, were pushed down to hug the boy's knees, his shirt slightly open and the man's hands on his front— one on his chest while the other pressed against his hip bone.

Haruka felt that same angry ball of emotion as before build back up in the pit of his stomach at the sight. How dare they do this to someone like Nagisa— the peppy, cheerful and all-around friendly blonde didn't deserve this. He was too nice— granted, a little annoying, but he was far too kind of a soul to have this done to him. This was obscene.

"Rape?" The man in question raised his eyebrows, looking surprised, before he laughed. "You're kidding, right? This isn't rape," The man insisted and smirked. He backed up, bringing Nagisa back with him, who'd stopped fighting against him and had settled for squeezing his eyes shut and crying after he'd seen Haru take a deep knife wound to the shoulder. It was his fault; Haru was in trouble because of him! Dammit!

"He likes it— can't you tell?" The red-eyed man behind Nagisa smirked again, leaning back against the back wall of the alleyway as he lifted Nagisa up, letting the blonde's pants slip to hang around his ankles before he spread his legs apart. Haruka's face contorted into a look of sheer disgust —as well as pain from his wound — and he grunted as the man holding him up by the hair yanked on his dark locks, pointing him in Nagisa and the other man's direction.

"You think he's some innocent little shit or something?" The man asked from behind Haru, shaking him roughly by his hair when he saw Haru try to shut his eyes. The boy opened his blue hues once more to satisfy the man, watching as the man that had Nagisa pushed his own pants down.

"That boy is a whore. Seriously— he works in the brothel next door," The man behind Haru commented, taking it upon himself to allow his free hand to wander to the boy's waist, his fingers ghosting over Haru's only half-covered hip bone. The blue-eyed servant didn't do anything in protest to the man's actions, too pulled in by the sight before him to even feel the man's hand on him, save for a distant, tiny tickle against his skin. "He loves having sex with anyone and everyone who'll have him— I'm surprised he hasn't picked up any nasty diseases along the way," The man commented.

Haruka eyebrows raised and Nagisa gasped out, tears still spilling from his eyes as the man behind him pushed into him— the man he knew well and probably wouldn't mind doing this sort of thing with any other day. He didn't like having an audience, either especially not with Haru in that audience. Haru...

"Haru-chan..." Nagisa mumbled quietly, moaning as the red-eyed man moved against him. Haruka felt his stomach flip, the sound of Nagisa's reluctant but pleasured moan foreign to his ears. So he really does like it... Haruka thought, shaking his head as much as his own assailant would allow him to. The way Nagisa had gone all quiet when that guard guy had approached them, save for speaking in whispers to the man... The way he'd skipped over every brothel in town during his tour of Firdous... Suddenly it all made sense— everything.

Upon discovering this, having this revelation, Haruka grunted, scowling. Why why had Nagisa hidden that from him? What— had he been expecting to be judged? I'm an outsider, my opinion shouldn't matter.

Haru pushed the man behind him away with his free arm, letting his short-but-not-too-short nails scratch at the man's skin, before he whirled around, kicking the man again, this time in the stomach. As the man fell, Haru attempted to make a grab for the knife against the man's hip, but the taller, tanner male grunted, swinging his foot up. The top of the man's shoe connected with Haru's chin and he gasped out, grunting as he fell back and hit the ground, pain coursing throughout his jaw. On the other side of the alley, Nagisa's cries seemed to intensify.

"You little fucker," The man Haruka had kicked grunted, rubbing his stomach as he stood. "I'll make you pay for that!" He exclaimed, making a move for the boy— one Haru found that, when on his back on such a flat, hard surface, with such intense pain already ringing through him, he couldn't move to dodge. The boy felt the warmth of the man on his abdomen as he straddled his stomach, then the sharp pain of a fist connecting with his cheek, followed by another hit to the other side of his face. As the hits came, he was pretty sure the blood he was tasting was from the kick to the jaw he'd received before— at least, he hoped that's where it was from.

And the hits continued, punch after punch after occasional slap, and Haruka grunted. He could hardly feel the rest of his body anymore— all the pain was situated in his face. And then the man moved lower, biting harshly at his neck and scratching at his chest, leaving enough trauma and damage everywhere he touched to guarentee a bruise later. Haru didn't make a lot of noise, leaving the sounds of the man's hits and Nagisa's moans to fill the air.

"Heh, sounds like they're having fun, huh?" The man hovering above Haru asked, moving down to the boy's lower half. He smirked, taking in Haru's dazed, beaten appearance. "You were cute before I started beating up on ya, but you're gonna be real ugly after I'm done with you. Maybe I'll make you mine; Nagisa seems like he's already got someone," The man began to reach for Haru's pants. "Of course, I dunno who would fuck you if I didn't; your face is already starting to look pretty nasty," The man insulted, taking hold of the side of Haru's pants, his hand gripping dangerously close to the bag of coins in his pocket. Haruka's breath hitched.

Please don't let him notice, The boy thought, trying to shift underneath the man, willing his aching body to move. This only caused the man's hand to slip, however, grasping at the bag inside Haru's pocket. He raised his eyebrows. "What do we have here?" The man commented, reaching inside the boy's pocket and pulling out the bag of money. Just by feeling it, hearing the coins inside it jingle, he knew what it was. The man smirked, holding the bag up high as he looked towards his friend. "Hey, look at what we got here, Rai!" The man called, catching his buddy's attention mid-thrust. "What is it?" He asked.

"Loot! Coins— a whole bag of 'em!" The man above Haruka exclaimed, to which his buddy nodded. "Nice. Keep it safe and we can go buy some more booze and prostitutes."

The man nodded, pocketing the money. Haruka let out a growl, reaching out and using as much strength as was currently possible to hit the man, who returned the growl, grabbed the boy's hand, and reached for his knife, aiming it at Haru's chest this time. "I'm tired of you hitting me, you little bastard. Now that we've got your money, I don't think I need to fuck you— there are much better looking people in the brothel next door, and women, at that!" He exclaimed, beginning to bring down the knife. Haruka winced and Nagisa quickly called out for the man to stop, successfully catching his attention. The man looked over at Nagisa, as well as Haru, who found it incredibly painful to turn his head to do so.

"Please— leave him alone!" Nagisa begged now that all eyes were on him, including those of the man behind him as he stopped mid-thrust. The blonde squeezed his eyes shut before opening them, trying to stop his tears as he said, "Stop hurting Haru-chan! Stop it and you can have that money, plus mine, and myself for the rest of the night— free!" He exclaimed, trying to negotiate.

The two men glanced at each other, then the one with the money smirked, glancing down at Haru. "You sure are lucky he's so good at what he does, boy," He commented before getting off of Haru, standing back up and looking back towards Nagisa, who was fixing his pants back around his waist; the man behind him, best known as Rai, had pulled out.

"A-And if we leave Haru-chan alone and go somewhere else, you can both have me," Nagisa promised, wanting to make certain that Haruka would be safe and trying to put as much on the table as possible. Still on the ground, Haruka's eyes widened as one of the men — though he couldn't tell which — whistled. "Both of us? Sounds pretty good to me— let's go Nagi, Tsu," The red-eyed man took Nagisa's arm, his own pants fixed as he walked past the other man, Tsu, who followed. As they left, Nagisa glanced back at Haruka, frowning. "I'm so sorry, Haru-chan," He whispered, wishing he didn't have to leave Haruka alone.

And left alone he was. Haruka laid there on the ground for what seemed like forever before he finally found it within himself to crawl over to the alley wall, sitting up and leaning against it. He gasped. He was in so much pain— from his face to his chest to his... his... My what? Haruka wondered hazily, thinking back to the moans Nagisa had been emitting beforehand, his mind seeing the Nagisa he'd seen tonight as a sharp contrast against the one he'd known just days before. My... trust in people? Is that what else has been hurt? He didn't know. He just knew he was in a lot of pain, didn't feel like moving, and he'd lost the money for Nitori's present.

Shit, Haru thought as he shut his eyes, his world going dark as he slowly slipped into a sleep that was hardly peaceful.

Meanwhile, some few hours later at just a minute until midnight, Prince Rin sat in his bedroom with his usual assistant, Nitori. The silver-haired boy had been there for the last ten minutes, even though Rin's note had said midnight, and they were talking about this and that to pass the time. It seemed to Nitori — as they sat at the small table in Rin's room, chatting — that the Prince was stalling. True, he'd arrived a few minutes early, but he'd been very eager to go see the Prince, even though he was rather sleepy. I'm not used to staying up late, Nitori thought, wondering why Rin couldn't go ahead and tell him what this was about.

"Prince?" The silver-haired boy asked, before he glanced around the room as the Bell of Firdous, located at the very top of the palace, rang— signaling it was twelve. Nitori smiled, glancing towards the Prince and expecting him to come out with whatever this little meeting of their's was about. He was rather shocked, however, when Rin didn't begin to explain why he was here so late. The red-haired Prince was staring off into space, it seemed, and Nitori had no earthly clue as to what Rin was thinking about. The boy didn't know the things the Prince was feeling on the inside— the anger, the impatience, and — distantly — the worry. Haru should have been back by now, He thought, frowning.

"Prince?" Nitori said again, this time louder. "Oh, uh," Rin looked across the table to his assistant, noting that the bell had stopped ringing now which, considering it rang all throughout the minute of twelve o'clock sharp, meant it was now after twelve. "I just, um..." He mumbled, not knowing what he wanted to say. He didn't have a gift like he'd planned and he'd already told the boy happy birthday, so what...?

"I just... wanted to welcome you back as soon as possible," Rin spouted off the top of his head, offering Nitori half a smile. The boy across from him blinked, surprised, before he slowly laughed and stood. "Thank you. It's good to be back, my Prince. May I go to bed now?" The boy asked, rubbing the back of his head. "You know I have a hard time staying up late," Nitori said, to which Rin chuckled and nodded. The boy smiled and returned the nod, slowly moving towards the door.

As soon as Nitori slipped out, shutting said door behind him, Rin sighed. Haru, where the fuck are you? He questioned, slowly feeling himself getting angrier and angrier now that Nitori was gone and his whole birthday plan had gone downhill for no clear reason. Had he taken the money and run? Rin's hands curled into fists. You better fucking not have, Haru. You better fucking come back.

"I will," is what Haruka would have answered, had he been more than half-conscious and able to communicate with the Prince via telepathy. But he couldn't, he just knew he was being rescued.

He didn't know how Rei had found him or why exactly he was there, but he could make out silver frames and rich purple hues just past them, peering down at him with concern. He heard Rei ask him what had happened, but his voice sounded very distant. Then the guard was picking him up carefully, saying something about having to get him back to the palace, and Haru just let Rei carry him, wishing the male would go a bit more slowly; it hurt to be moved.

"Rei..." Haruka found his voice on the way back, his head falling back as he said, "I wanna go see Baa-chan." There was a grunt as Rei pushed past the palace gates, shaking his head.

"You can't go see Baa-chan right now. We need to get you fixed up. Also, I need to report this to Prince Rin, seeing as how you were out in town doing him a favor."

Haru grunted, already dreading the thought of just Rin himself. He didn't know what to expect from the cerise-haired Prince. He'd been mugged and had ruined Nitori's big birthday surprise or whatever, which the Prince had seemed pretty excited about. Being carried into the palace via the front entrance, Haru wasn't sure what to expect.

Will you be mad... Rin?

[CHAPTER ELEVEN: "IN THE ALLEYWAY." END]

Hey, guys! This fic has hit 130+ reviews! Whoo! Thanks to all of you for your support.

I wish I could talk longer, write out a better message to you wonderful people, but I've really, really gotta go. I'm late to be somewhere! Well, almost.
(as in, I'm supposed to be up my grandma's and my mom'll have a fit if I'm not up there by seven, which it's twenty past six as I write this and I have to get ready.)

So yeah! I'll see you all soon! Chapter 12 should be up... before Wednesday, is all I can say. Bye guys! I'll fix any mistakes later! PuddinPie out!