Again: A bunch of trigger warnings. You have been warned!

"What the hell do you mean I can't help him?" Rin slammed his fist down on the desk. He wasn't just mad, no, he was furious.

Mikoshiba sat behind the desk, arms crossed. "Now Matsuoka, I know you're worried. I am too, but there's just not enough evidence that he's being abused. If he shows up to practice, we'll ask him." The captain sighed and leaned back in the chair.

Rin clenched his fists. "Captain you just don't get it! I saw how his parents treated him last night! Nitori looked like he was about to cry, and we have to help him!" His breathing was erratic, near hyperventilating. "He didn't show up all day, so what makes you think he's going to show up now?" He hissed.

"Matsuoka, I'm sure he'll come in. He never misses practice. If he doesn't, we'll go to his house and talk to him there." Mikoshiba looked out the office window to see the team practicing. He would occasionally glance at the pool entrance to see if Nitori would enter.

The second year rubbed his neck. The anxiety was getting to him; he felt like he was going to be sick he was so worried. "What if they won't let us in? What if Nitori's dead?" Rin assumed the worse.

"He's not dead. If they won't let us in, we'll just ask for them to get Nitori to call us. Worse comes to worse, we break our way in." The captain stood now, walking to the office door. "If you're up to it, we have to get back to practice."

Rin nodded and got his stuff. He was a little dizzy, but he wasn't going to let it stop him. When he got to his platform, he glanced over at the door. Nitori was still not there.

His head was spinning with awful thoughts. The sight of seeing Nitori covered in bruises and cuts clouded his mind, making him wobble on his platform. His grip on the edge tightened, making the teammates stare at him. He tried not to fall over, but when he fell into the water it brought him back to reality.

The others started to laugh at Rin for falling in, but Mikoshiba rushed to the teen and pulled him out. Rin's eyes were wide and frantic. He looked terrified. "Matsuoka, go sit down." Mikoshiba ordered. He looked at the others. "10 extra laps! Now!" He yelled.

Rin sat on the bench and grabbed his phone from his bag. He went to his contacts and called Nitori. It rung several times, but there was no connection. He tried multiple times, but to no avail. "He's not answering." His head was killing him.

"I'm sure he's fine." Mikoshiba sat next to him. His breathing was heavy.

A few minutes later, Rin had gotten a text on his phone from Nitori.

'What is it?' It said.

Rin almost jumped when the text came; it gave him the reassuring fact that Nitori was alive. 'Can you come to practice?' Rin replied.

It took a few moments before he got a reply, but Rin sighed in relief when he got a 'Yes' from his first-year.

Rin looked over to the captain, who was helping others with their swimming strokes. "He's coming."

Mikoshiba grinned. "Good. Just sit there until he gets here. When he does, take him to my office." He said.

When Nitori arrived, he limped a bit. His jacket was zipped all the way up and he still wore his sweat pants. There was a slight dullness to his eyes which startled Rin. The older male walked up to Nitori and took his bag. "Hey, Nitori. Captain wants me to take you to his office so we can talk." He said, gently grabbing Nitori's arm, making him wince. "Sorry."

Nitori smiled. "Why do we need to talk? I'm fine, I told you. I just fell." He started to defend himself as Rin led him to the room.

After entering the room, Rin made Nitori sit down on a chair. "Stay." He said. Nitori looked up at him, puzzled. "Knowing you, you'd probably just run off like usual."

Nitori pouted, "No I won't! My knee is hurting me, so I can't run!" He explained.

"Just shut up and stay there, Ai." Rin pressed down on Nitori's head, something he often does.

Nitori closed his eyes. "Please don't do that." He whined. Rin took his hand off and Nitori rubbed his head. "My head's really tender."

"It's never hurt you before."

"Well…"

Mikoshiba entered the room when Nitori tried to explain the situation. "Nitori, we need to talk." He sat down at the desk. "It's about your family."

Rin saw Nitori visibly tense up. "W-what about them?"

"Do you all get along?" Mikoshiba asked. Nitori nodded after hesitating. "Rin told me about what happened last night. Why did your father yell at you?"

Nitori fidgeted in his seat. "He was angry from earlier. He had drank a little too much, but he's not like that all the time I swear!" He defended.

Rin sighed. "Why didn't your mother interfere?" He spoke for Mikoshiba.

"She was out."

"So she left you with your drunken father?" Mikoshiba stared at Nitori, making him squirm.

Nitori's eyes darted to the ground. "Well, she was there, but not there, if you know what I mean. She got mad too that Rin had to come to the house."

Mikoshiba leaned back against his char. "Take your jacket off." He ordered.

The first year hesitated but stood up. His hands were shaking as his fingers wrapped around the zipper and pulled it down. He was trembling after taking it off, standing there with only a T-shirt on. "Now take your shirt off."

Nitori had tears in his eyes. He looked over at Rin. "Please, I don't want to."

Rin felt so bad seeing his friend like this. It was cruel of the captain to do this, but Rin noticed Mikoshiba looked nervous too. Rin felt like he was going to faint. "Nitori, I know you don't want to. But it's for your safety. Please just take your shirt off."

Nitori was trembling so hard Rin thought he might collapse. Nitori was breathing heavily as he lifted the shirt up. His arms fell back down. "I-I can't. I'm sorry." He apologized. He was on the edge of crying, and both of the older boys knew that if he started to cry, they would both cry also.

Mikoshiba closed his eyes in frustration. "Rin." Rin looked up, not use to Mikoshiba calling him by his birth name. "Help him."

Nitori shivered as Rin grabbed the hem of the shirt and gently took it off. Mikoshiba sighed when he saw Nitori's chest. Rin was furious. "Nitori…" Rin had to restrain himself from fainting.

On Nitori's chest there were several deep red burns in the shape of a circle, his sides were bruised, and his arms had hand-shaped bruises on them. "I-I'm sorry." Nitori tried to cover his chest up. "I just fell, and I got hurt and I just wanted to cover them up." He stuttered.

Rin just wanted to hug the kid. "Ai…did your dad burn you with his cigar?"

Nitori went quiet.

"Did he hit you?"

Silence.

"I'm so sorry for not telling you." Nitori finally whispered. It was choked out, barely audible.

Rin touched Nitori's shoulder, just ever so gently, and reassured him. "Don't be sorry, Ai."

The boy had enough. He turned around to Rin and tackled him. He sobbed into Rin's chest hard. "I'm so sorry!" He cried. The grip he had on Rin was tight, but Rin wouldn't let him loosen up.

"It's okay, Ai. We're going to help you." Rin hugged him back tightly. His voice quivered. Before he knew it, he had also started to cry. "I'm sorry for not knowing what was going on Ai."

Nitori just kept sobbing, not caring how much it hurt his chest to hug Rin. "I'm so sorry for not telling you!" He repeated.

Mikoshiba smiled. "Aiichiro, don't be sorry. It's not your fault. It will never be your fault. We are going to help you." He got out of his chair and hugged Nitori.

Nitori tried to smile through his tears. "T-thank you so much!" He choked out.

A/N: What a lot of people don't seem to understand about child abuse is that the victim isn't the only one affected, the friends of the victim can also be affected. Ahh I just hate portraying Nitori as being weak/dependent, because he's anything but. (I mean he puts up with Rin) But trust me, he'll get a shining moment!