Kaoru was practically dragged back to his cell, unable to move, unable to think, unable to feel. His mind was blank and his body limp as he was thrown on the mattress. He didn't fight as his hands were shackled to the wall. He simply curled in on himself, wishing to implode as his brain decided to replay the events that had unfolded minutes before.
"Are you ready, Kaoru?" Shuko had asked with a grin full of malice.
"What for?" Kaoru couldn't hide the slight tremor in his voice, especially after that freezing excuse for a shower.
"For your first customer, of course." Two guards came into the room then, each removing one of Kaoru's arms from his restraints then hauling him off the ground, one on each side. He felt a hot wash of shame run through him as he was completely exposed, not having been given any clothes after his shower. "You went for quite a high price, you know, lots of people must have it in for your parents. Tell me, who have they pissed off lately?"
"Don't talk about my family like that!" Kaoru snapped, wanting to lunge for Shuko but knowing he wouldn't get anywhere with the massive men holding him between them.
"Boss?" One of them asked, his voice barely more than a growl.
"No, no, let it go." Shuko chuckled. "He's simply biased. I'll have you know, Kaoru that your mother has bought out numerous companies, only to fire all of the employees and force them to labour in her sweatshops. And your father is no better. His computer company has been dominating the market for years, forcing smaller companies to use his software for inexcusable prices because he can simply run them out of business at the drop of a hat."
"That's not true!" Kaoru said more to himself than Shuko. There was no way his parents could have done such horrible things. Then again, his parents had never been very open about their business… no! No, they just didn't like talking about work because they were home so rarely and wanted to talk about less serious subjects.
"Do they even know I'm gone…?" Kaoru suddenly found himself thinking. Hikaru had to have called them, but they hardly ever had time to answer their phones.
"Oh, but it is true." Shuko sighed. "Your parents are incredible business owners, but horrible people driven not by the love for their family, but by their love of money."
Kaoru hung his head, curing himself for giving into Shuko's game so quickly. He would not turn on his family.
"Well, here we are." Shuko plastered a smile on his face as they rounded a corner into a well-lit hallway. Kaoru squinted against the suddenly bright light and yellow-painted walls. "Ikko! How lovely to see you!" Shuko shook the man's hand enthusiastically.
"This is the Hitachiin?" Ikko asked, running his tongue over his teeth as he inspected Kaoru.
"Just as you requested." Shuko nodded. "You see, Kaoru, Ikko used to be the CEO of a software company that rivalled your father's, until your father bought them out and put Ikko on the marketing team. He is still payed handsomely by many people's standards, but his annual income was cut by seventy five percent. He's now only making a fourth of what he was before, and that's all because of your father." Shuko sneered in Kaoru's face. "He, along with many others, specially requested to have you brought here. What did we decide on, Ikko?"
"One million yen per hour." He man grumbled, making Kaoru's stomach drop. He'd figured out what was happening by now, and was in a state of full-fledged panic. His heart felt as if it would beat out of his chest, his lungs were on fire, his legs were shaking. He felt like he'd run a marathon in ten minutes.
"Is this a panic attack?" He wondered to himself. He'd never had one before; every time Kaoru had gotten stressed, Hikaru had been there to calm him down nearly instantaneously.
"Well, Ikko, I'll leave you to it." Shuko smirked. "As you know, the timer begins when the door closes and stops when you leave. You'll pay me in full on your way out."
"Of course." Ikko hadn't taken his eyes off of Kaoru since they'd first come around the corner. He stared hungrily at the thin, shaking boy. "Now hand him over."
"As you wish." Shuko nodded to the guard who were holding Kaoru and they released him, shoving him into Ikko's strong grasp. Ikko then dragged Kaoru through the open door and threw him down on a bed that was much more comfortable than the one in his cell, nearly as comfortable as his own. The plush did nothing to calm Kaoru's anxiety.
Then, Ikko climbed on top of him.
Kaoru slammed his mental walls up, refusing to remember what Ikko had done to him. Refusing to remember that he he'd been frozen in with fear and hadn't fought back. Refusing to let himself feel anything, not letting the shame and loathing scratch at his numbness. The only thing he could still feel was the mild sting of the wounds in his back. There were marks from Ikko's belt, which Kaoru could live with; but the other wounds, the ones that would scar… Partway through Ikko's time, he had pulled out a small switchblade and began carving into Kaoru's back. At first, he hadn't known what Ikko was doing, but it didn't take long for him to realise what was happening.
The word 'slut' had been sliced into his upper back, running from one shoulder blade to the other. Right below that, 'whore' was carved more deeply. Ikko had said it was so Kaoru would never forget him. Considering what else had happened in the room, Kaoru wouldn't need scars to remember.