Trigger warning, mentions of rape. (There is no rape scene, and there is nothing graphic, but some people are very sensitive about that and I want to warm them. Be safe, everyone.)

Hiro felt someone sleeping next to him, the first thing going through his mind being 'Okay, I just need to get my clothes and sneak out.'

The second was that he was in prison still and the he wouldn't be getting out for almost three months. That practically erased the first thought for he remembered that he was in Tadashi's bed.

Moments later he rolled over and fell onto the floor, groaning and stretching. It was too early for him to be awake and he wasn't going to do anything for the moment except lay on the nice, cold, hard floor. He curled up there for a few minutes before he finally found himself ready to wake up and got up to his feet unsteadily. He looked around and noticed that Tadashi was still sleeping, rolling his eyes. It would only be about an hour before everyone else would be waking up, so he decided to start cleaning the room up a little bit. He had gotten around eight more hours of sleep than usual (Tadashi had woken only two hours after he fell asleep, at about eleven) due to the coercive influence of Tadashi. That dang peer pressure, making him get so much sleep and let his guard down and stuff. He only really needed six or four hours of sleep, anyways.

He cleaned the room very well, while still managing the make sure that Tadashi didn't wake up. He then laid in bed for a little bit more time before everyone had to wake up and get moving and eat. Hiro greeted Tadashi, but they sat in a comforting silence while they ate. At one point Hiro, who was sitting next to Tadashi, put his head on the other's shoulder. That didn't last long because they had to eat, but it was a nice thing while it lasted. They were, in a word, brothers. They had mutual respect and admiration and lacked any form of romantic or sexual attraction. They may not have had the same parents, but they had each other, meaning that they were brothers without being related.

When they were done eating, they went out to the yard and then went to work. When Hiro was done with the work that he was assigned, he was sent to the showers to wash off all of the sweat that he worked up. That was where the dust was kicked around.

Hiro stripped down, his dignity having long been gone, and went to the open showers. One of the people that he had beaten (rightfully) in a bot fight a few months ago left the vicinity. That made Hiro relax as he washed himself. He was in the corner shower, and he had just began washing his rat's nest of hair when a shadow covered him. Hiro looked up and saw the person that had just left standing over him, accompanied by a few of his groupies. The person, Hiro faintly recalled, when by Retasu. Ret, for short. Hiro cowered under him, chuckling nervously.

"Uh, hey, Ret, it's been a long time, hasn't it been? Almost a year, right?" Hiro asked, looking around to try some way to escape. He found no easy escape route, only other people from different shifts filing into the bathroom. Hiro prayed that Tadashi would come in soon.

Ret snarled something in Japanese that was lost on Hiro, who was looking around desperately for Tadashi.

It was a close encounter. When Hiro didn't find Tadashi, he completely shut down and stopped registering what was happening. He didn't want to know about anything that was happening, but some things did get through his mental block, such as the steam of the shower and the disgusting entanglement of hair and hands, shortly followed by the feeling of skin on skin.

Things didn't get too far, though. Tadashi did come, and he made it very clear to all of them that he wasn't amused about the fact that they were messing with Hiro. When he had approached, he had noticed that they weren't simply going for violence, but violation. That was, by absolutely not means, okay with Tadashi.

Two of the four people got away lucky, with only some bruises and the faint chance of being unable to reproduce in the future. One broke his arm. Ret, however, didn't get off so easily. He lost three teeth, had a mild concussion, and a fractured shinbone.

Later, Tadashi almost felt guilty for hurting the group of people so badly, but then later he noticed how Hiro had shrunken up into himself, trying to recover from the experience. He hadn't talked since they had reunited and it was extremely concerning to Tadashi.

"Hey, Hiro… want to talk about what happened?" He asked softly. Hiro shrugged.

"I don't really know what happened."

"What do you mean?"

"I just kind of stopped. One minute he was over, the next you're over me asking if I'm okay. There are bits and pieces, but I don't really remember. I'll get over it in a day or two," Hiro whispered, trying to shrug Tadashi off. Tadashi, however, was not having any of it.

"That's really, really unhealthy, Hiro. Come on, let's talk about it," Tadashi insisted. They were both dry and into their usual uniforms, sitting on Tadashi's bed. "Where did you know that guy from?"

"His name is Retasu, I beat him in bot fighting, he was mad." Hiro shrugged again, and if the situation weren't so dire then Tadashi would have asked about the fact that the man's name was lettuce. This, however, was not the time.

"When he found me I was washing my hair. He just had a shadow over me and was really big and you weren't there to protect me and I couldn't run and I'm tiny so I can't fight so I shut down. I know that he was going to beat me up and then rape me, but I don't remember what he did to me and I'm actually really okay with that. I can take solace in the fact that he didn't get all the way, though," Hiro whispered. His voice was clearing up, and what he was saying seemed rather dry and factual, rather than emotional. Tadashi didn't know what to do or say, so he just held the younger one in his arms tightly. They slept in the same bed again that night.