Not going to do a "last time" on this one because it starts off with Miwa and last time we ended of with Kai.

Warnings: blood mention IN THIS CHAPTER and abuse mention

Disclaimer: I don't own CFV

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Chapter 4

Miwa was watching a movie at home when the doorbell rang. He frowned. Who could it be at this hour? Not to mention the fact that it was raining. Setting his popcorn down on the table, he made his way towards the door. His parents were out of town on a business trip so he had the house to himself. The blond unlocked the door only to be frozen in shock at the sight in front of him.

His best friend was currently leaning against his door frame, his clothes in tatters and blood dripping from his arm. His normally clear face was covered in cuts and bruises, some of which looked like they were old. Each breath the brunet took looked like it pained him, which Miwa didn't think was very far from the truth.

"M-Miwa..." the brunet rasped. Miwa was still rooted to the ground. What had happened in the week that Kai was gone? He was brought back to earth when a word that he never would've expected Kai to say tumbled from his lips.

"Help."

Miwa was finally brought out of his shock as Kai tipped forward, unable to support himself any longer. Miwa immediately rushed forward to catch the older and pulled him inside while closing the door.

"Oh my god, Kai," he said as he laid the injured boy on his bed and rushed into his bathroom to grab his medical supplies. He heard Kai utter words of protest about how he was going to get Miwa's bed wet but Miwa would have none of it. He didn't care about that right now. The only thing that mattered was Kai getting treatment. He came back and found the brunet on the verge on unconsciousness. Miwa didn't know how severe Kai's injuries were but one thing he did know was that he did not want him to go to sleep yet.

"Kai... Kai! You need to stay awake, ok? Can you do that for me?" he asked, panic very slowly creeping into his words. Kai mumbled some form of gibberish but opened one eye hazily nonetheless. Miwa sighed in relief.

"That's it Kai. Talk to me. Stay awake. Tell me what happened. I'm going to fix you up." Kai groaned and mumbled and Miwa strained his ears to understand what the boy was saying. What he did catch angered him.

"Kai! How can you not tell me what happened?! You showed up on my doorstep hurt and bloody! Do you not trust me? What's stopping you?!" he demanded. His eyes welled with tears and he hurriedly rubbed them away. This was no time to cry. Kai needed help. He began to tug off what remained of Kai's shirt to begin treating his wounds.

Just when the shirt was almost off, Miwa heard Kai whisper,

"Because he'll hurt you too." That stopped Miwa in his tracks. Who was "he"? Was it someone they knew?

"Kai...?" he questioned. But the brunet had already said everything he intended to say. Instead, he was talking about vanguard now. His voice cracked every now and then and sometimes pained gasps would escape him but Kai stayed awake. Miwa had already ridden Kai of his shirt a long time ago and he was disgusted by the sheer amount of wounds that littered Kai's pale chest. Bruises in the shape of hands were seen across his arms and chest while wounds that looked suspiciously like they were made by belts were seen on the brunet's body. One particular cut ran down Kai's elbow to his wrist. It was still bleeding so Miwa noted that that must have been the blood he saw earlier. The wound looked like it was made with a knife and this set Miwa off more than anything else but he contained his rage and started to treat Kai's injuries. He had to be careful though. One wrong move and he could hurt Kai worse than he already was. As if to prove his point, when he had finished disinfecting the gash on Kai's arm and started bandaging it, Kai let out a choked gasp which made Miwa stop.

"Kai! Oh my god, Kai, I'm sorry!" he apologised. Kai grit his teeth and focused on breathing. He took deep breaths and eventually calmed down.

"It's... fine," he managed, although he was still very clearly in pain. "Just keep going please. I appreciate this, Miwa," the brunet thanked. Miwa obliged and waved off the thanks. What were friends for, after all? He continued to bandage the cut, taking care to be more careful. When he was satisfied with the bandaging of every cut, he packed up all of his supplies and made his way back to the bathroom. As he put away his things, he thought about Kai's wounds. The bruises were definitely made by someone else. Kai had said that he would get hurt if the brunet told him who had done this. While he appreciated Kai's concern, he couldn't just ignore who had beaten his friend within an inch of his life. When he returned to his bedroom, he found Kai fast asleep. Miwa figured this was ok since he had already bandaged Kai up fairly well and at this point he was positive that Kai wasn't going to leave for the other side too soon. Miwa pulled the covers over his guest and grabbed his spare futon. It was a good thing that Kai had changed out of his wet clothes a while ago or else he might've caught a cold. He turned off his movie as well as the light. He might as well get some sleep.

Kai woke up warm and comfortable which came as a shock to him, seeing as how his last memory was him on the train ride back, about to collapse. Then, last night's events all came rushing back to him. He gently pried the blanket off of him and sat up, wincing as he did so. He was about to get out of bed when Miwa entered the room holding a tray of food. The blond panicked seeing Kai trying to leave. He hastily put down the tray and all but shoved the brunet back into bed.

"You still need to rest, Kai! You haven't fully recovered yet!" Kai pouted at the blond while Miwa retained his strict expression. Eventually, Kai just sighed and let himself relax. Satisfied with the other's acceptance, Miwa picked up the food tray and set it down in front of Kai.

"It's not much and it's nothing compared to your cooking but you're still injured and I thought you might be hungry," he said as he looked away sheepishly. Kai looked down at his lap. Miwa had prepared two fried eggs, two strips of bacon, a slice of toast as well as an apple and orange juice. Kai slowly started to eat the meal his friend had made for him. After he finished he turned to Miwa.

"Thank you, Miwa. It was delicious," he complimented. Miwa turned a shade darker and stuttered out,

"I-It's no problem. Glad you l-liked it." Miwa grabbed the tray and the empty dishes and left the room to wash them. When he came back, he sat down on the side of the bed, his gray eyes determined. Kai turned his gaze from the window to the blond inquiringly.

"Kai, I know you don't want to tell me and I know you're doing it to protect me, but I can't ignore it when you're hurt this badly. And this isn't the first time either. Please, Kai, tell me what's happening." The brunet turned away, ashamed to be hiding things from his best friend, but not wanting to involve the blond in his problems any further. Miwa clenched his fist.

"Why? Do you think that you're a burden? You aren't. Kai, you're my most precious friend and it kills me to see you like this," he began as tears welled up in his eyes. "It kills me to see you in pain and it kills me even more to know that you're in pain but you won't tell me why and you won't let me help you." The tears began to fall, splattering on Kai's palm one by one. "I know you don't trust people easily but I thought I was someone you could place your faith in. Am I really that little to you?" Miwa wiped away the tears that ran down his cheeks and sniffled. Then, he heard Kai say quietly,

"I go back to the town I moved to when I was younger every three months." The blond looked up to find the teal eyed boy staring at his lap.

"I always go to my uncle's house. I stay for a week. He says it under the excuse that he wants to see me. But all he ever does is hit me. He's the one who hurt me, Miwa. I didn't want to tell you because he would get to you too, if you knew. I didn't want you to get hurt too." Miwa felt more tears come to his eyes and abruptly pulled the brunet into a hug. Shocked, Kai could only numbly reach around and return the hug.

"Miwa...?" he asked, confused at the sudden action.

"Kai, I'm so sorry. I-I never noticed anything. God, Kai, I'm an awful best friend. I'm so sorry!" Miwa cried as he hugged the brunet tighter. Kai felt tears begin to form in his own eyes and let them run down his tired cheeks.

"It's ok, I never said anything. How were you supposed to know?" he comforted. The blond shook his head in the crook of Kai's neck.

"You had to go through all that pain all alone. Kai... I wasn't there for you! I failed you again!" Kai shook his head.

"No. You helped me when I needed you the most. Thank you, Miwa."

The two crying boys sat there until they were both exhausted. Kai had fallen asleep as soon as Miwa had ended their hug, the invisible weight on his shoulders finally gone. Miwa smiled. He was glad that Kai had finally opened up to him. Now, if he could just figure out what to do... A sudden phone call brought Miwa out of his thoughts. The caller ID read "Unknown". Puzzled, he picked up the phone.

"Hello?" The voice on the other end was scratchy so he couldn't make out who it was. It was also deep and vaguely familiar to him, as if he had heard it before.

"Come to the park across from Card Capital if you want answers," was all the voice said before Miwa heard the ring tone. Miwa looked through his call history, only to find that the number was blocked. He frowned. It didn't look like he had much of a choice other than to comply. Grabbing his coat, he headed out, intent on finding out who it was that had just called him.

Kai woke up to find no one in the house. He stood up and walked into Miwa's living room. He didn't see the blond anywhere nor did he see a note from him indicating where he had went. Kai frowned. That wasn't like Miwa at all. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Surprised, Kai walked slowly to the door. Was Miwa expecting somebody? He opened the door to reveal none other than his uncle. Gasping, he only caught his uncle's twisted grin and a pain in his stomach before he blacked out.

Miwa had been waiting for the mysterious caller for over an hour. Where was he? He kept thinking back to the call. The voice had had a familiar tone to it, something that he couldn't place right then. But the more he thought about it, the more it became clearer. It sounded vaguely like Kai's voice. But Kai's parents were dead. Who else could it have been? His eyes widened in shock and then panic as he realised just who it was that had called him. His panic rose when he realised just what he had accidentally done.

"Kai!" he screamed as he ran back to his house.

Oooh, suspenseful? Next chapter is coming up!