Things were actually starting to look up. He was finally clean. He'd never been into hard drugs, but he had illegally used prescription meds to dull the pain for a long time. At the time it had felt necessary, but he realised now that they had dulled everything else too. The world was getting brighter again now that he could see clearer, but of course with the good, came the bad. He still had some pain in his knee sometimes, but it wasn't debilitating, especially if he got his mind working on other things. To do that, he'd taken Kunigami's advice and filmed a couple of videos on how to do his favourite hairstyles. He still hadn't decided if he was going to post them, but filming them had been more fun than he'd expected.

The best part of all though was reconnecting with Kunigami. Somehow he'd forgotten how comforting that strong presence beside him could be. If he hadn't know it when they were kids, he knew beyond a doubt now that he could rely on Kunigami completely. That he really was a hero, and the best person Chigiri had ever met. With Kunigami, he was safe.

Kunigami had recovered enough to go back on duty, and while being left alone had worried Chigiri at first, he found that knowing Kunigami was coming back to him at the end of each shift was enough to motivate him to stick on this path that had been laid for him. I don't want to let him down.

There was a knock at the door and Chigiri opened it without thinking, fully expecting to see Kunigami, but he was wrong. His mood instantly plummeted, he knew the person standing there, and he should have known he couldn't leave his past behind so easily.

"Hey there, sweetheart," the guy grinned, pushing past him into the apartment. "Nice place you've got here…"

"It's not mine, so leave."

"Aww, don't be like that…" he said, brandishing a baseball bat. This was bad. And it wasn't only him that was in danger, they knew where Kunigami lived now.

"How did you find me?"

"You haven't exactly been hiding. Did you think just because you managed to dupe a big muscle man into falling for you that you wouldn't have to settle your debts?"

"My building burnt down. I don't have any money. I don't have anything."

"Maybe not, but it looks like your boyfriend does. If you won't cough up, then I'm gonna have to take a look for myself…" he said, looking around the room before swinging the bat and smashing a row of photo frames.

"Stop it!"

He grabbed for the guy but it was all over in a second, the pain ripping through him as the bat bashed into his knee.

He screamed and dropped to the ground, clutching it as pain shot through him.

"Shut up and stay there," the guy commanded, jamming the end of the bat against his cheek.

Chigiri sobbed and nodded, nothing in his mind now except for the pain and preventing more of it.

xxx

Kunigami was happy. Coming home at the end of shift was better, now that he had Chigiri to come home to. Just as he turned the door handle he heard Chigiri scream his name, and it was enough to put him on guard so that when he opened the door and the baseball bat came down he managed to raise his hand and block it, catching the bat mid blow.

For a second his attention was on the attacker, but then he saw Chigiri crumpled on the floor and his strength surged. He ripped the bat out of the guy's hands.

"Get the hell out of here now!"

The guy took off and then Kunigami was free to go to Chigiri.

"Chigiri?! Are you okay?!"

Chigiri didn't say anything, he just broke down in tears.

"Are you hurt? What did he do?" Kunigami asked, a million horrible scenarios racing through his head.

Chigiri grasped the front of Kunigami's shirt and sobbed.

"My knee…"

That's when Kunigami realised why Chigiri was on the floor. He couldn't get up.

The bat…

"Did he hit you?"

Chigiri nodded.

So this was personal…

"Okay," Kunigami said, deciding this was a time for action. He quickly grabbed an icepack from the freezer and secured it to Chigiri's knee, then he scooped the smaller man up and carried him out the door.

"Where are we going?"

"The hospital. You need scans. Don't worry, I've got you."

On the street, Kunigami hailed a cab.

When he carried Chigiri into the hospital, he was grateful to see Akemi on duty.

"Kunigami?! What happened?"

"Blunt force trauma to the right knee. It may have aggravated an existing injury."

"Okay," she nodded. "Bring him this way."

They got Chigiri settled on a bed and then a doctor arrived to assess him. The first thing the doctor suggested was pain meds.

"No," Chigiri refused, shaking his head. "I'll put up with it."

"He's a recovering addict," Akemi informed the doctor.

The doctor examined his knee.

"Are you sure? This is going to be rough without them."

"That's fine."

The doctor ordered scans and Chigiri was taken away to imaging.

Why did this have to happen? He was doing so well.

"Hey, you okay?" Akemi asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, running a hand through his hair.

She frowned.

"No, you're not. What happened here?"

She took his hand for a closer look. The burn scar on his wrist had split open.

"Huh, I didn't even notice. Must have been when I…" Stopped that guy bashing my skull in.

"I'll dress it for you."

"Thanks, Akemi."

She sat him down and prepared the things she needed. He felt a little shaken, now that he could take a breath. Chigiri…

"It's really incredible, Kunigami. What you're doing for him."

"I'm just doing what anyone would."

"No, they wouldn't. He means a lot to you, doesn't he?"

No one is more important to me.

"Yeah. We've been friends for a long time."

"How did you meet?" she asked as she tended him.

"We played soccer together at a training camp. It was a really intense program."

"Oh wow. I'll bet you were great at it."

"I was okay, but I wasn't as good as Chigiri. He was so fast. He could have made it as far as Isagi and Bachira and Rin Itoshi if he hadn't injured himself."

"You know Isagi?!"

"Yeah, we played together for a bit."

"That's so cool! He's amazing, isn't he?" she gushed. Obviously she was another of Isagi's countless admirers.

"Don't let Chigiri hear you say that," he smiled, amused.

"Doesn't he like Isagi? This sounds like a juicy story…"

"It's nothing as interesting as that. Let's just say there's the Isagi fans see, and then there's the guy we used to play with."

Akemi had just finished the dressing when Chigiri was brought back. Kunigami went to him immediately.

"How'd it go?"

"Fine, I guess," he said through gritted teeth, obviously in pain. Kunigami took his hand.

"Squeeze my hand if it helps."

Chigiri looked at him, eyes landing on the fresh bandage on his arm.

"What happened?" he frowned.

"It's nothing," Kunigami dismissed.

"Kunigami…"

"The scar split, that's all. It'll be fine."

Chigiri closed his eyes, tears escaping down his face.

"Damn it. I've screwed up again."

"Hey, come on. This isn't your fault."

"How isn't it? God, I'm such a mess. And now I've dragged you into it. I knew this would happen…"

"Hey, forget all that now. Just focus on getting better. That's what's important."

The doctor came back with the scans.

"Okay," the doctor said. "The good news is that nothing is broken. There is some minor soft tissue damage and it's very swollen, but it should heal on it's own given a week or two. So just stay off it, that's important, and I'll give you some steroids to combat the inflammation. That's the best I can do if you don't want pain relief."

"I don't."

Kunigami was relieved to hear the damage wasn't too serious.

"I can see some pre-existing damage that hasn't healed well," the doctor continued. "Have you considered reparative surgery?"

The suggestion made Chigiri uneasy and Kunigami knew what he was thinking. Surgery means drugs.

"Thanks, doc," Kunigami said. "He'll think about it."

"Please do, I think it could help. Now, if that's all, I'll sign your discharge papers."

"Wait," Akemi said. "Can you prescribe some painkillers for Kunigami? His burn wound reopened."

"Sure," the doctor agreed.

"No," Kunigami refused. "I don't want any pain meds in the house. If Chigiri can put up with it, I can too."

Chigiri gave him an unhappy look, but he just offered a soft smile in return.

"We're in it together, right?"

"Yeah," Chigiri frowned. "Unfortunately for you, I guess we are."

xxx

Getting home was tougher without the adrenaline and with his arm wrapped up, but he managed to carry Chigiri inside, sitting him down on the bed. It had been a long tough day for both of them, so he sat on the bed too, just wanting to stay close for now.

He let Chigiri use him for a pillow, and wrapped an arm around. Maybe I can distract him from the physical pain. Plus, I need to know.

"Chigiri, who was that guy?"

He felt Chigiri tense, and rubbed his arm in hope of soothing him.

"Hey, come on, I'm not an idiot. I can guess he's someone you used to know, maybe a dealer or something…"

"He's a debt collector for a gang I used to get my gear from."

"You have unpaid debts."

"Yeah…"

"How much?"

"It doesn't matter. Like I told him, I have nothing."

"How much?" he repeated. Unlike other things they'd faced, this could be an easy problem to fix.

"Kunigami…"

"Tell me."

"Four-hundred thousand yen."

"If you paid it, would that be the end of it?"

"Yeah, I'm not worth any more trouble than that."

"Can you get in touch with them?"

"If I have to."

"Good. Tell them they can have their money. They already know where we live, so tell them to come get it."

"Kunigami, no. It's too much. It's not your responsibility."

"If you think you're not worth more to me than that, then you don't know me at all."

"Kunigami…" Chigiri said, clutching his shirt and resting his face against his chest. "Thank you."

He stroked Chigiri's hair.

"I told you before, I can't help being a hero for you."

Chigiri didn't answer, whimpering with pain instead. Kunigami readjusted their position a little and went back to stroking Chigiri's hair.

"Try and get some sleep, Chigiri. That'll make it go away for a while."

Chigiri's hand tightened in his shirt.

"Don't go anywhere, Kunigami…"

"I won't. I promise."