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I can no longer return to those days free of bloodshed
These deep scars rooted within me will not disappear...










"Naoko...get a grip here..."

Suddenly, Hayato was by the pianist's side, hand on his shoulder, squeezing reassuringly.

"He's alive, but he's pretty ******** hurt. We need to get him to a hospital, or he might not stick around for you."

He wasn't trying to be an a**, but that was the reality of things.
The violinist needed medical attention, Naoko needed proper clothes and a bath to wash away the splatters of blood.

And...just how the ******** was he going to explain all this to Shou?

This was a bigger mess than he had imagined...
















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"Naoko....baby...oh baby....shhhh...." he tried and tried to calm his tenshi, but there seemed to be no consoling him.

He felt so tired....so terribly weak.

What had happened?

There had been someone....the man with the phone...

He was being held, choked....yes, he though he remembered something like that...

"Oh...baby....you were just trying to help me, weren't you?" he said, beginning to understand, though vaguely, what had happened.

But then he realized...Naoko was covered in blood. He was wet with it.

"Have you been hurt?" he asked, pulling his now blood covered hand back and looking at it.

And...why was Hayato there?
For a moment, he was about to become angry, but he realized very quickly that the man wasn't there to harm...but to help.
Relaxing, he just continued to hold Naoko, whispering sweet words to his crying angel.

While Hayato did as he was asked, Ryu just lay there in Naoko's arms.

"Yeah, baby....I can do that." he answered, taking a deep breath.
The car started up and pulled out of the long drive, getting onto the main road, hurrying back toward the city.

It was easier said than done, though. His head ached terribly, and all his body wanted him to do was to close his eyes and fall into slumber.

"I love you, Naoko..." he said, just wanting to talk, trying to keep himself awake.

"I'm so glad you're with me...things like this were always scarier when I was alone. At least...I know I never have to be alone again." he smiled, though he was obviously weak.

The sun was getting pretty bright by now, and Ryu closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the warmth of the sun across his face through the car window.

"It was a great performance...last night. You were amazing, babe." he grinned.

It had been an amazing performance....he was rather looking forward to their next time on the stage...

I can no longer return to those days free of bloodshed
These deep scars rooted within me will not disappear...






Hayato kept looking back in the rear-view mirror, making sure everything was still ok as he sped toward the city.
It wasn't too long before they were at the outskirts of town. Perhaps another twenty minutes before they got to the hospital...at most.

"Naoko...when we get to the hospital, we have to have the stories straight. You were kidnapped. The kidnapper...wore a mask. He lured Ryu there with your phone. But you don't know where 'there' was. Ryu...you don't remember either...because of your head injuries. The masked man....he...he said he was the same man who hurt Izzy Lucky! He's the one who did this to both of you. Naoko, your hands are clean of any and everything that happened, so don't you worry. If in doubt of how to answer any of the questions, you were traumatized and don't remember. Um....ummmm....how did I find you...hm...ah! I'll say that I got a call from someone I didn't recognize. They told me that someone I cared about was hurt...but they didn't say who. I left the hospital...and the kidnapper tried to capture me by....by....wow....um....by luring me out to an abandoned rail yard! The one north of the city...yeah. Keep them north so they don't search by the burned house or anything. I fought him, you managed to get Ryu away. The kidnapper ran. I got you in my car and took you to the hospital. Just remember, if in doubt, you can't recall. Same goes for me."

It was a huge jumble of information, but it was the best he could come up with that would even remotely begin to make things seem feasible, and not criminal on any of their parts.
Pinning it on Izzy Lucky's kidnapper, though, was pinning it on himself, but he was willing to do that, because there was no way to prove he was the one who had hurt the manager.
Besides, it was kind of like karma coming back on him, in a way.
The blame would be pushed to the side, and, in the end, Hayato would also become a victim in this.

Izo was so going to kick his a**...
Or...he would be very impressed.

If he were very lucky, though...Shou might think him a hero.
After all, he pretty much was.

"So...can we do this?" he asked.

"I gotcha..." Ryu replied from the back seat, though he turned to Naoko, obviously confused.
"Na-kun...what the ******** happened? Who exactly were you protecting me from...if not from Hayato?"

I can no longer return to those days free of bloodshed
These deep scars rooted within me will not disappear...


<******** his hurry to cover up one disaster, he created an opening to implicate him in another.

"Ah...Izzy Lucky...well, I don't know everything...it's something the kid told me. Um..Chiyou, the little blond. Somebody had kidnapped the manager and hurt him pretty bad. I don't know any details. Just something to do with, I dunno...money or some such? As for Narcissus...I have no idea. I just thought he had the flu or something..."

There...that should clear that up.

Hands gripping the wheel tight, Hayato tried to keep himself calm and focused.
If he didn't, if he let his guard fall for a moment, who knows what might go wrong?
He could wind up in prison, if he weren't careful.
He'd be proven to be a murdered, a kidnapper, an assailant, and a rapist.

Things that he had become so very ashamed of...
Things he wanted to wash away and find redemption for.

"Naoko..." he began, not sure of how to say it, or how the blond would react.
"I just wanted to tell you...that I'm sorry. For everything. For you getting caught up in my brother. For..for everything I ever did to you. I'm sorry. So damned sorry it hurts..." he tried to keep his cool, though he felt a prickling, stinging sensation at the corners of his eyes.
"I admit it...what i did was wrong. I know I believed I was justified in my actions for a long time, and that what I did was the best way to love you, and keep you by my side...but that was a part of my big brother coming out of me...and it...well, it took your big brother to show me that." he admitted.
He hoped it didn't upset Naoko....but he wanted him to know the truth, and to understand that he hated himself for what he had done.

So tired...
Ryu reached forward and put his hand against Naoko's heart, just feeling it beat.
Having heard Hayato's apology, he felt he could forgive the man...but it wasn't he who needed to do the forgiving.
Still, he knew his angel's heart...the kindness in it.
It might not happen any time soon...but, one of these days, he believed Naoko could find that forgiveness in his heart.

"I understand....I don't blame you. I accept that." Hayato said from the driver's seat.

They were almost there. Circling around the hospital, the car pulled up toward the ER entrance.

Ryu gripped the sheet around Naoko and tried to pull himself up, putting his forehead against Naoko's.

"Baby....we're going to get through this. Just remember the story...and remember how much I love you." the violinist said, kissing his lover's soft, trembling lips.

It was something he had become rather used to, the hospital.
Soon, he would be put back together again, and then they could move on with their lives...he hoped.

Hayato had gotten out and called for help, paramedics rushing out to the car, pulling Ryu away from Naoko and hauling him inside.

I can no longer return to those days free of bloodshed
These deep scars rooted within me will not disappear...








"Of course..." Hayato answered Naoko's question as the medics wrapped him up and took him inside.
He wasn't going to just leave the man all alone, not after all this.

Hopping back in his car, he parked it quickly, then jogged into the emergency department, easily finding Naoko as he saw a group of people gathered around one room.

Apparently, Ryu had already been taken off somewhere else. His injuries must have been more serious than the violinist had wanted to let on.

In Naoko's room, nurses and techs were looking him over, taking vitals, trying to wipe away blood with cloths.
It wasn't a pretty sight.

"Oh my...are you injured as well?" a nurse came up and asked him. He hadn't realized until then just how much blood was on him.
He had been the one stabbing his brother, after all. The blood had gone everywhere.

"I'm fine." he answered plainly, pushing past her and going to Naoko's side.
Slowly, the room began to clear out, eventually leaving just Hayato and Naoko to wait for the doctor.
He would stay with Naoko until Naoko made him go away. If he ever made him go away.
From now on, he wanted to protect Naoko...and Ryu. To make up for all the wrong he had done....and to protect those important to Sai...important to Shou.

Pulling out his cell, he called up the studio and asked for Shou's cell number. Explaining who he was, they actually gave it to him fairly easily, once he confirmed his identity. He didn't explain to anyone what had happened, though.
Punching in Shou's number, Hayato saved it to his phone, then entered in and sent a text message.

Naoko and Ryu have been hurt. In the ER downstairs. Please come.

It was simple and to the point. Hopefully, Shou would come soon, though Hayato was aware he was probably busy. Who knew what all had gone on in the hours since he left?

Sitting down in the chair beside Naoko's hospital bed, Hayato just looked at the blond, glad that he was alive.

I can no longer return to those days free of bloodshed
These deep scars rooted within me will not disappear...






"You're....you're welcome..." he replied politely, not used to things like this.
Rescuing people had never been a situation he had needed to know the etiquette for prior to today.

When he heard that Naoko's fingers had been broken...well that alone made him want to go back and kill his brother again. Then once more for good measure.
He hoped that the sick son of a b***h was in hell. He deserved it.
After all the hell he had put everyone else through.
He knew he had his share of sins, but nothing that came close to that man's crimes.

"I can see how you thought Ryu was dead, Naoko. I thought it, too." he faltered a bit though when the pianist said he had been the one to hurt Ryuukaze in such a way.

"Look, whatever happened, I'm sure it was an accident, and that Hayato made you do it."
Of course, Jun knew for a fact that Naoko would never intentionally harm the violinist. That wasn't the way things were, or ever could be.

"You never should have had to go through that..." his voice came out as a whisper. How could he ever express the amount of guilt he was feeling? He couldn't...he could just try to stay together, be the calm, guarded man he had always been.
There just wasn't much he knew to say to comfort someone who had come out on the other side of a situation like that.