When Ruki came home, he was greeted with the horrid sound of his dad yelling at him, wondering where he was. Ruki didn't answer. He just went straight to his room, shutting the door loudly. He couldn't be bothered with trying to explain what had happened. He hurt too much. The walk home had been horrible. With so much pain running through his body, he had almost collapsed, and had to sit down on a park bench for a few minutes. Stumbling out of his clothes, he stepped into a warm shower, hoping it would help.

He knew his dad would be furious. He was always telling Ruki how weak he was, and how he could never stand up for himself. It had been this way a lot at his old school. In his old school, he was a freak. He had no friends, and everyday he got beat up. You would think that it would have made him stronger; helped him learn to fight back, but no. Ruki didn't like violence, and he would never hit someone. He preferred words against physical actions. But because of this, everybody, including his dad, thought that he was a wimp, and enjoyed to beat him up. It wasn't a very good life, yet Ruki always seemed to find the good in it. He was a decent singer, and he knew that with the right people, he could make it big. But sometimes, it just felt hopeless.

As he got out of the shower and put on some pyjamas, he walked back out to get something to eat before going to bed. His dad sat at the table, watching him as he came into the kitchen. Ruki tried his best to look normal, but he knew his dad was angry at him. His dad wanted him to fight back. His dad didn't want this to even happen when they moved. His dad wished he had a normal son. But Ruki wasn't normal. He would never be normal. He didn't want to be normal. Grabbing the juice container out of the fridge, he poured himself a glass and made a sandwich before heading back to his room, but not before he could hear his father's hateful words.

"I wish you weren't such a disappointment."

~!~

School the next day went as normal for Reita. Teachers babbling on and on about something, being given homework, and glaring at the school were all on his list of things to do today. However, something didn't seem right, and after two minutes of his first class he figured it out. Ruki wasn't there. He knew that the other would be in pain, but what he had found out about the other right away was that he never missed a day of school; not even a class. His friends had laughed about it with Ruki, even joking that it was strange to see someone their age so dedicated to school, but it really did seem like Ruki would rather be here than at home.

As roll call started, Reita sighed. Maybe he should go over and see if Ruki was alright. He had texted him this morning, but had yet to get a reply. He guessed that Ruki had still been sleeping, but when he didn't show up for class, Reita started to get worried.

"Matsumoto, Takanori?" The teacher called out for the other. Reita sighed and was about to explain the other probably wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be coming in, when a voice from the door spoke.

"I'm here," Ruki said weakly, leaning against the doorway weakly. Most of the injuries from Aoi and his group weren't deep and most had healed overnight, leaving only a slightly black eye and a few bruises here and there. Yet he still limped into the classroom, very much in pain, almost yelping as he sat down. Wincing, Ruki tried to get comfortable in his spot beside Reita and listen as the class roll call continued.

Ruki looked over at Reita, seeing the worried expression on his face. Ruki just shook his head and looked away. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Aoi. Ruki stared at him. What was with the other? He was looking at him in such a strange way; almost…confusion? Yeah, he would be confused. He knew that nothing that he and his friends did would cause the limp Ruki had, and he would be right. But there was something else in that gaze. Knowing? How could Aoi, the biggest jerk and the most popular guy in school, know what had happened? He didn't, obviously. He was probably just trying to get to Ruki, make him feel better before he and his friends jumped him again. Turning back around, Ruki hissed at the pain it brought.

~!~

Reita was scared out of his mind. He didn't think that Ruki would show up, and when he did, he looked like he couldn't even walk! He glared over at the raven haired boy. Had he done this? He hoped to Kami-sama that Aoi or one of his goons hadn't Ruki; though that was definitely what it looked like. Reita looked back over at Ruki and put a hand on his shoulder, making Ruki jump.

"I'm sorry, Ruki. Are you alright?" Reita asked cautiously. Ruki didn't look at him, but he felt his muscles tense under his hand. "Ruki?" The black and red haired boy looked up at him, and Reita could see the exhaustion on the other's face. He looked sadly down at him.

Ruki refused to talk to anybody that day, only shaking his head whenever someone asked him if he was ok. He refused to answer any of the questions the teachers gave him, and didn't even bother sitting with Reita, Kai and Tora when lunch came around.

"Is he ok?" Kai asked Reita, looking out the window where Ruki sat alone on the swing, not moving at all, just staring at the ground. They all watched sadly, not knowing what was wrong with their friend.

"I don't know. He was late for class this morning, and he's been limping around all day," Reita said to them, moving to a new window and Ruki limped away from the swing set. Tora stopped and looked at him.

"He's been limping like that all day? Did Aoi him?" Tora looked angry as he asked Reita. Tora had a bad past, and no one really liked to talk about it. A few years ago, just after Tora and Kai had gotten together, he was kidnapped, and the whole school was upset about it. Tora was a really nice kid, and was friends with everybody. A few days later the police had found him in an old warehouse, beaten and ; barely alive. Of course, he had gotten better now and he and Kai were in a very healthy relationship, but it still bugged him when anything like that happened and he heard about it. Now that it was a possibility that Ruki had the same thing happen to him, Tora was furious.

Tora didn't want for an answer before he pushed past Reita, storming right up to Aoi. The raven haired boy looked up at him curiously, giving his friends a smile and a look of playfulness as they made jokes towards the shorter dark haired boy. Tora ignored them and stared at Aoi.

"What's your problem, Tora?" Aoi asked, looking at him, wanting to know why he was standing in front of him, bothering his lunch hour with his friends. Tora glared at the other's friend's remarks, but made not a sound towards them, and instead returned the sharp stare back to Aoi.

"Did you Ruki?" he asked directly, staring into the other's eyes. Aoi looked taken aback and shocked. ? Why would the other ask such a question? Of course he wouldn't! He would never do something as horrible as . He glared right back at the other and stood up.

"How dare you accuse me of such a thing! Now I assume that you have something you really wanted to tell me or ask me? Because if not, you can just go right back to your filthy little friends and tell them to keep their comments to themselves, now get out of my face!" Aoi yelled at the other before pushing him away and sitting back down. Tora stared at him.

"You did, didn't you? You sick, son of a !" Tora screamed attacking the other, punching him in the face, sending Aoi flying to the ground and off his seat. After seeing this, Aoi's friends stood up, pulling Tora away and hitting him down as well, protecting their friend. Reita and Kai stood in horror as the scene exploded in front of their eyes. Kai quickly rushed over to help Tora out of the mess he'd gotten himself into, while Reita just stared at everything. Looking around, he didn't even notice as Ruki came in slowly. Reita's eyes finally found the small black and red haired boy, moving over to him.

"Ruki, are you ok?" Reita asked worriedly. Ruki looked around at the disaster, and turned around, starting to walk away. Reita stared, his mouth open, before quickly following the other. "Please, Ruki. I'm worried about you. What happened? Please, tell me?" Ruki stopped at looked at him, before managing a small smile.

"Reita, I'm really happy I have you as a friend here, and I'm sorry I'm worrying you so much. But please, don't think about it anymore ok? I'm just trying to move past it, and I don't want to talk about it anymore," the shorter boy told the blonde. Reita looked at him, sighing and nodding. Ruki smiled, taking the taller boy's hand reassuringly before walking away with him.