Aya cut the bonds that held Omi's arms over his head and freed his wrists. "Can you stand, Omi?" he asked softly as he knelt before the boy.

Omi had looked up at him, shocked at the concern he could hear in his voice. "Aya-kun, why did you come to save me, a Takatori?"

"Omi," Aya closed his eyes as he gave thought to his words carefully. //"You are not my Oniisan!// Omi's screamed words at Takatori Hirofumi rang in his mind again. It found resonance with another memory he had. //"He was no son of mine."// "You are not Takatori Mamoru. You are Tsukiyono Omi."

"Aya-kun." The joy reflected in the boy's eyes at his acceptance was enough to add to Aya's resolve.

Aya gently helped Omi to his feet and supported him as they hurried out of the building. /I've been blind. He is not your Otosan, Omi. So many things are suddenly clearer now if this is true. An Otosan does not abandon his child./

It seemed almost strange for him not to have his Saturday Tennis activities anymore. The school had since brought in a new coach, but Ran felt little desire to continue playing. His friends and family did not question his decision. In any case, he now spent most of his Saturday afternoons with the counsellor.

In the two years that he had been seeing her, the woman still could not circumvent the barrier that prevented Ran from completely confiding in her. It was extremely frustrating for the counsellor and Ran sometimes felt sorry for her. He had already shared as much as he dared to reveal, but he knew he was not healing. He faithfully attended his sessions with the thwarted counsellor even though he did not see any point in it. Not after the show of power Takatori Reiji had flexed so blatantly before him.

Takatori's money was paying for the counsellor's time. How could he ever tell her that the man who paid the bills was also the one who was abusing him? How could the counsellor ever hope to show any progress? How ever much the woman tried to convince him that he was 'safe' and could confide in her, he did not believe her. How could he? When Takatori Reiji would inevitably have his chauffeur to pick him up at the Fujimiya household to send him for his sessions, and convey him, when his hour was over, straight to Takatori's office.

He had a brief respite from Takatori's attentions in the six months that followed the nervous breakdown, which saw the man carrying him home. Friends and family alike carefully watched his every move to ensure he would not turn to suicide. Even Aya-chan planned her time around him. On days when she finished her classes before him, she'd waited in the library until his were over so that she could walk home with him. It touched him to see that she would forego spending time with her own peers to be with him. Beyond that first time, Takatori avoided picking Ran up after school when his sister was with him. So there was little chance for Takatori Reiji to sneak him away during the weekday.

However, he was not spared from the many weekend golf outings. If his heart had not already been bleeding, Ran would have laughed at the irony of having his oblivious father eagerly handing him over to the care of his abuser to be gang raped on the weekends as an 'escape' from the stress of school.

With his secrets exposed, Ran could not even relieve his disquietude by flirting with suicide. Concerned family and friends were watching his wrists and arms. Vigilant for any sign that he might be mutilating himself again. If there was any escape, it was with books and writing. That was the only success the counsellor could claim. It was the only outlet Ran could trust. He read almost voraciously now, pouring all his heart into his schoolwork and books since he lost his physical release with his withdrawal from competitive tennis. His writing and poetry continued to cry out with his pain and need for release. But that was all that was in his writing-- A plea for the desire to be free. He could progress no further.

For all the concern his family, friends and counsellor showed him, Takatori Reiji had him trapped. After the 'incident' with Kodashi Sensei-- Ran knew it as a warning that Takatori would destroy anyone who would try to get in his way. So Ran endured. To keep his family and friends safe, he told himself that he could go on and that the part of him that was hurt was already too numbed to feel any more pain.

If there was any good that came out of that-- incident, it was that Ran's father made more time for himself to spend with his family; Sometimes coming home early from work to surprise them and occasionally taking them out to dinner as a treat. Ran was genuinely touched by his father's efforts. However, it was perhaps because his father started coming home earlier and spending more time with him that Ran's carefully constructed façade showed its cracks.

"Ran?"

He turned on his futon groggily to face his father as the elder Fujimiya entered his room to kneel beside his bed.

"Your Okasan told me you weren't feeling well." His father's hand reached out to gently brush his bangs out of his eyes.

"I'm okay, Otosan. Just tired." /And sore./ He added privately. Takatori Reiji picked him up after school again. The older man had been in a hurry that day. Not even taking the time to engage in foreplay and stretch him properly before using him in the limousine. At least he still remembered the condom, so Ran didn't need to lie or hide any evidence from his mother when she saw him being dropped off.

"You've been sick more often lately."

"I'm just tired. The final exams will be starting soon."

"No, you've-- Maybe because we see you every day, we don't really see the gradual changes, but you look very different now since..."

Ran frowned at the statement. He never gave much thought to it before. His physical appearance had changed considerably since-- Takatori entered his life 7 years ago. Back then he kept his hair short, loved to be out in the sun-- had a ready laugh. Now, he had long, silky hair that reached down to mid-back. After he left the tennis team, his skin had taken on a very pale hue from lack of exposure. A coloration that Takatori apparently liked since he made Ran wear gloves and use maximum protection suntan lotion, so that he wouldn't burn when they were on the golf course. Most disheartening of all his changes was that he had lost his smile.

It would only make brief appearances whenever he was with his family, especially with his younger sister Aya-chan. But otherwise, he never laughed anymore. Not a genuine laugh in any case. If he laughed at all, there always seemed to be a cynical edge to it now.

"I just grew up--" Ran looked away as he tried not to feel the twinge within him for the changes.

"Ran? How often does Takatori's chauffeur drive you home?"

Ran held himself in control. The only indication of his fright at hearing this question was the rapid beating of his heart. "It's not regular-- Only when he happens to be around."

"Especially when you stay late to-- study?"

"Yes."

"Is Takatori in the car with you?"

"S-- Sometimes." Ran told him cautiously.

"When he isn't-- that's when his driver sends you to his home or to his office, isn't it?"

Ran suddenly felt trapped. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to answer this.

The elder Fujimiya's face went very pale as he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his eyes were blazing with an unholy fire. "It wasn't Kodashi who was abusing you, was it?" He asked very quietly.

Ran trembled as he started to scramble backwards on his bed, feeling suddenly afraid of his father for once in his life as the man loomed over him with anger and fury radiating from him like a furnace. The elder Fujimiya's hand shot out to catch his son's arm, preventing him from moving further away.

"Ran! Kodashi never touched you, did he?!"

He cringed before his father's furious gaze, whimpering slightly at the punishing grip. At his pained gasp, the elder Fujimiya released him in aghast and suddenly pulled him against his chest in a tight hug.

"Ran-- I've been blind for so long. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"O-Otosan?" Ran was confused.

"Takatori Reiji." His father spat the name out. "It-- it was he who was abusing you, wasn't it?"

Ran stiffened at the pronouncement. He felt himself trembling almost violently. "He-- he--"

"Ran?" His father pushed him away for a moment and sat on the bed to look at his son straight in the eye. "I will believe you. Tell me the truth. Is it Takatori Reiji who has been abusing you?"

As his throat was too tight for him to voice out an answer, Ran answered in the only way he could. He nodded. Shameful tears started to roll down his cheeks.

His father's hand reached up to brush at the tears as his own eyes welled up. "You-- you didn't want to tell me because-- I kept falling for his lies. Ran-- I'm so sorry. But why? Why did-- No... I-- I think I remember.

"Ran-- that-- that initial investment I was looking for seven years ago-- was that-- was that when Takatori Reiji first made you--"

Ran couldn't look at his father anymore. He just nodded. He shrank back, as if expecting his father to hit him for his stupidity. His father's hand lifted his chin gently making him meet his eyes.

"Ran-- I would never have asked you-- Ran--" His father shook his head in horror and guilt. "Kami-sama-- What-- what does he do with you when-- those golfing weekends--"

"He-- he-- shares-- he-- " Ran trembled violently. He couldn't look into his father's eyes anymore.

The elder Fujimiya pulled his son into his arms, holding him tight. "Ran-- I'm so sorry. I have failed you again as an Otosan... Been-- been blinded by his power and influence-- Ran-- Ran-- "

Ran let himself cry as his father held him and rocked him in his arms. He felt suddenly exhausted from the release of tension to know that his father still loved and accepted him despite his taint. He realised that Takatori had been wrong. His father hadn't regarded him with shame or disgust. Takatori Reiji could not have been wider off the mark in his assessment of the elder Fujimiya's reaction to the truth...

"I will kill him. I will kill him for what he's don--"

"No!" Ran pushed himself back and griped his father's arms in panic. "Kodashi-- Otosan, he will destroy you. He did with--"

"Ran, I cannot--!"

"It-- it's a little thing-- He-- he is too powerful-- Otosan-- I'm not worth--"

"You are worth more to me than all the riches in Emperor's treasury!" The elder Fujimiya shook him hard. "Ran! I cannot let you-- let you whore yourself to that-- that-- beast to protect us!"

"And-- how will you help me-- if you die-- like Kodashi-Sensei." Ran bowed his head at his father's anguished expression. "Takatori's-- ototosan is the Police Commissioner-- working under the Department of Justice. What-- can we do? I-- I can endure a little longer-- It-- really isn't all that often. I've grown older. He'll-- probably be tired of me soon."

"No! I will not-- I will not close one eye and let this go on!" The elder Fujimiya told his son firmly. "Now that I've come to my senses-- yes, I can see what you see, that-- we will risk too much if we dare to try and expose his-- abominable actions. I will dispose of the company, our assets, everything. We will leave Japan, Ran. I will take you away from him."

"Will he let you go?"

"We will not let him know we are leaving, Ran." The elder Fujimiya told his son fiercely. "I *will* free you from him."

Ran began to hope again.

At his father's suggestion, Ran took up a part time job. One that would fill the free time he had between school and when his father finished work. Just so that his father could be the one to pick him up at the end of the day and bring him home.

With a little bit of acting, they had worked out a valid reason that would not raise Takatori's suspicions. Especially since Ran opted to take a position of menial labour, working as a waiter. An employment Takatori Reiji clearly disapproved of, but which gave sound reasoning as a job designed to teach Ran of humility and consideration to his employees. The man was especially sour about the lingering smell of cheap oil that would cling to Ran's hair from his work. Since Ran started his part time job, Reiji had been noticeably reluctant to extend overtures for his company. Aya-chan was noticing that her brother was beginning to have a sense of humour again.

Still, the job was hard and the grooming problems with his hair were getting to Ran as well. It was on impulse that Ran dealt with the vexation one evening after he spent more than an hour trying to get his hair clean. His mother and father had bust in on him while he was in the bathroom after they had found one of the kitchen knives missing.

Ran turned to look at them, the sink filled with wet lengths of red hair that he had easily shorn off with the sharp knife. His head felt strangely light without the expense of hair. His father held a hand out to his mother silencing what ever she wished to say as he entered the bathroom. Ran remained still as he felt his father touch his short hair, then letting his fingers thread through the momiage that hung beside his face.

"A small reminder, Ran?" He had asked kindly.

"Something like that. I should-- never forget where I've come from."

"Okusan, bring a pair of scissors." The elder Fujimiya shook his head at his wife and laughed as he let his fingers tousled his son's short hair. "Let us at least make this neat instead of the hack job it looks like right now."

That was the last time Ran could remember sharing a laugh with his mother and father. A week later, an explosion in the Fujimiya trading offices made him an orphan and put his sister in a coma.

[End Flashback]

Ken and Youji had found him sitting in the dark on the sofa of the mission room with his knees drawn up to his chest. After the interaction with Omi earlier that evening, it looked as if whatever issues he had had with Omi being a Takatori were resolved. So Aya guessed that they must have been puzzled to see him like this.

"Yo, Aya?" Youji came up beside him cautiously. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Sometimes it helps, you know." Ken appeared on his other side, taking care not to crowd him. "To talk about it, I mean."

From their cautious stance, Aya could theorise that the two men had discussed it and come to the conclusion that he was going through some form of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. How it was related to Omi's identity as Takatori Mamoru though, was a link that they couldn't establish.

"Is-- is this in someway related to your imotosan?" Ken asked softly.

Aya blinked in inward puzzlement, he didn't remember ever mentioning his sister to any of them before. Then the memory of his first encounter with Ken returned to him, reminding him that Ken had read or heard of the accident that killed his parents and put her in a coma. Ken had also been there when Manx gave him the details of where Kritiker had moved Aya-chan for her protection after he had agreed to join Weiß.

"Aya?"

Youji's call roused him from his thoughts and drew his attention back to the two men. They still hadn't tried to come any closer to him, probably having rationalised that he was currently jittery over any uninvited proximity. Aya reminded himself that this was a moment he had possibly never encountered before. Where previously he had been found out and had been forced to disclose the details of his shame, this time he had the choice to talk about it. Knowing that if he decided not to, the two people with him now would not press him again and respect his privacy. So long as he showed that he was dealing with it, it would not come up again. But-- he didn't want to keep secrets from them anymore.

"It's not my imoto." The words came out in a whisper as he tightened his hold around his knees. "Something-- started long before that..."

"Has it-- got to do with the scars on your wrists?"

Aya stiffened slightly, surprised that Youji had noticed. Then he recalled that Weiß had treated his injuries often enough when he was unconsciousness that they could have easily become aware of the marks on his wrists. This was the first time he could recall any reference made about them though.

"If you don't want to talk about it--" Youji hastily added when the silence stretched on.

"Aya, we will listen-- if-- if you _do_ want to talk about it, you know?" Ken told him gently.

"In-- in part... Omi-- should be here too. It-- it has to do with him. And-- maybe why he can't remember his past."

"He should be home soon, Aya." Youji nodded. "Hey, come on, Aya. That has got to be a damn uncomfortable position."

Aya blinked as he turned to look at the chestnut blonde.

"I've been in worse positions."

He looked at the world through the haze of pain and drugs. Still Ran retained enough sagacity to reflect on his last mistake with Takatori Reiji. His father, mother-- his sister-- They had all paid the price for their defiance to Takatori's wishes. His parents were dead, his sister was in a coma. By whatever miracle of fate decreed it, he alone had been spared from harm by the explosion that decimated the Fujimiya Company building. But he had not remained unscathed for very long.

He-- he should not have fought back. Maybe it was grief or anger that fuelled his public rejection of Takatori Reiji's offer to join his household. Whatever it was, it was still a mistake. It had been much too easy for Takatori to track him down in private later. Have him kidnapped--

Torn, bleeding-- every part of him was in pain. 'One last fling.' The man had told him as he ripped off his clothes. He lay in a world of hurt. He had never been so badly treated before. What pain he ever experienced at the man's hands paled to nothing in comparison.

"God in hell!"

"It's just a job."

Two men-- both sounding strangely familiar. He was too out of it to show any indication that he was aware of their presence. Surprisingly gentle hands unlocked the handcuffs from around his wrists and laid his arms over his body.

"The boy's still alive."

"What do you want to do about it? Mr. Takatori told us-- damn."

"Had a vision?" Ran could hear the clear amusement in the other man's tone.

"Fine! Have it your way. Just don't get caught." An American accent-- he remembered Takatori bringing an American to him once. "If-- it's any comfort to you-- he'll live if you know what to do."

"He's a special kid. Noticed me before the bombing-- picked me out again after it." An image of a foreigner with green hair came to him.

"I don't want to hear it."

He blacked out from pain the moment he felt them shift him.

His next awakening was less painful. Ran roused to see his counsellor sitting beside his hospital bed.

"Ran-- please tell me. Who is doing this to you?" Her eyes were full of tears as she regarded him. "I guessed so long ago-- I was hoping you'd eventually tell me-- Please, we can help you. You can trust us."

"How did I--?"

"You were found on the hospital steps. Someone must have been concerned enough-- Ran, please. Before whoever it is kills you--"

"He's already killed me, doctor." He interrupted her. "He's too influential a man--"

"And you have Takatori Reiji on your side. He has connections with the Police Commissioner, he can help--"

"He will do nothing!" Ran pushed himself up violently and immediately regretted it when pain flooded all his senses. His counsellor quickly caught him and eased him back into the pillows.

"He-- will not do anything against this man." He choked out through the pain as he stared into her eyes. "Please doctor-- don't bill him anymore. I will pay you. I--"

"Ran, this isn't about money!"

"But it is, Doctor. He's getting away with all this because-- The Sword, the Jewel, and the Mirror... He has money, and influence. He has power that I cannot fight. I know that now."

"Ran--"

"It's not worth it Doctor. I've lost everything because I had no power to fight back-- I have even less now." Despite the pain, Ran rolled on his side away from her. "I have-- an imoto to-- pay hospital bills for-- I have nothing else."

"Ran, don't give up. Don't let the bastard win." She reached out to put a hand on his shoulder but he flinched away from her violently, suddenly feeling the abhorrence to receiving even a reassuring touch. "I'll-- come by later to check on you, okay? Ran--"

He didn't turn to see her leave.

"Fujimiya Ran?"

Ran looked up at the unfamiliar voice to see a redhead woman in a red suit entering his room.

"We don't know each other, but you can call me Erika. Have you ever heard of an organisation called Kritiker?"

[End Flashback]