Bishonen, Chapter 03

Chapter 3

Omi paced the floor nervously, gaze traveling again and again to the door at the end of the hallway. Yohji watched him from his seat bemusedly.

"Watch it, chibi, you’re going to wear a hole in the floor," he remarked dryly, taking a drag from his cigarette despite the ‘No Smoking’ sign located on the wall above his head. Omi paused and looked at him, and Yohji felt a spike of guilt for teasing him.

"Are we doing the right thing, Yohji?" Omi asked worriedly.

"I don’t think Yohji should be called upon as a moral compass, Omi," Ken said with a weary laugh. Yohji gave him a mock-offended look.

"I’m serious, guys, are we doing the right thing?" Omi persisted, frowning. Yohji sighed, rubbing his temples. Omi must be really worried. It isn’t normally this hard to lighten his mood, he remarked to himself.

"Of course it’s the right thing. We talked about this for a long time. And… and you saw him…" Yohji replied, fists clenching. Christ, how could anyone beat on a kid like that? Omi’s frown deepened, his gaze returning to the door.

"Yeah. I saw him," he agreed quietly. "He’s going to be scared when he wakes up…"

"Probably," Ken agreed. "For all he knows, he’s in the hands of the enemy."

"It can’t be much more frightening than being in the hands of his teammates," Aya muttered darkly, speaking up for the first time. None of them had anything to say to that.

The heavy silence was broken as Manx emerged from the room at the end of the hall, accompanied by a short, middle-aged man in a doctor’s coat. Omi turned to them eagerly.

"Well?" he asked expectantly, his heart sinking at the twin grim expressions they wore. The doctor looked at Manx.

"I’ll let you explain it to them. I have to get these samples to the lab to be tested. Let me know if there are any problems when he wakes up," he said, before continuing down the hall. Manx nodded in acknowledgement, then turned to meet four expectant stares. She sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy.

"Well," she began, "it is as you expected. He shows signs of serious, long-term physical abuse. Along with the visible injuries you’ve noted in previous battles with Schwarz, there are scars, and x-rays have shown several healed fractures. Right now he has cracked ribs and numerous bruises and contusions. He was probably beaten mere hours before the mission. There are older, healing bruises as well, probably from days ago." She gave them a moment to digest the information.

"So, he has reason to betray Schwarz and share information with us, right?" Aya asked, breaking the silence.

"Wait," Omi said, eyes never leaving Manx’s face. "There’s more, isn’t there?" he asked, a horrible, sinking feeling in his chest. Manx met his gaze evenly. Yohji and Ken exchanged worried glances.

"Yes," she said, looking away. "Along with the physical abuse, there are signs of ongoing… sexual abuse as well." She turned back and was met by four shocked faces.

"What… what do you mean?" Omi asked, heart twisting in his chest. Nagi…

"He was bleeding from… from the anus. He’d lost quite a bit of blood, actually, accounting for the disoriented state you reported observing. It was caused by… tearing. He was raped. Rather brutally," Manx related, swallowing. "There was a great deal of scarring. It’s been going on for… for quite some time."

Omi swallowed, looking away. Oh, God… It was worse than they had imagined. So much worse. He could barely wrap his mind around it. The plan had first occurred to them about three months ago. They had all noticed the bruises that the young Schwarz telekinetic sported during their frequent encounters with the rival organization. The possibility of abuse at the hands of his teammates seemed likely. It had been Aya who had suggested that the boy might be willing to provide vital information about Schwarz if they could protect him from them. Omi had had… reservations. He could not deny that Nagi’s condition when he would see him caused him great concern. In fact, the depth and nature of that concern was something he was having difficulty reconciling himself with. But to rip the boy away from what he knew, away from his teammates, even if they were less than ideal, and to pressure him to betray them, had seemed cruel to Omi. Perhaps it was overly sentimental of him. But he couldn’t help it. It was just his nature. But now… Sexual abuse? Rape? It was so, so much worse than they had imagined. He looked at his teammates. Their faces were drawn, pale. Even Aya’s. None of them had expected this.

"How… how is he?" Omi asked, feeling the insignificance of the question, of its inability to fully grasp the situation. He watched as Manx sighed, rubbing her face wearily.

"The doctor said that he’ll probably wake up soon. He administered a new drug that Kritiker has developed that should impair his telekinetic abilities for about twelve hours or so, so that he won’t inadvertently cause any damage when he wakes up, before he realizes we don’t mean him any harm. You’ve already been briefed on how to handle Kritiker’s proposal to him. This… new development doesn’t change the plan. It may, in fact, increase the probability that he’ll be receptive to the offer," she replied grimly.

Omi nodded. He felt sick. He couldn’t believe this was happening. This all felt… wrong. Not that he wasn’t glad that they had gotten Nagi away from Schwarz. But still… things felt wrong. Perhaps the idea of taking him away without his consent was what was bothering him. Restraining him in this strange place, at the mercy of strange people that he didn’t know. Taking away even his power, whatever the justification, it all seemed so… cruel. And the thought… just the thought of what Nagi had been going through… He was so disgusted… so outraged that he didn’t know what to do with himself. Without a word, he turned away from the others and walked down the hall and entered the room where Nagi still lay unconscious. He took no notice as Manx and his teammates followed him.

He walked over to the bed and gazed down at the still form of Nagi Naoe. Manx’s words echoed in his head. Could such a horrible thing really be true?

Nagi’s eyes were closed, his chest rising and falling in gentle motion with each breath. The younger boy’s face was covered in bruises, one eye purple and swollen. He was covered up past the waist with a blanket, and what was visible of his chest was also spotted with black and blue marks. Omi contemplated the horror of it, his heart breaking. How had Nagi lived through that? For who knows how long? He had to stop himself from reaching out and gently touching the boy’s cheek. He suddenly noticed that Nagi’s bandaged wrists were each encircled with a handcuff attached to the bed rail. He frowned, turning to face Manx.

"Why is he cuffed to the bed?" he asked angrily.

"Technically, he is still a member of Schwarz," Manx replied. "We have not yet made an offer, and he has not yet accepted." Omi grit his teeth helplessly.

"It hardly seems a good way to build trust," he muttered. "He’s not our prisoner. We’re helping him."

"He has to do his part as well," Aya said. Omi turned to glare at him.

"How can you say that!?" Omi yelled in rage.

"Shhh!" Ken hissed, "You’re waking him up!"

* * * * *

Nagi was dreaming. At least, it felt like he was dreaming. But, there was so much pain. People didn’t normally feel pain in their dreams, did they? For a time it almost felt as if someone was touching him, touching him in the places that hurt. Such a thing was not uncommon, but these were not the cruel, bruising hands that he was accustomed to. These hands were cold, methodical, neither comforting nor hurting. And then the sensation seemed to float away and he was adrift again.

Then the voices had come. Unhappy voices. Were Schuldig and Crawford arguing again? He shifted uneasily, tried to pull his arms up and discovered that he couldn’t. He was… he was restrained to the bed! Schuldig! Was Schuldig going to…? Alarm growing, he fought through the murky depths towards consciousness. Someone was yelling. His eyes snapped open.

Where the hell am I? The question raced around his brain as his eyes scanned the room. This place was unfamiliar. He pulled ineffectually at his bound arms. Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic… Five stunned faces returned his frantic gaze… and four of them were familiar. It was Weiss! The night’s earlier events came rushing back to him, the mission, encountering Weiss, the hilt of Abyssinian’s blade coming down at his head… He’d been captured!

He frantically called on his power, planning on freeing himself, on defending himself from Weiss, on doing something, anything to get away from there. And felt… nothing. What normally flowed freely was as sluggish as cold molasses. He remembered how weak he’d been feeling using his power earlier, probably due to his injuries, but this was different. It was… it was like his power had been tied down, just like he’d been tied down.

"Wh-what did you do to me?" he asked, continuing to pull at his wrists frantically despite the pain shooting up his arms. Panic was quickly overcoming him, which in and of itself was making him panic even more. He was supposed to be calm, reserved, emotionless. But he was confused and disoriented and in pain. He had just regained consciousness in a strange place, surrounded by his enemies. He was handcuffed to a bed, which always led to horrible, horrible things, and he couldn’t use his power! He was completely helpless and fear was completely overwhelming him and he couldn’t deal with this now, not now!

One of them, Bombay, Omi, his mind corrected, stepped forward, his face uncertain and a little panicked. Which was almost funny. Why would he be panicking? He wasn’t the one captured by the enemy and handcuffed naked to a bed… oh God, he was naked underneath the blanket!

"N-no! Stop! Calm down! We’re not going to hurt you!" Omi said worriedly. Nagi shrank away from him, his eyes wild.

"What did you do? Where are my clothes? Why can’t I… why can’t I feel my power?" Nagi asked anxiously. Omi shot Manx a glare, before turning back to the panicked telekinetic.

"I can explain everything, you just have to calm down," he said as soothingly as he could manage. "No one here is going to hurt you," he said firmly, locking gazes with the younger boy, willing him to feel his sincerity.

Nagi returned his gaze for a long time. Then finally, almost against his will, he started to relax. He was still frightened, and terribly confused, but something in him wanted to believe that the fair-haired boy was telling the truth.

"Okay, then," he said in defeat, falling back against the bed and relaxing his aching arms. "Explain." Omi sighed in relief, giving the others in the room a brief look before pulling over a chair and sitting at Nagi’s side. The younger boy eyed him warily. Omi took a deep breath. This wasn’t going to be easy.

"Well, first off, the loss of your telekinesis is only temporary. The doctor gave you a drug that’ll suppress it for about twelve hours or so, then it’ll come back. We’re sorry, but we didn’t want you to run away before we had a chance to explain things to you," Omi said. Nagi scowled, but didn’t say anything. So far, so good, Omi thought. "Now, the whole reason you’re here is… because we have a proposal for you," he continued.

"A… proposal?" Nagi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, yes," Omi said. "Um…" Okay, he’d gotten this far, now how to explain the rest… delicately? Manx stepped in, all-business.

"Yes, a proposal. Over the past several months, during your frequent encounters with Weiss, they noticed that you were often injured. They concluded that you were probably suffering abuse at the hands of your teammates," she said matter-of-factly, averting her eyes from the boy’s face. Nagi flinched, turning his head away as his cheeks turned pink. He felt like the world had just dropped out from underneath him.

Omi flinched as well. He couldn’t believe Manx’s bluntness. He gazed at Nagi with pity. He could only imagine how… horrible it must feel to be in this position. He heard Yohji and Ken shuffling uneasily behind him. Aya simply watched Manx coolly.

"And so a plan was formed. To capture you, and see if you’d be open to a… trade. In return for information, we could provide you with protection," Manx continued.

Nagi blinked, swallowing back the tears that were threatening. He couldn’t believe this was happening. It was all too fast. He felt… ashamed. And sick. He felt horribly sick to his stomach. He wanted to curl into a ball and disappear.

"I… I don’t really… understand…" he said helplessly, staring dully at the ceiling. How can this be happening? How can they… be so casual about it?

Aya stepped forward. "Do you deny that you’re being abused?" he asked.

"Aya!" Omi barked harshly. Aya ignored him, staring intently at Nagi, who remained unmoving and staring at the ceiling.

"No," Nagi finally responded softly, gaze unwavering. "I guess there’s no point in that. It’s pretty plain… plain to… see… oh, God!" He’d just realized what else must be pretty plain to see. He was naked underneath the blanket, and they’d mentioned a doctor, who must have examined him… who must have seen the… damage… seen the washcloth he’d stuffed down the back of his pants… seen the blood… Even now the pain still burned down there. Maybe he was even still bleeding. They had to know. Oh, God. Omi knew. Omi who was pure, who was innocent. Not like him. He was soiled, he was dirty, and they knew. Were probably gloating, gloating that he’d gotten just what he deserved. Because he was dirty, so very, very dirty, and it was all that he deserved…

"Nagi?" Omi asked worriedly. The boy was curling up on the bed as much as his bound arms allowed, his eyes clenched tightly shut, and he was muttering under his breath. "Nagi? Are you okay?" What a stupid question, he thought. Of course he’s not okay!

"I think he knows that we know about… the other thing," Yohji commented mildly. Omi shot him a glance. Despite the casualness of his statement, Omi could see from the set of the man’s jaw the tension he was feeling. And he was probably right. He looked back at Nagi, his heart heavy.

"Everyone get out," he said. "I want to talk to him alone." Manx made a startled sound of protest, and Aya frowned disapprovingly. "I mean it, I want to talk to him alone," he repeated, looking at each of them evenly. Yohji met his gaze, nodding slowly. Omi flashed him a grateful smile.

"Yeah, let’s let the chibi handle this," Yohji said, motioning for the others to vacate the room.

"But-" Manx started, but was cut off as Yohji made a shushing noise, winking suggestively at her.

"C’mon honey, I know we can find something better to do," he drawled. Manx only glared at him for a moment, before turning her gaze to Omi. He stared back at her, a determined look on his face. Sighing, she nodded and walked out of the room. Ken looked back and forward between Omi and the silently fuming Aya a couple of times before settling a questioning gaze on Yohji.

"Trust me, the chibi can handle it," Yohji said in response. He looked at Aya. "Now, let’s leave it to him." Aya glared at Omi, but the boy refused to be intimidated. Clenching his teeth, the redhead stalked out of the room. Yohji herded Ken after him, giving Omi one last encouraging wink as he closed the door behind them. Omi smiled weakly, then turned back to the boy on the bed, who was still curled in on himself, pulling on his cuffed wrists, muttering. Omi felt his heart breaking.
Okay, now what have you gotten yourself into?