The first thing that Kasamatsu was aware of when he regained some of his consciousness was the sensation of a bumpy car ride, and his unsteady stomach. While he didn't think he was going to throw up or anything like that, he knew that he wasn't feeling his best.

He decided to look around and try and figure out where he was before doing anything else. It was a pain to open his eyes, but he managed, and his gaze flickered around his surroundings.

Kasamatsu knew that he wasn't in a stationary place, judging from the fact that he could hear an engine running somewhere, as well as feel every turn and bump in the road. He guessed he was in the back of a big truck or something along those lines. A sense of dread rose in his chest upon the realization that he could be anywhere in Japan by now. Heck, he could be anywhere in the world, for all he knew. He had no idea how long he'd been out, and couldn't find his phone or watch anywhere on his person.

He couldn't bite back a groan when he recalled his last few seconds of awakenness, back at the restaurant, and the fire and the guy that he and Kise had helped. He couldn't believe that had actually happened, but the aching in his muscles and pain in his head and lungs told him otherwise.

Kasamatsu had to accept it as a fact. He'd been... abducted. Kidnapped. Taken. He'd thought that it could never happen to him - he was too strong, too big, too able-bodied to be taken by force.

But whoever had abducted him had planned it out well. Kasamatsu wasn't sure if the fire had occurred on accident, or if the person who'd put that cloth over his face had caused it, but that guy had certainly taken full advantage of the chaos.

Not to mention that it was obvious that he'd known who Kasamatsu was. Recalling what the guy had said caused chills to run down the raven-haired basketball player's spine.

"Thank you for the help, Yukio. It's a shame, really. It probably would've been in yours and Ryota's best interests to have left me to die."

Ryota.

Kise.

Kasamatsu's body reacted to the thought far faster than he ever thought possible. In a flash, he was sitting up and jerking his head from side to side in search of the model. The movement, however, proved to be a bad idea, for his vision quickly grew black and his head started pounding.

Squeezing his eyes shut to fend off the pain, Kasamatsu tried for his voice. It was hoarse, quiet, and rather squeaky, but he managed to get out a scratchy - yet demading, "Kise, where are you?"

A shaky little whimper to his right was all he got in response, but it was enough. Kasamatsu's eyelids flew open once more and the blackness faded slowly. He turned his head to the side and saw a small outline of a silhouette in the darkness, and upon closer inspection could pick out the blondness of Kise's hair.

It took a try or two, but Kasamatsu managed somehow to get on his hands and knees and crawl toward the prone form of the model and, without thinking, reached out to help him sit up.

Kise let out a pained cry when the older boy gripped his shoulder, and Kasamatsu saw tears spring into his golden eyes. He cringed and gingerly moved his hands away from the place Kise was hurting, and could make out from the big white blisters across the model's exposed shoulder, that he was burned. It was clear that it was bad, even though Kasamatsu couldn't see the full extent of the damage. Unsure of what to do, he instead laced his fingers through the younger boy's dirty blond tresses, hoping to soothe him. The poor boy was burning up with fever.

The petting appeared to help, at least a little, because Kise's eyelids shut and the tears leaked down his cheeks. His breath hitched in his throat in a sob, and Kasamatsu heard him hiccup and whine, "Senpai..."

"I know," he replied gently, leaning forward and peering at the wound to try and see how far down it went, how deep it was. He didn't think it was bad enough to be life-threatening, but he needed to know if it was infected. Not that there was anything he could do to help it if it was.

He took a deep breath and settled himself down beside the blond, reaching one arm out to pillow the younger's head and make him just a bit more comfortable. "Go to sleep, Kise," he whispered, and the boy shook his head quickly.

"C-can't - I'm scared," came the trembling response, and Kasamatsu saw the model's golden eyes open just enough to meet his own steel blue ones. "Everything hurts, senpai."

Kasamatsu sighed softly and nodded, but before he could speak, the doors to the back of the truck opened and harsh sunlight suddenly streamed in. Defensively, Kasamatsu turned to face the entrance and got on his hands and knees once more, leaning over Kise to protect him from whoever might come in. There was no way on earth he was going to let the two of them get separated.

The figure that stepped inside wasn't familiar, but it was undeniably male, in his teens, with dark brown hair. Perhaps around Kasamatsu's own height.

The young man walked in and stopped right in front of Kise and Kasamatsu, and stared down at them. Kasamatsu gritted his teeth, although he didn't know if he was able to actually stand and defend the both of them. At any rate, he had a voice, and he was determined to use it.

"Look, do whatever you want to me - I don't care about that, but don't even think about hurting him. I'll kill you," Kasamatsu rumbled darkly - he wasn't quite strong enough yet to shout, but he'd been told that his growl was just as bad as his bark. "Let him go."

The brown-haired guy arched one eyebrow and smirked at him. "I won't hurt you yet, but I won't let him go, either. I just came back here to see if the two of you were hungry or thirsty."

Kasamatsu looked down at Kise, who was trembling underneath him - he didn't know if it was from fear or fever - and then back up at the other young man. "Both," he said decisively, and the teen nodded before turning and heading off the back of the truck. Kasamatsu thought about following him, but knew that it was probably more dangerous. Who knew how many of them there were?

Kise turned his head to look up at Kasamatsu, who had yet to move from his defensive position, and struggled to raise himself up on his uninjured arm. "Senpai, I don't think I can eat anything right now. I don't feel so good..."

"It'll be good to have it, anyway." Taking advantage of the brighter lighting, Kasamatsu took a moment to look over the burn on the blond's shoulder, and gritted his teeth. It was deeper than he thought, red, shiny, white and irritated. He peeled the t-shirt back to examine further and attempted not to wince when Kise cried out in pain.

"I'm so sorry, Kise," he whispered, letting go of the fabric and pushing the hair away from the model's sweat-soaked forehead. "Everything's going to be okay. I'll keep you safe. You trust me, don't you?"

Kise simply nodded, his face pale and green-tinted. His eyes were glistening with tears, though none had yet to roll down his cheeks. His lips were sticky and dry, and Kasamatsu was glad that he hadn't refused the offer of water.

It took a few minutes, but soon the guy was back, this time with a plastic wrapped four-pack of water bottles and a couple of cans of soup. He headed over and sat the items down beside them. He let out a low whistle when he saw the burn on Kise's shoulder and tipped his head to the side. "That's a pretty bad one, huh? Bad timing - standing beside that oven when it blew. Wonder what that'll do to your modeling career?" he asked sarcastically, and Kise flinched. Kasamatsu wondered if he'd even considered that. He certainly hadn't - he'd been incredibly focused on trying to think of ways to help ease the second-year's pain and simultaneously attempting to figure out how to survive the situation.

"I wonder," Kise replied quietly, looking away from the brunet and closing his eyes.

The young man's smile turned into a devilish grin. "Not that it'll matter anyway. You won't be getting out of this alive, I hope you know. And you deserve it, Ryota. Keep that in mind."

With that, he turned and headed back out of the truck, shutting the doors behind him.

Darkness engulfed them once more, and Kasamatsu found that his eyes were struggling to adjust. Instead of pressing Kise as to if he knew that guy - like he wanted, - Kasamatsu felt around for the water bottles. He broke open the packaging and found that the plastic bottle caps had yet to be opened. That meant that they most likely weren't drugged, although Kasamatsu took a sip first before helping Kise sit up and putting the bottle to his mouth.

Kise took a few sips before pushing the bottle away and shaking his head. "I don't feel good, senpai," he whined, pawing at Kasamatsu's hand to keep it from bringing the water back to his lips.

"You're sure you don't want any more?" Kasamatsu asked, although he wasn't going to push him. When Kise nodded, he instead started to put some of the liquid on his burn. At first, it looked like Kise was going to protest, but he ended up shuddering in relief and taking a shaky breath. Kasamatsu couldn't help but smile. "Feel better?"

"Mhm," Kise responded, his eyes still closed, and after a moment or two, Kasamatsu stopped. It was important not to waste water, and while Kise's comfort was a high priority, both of their hydration was more important.

Kasamatsu sipped on the water afterward, and then closed it and sat it to the side. They hadn't used much of it - about a fifth, if that, and Kasamatsu resolved to make Kise drink more later. He was feverish, and while he had drank more than Kasamatsu, it hadn't been enough.

"Want to go to sleep now?" Kasamatsu implored, and Kise nodded again. He gingerly shifted so that Kise was laying on his unhurt side, and then the raven-haired young man moved to lay in front of him. Not touching, but close enough so that Kise could reach for him and wake him up if he needed to.

Kasamatsu hadn't planned on sleeping, but apparently his body had demanded it, because he woke up from a peaceful dream where he'd been playing basketball with his two little brothers at the park, and was hurtled back into the nightmare that was reality. Still, he was pretty warm, and when he opened his eyes, the source of heat became apparent.

Kise had shifted over in his sleep and was gripping the front of Kasamatsu's shirt with both hands, and Kasamatsu's right arm had somehow moved to where it was supporting Kise's head. The blond was shifting uncomfortably in his sleep, whimpers escaping from between his parted lips from time to time. Kasamatsu reached over to rub his back, making sure he avoided the burn, and held the second-year's trembling body closer. He didn't want to wake him up, but he probably needed more water anyway.

Kasamatsu shook him gingerly awake and repeated their earlier process, though this time Kise was violently refusing to take any more than one sip, and when Kasamatsu saw how green his face was, he decided to respect his wishes. He wasn't sure if Kise was just carsick, or if the burn had an effect on him, or what, but it definitely looked like he was about to throw up.

So, instead of making him drink more, Kasamatsu just put the water on his burn and forehead to ease his fever. He wasn't burning up like he'd been earlier, but he was still too warm. Kasamatsu took it as a sign that his doctoring skills were working.

"Kise," Kasamatsu started gently, leaning back on the metal wall of the truck and letting Kise lay against him. "Did you know that guy that brought us food and water?"

"Mm..." Kise breathed, his golden eyes closed. "Maybe. From basketball. Middle school, not highschool," he managed, and turned his head so that he could look up at Kasamatsu. "Do you think he's gonna kill us?"

Kasamatsu arched one eyebrow dubiously and gave the blond a confident smirk. "He could try, but it wouldn't end well for him," he informed the blond, and his heart warmed up a bit when Kise smiled back at him. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Yeah." The younger boy sat up slightly and cringed from the pain in his burned arm. "Well, my stomach is anyway. I-"

The doors at the back of the truck opened once again, and this time several young men - about the age of the first one - hopped into the back with them. They approached Kise and Kasamatsu quickly, and two grabbed the blond, while the other two attempted to grab Kasamatsu.

The raven-haired man was on his feet in an instant, ignoring his pounding head, and clenched his fists before aiming a hard punch to one of Kise's assailants, hitting him directly in the face. "What do you think you're doing?" Kasamatsu demanded harshly, rage broiling in his chest. "Let him go."

The click of a pistol was enough to make Kasamatsu hesitate. One of the men behind him held the small gun up and aimed it at the back of Kasamatsu's head. "You two will be coming with us. Don't argue, or I will shoot."

Kasamatsu almost argued - and honestly, he would've, had Kise not been there - but the blond let out a terrified whimper, and he suddenly couldn't force himself. His life was important right now, if only for the fact that his former teammate needed him desperately to make sure he was kept safe. If he died now, who knew what would happen to Kise?

So, instead of protesting, he dropped his arms to his side and let the men grab him as well and put a blindfold over his eyes.

And... things still do not make much sense T.T I'm sorry for the wait, and for the possibly-terrible chapter.

Anyhow, thank you for the reviews so far, and please continue to do so! c: Reviews make the world go 'round.

God bless you all, and have a wonderful day.

anim8or