The Cage
By Alison

Comments: Ok, this part is a little gory and violent. Oh! And the stuff in between these: ##{*}## is what is happening in Kaoru's mine, kay?? Hope that makes sense ^^; Hope you like! And tell me if you do, kay?? Thanks to everyone one who commented on the first part, it really made me want to continue with the fic! ^_^

Part 2
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Kaoru smiled at Toshiya and stuck out his hand. His smile wasn't a threatening smile, but it made Toshiya uneasy. And his eyes…they held a challenge in them. But a challenge of what, Toshiya couldn't tell, he just knew that he wouldn't like this job.

Forcing a smile back on his face he reached out and shook Kaoru's hand quickly before pulling his hand back to his body just a quickly.

Noticing Toshiya's discomfort, Die put a reassuring hand on Toshiya's shoulder. "Pleased to meet you Kaoru san. I suppose we should start now?"

Toshiya nodded and gestured to the door. "Yes. This way please."

The three headed out into the hallways and walked silently, the only noise was their muffled footsteps on the carpet, to the main control room of the Cage. We they reached the door, Die pulled out his passcard and slid it through the lock next to the door. It only took a second before the light turned from red to green and the door slid open. Passing the door that led to the control room, the three went into the system room, as it was called. That was the place where the people got hooked up the Cage.

Toshiya sat down in one of the chair and Die directed Kaoru to sit in the one across from him.

"Kaoru, I will hook Toshiya up first, that way you can see what is going to happen to you." Die told him. He pulled a cart that was pushed up against the wall next to Toshiya's chair. Reaching down, he pulled a cord that was inside the chair up and out.

"These chair are hooked up to the control system," Die pointed to the room on the other side of the large pane of glass, "These cords are what hook you up to the chair, which in turn hooks you up to the main Cage system."

He took the cap off the pointy end of the cord and picked up a cylinder metal piece with a needle on the end up from the cart. He stuck the cord into one end of the cylinder and stuck the needle into Toshiya's arm.

Toshiya hissed at the contact and squeezed his eyes shut. Die chuckled and look over at Kaoru. "It doesn't hurt as much Toshiya is making it to be. He is just a wimp and afraid of shots."

Toshiya stuck his tongue out and Die gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Toshiya opened his eyes and was surprised to find Kaoru's staring right into his. The look in Kaoru's eyes seemed to be of jealousy and desire, but Toshiya really couldn't tell.

Die finished hooking Toshiya up and then moved to do the same thing with Kaoru. But with Kaoru, he had a needle filled with a bluish liquid.

"This is the only thing different from how Toshiya was hooked up. Since your mind is the one that has to be entered, we need you unconscious," Die paused to find the right words, "We you are conscious, your mind had barriers up that natural protect it from everything, don't allow any foreign minds, thought, that sort of thing into it. But when you are unconscious, those barriers fall, allowing us to connect Toshiya's mind with yours. Also, when you are conscious there is a chance that you won't tell us everything, so this way we will be able to have complete access to your mind. " Die stopped and grinned, "So basically we will know every dirty thought you have ever had and all that kind of fun stuff. So that is what this stuff it, it will put you into a coma like state, but, unlike a real coma, we can easily get you out at any time."

Kaoru nodded and focused his eyes on Toshiya as Die gave him the shot and proceeded to hook him up like he had to Toshiya. When that was done, Die steeped out of the room and appeared on in the other room on the other side of the glass a second later.

A second later Kaoru and Toshiya heard a click and Die's voice filled the room. "Now just relax Kaoru san. The stuff will start to work soon and you will become unconscious. When you are fully out, we will start. Don't worry, you won't feel a thing. But when you come to again you will be dizzy and disorientated for a few minutes. This is natural and will soon pass."

Kaoru nodded and felt his eyes begin to droop. With much effort, he raised his head one again to meet Toshiya's eyes before passing out.

Toshiya swallowed nervously and glanced over at Die who smiled. Toshiya gave a small smile back and watched as Die pressed the red button on the center of the control panel. He arched his back as the familiar pain flashed through his body then slumped back down in the chair. His mind was now connected with Kaoru's.

##{*}##

Toshiya groaned at sat up, making a face when he realized his was lying in a dirty ally. He stood up and looked around. It was dark and there were no people around. The only sound Toshiya could hear was that of dripping water somewhere off in the distance and the sound of a metal chain being swung.

Looking out from the ally, Toshiya saw a park, or what appeared to be a park. All he could see was a big square of green grass, a cement wall lining the back of the grass, and tree in the distance. There was a single swingset with only two swings in the middle of the grass, and a little boy occupied one of the swings. He couldn't really see anything beyond that shadowed outline since it was so dark.

Toshiya narrows his eyes and began to walk in that direction. The click of his boot heels as they hit the slightly damp pavement echoed loudly as he walked. When he reached the end of the ally he paused at looked again at the boy.

Even tough it was dark, he could make out the features of the boy better. The telltale purple hair gave it away. The boy was Kaoru as a child. He looked to be only about six years old at.

All right, child therapy it is, thought Toshiya as he closed the distance between him and child-Kaoru.

Child-Kaoru did say anything as Toshiya sat down on the swing next to his, he just watched. But he tensed visually when Toshiya turned to him and smiled.

Toshiya noticed this and pulled his swing back slightly, but kept the smile on his face. "Are you Kaoru?" He asked softly.

The boy didn't answer right away, just blinked his big eyes up at Toshiya before letting a tiny smile touch his on face. "Yeah…" Toshiya almost didn't hear the answer.

"My name is Toshiya. I am very please to meet you!" Toshiya's smile was genuine, and he couldn't help but think that Kaoru had been an extremely cute kid.

"I have a friend named Toshiya. He comes here sometimes and plays with me."

Toshiya smiled gently at child-Kaoru. "Oh yeah? How nice! Do you come here a lot."

Child-Kaoru opened his mouth to reply, but someone calling his name stopped him. A big smile spread across his face as a child suddenly cam into view, waving his hand at child-Kaoru.

Toshiya's brows furrowed together as the new boy came closer. The boy was…Toshiya! Toshiya could only watch in shock as the child version of himself ran other to the child version of Kaoru, who had jumped off the swing, and hugged child-Kaoru. They held hands even after they pulled apart.

Toshiya frantically racked his brain for some sort of memory of this. He knew that it had to be true, since Kaoru was unconscious and couldn't be making this up. Yet…Toshiya, hard as he might try, couldn't remember any of this, or of Kaoru.

He realized that the two boys were now staring at him, so he forced a smile back on his face. "Are you Toshiya?" Child-Toshiya nodded shyly, not wanting to meet the eyes of, unknowingly, his older self.

"Toshiya-chan! This man's name is Toshiya too! Cool ne?" Child-Kaoru exclaimed. He suddenly cocked his head to the side a bit, seriousness taking over his face. "Toshiya, why are you here? Where are you from?"

"Eh…I come from…far away, and I am here to help you." Toshiya told him, surprised at the question.

"Help me? Help me with what?"

"Kaoru!" A loud voice cut through the silence. The voice was filled with anger and hatred, and wasn't too far away.

The happy atmosphere instantly disappeared and fear filled child-Kaoru's eyes as he dropped child-Toshiya's hand. He gently pushed the other boy in the direction from which he had came.

"No! Kaoru! I will stay with you this time!" Child-Toshiya protested, even as child-Kaoru continued to push his to leave.

"Toshiya, you can't stay! You know he will hurt you if he finds out that you are my friend. Please go, Toshiya. If you care, you will go." Child-Kaoru pleaded with child-Toshiya, still pushing him to leave. Toshiya watched as the younger version of himself bit his lip, staring hard at the young Kaoru before nodded his head slowly.

Finally, child-Toshiya turned and ran away. But, about a block away he paused, and turned back around. Even though he was far away, Toshiya knew that the child was crying. Toshiya jumped when suddenly child-Toshiya cried out and ran into the darkness.

Hearing a rustling noise behind him, Toshiya pushed himself off of the swing and turned around to face child-Kaoru. He gasped when a man stepped out of the darkness, garbing child-Kaoru by his hair and tugging.

Child-Kaoru cried out in pain and began to frantically fling his arms every which way in a desperate attempt to break free of the painful hold. "Please! Please let go, it hurts!" Child-Kaoru whimpered.

The man holding him just smirked cruelly. Raising his hand, he struck the boy in his grip. Child-Kaoru's head snapped to the side, and he immediately shut up. "That’s better."

"Hey!" Toshiya shouted, as he walked toward the man, ignoring the frantic shaking of child-Kaoru's head and his pleading eyes. "Who the hell do you think you are? You have no right to treat him like that!"

The man narrowed his eyes, his lips curling up into a snarl. "Who the hell do you think YOU are to tell ME what I can and cannot treat him like. I am his fucking legal guardian! So I will treat him how I want!"

Toshiya glared at the other man and closed the distance between them. Just as he was reaching out to grab child-Kaoru, the man shoved the boy a side and grabbed Toshiya instead. Toshiya struggled to get away, but he was no match for the strength of the other man. With a low growl, the man slammed Toshiya into the wall next to them. Toshiya's head hit the wall painfully, followed by the rest of his left side.

Toshiya gasped as pain coursed through his body, and collapsed to the ground when the man let go of him. Toshiya moaned when he attempted to move his head and the pain increased. He heard the young Kaoru calling out to him, asking if he was ok, followed by a sharp slapping sound and then silence.

"Kaoru…I'll help you. Don't worry…help…I'll…" Toshiya mumbled before darkness over took him.

When Toshiya came to again he realized that he was no longer in a park. It looked like he was in a parking garage, yet there were no cars around, and there were no guide lines in the ground, so he guessed he was in some kind of warehouse.

The sound of dripping water was still there, however, and seeing that there was no one else around, Toshiya decided to see if he could find the source of the noise.

The noise seemed to be coming from a room opening on the far wall, so he headed over there. He was right, as soon as he reached the doorway, he could see the water dripping from the ceiling. Toshiya narrowed his eyes, and it wasn't long before he noticed that the water wasn't the color it was supposed to be. Instead…it was red.

Walking over to continuous drip, Toshiya crouched down and rubbed his fingers in the red puddle on the floor. He brought his stained fingers up to his nose and sniffed. He jumped back when he realized that it was blood.

Backing towards the door, he looked up fearfully. A terrified scream ripped from his throat when he saw the body suspended from the rafters, its throat sliced open, blood dripping down from the whole. The body was hung as if the boy had been flying.

Toshiya screamed again when the body suddenly began to fall. The way it was falling, it looked like the body would fall on Toshiya. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed himself as close to the wall as he could get. The body crashed into the ground, and although Toshiya was petrified, it was as if some force was forcing him to walk over to the body and turn it over.

Toshiya felt like he was going to throw up. He studies the face for a moment, then gasped and fell back as he tried to scrambled away from the body. The boy looked almost exactly like him! The eyes were a little different, the mouth a bit to small, and the nose a bit too big, but otherwise, the dead boy could have been confused for Toshiya's twin.

Toshiya quickly picked himself off the ground and ran out of the room. He froze when he saw Kaoru leaning against the wall across from the room, smoking like he had been when Toshiya had first seen him.

Toshiya tensed when Kaoru dropped the cigarette and crushed it under his boot toe and began to walk toward Toshiya. He stopped when he was only a few feet away and stared at Toshiya. His eyes were hard, but his voice wasn't as cruel as Toshiya had expected.

"He was the most like you, you know. But the eyes…the eyes were different. Not like yours…if only they had been exactly like yours…"

Toshiya swallowed painfully as he realized what Kaoru was saying. "Kaoru…"

Kaoru gave a slight nod, confirming the thought. He raised his hand and pointed to something beyond Toshiya. Toshiya turned around and saw a chair that hadn't been there before. Unfortunately, the boy's corpse was in the same line of sight as the chair, and Toshiya felt a wave of nausea rise up within him. He quickly grabbed the chair and turned away from the sight of the corpse. When he looked up, he found that Kaoru was also sitting in a chair. Toshiya did the same.

"You have something you want to ask me? I can tell by the look in your eyes." Kaoru informed Toshiya as the younger man folded his hands in his lap, something that always calmed him down.

"Kaoru. Tell me about your childhood. Please?"

Kaoru's face hardened. "Why should I tell you about that?"

"I am here to help you. And when I help people, I always start from the beginning, their childhood. So, would you please tell me about your childhood? Please?" Toshiya leaned forward a bit as he sat the last word.

Kaoru blinked as he regarded the man siting across from him. "O…k…" He let out a sigh and slumped back in his chair. "My parents were murdered right in front of my eyes when I was four. My uncle did it. But in court…his lawyers said I was to young and scared to actually be sure of what I saw." Kaoru paused and let out a bitter laugh, "Plus, they said I needed glasses, which I did, so I couldn't be sure. But still…I know his voice…He got all their money…we were almost rich.

"I had to live with him and my aunt. They were nice they were almost nice to me…the didn't hurt me…but then they started getting mean. My uncle went to some strip club and fell in lust with one of the strippers, but she told him that she wouldn't go out with him because he was married. So he killed my aunt.

"Violence gets you what you want. That is what I grew up too. That is what I was taught. He used to hit me…kick me…it was worse when he was drunk…I don't think there was one day when I was living with him that he didn't hurt me. And not just physically, but mentally too."

Toshiya shook his head, pity for the man sitting across from him. No one should have to grow up to that. Before he knew it, a tear had slipped from his eye and rolled down his face. The salty drop clung to his face for a second before falling to the ground.

Kaoru jerked his head up. Silent as it was, he had heard Toshiya's tear hit the ground. He stood up and moved so he was standing next to Toshiya's chair. The other man stiffened at the closeness.

"Toshiya-chan…" Kaoru breathed as he reached out to run a finger down Toshiya's silky smooth cheek.

Instinct caused Toshiya to pull away Anger to flash through Kaoru's eyes. Before Toshiya knew it, Kaoru had ripped the chair out from under him, causing Toshiya to fall sprawling to the ground. He watched in horror as Kaoru threw the chair at the wall, causing the frail wood to splinter into seemingly hundreds of pieces.

Turning back to face Toshiya, Kaoru took a menacing step forward, but stopped when he saw the look on Toshiya's face. Instantly his face softened and he dropped to his knees next to Toshiya.

"Oh Toshiya, I am sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Kaoru told him, reaching out slightly, realizing what he had done. There was a slight pleading tone in his voce.

Toshiya nodded mutely, not wanting to upset Kaoru again. Composing himself he stood up, Kaoru followed. "Kaoru, I have to go now, but I will be back soon. I will come back to help you."

"Huh?" Kaoru asked, confusion filling his handsome face.

Toshiya pressed his finger to his palm. A chip had been implanted in his palm that would allow him to cut the mind feed if he was ever in to deep. It was on his palm so that if ever his other hand was being held down, he just had to smash his palm down on something, and he would wake up.

"Toshiya!" Kaoru cried and lunged for Toshiya's fading figure, but went right through the other man. Toshiya took one last look at the corpse and at Kaoru before completely fading away.

##{*}##

Toshiya woke up to Die's face only inches away from his own. "You ok, Totchi?"

Toshiya nodded as Die pulled the needle from his arm, not saying a word. As soon as he was unhooked, Toshiya headed towards the doors. The doors soundlessly opened allowing Toshiya out, then closed just as silently as they opened, leaving a confused Die to stare after his lover. A groan from Kaoru brought Die's attention back to his job. He beckoned for one of the other doctors to come take care of him before he went after Toshiya.

Die found Toshiya curled up on one of the couches in the empty break room, rubbing his temples as if he was in great pain. Die frowned, Toshiya had never complained about a headache in the nine months they had know each other.

Toshiya sat up and rested his head on Die's chest when he felt the other man sit down besides him. Die wrapped his arms around Toshiya's slim body, silently urging the younger man to tell him what was wrong.

"Die?" Toshiya asked after awhile. "How does Kaoru know me? And why can't I remember him?"

"Huh?" Came Die's confused reply.

"Kaoru…I saw him as a child, and me! We were…friends…but…I don't remember that!"

Die's eyebrow raised as he looked down at his lover. "But Toshiya, how much of your childhood do you actually remember?"

Toshiya thought about that for a bit. "Well, not much I guess," He finally admitted.

"Well there you go! You shouldn't think too much about it…" Die trailed off when he noticed Toshiya's vacant look. "Toshiya? This is really bothering you, isn't it? Maybe…maybe Kaoru should find someone else to treat him?"

Toshiya shook his head, but tightened his hold on Die. "No, that wouldn't be fair to him."

Die shrugged and stretched before reluctantly pulling away from Toshiya. "Well, whatever you want to do. But Yoshiki said that he wants to hear your first report in five minutes."

"Hai. I will get my stuff."

Die watched as his lover walked out of the breakroom, shoulders slumped slightly. This wasn't right, Toshiya had never acted like this before. Sighing Die also left the room, but heading in the opposite direction that Toshiya took.

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*sniff* Poor Kaoru!!! I HATE being mean to him ;_; Well, thanks for reading! Please tell me what you thought!! ^_^

Alison

...to be continued...

email Alison

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