When You Were Gone (SaruMi)

Five

As predicted, it took them less than an hour to get everything Misaki had in his possession. A majority of the items were clothing, some comic books, and of course his laptop and headphones. He didn't need the bed as it was already there when they moved in, along with a few other small pieces of furniture. Everything else...everything that wasn't his, it was already gone and taken to Scepter 4. During the entire process of gathering his things, the ginger tried to avoid thinking about the time he had shared in this apartment with the person who was supposed to be his best friend...the person he trusted with his life.

While Rikio carried out the last of the boxes that they had packed, Misaki stood in the doorway of the apartment in order to take one last look around. After today, he would never return to the place he and Saruhiko once called home. It was rather difficult to process all of it, but it was pointless to continue standing in the doorway. Feeling a hand on his shoulder caused the shorter male to glance back, only to find himself looking at Mikoto. The red head definitely looked exhausted. He probably wanted to get back to the bar and sleep since he had been up all night looking after a certain ginger.

"Come on, kid. Let's get back to the bar. Kamamoto will help you set up the spare room." Mikoto mumbled tiredly before removing his hand from Misaki's shoulder. Sighing quietly, the shorter boy nodded his head a bit and finally tore himself away from the place he had been standing. After pulling the door shut behind himself, Misaki moved to follow the others out of the apartment complex and back toward HOMRA.

Upon arriving back at the bar, Rikio helped his exhausted looking friend up to the second floor of the bar where the others were just finishing up on cleaning up the room Misaki would be staying in. They had already brought his bed over and a few boxes so now all the smaller boy had to do was organize his things the way he wanted. However, that would probably have to wait until he was feeling a bit more energized. Izumo had even gotten the boy a dresser, nightstand and desk so he could have extra places to put things.

As the chubby blond and the smaller ginger made their way into the room, Izumo turned toward the pair and gave them both a small little smile. He then reached over to lightly ruffle Misaki's ginger colored hair, which got a small smile from the other. The bartender couldn't imagine what was going on in his friend's head, but he was sure the other was still very confused and trying to process everything that had happened the night before. He knew one thing though, he hated seeing their usual fired up vanguard seeming so broken. The hazel colored eyes that normally burned with a fiery passion were dull and held an exhausted gaze, a look that didn't suit the ginger at all. It would definitely take some time for this to pass, but they all planned on being there for the ginger, no matter how long it took.

"Why don't you and Kamamoto get the bed made so you can lay down for a bit longer? You can always do more organizing once you feel a bit better." Izumo suggested as he motioned toward the bed in the corner of the room. "You look like you're ready to pass back out..."

"Yeah...I could lay down for a little bit longer..." Misaki admitted with a small nod. Being back in the apartment had taken the remainder of his energy and now he could barely continue to stand. For now, he just wanted to sleep the rest of the day away without making any of the others worry anymore than they already seemed to be. He hated making them worry like this, but their support during this time was much appreciated.

After Rikio had helped Misaki get his bed made, he moved a few of the boxes out of the way so that the smaller ginger wouldn't trip over anything if he were to get out of bed in his weakened state. By the time he had finished and turned around, all he could do was shake his head a bit. Misaki had already crawled into bed while Rikio had been moving things and he had passed back out almost instantly it seemed. Sighing quietly, the blond made his way over and pulled the blankets up over his smaller friend before ruffling his hair lightly. If he were to be honest, he really hated seeing his friend like this. Misaki had always been such a tough, hot headed boy who didn't seem to take shit from anyone...but now he just seemed so broken and helpless. Rikio wasn't sure if they would ever see that burning passion in the boy's hazel eyes again, but maybe in time he would go back to being the fiery ginger they all knew and loved. Until then...they were just going to have to keep a close eye on him.