Fukase stood behind Oliver's chair, a comb in his hand. It was almost therapeutic as he loosened the tangles and snarls in Oliver's hair. Due to the lack of mirrors in the room, it wasn't surprising Oliver hadn't brushed it in a while.

"I'm going to ask a few questions now, Oliver," Fukase said. "Just a couple simple ones today."

"Okay." Oliver pulled at the ends of his white sleeves.

"Do you miss your family?" Gently, Fukase tugged at a particularly stubborn knot of blond hair.

Oliver nodded. "I don't miss them."

Fukase remained silent until Oliver spoke again.

"Maybe my sister. But not my parents. And definitely not my older brother. I'm glad I don't have to see him anymore."

"He's another Lectrinn user, isn't he?" Fukase slipped the comb into his pocket and told Oliver to turn around.

"He is."

Fukase began to braid Oliver's bangs to the side. They were getting long, and Oliver had complained the other day that they kept getting in his eyes. Fukase's sister had taught him how to braid when she had first learned herself. Along with anyone else who would listen.

"He's scary when he gets mad, when he uses his power," Oliver continued. "And he always pinched my cheek." He rubbed the side of his face. "I hated that."

Fukase wondered if he could get some scissors approved so he could cut Oliver's hair short again.

"What was his ability called?"

"Screen."

"Scream?"

"It's Screen." Oliver didn't elaborate, shifting uncomfortably and not meeting Fukase's eyes. Fukase decided to move on to his second, less serious question. He would ask about this 'Screen' ability later.

"If you could have any wish in the world, what would it be?" he said.

Oliver's answer was immediate. "For you to stay all day so I'm never alone."

Fukase stopped braiding. It was supposed to be a lighthearted question. He wavered before finishing the braid behind Oliver's ear.

"I already told you why I can't stay all day, Oliver," said Fukase. "Wouldn't you like something else more? Don't you ever think about going outside, seeing the sun again? Maybe you should use your wish to leave this place."

"Oh, no." Oliver shook his head. "I don't want to leave. I'd rather be here with you. I don't mind staying inside all day." He beamed as he touched the braid. "You're all I need."

Fukase rolled his shoulders and rephrased his question. "If you could have anything in the world, if you could make the impossible possible—"

"You would stay with me forever!"

Fukase took a deep breath.

"If I could be with you all the time," Oliver went on, smiling, "I'd wouldn't care about anything else. Nothing else matters but you."

"Oliver." Fukase pressed his hands to Oliver's cheeks, leaning forward and looking in his blank eyes. "You must stop thinking like that. You have to think for yourself. Don't think about me. Think about yourself."

Oliver placed his hands over Fukase's.

"But I can't."

It was such an earnest statement, so innocently truthful that Fukase felt like yelling. Like grabbing the kid by the shoulders and shaking some sense into him. If only he could take a knife and hack away the attachment Oliver's Lectrinn had created.

Instead, Fukase straightened himself and spoke with clear words.

"Who do you think I am?"

"What?" Oliver tilted his head.

"You're a prisoner here. They almost killed you. The Boss is planning to turn you into a human weapon." Fukase gripped his hands into fists. "Do you understand the situation you're in?"

"You've never hurt me." Oliver slowly shook his head. "Ever."

Oliver didn't see Fukase as a jailer, or a kidnapper, or anything that could possibly be bad. He was like the physical embodiment of all things good in Oliver's life. Every time Fukase came into the room, Oliver felt as if he would burst with the warmth, the adoration brimming inside.

"You think I won't?" Fukase stamped his foot, making Oliver jump as he pivoted on his heel and paced a single step before whipping around again like a caged animal. "You don't know anything about me. I'm a terrible person."

"You're... You're not like that." Wringing his hands, Oliver stood. He didn't understand. "You're good."

Fukase suddenly grabbed Oliver's shoulders.

"Don't you care that you're trapped here?" he shouted. "They kidnapped you from your family! Oliver!"

"I don't care." Oliver whispered. "I don't care about my family. The only thing I care about is you. I love—"

"I'm leaving." He let go of Oliver and walked towards the door with such a sense of finality Oliver could almost feel something snapping inside. Tiny Lectrinn bonds, brittle with disagreement, stretched and broke with every step Fukase took away from him, leaving nothing behind, a horrific, unfathomable nothingness that terrified him.

Fukase braced himself when Oliver crashed into him from behind, flinging his arms around Fukase's torso in a desperate attempt to stop him.

"NO!" Oliver cried. "Wait! I'm sorry! I'll do anything, just don't leave!"

Fukase pried Oliver's hands away as if he'd been anticipating this change in behavior. "Then let go."

He left the room, and for the first time ever, Oliver wrenched at the locked handle and pounded on the door.

"Please! Please don't go! Don't leave me alone! I'll be good. I promise I'll be good! Please!"

He staggered back, almost tripping over his own feet.

"What did I do wrong? What did I do wrong?!"

The door wasn't going to give way or an answer.

Oliver frantically whipped around, trying to force himself to think. What— What—

He grabbed the desk chair and hurled it at the door with all his strength. It clattered uselessly to the floor.

Grabbing at his sleeves, looking for an anchor,
he began to hyperventilate.

"Come back. Help me!"

He backed into the room's corner with jerky steps as the walls closed in, sinking to the floor and hiding his face in his knees. Sobs tore from his chest and he curled into himself, shaking and gasping for air.

Fukase wasn't coming back this time. There had been no promises. Not even one.

Oliver struggled to breathe as the world blurred. His heart pounded and his mind raced. He tried to call out, but only choked. He spiraled and spiraled, no one to catch him.

He had lost everything, and now he thought he had something, someone who was better than anything he had before. Fukase. He couldn't stand to lose him. The very thought made Oliver feel like he was drowning, knowing that no one was going to save him. Cold water filled his lungs, his veins, his heart.

Fukase was his everything.

"Please.... Come back...."

Fukase was his savior.

And Fukase was there.

Pulling Oliver up and out of the crashing waves. Drawing him close and shutting out the dark. Halting his spiral with nothing but whispered words.

"I've got you. It's okay. I've got you."

Oliver's sobs quieted to sniffles. He hadn't heard the door reopen. Suddenly, in Fukase's arms, everything felt right. His chest still heaved, but he found he could actually breathe again.

"I'm sorry I left," Fukase murmured. "I'm sorry I scared you. I won't do it again."

"Don't go."

Strands of Lectrinn healed, reattaching themselves. Parasites.

"Shh..."

The space in Oliver's chest that had been filling with fear was being replaced with something else. The dark water surrounding him retreated. A pure warmth flowed from deep in his bones and the horrible nothingness went away.

"Don't leave me again. Please don't leave me."

Their Lectrinn wasn't just a string connecting them together. It was a chain. Shackles. Locks without keys.

"I'll do anything. Anything you say."

It was ironic how powerless he felt when it was his power that got him into this situation in the first place. Oliver knew how much strength his ability could give him, but it didn't matter. The only way he could use it to make Fukase stay would be to—

Fukase lightly brushed his hand over Oliver's back. "Oliver...."

Break his legs.

No.

"If I took you with me to live far away, how would you feel?" Fukase asked slowly.

Not daring to imagine it, Oliver stared at him for a moment. Fukase looked down, a hesitant bend in his brow. Like a flower blooming after rain, Oliver beamed through teary eyes.

"I would be so, so happy!"

Fukase swallowed around a lump in his throat.

"If I ordered you to use your ability to hurt someone, would you?"

Oliver froze, his smile fading, the petals falling one by one. Then he answered, unwavering.

"If you asked me to, I would."

Fukase felt his heart beating like it was part of a separate being.

"If I ordered you to use your ability to kill someone, would you?"

Oliver didn't hesitate this time. There was a light in his eyes, but it wasn't a warm one. It was a cold ember burning away with an unnatural passion, devoid of the life real love possessed.

"I would."

Fukase knew there was no way he could save Oliver by himself.

=•=•=

For needing four different Lectrinn abilities, the rescue plan was simple enough.

Yuu would Minimize the group to a couple inches tall, and they would sneak in through the ventilation system. Once they were over Oliver's room, Fukase would transfer them from the vent in the ceiling to the floor, where Yuu would Maximize the group. The fact the Boss of the Ocahame House was so cheap would be their saving grace— any cameras were strictly decorative.

Once they were regular-sized again, Xin Hua would Stamp Clone Fukase's features onto Flower so they could switch places while Luka would Mask a dummy to appear like a sleeping Oliver. Flower would then Send the group back out to the Yelkcots House, home.

Afterward, Xin Hua could give back "Fukase" his regular face. He would finally be able to use his real name again.

Flower would act as Fukase in the Ocahame House for the next day, until the Masked dummy died. Then, before she could be disciplined as "Fukase," the retrieval team would get her out and back to the Yelkcots House.

All Fukase had to do was wait for the signal.

Then they would be home.