"Hey, Morgana, could you give us a minute?" Ryuji asked as the trio headed up into the attic. Ren had just come back from the interrogation but despite his calm demeanour, Ryuji was less than convinced that his friend was truly okay. He'd asked if it was okay to spend the night with him, naturally both Ren and the boss didn't mind at all. The cat glanced between the two and nodded.

"I'll be downstairs." He said and pounced down the stairs. Ryuji watched Morgana go before turning back to Ren, who was sitting on his bed with his head balanced on his hand.

"Dude, you really don't look so good." Ren gave him a calm, yet exhausted, smile in response. Same as ever.

"Not too bad for a dead man though, eh?" Ryuji tensed at the words. He knew Ren was only joking to lighten the mood, however, once they learned that their leader had been drugged the realisation that they could have lost their friend had been a huge slap to the face. If Ren hadn't remembered the plan at the moment that he did, then he wouldn't be sitting in the attic cracking jokes like nothing was wrong. "Listen, I'm going to get dressed, okay?" He said and grabbed his pyjamas. It seemed like he was going to head out and get dressed in a toilet instead of the room.

"Where're you going?" Ryuji asked, confused.

"Huh? I just said, I'm going to get dressed." Ren replied with his usual smile. Forever wearing a mask, even when he's in the real world.

"I've slept over before, you've never cared about getting changed around me before. I mean, we're both guys, right?" Ryuji didn't mind that Ren might want to change in private, but this was the perfect point for Ryuji to cling to. He was pointing out how Ren wasn't behaving the same way. "Something's wrong, ain't it? I know they beat the crap outta ya in that room… you're badly injured and don't want me to see, right?" Silence followed. Ren turned his head away, his dark hair falling messily over the front of his glasses. "C'mon, man… you're always there for us when we need help. I know you're our leader but you're our friend. Hell, you're my best friend, dude, let me help." Ryuji wasn't a very observant person most of the time, but he was still able to notice the little things that his friend did to help carry himself through awkward moments. Ren was absently picking at a loose strand of the pyjamas he held in his hands. He was staring down for a few seconds, taking a deep breath and then lifting his head. Preparing himself mentally to actually face the problem he was avoiding.

"I'm really tired," Ren said eventually. "I'm going to get changed… I'll be back soon. You still okay with the sofa?" He asked, finally looking at Ryuji. Ryuji simply nodded. Ren must have sensed how worried his friend was because just before he left the room he paused. "I… appreciate you staying and… talking to me about this. It's just…"

"Hard?" Ryuji asked. More silence. "Listen, I ain't gonna rush you into talking about it. You just got back after all. What I am saying is… we all got stuff to deal with. It being in the past doesn't make it easier to deal with now but… I guess knowing that someone else knows ya situation is comforting…" Ren, with his back facing Ryuji, smiled sadly. "Crap, I hope that made sense. C'mon, man, you're killing me here!" He whined. That was the Ryuji he knew. A small chuckle escape Ren at that.

"Thanks, Ryuji. Really." He said as he headed downstairs and to the bathroom in the corner of the shop.

Not long later Ren had arrived back in his attic room. Morgana was already curled up on his bed, fast asleep. He'd only been gone a few minutes and was very surprised that his companion had travelled upstairs and fallen asleep in such a short space of time. Ryuji, seeing his stunned expression, smirked.

"He's been staying up a lot, I guess not many of us slept much while you were gone." That made sense. "Y'know… when we found out they drugged you… that was kinda scary… you forgot our plan for a while. If you hadn't remembered …" He trailed off, his hands tightening into fists on his knees. "I could kill those sorry bastards who did that to you…" Ren watched his friendly quietly and then walked over, lowering himself next to him on the sofa. He winced slightly as he sat. He didn't need to look to know Ryuji's fists grew tighter on having noticed that.

"I was scared." He admitted, turning his eyes to look at his hands in his own lap. Ryuji's eyes widened and he turned to look at him. Ren was their fearless leader. Of course, he expressed anxiousness like the others had when appropriate but… he was also the one to quickly regain his composure. If he was ever scared, which of course the others never doubted he was entirely fearless, he never expressed it to them. "I woke up and I couldn't remember what happened, where I was or why I was being beaten." He gripped the fabric of his pyjamas a little as the memory swam forward in his mind. "I… couldn't remember any of you for a short while. The drugs just made it so hard… It was all so painful and humiliating. I didn't have any control over my body at all." Ryuji put a hand on his shoulder, noticing Ren flinch slightly at the contact before slowly relaxing.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, man. I wish I had been right there with you. It was a stupid plan, I can't believe we put your life on the line like that!" His voice was raising a little. As it did Ren looked at him and put a finger to his lips before gesturing to the still sleeping Morgana. "Ah, uh, my bad."

"I… will talk about this more but right now I'm just… I just really want to sleep." Ren's smile was slightly different now. He wasn't hiding his pain with a mask anymore. Instead he was just happy to have some comfort, to have someone concerned for him after the lonely and terrifying experience he'd just undergone.

"That's fair, dude. I do got one question though…" Ren looked at him and tilted his head curiously. "How come ya ain't got a single mark on ya face? I get you're tough but ya telling me ya don't bruise?" Ren smirked back at him.

"Makeup." Ryuji blinked, staring at him. He was not even done comprehending before Ren continued. "I told Nijima-san that I didn't want anyone to see my current state. She pulled up at a road side, got out some makeup and put concealer or something on me." Ryuji began cracking up.

"Dude, you serious? You got a make over from the prosecutor?" Ren tilted his head up as he got to his feet and walked over to his bed. He slipped under the covers, careful to avoid accidentally kicking Morgana.

"Jealous, Ryuji?" Before Ryuji could even answer the lights flickered off.