All thanks goes to Kellym01.2 for letting me continue to write about this story


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Abuse and Therapy

Chapter 1: a broken heart

Written by Jayrock1127

Ranma ½ created by Rumiko Takahashi


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Nodoka Saotome let out a tired sigh as she was walking through the halls of the Nerima mental hospital. Today she was receiving a new patient, she entered the building where the child was been held, yet she didn't understand why a child would need to be held in this place. Only the more dangerous patients were contained here until they were no longer a danger to themselves or others. The only other reason for someone to be here, is they would have to endure a severe traumatic experience of one form or another and the patient was unstable.

'Why would a child be here…surely it can't be that bad' Nodoka thought to herself. She was hoping she is right and the young patient was only in here by mistake or some form of technicality. Perhaps it might be a risk assessment but she doubted it, and she knew in her gut how wrong she was. This facility was used to determine if people needed to go to an asylum or just in case the patient was too dangerous.

Nodoka headed up to the floor she was told her patient would be, and when she approached the door, she was glancing over his file one last time before entering the approaching his room. From the picture Nodoka could see the boy couldn't have been more than eleven or twelve, the file described him thoroughly, he shunned away from all forms of contact from anyone and they constantly showed fear when approached. She soon read the reason about why he was here, and apparently those who found him said, he was lying in an alley, looked half dead, they tried to take him to a hospital, but they ended up in hospital with several broken bones and even some torn muscles and internal bleeding.

Nodoka couldn't believe what she was reading and she looked back at the door. She knew she needed to do her job, but what she just read made her feel unease. However, she gathered what she had in her and hesitantly reached for the door, unlocking it before slowly entering, closing it slowly once she was within the room. The room she was in was bare, it had light blue stone walls, a dim little light, two chairs tucked into a table, one for her and at the opposite side of the small room one for him.

Nodoka slowly made her way to her seat, not making eye contact or any sudden, fast, movements. Once she took her seat she looked towards the chair to find it empty, and then she heard the rattling of some chains.

She turned to locate its source.

What she saw brought tears to her eyes, for before her was the young boy from the file. He was huddled in the corner, curled in on himself, one eye peeking out, shaking with fear as was his entire body. His hands were cuffed together by a chain attached to a wall allowing near no movement. Nodoka knew the chains length would only stop him from reaching her and the door, not the chair or most of his side of the room.

Nodoka could clearly see the tears being held back by sheer force of will alone. He reminded her so much of her own son, but she hadn't seen him for a decade or so now. She thought of him constantly, but she could not think of him now, she had to focus on her patient.

"Hello, my name is Nodoka, I have come here to help you" Nodoka said, using the kindest tone she could muster. The boy only curled up tighter and pushed further against the corner.

"Can you tell me your name?" Nodoka asked.

No reply.

"How old are you?" she tried again.

No reply.

"Do you know where your mother is?" she asked, hoping for some form of reply. The boy looked up from his knees and when Nodoka saw his face she fought back a gasp when she saw a single scar going through his left eye.

"Mother?" the boy croaked, his voice hoarse as if he hadn't used it in a while.

"Yes, do you know where she is?" she asked.

"What's a mother?" the boy croaked.

Nodoka stiffened when he said that, and it was echoing through her head about what he just said. 'He doesn't…even know what a mother is' Nodoka gasped within her mind, tears then began to swell in her eyes because it is sad to hear that a young child like this doesn't know who his mother is, but he doesn't know what a mother is.

She then thought that maybe he might have been through so much, based on seeing him right now, that he might have forgotten what a mother is. She then thought she could tell him what a mother is so it could probably jog back some memory of who his mother was to him and help him get reunited with her. "Your mother is who gave birth to you, a mother is supposed to protect you, show you're loved" Nodoka replied, she saw no realization within the boys eyes.

"Then I don't have one" the boy replied, his eyes dropping.

Nodoka let out a small sigh.

"What about your father?" Nodoka asked hoping to get an answer from him.

She then got a response from him, but it wasn't a verbal response, but the boy visibly flinched and pushed himself further back against the wall.

Nodoka decided to avoid that topic for now since maybe that could the source of the issue with him and she wouldn't want to cause any more stress on him than he is now.

She then asked a different question to the boy. "Where do you live?" she asked.

"Nowhere" came the reply.

"You mean you're homeless…did you run away from home?" Nodoka asked.

"I ran away…but I never had a home" the boy replied.

"Where have you been living?" Nodoka asked.

"Everywhere" came the reply, his voice a little less hoarse but still ruff.

"What do you mean?" Nodoka asked.

"We travelled" came the reply.

"Oh…why didn't you stay in the same place?" Nodoka asked.

"We had to keep moving…keep…training…" came the reply, his voice became weak and full of emotion with the last word, Nodoka noticed.

"What did the training consist of?" Nodoka asked.

"He…would beat me, said it would build up my stamina…make me stronger…when we had food I would have to defend my food while eating it or I wouldn't eat…we'd get up with the sun and…train…" he responded, Nodoka couldn't believe what she was hearing.

'What kind of monster would do this to him…he's never had a home, been beaten and he doesn't even know what a mother is' Nodoka practically screamed within her mind, salty tears beginning to slide down her cheeks.

"Who did you…train with?" Nodoka asked.

No reply.

"How long has he been training you?" Nodoka asked.

"Ever since I can remember" came the reply.

Nodoka right now just wanted to go over to the small boy and hug him, tell him everything will be alright and take him home but she knew, not only could she not do that but she also doubted it was going to be alright.

"Did he do anything else besides beating you?" Nodoka asked.

No reply, and Nodoka noticed the boy close up into a tighter ball.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" she asked hoping to get him to uncurl or…something, anything.

"Brother? Sister?" he questioned, Nodoka couldn't believe this the more she asked the worse it got.

"Where do you go to school?" she asked.

"I don't" came the reply

"Why?" she asked.

"Po…he said it was a waste of time…that all I…need is the art…that school is pointless…I went for a week once…but not since" he replied.

Nodoka noticed his slip of tongue, noting it down for later. At the moment though it was growing harder for her to control her rage, she couldn't believe what this boy was telling her, then again she'd heard worse in terms of abuse, but she had a bad feeling that she'd barely scratched the surface.

"Are you thirsty?" Nodoka asked, noticing the water provided hadn't been touched and she was hoping to see the boy uncurl.

He didn't reply only nod.

"Then have some water it's yours" Nodoka replied as she indicated to a large pitcher of water waiting to be poured into a cup.

The boy licked his dry lips but he was hesitant to go towards it.

Nodoka watched as the boy stood up and approached the small table where the water was, eyes widening when she saw the condition of his body.

He was covered in dirt and dark maroon stains, blood stains, the flesh of his arms were decorated with scars and bruises, his shirt and pants torn in several places, showing a few glances of more scars on his body. Nodoka's eyes widened further when she saw he was malnourished, his skin was fairly pale and when he had been getting up his shirt had lifted and she could see an almost perfect outline of his ribs, from the look of him she was surprised he was able to stand yet he walked barley hindered by his injuries.

The boy took hold of the pitcher, lifting both his hands up to drink it, and downing it in a single breath before panting heavily as he dropped the bottle.

'Poor kid…he was dying of thirst and it looks like he hasn't had a decent meal in weeks maybe even months' Nodoka sighed within her mind, tears streaming down her face once again, unable to stand seeing a child about the same age as her own so badly beaten, while the mother within her was screaming out to protect the child.

"When was the last time you ate or drank anything?" Nodoka asked, the boy headed back to his corner.

"I haven't eaten for four days and last I drank was…" he trailed off "When did it rain?" he asked, Nodoka stiffened once again, the boy had been living on rain water.

"Three days ago" Nodoka answered on instinct.

"How did you get those scars?" she then asked, doubting a human could have made them. The boy flinched, eyes widening in terror, and Nodoka could practically see images playing behind his eyes. He was probably remembering how he got the scars, and he curled back into a ball, tighter than before, Nodoka was alarmed by this reaction, afraid to even think about what had been done to him.

Beep, beep.

She glanced down at her watch, her time was up, she'd been talking to the boy for two hours now and still didn't know who he was, where he was from, who his parents are or how he ended up in the city.

"I'm afraid I have to go now…but I'll be back tomorrow…a man will come and take you to your room in about half an hour" Nodoka said before taking her notes and heading out the door, closing it and locking it once she was out. She was hating herself for doing it but it was a precaution that everyone had to follow or they risk losing their jobs, Nodoka head down the hallway and once she was certain there was no way the boy or anyone would hear or see her she opened the floodgates, sobbing violently as tears gushed out of her eyes, her legs shaking as she continued to walk thinking about what she heard from the little boy.


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Hey guys it is me and I am back,

Now I know some of you guys are wondering where my other stories are at and why am I writing another story. Well I will tell you. You see after a year of writing the same fics for two stories I kind of feel a little burnt out from writing them. So, I thought writing something knew would help me out a lot so I won't get board. But, don't get me wrong, I am not done with my other stories because I plan to finish those stories and the next time I post would be Kasumi Cares again.

Anyways, if any of you are wondering where I got the idea for this story, it is because it is not my idea. This is a story that has already been written by someone else and that someone is Kellym01.2. I want to say thank you to her because she is the one that gave me permission to rewrite this story and let it finish it. If you guys want, you can go check out the same story on her profile because she is the original author of this story. What I plan to do with this story is fix some grammar issues and add some ideas of my own to make this story all come together and it pops out to you guys. By the way this is the only chapter I am going to be posting for a while now, because I want to work on my other stories. But, if you guys really want me to work on this story then tell me what you think and maybe I will reconsider dong this story more often.

Anyways that is all I have to say and I will see you in the next story.