A/N: Written for the Mega Prompts Challenge, #003 – abusive.
another one he just can't save
It was like they weren't even human.
Her eyes were a milky white with tinges of red and her clothes were in rags. She had a smile on her face and a sign there was no way she could read.
If her looks hadn't been enough to turn people to scorn, the sign was.
And even though he'd passed it before, seen it before, it still disgusted him that people were that cruel.
He yanked the sign from her and threw it off the bridge. It was crushed under some tyres and a few people gave him pitying looks. A few others odd – he didn't care. The girl just turned her head in his direction, staring around the area of his left hand – if it could be called staring at all.
He wanted to say many things. Do many things. Whisk her away like Enju – but he wouldn't be allowed to do that. And he knew of no-one else that would take her. Not even Kisara.
And, now, he wasn't even sure he could trust anyone to Kisara.
There weren't enough people who cared for the Initiators. Who thought of them as humans as well. Who thought about the lives they deserved.
Who thought they were little more than trash on the street to be kicked around.
He could see the bruises and scratches beneath the rags.
There was no pain in her face, in her eyes, and that made his heart clench even more.
How many others had he seen like this? How many had he thought he saved only to kill them instead? The school, the war…
He pressed a coin into her hand and whispered instructions to the underground haven – the only place left for unsolicited Initiators like her – and walked on. That was all he could do.
Until he was strong enough to do more.