Chapter 3 – In that Darkness

Sometimes we find others in that darkness, and sometimes we lose them there again." Stephen King

"BAM!" The lid on the garbage container slammed shut and Kubota felt himself grabbed as he fell with a thump onto a familiar thin chest. Two sinewy arms flung themselves around him. "Sor- sorry, Kubo-chan! I'm sorry! I was standing on those pieces of wood and forgot to move them." Tokito buried his head in Kubota's left shoulder. But instead of the calming "Sha, sha – I'm fine." that he expected to hear; he found himself grasped tightly with Kubota's left arm as the man bent down and buried his own head on Tokito's shoulders and leaned into his body lightly shivering. Helpless to figure out what to do next, Tokito just stood there and held Kubota.

But a few seconds later Kubota had raised his head and loosened his grasp on Tokito. "I need you to check my right shoulder. Is there blood coming out the back of it? If so; than the bullet went all the way through."

Tokito looked around to Kubota's back. "No, I don't see any blood on the back of your shirt other than what dripped down from your head."

"Is any of it still bleeding?"

"Umm, no, not really."

"Okay, then the wounds are stable. We need to get to Kou's. Would you handle getting the tickets at the station?"

"Sure, but – um, I don't have enough on me to pay for both of us."

"Shouldn't be a problem, yeah I still have my wallet. Here, take the money." Kubota awkwardly pulled out his wallet and then shoved a bunch of bills at Tokito. "You take care of this for me. Also, I'm going to lean on you while we walk away, it should just look like I'm drunk or weak from lack of blood. I don't know who might be watching."

Suddenly panicked, Tokito froze. Wait a minute, this wasn't him pretending to take charge while Kubota watched over him; or him taking off on his own. He was the one leading the way now, for both of them. There was no back up. It frightened him down to his balls. Kubota had always been there; usually in the background, but always there to pull him out if he got in too deep.

"Tokito, is something wrong?" Kubota's body tensed and his head swiveled around as though he would still be able to tell what was going on.

"NO, no, Kubota. Everything's fine. I was just - just thinking about getting back to the train station is all."

"Don't worry, if you get lost I'm sure we'll find the way between us." Tokito looked quickly at Kubota's face, looking for the half-joking smile he was sure he would find there, but Kubota looked completely serious.

Kubota waited, but Tokito didn't start walking. He turned his head as though to see Tokito better. "What is it?"

"Kubo-chan, how – how did this happen. I mean, people don't just go blind. Do they?" The uncertain, questioning tone to Tokito's voice reminded Kubota of just how little Tokito could remember of his life and how much he didn't know about the world.

"I think it was when I was hit on the head. I'm hoping Kou knows more." After that, there was very little said between the two as they headed for the train station. Kubota soon learned (not at all to his surprise) that Tokito was terrible at warning him of curbs or potholes. He started walking just slightly behind him while still letting his left arm drape across Tokito's shoulder so that he would have the warning of feeling Tokito move downwards when crossing a curb. He kept his eyes on the ground, not wanting to give away his lack of sight to any interested party that might be watching him.

It was a long journey and Kubota found himself truly needing Tokito's shoulder before they reached Kou's store. As usual, no one appeared to notice the blood on Kubota. In this area of town it was always best to mind your own business and ignore anyone else's.

Once the jangling of chimes from the door had settled down Kubota heard the quiet murmur of voices. That and Tokito's hesitation told hm Kou had at least one visitor. "Backroom", Kubota said with his mouth almost touching Tokito's ear. Tokito jumped and then began moving forward. Kubota looked in the direction of the voices and bowed his head slightly before going back to looking as though he were concentrating on the floor. He hoped he looked 'normal'. That effort was spoiled when he bumped into the edge of a shelving unit just inside the door to the back. Tokito's wail of "I'm sorry Kubo-chan, I didn't realize..." probably didn't help either.

"Its okay Tokito." Kubota murmured as he took his arm off Tokito's shoulder and began feeling his way through the small passage and into the room. "It's too small to walk side by side here." He was feeling very, very tired. And wondered how much blood he had lost. He usually didn't get this tired this easily, even after being shot. Once inside the door to the backroom, he waited while Tokito helped him to the stool.

It was less than a minute until Kubota heard chimes again; and shortly thereafter came Kou's calm voice. "Kubota, this time I think you are going to have to tell me exactly what happened. Now I'm going to touch your head for a moment." Then long slender fingers reached out and wrapped themselves around his chin, moving his face this way and that.