part 2 of a three part update.

WARNING: Horrible things have happened to Xiang. As always I'm not graphic about it, but it is a disturbing subject.

Xiang reappeared late one evening, sometime during Komui's regular chat with Doctor Chin. He nearly jumped out of his skin as he closed the door and noticed the boy perched on his bed. "Xiang!" He grinned. "You're back! Finally… I was getting worried…" he trailed off as he got a good look at his friend.

Xiang looked like death warmed over. Dark cloudy eyes stared straight ahead. He was far paler than normal. Komui rushed to his side. Carefully he felt his forehead; it was hot but the flesh itself was clammy. He didn't even bother asking before starting an impromptu examination. It didn't seem to matter; Xiang didn't seem to notice he was there. He gently pulled down his eyelid; it was a sickly pink, not bright red like it should have been. Xiang was either anemic or had lost a good amount of blood. He pinched the skin on the back of his pale hand. It stuck; he was dehydrated. He pressed two fingers to the primary vein on his neck. The boy's heartbeat was fluttering wildly.

"Xiang you're sick…" he said softly. "You need to drink. I'll get some water and then you tell me what happened…"

"No water." He mumbled. "Burns…" He smiled weakly. "I walked here…"

"Did you walk here sick?" he was appalled. "Your parents let you walk back on your own like this?" Komui was already filling a glass from the pitcher; he didn't care what Xiang wanted, he was going to drink. He pushed the cup into his hands. "Drink." He ordered gently.

"Nooo…" he moaned and tried to push it back. "Burns too much…"

"It's cold. It can't burn you… come on its just water."

"Burns to…" Xiang insisted. "Komui… we need to talk…"

"I'm not talking to you till you drink. I will force you to drink it if I have to." He pressed the glass to Xiang's closed lips and a hand to the back of his head to keep him from moving away. "You're making this a lot harder than it needs to be. Drink now and I promise it won't burn you. Then we can talk…" he knew it was useless to bargain with the delirious, but seemed to work. Xiang took the cup and chugged back the cool water. Komui filled it again; glad to see that despite his protests he was thirsty. After three cups, he let him stop. "Just sip slowly, alright?"

"I can't stay here…" Xiang babbled, half spilling the glass of water. "I can't go home… 'the Yin family has no son!' so, I can't go back… they've disowned me." He pitched forward and Komui caught him; he didn't see where the glass landed or rolled. "Have to call off the engagement… I can't be a husband to Lenalee… have to call it off…"

"You're speaking nonsense… don't worry about Lenalee. Just worry about getting better."

"I'm not gonna get better!" he screamed. "Burned! Can't be her husband… call it off. 'The Yin family has no son!' I'm nothing!" he was near hysterical. He lurched from Komui's grip and then froze suddenly. "I'm bleeding again." He whispered.

Komui froze with him. Bleeding…? Where? This isn't good. What should I do… what should I do?! Panic made his heart pound frantically against his ribs as if it was trying to escape. He took a deep breath, forcing the panic down and taking control of his emotions. Be a doctor and help him…

"Xiang…" he spoke with an authority that he didn't even know he possessed. "Look at me. I going to help you… but I need you to talk to me. Tell me what happened."

"My mother's a madwoman… and my father let her. He let her! My own father… he helped her do it!" He curled in on himself. "I can't be a husband! I'm nothing!"

A horrible notion was forming in Komui's mind, as he looked for meaning in his friend's ranting. Nothing, can't be a husband… has no son… oh shit, let me be wrong. "Xiang what did she do?"

Xiang glanced around the room, terrified, as if he expected to see other people there, ready to watch and judge him. With shaking hands he fumbled with his traveling coat. Komui clapped a hand over his mouth to keep from making a noise. The front of Xiang's pants and tunic were drenched in blood. "Wouldn't let me change… soon as I woke up they made me start walking…" he smiled madly. "I walked all the way here… it took ten days…"

"You've been walking like this… for ten days?" Komui was horrified but oddly impressed; there was ten days of blood dried on his clothes. He knew he was hurt and still he kept moving. "You're a very strong boy…"

"No I'm not." He mumbled half returning from his delirium. "Komui…" he whispered. "They cut me."

The way he said 'cut' set off a cold chill in his veins. There was only one thing he could mean by it. "How bad?" Komui forced himself to ask.

"All gone… nothing left. Nothing, Komui."

"Let me see." Komui commanded gently, ignoring Xiang's plaintive howl at the request. "I need to see how bad it is. You probably have an infection. Let's go clean you up." He didn't wait for consent or for Xiang to even try and move. He scooped him up and carried him to the bath. He was incredibly light and easy to lift. Komui wondered if he was strong naturally or if fear was making him that way. "Wait here…" he set Xiang on the floor by the bath. "I'm going to get you some clean clothes and something to jam the door with… no interruptions."

He hurried back down the hall to his room. Xiang didn't bring any of his things back; he must not have planned on staying, so Komui pulled out a spare set of his own clothes. He grabbed a chair and hauled it back to the bath. Xiang hadn't moved. He wedged the chair against the door. It was late but he was struck with a sudden paranoia that someone would come in and see Xiang in the bad state he was in. Word would spread quickly through the school and then to the students' families. He needed to keep Xiang's condition secret here. Komui decided he would protect the smaller boy no matter what.

"Here we go…" he helped his friend to his unsteady feet. I can do this… its just Xiang. He reassured himself. "I'm going to help you… let's get out of these dirty clothes." Xiang made no move, so Komui undressed him. Removing his bloodied pants proved most difficult. Komui resisted the urge to look in detail at the mutilated body before him. Gore had clotted everywhere, making it impossible to see properly anyways. "Alright… I'm going to help you get in the water. Don't scrub anything; just soak."

The water almost instantly went pink as the dried blood released its hold on Xiang's skin. "Komui… I don't feel good…"

"I know… I know. Just relax for now. I'll find you something to dull the pain later. But for now I'm not leaving you by yourself." He changed the water when it seemed too dirty. He finally sat on the edge of the tub and let his legs, pants and all, into the water. Xiang leaned against him gratefully. "Here…" he pulled a clean washcloth from one of the closer shelves. "Lean forward a bit." He ran the cloth in soothing circles on his back. "It's going to be alright, Xiang. I promise it will. This doesn't change anything."

"Yes it does…" Xiang answered bitterly.

"No. You're still the same person…"

"No! I'm not anything, my bitch of a mother wanted a daughter so damn bad and decided to fix the child she did have… ahh… even made me bleed like a damn woman…" he started crying, deep silent sobs that shook his thin frame. "I want those monsters dead, the both of them! Mother for losing her mind and cutting me and Father for holding me down; he held me down! I want them both dead! Komui, I don't even know what I am now… they've made me a nothing…"

"You're still Xiang… I don't care about outsides, just the you inside." Komui reached into the water and wrapped his arms around his damp shoulders. He chose his next words carefully; saying them would change everything, but seeing Xiang in such pain was unbearable.

He acknowledged that the affection he felt for him ran a little deeper than it should have; so, he took all his unresolved feelings for his friend and hoped he was making the right decision. "Don't ever say you're nothing…" He swallowed hard, the words kept sticking; he used his hands instead.

Komui gently took Xiang's chin and turned his head; he put a loving kiss on the corner of his mouth. He tasted like sweat and sickness. "My Xiang…" he smiled at his stunned face. "Don't dare say you're nothing… not when you're my everything."

"What…?" his voice cracked slightly.

"My Xiang…" Komui stole another chaste kiss. "You heard me." Xiang lifted himself enough out of the water just enough to throw his arms around Komui's waist and bury his face against his stomach. Komui nearly laughed. Now that he finally said something, he felt strangely giddy. Part of him was certain that he'd just made a terrible mistake, but he pushed the thought back. He had only said what needed to be said right then to help Xiang. He would think about it later. Instead, he folded himself over his friend and held him. They stayed like that till the bath water turned cold.

Komui swaddled him in towels, not bothering with the change of clothes and bundled him back to their room. He helped him into his bed and sat on the floor beside him. "You know what I'm going to ask, right?" he asked, settling a hand on Xiang's knee. The other boy stared at him with a mixed look of fear and shame. "I'm not going to do anything… just look. I'll tell you everything before I do it."

"I don't think I want you to see me…" Xiang said softly. He was crying again.

"Do you hurt much? I can go get some medicine for you, if that would make things easier." Komui rubbed his thumb over his kneecap.

"Yes, please Komui. I'd like that it think…"

"Alright…" he stood and smiled down at his friend. "I'll be right back…" Calmly he walked to the door and broke into a dead run the second he was outside it. What am I doing?! Calm down… must calm down… He skidded to a stop by the physician's office. The man was already retired for the evening; the light was off. He needed to tell someone. He was fairly sure that what Xiang's mother did to her son was illegal somehow. He needed the doctor's opinion.

Without making a sound, he snuck inside and hunted down the medicine cabinet. He stole the little bottle of poppy extract. If Xiang's fever isn't gone in a couple of days… then I'll tell the doctor, then he can come help. Almost as an afterthought, he took some disinfectant and soothing balms.

Back in the room they shared, Xiang hadn't moved from where Komui had set him. He was shaking, pallid skin lit with fever. "Komui…" he whimpered. "I don't want you to see me…"

"I have to…" Komui measured out a dosage of the painkiller and gave it to his poor friend. "Drink that. You'll feel better." Xiang drank it down fast and smacked his lips at the taste. Komui dug through his books and looked up the appropriate diagrams. Hopefully he could tell which parts, if any, needed to be stitched and which were needed to be left open. He felt the sudden urge to vomit and was forced to swallow it back. He stared at his books without really seeing the images until the feeling passed.

"How are you feeling? Has the medicine helped at all?" The other boy mumbled something and sunk down on the bed. The towels that covered him worked loose and bared a long strip of pale skin. Komui swallowed hard and set his books on the floor before sitting as well. "Here…" He rested his hands on Xiang's knees. "I'm just looking… I'm not going to hurt you."

Xiang was right; there was nothing left. His mother had done a through job at butchering him. There were no major outward signs of infection, just angry red flesh. Putting something on it was probably a good idea just in case. Komui's own body ached in sympathy. "Komui…" came a weak voice. "Say something please… I'm scared."

"This doesn't change anything…" Komui repeated again. "Not one thing."

"I'm disgusting…" he snapped. "Just say it. I know you're thinking it." Komui blushed; Xiang was right. He was disgusted at the sight. It turned his stomach sour and made the horrible taste of bile settle in the back of his throat. "Just say it already!"

"No…" Komui said, turning his head and kissing the inside of Xiang's thigh. He yelped with surprise. "I'm not disgusted by you, only what was done to you… This isn't your fault." He took up another bottle borrowed from the physician's room. "I'm going to put something on you to help you heal… that means I have to touch you. Is that alright?"

"I guess so…" he sounded on the verge of tears again. "Just…it's so horrible!" he choked. "How can you stand to even look?!"

"You're not disgusting to me…" Yes you are… but it's not your fault… he added silently. "You're still the same person inside. That's all I care about. Now…" he coated his fingertips in salve, enough so that if he was careful he wouldn't actually have to touch that horrible disfigured flesh. "Let me know if I hurt you…"

It did hurt him; how could it not? Even through the opium, Xiang nearly screamed. He clutched at the bed sheets as if his grip was the only thing keeping him from falling off. Komui moved as quickly and gently as he could. He didn't relish any part of this mess and wiped his hand clean on one of the towels. A giant shudder passed through him so suddenly that he had to stand and walk away lest it tear him apart.

Komui forced himself back to the bed and sat beside Xiang. He pulled the smaller boy into his lap and played with his long hair. It relaxed them both. "What am I supposed to do, Komui…? My engagement…" Xiang mumbled.

"It's still binding. You'll still marry her."

"But your parents… what will they think? What about children?"

"My parents will never know about this." Komui would keep this secret to his grave. "I'll be a doctor by then… a good and respected man. You'll come to me a year or so after the wedding, worried about Lenalee's inability to conceive a child. I'll go see her and pronounce her barren." It sounded logical; people would believe him.

"What if she really wants children… what if I want them too?" Xiang pressed on. "I kinda wanted that kind of life… just so I could prove myself better at it than my parents… what do I do then?"

"I don't know!" Komui blurted out louder than he intended. Another deep breath forced the irritation from his voice. "I don't know yet… we'll think of something if it ever comes down to it." He corrected. "Rest now… I'll watch over you, so just relax and get some sleep."

"Watch over me?"

"Of course."

"Good to know someone will…" with that Xiang fell in to the deep dreamless sleep of the exhausted.

Komui hummed softly and played with the other boy's hair. "Guess I'm going to be stuck with you…" he whispered to himself. "Not that I mind too much really. It will be alright. I'll take care of you, so you can take care of her…" he smiled and thought of their future. What have I just committed myself to? "Everything will work out just fine…"

Next year would be the worst year of his young life.