A/N: So I have hatched an evil plan that is going to stab you guys in the feels. And probably make you hate me. Shit will go down within the next few chapters! :cackles: Well hatched makes it sound like I conspired to have it happen buuuuut it's more like given the events of this chapter, it's pretty much how it HAS to happen later. But yah, enjoy!
"Jesus! Congratulations Kuwabara! You have now ascended humanity and risen to the status of a living freight train!" I exclaimed.
Yusuke had come back about an hour later after storming out to the arcade. Which he promptly left again when Genkai informed him that Kuwabara might be our enemies first target. I looked down at the teenager, scuffed, bruised and bloodied. Apparently he was no longer conscious and neither was his human cargo.
"Oh dear!" Botan exclaimed next to me in surprise, "Isn't that Mitarai?!"
I took a closer look at the pile of unconscious boys and realized that it absolutely was Mitarai on the bottom. What was happening here? Why did everyone look like they got battered by a freight train? Oh wait…didn't Kuwabara get attacked by someone in the anime? By someone on the Apocalypse 4 Life committee?
"You're right! That IS Mitarai!"
"You guys know him?" Yusuke demanded.
"We met him at the park earlier today. He was being bullied by some punks. Shizuru and I took care of them."
But why the hell was he here? He can't have-oh…Oh.
'You poor bastard. Just what did you get yourself into?' I thought.
I thought about saying something to Botan and Yusuke about this, letting them know that Mitarai was actually the one to attack Kuwabara. But with Kuwabara unconscious and Yusuke in as hot-headed of a mood as he was earlier, telling them that may not be the best idea. Yusuke might just be mad enough still to leave him out here or hurt him or something. Kuwabara saved him for a reason.
"Let's just get these guys inside. Botan, run upstairs and get some help so we can move everyone inside."
"Right!"
We got everyone moved inside but it turned out that me keeping silent about Mitarai was pointless because it was figured out really quickly between Kaitou and Genkai. And of course that didn't sit too kindly with Yusuke….
"Then why the hell are we saving his ass?!" the detective exploded.
"Yusuke, calm down!"
Bad move by Keiko…
"Don't tell me to friggin calm down, this guy nearly killed Kuwabara and his friends!"
I pulled back from my assessment of the boys to turn and glare at Yusuke. I was trying to work over here and decide who needed my attention first. Even though I had grown, I wasn't sure I could handle patching all of them up by myself.
"For fucks sake, Yusuke, shut up. We are saving him because one: Kuwabara went through hell to drag him here and make sure that he saved him. Two: he is a part of the enemy and we could get information out of him. So if you aren't going to help me over here, shut up and let me focus."
Yusuke growled, "Fine! Fucking stupid…."
He stormed away muttering under his breath. Geez he was in such a foul mood today. After taking a look at everyone I decided that Kuwabara needed attention first. Still I was worried about the rest of them. Everyone except for Mitarai had some water in their lungs. I remembered reading this in one of the medical text books I had picked up reading to improve my powers. Near drowning could be dangerous since a lot of people tend to think that they are fine and their lungs can still fill up with fluid. It's because the blood vessels become engorged and dump fluid in their alveoli. Not to mention if they swallowed a bunch of water it could throw off their electrolyte balance. That doesn't sound bad but electrolytes do a lot, including help with muscle contractions. So seizures can definitely happen.
I frowned. Now how was I going to fix this? External injuries were easy but how did I manage to take care of possible blood vessel engorgement? Was I even capable of causing something like that? And if I could, how much would be too much? Shit I needed more text books on this kind of stuff. I decided to focus on the external injuries first since they were the ones that I knew how to take care of.
"Shizuru, Keiko, do you guys mind breaking out the first aid kit and patching up Mitarai? I'm saving him for last and there's a chance that I may be too tired to fix him up after I take care of Kuwabara and his friends."
"But why are you saving him for last?" Botan knelt next to me as I poured over Kuwabara.
"One: because I don't find his injuries as pressing as the others. Two: It was his damn choice to attack Kuwabara and his friends, they didn't get a choice in this."
"It will also be better to control him if we need to…press for information."
I whipped around to see Kurama standing in the door way, a small bag over his shoulder. A shiver rolled down my spine seeing his stone cold expression, eyes glinting sharply. This was Kurama at his most dangerous and honestly, I was beginning to pity Mitarai based on how the fox demon looked.
"Kurama! When did you get back?" I asked, pulling up Kuwabara's shirt so I could get to the wounds on his torso.
"Just a few minutes ago."
That must have been just in time to hear Yusuke screech about Mitarai attacking Kuwabara and his friends. I winced when I felt the internal damage that the teenager had sustained. Did he get this much damage in the anime? I couldn't quite remember but it seemed that none of the boys had received this level of damage. Then again, I didn't even remember that Mitarai was responsible for this so I would hardly call my memory reliable.
Botan choked and looked green at the gills, "You're…you're not really thinking of…torture are you?!"
"If that is what is necessary to acquire the information we need? Yes."
The bluenette looked like she was ready to faint at hearing Kurama's answer. I felt my heart bottom out. Torture? I supposed that practicality mandated that we do what was necessary to gain the information we needed. It was the fate of humanity in the balance. But the idea of inflicting torture upon Mitarai made my stomach twist. He was a kid. A kid who was quite clearly very lost and needed some kindness. Memories of the encounter in the park filled my head. He had been so mistrustful of us and after the display of those boys picking on him… I couldn't help but wonder just how long he had been bullied in school.
'How many students and teachers just stood by and let it happen? This didn't happen overnight.' I thought and a sympathetic ache gripping my heart.
I set my jaw and began to heal Kuwabara to distract myself from the foul taste in my mouth. This did not make me think less of Kurama because I knew that he was only suggesting what must be done if it came down to it. He was right. If he won't give up the information then we didn't exactly have the best time budget to coax it out of him with kind words and love. We only had one week to fix this shit and hand holding wasn't going to cut it. Still that didn't mean I had to like it.
"Midori."
"Yes Kurama?"
"Do what you have to do. But leave him," He flicked his eyes over to Mitarai, "Unless he has an injury that will kill him. Which he does not seem to have."
"B-but doesn't he deserve healing just like everyone else?" Keiko paused disinfecting the boy's wounds.
"No, I get it." I cut her off, "If he's in top shape, it could be harder to get the info we need from him. Not to mention, if I patch him up, he could be well enough to try to escape and then the enemy will know where we are. This is one of the only safe places we have right now."
"Midori are you approving of this?!" Botan shrieked, horrified.
"Approving? No. I don't like it one bit. It makes my stomach churn. Botan, I don't want to see this kid tortured. He's clearly had a rough go and someone took advantage of that."
"So then we should be helping him!" Keiko protested, "Showing him kindness!"
"And I think Kuwabara already more than demonstrated that enough when he dragged his ass here after he tried to murder him and his friends who have nothing to do with this conflict." I pulled back from Kuwabara a bit when I finished with the internal bruising and bleeding and then looked to them, "Look, no one is saying that torture is the first thing that's going to happen. I agree, this kid needs kindness. But we don't have the luxury of time to do hand holding here, Keiko. We have the gates to hell literally threatening to open and spew out the apocalypse on humanity. If he won't give us what we need we don't really have a choice. That doesn't mean that I like it."
The room fell into an awkward silence. We all stared at each other quietly, feeling the air grow heavier by the second. This was not at all a pleasant situation and I wished so much that we had not been in it. I shifted self consciously. Kurama was one thing proposing this because he was, after all, still a demon at his core. But me, I was a human just like them and the idea of me going along with such an unpleasant means likely did not sit well with them. I could feel their opinion of me slipping.
"Mi….dori…?"
"Kuwabara!"
The young boy was awake but barely. A sigh of relief escaped me. I had fixed the worst of his injuries but I could not help but worry. To see him regaining consciousness set my mind at ease. Yusuke heard me in the next room and came barreling in. It was a good thing I was not in his way or he would have plowed me over trying to get to Kuwabara.
"Hey, how are you doing?" He asked, kneeling down next to me to talk to Kuwabara.
"I'm alright Urameshi…Are the guys ok?" He mumbled.
"Don't worry," I assured him, "I'll take good care of them."
"And…and Mitarai? How is he?"
"Alive." Yusuke replied shortly, "Stupid, why did you save that jerk?!"
"Because…." Kuwabara furrowed his brows and slowly looked over to Mitarai on the bed where Keiko and Botan were still patching him up, "It was his eyes, Urameshi…In his eyes he was crying for help."
A huge stab of guilt sank into my heart then. Even after he was nearly murdered, Kuwabara was still trying to give this kid some kindness. And here I was seriously considering torture as an option. But practicality dictated that we get that information in the event he does not cooperate. I clenched my jaw as my mind went to war with itself. Now was not the time to think about it. I went back to working on Kuwabara's wounds.
"Fine, ya big softie. I still think this was a mistake but we'll look out for him."
"Good…Now lemme just-"
I shoved Kuwabara back down, "No, no, no, no. You lay your ass back down, you need to rest."
"But we gotta-!"
"Whatever it is we have to do, it can wait until morning and after you've had some sleep." I told him sternly.
Despite his tired and injured state, his eyes glinted with determination. I could see it set in his jaw as he focused on getting up. To emphasize my point on how he was not fit to move yet, I jabbed very harshly at a deep bruise on his side, a bruise that I'm sure went to the bone. Kuwabara yelped and flopped back down onto his back, grinding his teeth.
"Whadja have to do that for?!" he exclaimed with watery eyes.
"So you would realize just how injured you are!"
"I thought healers were supposed to be nurturing…" he muttered.
"We are when you aren't being stupid and about to undo all of the work we just put into you!"
Yusuke laughed, "You heard the doc, just sit down and take a rest. We aren't doing anything else tonight, anyways."
Kuwabara grudgingly agreed and settled back down against the floor. He did not raise another complaint as I went back to healing him. He had been remarkably quiet until I looked up and realized he had fallen back asleep. I chuckled and sat back, pushing my hair out of my face at the sight.
"Alright now, lemme take a look at those friends of his…."
They weren't as bad as they looked. Most of their injuries were external and superficial. But there were a few nasty spots on all of them and it took a chunk of energy to fix. By the time I had patched everybody up, I was feeling tired. But it was primarily from the sleep deprivation. I failed to stifle a yawn and plunked down on the bed next to the still unconscious Mitarai. After giving him a once over, I realized that none of his injuries were life threatening and left them unhealed at Kurama's request. Well technically it was an order he gave but whatever. With a sigh and relaxed, ready to fall asleep.
"There, I've done what I can."
"Will they be alright?" Keiko asked me.
"As far as their injuries go, they'll be fine. I'm more concerned about the water in their lungs."
"They have water in their lungs?" Yusuke raised a brow.
"Not a lot but it hints at a near drowning possibility. That means that they all have a chance to have their lungs start filling up with fluid. We'll need to let them know that they will have to go to the hospital if they start feeling short of breath. I mean it's cold outside right now so that reduces their chances but…until a day passes without incident I'm still going to be concerned. We'll have to keep an eye on Kuwabara as well since he's in the same boat."
"How do you think they managed to nearly drown? I don't think the concert was near any lake or anything." Shizuru asked from the bed.
"It must be Mitarai's power. He must have some sort of control over water."
"That must mean he is Seaman!" I added to Kurama's observation.
"Great so he can make pretty little puddle splashes. But what do we do about him?" Yusuke was unenthused about our discovery.
"For now we will keep him here and question him when he wakes. He is our only source of information about our enemies so we cannot afford to do nothing."
Oh shit, I realized then that Yusuke missed the whole conversation about possibly using torture to wrench information from Mitarai. I couldn't help but wonder how the Detective would feel about that. Kuwabara would be entirely against it without a doubt but Yusuke was a bit of an oddball. One thing I did remember about him was that in the series he was cool with demons eating humans. So how would he feel about this whole thing?
'He might be ok with it.' I thought, 'But then again he's been in a foul mood lately. He is a bit unpredictable right now.'
Yusuke grew a bit somber then, "So you mean like you are going to interrogate him or something?"
"If he refuses to give up his allies, yes. We may have to resort to unsavory methods in order to attain the information we need. It is humanity's fate on the line."
The detective furrowed his brows and frowned. He clearly understood what Kurama had insinuated and definitely did not like it. But then again, who would like the idea of torturing someone?
"….yeah, yeah I get it….Damn this sucks."
"Y-Yusuke?!" Keiko was horrified, "You can't be serious!"
"Dammit Keiko, what do you want me to do? We've got the fate of friggin humanity at risk here. We ain't got much of a choice if he isn't going to give it up."
That was a little comforting to know that Yusuke was on our side at least. Despite the unpleasantness of it all. I cast my tired gaze around to all of them. Kurama was stoic in his expression but I was pretty sure he was thinking, putting together plans for all of the possibilities that could come within the next few days. Yusuke looked angry but I could see the traces of guilt and somber feeling highlighting his features. Shizuru had maintained an indifferent silence about all of this and I wondered what her opinion on all of this was. Botan looked so uncomfortable, looked physically ill and she seemed to look at us as if she had never seen us before. And Keiko…Keiko looked like she was ready to argue with Yusuke more about this but couldn't quite muster up the words.
"Enough with bickering." Came Genkai's voice, "We'll do what we have to but for now we have something else to worry about."
"Kuwabara's friends will have memories of the attack and as a result, memories of things that they shouldn't." Kaitou explained next to the psychic master, "This will be a good opportunity to find out what happened but after we will have to do some explaining. It is highly doubtful that a reasonable lie could be told to excuse what they have seen tonight."
"I can handle that." Kurama said neutrally, "We'll handle this when they wake up."
"Hey, Midori." I looked up to Shizuru, "I need to talk to you. We can just go out on the patio."
"Ok…"
I donned my jacket, silently, leaving the room to the rest of the team and followed her outside on the patio. The city skyline was glowing in the dark and the wind was still for once, the rain pelting down to the streets below. But the two of us were protected by the roofed overhang on the patio. Still, the chill was apparent and I made sure to keep my fists buried into the pockets of my jacket to keep them warm.
"I'm worried about." She finally said.
I raised a brow, "Why?"
"This isn't like you. I know that…that we might have to force this kid to talk. But you barely hesitated when you agreed. A few months ago and you would have argued against it. What's happening to you?"
"Ummmm, the apocalypse?"
"No, that's not it. You aren't as bothered by this as you should be. Normal people don't agree with torture that quickly. I mean, yeah, you hesitated but you still went along with it pretty quick…"
"Shizuru I am a 39 year old woman in the body of a fifteen year old, reincarnated into a world that used to be a fictional series for me with a psycho demoness coming after me and plaguing me with nightmares. I don't think there is single part of me that could be categorized as normal anymore."
"That's not the point and you know it." She pointed out calmly.
Well damn, I suppose this was a conversation I wasn't going to be able to avoid.
"What…what do you want me to say, exactly?" I sighed with exhaustion.
"I want to know what's going on. This isn't like you, Midori. I know you. You got all misty-eyed when we went to that movie for a break right after the Tournament."
"That was a touching film!" I exclaimed defensively.
"You're a sap." She continued, "You try to hide it but you are. And now you are agreeing to torture with little hesitation."
"…I don't want to. Not at all…But we may not have much of a choice…and I…" I turned away from Shizuru to look out at the city, "Something is coming even after all of this. You sensed it." I squeezed my hands on the railing, "And I'm too soft. And I think I'm starting to realize that some things, even if they are unpalatable, have to be done."
Cars were still rolling by on the street below us. Somehow, with all of this chaos and horrible news brewing around us, it felt like the rest of the world should have been feeling it too. But everyone was just going about their normal lives, completely oblivious to what was happening. It was surreal. I couldn't help but wonder how many major things like that were going on around us.
"I get that…Just promise me something."
"What is it?" I asked, listening to the rain rush down around us.
"Just stay Midori. Don't let yourself go too much in what Yumiko is trying to make you be. Get stronger, yeah, but just stay you."
Stay me, huh? I frowned and buried my head into my arms against the railing, the cold steel touching my forehead. I wasn't sure I could afford to do that anymore.
Xxxx
Kuwabara's friends had been handled the next morning, their memories erased and they had been informed to go to the hospital should they start experiencing shortness of breath. It was a simple lie to tell them that after the concert, they had gone out messing around but had unfortunately fallen into the river. We told them that Kuwabara had saved them and that we would keep an eye on him at the apartment.
But they had confirmed everything. Mitarai had attacked them and tried to kill them both, I had hoped that we were wrong but now there was no denying it. I leaned my back against the wall out in the hallway just outside of the apartment. Kurama was quiet, more so than usual, the grim air gripping deep into our bones.
"Do you…do you really think we'll have to torture him?" I asked faintly.
"Most likely, yes. People often do not willingly surrender information concerning their allies."
"Yeah…I guess you're right…I just really hope it doesn't come to that."
"I, as well."
"Oh where did you go, today? You left early this morning and Yusuke was pretty pissed earlier because we didn't know where you were." I asked, trying to change the subject.
"Ah, I went to speak with Koenma."
"About?"
"Our situation." Kurama supplied, "Something about his demeanor troubled me. I've planned a formal meeting to address this but I am certain of it. Koenma knows exactly who it is we are up against."
My eyes widened, "Why didn't he say anything?!"
"Because he believes that we cannot possibly win." Was Kurama's grim response.
Nice of Koenma to have that faith in us. But at the same time…it made me worry even more. How badly were we in over our heads that even Koenma was unconvinced that we could win? I seemed to recall he felt the same way in the anime as well and Sensui was no cake walk. If it weren't for the fact that I knew another arc came after this one, I would begin to heavily doubt our ability to win. Granted, I was still hesitating but we had a better chance in my mind since the team clearly won in the anime. Something about Yusuke's demon side coming out or whatever.
"Hey, um…Sorry to interrupt you two." Came Keiko's voice from the door, opened just enough to poke her head through, "But I think he's waking up…"
Kurama and I instantly moved inside until all of us were crowded into Yusuke's room. Mitarai was indeed beginning to wake up, I could tell that much from the way he was shifting and groaning on Yusuke's bed. We all waited in tense silence until at last Mitarai opened his eyes.
"Welcome back." Yusuke greeted, sitting on a chair backwards, arms propped on the top of the back.
The blonde flinched beneath the Detective's cold stare and looked around the room. His gaze fell on Botan, Shizuru and myself and his jaw dropped, eyes widening in shock.
"It's you-!"
"Yeah." I agreed, "Us. We were just as shocked to see your unconscious ass at the bottom of the stairs too."
"That's my bed you're sleeping in too, ya know." The Detective cut in, "Thanks to the human freight train over there dragging you back here so we could stitch you back up." Yusuke jabbed a thumb in the direction of Kuwabara who was still sleeping on the ground.
"You have survived your encounter." Kurama smoothly segued onto the real topic at hand, "As have your would be victims. They have informed us about what happened last night and then we erased their memories so they did not have to bear the burden of such dark truths."
"Yeah, like a human who's fighting on the wrong side." Yusuke added, "Kuwabara went through a lot of trouble and pain to get you here. You think your psychic pals would have done that? You owe him big. So start talkin'."
Mitarai fisted his hands into the blankets, staring down at his covered knees. Every part of him seemed to be wracked with uncertainty. And now he was facing down his enemies and completely at our mercy. There was fear but more than that, Mitarai just seemed distressed with the things he had done and what he felt must be done.
"You don't understand… You haven't seen what I have…we all should just die…"
"Clarify. Do you mean your fellow psychics?"
"No I mean all of us." Seaman answered Kurama, "All of us humans."
"Why?" I asked breathlessly, as if I had been hit in the stomach.
I knew that he wouldn't just wake up and throw away any convictions he had about bringing about the apocalypse. But I had hoped…well I guess I had foolishly hoped that he didn't know what he was doing. That he had been told they were digging a tunnel to let out magic rainbows to bring about world peace and banish disease. Ok maybe not that specifically but I had hoped, naively, that Mitarai had not been informed about what he was doing.
"Because we are diseased. We burn destroy and ruin everything, bring about plague and death and darkness. We kill. We kill everything, torture everything! It's in our nature. We should all just be destroyed!"
"What the fuck?!" Yusuke exclaimed, leaning forward in the chair, "What do you mean we should all die?! What about the innocent people who haven't done anything?!"
"You'd feel the same way too if you saw the video tape!" Mitarai retorted.
"Video…tape?" I asked, confused.
"Yeah…Chapter Black."
Kurama jolted at Seaman's words, "You've…seen it?!"
Seaman looked back down at his hands fisted in the sheets, "Yes I have…Every single minute of it."
"Must be some film." Yusuke said dryly looking over to Kurama for his unspoken question.
"It's legendary. I can't believe anyone here even has it in their possession. Hiei's wanted to get his hands on that tape for years. It's a collection of humanities darkest deeds that is supposedly kept in the deepest bowels of Spirit World. It's said to run for hours, five minutes of viewing is said to turn a human against his own kind." Kurama met my gaze, "I knew of the tape's existence. But I could never have imagined that it had influence in this case."
"So…so many horrifying things marching out across that giant screen…" Mitarai rasped out, "You don't know how we really are- what we're capable of." His blue eyes swiveled to us, "I saw it all. If you saw it, you'd think differently too. You'd understand that we are all doomed. So we-we have to…"
"HAVE TO WHAT, SIR JUDGE?!" Yusuke shouted, jumping to his feet and kicking his chair across the room in rage, "HAVE TO GET US ALL EATEN THE HELL UP BY SOME BLOOD THIRSTY MONSTER?!"
"That's right! You're defensive because you don't know the truth. Humanity only seems good to you because you were born in a peaceful time. But war's our nature, it will always come back. Have you ever seen hundreds of frightened people standing in line to be killed in a camp? Have you seen horsemen raid and destroy a village? Dance on the bodies of their victims? Crushing them as they celebrated victory, singing happy songs?!" His eyes grew mad with pain and rage, "Have you ever seen a gigantic bomb wipe away millions who had never even picked up a weapon?! Civil war where a mom is hacked down in front of a child and a child in front of his mom. And the soldier, breaking up a family who loves each other very much and leading them into a fire? And his eyes enjoying the torture?"
That last word cut razor sharp into me then. This poor kid. Not only had the world abandoned him but some creep found him at his lowest, at his most vulnerable and showed him the worst that humanity had to offer. I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to fight back tears. I heard Keiko sniff behind me, a soft whimper in the back of her throat as she failed to keep back her own tears.
"Come on, kid." Shizuru said gently, "I think you've past your sympathy limit."
I didn't watch as she was lead out of the room. My eyes were on Mitarai. And he was still burdened by all that had turned against him, all the images he had been forced to see. I could see those memories, ghosts really, hanging over him like a black cloud. My heart throbbed again and I couldn't help but clutch at Kurama's sleeve discreetly. The red-head in question barely moved but he did cast a subtle side look towards me, meeting my watery green eyes. Silently, I implored him that we not torture him. That we find another way. We just couldn't torture this kid. He's been through so much. Sensui knew exactly what he was doing when he went after Mitarai. He found him when he was at the lowest point in his life and turned him against everything while he was vulnerable.
Fuck being practical. If anyone else could find a way to do something outside of what seemed obvious, it was damn Yusuke.
"And you think you're better than those people on the tape?" Yusuke demanded.
"Well I know I'm not and neither are you! No human can be!"
"What about Shizuru, Botan and I?" I asked, moving forward to sit on the bed near his feet, "We saved you yesterday morning. How many people have stepped forward and done that for you?"
Mitarai flinched, hesitating.
"And what about Kuwabara?" Yusuke added, "He saved you, right? And you know last night, when he came to for a few minutes I asked him: 'Stupid, why the hell did you save that jerk?'. And he said: 'Because, Urameshi, in his eyes he was crying for help.'. I thought it was a pretty stupid thing to say at the time but now I see how scared you are and I kinda follow. A big oaf like Kuwabara must have that bully look you must hate. But he cared about you. Bet you weren't expecting that."
The blond began to cry, hunching over in the bed, gripping the sheets tightly. He looked so scared and sad and vulnerable. I reached out to lay a hand on his shoulder and he flinched back, pulling away. Mitarai looked into my eyes with his tear filled ones, still confused, still hurting. Still so unsure. He huddled himself up into the corner, furthest from my empathetic gestures.
"Every night I see them. The victims on that tape! I've always seen myself like them! But then in my nightmares, I'm the one holding the weapons, you know? Like all along it's been me doing those terrible things! And I feel dirtier and dirtier, like I need to make up for something. But I don't even know what! Like I'm the bully!" He buried his face into his knees and sobbed, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
I didn't know if there was going to be anymore interrogation but I had reached my limit. I swiftly left the room, clutching my hand over my mouth as I tried to keep back the sobs. I dodged Shizuru, who was taking care of Keiko in the living room and stepped out the door of the apartment. More than anything, I wanted to go on a walk to work off this turmoil that had built up in me, but it still wasn't safe. Leaving wasn't the smartest thing to do so instead I contented myself to sit on one of the stair ways leading up to the roof next to the door to Yusuke's apartment.
I let the quiet sobs escape me then. Torture. I had actually went along with that. After what I had seen, I decided in my mind that I would not be allowing that to happen. Yusuke or Kurama would have to knock me out first. I looked up towards the concrete ceiling of the floor above me.
"Stay me… just….stay me…"
