Angel's Pain
Written by Sakki-san
Anything you haven't heard of belongs to me.
Anything you HAVE heard of, doesn't.
They took me home after a day or two of being in the hospital. I spent the next few days after that in my room, sleeping mostly. My window was locked tight. I felt happy, relaxed, knowing that Farfarello couldn't come in. Soon, I was back working in the shop, acting normal. I couldn't feel the scars on my chest or my back when I worked, thanks to Aya's skills in healing. I didn't know he was so good at dealing with wounds. Maybe it's a prerequisite for an assassin?
I never even considered that any day might be my last, that Farfarello might be seething in the shadows, unable to get at his prey, waiting to strike the moment my guard was down. I was foolish and stupid.
It all ended in a matter of hours.
To begin, Omi was going out to study with a friend one night, and left the shop early to do so. Yohji claimed to have a date, and Aya was going in to talk with Manx about our last mission. This left me to close up the shop alone. Omi had expressed concern over this, but I assured him I was fine.
"Come on, Omi. What's the worst that could happen?"
The look he gave me…he knew. He knew Farfarello might come. He knew the danger I was in. But he smiled anyway and told me to be careful, and to not let anyone else in. Then he left.
Yohji followed shortly after.
"Don't go running around outside," he commented as he left, brushing strands of hair over his shoulder. "It's gonna rain, and we don't want you to end up in the hospital again."
"Thanks, Yohji," I mutter sarcastically, but inside, I'm twisting with shame. I don't like to lie to people. Well, I didn't lie specifically TO Yohji and Aya – Omi did – but I still feel terrible.
Last to leave was Aya. He watched me for several minutes before he left, just sitting at the table, his eyes following me as he picked at a snack he'd snatched from the fridge. It made me nervous, but I tried to pay attention to the last-minute customers instead of him.
Finally, he stood up and left. He looked at my face as he left. I turned, my face going slightly red as he did it, but I could still feel his eyes piercing the back of my head. At last he was gone.
It started to rain, just a light drizzle, a few minutes after Aya left. I started cleaning up the shop, but failed to lock the door or pull down the metal door covering. I didn't think anyone would mind; some people might even stop by to get some flowers. The sign on the shop said closed, however, so I doubted it.
As I had my back to the door and was sweeping up some leftover flower petals, I heard the door open and close.
"I'm sorry, but we're closed." I set the broom and turned around. "If you'd like to bu…."
My voice sticks in my throat. My limbs stop working. My blood freezes in my veins.
Standing in the doorway is Farfarello.
The lights flicker off suddenly with a flash of lightning and a boom of thunder. It's like something out of a horror movie. I can only see his outline against the dim light from outside, but I know he's there.
I can also see when he pulls a knife from his pocket and runs it along his tongue because it glimmers demonically in the light which creates his outline.
"So…," he says softly. "The kitten is left all alone to close up the shop. What a sad story…" His hand reaches up to close the metallic door, and now I can't see anything. The shop is completely dark and empty.
This is about when life returns to my body, and I stagger back in shock. I crash into a wall almost instantly. Desperately, I try to hear for Farfarello, but I can't. Damnit! Why does he have to be as quiet as that stupid German freak?!
"A kitten."
The words are so sudden in the dark that I jerk in surprise. Then I realize that they're coming from somewhere nearby, off to my right, and that happens to be the same direction in which the door to the kitchen is. I scramble around frantically until I find the doorknob, twist, and stumble through the open door.
"They're strong and defensive on the outside…but if you work hard enough…"
I slam the door shut, not wanting to hear any more. My back is pressed to the wooden surface and my chest is heaving. I can hear my heart in my ears, going a million beats a minute.
Oh, please, God, don't let him come in…please, God, please…
I know that praying is useless, but maybe, just maybe, God will save me from someone who hates him as much as Farfarello does.
Something explodes next to my ear. I fly away from the door and just about trip over a chair. Pieces of wood clatter to the floor, and I stare in horror at the area where the door should be as more explosions emerge.
He's actually trying to break through the door. I locked it and he's trying to get through. Oh my God. Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit.
I don't know what he wants. Why is he so desperate to get to me?! I fumble for the light switch and hit it.
Nothing happens.
So the power is out. I hear another explosion, and then something like the door being unlocked.
Suddenly, everything fits into place. He wasn't trying to break down the door. He was trying to make a hole in the door so he could put his hand through and simply open the door from my side.
I rip off my apron and fling it to the floor. My claws. I need my claws! They're in my room. In the dark I can't find my way around very well, but I know vaguely where the door is. I grope around along the walls with my right arm.
Something grabs my left arm. I pull away in alarm, only to receive an even stronger pull in response. I'm yanked away from the wall and crash into something strong. Strong, but not a wall.
"…then they're easily scared…manipulated…and broken."
He put the emphasis on those three last words, as if to prove a point I couldn't find yet.
Farfarello is holding me in place with one hand. I'm pulling away, and quickly turn to try and pry my wrist out of his grip with my free arm. The window in the kitchen is lit up with a blast of lightning, and I can partially see his scarred face, the eyepatch, and a smirk. I stop moving and stare at his face in terror.
His hand – the one not holding my wrist – grabs my shoulder and whips me around, so my back is to him again. Then he crushes me against him with that hand.
"Such a sad tale," he says again. "The little kitten, abandoned by his family, is left to the wild predators…
"Some of them will kill him and eat him. Others might take him in as a pet or a hunter. But then there are those that will stalk him, follow him, and bring him to his wit's end…"
"…and then kill him," I finish for him breathlessly. He's quoting a book I read once. I didn't know Farfarello read much.
"Good kitten."
Suddenly, I feel him pushing me forward. He's heading for the wall…no, for the door…
I'm frozen as he shoves me through the closed door, which leads to the back of the flower shop. To the briefing room, and to the bedrooms. To my bedroom. A sob of terror escapes me, and I feel a laugh in his chest.
"What's the matter, kitten? Scared?"
He pushes open my door with one foot and shoves me onto the floor before stepping in. I stagger up and desperately try to find my desk. That's where my claws are. That's where my salvation is.
A foot slams into my back. I'm forced onto the floor and the air is knocked out of me. While I try to regain my breath, he shuts the door and picks me up by the back of my t-shirt. Then he drags me a short distance across the room and drops me on the bed.
Again, I sob in fright, and lash out with my fists and feet, trying to hit him and force him away. I catch him in the stomach with one foot, and he staggers back. I fall off the bed and crash to the floor, where a sudden weight suddenly forces it's way between my shoulder blades.
"What a naughty kitten," he scolds. "Trying to attack me." His heel digs into my back even harder. I cry out. "I'll need to teach you a lesson in obedience…"
"No!" I choke out as he picks me up again. I punch at him, aiming for his body. He whips out a knife, which I don't see.
Suddenly, I scream. My hand is burning with pain, and I grab it with my unhurt hand. He cut me! He cut me! I can't think of anything besides my bleeding fingers.
I scream again as he seizes my injured arm and digs the knife into it. I continue screaming until he slams my head against the side of the bed, which wood, and holds me there. I try to scream in a dazed state, but his knife arm is crushing my mouth. My free hand claws desperately at his arm to try and get it off. He ignores me.
Blood seeps down my arms as he viciously digs into my skin. Muffled screams reach deaf ears. Crosses are carved into me again and again, all down my arms, both of them. He doesn't seem to care that blood is getting all over both me and him, and that he's partially suffocating me with his arms.
Finally, he stops, but my screaming continues. He clamps one hand firmly over my mouth and presses my head against the wooden frame until I stop screaming. My fingers twitch while blood flows evenly down my arms.
One pale white hand grabbed my throat and dragged me onto the bed. I had no idea what his intentions were, not even when he pulled himself on top of me, kneeling so one leg was on either side of my body.
"This little kitten is already injured." He slices open my shirt and rips off the bandages that kept my scars from getting infected. After inspecting his handiwork, he digs the knife back into my chest, retracing the crosses, only deeper. His free hand is clamped around my throat, tight enough so that I can't breathe or scream. I reach up with bleeding arms to try and force him off me.
I'm far too weak. The blood loss is starting to get to me.
His thumb jerks up under my chin and forces my head back. I choke and gasp, able to breathe slightly, but not able to speak. I feel him lean forward, feel his breath on my neck.
"Can you feel it?" he says softly, his voice moving closer to my ear. "Can you feel the blood streaming down your arms? Can you hear the screaming in your body for more blood? Can you taste it?" He makes a cut on my face and licks away the first few drops of blood. "The blood…fresh and sweet…and burning hot…"
He's right…the blood is burning my arms. It's boiling in my veins, pouring out of my body, and burning the flesh right off my bones. A hoarse cry of despair slides from my throat.
He chuckles.
"Have you given up yet, kitten?" he asks, his breath in my ear. "Are you going to stop fighting?"
Was I ever fighting in the first place? I want to scream and die. I want him to kill me. I want him to leave me alone. I want this nightmare to end.
I let another breath leave my throat, thin and ragged. His hand was latched onto my throat tight enough to bruise it, and as he drags his hand off my neck and down my chest, I almost whimper.
I feel his breath moving across my face now, his hands roaming down my body. I can't fight. The blood loss is too massive for me to fight back any more. There's a presence just above my lips, about to lock down on mine and take me away from this world forever…
Dimly, I hear an explosion. Farfarello's head jerks up, and his lips vanish from just above mine. My eyes, which were shut this entire time, open slightly, and I see that someone has burst into the room, eyes flashing dangerously, sword drawn…
Aya?!
Farfarello hissed and drew knives from his body, only to meet a kick to the chest and be flung across the room. He crashed into the wall. The tip of a sword was instantly between his eyes.
"You," Aya hissed as a beginning, "will never come near Ken again."
Farfarello was silent.
"You will never come back to this place. You will leave him alone."
There was no response.
"If you do come back," he said, his voice so quiet I could barely hear it, "I will kill you. Without hesitation. And I will leave your lifeless body in a church so the priests can find it."
This hits a nerve. I can tell, because I hear a long, slow hiss from the Irishman before he slowly stands up, watching the blade between his eyes. He stalks to the window, and climbs out. Aya shuts and locks it.
Abruptly, he drops the katana and rushes over to me. He wraps my arms in the already blood-soaked sheets and cradles my head against his chest.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be here sooner…" He yanks whatever sheets aren't already stained and uses them to wrap up my body, slowing but not stopping the massive blood flow.
Carefully, he picks me up, and carries me out of the Koneko.
Outside, it's raining.
Pouring. An unstopping flood of water. It rushes over my face, and I stare up at the clouds, remembering a life long past and a world long lost.
As I stare at the hazy world around me, I realize that my fears have not been permanently dissolved, but rather heightened to an almost unbearable amount…
…But for now…as a comforting soul carries me to a hospital for the treatment I never received as a child…
I think I can handle it.
~Owari~