Disclaimer: Don't own Digimon
Rating: PG-13
HURT part four
"Takeru?"
"Kari? Is that you?" Takeru asked as he turned to face in the direction of where he had heard the angelic voice calling. Hikari came in, wearing her best scarlet blouse with a matching mini coat and a tiny purse, and sat at the end of Takeru's hospital bed. "Wow, you look nice." He commented.
"Thanks." She replied, "You look like you're feeling better."
"Yeah, they said I can go home by tomorrow, since I'm back up to walking a bit again. My mom came by earlier, we got to talk, it went pretty good. She even brought me some sweats to wear."
"That's good to hear…" Hikari said with a nervous look, like she was worried about something, "Um…I don't want to ruin your good mood, but I have to ask…are you still scared?"
"…Yes. I still cower whenever I see shadows pass over my window, thinking he's coming for me. I'm still reminded of what happened every time I start to flail as I walk." Takeru confessed.
"I'm scared too Takeru. So scared, scared of everything." Kari said sadly. Takeru took her hand, hating to see her so sad.
"Everything will be all right, someday we won't have to be scared. We have each other, and even though we're both scared, we can help each other get through this. I'll be your strength like you're mine. That bastard is as good as gone now, there's a mountain of evidence against him. He can't hurt us anymore. I won't let anyone hurt us anymore. It'll be hard, but we can heal together. I love you Kari." Takeru said as he looked into her eyes, hoping the word from his heart would comfort her.
"I love you too, Takeru." Hikari said, bending down to give him a kiss. As she did, something metallic in her purse his caught his eye.
"Kari…is that a gun?" he asked in shock.
"Yes Takeru, I'm going to end this. I have to kill him." She said in a cold tone of voice that he had never heard her use before.
"What?"
"I have to do what I have to do. It's time to stop being afraid. I want us to have our peace of mind back. I want you to be able to go home again without being scared or being reminded of what happened. I want to be able to go outside alone and not be scared. I want our lives back, and this is the only way. Even if I have to go to prison."
"What? How can you say that! Don't let him turn you into something you're not! I can't live without you, don't throw your life away! Killing him won't make him go away, it'll make things worse, being reminded of what happened every day we're separated by prison bars. Please, don't do it." Takeru pleaded.
"I've made up my mind." Kari said before walking out the door, not looking back once. Takeru slammed his fist against his bed.
"Guess you were right about him not being mad…damn, you always have to be right, don't you. Not that you give a damn about me or what I say." Nancy said to her Ex-husband from the backseat of his car where she was suffering from a hangover, as he drove her down the freeway to drop her off at her hotel.
"Guess I forgot what a mean drunk you are." Mr. Ishida shot back, "Oh, and I do give a damn, for what it's worth. I wouldn't have been able to stand it if that bastard had hurt you like he did to Takeru."
Neither of them spoke for the rest of the drive after that.
Mr. Smith sat at his workbench, wondering how he would get his revenge. He was in a run down brownstone, the main room infested with rats and full of garbage, covering the wooden floor like a carpet. The odor of decay and gasoline filled the room, most of it coming from the rags Smith was wearing and the drum of gasoline in the corner. The workbench and tools were the only furniture and accessories he had, but he put them to good use when plotting against potential victims. Smith was no longer dressed in his fine clothes, which had been one of many disguises he wore when going after the women he terrorized.
While plotting and drinking cheap liquor, he heard a pounding upon his door, and opened it. The butt of a revolver hit him squarely in the face and he fell to the floor. His attacker stepped inside and shut the door behind her. "It's you're turn to hurt, bastard." Hikari growled with a ferocity and anger that had never taken control of her before, "It wasn't hard to find you after searching through the phone book. Looking at this dump, I wonder what the hell does a monster like you think, anyway? Did your Daddy smack you around too much when you were little? Rape you like you did to Takeru?"
"Hey baby," said the injured rapist from the floor, "Looks like you came to me. I was gonna come over and screw till you bled, and maybe get a taste of your mom." Hikari responded by savagely kicking him several times. "I haven't got a response like that since I was being questioned by the DA and grabbed her butt."
"You bastard! I'm sending you straight to hell!" Hikari shouted as she stuck the gun under Smith's chin.
"I doubt you know how to use that, my little bitch." Smith taunted. She pulled back the hammer, to which Smith only replied to with a panicked gulp.
"Kari, don't!" shouted a familiar voice. Takeru came through the door, wearing black sweats, stained with blood on the seat of the pants from Takeru straining his injuries in running to stop Hikari. "Please, don't ruin your life over this. I want him to die too, but it's you who I can't live without. I don't want you to become a killer and go to jail. Remember your digivice, your responsibility. Gatomon would never want you to become something you're not. You're the one who makes me strong enough to survive. You're the one who I was thinking of after the rape, you're the only reason I didn't kill myself. I wanted to die so bad, the pain was too much, but I fought it for you. I love you, please don't do this. I beg of you."
"I have to Takeru, I…" Kari began, but when she turned and saw the desperation and pleading in Takeru's face, she remembered how she had begged during Takeru's rape. She broke down into tears, and moved into Takeru's arms, putting the gun away.
"Boo-Hoo. I think I'm gonna be sick." Smith said before being knocked unconscious by Hikari's fist.
"Everything will be okay now, I promise." Takeru said as he lifted Hikari back onto her feet, "Let's go home now." Hikari nodded. As Takeru followed her out the door, he saw something on the workbench, and approached it. Among the instruments and tools of sexual torture on the workbench, there was a smooth silver gun with a tapped handle and serial numbers filed off. There was no doubt in Takeru's mind that it was what Smith had intended to use to kill Hikari when he was finished with his sick games. Takeru slipped the gun into his pocket and followed after Hikari.
Back at the Yagami household, Mr. Yagami was berating Taichi and Yamato, accusing them of taking his gun. Hikari meekly came into the living room, and walked up to her father and handed him his revolver. She was received with sympathy rather than anger like she had feared. Even so, she lied to her parents and told them she had lost her nerve to use the gun, because she and Takeru had agreed to use this story. When she went to the door to check on Takeru, he was gone, as well as Taichi and Yamato.
A few hours later, the DA was on the local news, giving an update on the rape case. The Yagami's turned up the volume and Hikari could hear the report from the kitchen where she was sitting at the table. The DA reported that after he had set a gasoline fire to burn down his brownstone, Smith had shot himself with a silver gun. The DA said that neither she nor the police would be pursuing the case.
"Kari, are you okay?" Takeru asked, surprising Hikari.
"Takeru, where have you been?" she asked, unintentionally coming off angry.
"I just had to take care of something." Takeru explained, "I'm sorry for leaving. But always remember I'll be there for you when you need me. Together we can do anything, from fighting giant digital monsters, to getting over our pain."
"I know that Takeru, it's just hard to know how to start on the road to healing, especially when I feel I lost a part of myself. I feel like we lost our youth, our innocence. All I have is my damned responsibility." Hikari said, looking down at her digivice, which she was holding in her hand.
"I know it's hard. I'm staying with my Dad and Yamato now, until Mom finds a new apartment. Dad has signed me up with a rape victim clinic. You might want to get some help too. Oh, and I won't be going back to school for awhile, and it'll be a long time before I can play basketball again. Talk with your Mom and Dad about it." Takeru suggested, "I have to go home and take a shower now, I came to check and see how you were. I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too Takeru…hey, you're not wearing your digivice, like you were before. You know, our 'responsibility'" Kari bitterly said as she looked down at her digivice, cursing Gennai's speech in her head.
"I guess I misplaced it somewhere. Don't worry about it. See you tomorrow, my love." Takeru said as he left, reminding Hikari of how he used to say that whenever they parted on their dates, before the rape.
"Guess you misplaced it, Takeru, your digivice, your responsibility. But you'll have it on tomorrow I bet. You just misplaced it for a second like I did." Hikari said to herself, smiling as she remembered the odor of gasoline she had smelled on the boy.