Chapter 3: Patching Her Up

After carrying Rain in his arms, Domon soon carefully laid her down on the sofa. Kneeling next to her, he wanted to ask her if she knew who the stranger had been who attacked her, but he decided to wait and not pressure her just yet for an answer. Still breathing a little heavy from the fight, his attention fell on Rain's trembling hands, which were covering her face. He knew where she had been struck needed to be looked at. Hating to leave her, he also knew he had to find her first aid kit so he could tend to her. "I'll be right back," he whispered softly just before getting up. Once standing, it saddened him to see her looking so afraid as she curled up like a baby onto her side. Quickly he headed off for the medical supplies.

To his luck as soon as he walked into Rain's bedroom, he saw the kit right there on her dresser. Walking over to it he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He wasn't used to seeing his image without his red bandanna around his forehead. Before seeing Rain being attacked, all he had time to do before hearing a struggle was to pull on his boxer shorts and a white T-shirt.

After grabbing the medical kit he headed back into the living room where Rain was and heard her crying softly. Again, the fighter knelt down next to her. "Rain," he said gently wishing he knew how to comfort her. This was all new to him because she was usually the one comforting and calming him down. "Everything will be alright."

Hearing Domon, everything came out of Rain like a flood as she cried, "I'm sorry. It's just that that man had his hands on me and...I know what he intended to do to me." Shuddering at the thought, she said, "Domon, I haven't even been with a man that way, and I thought that he was going to take that from me."

Domon leaned over her and hugged her not saying anything as he let her cry into his chest. As friends, they had shared a lot of their thoughts lately so her admittance to something so private didn't shock him but what she revealed did. Commissioner Karato had called her a good girl but because of her age, Domon had thought that she had possibly been with someone, possibly Saette, but now he knew she hadn't. Though he didn't let it show, he was pleasantly surprised that a woman such as Rain still existed. She was pure and he truly considered her even more special than he all ready had. Without a doubt, he knew whom ever she ended up with would be a very lucky man.

Again however, he felt himself becoming very mad at the thought of that stranger violently taken her innocence away. Rain would have possibly been emotionally scarred forever. It sickened Domon that some men could be with a woman against the woman's will. No female deserved that and to Domon, especially not Rain.

When Domon felt her stop shaking from her crying, he lifted himself out of their hug. Though she moved one of her hands back over her face, he saw the brave front she was now trying to put on as she said in a low voice, "Really...I'll be okay, Domon."

Not wanting her to feel as if he thought she was weak, he said, "I know you'll be okay." Trying to change the subject a little, he added, "I'm just used to you taking care of my cuts and bruises but I guess it's my turn to take care of you."

The sweet female was glad that Domon wanted to help her but she just wished that she could shake the stranger's image from her mind at the moment.

"Let me see your eye," Domon said in a gentle voice.

Rain adjusted herself onto her back more and slowly removed her hand from her face so the fighter could inspect the damage.

It took everything in Domon to control himself from blowing up at the sight of Rain's beautiful face bearing a bruise that left one of the lids of her striking blue eyes swollen shut. There was also an ooze of blood coming out of a cut close to the corner of her eye.

It was very apparent to Rain that Domon was trying to stay calm, but she could still see the rage in his eyes, and for some reason she found it moving that he cared that much about her. It was in a way strange to her because just a few minutes ago she had one man treating her as if she had no feelings, and now she had this one who was treating her completely the opposite. It was a shame that Domon was thought by some to be a fighter with no feelings. To her he was a very loyal and caring friend. He may have been harsh back when they started as partners; perhaps because he thought she wouldn't be able to handle her job, but soon they began to work very well together as a team, and he was always there to protect her.

Gritting his teeth, Domon said, "I should have killed that bastard instead of letting him go."

"No, Domon," Rain said with the voice she always used when she was trying to calm him. "You did the right thing." Her voice became emotional as she said, "Thank you for...saving me."

Now forcing himself to sound less upset because of her voice breaking, Domon reminded himself that he had to be the calm one this time. "You don't have to thank me, Rain."

"Domon," she said so seriously. "If you wouldn't have walked in when you did, I'm afraid to even imagine what he would have done to me."

More serious than she had ever heard him before, Domon said, "Rain. Nothing will ever happen to you as long as I'm around."

"You really are my best friend,"she said as tears filled her eyes.

Domon smiled - glad that she thought so much of him just as they did when they were young children. "Let me take care of that eye," he said in a soft voice as if he knew what he was doing.

Rain lay still as Domon tried to be as gentle as he could as he cleaned the blood away from her eye. She watched him through her good eye and realized that his bandanna wasn't on. She rarely saw him without it, and she had to wonder how he could see with his hair falling forward into his face.

At the same time he was actually thinking that her hair was being a pain by getting in the way as he finished cleaning up the cut. Eventually he lifted his other hand and gently held her strands back.

Knowing that she would be scared for a while, he didn't want her to feel only like a victim. "You know, Rain," he said proudly. "You gave that jerk a nice kick."

Surprisingly Rain smiled and took in how Domon had started to gently run his fingers through her hair. She never knew he could be so tender, and she had to wonder if he even realized what he was doing. Hadn't he initially just been trying to keep her hair out of her face? She told herself that he was just trying to comfort her.

Seeing the bruise darkening around Rain's eye, Domon knew he had to put something cold on it but first he had to put something on the cut now that it was cleaned. About to grab the first aid kit, he realized that his fingers were running through her hair, and that he had been enjoying it. He had only meant to push her hair out of her face, but for some reason touching her like this seemed to come so natural to him. Soon embarrassed for touching his friend this way, he gently pulled his hand away and then began to open the kit.

After some instructions from Rain, Domon put an ointment on the cut and then went to the kitchen and came back with some ice to put on the swollen area of Rain's face. After everything was put away in the first aid kit, Domon got up and covered Rain with a near by blanket. "So you're not alone, we can both sleep out here tonight."

"Okay," Rain said glad that he knew that she didn't want to be alone. With Domon Kasshu in the same room, she would not be afraid to fall asleep. He had saved her countless times before. In fact just the thought of Domon was enough to renew her faith in men. "I must look horrifying," she said as the cold ice sat upon her face.

"You could never look horrible," the fighter said before thinking.

Rain guessed he only said what he had because he didn't want her to know how badly she really looked.

"Do you feel okay?" he asked as he blushed from his earlier comment. Hadn't that comment meant that he could be attracted to her? Commissioner Karato would surely be very upset if he heard such words coming from Domon's mouth about his gundam partner. The Neo-Japan team couldn't move past being friends no matter how good Rain had become at making the fighter handle his problems or how attracted they might be to each other. It was for the good of the team that they didn't become involved. Friends were a good thing to remain and they were quite good at it.

"I'll be okay," she whispered softly to him just before he finally realized that he was staring at her.

Nodding his head okay he stood up and moved to sit in the chair across from her. As if he was her guardian angel he sat there and watched her fall asleep. He then decided that the next day he would ask her if she knew who the stranger had been.


Thanks very much for reading, Jen