Disclaimer: not mine.
He sacrificed himself for me. I sobbed into the grass. Everything was going so good. It was so perfect and they found us! Now Taichi was going to die for me. As the realization sunk in, I gagged. I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't let them destroy him. I couldn't let them hurt him in any way. But I needed help. I knew where they were heading. My father was so predictable. He wasn't going home. He knew I would know. He was heading to his clubhouse. That was where the real torture was. I pushed myself off the ground, wheezing. My side exploded in pain but I pressed through the haze of throbbing and stumbled down the side of the hill. In town, I elicited many stares from pedestrians. I was bleeding, stumbling and crying all at once, not to mention my clothes were covered in dirt and grass stains and were torn in several places. Mothers ushered their children away from me, watching me with wary eyes and the older ones pointed and giggled to one another. Older people tutted as I rushed past them, probably wondering what had become of the younger generations. I clenched my teeth and tried to forget about the sharp jabs in my side until I finally got to his home. I pounded on the door, completely forgetting about the doorbell in my desperation. Please let someone be home. Please.
"Kari! Kari, open up!" I screamed. The door opened and I almost brought my fist down on her head. She yelped and jumped back, giving me a reproachful look as she did. But it turned to curiosity when she had taken in my whole appearance.
"What's the big idea, Yamato? What's wrong?"
"I need to use the phone," and pushed passed her, grabbing the phone before I allowed myself to fall to my knees on the floor as I dialed. "Hello? Police? I need your help. My friend's been kidnapped. Yes, I know where he was taken. Yes, they're dangerous. Hurry. It's at the country club. In the basement. Yes, the one in the middle of town. Please, hurry." I dropped the phone back on its receiver and used the edge of a table to push myself off. I stood wobbling a bit as I did and was about to leave when Kari grabbed a hold of my sleeve. I stopped and looked back, anticipating her questions.
"Yamato? Where's Tai? What's going on?" she sounded truly scared and I knew I couldn't tell her everything. I couldn't let her know that it was my fault that Tai was in the predicament that he was, not after she had befriended me.
"Kari, don't follow me, whatever you do. Tell your mother that I'm going to help Tai. We were ambushed in the park and they took him. I don't know if he's hurt or not but I'm doing everything in my power to make sure he's ok." I sounded calmer than I really was. Inside, I was raging, my mind was a jumble of thoughts, emotions, fears, and hopes fighting for dominance. I raced out the door as fast as I could, leaving her standing in the hallway, staring stunned at the wall.
At the clubhouse, police cars surrounded it completely and a squadron of men was about to barge inside. I approached them and one whirled on me, pointing the gun directly at my forehead. I shrank away from him and put my hands up in a submissive gesture. When he realized I wasn't someone he should shoot, he lowered the gun and shrugged apologetically. Everyone around him was tense and apprehensive, their guns held at the ready.
"Get back, kid. This isn't fun and games. There are dangerous people in there." He jerked a thumb towards the outside of the ring of cars. "Stay away from here if you know what's good for you."
"I already know the risks involved," I told him. "but I'm going inside, whether you like it or not." I tried to push past him to get to the front of the group but he threw his arm out and caught me across the chest. I took a few steps backward and rubbed at the spot, knowing that another bruise would be forming.
"Kid, we don't have time for this." He looked at me the way a teacher would look at a disobeying student. "We aren't going to be able to watch after you in there. You could get killed. I tell you, those people inside are dangerous."
"I DON'T CARE!" I exploded, my face nearly an inch from his, "THAT'S MY BEST FRIEND IN THERE AND I'M THE ONLY ONE MY FATHER WON'T SHOOT AT ONCE!" The tense mutterings and instruction-giving halted and the whole group turned and stared at me. I knew I looked crazy, my eyes were red-rimmed from crying, my voice was hoarse from the shouting I had been doing earlier, bruises were evident on my face and I was heaving. I had every appearance of a madman and I knew it.
"Your- father?" I could see the thoughts going through their heads. He's a lunatic. Just like daddy. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?
"Yes. I ran away from home because he was abusing me and stayed at a friend's house. This afternoon, I was at the park with my friend and he ambushed us. Tai took my place if my father promised he wouldn't ever hurt me. Please, you have to let me do something. It's my fault he's in this mess in the first place." Not to mention the small fact that I was in love with my best friend that made this whole situation more personal to me than any of these policemen or women would know. "Please. He's my best friend. I have to do something." The stakes in this were higher for me than any of them and I wasn't leaving that clubhouse unless I had Tai with me.
"Fine. On your own head." They sighed once they knew I wasn't going to give in. I could be as stubborn as Tai when I really wanted to; it was one of the best things that had rubbed off him onto me. I followed them inside, overtaking them to be the lead. They wouldn't know where they were going and I wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. I opened the door leading to the basement and was met with the barrel of his thug's gun. I could hear a low murmuring, the harsh sound of a slap, and laughter.
"Hi. Remember me?" I spoke deliberately louder than normal, rage making me reckless and irrational.
"Shut up, kid." One of the policewomen hissed but it was too late.
"You've come to save him?" my father's voice piped up, laughing. "Give it up, Yamato, you'll never save him." I suppressed a smirk and adopted a stoic expression, something I was all too used to doing. But you don't have half the police force in Odaiba behind you. The thug grabbed my upper left arm and dragged me inside, not seeing the policemen behind me. He dropped me next to my father, facedown. It was just like my dream. I looked up and Tai was there, chained to the wall. Blood trickled out of the corners of his mouth and there was a red mark on the side of his face where my father had evidently slapped him. His right temple was split open and blood was gushing out. My stomach clenched. He was wheezing, desperately trying to get air into his lungs. My father knelt down, grabbed me by the hair and forced my head up.
"You see the pain you've caused? He's going to die like that. Die in pain. And it's all because of you." I could hear the glee hidden behind his words. He was an expert at using psychology to hurt and degrade, a skill borne of spending years working in the television industry.
"No. I won't let you." I struggled, but a sharp pain exploded in my ribs and I stopped. "No. You won't." Then there was a flurry of activity, he let go of my hair, I dropped weakly to the floor, and there was a scream, a bang, then silence. Someone was crying or was that just voices in my head? I used the last amount of strength left in me and lifted my head. My father was lying in a pool of his own blood and his henchmen were being handcuffed and led away. His eyes were wide and his mouth was opened in a silent scream, his goodbye to the world. Tai was being released by a young policeman. I hobbled over and caught him when he fell. He sank against me and I had to lean against the wall to stay upright.
"Yama." he sighed into my shoulder, "Are you okay? I didn't know if you were when they left you. You were just lying there," he mumbled some more but I couldn't make it out.
"I'm fine." I lied and held him tighter to me. I had come so close to losing him, losing the love of my life that the stark reality of it all caused my stomach to do flips and I had to swallow furiously to keep from retching. But I hadn't lost him. He was there in my arms, his face pressed against the hollow between my shoulder and my neck. I could smell him, the sweet scent he always seemed to give off, feel him, alive and warm in my arms.
"He's dead, Yama. He'll never bother you, ever again."
"I know," I murmured, pressing my nose in his hair, "I know."
"Come on, both of you. We're getting you to the hospital to get checked out. We're not taking any chances." A tall, broad policeman ushered us out of the damp basement. I was still holding on to Tai, who seemed reluctant to let go of me. We were silent throughout the whole trip, each of us reflecting on the day's events and wondering what trials life would throw at us next.
At the hospital, they took X-Rays of us. I had a hairline fracture on one of my ribs which accounted for the throbbing but it was nothing too serious. Tai was just very heavily bruised though they had to stitch up two of the gashes on his back. The doctors were appalled at seeing some of the old abrasions and scars covering my body when they removed my shirt to bandage my ribs. As none of the injuries were life threatening, there was really nothing they could do but tell me to keep all the cuts clean or they would become infected. The doctors asked me multiple questions and I answered them as quickly as I could, using only yes-and-no answers when I could. It wasn't hard to tell that I had been abused and they looked at me with pity and sadness in their eyes.
"Who did this to you?" A pretty, bright-eyed young doctor asked me softly, running her slim hands lightly over the bruises littering my frame. When I replied, her eyes filled with tears. "That's so sad. I'm sorry you had to go through all that." She looked over the rest of my body though I struggled quite a bit. After she was finished, she left me in the room, looking back at me one last time before hustling off to turn in her assessment on the damage inflicted on me.
They hustled me away from Tai, much to my displeasure, and dumped me into a room with a couch and a chair beside it. A huge glass window took up almost the whole wall next to the door so doctors could watch the psycho-analysis taking place. The nurse who brought me there ordered me to sit on the couch and too tired to argue, I did. When she left, I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, ready to sleep but the door opened again and in walked a stern looking woman. She was wearing spectacles perched at the end of her long nose. Her black hair was pulled into a severe bun at the nape of her neck and she was wearing a business suit. Her heels clacked against the linoleum floor and she sat gracefully into the chair, crossing her ankles and placing a clipboard in her lap. Once she was settled into her seat, she looked at me over the top of her spectacles.
"Hello, Mr. Ishida. I'm Dr. Ichikiri. Now, I will be asking you some questions. I need you to answer them truthfully. I know this will be hard for you but you must answer all the questions for your benefit." She smiled at me in what she thought was a comforting way but it was more of a smirk and not at all heartening. "Before we begin, is there anything you want to say? Just to get anything off your chest? I'm all ears." I shook my head and she looked disappointed. What makes you think I am going to trust a complete stranger with my deepest, darkest secrets? "Ok. How did you get those bruises on your face?" I shook my head again. I was not going to talk. Isn't it obvious, you old cow. How else could I have all these bruises and scars? Her lips pursed and she readjusted her glasses. "Hmm, when did you get those bruises?" Still I said nothing and I could tell she was beginning to get frustrated. "Come now Mr. Ishida. You must cooperate with me. I am here to help you." I opened my mouth to protest and probably would have said something quite nasty to her when we were interrupted.
The door opened slowly and I looked up. My face brightened when I saw not a nurse or orderly standing in the doorway, but Tai. He had a large bandage across the right part of his forehead and the bruises were now a purplish-blue color. Dr. Ichikiri's face darkened angrily. Now see here, young man." She stood and advanced on him, "you should not be here. You are disturbing a very important, very private conversation between Mr. Ishida and me. I'm afraid you'll have to leave and come back later." He didn't give her so much as a second glance; he was too busy watching me.
"Hey there, Taichi." I said quietly and Dr. Ichikiri stopped shouting and stared open-mouthed at me. The first words she'd heard come from me and they were not directed at her. "You're okay, right? Because if you're not-" my hands balled into fists. He understood my unfinished sentence and shook his head.
"I'm fine, Yama. It looks a lot worse than it really is." He brushed past the doctor and pulled me into a hug. "How are YOU doing?" I allowed myself to relax against him. I really wanted to sleep. Just let my mind shut down so I could forget, for a while at least, everything that had happened.
"I'm okay." I shrugged, my head resting against the side of his face. "They told me I have a hairline fracture but it shouldn't take too long to heal. Tai, I don't want to answer any questions." His arms tightened around me and I was crushed against him.
"I think it would be best if you did," he murmured into my hair. "Let it all out. Maybe she can help. I'm no professional and there's only so much I can do or say." He kissed the top of my head. "Don't worry about it, I'll be right here, next to you. For emotional support. Just pretend you're talking to me and she's the one listening."
"But, Tai, she's a complete stranger. How do you expect me to tell EVERYTHING to a fucking stranger?" I whispered while the doctor protested,
"I don't-" Dr. Ichikiri held up a finger. Tai stiffened and a breath rattled in his chest. I hid my face in his clothing to hide the satisfied smile that was growing on my face. He was getting upset.
"Look, ma'am, if you really want him to talk, you'll let me stay. And it's not like I don't know what he's going to say anyways. I fucking witnessed it, ok? And he needs to know that someone he cares is here for him." He interrupted her. I grabbed his hand and leaned against him. "Now, Mr. Ishida, you WILL cooperate or I shall see to it that you are tickled into submission." His impression of my father was so good it was unnerving but the ridiculous threat and the twinkle in his eye balanced out the scale.
Seeing that he could not be dissuaded and that I was more cooperative with him sitting beside me, Dr. Ichikiri gave up arguing. She asked me many questions in a two-hour time period, most of which were very hard, emotionally, to answer. I shook violently as I relived everything I had gone through in the past and never let go of his hand. When she finally announced that we were finished, I was exhausted in every way shape and form and when she left the room to report to whoever she reported to, I fell asleep immediately, relieved that now, once and for all, my father would never come after me again. I was finally vindicated.
A/N: Whew. There. Was it predictable? Sorry if it was, I just had to kill off Yama's dad…
And now I will be taking a poll… should I continue? Or start a sequel? Because I still have a lot more ideas to write.