"Cruel Kindness"
2. 'Hate the sinner but love the sin'
"When I was born,
They looked at me and said:
'What a good boy, what a smart boy, what a strong boy'.
When you were born,
They looked at you and said:
'What a good girl, what a smart girl, what a pretty girl.'
We've got these chains, hanging round our necks
People wanna strangle us with them
Before we take our first breath.
Afraid of change,
Afraid of staying the same,
When temptation comes, we just look away."
'What a Good Boy' Barenaked Ladies
Ken lay awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling. His alarm clock had gone several minutes ago and he had hit snooze, with no intentions of going back to sleep for five more minutes. He was waiting for it to go off again, just so he could hit the button for a second time. This seemed to be a normal ritual for him, ever since Cat had closed the door in his face. It had been one week to the day, but to Ken, it felt like months and other times it felt like no time at all had passed. He was depressed beyond words and couldn't find a reason to get out of bed anymore. Not even cocaine was enough to make him happy, but that didn't stop him from taking it. He needed it, because without it, he was worse off.
Wormmon shifted somewhere beside him, still asleep, but he seemed unaware of it. The sound of his alarm clock sounded again, so he reached over to it, switched it off and threw back his covers. He sat up slowly and sighed. He climbed down his steps, walked over to his dresser and opened his draw. He reached in and removed a small wooden chest. Inside was his Crest of Kindness, as well as several small clear packets of fine white power. He picked up one of the sachets and removed his mirror from the draw. There, he cut two neat lines and snorted them as if he had been doing it for years. He sighed again and wiped his nose, then proceeded to the bathroom to take a shower.
When Ken arrived at school, his friends greeted him. They were warm and kind to him, knowing how much his break up with Cat had hurt him. Davis was the only one who knew about Ken's addiction, though Ken did not know this. The winter break was coming soon, and Davis was saving this information for that time. He had every intention of helping his friend, but not when school was so important to Ken. Davis had met with Cat later that week after the break up, to ask her about helping Ken get over his addiction. She had suggested that he wait for the break in school, so he did not miss anything important, which would only add to his stress and depression. Davis had decided this was the best course of action.
After collecting his books, Ken looked over towards Cat's locker and saw her placing her books in her bag. Her red and brown hair was down today; just like the night he had first met her. He slammed his locker and made to walk over to her, but he stopped when he noticed a tall boy with caramel hair hug her in a way that didn't seem appropriate to him. He knew the boy to be Yukio; he had a few classes with him. He frowned when Cat kissed him and then walked off towards class. He turned and saw Yukio staring after her with a look of mild satisfaction and hunger and it sickened Ken. A sudden rage flared up inside him and it took everything he had to stop himself from hitting Yukio, very, very hard.
"Ken," he heard Davis say somewhere behind him, "We have to go to class."
Ken turned and nodded.
------
During lunch Yolei was taking it upon herself to try to cheer Ken up. "You deserve better, Ken." She stated, popping a Rosa tomato into her mouth. Ken was forcibly reminded of Cat and their lunch meetings. "I know you really liked her, but she isn't worth your time." Yolei went on, glancing at Cat across the room and noticing how boys surrounded her. "Besides, I think she's a slut."
Ken looked up sharply at Yolei. She leaned back a bit, for he looked livid. "You don't know anything about her Yolei so shut the hell up!"
Yolei raised her eyebrows, "Oh really?" she said bravely, "Have you had a look at her lately, she has her own entourage of men who only hang around her because of one thing. You really don't want someone like that to be associated with you do you?"
Ken stood up and sounded like he was growling at her, "You don't know anything." He turned around and stormed off.
"Nice going Yolei," Davis grumbled, "way to make him feel worse."
Yolei flushed, "Well it's the truth! Look at her! It's not good enough for her to break Ken's heart once; she has to keep doing it? If I wasn't a lady, I would kick the crap out of her!"
"You're a lady?" Cody mumbled but only TK and Kari heard. They snickered quietly.
A loud commotion came from the corridor leading to the cafeteria. Everyone turned to look in that direction and some people were running to see what the chaos was. Davis leapt up, followed by everyone else. They rushed to the door and their mouths fell open. Ken was sitting on top of Yukio's chest; a fist full of his shirt and his other hand raised ready to punch, for what looked like the third time, in the face.
"Ken!" Davis yelled, horrified at his usually peaceful friends' behavior.
Ken ignored him. He was too busy staring at Yukio, who was laughing, even though his nose was dripping with blood.
"Oh come on Ken," he gasped through chuckles, "it's the truth and you know it. It's the only reason you were with her. The girl is easy; she got tired of you and moved on, it's what girls like her do. Get over it."
Ken hit him again and Yukio's laughter was punctured with a cry of pain followed by more laughter.
Davis ran forward and ripped Ken off Yukio, much to his protest. At that point a teacher had come around the corner and seen the commotion. He took one look at Ken and then Yukio and signaled for them to see the headmistress.
Ken looked up at his headmistress with a look of defiance.
She sighed deeply; "I would never have expected this of you Ken. What on earth happened to provoke you to hit Yukio?"
Ken ground his teeth and chewed on his answer.
"Well?"
"He called my ex-girlfriend a whore."
Ken watched his wizened headmistress sit back in her high back leather chair and put the tips of her fingers together. "I see. I can imagine how much that would upset you, but it still does not warrant an excuse to hit him. You have never given me trouble before, so I will let you go with a warning, but Ken, if you ever do something like this again, you will be suspended."
Ken nodded and stood up, "Thank you." He muttered and left the room.
-------
Ken walked into his room and slammed the door shut behind him. Wormmon scuttled to his feet and said hello, but Ken ignored him and walked over to his sliding door to open it. He stepped onto the balcony and looked down at the city bellow. He heard a noise to his right and looked in that direction. He saw Cat dressed in only her white school shirt and hot pants, smoking a cigarette as she leaned against the bars of the balcony. She glanced in Ken's direction and dropped her eyes to the ground again. Then to Ken's horror, Yukio stepped onto the balcony and began to kiss her neck. As he did this, she caught Ken's eye again and he saw that she looked almost bored, or sad, he couldn't decide. They moved back into her room and Ken sighed. He moved back into his room and snorted another line of cocaine, but it did very little to lift his spirits.
-------
Cat lay awake in her bed staring at the ceiling. Yukio had just been kicked out of her apartment and she had had her shower and sniff of fine white powder. She felt tears suddenly sting her eyes and a lump had blocked her throat. She felt empty inside and no amount of perfect drugs could ever fill her and make her whole. She sat up and walked over to her draw. She scratched around for a while until she found a photograph of her and Ken. Kari had taken it when they first got together. They were sitting under a tree on the school field and she was lying in Ken's lap while he ran his fingers through her hair. She felt a wave of nostalgia wash over her and felt that strong lump in her throat again. She pushed it down and pulled out her note pad and a pen and began scribbling down lyrics for a song.
------
"Cat."
She turned around and saw Ken walking after her. She sighed and stopped walking.
"I need to talk to you."
"Ken, I thought we agreed that we wouldn't talk to each other anymore." Her tone was cold and distant.
"I know, but we live in the same apartment building and that's a bit hard. Besides, this is important."
She rolled her eyes and indicated for him to go on.
"Don't you care what Yukio said about you?"
She frowned a little and he added, "I saw you two yesterday remember?"
She nodded.
"He called you a whore and you still slept with him?"
"Ken, I know what he called me and I don't care."
"How can you not? Don't you see them whispering? Don't you hear the things they say about you?"
"Of course I do! But why should I care, if it's the truth?"
Ken stepped back, "It's not the truth." He said quietly.
She laughed, "Yes it is Ken. I'm a slut, I'm a whore, I have loose morals-"
"NO!" he burst, "They just don't know you, not like I do, they don't know what happened to you…"
"It doesn't matter Ken, they don't care why I am like this, just that I am."
"It still doesn't give them a right to say those things about you." He muttered.
She bowed her head; "I'm used to it. It doesn't bother me, so it shouldn't bother you." It took every fiber of her being not to add, 'but I'm touched that it does.'
"You deserve better than them, Cat." He said suddenly, but his tone was not kind, it was bitter and almost arrogant.
She looked up and stared at him. "We're through Ken, get that through your head. And when I have a real man with me, don't look at me like a lost puppy, it ruins the mood." She gave another icy stare and turned on her heel to march off.
He watched her go and made a low growl in his throat.
When Cat turned the corner, she went straight to the girl's bathroom and dissolved into tears. She couldn't stop herself. They just kept coming until she was sobbing loudly, curled up on the tiled floor. Being away from Ken was torture, but forcing her self to be cold to him hurt much more. She loved him and to hurt him seemed to hurt her. 'It's for the best' she told herself but it didn't stop the tears from falling.
Suddenly Kari walked in and paused at the sight of her. Cat tried to compose herself and wipe the tears but it was no use, Kari had already seen. To Cat's surprise, Kari bent down and put an arm around Cat to comfort her.
"What's wrong Cat?"
Cat blinked and looked at the Child of Light. Kari had a look of complete understanding upon her face, even though Cat hadn't said anything to her. Cat just shook her head and pressed her face into Kari's shoulder, trying her hardest to stop crying. Kari rubbed her back and waited for her to finish.
"You miss him, don't you?"
Cat looked up and nodded.
"I don't know the full story, but I know that you broke up with him to help him. I think that's very brave of you and very self-sacrificing. Which means you must love him a lot."
Cat hiccoughed and wiped her eyes, finally having stopped crying. "Why don't you hate me like everyone else?"
"You're not a bad person, you're just misunderstood."
"I love him so much, it's so hard to get over him." She stood up as did Kari and began to wash her face. She dabbed it dry and added, "For the first time, I feel really dirty."
She turned to Kari on her way out of the bathroom and said, "Thanks for the shoulder. Please don't tell anyone about that."
Kari smiled, "Don't worry, I won't."
------
Winter break finally arrived and along with it, the news of Ken's addiction. Davis had called a meeting together and told the others about this and why he had kept it from them. The reactions from most of them were all pretty much the same, shock followed by sympathy. Yolei had gone incredibly pale and fought back tears as she rushed to the bathroom to sit on the edge of the bath and began to sob her heart out. Out of the whole group, her and Davis cared most about Ken, but Yolei loved him in another way, even though they had not gone out for a long time, she still held that feeling in her heart for him. Along with the sadness, she felt angry, angry at Cat for doing this to him.
She heard a faint knock on the door and lifted her head.
"Yolei?" it was Davis, he knocked again, "Yolei, are you alright?"
She removed her glasses to wipe her eyes and then replaced them, while getting up and walking to the door. She opened it and with an expressionless face, moved back to the group in Davis' living room.
"So what do we do?" TK asked once Yolei had sat down.
"I talked to Cat and she said that we should keep an eye on him at all times. We need to keep him busy too, it's not going to be easy." Davis sat down heavily on the coffee table in front of them.
"Especially with his parents around." Cody added.
"Yeah," Davis breathed, "I thought about that. I don't know if we should tell them or not. I mean, if we can help Ken, there won't be a need, but…"
"Why don't we take him to a rehabilitation center?" Kari asked.
"If it comes to that, then we will, but right now, I want Ken to know that we are here to help him, the people he can trust. I guess, we can't be with him all the time, at night I mean, when his parents are home, so we'll have to trust him too. Which means we'll have to talk to him about this."
They nodded and lapsed into silence for a long moment.
"I can't believe he's on cocaine." TK muttered.
"I knew something was wrong, but not this." Kari admitted.
------
As Davis had stated, helping Ken get off cocaine was not an easy task. They had talked to Ken about their distress for him and he had agreed that he wanted to stop taking the drug. So they had come to an agreement on that and were on the same side, however, the drug in question was not on their side. It wanted to keep a firm hold on Ken and it did, with no mercy. The group of Digidestined had watched Ken go from bad to worse and beyond that. Some days he was violently aggressive and angry, other days he begged and pleaded for one line of cocaine to get him through the day and the worst days were the days when he was so depressed he didn't even move. He just lay on the couch, staring at the ceiling, he didn't eat, he didn't speak, and he barely breathed. Davis and Yolei watched him fearfully and removed anything sharp from the surrounding area and Davis followed him into the bathroom to keep a close eye on him, just incase he tried to take his life, as Cat had warned, he might do.
They had searched the house of any cocaine that Ken might have stashed somewhere and sent it down the drain.
When Ken's parents arrived home from work, the group left and hopped that Ken would get though another night.
As soon as they had left, Ken shuffled into his room and bent down on his hands and knees, to feel under his bed. He felt under his mattress support beams and pulled out a small sachet of cocaine. Without hesitation he snorted it as is and sat back, taking it in, though in a sad pathetic way. At that moment, Davis had entered him room, after doubling back to retrieve his forgotten jacket. He stopped dead at the sight of Ken and slammed the door shut behind him and marching straight to his best friend, sitting on the floor, he grabbed Ken by the collar, "Where else is it stashed?"
"This was the last of it!" Ken insisted and Wormmon looked on them silently, but with great fear.
"Don't lie to me!" Davis shook him hard.
"I swear it!" Ken pleaded.
Davis stared at him and dropped him to the floor, "Understand that I am doing this because I love you Ken." He turned, grabbed his jacket from the chair and walked out his room.
------
The next day Davis had told the group to take Ken to the movies to try to take him mind off the fact that he was trying to get over both the love of his life and the drug that could take his life. He had informed the group that he had caught Ken with cocaine the night before and the reason he wanted Ken out the house was so he could search the apartment thoroughly this time. When he mentioned that he had gotten Cat to help him, Yolei insisted on staying behind to help with the search. Davis, after much convincing, agreed for her to help.
They began searching, while waiting for Cat to arrive. When the knock on the door came, Davis opened it and let the woman in. She stopped when she saw Yolei.
"She wanted to help." Davis stated.
Cat shrugged, "The more the merrier." And walked straight to Ken's room. They noticed that she had dyed her hair again, this time it was a violet purple colour. "It's a safe bet to say any stash he has will be in his room and the bathroom, other places are too risky."
Both Davis and Yolei nodded and began looking around Ken's room.
Cat picked up the photo of Osamu and began to open up the frame.
"What are you doing?" Yolei almost shouted, "That's the most important photo Ken has…"
Cat pulled the back away and found a small sachet of cocaine in it. She put it on the desk and proceeded to put the frame back together again. She picked up the cocaine and handed it to Yolei, "Flush that please."
The lavender haired girl noticed the slight plead in her tone, and for the first time felt a small pang of pity for the girl, this must be hard, but as soon as the feeling came, it went and Yolei felt just as angry at the girl as before.
After an hour of searching Ken's room and finding ten sachets of cocaine, Cat moved to the bathroom. Davis followed her, she began to search through the draws, taking them out and turning them over.
Davis watched her for a while and then spoke, "Was it hard for you too?"
She looked up, "What?"
"Getting over cocaine, was it hard?" when she looked slightly puzzled he added, "Ken told me you were in Juvie."
"Oh, yeah." Cat dropped her eyes again; "It was incredibly hard. Some days I didn't want to live. But I did it after a month or two, can't remember."
"But when you got out? You started using again?"
She nodded, "I was a stupid kid, with nothing in her life, no love, no happiness, no friends, artificial euphoria was all I had. The moment I got out, I went looking for my so-called-friends to hook me up with more. Didn't take me long to get hooked again. I was stupid, I would give anything to take that back."
"Why don't you try rehab?"
She sighed, "I could, but I'm too scared to, too selfish too. I don't want to give it up yet, I can't."
Davis breathed and sat down. "I notice you haven't gone out with anyone since winter break."
She shook her head, "No one to give a show to now. I'll wait till school opens again. I wish I could move away from him to make this easier for him."
"And you." Davis finished. "You're a good person for doing this."
She scoffed and shook her head, "If I were a good person, I wouldn't have gotten Ken into this in the first place."
"True, but at least you're trying to fix it."
She shrugged and lifted the cover for the toilet, looking into the ball and lifting it and finding another packet of cocaine. She handed it to Davis, "Well, anyway, I'm leaving after graduation, don't know where to, but I've got to leave."
Davis nodded and flushed the powder down the drain.
They exited the bathroom and saw Yolei on the phone. She hung up and turned to Davis; "They're almost here."
"That's my cue to leave." Cat muttered and slipped on her shoes at the front door.
"Cat!" Yolei called suddenly.
She turned, "Yes?"
Yolei looked awkward for a moment but then she lifted her head proudly and looked directly at Cat. "I don't like you and I'm pretty sure you don't like me…but Ken…he does, I mean he loved you and for what it's worth, I think it was nice of you to help him like this. What I'm trying to say is, if Ken liked you, there must be something special about you and I don't know, maybe one day…I'll like you too."
Cat stared incredulously at Yolei. Girls generally did not like Cat and were never friendly with her, let alone friends, so this was a surprise. She hung her head ashamed, "Thanks Yolei. Look, I never ever meant to hurt him, I want you to know that…and I don't blame you if you hate me." She opened the door and stepped out into the chilly corridor.
She made her way back to her apartment when she heard voices at the other end of the corridor. Against her better judgement, she turned to look and instantly made eye contact with Ken. He looked terrible, sleep deprived, heart-broken, angry, depressed and lonely. She wanted nothing more than to run up to him, throw her arms around him and protect him from the world, but she knew she couldn't, she mustn't and she literally felt her heart break.
Ken could not take his eyes off her, even long after she had gone into her apartment; he looked in her direction. He felt a deep void inside him self and only wanted to curl up beside her and sleep the rest of his life away in her arms. But he took a deep breath and entered his apartment.
He knew that Davis and Yolei had been searching for more of his stash, but a part of him didn't care at all. "I don't want to feel like this anymore." He thought bitterly to himself and that was the moment that changed his life.
------
Winter break flew by in a whirl of chilly winds and rain and school started again before everyone was ready for it to.
Davis's attempt to help Ken get over his addiction had worked. Ken had shown an incredible strength and determination, but that by no means meant that it was easy for him to get over it. Ken had yelled, cried, moaned, gotten violent, become so apathetic he didn't move. He stopped eating for a while, threatened to kill him self and then finally tried it using a small pocketknife. Cody had caught him at it and prevented Ken from doing any serious harm to him self. Thankfully Davis, Yolei or one of the other members of the Digidestined were with him all the time. Davis had resolved to be the one to tell Ken's parents about his addiction. It was the only way to help him. They were shocked, terrified and angry when he told them the news, but they were a great help in saving Ken.
It seemed after a week, things started to get better for Ken and after two weeks, he was almost cured, but they still had a long way to go.
Now after three weeks, they were back at school and the only ones keeping an eye on Ken were his parents, but Ken had no desire to touch the white powder, ever again. He was feeling strong, calm, and even happy, although, he did suddenly suffer moments of depression.
However one thing that had not changed, was Ken's new attitude, the one Cat had brought out in him. He was not going to revert being the shy, quiet boy he once was. If someone offended him, they knew about it, if someone pissed him off, he told them and if something were on his mind, he would usually vent to Davis or Yolei about it. Davis had also noticed Ken's violent streak had not gone away either and wasn't sure what to think about it.
"So who are you taking to the dance?"
Ken turned to listen to the group of guys talking in the locker-room. He had being toweling his hair dry when he heard Yukio's voice. Davis looked up and then looked in the direction Ken was looking in. He felt trouble coming.
"I dunno yet man. Still thinking about it. You?" a tall blond replied, Ken didn't know his name.
"I'm thinking about taking Cat, you know. At least I'll be guaranteed some action at the Prom you know?"
His group of jock friends laughed and whooped appreciatively.
"Man, did you see her in gym class today? That swimming costume looked so hot on her." The blond commented.
Yukio grinned, "You should see her naked. She's got this tight little body and this wicked tattoo on her back. Oh God and her tits are sweet!"
"Stop it Yukio."
Davis looked back at Ken who was now standing.
"Ain't that right Ken? You've seen them, tell us what you think…"
"I said stop it." Ken growled.
"Why Ken? It's not like you're with her anymore. You're back together with Yolei, what do you care?"
"It's rude to disrespect a woman the way you do."
"Man, the girl asks for it and don't think she doesn't like it." Yukio turned to his friends; "See Ken's got it right, here. Cat is the kind of girl you bang until she can't walk anymore but Yolei is the kind of girl you marry, you know?"
Ken could feel the anger rising up in him like bile but he pushed it down and narrowed his eyes at them, twisting his face into a sickened expression. He knew Yukio was egging him on, looking for a fight, but Ken would not waste his time with them. "You're not worth it." He hissed and turned and walked back to his locker.
"You know," the blond started, "I think I might ask Kari, that girl has a hot little body that I'd just love to-"
The sound a fist connecting with a jaw interrupted him and made Ken turn to see what had happened. To his surprise, Davis was standing over the blond, with his hand in a fist.
"Davis!" Ken cried exasperated.
When Davis hit the blond again, he ran forward and tried to pry Davis off him and at that moment their gym coach entered the change room.
"What's going on here?"
------
"Cat, I've been looking at your recent grades and to be honest I'm really surprised at them. You're a smart girl, gifted, but recently your grades have been slipping. Now I know it's not because the classes are too difficult for you, so I must assume it's something in your personal or family life that's affecting it."
Cat tucked a stray strand of violet purple hair behind her ear and looked at her Principle.
"Your teachers and I have been talking about you and your future and we agree that you have a real shot at getting into college or University with your grades…and your test scores so far guarantee that."
Cat scoffed, "No Varsity would want me. Not with my record."
"That's not true, Cat. I've spoken to some and they are very interested in you. Cat, please, tell me what it is that's bothering you, so I can help."
Cat looked out the window. She watched a small brown bird fly up and down and then land in the tree waving in the wind.
"Look, I'm graduating soon anyway, so what does it matter? Finals are around the corner, I'll ace them and everything will be right with the world." She stood up and motioned to the door, "Can I go now?"
Her headmistress sighed and nodded, "Fine, you can go…but Cat, whatever it is, it's not worth throwing your future away for."
Cat nodded and closed the door behind her. She walked a few steps and came face to face with Davis, who was with his Gym teacher and not far behind was Ken.
She made to walk past him, but he caught her wrist and she was forced to face him.
"Look Cat, um, a bunch of us are organizing a party at Moonbeams to celebrate the end of finals next week. I hope you can make it."
She noticed he seemed calmer around her, less, 'in love', more in a friend mode, but there was something in the way he quickly let go of her wrist that made her doubt it. It was as if the touch of her skin was still in his memory and that memory reminded him of other ones.
She gave a flicker of a smile, "Thanks Ken, but, I don't think I'll be able to make it, sorry."
------
Cat lay on her bed, having discarded her guitar a few minutes earlier. Music was blaring in her room, as if she was trying to drown out the voices in her head. A week later she could still feel the touch of Ken's hand on her skin. She closed her eyes, but that was worse, because all she saw was Ken, all she could hear was them whispering to each other while they made love, all she could remember was his taste, all she could feel was his body on hers. All she could think of was how much he loved her and how much she loved him.
Finally giving in, she made a vehement sound and got off her bed and began to change her clothes. She pulled on her crimson top, black pants, black boots and let her long, purple hair fly behind her as she ran to the elevator and called for a taxi.
When one pulled up, she got in and said, "Take me to Moonbeams."
------
Ken sat at a booth in the noisy club, his arm around Yolei and Davis opposite him. TK and Kari sat down with the drinks they had ordered.
"Nice choice of club, Ken." Kari commented looking around.
"Yeah, I've heard Matt talk about it a couple of times, but I didn't know you knew about it." TK added.
"He mentioned it to me once before and last time I was here I liked it." Ken replied without thinking and took a sip of his rum and Coke.
Yolei looked at him in surprise, "When did you come here?"
"What?" he looked guiltily at her, "Oh, um, a while back, with…"
"Oh." Yolei said icily.
"Yolei," Kari jumped in, "Do you want to dance?"
Her face lit up, "Yeah! I just have to go to the bathroom first."
"I'll come with you." The brunette said, collecting her bag and getting up with Yolei.
"I'll be back soon." She said and gave Ken a kiss.
From across the room, Cat stopped dead at the sight of Yolei kissing Ken and felt her gut disappear.
"I should have known." She cursed herself mentally for being so stupid and sat down at the bar.
It wasn't long that she sat there, sipping on a Malibu and Coke, that Yukio and his friends joined her on either side.
"Hey hot-stuff." Yukio said in her ear, leaning on the bar. "You look lonely."
"I'm not in the mood tonight Yukio." She said gloomily.
"Ah, that's too bad, 'cause we were thinking of having some fun. Come on, you look like you could use it."
She looked up and saw his blond friend grinning wickedly, almost hungrily at her.
"I don't think so." She said, getting up.
"Where do you think you're going?" Yukio asked nastily.
She tried to step out of their way; "I'm leaving."
He grabbed her arm and squeezed it, "What, we aren't good enough for you anymore? You think you're special or something?" he yanked her closer to him, "You're not special, you dumb slut. You're nothing but a slut-bag-whore. When I say I want you, don't you dare say ' no' to me."
She looked up into his face and tried to yank herself free, "Fuck you!"
"Gladly." He laughed and him and his friend pushed and dragged her towards the bathrooms.
She tried to get free and tried to get someone's attention but everyone was too distracted with what they were doing, or with the lights and music. Even her yells were drowned out by the music and because it was so crowded, no one saw that she was struggling with these two guys. Or was it the fact that most people didn't think she was going with them against her will?
They forced her into the bathroom and against the basin. She yelled out and Yukio backhanded her across the face. Then the blond grabbed both her arms and held them behind her back, while Yukio forcefully kissed her on her lips and then her chest. He ripped her crimson top off her and grinned at the blond, "See what I mean? Sweet aren't they?"
His friend laughed.
Tears were falling down her cheeks, while she sobbed, "No, God, please stop!"
Then Yukio went for his belt and she kicked out and connected with his groin. "HELP ME! SOMEBODY PLEASE! HELP ME!"
"Little bitch." The blond yanked back her head, by pulling her hair and put a hand over her mouth.
In the bathroom next door, Kari looked up sharply in the direction of the air vent. "Did you hear that?"
Yolei dried her hands, "Hear what?"
"It sounded like someone was screaming."
They quickly ran out the bathroom and leaned against the guys' bathroom door, listening hard. It was difficult due to the noise and music, but they distinctly heard a woman scream. They tried to open the door, but something was blocking it.
They quickly ran back to the booth.
"So Davis, I never asked you, what did our headmaster do when she heard you caused a fight?" TK asked.
"Ah, dude, she said she would have suspended me but it's so close to graduation that there's no point. I just got two detentions, that's it."
"You were lucky…" Ken started and then looked at the girls, "What's wrong?"
"We think someone is in trouble in the boys bathroom." Yolei gasped.
They all got up and ran to the bathroom with the girls. Ken tried to push the door open but something had been pushed against it. So using is Judo skills, he kicked at it and it flew open. He froze at the sight that met him. Yukio's blond friend was behind Cat, restraining her, while Yukio gripped violently at her breasts and any part of her body he could find, while he tried to rip her pants off her. Her mascara was running down her face mingled with her tears, a whelp had formed on her cheek and she had a few other bruises.
Rage seemed to blind Ken as he ran in, along with Davis and TK and they forced the two off Cat, who cowered in a corner, and tried to cover her self. Yolei and Kari went to comfort her.
Ken showed no limits to his Judo skills while he beat up Yukio and left the blond to TK and Davis.
Finally security came and kicked them all out, leaving the girls behind.
"Are you okay?" Yolei asked Cat, as they stood up and made their way out the club. "Do you want to call the police?"
Cat shook her head; "I just want to go home."
As she exited the club and began to make her way home, she heard Ken behind her. She stopped and turned, clutching the remains of her top to her chest. Thankfully she had a jacket to cover herself with as well, but she still felt naked.
"Are you all right?" he asked gently.
She shrugged, not really knowing the answer.
"Do you want me to call you a taxi?"
She shook her head; "I want to walk."
"It's not safe…"
"It's not far."
He nodded.
A painful silence filled the air around them. He wanted to hold her and she wanted him to.
A breeze tumbled between them. It was warm, signaling that summer was on its way, but it wouldn't have made much difference if it had been icy, the effect was the same.
Ken couldn't take his eyes off her, he tried hard to make eye contact with her, but she was stubbornly avoiding looking at his face. He wanted to make it better; he wanted to heal her.
The silence around them was the most strained it had ever been.
She took a deep breath and turned again to walk home.
He opened his mouth to call her back, to say something, anything, but there was nothing. He watched with an aching heart, as she walked down the damp street, alone, the darkness eating at her. Her long purple hair flew behind her on the wind, bringing with it, the sent of her perfume. Finally, she reached the horizon and he couldn't see her anymore.
"Oh God." He muttered to himself and crouched down, his hands in his hair. Tears forced their way out of him and he knew he would never stop loving her.
------
Cat opened the door of her apartment and made her way to her room.
"Where have you been?"
She turned to see her father standing in the passage, the light from his room flooding the hall. He was a tall man with a head full of gray hair. He had deep brown eyes, much like Cat's.
"I was out." She muttered defiantly.
Her mother stepped into the passage now and it was clear, Cat was her daughter, though she had a wealth of blond hair. "Do you know what time it is?"
"No."
"No? What kind of an answer is that?" her father yelled.
"Look," Cat growled bitterly, "I don't want to do this now, can it wait till morning?"
"No, it cannot!" her mother shouted, "Who do you think you are? Coming and going at all hours of the night, letting your grades slip, are you using again?"
Cat turned and stared hard and incredulously at her mother and father. She shook her head, "God, it's okay if you are out all night and wake me at something like five in the morning, but if I get home after you, I'm irresponsible? What do you care anyway? It's not like you ever did care."
"That's not true." Her father argued.
"Oh please. You thought I was a lost cause the moment you found out I was doing my teacher! And then you just lost hope for me when I went to Juvie. You've never been there for me! So stop acting like you care! Am I using again mom? Yes, I've been doing it for years and you haven't even seen! You don't want to see, because then you'll have to deal with it and you don't want that!"
"Don't you dare talk to your mother like that!"
"I HATE YOU!"
She spun around, and ran to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
Her father turned to her mother, who was crying silently and wrapped his arms around her, leading her to the bedroom and closed the door behind them.
Cat took a few deep breaths, stepped into her bathroom and then into her shower, fully dressed, where she turned on the taps. She fell to the tiled floor and cried long and hard, until her soul tore. Then she undressed, dried herself and pulled on some jeans and a T-shirt. She pulled out her large gym bag and began to stuff clothes, shoes and other necessities such as money and her passport into it. She opened her draw and pulled out the picture of Ken and put it in her pocket.
She opened her door quietly and walked to the front door.
She walked down the corridor and to the elevator.
------
"I'd like to congratulate the class of 2004!"
Ken looked around at the numerous amount of students dressed in robes and tassel hats. He caught his parents' eye and they waved happily at him.
He smiled and turned back to the stage where his principle was giving their graduation speech. He was only half listening. He was searching for Cat, but she was nowhere to be seen. He hadn't had much chance of seeing her at school because of 'end-of-year-chaos' and he'd tried her apartment, but her parents weren't at home and nor, it seemed was she, unless she was just not answering the door. He had tried to look through her bedroom window, but the curtains were always closed.
Finally, graduation was over and he spotted Cat's parents in the crowd. (He only knew them from a photograph he'd seen in Cat's apartment.)
He had asked them where Cat was but they looked sadly at him.
"She ran away two nights ago." Her mother said quietly.
"Are you a friend of hers?" her father asked.
Ken nodded distractedly. His heart had leapt into his throat and his stomach had vanished.
"Look," her father said, "if you see her, please tell her, we're sorry and we want her to come home."
Ken nodded again and turned back to the stage.
He spent the remainder of the day in his room, staring at a picture of Cat, idly turning his Crest of Kindness in his fingers while racking his brain as to where she might have gone, but there was nowhere he could think of. She was gone. He doubted he would ever see her again and his little world around him fell to the ground, along with the Crest. If he had looked down, he would have seen that the symbol on it matched the tattoo on Cat's back, only it was upside down.
(A/N)
Okay, well, that's the end of chapter two, I look forward to writing the third chapter, and the rest of the story. I want you to know that the first two chapters were originally meant to be one chapter, but it was too long and so I split it into two. They act as a prologue to the rest of the story. I'm stating that because you might think you're reading the wrong story when you read the beginning of the third chapter.
I know I did a lot of character development for Cat in this chapter, I tried very hard to focus on Ken a lot in this chapter, but her development in this chapter was crucial for the rest of the story, which revolves strongly around Ken. So bear with me and forgive me.
I should add that the line 'Slut-bag-whore' is not mine, I got it from Scream, it's Billy's line when he's talking to Sidney about her mom. It's a line that has stuck with me for a long time, 'cause it's such a harsh insult and I love the movie Scream.
Okay, the end time line might be a bit confusing because I'm not sure how it works in Japanese schools, but basically what I did her was have their final exams over one week and then their graduation. Here we usually do it in reverse, because pass or fail, you can't come back to the school. If you fail, you have to go somewhere else. So we get our results after we graduate that that's what I did here. I just had them graduate not knowing their results yet.
Also, a note, those who think I might have made a mistake there about Cat 'doing her teacher', I did not.
For some reason I really love this story, I loved writing this chapter. It was so easy and I think it's one of the saddest chapters/stories I've ever written, because in a way, it's a tragedy.
(Updated, I reloaded this chapter after reading it again of FFN and found a couple of mistakes that I didn't see, even after proofreading it four times. They were silly grammar mistakes that bugged me. Plus I hated that ruled line.)