Here Aftermath Come here girl…that's a good fanfic chapter….yes, good fanfic chapter…

A/N: Well, here we go, only two more chapters after this…I hope you are finding some enjoyment in my story, there was a request for Kousuke angst so I will give you all Kousuke angst…I'm not sure how…maybe in the next chapter…please tell me something angsty to put in here tat involves Kousuke…wait…I already have an idea…yes…the last chapter…or this chapter OoOoO a big skip…if I get carried away, which I am…so stop reading my rambling and go enjoy this chapter dang it!

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Amber eyes that had once shown innocence, at least as much as a blade child's eyes could hold, and purity and that were filtered with life and shine were now pale. The luster that they had once had was gone now. There was no shine in those eyes, no spark of life or energy. Pale, lifeless eyes that showed no strength or hope, anymore. They looked just as their owner felt: dead.

Ryoko felt dead. That was the emotion that she felt the most. Sure there was anger, lots of hatred, sadness, abandonment, and shame? Did she feel ashamed?

Yes.

She felt very ashamed. Why hadn't she fought harder? She had more strength then…but she had none now. She felt used and worthless. An ounce of her shame came from the small passing thought of Why hasn't Kousuke come to rescue me yet?...Why? She had told him not to come…she was angry with herself for going back on those words. For once Kousuke was listening to her and saving himself.

She didn't care what happened to her anymore, she hadn't cared before. As long as Kousuke was still alive that was all that mattered. She loved him…she could no longer deny it…she had no right to get murdered by hunters and drag him down with her. She was not like that.

"Aw what's the matter, blade child?" Aki's father said as he slipped his shirt back on.

"I think we should give this little pet a name don't you?" said the other man who had helped restrain Ryoko before.

"Yeah…Let's call her Saseko," another hunter chimed in. They all shared a laugh. Ryoko stared lifelessly at the wall in front of her, not moving a muscle in her body although her mind was sprinting through rude comments and foul names to call these men besides hunters.

Here they had stolen the gift that she could only ever give once and they were insulting her like this? Each of them taking their turns with different parts of her body and they were calling her a whore? Didn't they find their acts at all dirty?

"What? Don't you have a comment on your new name, Saseko?" Aki's father sneered.

Ryoko said nothing. She had never felt a stronger urge to kill someone than what she was feeling right now. So why don't you kill them? You are one of the blade children after all. It's only natural for you to kill someone, especially hunters. Didn't Kousuke once say that if you fuck with a blade child in the end you're the one who gets screwed? (A/N: yes I just made that up…it's my fic so I can make them say whatever I want …)

"Answer him damnit!" The originator of the name kicked Ryoko in the back attempting to get a response out of her. She still remained silent.

I can't kill them…Why can't I give in? I know it's wrong but I want to so badly that it hurts…Why can't I loose my self-control as easily as Kousuke can?

"Answer!" The other hunter kicked Ryoko in the gut getting a satisfying whimper out of the poor, used girl.

Ryoko finally allowed herself to speak…more or less loosing her pride.

"I-I-I h-hate it," Ryoko stammered. A cruel glare on her face. Her eyes were no longer empty, they now burned with insanity and rage. Just like any other blade child's' would.

"And since when are you so high and mighty!" Aki's father asked as he grabbed Ryoko painfully up by her arm. She hated that man the most. He was the one who took her virginity with a sickening smirk on his face.

Ryoko's clothes were no longer even considered rags. She was practically naked and despite the fact that she was in a room with three guys she didn't even feel embarrassment anymore. She had no room for that emotion. All she felt was hate.

"So you hate the name I gave you?" the other hunter asked getting very close to Ryoko's face. Aki's father dropped his grip and stepped away from the two with a smile. He and the other hunter were waiting to see what was going to happen to their play toy.

"Yes," Ryoko said flatly. Her voice was dripping with anger and pain. Her soul was hurting for the fact that she couldn't break loose of her own restraints and just kill these hunters who had used her so casually. She could get pregnant from these hunters if she lived to see another day. That thought terrified her. She could get a disease or something. She didn't know which was worse. Either way she chose the disease. She was going to die soon enough anyway.

"I think I'm going to have to teach you to like it later. I'm pretty much spent now, Saseko." He ran one hand down her cheek and she lost enough self-control to slap it away. This deserved her a painful slap across the face and a violent shove backwards onto the concrete floor of the unused garage where the hunters had dragged her too. There was no comfort for her there and no way to escape. The hunters knew that much.

"See you latter, Saseko," Aki's father said as he blew a sarcastic kiss in Ryoko's direction.

"Bye bye," said the one who had helped restrain her before.

The hunter who had slapped her said nothing as he left. He was mad at her for a painless slap on his hand. Talk about babyish…

"By the way, Saseko, my daughter will bring you something good to eat here in a little while. We can't let you get anymore bony or you won't be as much fun." With that the hunters were gone, leaving Ryoko all to herself.

She wondered what to do for a moment. She was all alone and was free to think over her emotions. She felt, above all, sad at that moment. She was sad and hurt. She wanted someone familiar to hold her. To tell her that she would be okay. Above all else…she knew that she really wanted Kousuke. She really wanted to be his girl, not that…that bastards whore. She had self-pity, and for once in her life…Ryoko felt that that was okay. She had a right to feel sorry for herself didn't she?

With all of the confusion and loneliness, Ryoko allowed herself to cry for the first time in a long time. She usually wasn't the crying type, but at that moment she wanted to cry. She wanted to cry to wash away whatever problem she could.

Her sobs were loud and carried through the doors of the garage and Aki heard them as she readied herself to open the door to whatever pain engulfed blade child lay trapped. The sobs were mournful and made her want to cry as well.

Akiko sat outside of the door and waited until the cries and whimpers quieted the slightest bit before even considering opening the door. She didn't want Ryoko to feel ashamed or embarrassed, although she knew Ryoko would be when she walked in the door and saw her naked and sobbing. Anyone in their right mind would be embarrassed.

But Aki soon found out that Ryoko was not in her right mind at all…

Just as the sobs quieted, Aki went to open the door and that's when she noticed it. Ryoko's sobs were turning into laughter. Hysterical laughter like there was something comical going on in that room. She had already turned the doorknob so she pushed open the door, daring to go in. Ryoko was the gentle blade child. She wouldn't hurt her…right?

"R-Ryoko? I-I brought you some food incase you were hungry." Aki gulped and walked over to the dark figure huddled in the far corner of the garage. This was a four car garage so she was rather far away.

When no response came Aki wondered if Ryoko had even heard her at al over her spurt of insane laughter.

"R-Ryoko?" Slowed her walk as far as she could.

"A-Akiko?" Ryoko mimicked, mocking the girl. She was actually quite insane at that moment, but she wasn't planning to cause Aki any harm. She was just innocently…as innocent as a raped blade child could get, playing with the girl, but she stopped when she heard Aki start to cry and drop the tray of food onto the floor.

Ryoko coked her head to the side. She suddenly felt ashamed again, but did not start to cry instead she apologized to her only friend in her hell hole.

"I'm sorry. I was just messing around. I was thinking about things and I guess I lost myself for a moment," Ryoko stated looking down at the cement between her feet.

"Ryoko..." Aki wanted to say something, but she was at a loss with words.

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Kousuke had long since decided that the traffic jam that he had been stuck in was taking far too long so he got out of the taxi that he had been in and ran as fast as he could to the apartments where Ryoko was being kept. He knew that by now, 20 minutes later, it was too late to save Ryoko from being raped if that's what the hunters were wanting to dish out. He just hoped that they hadn't killed her yet. If they killed her he would never forgive himself.

Then the thought hit him.

Why was he being so mushy and weak?

Although he didn't like the idea of saying it, and he knew that it was dangerous, the answer was the he loved Ryoko. That was the answer. He loved her and needed her to survive. He didn't care if she hated him forever and ever. He would not live knowing that she died when there was something that he could do to prevent that kind of ending.

Soon he was out of breath from running and nearly passed out from light-headedness when the large spikes came into view. That gave him all of the encouragement he needed. It was like having over a thousand people cheer you on in a marathon waiting to greet you with a million dollars cash if you pass the person in front of you. What more could you ask for?

As soon as he approached the front door of the apartments he heard something. (A/N: going back to the hysterical laughter time being.) He heard a loud noise, somewhere between laughter and sobbing, and recognized the voice as Ryoko's. He walked around, following the voice and it lead him to the garage around the back. The laughter/sobbing stopped suddenly and Kousuke put his ear to one of the garage's doors to hear what was going on. Had Ryoko died, not likely…

"R-Ryoko?" Kousuke recognized this voice as the one of the girl that had called him.

"A-Aki?" This was Ryoko's voice no doubt, but it was followed by a strange little laugh. Something was terribly wrong here. Ryoko never taunted anyone but him like that.

There was a loud crashing sound. Kousuke fought back the urge to call out for Ryoko, but feared that he would just get her hurt again.

Then he heard Ryoko apologize. He knew that she was alone with that girl for that short moment. He also knew that the conversation with her and Aki was over as soon as he heard the silence after the girl remained silent after stating Ryoko's name.

He felt free enough to call for Ryoko quietly through the door. As quietly as an angry, love struck blade child could when it was filled to the rim with hatred for whoever laid a hand on his Ryoko.

He started by pounding on the garage door and saying, not yelling, Ryoko's name.

"Ryoko? Are you there? It's me! Hello?" Kousuke stopped pounding for a moment so he could listen better.

There was a knock from the other side of the door. On the lower part of the other side of the door…Kousuke kneeled down to look through the small crack between the bottom of the door and the cement driveway only to see one big, amber eye staring back at him.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw it, and fell backwards hitting his head on the cement enough to draw a little bit of blood that would soon be lost by all of his red hair.

"Hello Kousuke." Ryoko said. Kousuke heard a latch being moved and then the garage door lifted up. His eyes followed the moving piece of metal and smiled at the girl he saw lifting it. Then his eyes traced down to the ground where a very bloody, very dirty, Ryoko lay there bleeding and looking lifeless. His eyes scanned over her and then a crimson blush spread across his face.

Ryoko was naked!

But the scariest part was that he knew what had happened to Ryoko and that he hadn't gotten there in time to save her. He wanted to slap himself as hard as he could. But he feared that that would scare Ryoko.

"Oh my god, Ryoko, are you alright? Can you stand?" Kousuke reached into the inside pocket of his green coat and pulled something out quickly, and tucked it away behind him before Ryoko could see what it was.

"I can stand, Kousuke. I-I'm not that helpless." Aki was amazed that after all that had happened, Ryoko still had managed to keep a cocky attitude with Kousuke. It was cute to her.

Ryoko stood up slowly. Stretching her muscles also stretched out the wounds in her legs. She whimpered slightly and then allowed herself to fall forward onto Kousuke. He was dizzy and his body was welcoming to her. She knew that he would do nothing to hurt her.

"Can you stand on your own for just one more second?" Kousuke asked gingerly setting Ryoko back on her feet. She nodded and watched as he slipped off his green coat and put it around her body. It may not cover everything, but at least it'll keep her warm and hide her chest. I swear I'm going to kill whoever injured my Ryoko this bad. I'll murder them…

"Kousuke. Lets just get of here before we both die." Ryoko's voice had a soft tone to it. Much in the fashion the Sayoko's was.

"Sounds like a plan to me…" Just as Kousuke and Ryoko turned to leave there was a loud crack and a bullet missed Kousuke's leg by nearly a millimeter.

"Where do you think you're going with Saseko?" Asked the hunter. This one was Aki's father and he had the other two behind him. "I thought you said they weren't coming for you, Saseko? I could've sworn that we taught you better than to lye." He and the other hunters laughed.

Kousuke was furious. Why were they addressing his Ryoko as a whore? She was defiantly not one and he didn't like people calling her that. It just pissed him off. These people had hurt Ryoko. And he was going to make them pay.

Kousuke pulled out a black pistol from his back pocket and aimed it at the hunters.

"Kousuke no!" Ryoko attempted to reach for the gun but Akiko grabbed her arm and shook her head.

"You had your fun playing with my girl, but I doubt you'll have very much fun playing with a blade child!" Kousuke prepared to fire the gun, but something stopped him. He heard Ryoko sobbing. He just realized that he was hurting Ryoko more than anyone else.

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A/N: I know I know…crappy ending and all that jazz…it's 11:46 and I'm tired! I'll get the next chapter up soon. So far I have 2 votes for a happy ending and some Kousuke angst to be served. Anyone out there want a tragedy? Or do you all want me to post a happy ending AND a tragic ending just to see what cruel things I can dish out? Please review to tell me what you all want. I strive to please. Chow…