Secrets Held Within

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The year is 1864, and a traveling youth by the name of Dark finds himself stuck in the small town of Azumano. During his stay he discovers a mysterious mansion, and suddenly finds his destiny intertwined with that of it's enigmatic occupant.

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Chapter 12

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Dark grit his teeth against the icy wind, and tuned a sharp corner along the path leading from Krad's mansion to town. When the Harada's inn came into view, he picked up his pace and leapt up the stairs quickly, kicking the door open in his haste.

A loud growling could be heard, and Riku shouted angrily from another room, "Hey! Just who do you think you—?" Her voice died off when she stepped into view, staring confused at Dark and the figure he held gently in his arms.

"Dark…what—?"

"I'll explain later. Can I have a room to put him in?"

Riku nodded enthusiastically, her eyes lingering on the obviously pained blonde. "Follow me."

The girl, taking long strides, quickly led Dark to a spare room and opened the door. He stepped inside and lay the blonde down gently, ignoring his muffled whimper of pain.

Riku winced at the sound, and cast Dark a hesitant look, "Can I help—do you need me to get anything?"

Dark swallowed and looked at her with a gaunt expression before nodding. "I need…bandages. And a towel and fresh water, if you can."

"I can," she said quickly, running out of the room. She returned a moment later, the desired materials having been placed on the bedside table next to where Dark stood, stripping the blonde of his ruined shirt.

"Anything else?"

Dark hesitated in his answer, and after looking into the blonde's cold, determined eyes said, "Yes…I need something to splint up his broken bones and…I'll need a good few yards of rope."

The girl couldn't help but frown and ask, "But why?"

"Don't ask question; I'll explain everything later—but please, now!"

Riku nodded lightly, still in shock, and dashed outside to the storehouse. She fumbled around for a few seconds before grabbing a few straight slabs of wood and a large amount of coiled rope.

Running back inside the kitchen as she clutched the items Dark requested, she failed to see the figure in front of her, and promptly ran face first into the chest of a disheveled redhead.

"Miss Harada—I'm sorry! Are you all right?" Daisuke said quickly as he helped the girl to her feet and began collecting the dropped materials.

The girl ignored him, and picked up whatever Daisuke had yet to, snatching everything from his arms as well.

"Miss Harada…?"

"Just a minute!" she called quickly, and dashed towards the room Dark was in, leaving a befuddled Daisuke in her wake.

Sprinting to the door, she once again set the materials on the bedside table and hastily said, "Now what?"

The blonde laying on the bed raised his dull, half closed golden eyes to her face, and winced in pain. His shirt had been discarded upon the floor, and a light sheen of icy sweat coated his pale body. From this view, Riku wanted to cry out—just seeing the awkward angle of his arm alone was nearly enough to make her nauseas/.

"It would be best if…you left," Dark said at last.

"But—"

"No. This is what he wants, so please, just for a little while?" Dark said, tossing her a pleading look.

At a loss for words, the girl merely nodding and exited the room, closing the thick wooden door behind her.

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Daisuke stood with Satoshi in the living room, tossing Riku a worried glance when she came into view, calling out, "Miss Harada…is everything all right?"

"Ah…yes," she lied.

Satoshi shook his head, and muttered something about her being so obvious. "Would you like to tell us what's really going on?"

Riku sighed and averted her eyes. "Yeah…The man who visited Dark when he was sick…Dark just brought him in, and made me bring him bandages and…things."

Daisuke frowned and asked, "Was he injured?"

Riku nodded, "I think so—yeah. In any case, I know at least his arm was broken."

Someone gasped from behind Riku, and three sets of eyes fell upon Risa. "Well? What happened?" She exclaimed.

"I don't know!"

"Didn't you ask?" Satoshi said, raising a brow.

"I did but he told me to leave!"

"But why would he—" Daisuke began, only to be interrupted by Riku when she yelled, "Because that's what he wanted!"

"Who?"

"The other man!"

Daisuke frowned, "Miss Harada—do you want me to get you something to drink?"

She looked up at him and blinked, panting for breath. "No, that's okay…"

Satoshi sighed and asked, "You're worried?"

"I—!"

Riku was quiet for a long moment before once again nodding.

"Don't be. He'll call if he needs us," the blue haired boy said before gently urging the girl to sit down.

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Dark sat down on the bed, scooting in towards the middle. Lifting Krad's shoulders gently, he leaned them on his knees as he sat cross-legged and pulled the blonde's back towards him. Krad's head rested limply on a pillow Dark placed in his lap, and the blonde closed his eyes.

"Hey," Dark said urgently as he reached for a bandage to wrap the wound over Krad's neck, "You still with me?"

A slight nod was given, followed by a quiet, "Mm-hmm…"

"All right…" Dark said, grimacing at the putrid black and blue bruises that began to stain and mar the blonde's neck. "Krad…does it hurt?"

The blonde again mumbled again, "Mm-hmm…"

"I'm sorry to hear that. What can I do to make it heal quicker?" Dark asked, skillfully wrapping a roll of bandages around the blonde's exposed neck. Dark was determined to keep talking to the blonde, no matter how careless his own comments were, in an attempt to keep his mind working—to keep him conscious.

"It's fine…" Krad said, his golden eyes still closed.

"Krad, don't do that," Dark warned, and the blonde shifted slightly below him.

"M'm not human remember? I won't…I just need to sleep for a bit…" Krad finished, sighing lightly as he felt himself being drawn into unconsciousness.

"Krad? Krad?" Dark hissed, purely out of shock.

Regaining his senses, Dark murmured, "Okay, so you can't hear me but I'm still talking…it's probably best that you're out because," Dark cast a hesitant glance at Krad's arm, "human or not, this is gonna hurt…"

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Haa, after a long delay this one has finally been updated…as all my other will be shortly. I have posted a new story (Yay) and I hope that one will have as many readers as this one! But enough about me advertising, I'm sorry it's taken so long. As I write this, my Internet is down, so it may be a bit before it is posted…but in any case, it's five in the morning, too. I bet you think I have no life now (You probably already did, anyway…) but that's okay. Sometimes you just have to wake up early so you can write…right? Enough of my rambling, I really enjoy writing this story, and I hope you enjoy reading it!