Chapter Four – The Pain of the Past

WARNING!: VEEEEERRRRY angsty chapter XD

*Flashback…*

Stein brought himself to the child's level and smiled at him to reassure him. The black-haired little boy felt shy and tried not to make eye contact with the strange man with a bolt through his head.

"Can I see your hand?" smiled the professor as he held out his hand to the boy

The boy slowly and carefully lifted his swollen limb towards Stein and as he did, pain shot through it like a bullet. He began to whimper as Stein gently held it in his hand to examine it.

"That hurts…" he sobbed

"Aw I'm sorry" sighed Stein as he continued to fondle the boy's hand.

He didn't have to examine in for long. Just by looking at it, it was easy to tell that he'd broken his wrist. Stein looked up at the tall, slender woman standing next to the boy. She had long white hair that reached down to her lower back and dark purple eyes that sparkled in the light. She was an incredibly beautiful woman, and Stein had always thought so, but when it came to her son…something always seemed off about her. Even now, as her child winced in pain, she stood there totally emotionless, almost as if she didn't care.

"Well…" sighed Stein "He's definitely broke his wrist…"

"Wouldn't surprise me…" grunted the woman "He's always bumping into something…"

"Thana, this really doesn't seem like that kind of a break…are you sure you don't know how-"

"How am I supposed to know?" snapped the woman "Are you accusing me? I'd thank you to watch what you say as I'm sure my husband wouldn't appreciate you making rapid judgements!"

Something was definately wrong…

"Okay Kid I'm gonna have to put a special bandage on your arm to make it better okay?" he smiled at the terrified little boy.

Kid said nothing and simply nodded sadly. Stein picked him up, gently, and placed him on the edge of an examination table. As he began to slowly remove Kid's zip-up jacket, the tiny boy winced in pain once again. Stein felt so bad for the poor little mite. Once Stein had managed to get Kid's arms out of the jacket, he noticed a series of black bruises running up and down the child's arms. They weren't very big but they were definately suspicious. By the shaped and size of them, it looked as if the child had been grabbed and pulled by his arm. He knew he had to mention this to Lord Death…

*Flashback Ends*

Kid had been hiding away in his room ever since his talk with his father. Still staring at the photographs, he was still trying to comprehend what he had just been told and the more he thought about it, the more he could remember. He could remember getting that cast on his arm and how much he hated it because it made him feel unsymmetrical. He could remember the day he'd spilled a glass of milk on the carpet for which his mother slapped him up the side of his head but most worryingly, he could remember that fateful night when she'd kicked him down the stairs. He still felt angry at his father for not telling him for all these years but he also felt a wave of guilt flood over him for actually blaming him for what she did. He knew his father wouldn't just sit by and let him get hurt, if he had any clue as to what she was doing he would've most definitely put a stop to it. Nonetheless, he felt so hurt and unwanted…

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Kid? You Okay?" Liz called from behind the door.

"Yeah I'm fine." He called back, his voice slightly breaking as he felt himself begin to cry again.

Hearing the crying, Liz let herself in the room. There, she saw her meister sat on his bed with his head in his hands, quietly crying to himself. Without even thinking, she ran up to him and wrapped her arms tightly around him.

"Hey, hey, hey…what's the matter?" she asked in a soft and loving voice "I thought you'd got over this fall?"

Her eyes suddenly glanced down at the floor and there in a pile, were the photos. She picked them up and began to flick through them.

"Oh my god Kid…this is you?" she gasped

Kid said nothing, he simply nodded as tears still poured over his cheeks. Liz's stomach began to churn as she saw Kid's injuries.

"These are horrible…who did this to you?"

"MY MOTHER!"

Liz was taken back by his answer. She could feel him shaking with either anger or sadness and all she could think to do was to keep hugging him while he cried.

"Who told you this? Are you sure you heard them right?" she asked as she stroked his cheek.

"My Father told me! He said that my mom used to hit me! She twisted my arm and broke my wrist! She punched me so hard she punctured my lip! She got so mad at me one day, she kicked me down the stairs when I was 2-years-old!"

Now Liz's eyes filled with tears. Seeing her best friend in such a vulnerable state scared her, he was Death The Kid. He'd always been calm, cool and collected, he almost never cried. Over these last few days, it's like he became an entirely different person…

"She never wanted me…" he sobbed into Liz's embrace "she actually tried to kill me…and my dad did NOTHING to stop her!"

"Kid…you know that's not true…" she sighed "You're just upset. I'm sure he didn't know."

"Stein told him that he saw bruises all over me! But I guess he didn't care enough…"

"Now that's enough!" ordered Liz "Your father loves you! I know your upset but you can't go blaming him!"

"But why wasn't he there Liz?" snapped Kid "Why didn't he stop her sooner?"

Though she felt bad for him, she couldn't stop herself…she gripped his face in her hands and looked him dead in the eye.

"HE STOPPED HER DIDN'T HE?" she said loudly as tears began streaming down her face "Did it ever occur to you that if he didn't stop her when he did, you might not even be here today?"

Rendered speechless, Kid had no choice but to agree with her. He had to apologize now…it wasn't his father's fault at all…it was all his mother's fault…

Anger swept through him like a tidal wave. All he wanted to know was why his mother did those horrible things to him. Was it because she was simply pure evil? Or maybe she didn't want a child at all. Or maybe…it was actually all his fault that she hated him…

He knew what he had to do…he had to get answers and he knew exactly who to ask…

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So so so so so sorry I haven't updated in a while :( Been sooooo busy with college! Been having a depressing week too so I spent most my time cheering myself up with Zelda games. Anyway Kid's mother's name is Thana in this story :) I chose it because its short for "Thanatos" which APPARENTLY is ancient Greek for "Death".

Next chapter will have another flashback I warn you :) Thank you so much for the nice reviews please keep on reading it will get better I promise :)