Heeeeyyy~ I know it's been a while so I'm very sorry but late is better then never, am I right? I made this chapter slighty longer in hopes you forgive me. Thanks so much for following the story this far and if you havent already please do so. Favorite, Follow and Review! New record for Word Count in a single chapter! 5,006! YAY!
Ryoma was getting bored. It had been five days since that boney old lady came through his door demanding him to be released even though he was still in bad condition.
Nanami and Matsuo no longer had to keep an eye on him all the time and only came every once in a while. The day before, however, Syuusuke came to visit Ryoma again which made him really happy. Other than that Ryoma had been alone most of the time and didn't have much to do.
Luckily the day Syuusuke came he gave him a tennis ball that he happened to have so now all he was doing was throwing it up against the wall. He asked Nanami if he could go outside but she said he would have to wait a little more because his injuries were still too much for him to be moving around a lot.
It really was a bore being stuck in bed the whole time with nothing to do. He tried coloring, reading, games, everything! Ryoma tried his best to keep himself preoccupied because his thoughts tended to wander to that day if he didn't.
None of the nurses that checked up on him said anything to him about it and even Matsuo and Nanami avoided the subject. When he was left alone and even in his dreams sometimes the monsters that took everything away from him that day would come back to haunt him.
The screams and blood from his memories would become too much and he would wake up gasping for air before calming down again. When Kenta would come to talk to him for a session, since he was appointed as his psychologist, he would ask why Ryoma was looking tired but he would say he wasn't and try to talk about anything to change the subject.
He really liked talking to the man and having his company so he would try to keep him there even after the hour was gone. Of course Kenta realized what he was doing after a while and if he had a few minutes to spare in between, he would stay longer.
However it was during one of the sessions that Ryoma started to withdraw from him and the talking lessened. The police had been bothering Matsuo to see the boy to get a description of the attackers and he agreed under the condition that they go with his psychologist's supervision.
Kenta had passed Matsuo in the hallway just before he went in the room and gave him a wave. Matsuo gave him a crooked smile back and said, "Good Luck" just before he went in.
When he was in the room he almost had to laugh. It definitely looked like a kid had been there recently.
The window to his right had styrofoam darts stuck to it all pointing in the same direction and coloring books had been stacked on a table. Looking over at the bed, the thin cotton blankets were propped up in a tent and he could see little fingers opening one of the sides.
Ryoma's head peaked out and when he saw Kenta he immediately closed his tent up. Kenta squealed kawaii in his mind though he would never tell anyone.
Kenta smiled and said,"I'm here to talk again, well actually this time I was wondering if you could tell me something, I'm curious."
There was silence for a minute before Ryoma decided to answer him shyly. "Y-yeah?"
Kenta smiled. "Do you mind if I ask about the night the people came in your house?"
Ryoma sat for a minute thinking, "Nami-chan said I have to talk to you if I want my pudding after dinner." Kenta chuckled a little at this 'He called her Nami-chan, how cute.'
"Well if you don't want to talk about it you don't have to. Although, I promise you it won't be that bad, and if you don't want to I'll still ask Nanami-chan to give you pudding for your treat." Ryoma sat and thought again, still in his little tent.
'He doesn't look like he's lying, and he asked nicely like Kaa-chan says you should…' Kenta watched as he thought and then Ryoma looked him straight in the eyes like he could see right through him.
His eyes kept watching him until he spoke, the gold in his eyes shimmering, "Yeah I-I guess." Kenta smiled and sat down, glad that he was willing to say something. It would have been difficult to get Ryoma to open up otherwise.
"Alright Ryoma-kun so can I ask you a few questions first?" Ryoma's nodded a 'yes' as he crept out of his tent more. Ryoma got out and the IV that was still connected to his arm tripped up the tent making it fall over and Ryoma's smile was gone.
He turned around with a frown and Kenta couldn't help but feel bad for. The brace on his ankle and arm was holding them in place, gauze wrapped around his small body with the hospital gown almost swallowing him. When he came before he never really looked at his injuries, they were usually hidden or under blankets and he was paying more attention to the mind then the body.
Kenta kneeled down to the toddler and scooped him up in his arms. Ryoma was surprised by this and looked at Kenta, alarmed at being manhandled after what had happened days ago.
He wasn't comfortable with people touching him like this yet and he started to tear up and shake in his grasp. Ryoma had nightmares almost every night about the haunting grips that took away his parents and sometimes when someone tried to hold him it reminded him of what happened.
The Nightmares had been all too real last night and the day before and it was really starting to affect him. Kenta quickly sat him in the chair by the bed before Ryoma promptly burst into tears and sobs loud enough for probably the whole hall to hear.
He tried to soothe Ryoma with comforting words and touches but he decided touching Ryoma at all while he was like this was just making it worse. It was almost ten minutes before Nanami came in wondering what had set off Ryoma into such tears.
She had never heard him crying so loud before, the whole hall outside the room giving each other sad looks when they heard the crying child.
"Kenta what happened, why is he so worked up?" Kenta looked at her pleadingly, "Please just help me calm him down, I'll tell you in a second." Nanami picked him up and Ryoma positively exploded into tears all over again.
As quick as she could Nanami set him on the bed again, trying to be careful of his injuries, and he melted into a heap. Neither of the two adults trying to calm him down knew of the nightmares going on in his mind, the war he was fighting with his memories. He hadn't told anyone yet about them including Kenta.
Ryoma was scared, completely terrified again. He was back in his home with the two men that had hurt his parents and scarred Ryoma for life.
He could feel their grips on his arms and legs and had to watch again as the two men cruelly killed his mom in front of him. He sobbed as he stared into his mothers dead eyes as she lay on the floor unmoving.
His father was still being held against the wall calling to his wife and the desperate words his dad yelled rang through his mind clear as day.
His father pleading and begging for the men to stop what they were doing, to spare them, "I'll do anything, please, please just stop." However, before Ryoma had to watch his dad die again the images faded to black and he fell into a more peaceful sleep.
Nanami had tried being gentle and soothe him with words and touches but nothing was working and she was getting worried and frustrated.
"Kenta find Dr. Matsuo quickly, he should be close by." Kenta walked out of the room in a hurry, leaving her to try one more time to calm the flailing toddler. His cries sometimes twisted into a scream like he was in pain, tears running down his face.
The sight was terrifying to Nanami and she couldn't bear to watch any longer. He sounded like he was in so much pain.
He was mumbling things that she couldn't quite catch but she did hear him mumble "Stop, stop, stop. Please, don't hurt mommy and daddy. Don't, please." Thankfully, Kenta came back with Matsuo hot on his heels once he heard Ryoma.
"Dr. Matsuo I can't calm him down, he needs to be sedated or he'll end up hurting himself." Matsuo nodded and quickly got the needle ready.
"I need you to hold him down so I don't miss the vein and end up hurting him." Nanami then laid most of her body weight on top of the screaming and flailing child to hold him down.
Matsuo took the needle back and watched as the boys features started to relax in Nanami's hold. When she pulled back she sighed and Kenta came to stand next to her.
"Doctor Im sorry, I think he just had a violent reaction when I tried to pick him up. It must have sent him into a kind of flashback and then he started to panic."
"But that's never happened before, I mean, when I would hold his hand or arm, nothing like this has happened." Nanami said.
Dr. Matsuo had a grim face when he continued saying, "Yes well sometimes with trauma patients like Ryoma it's only certain things that set them off like this. Part of the problem was probably the fact that Kenta was male and everyone who has handled him so far has been female. This probably means that the people who did this to him and his parents were men."
Kenta spoke again in agreement saying, "Yeah, that makes sense, let's make sure from now on then that none of the male nurses try to handle him so this doesn't repeat."
Dr. Matsuo nodded and started to make his way to the hall again, leaving to go back to his other patients. Nanami and Kenta both stayed and sat in a chair next to his bed talking for the few minutes Nanami had to spare.
Kenta tried to lighten the mood by pointing out the Styrofoam darts stuck to the window and reminiscing about their own children. Nanami left soon after when a nurse came looking for her and Kenta said goodbye.
He sighed as he watched Ryoma sleep on the bed and he started to sort through his thoughts and what he should do next. 'I don't think I should leave until he wakes up and I at least talk to him about me visiting him a lot more. I really need to get him to trust me and if I can get him to trust me then I can get him to trust others too.' Kenta sat for a good three or four hours before Ryoma showed signs of waking up.
When he did Kenta kept a slight distance between him so he could keep Ryoma relaxed around him. Kenta asked if he was okay and tried to get Ryoma to open up about what happened even just a little but he stayed silent and barely moved the entire time.
He decided to leave for the night and let Ryoma recover emotionally until his next visit when he would be firmer in his approach.
Little did anyone know the same two men who killed Ryoma's parents were meeting up that night to talk.
Sasabe was convinced someone was watching him. The same two cars kept appearing in front of his apartment and work place, sometimes when he would go out to the bar too. If it wasn't completely obvious that the cops were on to him, what was?
Sasabe was going over to Akutsu's place to talk, he had to tell him, he was panicking. There shouldn't have been any evidence or witnesses pinning them as the culprits, Akutsu assured him before they did anything.
Going up to his door Sasabe was panting with worry and panic evident in his wide eyes. Akutsu opened the door, the gold chain holding it from opening too wide, and looked him in the eye before making sure no one was around to see him let Sasabe inside.
Once inside Sasabe hooked his fists into Akutsu's shirt and pushed him against the wall.
"What the hell Akutsu, I thought you said there would be no way to trace it back to us? I've had cops watching me, I know it, it's the same two cars everywhere I go. They're trying to get me to slip up and show some evidence."
Akutsu got an alarmed look in his eyes as Sasabe said this and became angered, "What!? And you just came to my house with them on your tail? Dumbass! Now they might suspect me too! Get out of here, and don't contact me."
He shoved Sasabe out the door and locked it, Sasabe on the other side yelling at him to let him back in. "Open up! Akutsu wait, what should I do? Akutsu!"
Said man was inside trying his best to block him out but he opulent take it and went back to the door, throwing it open.
"Listen Sasabe, if you know what's good for you you'll leave. Pack your stuff up and go far away. Far away from me, and far away so the cops can't get you. Now get going and don't come back."
"Wait, but what about my family? I have a wife and a son, what about them, they might talk, I'm not sure how much they know." Akutsu started to get impatient, not wanting cops to get suspicious about him too if they followed Sasabe to his apartment.
"It'd be better to just leave them, you didn't say what you were doing and no one would tattle on their precious father." Akutsu stated sarcastically and with a poisonous growl.
"Now get going already, pack and get out of town and whatever you do don't contact me ever again." Akutsu slammed the door closed again and Sasabe didn't make a move for a minute, trying to take in what he had to do.
He was okay with leaving his family, his wife didn't mean anything to him anymore and he didn't give a crap what his son did. Finally leaving the complex he made his way back home, intending to pack and leave the next day.
However the next day, Ryoma would finally open up.
The beginning of the day started out quite well for Ryoma. A man from the police station stopped by with the best present Ryoma could've gotten in these last hard days.
A small cream white crate was set down in front of him and a tiny Karupin popped out. Ryoma was so so happy he could burst at the seams, literally.
He sat right up in bed and the kitten wobbled his way on Ryoma's lap. He picked up the furball in his arm and laid back down to cuddle with him. Karupin snuggled with a meow into his chest and Ryoma whispered in delight about finally getting to be with his best friend again.
"Karupin! I can't believe it, you're here, you're here." The policeman watched for a few seconds with a smile, glad he could make someone's day.
One of the doctors from the hospital who was watching over the boy had called in question about a cat that might have been in the house at the time of the accident and wanted to know what had happened with it. Of course the man was happy to help when the doctor explained his patients situation.
When he walked out of the room and stepped out into the hall to give the boy his time with his furry friend he almost walked into the same man.
"Ah, you must be the policeman I spoke on the phone with. Thank you very, very much. Ryoma‐kun has been dealing with a lot and I didn't want him to sink into depression after loosing so much. This was the only thing I could think of doing for him, but it seemed like it was the best idea since I have heard many stories about his little friend. He was getting worried about his cat too, since he wasn't home to care for the cat himself."
The policeman smiled again, "Ah, don't worry about a thing. We couldn't leave the little guy there by himself for who knows how long so he's being held at the pet shelter for now, and don't worry he won't be held for adoption or anything like that, we just can't hold onto him at the police station, he probably wouldn't like that. And again I'm glad I could help in any way."
Dr. Matsuo nodded in appreciation at him and walked into Ryoma's room. "Ryoma‐kun you only have about an hour with Karupin before he has to go. Make sure when the policeman comes back that you say thank you for bringing him today. Okay?"
Ryoma's eyes grew sad again and his lips turned down into a frown when he heard he couldn't keep his best friend Karupin with him.
"I'm sorry, Karupin can't stay here, pets really aren't allowed to be in the hospital but he can visit again if you would like." Ryoma nodded but made an attempt at a smile again.
Matsuo walked to the door but before he could reach the handle Kenta walked in, almost bumping right into Matsuo.
"Oh! Matsuo, I'm sorry. I just wanted to talk with Ryoma again today if you don't mind?" "As long as you don't mind the furry guest he has today?" Kenta walked in further and saw the little cat curled on top of Ryoma's chest still while Ryoma pet him.
For once Ryoma didn't look scared or worried but serene and at peace with a loving smile on his face. Kenta went to sit down next to his bed and reached over to pet the cat on the head a little.
"Aww, so this is the friend Nanami‐chan was telling me about."
Ryoma looked at Kenta and nodded slightly in response, "His name is Karupin, my daddy gave him to me this summer. Da policeman gave me'em but Matsu said he couldn't stay."
"Did you say thank you to the policeman who brought him to you, you have to be polite andsay thank you, you know?" Ryoma shook his head with a 'no'.
"We'll you should say it when he comes back so he knows, alright?" Ryoma shook his head in a negative again but more furtively this time. Kenta became confused with his behavior and asked why but Ryoma looked at him with a guarded and almost scared look.
"He looks like him." Was all Ryoma said this time. 'Huh?' Now Kenta was really confused.
"What are you talking about Ryoma, who looks like who?" Ryoma just pointed his finger at the door this time and said, "Policeman looks like scary man. I don't want to say thank you."
"Is scary man the man who came to your house and did this?" Ryoma said yes and Kenta went to go get the policeman that said he should be nearby if anything happened. 'Finally, if he can recognize the men that did this and doesn't have any amnesia we can put them behind bars.'
He walked down the hall and saw him talking to one of the nurses so he called him over. When Kenta explained what Ryoma had said they agreed to ask for his full description of the man who came to his house that night, and if they were lucky they might be able to run it though the system and find a match.
The police on the case hadn't been very successful so far because of the total lack of evidence. They had suspicions about who might have done it but with no witnesses except the child, and the old lady next door who called the police, they didn't have a lot of hard evidence to hold up their case in court.
Both men walked back to Ryoma's room and he was still lying in bed with his cat on his chest. "Ryoma,…" Kenta began almost hesitant to ask him about the touchy topic.
"Do you think you can describe what the two men who came to your house that night looked like for him?" He finished pointing at the policeman with a notebook out and pen ready to write down everything.
Ryoma took Karupin into his arms to hold so he could sit up instead. 'I don't want to, I don't want to remember them.' He thought fearfully to himself but he felt a warm hand settle lightly on his shoulder and he looked up quickly to see Kenta pleading with his eyes but trying to be reassuring at the same time.
'Somebody needs to put these men away and I know Ryoma isn't going to be strong enough right now to do it himself so I need to help guide him as much as I can.' Kenta thought. 'He needs to know that it's okay to open up and he needs to tell someone about it.'
Ryoma started in a quiet voice and told them what he could remember about the two men. When he started describing the second man, the one with the scary silver eyes, he began to grow tears in the corner of his eyes and held Karupin a little tighter.
He could only get two more sentences in before he started crying and the policeman decided he had enough information to come up with a sketch.
Kenta tried to comfort him when he laid back down and curled himself around his ran his fingers soothingly through his hair and murmured sweet words to him to try and get him to settle down. When his tears became nothing but sniffles he walked out to the hall where the policeman waited for him.
"Thanks for that. I'll make sure to get this to the station immediately and I'll let you know if we get anything. Umm, I know I can't leave the cat here so I'll have to come back later today to pick him up. If anything comes up by then about the two men I can tell you then if you're still here."
The policeman started to walk away with a short goodbye and as soon as Kenta was going to go back inside Ryoma's room he spotted one of his sons walking towards him with his work bag in hand. The boys green bandana that was always wrapped around his head was a dead give away and with a scowl usually plastered on his face how could you miss him?
"Ah, Kaoru thank you so much. I completely forgot my bag at home today, I thought I was going to be a goner." Kaoru handed him the bag with almost a smile.
"No problem." Suddenly Kenta heard his name being called from inside and knew his new patient was waiting for him to come back.
"Kenta? Kentaaa?" Kaoru raised a brow in question and his father chuckled back at him. When Kenta went in the room Kaoru followed and the first thing he saw was the adorable little fluff ball of a cat sitting on the bed.
He didn't even register the child sitting in the bed talking quietly with his father, it all became background noise when he saw his favorite animal. Kaoru loved cats of all kinds from jungle cats to plain house cats. Karupin was a friendly looking spotted Himalayan and so cute looking to Kaoru it almost made him blush and squeal like a school girl.
He watched as the cat played with a tennis ball and batted at it making it it's prey. His fluffy brown tail swayed back and forth in content and happiness, smacking the cotton sheets and making a rhythmic thumping noise. When the cat noticed its master not paying attention to him any longer he wobbled on the bed sheets over to Ryoma's lap again and stretched before he sat and waited to be pet.
Kaoru finally came back to the world of the living when he noticed Ryoma and his father not talking anymore but looking straight at him.
"Good, you're not off in space anymore," his father teased him, "This is a new friend of mine, Ryoma Echizen, I'm going to be working with him. Why don't you introduce yourself?" Kaoru grunted in agreement.
"I'm Kaoru Tanaka." 'Yep,' Kenta thought ' short, sweet and to the point, that's Kaoru alright.' He giggled a little after thinking that.
"Ryoma why don't you introduce your friend to Kaoru, my son, he loves cats." Ryoma's eyes sparkled a little when he found they had something in common, his best friend Karupin.
"This is Karupin, he my fwend. If you want you can hold him?" Karupin gave a little meow when Ryoma started to pet him gently on the head again. Kaoru was elated when Ryoma offered.
Slowly he walked over to the bedside and picked Karupin up with both hands and a small blush on his cheeks. He could tell there was a blush on his face when his father started to giggle in his seat and Kaoru started to hiss like usual when he was unhappy.
This wasn't very normal for a child and his father even tried to help him stop the bad habit but it was how he coped with things and eventually all his friends and family just accepted the strange behavior. It became part of his personality but those who didn't know him thought he was creepy or scary when he did it.
When Ryoma heard the noise he jumped in his spot and Karupin freaked and struggled in his grip. When Karupin landed back in Ryoma's lap Kaoru frowned again.
"Are you a snake man?" Ryoma asked with an innocent face. Kenta broke out into a fit of laughter when he heard this but calmed himself again when he looked at the pouting face of his son.
"Ha, ah, ohhh Ryoma no he's not a snake man, that's just how he is. We're you scared?" Ryoma shook his head 'no' and put on small smile on his face.
"It's cool. He's like a superhero with a super power." Kaoru was a little flattered at this and happy he was so accepting of his unusual behavior. He knew he wasn't normal but he couldn't stop it, it wasn't like he could stop whenever he wanted. It happened all the time and people would call him names or make fun of him for it but luckily his brothers easily stood up for him and no one really bothered him about it anymore.
"Ryoma did you know Kaoru plays tennis too? He uses it like a super power when he plays tennis and wins all the time!" Ryoma's eyes filled with happiness that he found someone who liked a lot of the same things he did. Not only did Kaoru like Karupin but tennis too!
The group talked a little longer before Kaoru had to leave, some of his brothers had started texting him asking where he was and badgering him to play tennis at the street tennis court.
Kenta told Ryoma that he would walk Kaoru out to the front of the hospital and he would be back soon. Ryoma nodded happily and said, "I'll wait for you ta come back."
Promptly going back to snuggling and playing with his cat on the bed. He was too overjoyed by such a small thing, it was humbling for Kenta to see. Kenta walked to the elevators and got in with Kaoru as they talked.
As soon as the doors of the elevator they were in closed, the doors to the elevator next to it opened and two policemen stepped out. The policeman from earlier in the day who brought the cat for Ryoma walked to the nurses station with two more policemen from the station.
The nurse wanted to ask what they looked so panicked for but as soon as they heard the room number they were off and down the hall.
The man had been told Mr. Tanaka was looking over the boy, Ryoma, still and he had very important information to tell him.
Well this took longer than i expected... It took me a while to edit too. If you think I need to edit something please comment on it and I'll see what I can do. I really hope you like this chapter. Please Favorite, Follower and Review, it would mean the world to me, thanks!
~Kay