"Kuki…?" Wally gasped as he stared at her arm in horror.
She pulled her arm away and quickly pulled her sleeve back down to hide the marks on it.
Neither of them knew what to say to the other.
'Kuki…Who?" Wally stuttered, still not entirely sure what to do or say.
"It's nothing…Just forget it!" Kuki whispered, refusing to make eye contact with him.
"…What happened?" He finally mustered.
"It's nothing, I…I just…fell!" Kuki shrugged.
"You don't get cuts like that by falling Kuki!" He told her sternly. Reaching out his hand to pick up her arm and revealing her wounds once more.
"I…I…" She thought deeply about how she could talk her way out of it. "Okay! It happened on the way home yesterday. This…drunk guy…he came and…attacked me! But…Kurt got him off before he did any real damage."
Wally stared at her, it was easy for her to see that he wasn't convinced. Yet he nodded and sighed.
"Are you alright?" He asked quietly.
"I'm fine." She replied, forcing a smile. "Come on, let's tell them about your news!"
She pulled her sleeve back down again and tugged his wrist as she walked past him. She stopped at the doorway and blocked his path.
"You won't tell them will you? About…this?" She looked at him desperately. He thought for a second and then shook his head.
"If you really don't want me to."
"Thank you!" She said, smiling and restraining herself from hugging him and bursting into tears.
Wally felt so happy. The guys were being really supportive of his boxing contract. They even went out to Lime Rickey's to celebrate, a place where they hadn't been for years.
However, he couldn't help but keep glancing at Kuki and wonder how she really got those cuts and bruises. She seemed happy as she sat and talked with him and their friends. But there was something in her eyes, the others obviously didn't notice it, it was like the happy sparkle that she'd always had was gone.
Wally, Abby, Kuki and Wally decided to go home for the night, so after their meal, they all walked home together.
They laughed and joked happily as they got nearer to Abby's house. But once Abby had left, Wally and Kuki walked side to side in complete silence. The only sound they made was the thud of their footsteps.
When they reached Kuki's driveway, Kuki turned to face him.
"Well, night." She smiled. "And well done Wally, I'm really proud of you!"
That was another thing that baffled him and gave him a clue that something was wrong. Usually, at a time like this, Kuki would give him a hug, she hadn't hugged him at all that day, which was extremely strange.
Kuki smiled again and began to walk to her door. He felt the urge to hug her, comfort her and get her to tell him all that was wrong. But he knew he couldn't. Something was really bothering her and he didn't want to upset her by patronizing her about it.
"Kuki?" He said. She turned to look at him.
"You know I'm always here for you, right? Whenever you need me!"
She nodded and continued to walk into her house. He stood there until she walked in and closed the door.
Kuki wanted to tell him. It would make her feel so much better. But she knew she couldn't She knew what would happen.
If Wally found out what Kurt had done to her, he wouldn't think twice about going over to him and rearranging his limbs. It would be similar if Abby found out too. Only she wouldn't cause as much damage. Kuki still shivered at the thought of what Abby was capable of.
Wally walked home quietly. It was only about a two minute walk from Kuki's house to his, yet it seemed like an hours walk.
When he got in he went straight to bed, his parents weren't in so he had the house to himself. As he lay on his back in bed he received a text on his cell.
Need you at training 8am tomorrow.
Don't be late or you blow your chance!
He sighed and closed the text from Smithy, his new manager. That guy was strict. And Wally knew when he signed the contract that this training would take up a lot of his time.
"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine…one-hundred!" Wally panted, finishing off his workout with the dumbbells.
He'd been there for two hours already and was so fatigued he thought that he would drop dead any minute.
"Okay, good! Two minute break, then we'll work on your hooks and jabs." Smithy told him, walking over to the cupboard to pick up hook and jab pads.
Wally leant forward and put his hands on his knees to breathe. He reached over and grabbed his bottle of water, jugging the remaining water down.
He tossed it to Ben as he stepped up to the ring and stood in front of his Smithy.
Smithy gave him a grin as he held up the pads. Three of his front teeth were missing, he had one gold tooth on the bottom left of his mouth and a silver on his bottom right. All of the other teeth were either partially worn away or extremely yellow.
His greasy brown hair made his teeth show up more.
Maybe he wasn't up to scratch with personal hygiene but he was one of the best trainers around, and he'd found Wally. So Wally was willing to put 110% effort into everything he asked.
Hours soon went by and it was soon 5pm, the club was getting quite crowded.
Kuki ran into the boxing club sobbing. Boys in the club were staring at her but she didn't care. She looked around desperately for Wally. He was the only one she wanted.
She couldn't see him. But she noticed somebody who she did recognize…Ben!
She pushed past two boys stood in the way and ran over to him. She tapped Ben on the shoulder, he turned and smiled.
"Oh, hi Kuki…Hey? What's up? You okay?" He said with a frown when he realized how upset she was.
"Where's Wally?" She chocked.
He placed his arm around her reassuringly as he looked around the room, he couldn't see him anywhere. Some of the boys had began to crowd around them. Some trying to be friendly and asking Kuki what was wrong, others making smart comments or flirts.
"Back off guys, give her some air!" He told them, they all dispersed and went back to their businesses. Ben looked back down at Kuki, who was looking scared and helpless.
"Come on," He said to her gently.
He led her out of the room full of boys and into a small room. Kuki could only guess it was some sort of office or staff room by the size of it.
There were papers all over the place. It was so disorganized.
Ben sat her down on the couch and then picked up his cell.
"Hold on." He said giving her a consoling smile and put the cell to his ear.
It began to ring. Wally picked it up in a few seconds.
"Hello?" Wally said, panting heavily.
"Hey man, it's me." Ben replied, walking to the back of the room and using his shoulder to hold the cell to his ear as he picked up a plastic cup and filled it with water from the drinks machine.
"Hi, what's up?"
"Where are you dude? Are you going to be long?" Ben asked him calmly. Handing Kuki the cup of water, then sitting on the couch opposite her.
"Smithy told me to do ten laps around the park before calling it a day. I'm on my way home now. Why?"
"Kuki's here waiting for you. Can you get here as soon as you can? We're in the office."
"Sure."
Ben closed his cell then looked back up at Kuki, who had calmed down a little after taking a few sips of water.
"He'll be here real soon. Don't worry." He told her. She gave as much of a smile as she could make.
"Thank you." She sniffed.
They sat in silence for ten minutes, Ben didn't know what to say and Kuki didn't want to say anything. It wasn't until Kuki got a text from her cell when she read it and began to cry again that Ben decided he had to do something to comfort her.
"Hey." He said softly. Standing from his own seat and sitting next to Kuki.
She said nothing, just plunked her head onto his shoulder and continued to cry. He placed an arm around her and sighed awkwardly.
"I'm not sure what's going on, and I doubt you want to tell me. But I'm real sorry if I'm not acting right. I haven't done anything like this before." He chuckled nervously.
"It's just great that you're here and you've got Wally for me! Thank you!" She sniffed.
At that moment Wally walked into the door. He looked at them both with confusion and concern.
Ben stood up and smiled sensitively before walking out of the door to give them some privacy.
Wally took Ben's place on the couch next to her, only he wrapped both of his arms around her tightly. She held on to him and wept uncontrollably.
"H…He…He cheated on me!" She managed to say.
Rage suddenly went through Wally's blood.
"Come on, We'd better get you back to the tree house!" He said quietly. He stood up and assisted her.
Slowly they walked out of the door. Wally still had his arms around Kuki protectively.
Ben was waiting next to the doorway in the crowded room. He gave Wally a look of concern as the two walked out. Wally patted him gently on the shoulder and smiled his thanks to him.
When they finally got back to the tree house. Abby was there and soon aided in calming Kuki down.
"I walked into his room." Kuki sniffed, she was now sat on the couch in the tree house with a blanket around her and a cocoa in her hands. Wally and Abby sat either side of her.
"And he was just there! With Numbuh 86! They were touching each other all over! And…and we'd had an argument about cheating the other night too!" She stopped to blow her nose and wipe her tears.
"He wasn't even sorry though! When I was in the office he sent me a text saying 'quit making a scene!' I didn't think that I was over-reacting."
"No girl! You weren't! Don't let him make you believe that!" Abby told her.
"And before I went out, he slapped me and told me to get over it!" Kuki cried, resting her head on Abby's shoulder.
"He hit you?" Wally said, in more of a statement than a question.
Kuki sniffed and nodded.
That was just the missing piece for Wally. He now understood where those cuts and bruises were coming from, and it was too much for him to think of.
Slowly he stood up and marched towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Abby asked him.
"Out!" Wally replied opening the door.
"Wally! Please don't!" Kuki wailed.
"I'll be back later." He told them, closing the door.
That was the last straw.