Broken
...First Part: Dark...
"Please don't touch me," he whispered, eyes frantic.
"What the hell happened to you?" I asked. I could hardly believe my eyes – or ears – or anything, as far as that goes. The situation was absolutely impossible. It went against all comprehensible reason.
Krad just shook his head, his eyes still wide and fearful. He panicked when I took a step toward him, his breath coming out in a gasp as he tried to back further against the brick wall. He resembled a beaten puppy in a way. "Go away," he pleaded almost inaudibly.
I knelt down in front of him so that I didn't tower over his meek form. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on," I said stubbornly.
Krad drew the coarse blanket he was covered in more tightly around himself and shook his head again. It seemed he couldn't look directly at me anymore either, now that I was sitting eye-level to him.
"Krad, what happened to you?" I insisted, "Tell me."
"No!" A bare arm emerged from the folds of the blanket and he covered his face with his hand, curling into himself more.
This was ridiculous. "Alright, fine," I relinquished, standing up. "I guess I'll just leave you here in this dump." I kicked a tin can out of my way and it rolled under one of the skanky green dumpsters as I began to walk very slowly out of the ally.
"Dark – wait!" I heard Krad's broken voice behind me and stopped, turning to face him once again. Molding my face into a narrow-eyed mask of irritation – which was pretty much all an act – I waited for him to continue. "Don't leave me here alone..." His voice shook as his lower lip quivered slightly. "...He might come back..."
What...?
"Who's 'he'?" I wondered.
Krad's revealed arm hugged his opposite shoulder and he glanced away again. I noticed how busted-up his skin looked. Large blotches of unnatural, stomach-churning colors littered his fair skin, accompanied by various other wounds. I could very easily have thrown up at the sight; but I didn't, thankfully – fat lot of good that would do me. His face didn't look much better.
Right, then. – From now on, Dark, no questions. I wouldn't be getting any answers, anyway, I figured.
Walking toward him again and earning another panic-stricken look, I knelt down and, sliding one arm around his shoulders and wedging the other under his knees, I scooped him up. My intention was to carry him home with me. "You are going to have to give me a really good explanation for why I'm doing this for you later," I told him.
Krad clung to me as best he could, letting a small whimper of pain escape his throat. As I headed out of the ally, I realized that the blanket he clung to was the only layer of fabric separating him and my arms. Rolling my eyes baringly to the sky, I spread my wings and took off into it.
. . .
"Hey! Daisuke! Emiko! Can someone let me in already?" I hollered through the thick wooden door of the Niwa house. "He –"
"Sorry Dark," Daisuke apologized as he opened the door at last. He froze, dumbfounded, when he noticed the shattered bundle I had managed to haul home with me. "Is that...?" the sentence trailed off.
"Yeah," I confirmed his suspicion. "Now are you gonna let me in or what?"
"Oh." Daisuke backed away from the door, giving me space to maneuver Krad through it without bashing his head or legs into anything and make my way toward the living room.
I set Krad gently down on the couch and stepped back a pace just to watch him breathe for a moment – to make sure he was still breathing at all. He had passed out during their short flight there.
"What happened to him?" Daisuke asked behind me in a hushed voice. I knew he was breathing a huge sigh of relief that Satoshi – much like me and Dai – had been separated from his 'curse'.
"I don't know yet," I admitted, rubbing my forehead in thought. Daisuke looked at me strangely as I began to walk away.
"Dark; where are you going?"
"Hang tight a minute," I told him. "I'm just going to get him some clothes."
As I sifted through my wardrobe for something that Krad could possibly wear without injuring himself, I realized just how much black I owned. It wasn't a surprise, really, nor was it a bad thing; merely an observation. Finally, I decided to pull out some overly loose-fitting pajama bottoms – they had been mislabeled in size when I bought them – and discovered that somewhere along the way I had obtained possession of a plain white t-shirt. Tossing it aside, I figured that Krad could just have it later, but right now it would probably just get stained and bloody. I pulled out another shirt at random from the bottom of one of my dresser drawers and a pair of boxers, and finally made my way back to the other room.
When I came back with the clothes, I found Daisuke on his knees next to the couch, running a wash-cloth over Krad's newly-exposed skin. The guy really looked in bad shape. Sure, I hated him – he was my enemy – but no one deserved to go through whatever torture his condition betrayed.
By the look of it, Daisuke was thinking along those same lines.
"Well, now he's clean, at any rate..." he muttered, but it looked like something else was bothering him. I could hardly blame him, really – he had just revealed Krad's naked body, after all. Dai's crimson eyes looked up at me with pity in their depths. "I think he was raped," he informed me uneasily.
"What?"
"There was –" Daisuke began. He was about to start sounding like some forensic analyst, I could just see it coming.
"Never mind," I said quickly, plucking a protest out of thin air just to interrupt him. Poor kid must be scarred for life – I was already, and I hadn't even really looked at Krad yet. "Where's Emiko?" I changed the subject.
"Dunno," he replied, shrugging and glancing about the room as if he expected to see someone there. "She and Towa went shopping, I think."
"Okay. Well..." I paused to think, then threw a look at Krad's motionless form again. "...how about you go find the bandages, okay?"
"Sure." Thoughtfully, Daisuke went off in his search, leaving me alone with Krad.
Heaving a heavy sigh, I leaned over him, trying to figure out how to dress an unconscious person. Krad groaned, and I hastily wrapped the blanket over him again. That was the solution: get him to dress himself.
His eyes opened and I sat down on the edge of the couch next to him before he could protest, setting the small pile of black fabric on his stomach. "I brought you some clothes," I offered.
I thought I saw tears forming in his eyes as he carefully sat up – the wince was real; that I knew for sure – and pulled the shirt from the pile first. He just sat there, holding it in his fist for a moment.
"What's up?" I wondered.
"I can barely move my right arm, Dark," he admitted. He really did look like he was about to cry.
"Oh." Awkward. "Here, then." Standing up, I held out my hand for the shirt. He gave it to me, and I straightened it out before bunching it up again so that the holes for the arms and head were pretty well aligned. I held it in front of him. "Stick your right arm in first," I instructed. Krad grit his teeth as he moved his arm to stick it through the first sleeve. "Now put your other arm in and I'll help you pull it over your head, got it?" Krad nodded and did what he was told. He leaned down and I pulled the fabric over his head, careful not to disposition his arm too much. "Tada."
A tear managed to escape from his eye and fell down his distorted complexion. It was the first one I'd ever seen him shed. "Thanks... Dark..." His voice faltered a lot in those two words. I didn't blame him – it was a bizarre occurrence... So was the whole situation of me helping him get dressed as if I were his mother or something...
A halfhearted smirk made its way to my lips. "I'm not helping you with the pants," I informed him.
He almost chuckled. "I wouldn't want you to."
"Fair enough." I shrugged and began to walk away as he swung his legs around and sat up properly. I thought I felt his eyes on my back as I left; wary.
Stepping into the kitchen, I decided that I needed a glass of water. After drinking one glass, I filled it again, this time dumping it over my head as I leaned over the sink, possibly to clear it of something. I rubbed the closest hand towel over my hair to dry it again and wipe my face, briefly remembering the artwork I'd stolen.
It was in my room, I remembered. Okay.
"Dark...?"
I turned to see Krad, dressed in my clothing and limping into the kitchen. He used the wall for extra support, but he still looked like he could collapse at any given second.
"Hmm?" I set the towel down on the counter, forgetting about it as I went to help Krad.
He shrunk back as I got closer. "I... er... need some water... is all..."
"Geez. You don't have to be afraid of me..." I pulled another glass out of one of the cupboards and filled it up for him. I turned to give it to him, but for a second I didn't see him. He had, in fact, collapsed and was now on his knees. At least he hadn't blacked out again or something. Kneeling down in front of him, I showed him the glass of water. "You still want this?"
Krad nodded, and reached for it with a shaking hand. I let him grab it, but I didn't let go, steadying the glass as he brought it to his lips. As he drank, I pushed some hair out of his face with my free hand.
"Are you ever going to tell me what happened?" I asked yet again when he finished.
"It's not of your concern."
"Sure it is," I argued, getting up to put the glass in the sink. "One would assume that's why I'm asking. I can be concerned."
Krad looked up at me with those glazed and tired eyes that I wasn't used to. "It doesn't involve you," he rephrased.
I sighed in exasperation. "Fine. If you don't want to tell me, I know you're not going to."
Krad looked mildly surprised. Guess he didn't think I'd give up that easily. But the truth was, I'd probably figured it out anyway – sooner or later.
"Can you get back up by yourself?" I wondered.
"Yes," he defended himself, then added, "...eventually..." and, "...maybe..."
"Do you want to stay there until you figure it out or should I just help you?" I offered, leaning against the counter.
That's when Daisuke walked in. "I found the bandages," he said, holding up a first-aid box and giving it a little shake.
Krad reached out his hand for me, still not vocally willing to ask for my help now that he was safe again, and I took it, kneeling down and pulling his arm over my shoulders. I wrapped my arm around his waist and hauled him up. "Let's get you back to the couch."
Daisuke led the way, setting the first-aid down on the coffee table. "I'll go keep watch for mom, if you want."
"Good idea."
I sat down on the couch next to Krad, pulling the white plastic box into my lap. Inside of it, there were bandages of many sizes, some alcohol, and various other things that you might expect to find in a first-aid kit. Krad watched stoically as I tipped alcohol into a piece of cloth and brought it up to his face. He moved away from my hand, so I just stayed as I was until he decided to cooperate, building his trust little by ever-so-little.
Eventually, he leaned back again, wincing as the stuff met a cut on his face. "That means it's working," I told him. Emiko always told me and Daisuke that about the stinging.
"Mm..." he acknowledged.
Behind him, I caught a glimpse of that ugly brown blanket I had found him in. I frowned, and pointed to it. "I'm gonna throw that away, later," I stated.
"Why not now?" Krad asked demurely.
"I'm busy."
He cringed again when I moved on to a deeper cut along his shoulder, stretching his – my, I guess – collar out of the way so I could get at it better. "Oh."
"You're going to have to take your shirt off again," I sighed. That meant I would have to help him put it back on again.
Krad pulled his collar back into place and looked at me frightfully again. "Or you could throw the blanket away and leave my clothes in-tact," he protested quietly.
I stared at him for a long moment and then got up, setting the first-aid back on the table. "Okay. But when I get back, you have to at least let me look at your arm, got it?" He nodded and I snatched up the nasty bundle of fabric on my way out of the house.
As I closed the lid on the garbage can to the side of the house, I saw two people who I really didn't wish to see at the moment.
Emiko and Towa.
Daisuke ran past me to stall them, throwing me a half-reassuring smile as he went. I nodded slightly and rushed back into the house to get Krad out of sight. There was no doubt that Emiko would flip out if she found Krad in her home – regardless of what condition he was in.
I ran over to Krad and accidentally hauled him up by his worst arm, at which point he yelped and pulled away from me, falling back as he did so. I caught him before he could hit his head on something, though, and picked him up.
"What are you doing!?" he protested, tears of panic escaping his golden eyes again.
"Sorry," I mumbled. "Emiko's here." I laid him down on my bed. When he tried to get up, I wouldn't let him, and his legs tensed, drawing closer to his body as the tears fell sideways back into his hair. "Shhh..." I tried to sooth his frantic whimpers. "I'm not going to hurt you, okay?" I said softly. "Just lay here for a minute and I'll be right back." I smoothed his hair back, basically petting it as I waited for him to calm down a bit. "I'll be right back," I repeated, and dashed back down the stairs to hide the first-aid kit away.
I heard the door open just after I flipped on the TV as a cover-up. "Hey, Emiko! Hi, Towa!" I greeted them over my shoulder, switching off the TV again and getting up.
"Hi, sweetie. How did the theft go?" Emiko asked cheerily as Daisuke closed the door behind them.
"It went great, of course," I answered, putting on a smirk.
"Of course," she echoed, laughing.
"I'm going to go hang out in my room for a while," I told her, gesturing over my shoulder with my thumb.
"Okay. Bring the artwork when you come back out," she reminded me.
"Sure thing." Breathing a sigh of relief, I ran back to my room. Krad was still where I had left him. He looked paralyzed, staring up at the ceiling. "Krad...?"
He whined in answer, and I saw another single tear streak across his face. Sitting beside him, I rolled up his right sleeve to look at his arm. It was swollen, and I realized then that his shoulder was dislocated. That was why he could hardly move it – he was lucky that he managed to use it at all.
"I didn't know it was this bad!" Krad met my eyes for once. His face was distorted in fear still, but his eyes pleaded for me to fix it. His arm looked like it had been that way for... well... too long. "How long were you lying out there!?" I demanded.
"I don't know!" Krad rasped, his voice escalating to a scream as I gave his arm a well-plotted yank. "Stop!" he cried, and began sobbing. I gave his arm one more pull and it popped back into place, thankfully without too much difficulty.
"Krad," I whispered. "Quiet down. Do you want Emiko to hear you?"
"I already have, Dark." My eyes widened and I looked up quickly to see Emiko standing in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest expectantly. "Explain. Now."