Broken

...Twenty-sixth Part: Krad...

They're finally gone. This notion stunned me and excited me simultaneously. I didn't have to be afraid anymore. I clung to Dark, reveling in the embrace. Tears transferred from my eyes to his bare shoulder, but they were just leftovers, spilling over my face from relief.

Emiko was fussing over dead bodies in her house. I tried to ignore her voice, but it pierced through my senses. "What do we do with them?" she was complaining, and other nonsense like, "The carpet's stained."

"We should call Sato," Daisuke suggested.

"And then what? He can arrest me for killing them? I don't think so," Dark argued. I stifled a gasp when he moved, crashing his arm into the backs of my knees and scooping me into his arms effortlessly. "You can take care of this mess however you want," he told them. "I don't want to even look at them anymore!" And then, pushing past Daikii and Kosuke, he carried me out of the room.

Dark set me on the couch and sat next to me, resting his elbows on his knees and hanging his head in his hands. I waited for a while, not knowing what to do.

He turned his head to me, his deep eyes laden with concern. "You're not hurt, are you?"

I shook my head. "Nothing I can't live through." Amelia had prodded at the hickey Dark left on my throat the previous night, which hurt, but not extraordinarily so. And Hotarou had been wrestling with my arms before Dark appeared. There were red, sore spots on my arms now that could possibly turn into bruises, but nothing more.

"You're absolutely sure?" he worried.

I nodded. A thought occurred to me. "That was oddly perfect timing," I considered.

Dark was puzzled. "...What?"

"I told you I wanted to have sex with you before I died," I reminded him, and I thought I saw a faint rouge streak come into his face. "And they came to claim me the next morning," I concluded. "I truly thought I was going to die."

"And I told you," Dark said gravely, "that if they ever touched you again I would kill them."

I small smile played across my lips and I touched his face. I couldn't use words to tell him how much I debt I owed to him, or how much I loved him. I wondered if he could comprehend it.

I let my wings unfurl slowly from my back, then. Dark gazed at me like I was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. I couldn't believe that.

"Interesting conversations you two have," Satoshi commented, startling me.

"Shut up," Dark muttered. "You sure got here fast. You wouldn't have happened to be stalking us, too, would you?"

"Of course not," Satoshi stated. "Daisuke called me. So, tell me what happened."

"Why don't you go look for yourself?"

"Dai said that Emiko was already busy bleaching the walls or something like that." He laughed. "Your mother is quite the eccentric, Dark."

Dark only shrugged.

"So what happened?" Satoshi insisted.

And so, Dark began his long explanation, glancing at me every now and then, at which point I would nod or give a little smile. Apparently, he needed to be absolutely certain that I was still breathing. I took laid my hand over his, and he tangled our fingers together.

"Now what?" Dark asked when he was finished.

Satoshi sighed. "I'm debating on whether to arrest you or give you some kind of medal," he admitted. "You haven't stolen anything for quite a while... You just murdered two people, but the people you murdered were escaped convicts who have murdered at least a dozen others, so..."

"Don't arrest him, Satoshi," I told him.

Satoshi was trying not to laugh. "Alright. I won't – like I could keep him there, anyway."

"Exactly!" Dark said triumphantly.

Daisuke came running into the room then. "We need help," he told us, waving at Satoshi while he caught his breath. "What should we do with the bodies?"

"I'll arrange transport to get them to the morgue. No autopsies. I'll create a story, though I doubt anyone will care. The public will hear they're dead and rejoice." Satoshi pulled out a cell phone and began dialing numbers.