X~51~X

"Is she gonna' be okay?" IA asks, leaning forward on all fours, her face twisting up as she hovers over Gumi. Yuuma walks over to the bed, placing his hand on IA's head.

"Yeah, she just needs to rest." IA smiles as IO comes running in from the adjoining hotel room and jumps on her back. IA face plants into the bed and rolls over, giggling. Len walks in behind IO, holding a soft and fluffy white hotel robe in his arms, folded neatly. Miku trails close behind him, smiling softly.

"Yuuma." Len nods to him. "Miku wants to clean Gumi up with Lapis, can you help me move her?" Yuuma nods, standing from the edge of the bed and slipping Gumi's head under his hands. Len grabs Gumi around the ankles and the two carry her gently into the bathroom where the bathtub is already mostly filled with warm water. Lapis sits on the edge of the sink, holding a few towels and some soap in her hands.

Honestly, Gumi needs it. Her hair is matted and stained with blood, her clothes are ripped and filthy, her skin is bruised and dirt caked and heavy bags of sleeplessness cling to her eyes. Her breathing is deep and her eyes are crusted shut.

The two boys lower Gumi down on the bathroom mat and leave, shutting the door behind them.

A few minutes later, Lapis is folding Gumi's clothes and setting them on the counter to be washed when she hears Miku gasp suddenly.

"Miku?" She turns, eyes widening. As Miku had been lowering Gumi into the bathtub, she caught sight of her back and upper thighs and arms. Lapis inhales sharply, gulping. Running all up and down Gumi's back are scars, overlapping and bending as if her skin is a canvas. Some of the scars are obviously cuts, mostly shallow slashes, but some are incredibly dark, meaning they're deep. They vary in colors, some wide and pink, others thin and darker. It looks like an abstract painting has been cut into her flesh. One scar in particular runs all the way from Gumi's right shoulder blade to the other side of her lower back. Some of the scars are little circular white patches of skin, burn marks. There is not a single inch of skin left untouched. Her arms mostly are covered with burn marks and small slashes, her back containing the brunt of the marks. "Oh my god…" Lapis finally exhales, taking a step closer.

"They're… so many…" Miku trails off, at a loss for words. "Should we… tell anybody…?"

Lapis remains silent, thinking for a moment. "No. It's up to her to decide. If she had wanted us to know, she would have said something earlier." Although Lapis is trying to speak with Gumi's wishes, she can't help but feel horrible anger at the thought of hiding something like this.

"Who would have… done something like this?" Miku says almost silently.

Lapis shakes her head. "I have no idea. Let's just… finish up."

A little while later the two girls emerge from the bathroom of the fancy hotel, Gumi dressed in a complimentary white and fluffy robe. Her skin is actually surprisingly fair. Lapis and Miku set Gumi down under the blankets of the bed and exchange a worried glance. Miku gulps, frowning at the unconscious Gumi.

Yuuma then comes walking into the room, IO trailing him at his heels. He sees the look the girls are giving each other and raises an eyebrow before walking over to the bed.

"She looks a lot better." Yuuma says.

"Yeah… she had a lot of dirt on her, it took a while to scrub a lot of it off." Lapis replies. Miku squirms beside her. Lies are hard.

"Miku?" Yuuma asks. "Why do you look like that?" Miku jumps, her face turning even paler. Lapis sighs, smacking herself in the forehead and muttering something under her breath. Lapis stands off the edge of the bed and turns to walk into the room next door, Miku following her very closely.

"It's nothing, Yuuma." Lapis says before disappearing into the doorway.

IO looks up at the pink haired boy, raising an eyebrow. "What was that about?" Yuuma mutters. IO shrugs his shoulders and follows Yuuma back into the other room.

This room is the larger of the two the group rented. It has two beds pushed up against the back wall, a TV facing them, a mini-fridge under the TV, a bathroom to the right of the beds, and a desk with a chair to the left. The window is large and rectangular and is covered with wooden blinds, creaked slightly open to let sunlight in. Settled in the chair is IA, the hotel's notepad clutched in one hand, a pen in the other. IO rushes over to see what she's doing as Yuuma's gaze travels elsewhere. Len is on the bed closest to the door, an energy drink in one hand and the TV remote in another. Lapis is on the other bed, cleaning off the three guns the group has and counting bullets. Miku is sitting next to Len, watching him flick through channels anxiously. Rin and Oliver are sitting on the floor under the window, extremely close, Yuuma might add. They're both talking quietly, as if they don't want to be heard.

Yuuma moves over to sit next to Lapis when the desk chair thuds into the desk as IA stands up. Her eyes light up suddenly. "Lenny?" She asks, standing and trotting over to the bed where he is with IO close behind.

"Yeah?" Len sets the remote down, smiling at her.

"Where's Yuki? I want to show her this drawing I did!"

The room goes deathly silent. Oliver's face is hidden by his thick curls of hair and Rin immediately tenses, looking away. The blonde boy's shoulders shudder and he stands, walking out into the hallway and shutting the door without a single noise behind him. Miku holds her breath, trying to not cry at the memory. Lapis and Yuuma exchange a confused glance as Len stands, a solemn look in his face that Miku has never seen before. He bends down to IA's level and takes the notepad out of her hands, setting it on the carpet floor below him. Len takes her hands in his and leads her into the next room, easing the door shut behind him.

A few minutes later the noise of quiet sobbing tears through the room as IA begins to cry. Yuuma grips IO gently by the shoulder to stop him from running inside.

"Give her a minute." Yuuma says. IO's shoulders drop and he bites his lip, sitting down with his back against the bed, his head buried in his knees.

Rin stands suddenly, leaving the room and going out into the hallway. It doesn't take her long to find Oliver. He made his way downstairs to the lobby and went into the men's bathroom. Rin does a head check and pushes the door open, stopping it behind her with a chair. Leaning over the sink is Oliver, his eyes puffy and red.

"Rin…" He scoffs dryly, shaking his head and leaning over one of the porcelain sinks. Rin stalks over, an emotionless glare plastered to her face. She grips him harshly by the shoulders and rights him, so that he's standing, slightly hunched in front of her. They stand toe to toe, Rin's eyes spitting fire. Just as Oliver is about to speak again Rin wraps her arms around his neck and hugs him.

"God, you're such a baby…" She chuckles as he runs a hand through her hair. "…running in here to cry alone… sheesh, you're like a high school girl."

"And you seriously suck at being comforting."

"Well, you stopped crying, didn't you?" Rin pauses as Oliver wraps his arms around her upper back and sighs, shaking his head.

"Shut up." Oliver pulls away, giving Rin a small smile.

"'Kay." Rin says before she leans in and brings his lips to hers.

~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~

"Alright, so… who's gonna' sleep where?" Lapis asks, leaning against the desk back in the hotel room. Outside the sun has already set and the green neon display on the clock says 10:49 PM. Littering the floor are assorted coffee cups and energy drink cans, none which seem to be helping anybody at this point. "We only have three beds so first let's pick who's on watch tonight."

Yuuma moves to stand but Len stops him. "You took last night. I'll go."

"No, you need the sleep." Lapis says, stealing a glance at Miku who nods gently. Earlier Miku had told Lapis how worried she was about Len and how little he has been sleeping. The two seem to really be enjoying each other's company. "I guess I'll do it. I really don't mind. I slept on our way into the city so I'm good enough to go." No one protests. "Now about beds…"

"IA and IO should definitely get one, and because they're small, one other person can share that one, too." Yuuma says. Len nods.

"I'll take this one with them." Len motions to the bed farthest from the door.

"I'll take Miku and share this one." Rin says, flopping down on the one closest to the door. Oliver sighs, rubbing the back of his head.

Oliver reaches for the bed Rin is on, pulling off the comforter blanket and a couple pillows. He lays them down on the floor in between the two beds and stretches out, almost instantly falling asleep.

"That leaves me to share with Miss Unconscious in there." Yuuma points over his shoulder to the next room.

"Have fun with that." Rin gives him a thumbs up and a smirk. Before he leaves Yuuma makes one more check over his shoulder towards where IA and IO are. Len is lying on the right side of the bed with IA on the left and IO in between. IA has draped herself across IO like a blanket, her face buried into his chest, now moist with her tears. She fell asleep a while ago after crying on him and hasn't moved since.

Lapis follows Yuuma back into the other room, leaving the door connecting the two rooms cracked open barely. Yuuma walks Lapis to the door leading out into the hallway and helps her move a chair to sit on out there.

"Thanks." Lapis says, moving to sit down. "Night, Yuuma."

"Wait- Lapis?" He stops himself before going back inside.

"Mm?" She turns to him, slipping her gun into her back pocket and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"What were you and Miku not telling me about Gumi?" Lapis' face goes pale and a dark scowl creeps across her fair skin.

"It's nothing, really." Yuuma stands emotionlessly in response.

"I'm not buying it, Lapis." Yuuma crosses his arms over his chest.

Lapis sighs, she's never been a very good liar. "Look, it's not my place to say anything but… if you really want to know… check her back."

"What?"

"That's all I should say… Goodnight, Yuuma."

After a long moment Yuuma turns, closing the door behind him. He sighs, easing out of his heavy jacket and climbing under the blankets as far away from Gumi as possible.

He watches the clock turn from eleven, to eleven thirty, to twelve, to twelve thirty, to one. Eventually Yuuma groans, rolling over onto his back and covering his eyes with his arm. He can't sleep.

A slight movement on the other side of the bed startles him and the pink haired boy props himself up, staring over at Gumi. Her head has moved slightly, her mouth is open a tiny bit and her hair has fallen in her face. Just as Yuuma is about to turn back, Gumi moves again. Her head rolls to the other side and a sound escapes her lips. Her shoulder twitches and her right leg moves slightly. She makes the same whimpering noise. There is a pause and then suddenly her left arm shoots out and her entire body twitches, her head snapping back and forth, caught up in a nightmare.

"N-no…" She mutters nearly inaudibly. "…s-s-stop… n-no." Her voice gradually gets louder and Gumi's arms and legs begin thrashing again, her voice growing to a normal tone. "Stop… no… no…"

Her eyes snap open and she bolts upwards, hands flying for where Gumo is usually clipped on her belt. She is hyperventilating and a bead of sweat rolls off of her face. She doesn't relax. As she sits upright, panting, Yuuma flicks on the lamp on the night stand next to him. As Gumi turns, eyes still wide with panic. When she moves the shoulder of the robe slips down, revealing her upper back.

A large pink line running from her shoulder blade and disappearing behind the white cloth catches Yuuma's eye. Gumi follows his gaze and inhales sharply, tugging the sleeve back into place and nearly jumping off of the bed. Yuuma's arm shoots out and he grabs her right wrist. Gumi shrinks backwards, ready to punch him across the jaw when he rolls up her sleeve. White circular burn marks and little pink slashes cover her shoulders and upper arms. Stitch marks line a particularly large scar close to her collar bone.

Gumi's eyes widen with absolute horror and she rips out of Yuuma's grasp, leaping off of the bed and standing over it, facing him.

"W-what… what are those?" His voice is still quiet and his breath is ragged.

Gumi gulps, glaring at him with a frankly terrifying and hateful expression. Her breathing slows gradually and she backs against the wall before responding almost silently. "The hell does it look like, genius?"

There is a long and empty pause.

"Who-", Gumi's expression silences him instantly.

"Where are we?" She asks softly, in a tone he's never heard anyone use before.

"U-Uh after we got out of… there, Len drove like crazy until we got to this huge city… I don't remember what it's called. But we also found this really fancy hotel, it's like five stars or something and I hacked into their computer system and booked us two rooms. Everyone else is in the other one… you passed out right after the fight so we wanted to give you space. I'm only in here 'cos we ran out of beds."

Gumi inhales deeply, righting herself. Her voice turns to its normal tone. "So, everyone's alive then, huh?" Yuuma nods.

"Were you… uh… having a nightmare?" Gumi's face goes pale, her eyes hidden by the shadows created by the lamp.

Her voice comes out soft and weird again as she returns to that eerie tone. "I-I have… night terrors. Ever since I was six."

"Oh. That's why you wanted watch duty last night… You can't sleep around other people because you wake them up." Gumi nods barely.

There is another very long pause.

"H-How much did you see?" Gumi's voice is strained and hollow. She slowly raises her head. Her expression is literally horrifying. Her eyes are sunken and empty, a dead expression plastered onto her face. The way she wears it seems like its second nature, the other part of her.

Yuuma's voice croaks out softly. "Enough."

"Oh." Gumi shifts uncomfortably. "Did… anyone else… see?"

Yuuma nods slowly. "Miku and Lapis." Gumi sighs deeply.

Another pause.

"Gumi?" Yuuma asks, leaning forward towards her from his position still on the bed. "Who did that?"

Gumi's eyes flash with rage. "It's none of your concern, Yuuma." Her tone is deep and forceful.

"Yes. It is now." She glares at him as his voice takes the same tone. "Tell me, please."

"Why? Who gives two shits? They're scars meaning stuff that happened, past tense. It doesn't matter anymore." Gumi fumes.

"Yes, it does."

"Why, because it wrote my 'story'?" Gumi uses air quotes, grumbling angrily.

"No, because someone hurt you that horribly... and so many times, Gumi. None of us know anything about you, anything. I can tell you honestly wish we didn't care, but I know they do and I do. That's what happens when you're friends with people, Gumi. They care."

"Don't." She croaks out.

"Gumi-"

"Don't… you… dare."

They both say nothing.

"I won't tell anyone else." Yuuma says, hopeful. His voice soft, the same tone he uses when talking to IA. Gumi scoffs.

"I know you won't." She says, shaking her head slowly.

"Then tell me."

"I really can't."

"Why-"

"Because you'll never trust me again!" She nearly screams. Surprisingly no one wakes up. Everyone is too exhausted. Gumi stands, breathing heavily, feeling like she's about to put her foot through the wall.

Yuuma says nothing.

"You don't know that." He finally says.

"I've been through this enough times with so many different people… it's always the same…" Gumi trails off, as if remembering something.

"Gumi, we are freaking traveling with immortal demons."

"I know." A cicada chirps outside. "Do you really… want to know?" Her voice is childish and pained.

Yuuma nods. Gumi moves over to the bed and turns, her back facing Yuuma. She moves one of the sleeves on the robe, exposing her entire back. Yuuma feels like he's going to throw up. They're all so deep… even the most shallow ones… the pain must have been excruciating. Gumi reaches up with one hand, and points at one larger slash across her upper back.

"This was the first one. I think I was… three or four years old. I didn't get the burns until I was six." Gumi speaks calmly and emotionlessly, as if re telling a story she's heard hundreds of times before. She pulls the robe back on and sits on the end of the bed, facing the wall.

Then she starts.

"I loved my mom. She was the nicest person to ever walk the planet. If I believed in heaven, she would be God's favorite angel. But she had her faults. One of them was my father. He could never keep a job, he was a raging drunk and drug addict. Hardcore stuff, too. Sometimes he would disappear for days or weeks on end. Those were the best days of my childhood. The things he did when he was home… I think my earliest memory of him was hearing my mother sob in the other room. Sometimes she would scream." Yuuma cringes. "I think he got bored of her… or something like that. He moved onto me next… I was so little… I didn't know it was wrong, what he would do." Gumi smiles sadly. "God… I was so young. It was every night he was home. 'Stop crying, Gumi, or I'll make sure you never see Mommy again.' Sometimes he brought a camera. I think once he brought one of his dealers to watch…" Gumi pinches the bridge of her nose and rubs her right temple slowly. "It's all kind-of fuzzy, now.

"My mom couldn't do anything. She got the worst of it. Always. She tried, she always tried to get me out of the house. She would take me to work with her, pay for expensive day care and those stupid Karate lessons, just to get me out of the house. My dad made sure my mom didn't have any friends… she didn't have any family either. Neither of them did.

"The night that it happened… He hadn't been home for almost a month. Mom thought he was finally gone for good. I was seven. IA's age. That night, before I went to bed, she let me eat three cookies. It's almost as if she knew…" For a moment Yuuma thinks she's going to cry, but Gumi quickly continues. "…It was around midnight. I woke up to her screaming. It wasn't like normal, though. It was a horrible, blood curdling, scream. The stuff of nightmares and horror movies. I snuck out of my room and into the kitchen.

Gumi's breath hitches and she shudders, as if the scene is right before her. "He was there. He had a… hammer and a gun. Mom was dead. There wasn't anything I could do but I didn't know that… God I was so little. I don't remember what he said to me. But it wasn't any of that hallmark crap, 'I'm doing this because I love you but I'm really insane and my idea of love is 'effed up'. It just wasn't. He picked up the gun and just started walking." Gumi chuckles emotionlessly, raking her hand through her hair. "Even dead, my mom still loved me. He tripped over her body and sent the gun flying. And of course it landed right by me. I just did what I had to.

"It wasn't even a clean shot either… oh no, I watched him bleed out on the kitchen floor while I sat in my mother's blood for hours. The police finally showed up when some kid on his bike came by and saw a little girl dripping in blood through the window.

"I got put into foster care, my name plastered all over any sort of media outlet as, 'The Girl Who Murdered Her Father.' The year immediately after is all a blur. I know I spent some time in a mental treatment facility. I was mute for a while. I got released to the state eventually. But no one wants to adopt the little murder girl. I went through over thirty foster homes and a dozen different state homes and adoption agencies in seven years. I even had a stint in juvie for a tiny little case of arson. So now you know. I'm a serial killer, arsonist, and insane, orphan that the world forgot."

The cicada has long gone away and this time the silence is eternal between the two. Yuuma slowly stands, walking over to the side of the bed where Gumi is sitting. He stands in front of her, his expression unreadable. Suddenly he bends down and wraps his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. Gumi doesn't say anything or do anything. She remains silent and stoic, simply sitting there emotionlessly.

After a minute she lightly pushes Yuuma away and lies back down on top of the blankets, without saying another word. She closes her eyes, but doesn't sleep.

Yuuma lies next to her.

The two don't sleep at all that night.