I awoke to find that the man was gone. I whimpered a bit at this, but closed my eyes and tried to drift back to sleep. As I was on the edge of sleep, I heard the subtle ruffle of fabric behind me. I turned, expecting to find the white-eyed man. Behind me, was different man, though. He was enormous, with slicked back black hair, rippling muscles, intense brown eyes and a slash across his face.
Fear seized me and I quickly rolled out of bed, my every muscle protesting the movement. The man looked at me in surprise.
"Who are you?" I asked, panicked. "Where is the other guy?"
"I-…" the man began. His voice was deep and harsh.
"You're from the gang!" I accused. The man reached for me, but I stumbled away, screaming.
"Leave me alone!" I yelled and ran for the door.
"Hey, stop!" the man yelled. I ignored him and jerked the door open, darting outside.
My body hurt, pain flaring up with a breath stealing intensity, but I ignored it.
Where was the other man? Had this great hulking guy hurt him?
I ran for the steps only to find that they had been smashed. A scream willed up in my throat. The scarred man must have destroyed the steps so I couldn't escape. He was taking revenge for what had happened to his goons. I turned to find the man behind me.
"No," I whispered, inching towards the destroyed steps.
"Hey, don't run," the man said.
"Sakaki, I told you to check on her, not scare her!"
I spun around and saw the white-eyed man below the stairs. He jumped up and deftly landed near me. I ran to him, wrapping my arms around his waist and pressing my feverish body against him.
He rested one hand on my shoulder and the other on my back.
"I didn't mean to scare her!" the man called Sakaki huffed. "She just freaked out when she saw me!"
"Perhaps your appearance is a bit intimidating," the man said. "I should have sent Shugure instead."
"Wait," I interrupted. "He's not from that gang?" The white-eyed man chuckled and ran a soothing hand down my back.
"No," he assured. "He may look rough, but he won't hurt you."
"Yeah, I'm a nice guy," Sakaki said with a grin.
"But…the stairs…" I said, looking around the white-eyed man.
"Oh, that," Sakaki said, laughing nervously. "I did that a while ago when I was drunk. I guess I should fix them."
I blushed.
"I'm sorry," I said. "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."
"What's with this gang, anyway?" Sakaki asked. I opened my mouth to answer but the man cut me off.
"Not now, Sakaki," he said. "When she's better."
"Oh, yeah, sorry," he said, blushing a bit. "You need your rest. I'll just…go…"
I smiled at him and moved to walk towards him.
"Thank you for checking on m-Eeeeie!"
My legs gave out under me and I flailed my arms, trying to catch myself on something. The man quickly grabbed me and pulled me flush against his body.
"I think I need to get you back to bed," he said, bending down and lifting me into his arms bridal style. I yelped at the sudden change and wrapped my arms around his neck. He began to walk back to the room I had fled moments ago. I smiled at Sakaki and waved.
"Goodnight!" I called. He chuckled and waved back.
"Sweet dreams," he replied, then turned and jumped down to the lower level. I turned back to the man.
"I'm sorry to be so much trouble," I said.
"It was my fault," the man replied. "Sakaki is very gruff looking and I didn't take that into account. It was poor oversight given your recent interactions with gang members."
"I'm sorry," I repeated. The man chuckled and set me gently on the bed.
"Don't worry," he said. "Just rest."
I nodded and allowed him to tuck me into the bed again, letting sleep overtake me.