Chapter 3
"Boys, I told you to leave your sister alone and let her sleep," Detective Kuta said coming into the room just as I grabbed both Gon and Killua's ankles and laid them out flat on my bed. The look the boys got from waking me up told them that they should have listened to one of our foster fathers and left me be.
"We're sorry, Lia," both boys said as I quickly began tickling their feet. Both boys were very ticklish on the bottoms of their feet. They knew that once I got a hold of their ankles, there was no hope for them. I only ever tickled them when they truly deserved it. The hard part was that it was two of them, and usually, I had to manhandle one while tickling the other. It was the perfect wake-up call if we had school because they knew that I was a log in the morning and had a hard time getting up.
"Ayla, Love, stop tickling your brothers. They'll get yelled at later, but seeing as you are awake how about you come downstairs and have breakfast," Detective Kuta said pulling Gon out from under me as I tickled Killua's foot. I let them go before getting up from my thick case of blankets, sometime during the night someone had come into my room and covered me in a really thick fleece blanket.
"Leorio, did that this morning before he left for his shift at the hospital. He said that you had a light fever this morning. And I told your brothers not to wake you up; because you needed to rest." Detective Kuta said glaring at the boys. Both boys quickly shrink away until they were out of my room, Gon's eyes told me that they weren't trying to wake me up; they were just checking up on me.
"They were just checking up on me. Gon and Killua were worried that I was sick again. I have had a weak immune system since I got the burns," I said pulling a sweater off of the chair behind the Detective. I knew last night before going to bed that I had a light fever, but I didn't know that Dr. Paradinight would come check in on me in the morning before going to work. I was weak so I had a hard time getting up from my bed and would have fallen if not for the Detective catching me and helping me back into bed. Before putting his hand on my forehead, clearly checking to make sure that my fever didn't get worse.
"Your fever has gotten worse, Lia. You should stay in bed and get some rest. I'll keep your brothers downstairs and talk to Leorio about your fever," Detective Kuta said, pulling my blankets up to my chin. The rest of the day went smoothly with small visits from my brothers, and by dinner time, I was bored out of my mind. Mostly because the detective found out and put a stop to it. When it was Gon and Killua checking in on me, it made the fever almost bearable. Dr. Paradinight, when he got home from the hospital, came right up to check on me. What was important, though, was that this allowed Gon and Killua to also come into the room. I could tell from the looks in their eyes that they were worried about me again.
"While your fever has gotten worse, normally with this high of a fever we would take someone to the hospital but seeing as you just got out of the hospital yesterday, we thought it would be better to wait until I got home. Boys I'm sure Kurapika has told you many times today that you are to leave your sister alone." Dr. Paradinight said checking me over before giving my brothers a glare that clearly said to get out of the room. Or that was before I stopped him.
"They can stay; I can tell that they are worried about me. I can tell by looking into their eyes. Plus, I just have a weaker immune system due to the burns on my back, right arm and left hip." I said looking at him. I felt better with my brothers in the room with me plus this kept me busy for a few minutes. I reached over and grabbed the notebook that I had written 'The Shy Knight' in.
"I didn't get to read to you two last night; you two fell asleep before story time last night," I said opening the notebook to where I had put my marker only to see that my marker had been moved so my spot had been lost. Then I remembered that the Detective had borrowed my notebook last night and read what I had come up with so far.
"Do either of you remember where we left off?" I asked the boys, but they both shook their heads.
"Can't you start over, Lia?" Gon asked as he sat down next to me and Killua on the bed. I flipped to the opening page. The opening page had Killua's drawing on it; it was of a knight fighting a large dragon. The knight was a white-haired older version of Killua while the dragon had all the qualities of Gon from the green scales to the amber brown eyes.
"Once upon a time there was a shy knight that no one in his village believed that could do anything. One day the shy knight heard tales of a dragon making its den in the mountains behind his village. So late one night after all the brave young men had left to fight a herd of Goblins, the shy yet brave knight made his way up the mountains to the dragon's den. It took the knight three days to make his way up to the dragon's den: all the while fighting off monsters every step of the way. First it was a group of goblins then a pack of wolves and last a large group of young men that had been picking on the shy knight since they all were young children. But no matter who the shy knight faced he easily took them all down. Finally, the shy knight was at the opening to the dragon's den when a young green dragon came flying out of the cave and tackled the shy knight. The dragon had only ever wanted to make friends with someone, but no one was strong enough to play with him... That's all for now you two. I can't go on anymore," I said leaning my head back on my pillows, reading had just made my headache worse, but both of my brothers were fast asleep. There was a knock at the door, which turned out to be the Detective coming to check on the three of us.
"Hey love, how are you feeling?" Detective Kuta asked as he came to sit next to me on the desk chair.
"My head hurts from reading to them. As you can see, they are fast asleep. Do you have anything I can take for the fever and the headache?" I said, pointing to my brothers. I had already moved my bookmark into place so that I could continue to read to my brothers at a later time.
"Leorio said that might be the case, he brought medicine for both the fever and headache. I'll move your brothers to their room so that you can rest some more." Detective Kuta said putting a few pills in my hand and a glass on my bedside table. Before picking up both Gon and Killua and leaving my room. I reached for the glass of water so that I could take the pills Detective Kuta had brought me. The next morning when I woke up, I felt slightly better than the day before. I slowly made my way downstairs to find Gon and Killua sitting down to a homemade breakfast that Detective Kuta was making.
"Good morning, Lia," Killua and Gon said in unison, as I entered the room. I tousled their hair before sitting down at the table and grabbing a few slices of toast. I then spread a thin layer of butter over each slice.
"Oh, good morning, Lia. How are you feeling today?" Detective Kuta asked, sitting on the other side of the table. I shrugged my shoulders while chewing on a bite of toast in my mouth. To me, the toast was very dry without any cinnamon sugar on the table. But with how bad I felt yesterday, I thought it best not to push my stomach.
"I prefer verbal answers, young lady," Detective Kuta said as he sat back in his chair.
"I feel better than yesterday, but I still feel down and not so good," I said before taking a drink of the juice in front of Killua. Before turning away from my brothers to cough. Or that was before I rushed to the bathroom to get sick. Detective Kuta was right behind me to hold my hair out of the way.
"I told the boys to leave you alone again today. You're burning up again Lia. I'm glad that you got up and ate something." Detective Kuta said as I was throwing up what little bit, I had taken in. Once I was done being sick to my stomach I went back up to my room where Killua and Gon were waiting for me. I laid down on my bed with my face in my pillow and nothing over my warm body.
"Lia, are you alright?" Gon asked, sitting on the edge of my bed. I rolled over to my side to see both of their worried faces telling me that I needed to say something.
"I'm fine guys, you know I have to fight off the infection right now," I said pushing myself into a sitting position. I was dizzy and felt like crap again, but I could hold back the need to get sick while in front of my brothers. Or at least that was before my stomach decided to make itself known to my brothers and me, by making me be sick again. But this time I got sick all over the floor, just as Detective Kuta was coming into the room. The minute I got done getting sick I actually started to freak out.
"I'm sorry… I'll clean it up," I said with a slur, struggling to get up from my bed. But before I could even stand, Detective Kuta rushed to my side and pushed me back down onto my bed.
"Shh Lia everything is alright. Boys I'm going to put Lia in mine and Leorio's room can you two clean this up for me."Detective Kuta said lifting me into his arms and carrying me into his room where he tucked me in tightly to his bedding. I was still fighting to clean up the mess my stomach had made when Dr. Paradinight came running into the room. I froze in my spot but that didn't last long as I felt the need to be sick again. This time Detective Kuta had a bucket ready for me.
"Shh, it's okay, Ayla," Detective Kuta whispered as he gently brushed my hair away from my face. "Everything will be all right. Something isn't right with Lia. She only took a few bites of lightly buttered toast. She was fine last night, so why is she getting sick now?"
"It could be a number of things, but right now I'm more concerned about Lia not being able to keep anything down," Dr. Paradinight said as he placed his hand on my forehead. I was lying on my left side, my head resting over the edge of the bed. A cold washcloth lay across my neck, attempting to cool me down.
"She didn't eat anything yesterday, so her stomach may be rejecting food right now because she hasn't been eating regularly. I remember the boys telling me that Lia always made sure they ate three meals a day; that might have something to do with it," Dr. Paradinight said, looking me over but not touching me. I was still coherent enough to notice if someone touched me.
"Lia, I'm going to help you sit up, is that all right?" Dr. Paradinight asked as he lifted my head to make me look at him. I nodded my head as he helped me to sit up and lean against the pillows. He looked me over, but barely touched me before first letting me know what he was doing.
"She has a very high fever, wheezing very badly, and getting sick to the point that she can't keep anything down, let alone anything in her. I know that she has a bad infection, but this might be more than just an infection; it might be what I first thought—she probably has pneumonia," Dr. Paradinight said before I threw myself over the side of the bed to throw up again. I heard Detective Kuta gasp at something before I felt his hand on my shoulder.
"Leorio, look at Ayla's back. Her skin is turning green. We need to take her to the hospital right now," Detective Kuta said, panicked.
"We cannot Kurapika if we take her to the hospital, they will take her from us. Ayla is wanted by several different foster families. She was top of her class this last school year, add on the kendo skills and she is the number one wanted foster child around. The downside she won't let anyone take her without her brothers. I'm going to call the department head and see if he will come over and take a look at Lia." Dr. Paradinight said helping me to sit up once again in the bed. Two hours later I was finally back in my room with the help of Detective Kuta. Turns out that my back wasn't cleaned out the day they did the stitches than again I haven't had a bath or shower in close to a week. So once the department head took apart the stitches, he cleaned the gashes and re stitched my back up.
"How are you feeling, Lia?" Detective Kuta asked for the umpteenth time since the department head had left the room. I groaned as I tried to actually speak, but then Killua and Gon came into my room. I rolled onto my back with my arms out on either side of me so that they could lie with me.
"Boys, be careful when lying down with your sister; she has a very bad infection and needs her rest," Detective Kuta said as my brothers lay down next to me.
"Don't worry Kurapika, we'll be careful of Lia's back. But right now, we're scared that someone might take her away from us," Gon said as Killua was pretty much in shutdown mode, and I wasn't that far behind him. However, I hadn't really ever been able to shut down since I was a little girl.
"Gon, Detective Kuta and Dr. Paradinight wouldn't let anyone take me away without you two. That's why the department head had to make a house call because if they took me to the hospital, then social services would take me away since I am one of the most wanted children in the system right now. I'm glad they didn't because I would have fought tooth and nail even in my condition to get back here to you two." I said looking over at my younger brother, before pulling both of my brothers closer to me and fell asleep. That night after dinner, which was a light soup and some bread, Detective Kuta actually had to give me a sponge bath so that the gashes on my back didn't get infected for a third time. Then he sat with the three of us and read some more of my story, 'The Shy Knight'.
"No one was strong enough to be his friend. So, the young green dragon took his jealousy out on the fact that everyone had friends except for him. Not even the other dragons wanted to be his friend, because he was the son of one of the 12 masters, and unlike his older sister he showed absolutely no talent. But unknown to him, his older sister was close by watching everything and she could see that the shy knight would be just the friend that the young green dragon needed. The young green dragon's older sister, whom all the other dragons called Blue because of her rare sky-blue scales, could change her shape to anything she wanted. So, she sat outside of her brother's cave, waiting. As the shy knight grew closer and closer to where she had been sitting. Blue said softly to the shy knight, "He's a good boy. He just wants a friend to play with." The shy knight was shocked but still made his way into the cave. Wrapped around some rocks was a small green dragon, crying into the fur of a white rabbit. The young green dragon cried, "Why doesn't anyone want to be my friend?" As the little white rabbit patted the dragon's head in an attempt to calm him down, a small tan rabbit hopped over to the young green dragon. The young green dragon could smell his older sister, but he had been crying so much that his vision was blurry, and his eyes hurt. The tan rabbit started to wipe away the dragon's tears, before turning to the shy knight once Blue knew her younger brother was fast asleep. Blue turned back to her true form and wrapped herself around her little brother."He's a good boy, who just wants a friend to play with. The downside is his abilities are his strength and enhanced senses. He's too strong just like our father," Blue said smiling softly as her brother curled up closer to her."Why show your true form to me when you knew I was here to kill you?" The shy knight asked as he reached for his sword on his said laying her head over her brother's head. "I have been watching you for some time Sir Felix of the white mane. You are a gentle soul, who lives by the code of all things deserve to live. You would never hurt another unless they deserve it." Blue wiped away her brother's tears with her tail. "Everyone calls me a coward because of that; I thought everyone saw me the same way. How do the dragons look at you two?" The shy knight asked, letting go of the hilt of his sword."We are children of one of the 12 masters of the dragon clan. I am known as Blue, and this is my younger brother Gene; you Sir Felix are like us. Someone who is strong enough to know the difference between right and wrong. We dragons do not believe in killing others, which is why we have moved far away from others to the mountains no one climbs." Blue said not answering the knight's shy knight asked again, "So how do the other Dragons see you and Gene?"Blue sighed. "The other dragons see me as a rare gem. One not seen for a long time. Gene is treated with content when I am around; but otherwise, he is alone with no one at his side." Blue said finally answering the knight's question. "Detective Kuta read until all the children were fast asleep.
"Good night children, sleep tight," Detective Kuta said as he pulled the blankets up to our chins. That was before I opened my eyes and looked up at him.
"Do you want me to move your brothers or are you not feeling well?" Detective Kuta asked as I sat up between my brothers.
"I'm really warm, Detective Kuta," I said looking up at him; quickly he put his hand on my forehead to check if I had a fever. I heard him sigh in relief, before he reached down to pick up Gon and Killua.
"You don't have a fever luckily, so I think you are just overheating from your brother's cuddling up to you. I'll put your brothers in their room; why don't you take your sweater off and curl back up under your blankets?" Detective Kuta said as he lifted both boys into his arms and left the room. Quickly removing my sweater, I took the heavy fleece blanket off of my bed and crawled under the light comforter and sheets. I was lying in bed when Detective Kuta came back into the room. But for some reason, I still felt too warm.
"Are you feeling any better, Lia?" Detective Kuta asked as he came to sit on the edge of the bed.
"I still feel too warm," I said, looking up at him. Detective Kuta put the back of his hand to my forehead, and this time I sighed in relief as the heat my body was giving off was cooled.
"Your fever is back again; I will let Leorio know when he gets home in a little bit. I'll get a wet rag so that you can cool down a bit." Detective Kuta said looking at me sadly, but it wasn't out of pity knowing that due to my weak immune system I often will end up with fevers. Detective Kuta was about to get up and get the wet rag, when I shot out of my bed and heading for the bathroom, to throw up again. Dr. Paradinight was home 15 minutes later and came into my room as I got sick again.
"Leorio, she has a fever, and she barely ate anything today; so why is she getting sick?" Detective Kuta asked clearly confused and upset.
"I've already called the department head to come take a look at Lia. Because like you I know for a fact that there shouldn't be anything wrong with her." Dr Paradinight said looking me over. 20 minutes and one set of worried foster fathers later found me in bed with strict instructions to rest and drink a lot of water.
"Leorio, I know that you are worried that if you take Ayla to the hospital then she will be taken away from you and Kurapika. That won't happen if I have anything to do with it. Now if your daughter comes down with another fever and starts throwing up again, then bring her in," the department head said clearly upset at having to make two house calls today.
"Lia, love, I want you to sleep in our room tonight just in case your fever rises again," Detective Kuta said as he brushed my hair out of my face.
"No, I don't want to bother you tonight," I spoke in a soft tone. I just felt tired and wanted to go to sleep, or at least that was my plan until Dr. Paradinight picked me up and carried me into their room.
"Sorry Lia, but you heard what the Department Head said if your fever returns, or you start throwing up then we should take you to the hospital." Dr Paradinight said carrying me into their bedroom before placing me in the middle of their bed. As soon as Dr Paradinight placed me down did Detective Kuta curl up next to me and watched as I slowly fell asleep. I awoke the next morning to find myself alone in their bed wrapped up in a blanket and their comforter. I quickly climbed out of bed and started making the bed when Detective Kuta came into the room with a bowl of soup.
"Ayla, I want you to stay in bed," Detective Kuta said as he set the bowl of soup down on the dressing table. I turned to look at him and saw that he was clearly worried, as were Gon and Killua. They were standing right behind Detective Kuta, each holding their teddy bears that I had made for them. Gon also had my teddy bear. I quickly climbed back under the covers and sat up against some pillows. Detective Kuta smiled before turning and picking up the bowl of soup while waving my brothers in.
"Lia, are you okay?" Gon asked as he came closer while pulling Killua by the hand. That's when I noticed that Killua was in shutdown mode. I held my arms out for them to come to me, mostly Killua who reacts better when he comes out of his shell while in my arms.
"Boys be careful with Lia. Killua what's wrong Love?" Detective Kuta asked reaching out to touch Killua's cheek but got nothing from him.
"Killua is currently in a shutdown. He's not going to respond anytime soon, even though he's in a safe place. I found out that he responds better when he wakes up in my arms or with Gon nearby. That reminds me, Gon, what caused Killua to go into a shutdown?" I said as Gon led Killua over to me. He placed Killua as far away from Detective Kuta as he could, which in this case meant on the other side of the bed.
"And the bears?" Detective Kuta asked as he sat in the chair he had placed at the foot of the bed. He handed me the bowl of soup.
"Aunt Mito made Lia her teddy bear when she turned 5 years old. And Lia made mine when I turned five, and Killua's four years ago. Kurapika told us that if you start throwing up again, they will have to take you to the hospital. Killua started freaking out after hearing that this morning. He has been hiding in your room with Blue and Sir Felix just like this. I don't know for how long he was like this before I went looking for him." Gon said sitting down next to me.
"It's okay Gon, I figured this might happen if Detective Kuta told you both what the Department Head had said. I also knew that Killua would go to my room to be close to me in case something did happen." I explained to my brother and Detective Kuta, while I wrapped my arms around Killua's stiff body. I started humming a light song trying to get Killua to relax in my arms. I was glad that he was softly humming the song right next to me. It meant that he wasn't too far gone for once. Or he was coming out of the shutdown.
"Killua, are you okay?" I asked, tightening my grip on his shoulders.
"Lia, are you okay now?" Killua asked, leaning into my shoulder. While I just sat there trying to keep him calm and safe. I had wanted to stay in my room for just this reason, but I could also understand why Kurapika and Leorio had taken me to their room last night. They wanted to keep an eye on me to make sure that my fever didn't get any worse.
"I'll be just fine if I rest and drink lots of water as I have been told," I said, losing my grip on his shoulders. I watched as Killua shrugged his shoulders before reaching into his pocket and grabbing his stopwatch to find that four hours and twenty minutes had passed since the start of the shutdown.
"Good job Killua, you remembered to start the stopwatch this morning. Four hours and twenty minutes, that's about the normal amount of time. Don't worry Killua, I won't let anyone take me away from you like they did Alluka." I said tightening my grip once more.
"Thank you, Lia. Have you heard anything from your friend in the foster system about Alluka?" Killua said looking up at me. When he did that, I stopped the stopwatch, it was a known fact that when Killua looks up at me that the shutdown is over, and he is back to normal. I looked at the time to see four hours and 25 minutes. I wasn't worried about that, what had me worried was the fact that I had nothing to tell Killua about his sister.
"I haven't heard anything from my friend, but he knows that once he finds Alluka, he should call Aunt Mito's cell phone," I said just as the cell phone started to ring. Gon pulled it out of his shorts pocket and handed it to me.
"Hello Pokkie did you find her?" I asked my old friend, but what shocked me is that it wasn't Pokkie's voice on the other end.
"Killua, is that you?" a young girl's voice asked over the old cell phone. I turned it on speaker so that Killua could finally talk with his little sister for the first time in five years.
"Killua, are you there?" Alluka asked again.
"Alluka, I'm right here, are you alright?" Killua said as he took the phone from me. I smiled at him before turning to the bowl of soup that Kurapika had brought me to eat. I ate about a third of the bowl before putting it on the bedside table. Kurapika didn't look happy at the fact that I hadn't eaten much, but there wasn't much he could do without making me sick again. Killua had taken the phone call into his and Gon's room so he could talk with his sister in private.
"How long have you been waiting for that call?" Detective Kuta asked, looking at me from his spot at the foot of the bed.
"Three years ago, on the one-year anniversary of me and Killua meeting. But Pokkie is usually a lot faster at finding people because he has been in the foster system since he was two. Hey Killua, what's up?" I said looking at one of our foster fathers just as Killua came into the room.
"Your friend wants to talk to you, Lia. Is it all right if I and Alluka exchange letters?" Killua asked as he held out the cell phone to me.
"Hey Pokkie, what's up?" I asked, holding the phone to my ear before quickly pulling away as I could hear him taking in a deep breath.
"Ayla Freecss, how in the world did you get hurt so badly that you are restricted to bed…in all my years of knowing you; you have never once let anyone lay a finger on you unless someone threatened Gon or Killua…don't tell me he threatened both of them." Pokkie said over the line.
"Pretty much... any other questions?" I asked, leaning against the pillows behind me.
"What did he threaten to do to them that would make you allow someone to lay a finger on you, the youngest female Kendo Master?" Pokkie asked in a calm voice.
"He threatened to take away their innocence. In no way could I allow that to happen, just as you used to do with me, it's now my turn to protect them. Pokkie, I will talk to you later. Right now, I have to go and talk to the boys." I said looking straight at Gon and Killua with unchanging eyes. The look on Detective Kuta's face was enough to tell me that he understood what I had said. Our last foster father had threatened to rape both Gon and Killua in front of me if I hadn't done what he said.
"Okay, Lia," he said. "By the way, I finished it. With the address Killua gave to his little sister, I'll be able to send it. I hope you get better soon, Bean Sprout." Pokkie said before hanging up the phone on his end.
"Boys, could you leave the room for a few minutes while me and your sister talk alone, please?" Detective Kuta asked looking at both Gon and Killua, before turning to me. The boys looked at me before leaving the room after seeing me nod my head. It was a secret code between the three of us saying that everything was going to be alright. Before they left, I tossed the phone over to Gon and waved to them before they closed the door.
"Ayla, can you tell me what you mean by that?" Detective Kuta asked as he moved to sit next to me on his bed.
"Two years ago, when the three of us were placed with our last foster father, he made it clear that if I didn't do as he said, then he would take their innocence right then and there in front of me. Pokkie, he once told me that it was the job of the older kids to protect those younger than us. Pokkie once tried to save me from that fate, except for the fact that he was already too late." I explained to Detective Kuta, looking him in the eyes before looking down at my hands.
"How old were you the first time it happened?" Detective Kuta asked, moving closer to me. Detective Kuta wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side more. I knew he was trying to make me feel safer, but being close to someone while talking about what had happened to me wasn't a wise move. I was close to lashing out when Detective Kuta pulled at my chin to make me look at him. I still lashed out, pushing myself off the bed and into the wall, which caught the attention of both Gon and Killua, who came running at the sound.
"Lia? What's wrong?" Detective Kuta asked, surprised that I had pretty much thrown myself off the bed. I was curled up in the corner between the wall and the nightstand, shaking uncontrollably.
"Don't, you'll only make it worse Kurapika; Killua starts the stopwatch. This time Lia has completely shut down. I haven't seen her like this since she was seven, after our first foster father pulled Lia to the side right before dinner to talk to her about something. That night she didn't eat anything and I'm pretty sure that was the first time someone ever touched Lia in that way." Gon said making Detective Kuta take a couple steps back. And that was the last thing I heard before everything dulled, and it wasn't until much later that I came to. I was still curled up in the far corner of the room in between the wall and the nightstand, on the nightstand next to my head was a note and the stopwatch we use for Killua's shutdowns.