TW: Abuse.

Temari felt her stomach twist uncomfortably the longer she stared at the picture. There was a part of her that was trying to convince—trick—herself into thinking it was someone else in the picture. It…that could be anyone in that picture. It had to be.

Karura leaned over, picking up on her unease almost immediately. She gently touched Temari's hand. "What's the matter, dear?"

Temari jumped, having forgotten she'd been talking to her mother in the first place. It was strange that they'd been sitting there, idle, talking about Xin when her phone rang, when the picture was sent.

"Ah—" Temari stuttered. She couldn't tell Karura about the picture, about Xin. The Yakuza lifestyle was a hard road to travel, Karura would know most of all. "Something just came up, I'll be right back."

Kankuro noticed her coming first and frowned at her tense expression. Karura's doctor, all too familiar with the family and their...ways, quietly excused himself. Whatever the eldest Sabaku sibling had to say, it wasn't for him to hear.

"It's Xin—"

Gaara exhaled loudly, essentially cutting her off. "I made it clear that I don't want to talk about Xin. Whatever idea you and mom cooked up—"

Temari shook her head and waved her hand almost wildly. "Listen to me!" she snapped, her nerves beginning to fray. "Look at this picture," she shoved her phone at Gaara.

Gaara studied the picture for a long time, his eyes gradually darkening as he took in the slumped figure. "What the fuck is this?" He snatched the phone from her, fingers tight around the device.

"She called me but I didn't answer," Temari began to explain. "And then that picture was sent. It's her, isn't it?"

"Xin wasn't the one who called," Kankuro said, studying the picture. "Whoever's got her tied up called."

Gaara stared at the picture, studying the hair, the shape, the uniform. It was Xin, he could recognize her anywhere even without seeing her face. He studied the splotches of red staining her top, some splotches more brown. This was the entire reason he didn't want her around in the first place but what was the fuckin' point of that if she was snatched off the street anyway?

"How the fuck did this happen?" Gaara snapped, he could feel his temper rising. Behind Temari, Karura shot him a look of disapproval.

"Well," Kankuro said but stopped when both of his siblings shot him an acidic look. "Well, don't ask questions you don't want answers to," he rolled his eyes. "Anyway, maybe we should call her? They're clearly beating on her and she keeps saying she can take a hit but…" Even he couldn't hide his growing concern.

The phone rang for what felt like hours before someone finally picked up. No one on Xin's end spoke but there was the sound of soft breathing. Something thudded and there was a soft grunt of pain. "Talk."

There was a deep sigh. "Unn….Temari?" Xin greeted, sounding unsure of herself. "Um, well, this is embarrassing but I seem to have been kidnapped…"

"Xin, what the fuck? By who?" Temari demanded.

"That's a good question. Oi, what's your name?" Xin was clearly talking to her kidnappers. "I mean, they'd probably need to know your names if you're going to try to ransom me to them? No? That's stupid? Well, this whole situation is fuckin' stupid, so…"

There was another harsh thud and Xin gasped sharply before groaning. She let out a ragged breath, the phone seemingly projecting her pain.

"Xin, stop fuckin' antagonizing them!" Temari snapped at the phone.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Xin managed to wheeze. "Um, I don't know their names but they really want…what exactly do you want from them? Like, Gaara's attention? Or money?"

There was harsh talking but they were speaking too low for them to make out what was being said.

"They won't talk to anyone but Gaara," Xin said and then the line went dead

Temari made a strange noise in her throat. "Call them back!" She scrambled for the phone, snatching it out of Gaara's hand. She called Xin's phone back but felt her gut twist for the second time when it went straight to voicemail. Blocked.

Gaara shouldered past them, a dark look brewing in his eyes. He tried to reign in his temper, feeling it boiling over. By the time he reached Karura, he looked as calm as ever. "Something came up, mom. We've got to go."

He wanted to blame someone for this but there was no one to blame. He'd been right to assume their lifestyle was too dangerous for Xin but it was too late. She'd been seen with them enough that people assumed that she was involved with them, someway.

It was foolish, now that he really thought about it, to ice her out so abruptly and assume the rest of Tokyo's underbelly would. It was the perfect opportunity to snatch her dippy ass right off the street.

Karura frowned softly but cupped his face when he leaned down, kissing his forehead. "Urgent?"

"Very," Gaara nodded as his siblings crowded Karura to say their goodbyes. "Our next visit will be longer than this."

Karura nodded slowly, kissing Kankuro and Temari as well. "I see, well," she grabbed at Temari's hand, caressing her knuckles with her thumb. "Maybe you'll bring your new friend? Xin?"

He wouldn't meet her eyes. "Sure."

She watched them go with a soft frown, something heavy twisting in her gut. She was no fool, whatever had Gaara rushing off wasn't just an urgent issue, something was terribly wrong and she had a feeling it had something to do with that Xin girl.

She sank low in her wheelchair as her nurse took her back inside, recalling bad memories of a husband she tried not to think about.

"I need to use the bathroom."

Ateru glanced up from his phone, staring blankly at Xin. She looked like absolute shit, covered in bruises and dried blood. Despite her torn up appearance, she still had this look in her eyes that he simply didn't like. He wasn't sure how to describe it but it rattled him every time he made eye contact with her.

"I don't give a fuck," he said.

She made a face and groaned in frustration. "I've been holding it for hours."

"Keep holding it."

"I can't," Xin whined. "If you don't take me to the bathroom, I'm gonna end up going on myself."

Ateru made a face of disgust and gave her his full attention. "You fuckin' wouldn't."

But Xin only shrugged. "Is that something you want to bet on?"

He continued to stare at her, trying to figure out if it was just a bluff. Making a decision, he stood up, not in the mood to smell urine if she wasn't fucking around. Besides, she was just a small girl, what could she do against him?

He undid her bindings, making a noise of disgust at the sight of her rope burn. Her skin was red and splotchy and there were even some specks of blood here and there. "Don't try any funny shit," he said and for good measure, grabbed her bicep where the rope burn was the worst. She gasped but he pulled her to her feet and dragged her out of the room.

They left the abandoned building and to Xin's dismay, it was late into the evening. She wasn't even sure if it was still Thursday. The fresh air was nice, she thought almost aimlessly as Ateru led her into the remnants of the construction zone.

There were a row of portable toilets and Xin felt her nose wrinkle. She wondered, not the first time, how she'd even gotten wrapped up in the mess. It all led back to Xin running off into the night, leaving everything behind in a bid to save herself.

A quiet night just like this one.

She wasn't sure what it was about her that attracted violent men. Maybe, like Ateru said, she just had the sort of face men wanted to ruin. She wasn't entirely sure what that meant but these men hadn't been the first to put their hands on her.

They could be the last, she resigned herself to thinking. There was no way they'd just let her go after this. Gaara didn't seem too concerned about cooperating with them. She would most likely die by the end of this situation.

Which, in hindsight, sucked because she had done so much to avoid a situation like this. She fled in the middle of the night, traveled miles and started over in a new city just to give herself another chance. A wasted chance if these morons had anything to say about it. A plume of rage simmered low in her gut. It wasn't fair, she didn't come this far in life just to come this far.

Xin stared at Ateru's back as he approached one of the portable toilets first. There was no one around, no one that would come to her rescue like she'd seen in manga and anime. If she wanted to be saved, she was going to have to do it herself.

Again.

Blood rushed in her ears, drowning everything out as her adrenaline began to pump. If she was going to do something, now was the time. Now was the only time she would have. She couldn't think about it, couldn't afford to plan accordingly. She just had to do it.

Ateru swung the door open to the outhouse. Blood roaring in her ears, Xin surged towards him and threw her body into his, shoving him with all her might. He let out a squawk of surprise, falling into the outhouse. Xin slammed the door shut, glancing behind her to see if Hayate would come running out of the darkness but he was nowhere in sight.

Breathing heavily, adrenaline pumping through her veins, Xin did the one thing she was good at.

She ran.

(Before.)

Her face hadn't fallen off.

Xin sat in the aftermath of Kazuya's rage, shards of glass digging into her legs and hands as she knelt there. Glancing up, she took note of the blood that dribbled down from the windowpane, her blood. It was her blood dribbling down from the windowpane, leaking out of her face.

A lot of blood.

She continued to sit there for a long moment, just in case Kazuya decided to storm back in. He wouldn't though, all the blood scared him away. As bad as their relationship was, as bad as the fights could be, blood had never been drawn quite like this. It freaked him out to see all that blood gushing out of the side of her face and in his terror, he fled, leaving her to clean the mess up.

Xin was strangely calm but she knew it was just the shock. It was good though because the minute she began to panic, the blood would really gush out of her and she'd lose it faster. It was slowing down, she could feel it and very carefully she managed to climb to her feet.

She wondered while staring at the shattered window, if he was actually trying to kill her this time. She'd been foolish enough to believe he would let her leave him. Her packed bags sat idly by the door, forgotten in the aftermath of their fight. He wasn't supposed to come home this early. She'd been hoping she'd be squirreled away behind her parents' locked door by the time he was due home. But he surprised her, coming home earlier than usual to see her packed bags.

Going through the motions, Xin picked up the shards of glass, carefully disposing them. She wiped most of the blood up, worrying that it would set the longer she stood there like an idiot. Her face bled the entire time and she finally remembered to grab a towel, pressing it to the side of her face to staunch the flow.

She would need stitches and though she was pretty good at stitches, she doubted she would be able to close the geyser in her face up. Kazuya had taken the truck, not that it surprised her. The clinic wasn't too far, she amended and got to walking,

The clinic was still open, its lights like a beacon to her. Their only practicing doctor and the one who'd taken Xin under her wing was a thirty-something woman. She was kind, having returned to their little town when her uncle died. She'd taken over his practice, ensuring that her uncle's beloved town would have someone to see to their medical needs.

"We're about to close," Shizune announced when she heard the door swing open. "I hope..." she came to a hard pause when she finally looked up, her face paling considerably. Xin stood there like some ghost, holding a towel to her face, one soaked in blood. "Xin, oh my God."

"I…fell.." Xin tried to explain. "I fell into a window."

"I don't want to hear any of those sad excuses," Shizune nearly snapped, rushing for her young apprentice. "I'm not stupid and neither are you." She guided Xin to sit down, fearful that she would fall over from the bloodloss.

Xin was quiet as Shizune peeled the blood-soaked towel away from her face, inhaling sharply through her teeth. She muttered to herself the entire time, cleaning the blood away to get a good look at the gash. It missed her eye completely, lucky for Xin, but ran from her forehead to just underneath her ear.

"Xin…" Shizune trailed off in sympathy, her shoulders slumping. But Xin didn't bother with trying to excuse the injury this time, sitting there with a blank look on face. Shizune tried to be as gentle as possible as she stitched the wound closed, tugging the torn skin back into place. She didn't try to get Xin to talk about it, they'd sat here many times, unable to face the ugly truth.

"I was trying to leave him," Xin finally said as Shizune finished with her stitching. "He wasn't supposed to be back for another couple of hours. He saw the bags…and I couldn't get to the door. We were fighting and he.." She raised her hand to the side of her face and mimed the action of shoving it forward.

Shizune stared at her for a long time, frowning softly. She figured the abuse out almost as soon as Xin began to work under her. She'd seen it time and time again, the bruises and cuts and flinches. She'd heard the excuses too, how it was always their fault and never their boyfriend or husband's fault.

"He gets so mad sometimes.."

"I shouldn't have said what I said, it was my fault, really."

"He didn't mean it, he said he was sorry."

"He said he would stop."

But they never stopped, Shizune discovered. Such a hateful and ugly cycle that just kept spinning and spinning. It would never stop.

Shizune slowly took Xin's hand in hers, her face open and earnest. "Xin, you can't go back to him. I know you feel…obligated, I know you feel like you love him and maybe you do but this…this isn't love. This isn't love. Love doesn't hurt like this, love isn't making excuses for his violence. Love is kind and warm and good. This…this is abuse," she pleaded with the young woman. She probably sounded ridiculous trying to explain love but she had to. "Xin, you have to leave."

"I tried."

"No," Shizune shook her head. "You have to leave this town. He'll never let you go if you stay here and you'll go back to him, Xin, I'm sorry but you will. He'll say he's sorry and beg you to come back and you will. You'll keep going back until he kills you. And he will. They always do."

Xin blinked out her stupor, her eyes flickering towards Shizune. Her expression broke, her big eyes filling with tears. Her adrenaline was beginning to wear off and she could feel the telltale sign of pain blooming from her face. Her blood was beginning to dry on her neck, caking her skin in a thin shield of red. "I…how can I just leave? I don't have anything.."

Shizune got up and hurried towards her desk. She loudly rifled through it, returning with a thick envelope. She reclaimed her spot next to Xin before shoving the envelope into her hands. Xin blinked at her and opened it, peering into with a surprised gasp. "Your parents began to pay me when I started teaching you. They insisted and I only accepted it so that I could eventually give it back once you decided to pursue a college education but…"

"I can't take this," Xin said in horror, trying to give the envelope back. She had no idea her parents were paying Shizune in the first place. It was their money, they should have it back.

But Shizune shoved it back towards her. "No. You're going to take that money and buy a train ticket. To anywhere. Doesn't matter. Leave and find your peace somewhere else with that money. You've earned it, Xin. You deserve so much more than this."

Did she? What made her so deserving? What right did she have to leave this small dusty town behind? What about her parents and sisters, could she just leave them behind? They would be so disappointed in her if she did leave.

Her face throbbed painfully.

"Where would I go?" Xin asked in a soft voice.

Shizune grabbed her hand again, squeezing hopefully. "Anywhere, Xin. You could get on a train and get on an airplane if you wanted. Anywhere but you have to go."

Could she really start all over? Just like that? She'd never been fully on her own and if she left, she would be on her own. Could she do this without her parents? Without her sisters?

"They'll never forgive me if I leave…"

Shizune's expression was tender. "They'll never forgive themselves if he kills you."

"You really think he'd kill me?"

Again, Shizune squeezed her hand. "I've seen plenty of women in your shoes, Xin, men too. I've seen so many people look the way you do and when they decide to stay, to make things work—I never see them again. Please, I don't want that for you."

"How…how would I do it?"

Shizune smiled.

It killed her that she would have to leave without telling her family but time was limited. Kazuya already surprised her once by showing up early, she couldn't bank on him to stay gone for the rest of the night. She risked returning to their little house, snatching up her bags.

She took the last train of the night, her nerves shot as she sat there for hours. Her phone didn't ring the entire time. If she had to guess, Kazuya had slunk off to the pub, drinking cheap beer in an attempt to forget the fact that he put his girlfriend's head through a window.

She laughed breathlessly. He could have killed her. She could have passed out and bled to death and he left her. His guilt drove him away but the beer would make him forget and he'd come back and the cycle would continue.

Xin decided she would go to Tokyo. It was a bustling city, one a country girl could easily vanish in. She would change her phone number and keep her head down.

It was hard, the first couple of nights in Tokyo. She stayed in shitty hotels until finding her shitty apartment. Manager Umino hired her after she was rejected from several jobs, her medical experience meant nothing without a degree. She opened a bank account, deposited all the money her parents had given to Shizune and sent it back.

Eventually she mustered up the courage to call her parents. She didn't tell them where exactly she had gone, just that she was living in the big city. That could have meant anything to country folk.

They were disappointed in her and berated her for her strange choice. It hurt, she remembered thinking but it didn't hurt as much as getting her face put through glass. Besides, at least they had a daughter to berate in the first place.

She could do this. She had to, she started over from scratch. This was her second chance. All she had to do was keep her head down, keep to herself and try her fuckin' best.

Running had never felt so free.

Jura was in a surprisingly good mood, not that it was that hard to believe. He often tried to remain optimistic despite his career path. Did he plan on this particular path when he was growing up? No, not really but he was good at it and he earned too much money to complain.

When Gaara told him that he and his siblings would be paying Karura an unplanned visit, Jura knew that Gaara was leaving his daily affairs for him to look after. Which was fine with him, that meant he would have an uneventful day.

He carried out Gaara's daily business, making sure that everything was running smoothly. Legal and illegal. Most people would be surprised that the daily ongoings could be rather…well..boring. Not that he was complaining, sometimes excessive violence could really weigh on a guy's mental state. The boring days in between were actually well appreciated.

Jura knew something was wrong the minute he spotted Shira making his way towards him. Shira was more so involved in their illegal exploits, his appearance far too intimidating to have him around during their legal businesses. Shira didn't seem to mind it, probably preferring that he didn't have to do a lot of talking.

"What?" Jura asked the minute Shira was close enough. He sifted through the possible reasons for Shira's presence, maybe one of the clubs were coming up short again.

"I heard a rumor," Shira said, not bothering to greet Jura. Shira tended to hear a lot of rumors that spread throughout Tokyo's underbelly. Most men mistook his perpetual quietness as disinterest.

Jura considered the pros and cons of drinking in the morning.

"The Boss's friend, the one who punched me in the face."

Jura made a face. He didn't question Gaara's decisions, not when he seemed adamant about certain things. Unfortunately, he'd been very adamant about their involvement with Xin. It was dangerous, he agreed but there was a part of him that didn't like icing her out. He hadn't been the only one, Temari had expressed her displeasure at the loss of a friend but Gaara couldn't be swayed.

Kankuro seemed rather…well, Jura would have thought that Kankuro was all for icing Xin out. After all, it seemed to be his end goal in the beginning. But he didn't seem like he was completely on board with the idea. Jura wondered if he had some sort of epiphany about Xin when she helped with the gunshot wound.

"What about her?" Jura asked slowly.

Shira sat down next to him, frowning. "Apparently there's two kids running around, thinking Boss owes them something."

Jur rolled his shoulders. "Two idiots getting too big for their britches," he commented drolly. "S'not the first time, what's it got to do with Xin?"

"There's talk that they've been telling everyone they've got this girl holed up somewhere."

Jura blinked. "What girl?"

"They didn't say a name but they kept calling her the Boss's girl."

Jura tapped his finger against his thigh, his stomach twisting uncomfortably. "And you think they mean Xin?"

"What other girl has been hanging around him?"

That was a good point, Jura conceded. He snatched his phone out of his pocket and dialed Xin's number. It rang and rang for what felt like several minutes. Jura tried her number again.

That feeling in his gut was worsening.

He stood up and shoved his phone back into his pocket. "Find out who the two idiots are." He didn't bother to see if Shira nodded or not, already up and out to his truck.

There was no way Xin was kidnapped. Maybe her phone was dead or she was busy and didn't see his call. Maybe she was just ignoring him because he was affiliated with Gaara and Gaara made it clear to her that they wouldn't be around her like before.

He came up with a slew of reasons by the time he made it to her apartment. For a long moment, he sat idle in front of the building, watching. Hoping she would come waltzing out.

No such luck.

Jura knocked on the door, hoping and praying and damn there pleading for it to swing open. He knocked again. Still, Xin didn't come to the door.

He sagged, resting his forehead against the door. Gaara was going to be pissed. The entire reason they cut the friendship off with Xin was to avoid situations like this. Not only was she missing, she was probably being tortured.

"Excuse me…?"

Jura picked his head up, gathered his dignity and turned around. An old woman was staring back at him, her mouth pulled into a worried frown. She eyed him suspiciously, taking note of the tattoos that were peeking out from the collar of his shirt. "Are you…looking for someone?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. This probably didn't look good on Xin from this lady's perspective. "Uh, yeah, I guess. Xin around?" He cringed, because that sounded suspicious as fuck. "I'm a friend of hers and uh…."

"She hasn't come home," the woman said, her expression softening. "Does it have something to do with you?"

He knew what she meant by that. Does it have something to do with you criminals?

"I..I think so," Jura sighed.

The old woman sucked her teeth and shook her head. "She's a good girl," the old woman said. "I kept telling her that she needed to get out more, she's young, she needs to socialize."

Very true, he agreed.

"If I had known that she was getting mixed up with your crowd…" the woman trailed off, shaking her head again. Jura took no offense. Xin shouldn't have been mixed up with the likes of them. It wasn't normal, they weren't normal. "She seemed down these past couple of weeks though. I worried even more about her. She deserves more than this."

"I know," Jura finally said.

"Then do something! You're just standing there, looking pitiful," she scolded him, wagging her finger for good measure.

His phone began vibrating, saving him from whatever he was about to say. He had a funny feeling when he pulled it out to see Gaara's name flashing across his screen.

"Where the fuck are you?"

Jura grimaced, Gaara was usually in an agreeable mood after visiting with his mother. "I'm at Xin's apartment."

There was a pause. "She's there?" Gaara sounded almost…relieved.

"She's not, she didn't come home."

"Since Thursday," the old woman pointed out. Since Thursday. Her neighbor hasn't seen her since Thursday. It was Saturday.

There was a string of impressive curses, ones that Jura patiently listened to. He forced a smile at the old woman before ducking around her, back to his truck. "Shira's heard some rumors."

"What rumors?" Temari asked. He must be on speaker.

"There's these two fuckin' punk's runnin' around, saying they've got this girl holed up somewhere."

"How do we know that means Xin?" Kankuro asked.

"They kept calling her Boss Sabaku's girl. They can't mean Temari and there hasn't been any other girl we've interacted with."

"She called us, or those idiots did," Temari said in a quick breath. "They want to talk to Gaara."

"Are you gonna talk with them, Boss?"

Gaara made a derisive noise. "Fuck no, I don't negotiate with fuckin losers. Tell Shira to find out whoever the fuck's got her or I'm gonna slice his fuckin' head off."

The line went dead and Jura groaned. They had to find her or Gaara would probably murder all of them. Truthfully, he wanted to be angry with Gaara. They should've never left Xin alone and now that they had, she was picked up off the street while they were busy living their day to day lives. They should have at least had the sense to check on her, just to make sure no shiesty shit was happening.

Jura leaned his head back against the seat, his eyes closed. It wouldn't be hard to track these idiots down, not really but she'd been gone since Thursday. There was a chance she was actually dead by now, maybe by accident but it was possible.

There was an insistent tap against his window. His eyes popped open, hand reaching for the gun sitting in the passenger seat. But it was only the old lady, giving him the evil eye. Jesus, this lady wouldn't quit. It was nice though, knowing someone else cared so fiercely for Xin.

"Well?" she demanded when he rolled the window down. "You're wasting time, sitting here like a bump on a log!" It was rather impressive that she had the guts to snap at him like this. Probably had something to do with her age.

She was right though, he was wasting time and if he didn't have something by the time the Sabaku siblings returned, Gaara was more likely to shoot him in the fuckin' knee.

His phone began to vibrate again.

It was Shira.

There was work to do.

(Before.)

Kazuya was in a bad mood. She wasn't sure why but she sensed it all the same. She waved to their friends, well, mostly his friends but Xin was the type of person who could make friends with anyone. She was easy to talk to and peppy, just an all around easy person to befriend. Despite the fact that she could easily make friends, she realized at some point that the friends she tended to hang around with, when she could, were all actually Kazuya's friends.

She climbed into his old truck, still waving as their—his—friends drove off one by one. It was one of those unbelievably hot days, the kind of days when moving was just too much. It was Kazuya who suggested they drive a little ways out of town to go swimming in the lake. She thought it would be just them swimming so when his friends began showing up, she was a little shocked but welcomed it nonetheless.

Everything was fine, she greeted them with smiles and Kazuya didn't really seem to care. And then she made the mistake of taking her clothes off. She wasn't quite sure what he expected from her after suggesting they go swimming. It wasn't like she was in underwear or anything like that, it was a plain bikini. The bikini wasn't even what some would consider as sexy. Unfortunately, she filled it out way too well.

"Are you fuckin' kidding me?" Kazuya asked after a long pause.

Xin blinked and turned to look at him, clearly confused. "What are you talking about?" She was going to piss him off with that sort of tone, she realized. It made him feel dumb, he claimed, like she thought she was smarter than him. Like she thought she was better than him.

"You think I don't know what you're doing? Runnin' around with your tits out in front of the guys?"

She blinked again. "I don't have my breasts out for anyone. We went swimming. This is my swimsuit, what do you expect me to do?"

She should've known the signs by now, should've known to just shut the hell up and have his temper tantrum. But his anger was ridiculous, so misguided and misdirected. If his friends had been staring at her chest or her ass, shouldn't he take that up with them? Why was it her fault? It wasn't like she could help having breasts, she couldn't control the size of them.

It happened so fast, she didn't even process the pain at first.

One minute they'd been sitting there, the next, he had her by the neck. He squeezed hard enough to leave bruises, purple thumbprints that she would have to hide with hoodies and high-collared shirts in the middle of fuckin' July, and forced her down until her face was smashed against her knees. She wriggled, crying out in surprise. What the fuck was he even doing?

And then she felt it.

It was hard to describe at first, so intense that she almost didn't even register the pain. It was a circle of heat that burned so hot, it almost felt...white, as strange as that sounded. It was unbearable, the circle of heat burning through layers of skin that would forever mark her as his. She didn't scream, something that amazed her, only gasping into her knees. Tears sprung to her eyes, involuntarily cascading down her face as her skin sizzled and burned. The smell of it—of her—filled the car and she nearly choked on it.

That was her. That awful stench was her skin burning.

"Don't you ever fuckin' embarrass me like that again!" Kazuya was screaming but it sounded muffled to her, almost as if her mind and body was trying to shut down in order to deal with the pain. She barely registered it when he yanked her back up, only to press the car lighter into the side of her breast and once more into her hip. He was punishing her, she realized with tears, for being a woman. For something as simple as having hips and breasts, something she couldn't control.

He shoved her away, her head bashing into the window. She didn't feel it, busy reeling over the pain of being burned not once, not twice but three times. Her hand shaking, she scrambled for the door handle. This was too much. This was not right. This was not love, it couldn't be, she tried to convince her. She could get out, put an end to this before it got too bad, worse than it already was.

She could run.

But she didn't. She didn't run for a long time.