Behind The Mask

Chapter 15- Kian

One second, he was beginning a rant about how little he deserved love, then right as I was about to deny his claims: he was sprawled out on the bed unconscious. All that had been keeping him awake was his story telling, and now that he had shared as much as he had, it had all caught up with him. We all just sort of stared for a minute, trying to comprehend everything we had just heard and witnessed.

When we recovered, I went forward and picked him up, carrying him back up the staircase before placing him on my bed. Us 3 sat there for a while, just giving it time to sink in. Before long, we all decided that we needed to talk about what had just transpired.

"So... Akari was tortured in that room?" Akai enquired.

"So it seems. FUCK! He was suffering from all this recently and I didn't see it. It explains why he hated most physical contact. I SHOULD HAVE NOTICED!" I screamed.

"Kian," Kio input, "Calm down. You weren't the only one who didn't notice, we all should have seen it. At the moment, I'm just grateful that he trusted us all enough to share it. Just please stop yelling, you'll wake mum and dad up as well as Kaihe."

"I saw his face. When we all went to his house, I saw his face. I didn't even think, I just thought he'd been in some sort of accident."

At that moment, our parents rushed into the room, worried because of the yelling. The first thing they noticed was Akari's unconscious body, then the cut wallpaper and door, then the emotions we were all displaying on our faces. Kaihe came in behind them and saw everything happening in the room. He had a smirk on his face as he assumed we were all going to get in trouble. "What is going on in here? We heard yelling and now we're seeing... this."

"I'll tell you, but we need to go somewhere private where As-... Kaihe won't hear. Please." They gave me a nod. "Kio, keep Kaihe away from Akari: I don't like the idea of Kaihe going near him. And Akai: look after Akari for me."

They gave a nod of acknowledgement, so I walked out and followed my parents out into their room and told them everything that had just transpired: from the dream that I'd had to right before they walked in. I could tell they were hesitant to believe me, so I asked them to follow me so that I could show them. As we walked out into the hallway, we saw Kaihe trying to get past Kio into the room. "Move out of the way! I just want a close-up look so I can determine whether they are a boy or girl. Move or I will make you, you mentally disabled midget!"

"Kaihe!" My father yelled, "You will leave! Right now! You do not act like that around guests, you rotten child! If you do not get your act together, I will kick you out of this house with no money in your pocket!" Upon hearing this, he scurried away as quickly as he could- scared that they would follow through with their threat if he didn't. Kio gave me a nod, which I responded in kind.

When we entered the room, I saw that Akai had been respectful of his privacy, because she had put his mask back over his face and was sitting with his head resting in her lap. I told my parents that out of respect for Akari, I wouldn't let them see his face until he had woken up and given his consent. They understood. I led them down the stairs and as they walked into the room, they gave a gasp of surprise and horror. I noticed that my father's focus was on the chair and the bed while my mother's was on the items that were used to torture the sweet, unconscious person upstairs. I then saw their focuses swap. My father looked furious while my mother just looked horrified. We headed back upstairs, where they decided to talk to Kio and Akai and asked if they were okay.

When they had determined that we weren't going to all breakdown, they told us to come down for some lunch while Akari rested. Akai and I were the last one's in the room. "Why don't you go out and get something to eat?" I told her, "I'll look after him. Go on."

She gently put his head back onto the bed and walked out with only a slight pat on the shoulder as she left. I walked up and sat on the bed with my back against the wall before resting Akari's head along my legs. He looked so peaceful when he slept. I never really looked at him when he slept on me on the bus, but it was almost like all the cares he had in this world just left him. In that moment, I promised myself that I would make it so that he could like that during his waking hours too.

I couldn't help but just stare at his face while he slept. His hair looked so soft with its red ends. I pulled his mask down so that he could breathe better and couldn't help but notice how cute his entire face was. Even with his scar, his face just looked adorable. It was the first time I had properly seen him and his face, so I started soaking it all in. His chin, his lips, his scar, his nose, his forehead, his eyes... wait-

"Hi."