Bruises

Part 2

(I dunno, I was just listening to this song while I wrote this chapter.)

The house was pathetically small. Eros glanced down at the slip of paper in his hand, frowning. Is this where Hiku lived now? What happened to the mansion of years gone by? Where the two boys played, laughed, and fell in love?

Heart thudding against his rib cage, Eros approached the door and knocked hesitantly. There was a yell from inside, followed by a crash, before it was opened by a little girl with shiny blonde hair to her knees. It was instantly closed, and another yell. Footsteps, and this time, an older boy opened it. "It's him," he said decidedly, the little girl on his hip. "You can enter," he told Eros, and the Greek stepped over the threshold. "Is this where Hiku lives?" he asked the pair, and the girl nodded, now sucking on her thumb. "Go and play," the boy told her, letting her down, and she ran off, blonde hair streaming behind her. "He's this way." The boy lead Eros across a room, which seemed to be stuffed to the brim with children. Robot children, alien children, mutant children, children with glassy eyes that suggest of horrors seen.

Across a hall lined with doors, Eros followed the boy, until he got to a curtained section. "Hiku, he's here." The curtain was drawn back, and suddenly, Eros was being squeezed in an embrace so tight he swore his ribs cracked. The boy backed away, a small sort of smile playing on his lips. "Eros," Hiku sobbed, "Oh, God, Eros."

The Japanese was taller than him now. "I missed you," Eros whispered into his collarbone, and Hiku laid his cheek on Eros's hair. A sort of choked sob escapes his throat. After what seems like forever but isn't long enough, Hiku withdraws, one hand still gripping Eros's hand. "Your hand is cold," he says, voice breaking. "It's always been cold." Eros manages a watery smile. "Yeah."

Hiku tugs Eros to a couch in the corner, and his head swivels around, looking at the room. It's small, with a ratty couch that they were currently sitting on, and a wooden desk with papers in neat piles, along with a small, plastic cup filled with pens. "You still write?" Eros asks, regretting the question as soon as he had asked it. Hiku didn't seem to regard as embarrassing, and shrugged. "You taught me, didn't you?" Eros can't hear his slight accent anymore, and it causes a lump in his throat. "Yeah," he says, "Yeah, I did."

Eros forces his face into a neutral expression. "What have you been up to?" Hiku shrugs with one shoulder, brushing his floppy, dark hair away from his eyes. Eros notes as them being clear, bright green, though he can't remember how he could have ever forgotten.

"I've been taking in abandoned kids since the war," Hiku tells him, their arms touching. Eros feels too small for skin all of a sudden as Hiku takes his hand. "My old house was destroyed, so I got this place. No neighbors, no rent to pay. Just some renovations and food, and I stole the food and got money from the government." He doesn't seem at all ashamed to admit it.

"These kids," Hiku smiles. "They're my sanity. I took in Astrid when she was ten, and she's thirteen now. The oldest is Ebba- they're 16 and helps out a lot." At Eros's raised eyebrow at the pronoun, Hiku explains, "No gender preference. FEA-2041 is the youngest, she was made only a few months ago. HJA-4 is teaching her how to walk."

"What about the little blonde girl?" Eros asks, gnawing on his lower lip. Hiku drums his fingers on his knee. "Gemma, you mean? I adopted her and her older brother, Julian, last year. She only speaks German, and he's a cyborg. I don't think they're biologically related, but she insists that he's her brother. At least, from what little German I know."

Hiku stands up abruptly, his eyes wide. Eros glances at him. "Hiku? You okay?" The other hisses, "Get down!" He puts two hands on Eros's head and pushes. "Stay under the desk until I come back!"

Hiku sprints out of the room, and there is quite a lot of shuffling sounds until its deathly quiet. He returns many terrified moments later, with Eros crouched under the desk. He's never doubted his best friend, and now is not the time to start.

Hiku huddles beneath the desk, curled into a ball. He reminds Eros of the skinny eleven-year-old he once knew, who didn't want to go other to the neighbor's house because they had a large, scary dog-bot. Eros brings his arms around the other's torso, and Hiku is shaking, goosebumps rising on his pale arms. There is a clatter from somewhere in the house, and Eros jumps, but Hiku's hand is clamped around his mouth, muffling his whispered curse.

Inspection, Hiku mouths, his breath hot and coming in pants, fanning across Eros's neck. The Greek closes his eyes, his head falling on Hiku's.

A crash, and a loud curse. Eros sucks in a sharp breath, but otherwise makes no noise.

"We know you're here, rats!" Someone calls loudly, and Hiku looks like he's about to cry, but doesn't move. Eros's muscles ache, and he exhales quietly as the sound of boots stomping on wooden floorboards grow nearer. There is a sound of the curtain being shoved aside, followed by more stomps. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" the voice shouts, the sound echoing around the small room. Too late, Eros remembers the papers on Hiku's desk. He glances into the green eyes, which are glassy with fear.

The desk is pushed away, and, suddenly, Eros is looking up at the barrel of a gun. His breath catches in his throat, but he feels oddly calm.

Eros stands up, letting go of Hiku, who lets out a squeak. There is a gunshot, pain ripping through his abdomen, and, suddenly, he's on the floor. A crash, and Hiku has attacked the guard. Eros's vision is growing blurry, and, when he takes his hand away from his stomach, it's covered in red.

He groans.

Hiku is at his side in an instant, tearing off his shirt and pressing it to the wound. "Eros," he chokes out, and the Greek smiles serenly. "Hiku," he whispers, blood trickling from his lips as he coughs. "Oh, God, Eros, don't die on me," Hiku sobs, tears dripping down his nose. They land on Eros's shirt, and he reaches out to grab the other's sleeve. "Hiku...don't forget me."

Then everything went black.

End.