Guardian of My Heart

Chapter 4: Old Wounds

Henri's POV:

Narnia and I both watched as Iruma carefully took a sip of Hell Grey Tea. We both figured it would be a nice gesture to welcome him to his new world to call home. Thankfully it seemed to calm the boy down considerably, and his human biology didn't seem to react badly to the drink. It was a good start all things considered, but we still had a long way to go. I reclaimed my blazer from Iruma's shoulders as Narnia gently replaced it with a warm blanket. The three of us were the only individuals present in the interrogation space for safety reasons. The rest of the station's employees were kindly asked to relocate to the lower levels for the night, which thankfully they gave little protest to. Once he looked relaxed enough, I spoke to Iruma once again. "How are you feeling now Iruma? Is the tea to your liking?" The boy looked up at both of us, seeming to collect his thoughts for a moment. "I'm okay, I think. It's just that everything is moving so fast all of a sudden, I'm still trying to process it all. And the tea is wonderful! Could I get a second cup please?" Narnia got up and moved towards the door, a cheeky grin now plastered all over his face. "That's certainly the first time anyone around here has praised me for my cooking. Sure thing kid, I'll be back in five to ten minutes." I rolled my eyes at Narnia's antics, but Iruma chuckled at his ridiculousness. At least we were making some progress with the boy's mental health. But it wasn't just his mind that concerned me.

I cleared my throat to get Iruma's attention once more. "Now, as I've already told you, we have some questions that we need to ask you." This immediately alerted the boy to me, and his happy expression faded into a neutral gaze bordering on worry. I wished so much to erase that worry, but I had to perform my job. As soon as this was over, we could take steps to help him. "Additionally, since you have little to no knowledge of your own body, and no human would reasonably be able to provide you with insight into your demonic traits, we will be performing a physical." As I noticed him trembling and a slight blush adorning his face I quickly continued. "Relax. You won't be deprived of your dignity, and we will be sure to be as noninvasive as possible. But you do need to have an established medical record going forward." Iruma seemed to regain some of his composure, though I knew I was treading into dangerous territory. As he took a couple of deep breaths, Iruma locked his eyes with me again. "Okay, so what do you need to know?" I opened a folder containing a blank case file, the only information within being Iruma's name and a picture of him I had discreetly snapped during his cage match in the human realm. Fortunately it was early on into the fight, so he looked normal as opposed to how he appeared during what must have been his evil phase. Those black eyes wouldn't be leaving my mind soon enough.

"First question. How old are you, Iruma?" "I'm 14 years old, and my birthday is October 4th. Wait, do demons use the same calendar as humans do?" I sighed, slightly annoyed that we had already been sidetracked, but for the moment I decided to humor the boy. "Indeed we do. I'll be sure to note down your birthday as well, it will certainly be useful information for your guardians to know." At the mention of new parents, Iruma looked like he had something to ask, but he decided to keep his question to himself for the moment. I took his silence as permission to continue. "From my brief time observing you in the human realm, it's abundantly clear you weren't being properly cared for. Did you have human guardians before?" Iruma refused to meet my gaze this time, suddenly finding his empty cup of tea interesting. "I wouldn't call them guardians, more like distant acquaintances. They didn't really care for me, not the way I saw other kids' parents caring for them." I noted in Iruma's file that he was suffering from family neglect, knowing he would not share more on the topic presently. "Next question then, how long had you been caged in that vile place I found you locked away inside of?" For a minute Iruma didn't respond, and I feared I may have overstepped a breaking point.

Thankfully Narnia chose that exact moment to return to us. "Sorry for the wait, someone forgot to clean the machine on their way out tonight. Hey, is everything alright bud?" Narnia carefully set the new cup of Hell Grey Tea in front of Iruma before placing a hand on his shoulder. Iruma tensed up for a moment before forcing himself to relax, gladly taking a sip of tea to calm his ever-increasing nerves. "Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't mean to worry anyone. To answer your question Mr. Henri, I had been there for roughly 4 years." I felt my blood begin to boil. Narnia sent me a questioning look, and I simply passed him the case file I had been filling out to get him up to speed. He visibly paled the further he read into it. I felt his hand on my back as he took out his own pencil to continue filing everything, allowing me to give Iruma my full attention. "Iruma, do you have any clue as to what would cause your guardians to do such a thing to you?" Iruma seemed to linger on his tea a bit longer than usual before answering. "All my life, my parents had made me work to support them, so that they didn't have to work for themselves. I would have to pick up their slack, and when I didn't meet their demands, they would punish me. Sometimes I'd be hit, other times I would be forced to sleep in the forest without food or shelter. I was always hungry living with them. Every. Single. Day."