Tsugi No Level

Chapter 23: Untold Pain

The ship is in hyperdrive going towards the planet Hominidae. Ten is lying down on a bed as he sleeps. The news hit him hard and the energy Mai used while in his body took its toll as well. Demo is looking out the window at the lights passing them by. As he looks at the lights, he is throwing up and catching a rock over and over. In his mind, he is going over the fight with KetsuEki. He also thinks back on his mistakes with the soldier. Especially the cut that sent him into a fit of rage. The way they dodged and manipulated his punches seemed as if they were predicting or clearly seeing where his punches would go.

And the more his punches missed their target the angrier he got. Which made him lose himself in anger as he got hurt. His face one of contemplation as he whispers to himself.

"I have to get stronger."

After a while, Ten wakes up from his sleep. He jumps up like someone waking up from a nightmare. He looks at Demo and then scans the room he is in as if he wants to verify it's all real. He looks down as if he wants to hide the shame of what he is feeling at the moment.

"So I did leave."

Mai who was still activated and monitoring his vital signs as he slept to make sure nothing bad happened feels the need to respond.

"I'm sorry I made the decision without you. But all the signs showed you wanted to help Demo."

Ten shakes his head peacefully.

"Nah, it's ok. You did the right thing. I wanted to help him. I knew that doing so would mean I couldn't stay. It's ok."

Mai doesn't say anything else because she knows Ten is trying to come to terms with everything that has happened. Ten falls back down on the pillow and looks up at the ceiling. His uncle was the reason his mother and father started Glia. Which means he was also the reason things went as bad as they did. Ten's mind drifts off as he tries to not get extremely angry at his uncle. But he can't help himself from remembering that night.

He and his mother had just come back from another visit to what Ten now knows to be a GliaSpot. His mother was holding his hand crying tears of happiness with a big smile on her face. She was feeling amazing as if she was floating on cloud 9. The same way she always did after a visit to the GliaSpot. Ten was just happy to see his mother so happy and the way she hugged him during those times always felt like they were filled with extra love. So he kind of enjoyed them.

They arrived at their front door and in her happiness she forgot that her husband was in the middle of a stressful project from work. She swung open the door and happily announced her return thinking that her husband would be happy to see her and the sheer joy she brought with her. The doorknob hit the wall with a loud bang.

The sudden bang slightly startled his dad but greatly angered him. His blood started boiling but because he was so close to finishing a part of the project he didn't want to break his concentration. He took the Glia for this reason so he can't allow that dumb &^%^@ to distract him from his job. His fingers are almost attacking each key as he types with a lot of extra force. Ten's mother sees that his father is working diligently and smiles. She knows that he doesn't want to be disturbed so she decides that she won't bother him.

But she also knows that once he starts working and gets extremely focused he tends to forget to eat. So she looks at Ten smiling.

"Come help me in the kitchen, we'll make something for you Dad."

Ten smiles as he loves the idea of helping his father and making him happy. The two make a sandwich and Ten pours a glass of milk. They then put it on a tray, and seeing as how Ten was doing this for his father, she feels that he should be the one to bring it to him.

"Go give this to your Dad."

Ten with a big smile on his face walks to where his dad is working. His dad is focused on the task at hand and has been for a while. His desk is covered in papers and some of them fell on the ground. Ten carrying the tray doesn't pay close attention to where he is stepping. He steps on one of the papers and trips. The sandwich and glass of milk fly forward. The sandwich lands on his fathers lap but the glass of milk has more sinister intentions and lands on the computer his Dad is working on.

The liquid quickly seeps into the computer and it freezes as a result. Ten sees the glass of milk on the desk and the milk-covered computer as he recovers from his trip. The sandwich is still on his father's lap. Without saying a word his father stands up. Ten doesn't know why but the hairs on his body start standing up straight and the room feels a 100 times colder than before. Fear grips his entire body as he sees his father's face.

His face seems to be covered in darkness but his eyes seem to be glowing red. There are veins popping out of his forehead and neck. His fists are clenched as he grinds his teeth. It only takes him one step to be right in front of Ten. He looks down at Ten with nothing but rage in his eyes. Ten is in tears as he looks up to his father. His mother sees the two standing in front of each other. She saw the trip happen and could sense the rage coming from her husband. She lost her voice in herself as she felt that something bad was about to happen.

She mumbles a plea inside her mouth.

"Please don't ..."

But her whisper isn't heard by anyone. Ten's father seems to be lost in a rage so much that he is unable to make a decision on what to do. Ten is shaking but thinks that if he apologizes his Dad will forgive him. So he tries.

"I'm so..."

Before Ten can finish what he is trying to say his father completely loses it and swings full force with his fist and hits Ten in the face. Ten flies across the room as he was just hit by a grown man. His mother now completely lost in fear because she thinks that if she tries to stop him or say something his father will turn his anger on her. So she doesn't say anything. His father looks at his mother. The sheer rage and murderous intent in his eyes scared his mother so much that she dove into her mind so deeply that she was never to return. His father then turns back to Ten who is still on the ground in a fetal position. He walks towards Ten and kneels down. Ten is clinging to consciousness but because his father is kneeling next to him he thinks that the worst is over and that his Dad is going to apologize.

But that is when his eyes refocus a little and sees his Dad's eyes. They are still as red and menacing as they were before. Without saying a word his father punches Ten again. It was with that second punch that Ten lost consciousness.

It seems that it was days later that he woke up from a coma. And it wasn't a clean wake up, as he slipped in and out of consciousness. It was during one of those moments that he was aware that he overheard the doctors and police talking.

"His Dad was on Glia. Raged out. When we arrived after that neighbor called he tried to attack us. He wouldn't stop even after we warned him. We had to put him down."

"Why in the world would he do Glia if he had anger management problems?"

"Seems his work was more important than his family."

"Poor kid though. Dad dead and his mother in a crazy house. Who is going to claim him?"

"I heard his grandmother is coming."

And that's when Ten faded into darkness again. The spaceship ceiling somehow resembles the hospital ceiling. Tears roll down his cheek as he just remembered something he didn't want to. Demo sits outside Tens room. He was waiting for him to wake up, but now that he can hear him crying he knows that now is not the time to disturb him. So instead he just walks back to the cockpit to look at the lights pass them by.

Chapter 23 Fin