Unlikely Heroes

Chapter 21

One day Rufioh was told to go out into some of the towns near by. He didn't get a chance to tell Karkat where he had gone, but he thought that he would find out and be fine. This wasn't the case, Karkat picked when he couldn't find Rufioh. He ran around the base, looking for him. Rufioh was still no where to be found. Karkat only worried more and more the longer he couldn't find Rufioh.

"Rufioh!!!" Karkat yelled, running around still. He wasn't paying much attention to where he was running, and ran right into another soldier. He looked up, hoping it was Rufioh. It wasn't. The soldier that Karkat had run into was the same one that got into a fight with Rufioh.

"Watch it, kid!!" The soldier yelled. He remembered who Karkat was and grabbed his arm. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Let go!!" Karkat yelled, trying to pull his arm away.

"Tell me what you're doing!" Smith, the soldier, yelled again.

"No! Get the fuck off!!!" Karkat started hitting Smith's arm.

"Come with me!!" Smith dragged Karkat away, not caring who was around. He didn't seen Rufioh, so he assumed he could do whatever he wanted. "I'm done with you being a spoiled brat!!"

"Let me go!! Fuck you!! I hate you!!" Karkat tried to plant his feet in the ground, but Smith just drug him more. He screamed and kept hitting the soldier.

Smith pulled Karkat behind a tent and tossed him on the ground. Karkat wasn't going down without a fight. He got up and started trying to push down smith. Smith wouldn't have that, he picked Karkat up and threw him on the ground. "Don't fight me and make this worse!!"

"You make this worse! You started all of this! You hate me! I hate you!" Karkat stood up again, hitting Smith's stomach.

Smith grabbed Karkat's wrist and slapped him across the face as hard as he could. "You WILL stop when I tell you to!!"

Karkat was stunned for a minute, but he shook it off and kept attacking. "NO!! NO!! NO!! YOU DONT TELL WHAT TO DO!!"

"I will tell you what to do!! You will listen to me!! I'm going to teach you how to fucking respect me!! I don't care how long it takes!!" Neither smith, nor Karkat backed down. Karkat realized this was a bad choice on his part.

Rufioh returned a few hours later. He walked around the base for a while, looking for Karkat. He finally found him, sitting all alone near the back of the base. No one was around him and he was facing the trees around them. "Karkat?" Rufioh asked softly. "What are you doing?"

Karkat turned around, a large red mark on his cheek and a black eye shown obviously. "Rufioh!!" He jumped up and hugged the soldier. "Don't leave me. Don't leave me. Don't leave me. Don't leave me. Don't leave me."

"What happened?!" Rufioh got down on his knees and put his hands on Karkat's shoulders. "Who did that to you?! What happened?!"

Karkat started crying and hugged Rufioh again. "Don't leave me again, ass!"

"Karkat, what happened?!" Rufioh wanted an answer.

"The person from while ago came! He hit me! Say 'I'm teach you fucking respect.' He slap me and hit me lots! I don't know what I did!!" Karkat clutched Rufioh's hand and fell onto him. "Why do this happen? I don't know!! You leave me! Why why why why??? People hit me and get away!! What I do?? You'll hit me too!" Karkat sobbed.

"No, no I won't. I won't ever hit you..." Rufioh tried to calm Karkat down, but he wouldn't. "I won't. I promise I won't! I know you think that I'm going to be bad to you, I swear on my life I will never hit you! I won't leave you! I won't do anything to do!" He said calmly, trying to make Karkat look at him.

"You will!! Everyone hurt me!" Karkat started fighting with Rufioh, trying to push him away. "Silas and Kankri don't!! You will! Like everyone!"

"No, no, no I won't! Please, listen to me! Karkat, I'm never going to hurt you. I let someone hurt you and I shouldn't have! I left you alone! I let this happen!" Rufioh hugged Karkat tightly again. "I'm a terrible brother! I let this happen to you!!"

Karkat got quiet and pushed himself away. "Y-you're not my brother..." He said blatantly.

"....I ...know..." Rufioh took a long time to answer. He felt like he was Karkat's brother, but he wasn't. He never was. He hadn't thought of Karkat as just some kid, he thought of him as a brother.

"Do you?" Karkat asked, not sure of Rufioh's answer.

"Well, yeah, kinda... I mean I think of you as a brother..." Rufioh tried explaining. He knew Karkat wouldn't take it well.

"Why?? I don't know you! I want my brother!!" Karkat shouted. He pushed Rufioh and turned away.

"Karkat, please..." Rufioh stood up, putting an arm around Karkat. "I know... I know you do... And you know what?" He turned Karkat around and got to his height. "I miss mine too."

"Yours not dead..." Karkat crossed his arms and pouted.

"I don't know that. He has bad medical history and for all I know he could be! My parents got together when I was little. My brother had to go to the hospital constantly. He nearly died a few times. It was just me, him, and my dad on our own. He still struggles to live. I constantly think about him dying! I don't know if he's alive right now!" Rufioh explained. A pained smile was across his face.

"...I'm sorry..." Karkat mumbled very quietly, looking at the ground.

"It's fine..." Rufioh sighed, hugging Karkat. "Just know that I will never hurt you. I won't. Not ever, okay? I only want to protect you."

"Mhmm...." Karkat muttered, hugging Rufioh. He buried his face in Rufioh's shoulder. He then said something he had never said to really anyone before. "....I love you...." He said in a brotherly way.

Rufioh smiled to himself, hugging Karkat tighter. "Me too..." He said back, quietly.