Faith. (Sequel)

Chapter 11 | Lost Time

This is the chapter most of you probably have been waiting for! It's over 3000 words so it's a long one. Sorry it took so long for me to publish this, I was just too busy!

There must be a few errors in this long chapter that I couldn't detect. If you see one, please tell me :)

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''Has the bleeding stopped?''

Upon hearing his voice, Asami removed the folded towel from her back and looked at it. The small cloth was completely soaked, which scared Asami a bit. The wound on her back had been bleeding for quite a while now, and even though it was less than before, it still wouldn't stop. She squeezed the fabric before she relaxed her fingers, which caused the towel to fall on her lap.

When Madara still didn't get his question answered, he turned around and saw Asami staring at the towel, which was just as wet as her shirt, both covered in blood. He sighed and dropped the corpse he was about to carry downstairs on the ground. The thud startled Asami and she looked up, seeing the body of the man who was strangling her before lying in the doorway.

Just a sight of it made her nauseous. It reminded her of her own actions but also of the feeling of helplessness and fear which she felt at that very moment when she thought she was going to die.

Madara noticed her discomfort and kicked the corpse into the hallway and closed the door, blocking her sight. Asami's gaze moved from the door to Madara, who was now approaching her. ''Turn around.'' He said.

Asami wanted to say something, but no whole words were able to leave her mouth. Only stutters and other incomplete parts of sentences.

''Turn around,'' Madara repeated. ''Let me see the wound.''

His voice sounded rather soft, but the way he said it was still cold and curt. Asami didn't know if that combination made sense, but it didn't matter to her. Once again, Asami tried to reply. This time, it went already better than her attempt from a few seconds ago.

''B-But Kou-''

''Kouta's fine.'' He interrupted her. ''He fell asleep after taking a bath. As you said, I took care of him first, so let me see your injuries now.'' Asami was quite stubborn after they retrieved their son. She insisted that Kouta had to be treated first, even though he was physically unharmed. This whole situation must have been quite a shock for him, though.

Asami silently obeyed and turned around on the stool, which she had taken from the bathroom, showing him her back. She gripped the fabric of her pants tightly, as if that'd lessen the pain somehow. Asami's long hair covered most of her back, which made Madara grunt in annoyance. She did make a ponytail before going to sleep, but it somehow got loose during the fight.

''Hair ties?"

''In the bathroom.'' Asami murmured, stammering slightly. ''Second drawer of the cabinet.''

Madara went from the bedroom into the bathroom. Just as she said, the hair ties were in the second drawer. He picked a random one and returned to her. Carefully, he collected almost all the red strands. Asami secretly enjoyed it; the feeling of his fingers running through her hair. It distracted from the throbbing pain on her back. After he gathered most of the hair on the top of Asami's head, he secured them in the elastic.

One hindrance gone, and one hindrance left.

Madara crouched down behind her and lifted her shirt a little bit so that he could see a small part of the cut. Since everything was covered in blood, it was hard to see if there was any debris or other dirt in the wound. ''At least it stopped bleeding.'' Madara mumbled before he got up. ''Can you take your shirt off? I'll need to clean it before healing it, or else it might get infected.''