I need you

Chapter two: Reveal

When we arrived at my house, I noticed that Karma kept fidgeting. He kept twisting his thumbs, scratching his forearms or messing with his hair.

Though I knew something was wrong this time, I said nothing and guided him inside. I started walking to the kitchen when I noticed Karma wasn't behind me. I looked back, finding the redhead standing by the door, playing with the hem of his shirt. "Karma."

He jumped when I called his name, but still didn't look up at me. "Karma," I said again, "Come here."

He slowly nodded and followed me into the kitchen. When he entered the room, I noticed he was still fidgeting. This time I decided to say something about it. "Karma," I said, grabbing his hands and pulling them away from his body, "Enough fidgeting, please." His eyes told me he was unsure. "You can trust me."

He jerked his hands away and looked down at the ground, not answering me. He had at least stopped fidgeting. "Are you hungry?"

He shook his head.

"Are you thirsty?"

He shook his head again.

I sighed. "Then spill."

His eyes widened. "Huh?"

I slammed my hands on the counter. "Tell me. What's. wrong."

He averted his eyes from mine and looked at the ground once again. I used my hand to tilt his head so that he was looking at me. "And don't say it's nothing. You were crying on the bathroom floor at school, you had scabs and scars and open wounds on your wrists, I know that there is definitely something wrong!"

He pushed me away and sunk to the floor. I could see him shaking. "I-I'm sorry..." You could clearly see the fear in his eyes. "P-please..." He looked up at me. "Don't h-hurt me..."

I wasn't at a loss of ideas right then. I just knew there was nothing else for me to do for him to feel safe. So I kneeled down next to him and hugged him. I stroked his hair and kept whispering, "I'm not going to hurt you, Karma, I promise."

When he had calmed down, I made him look at me and gazed down at him with a soft expression. "I want to help you, Karma, but I can't if you don't tell me what's wrong."

"Asano-kun..."

"Yes?"

"Do your parents beat you?"

~~<><>••Flashback••<><>~~

My father wasn't always like this. He never used to hurt me or my mother. He used to be a loving, caring father.

But one day when he came home... he wasn't himself. He was angry. He didn't hurt anyone the first time he was like that. He just yelled at us. Mainly me.

"Shut up, you stupid brat! I didn't ask for your input, did I?"

"Akihiko, he didn't do anything wrong." My mother always tried to stop him. "You're probably scaring him." It never worked.

"Damn right he should be scared! The kid can't do anything right! He should be punished!"

He didn't do anything bad that night.