I'm Not Insane (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 13 - Pain and Guilt

"Ka-no, please, I n-eed to stop," I groan, falling behind his pace yet again.

We've been walking for hours now, and the Sun's rays penetrating the leaves around us tells me it's about midday. The pain has become unbearable, and my ankle and arm are swollen and red. Kano's been silent the whole time, the only sound around us being the crunching sound of our shoes against the leaves on the ground.

Kano glances back at me, before sighing. I hobble forward, but almost fall backwards when I have a sudden view of his chest.

"Why'd you stop?" I ask, looking up at him, confused.

"You literally just said you needed to stop. So, I'm stopping; isn't that obvious?" He replies, rolling his eyes.

I blush, stepping back and collapsing to the ground, only to wince in pain when my ankle is folded underneath me.

"Here, let me have a look at your injuries. What happened?"

I look up at him, realizing he wasn't there when I fell. I scoot up against a tree trunk, folding my legs out from under me.

"While I was running, I fell and hurt my ankle and arm. They hurt a lot now."

He softly pulls my leg towards him, carefully examining my swollen ankle.

"It looks sprained. Your arm, too?" He says, reaching for the arm I hold out.

"Yeah."

"Do you have any first aid supplies in that bag of yours?"

I nod. He slings the bag off of his shoulder, opening it up and sifting through the items. I stay still, looking up and around at the trees that surround us. The light slanting through the leaves makes the area around us serene. 

"Found it!" He exclaims, making me jump slightly.

Kano then opens up the small box, grabbing a roll of gauze, medical tape, and cotton. He then stands up, grabbing four sticks, before coming back to sit down in front of me.

He uses the sticks makes splints for my ankle and arm, wrapping them in gauze and medical tape, and padding them with cotton from the inside. 

"There. Let's rest for a bit and eat something, so you have some time to rest," he says, packing the supplies up, before scooting over to sit next to me against the tree trunk.

He grabs two protein bars from bag, handing one to me. I take it, thanking him afterward. We sit in silence, peacefully eating our bars.

Without the constant bolts of pain, and the thrill of being free and walking, my mind starts to drift back to Asher. What would've happened if he wasn't dead? Would he be right next to me right now, maybe even in Kano's place, eating a protein bar and scolding me for hurting myself. Would I have never met Kano because we maybe went a different way? 

A forlorn sigh escapes my lips, and I close my eyes, hanging my head. My heart's tightening up, squeezing me. My lungs seem to shrivel up, and it takes more effort to gulp in air. Guilt settles in my stomach, hard and rock-solid; it makes me want to vomit. If I had never even gotten mad, I would still be with Asher. It's my fault. It's all my fault.

A hand suddenly lands on my shoulder, softly rubbing it. Kano. I open my eyes up, looking over at him. His brown eyes seem to share my pain, as if he understands what I'm feeling right now. Just the thought of someone understanding me makes hot tears flow down my face. 

Without warning, I jump on Kano, landing half-off-half-on his lap, and start to sob into his shirt. Even though we're complete strangers, he holds me as I cry into his chest, clutching the fabric of his shirt in my fists.

"Asher... I'm so sorry," I whisper over and over again, the sound muffled in Kano's shirt.

Kano hesitantly rubs my back, whispering calming words in my ear.

After a few minutes of letting my pain out, I sniffle, sitting up.

"Sorry I did that. I kinda' lost it, didn't I?" I say, laughing weakly.

"It's fine. I'm sure you've been through a lot. I haven't met a single Special who doesn't hold way too much pain to be normal. It's just what the world has made us hold."

I nod, sniffling again, before sliding off his lap. I still can't believe I just jumped on him and started sobbing. My cheeks heat up a bit now that I'm in the right state of mind, but Kano doesn't seem to mind. It makes me wonder how many times he's had to deal with this kind of stuff.

But...

Now that I know we share some sort of similar pain and the burden of having abilities, I feel closer to him. He's still a stranger, but at least now, I feel like I can trust him a lot more.

He stands up, turning back towards me with his hand held out.

"Come on, let's get moving again, but we'll go slower. We can still walk for a few more hours and even hit an abandoned cabin I found a few months ago, if we can keep a good pace, so we can rest and sleep there. Sound good?" Kano says.

I nod, grabbing his hand. He pulls me up, supporting me as I slowly adjust to hobbling along. With splints, my injuries are more supported, so now what's left is the throbbing pain as I move, but it's much more bearable.

We slowly make our way again, with Kano now keeping his hold under my arm to support me as we walk.

I trust Kano a lot more now.

I just hope that he won't betray my trust like Asher did. 

Okay, so I told myself this book would be way longer than the first, and maybe even more interesting. I just hope I'm not rushing. Please tell me if I am, okay?

Don't worry, this one will have more action and stuff than the first book, and it will also reveal some more about the whole Specials and government business ;)

QUESTION TIME: Should I continue doing these question things? Maybe I should do it about the chapter? Idk, because me being the unoriginal and not-so-creative person, I'm already running out of questions.

My Answer: Maybe I should...? I will probably stop after a few more questions. Either that, or I'll end the whole question thing next update, with next update being the last question time.

-Mel