𝑺𝑨𝑽𝑰𝑶𝑼𝑹 ᵏᵒᶻᵘᵐᵉ ᵏᵉⁿᵐᵃ

五

━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"My house...it's the first one on the left..." Kenma mumbled softly, upon realising they were now in the right street. He was hugging the girl tightly, his body still trembling in fear. The girl noticed this and tried calming him down, even if just a little. It pains her to see him like this and she blamed herself for not saving him sooner from that traumatic experience.

"Hey, it's okay. You're safe now. I won't let anyone hurt you anymore." Her gaze on the road, her steps now faster as it was already late and she was aware of how much pain the boy was in. Kenma just whimpered, hugging the girl even tighter than before. She just wanted to hug his pain away and kiss his tears away.

Kenma told her of the spare key in the mailbox and she opened the door with ease, his body still on her back. The long-haired girl hesitantly entered the house, wondering if anybody was home. The whole place was dark with the only source of light was coming from one of the slightly ajar doors upstairs.

'Is his parents at home?' She looked around for any signs of living beings. What would be his parents' reaction if they saw him all like this? Less a stranger carrying him back to his house? She bent down in front of the couch, placing his legs into the furniture before letting them go.

"I'll go find the first aid kit." She left, walking into the open kitchen. He glances on the digital clock on the coffee table.

1.05 A.M.

He's been gone from the house for almost two hours. The girl re-entered the living room, the kit in her hands. She sat on the space left on her the couch, trying to examine his face.

"I need the lights to see you. I can't treat your wounds in the dark." She chuckled about to stand up when he grabbed her left wrist, stopping her. The girl's heart skipped a beat at the sudden touch.

"P-please d-don't... I don't w-want you to see m-my face all b-beaten up." His croaked, his breathing ragged as he tried to hold back his tears. The grip on her only tighten when the girl didn't utter a word.  She just stared at him before placing her other hand on his, gently removing it. She proceeded to hold it, their hands intertwined. Kenma's cheeks flush bright red and he was glad she couldn't see how flustered he was.

"Okay, I won't. I'll just try to clean up as much as I can." Her soft and gentle voice echoed into the house as she retracted her hand away. They just met and he was clearly not in the right state, traumatised and vulnerable.

She softly caressed his cheeks, ghosting over his nose and lips. The boy hissed when she made in contact with his busted lip, the cut still oozing blood.

"I'm sorry! I just wanted to know where you were hurt."

"I-it's okay..."

"I'm going to need to clean the cut. I'll be right back."

With that, she hurriedly entered the kitchen, hoping to find a bowl and a clean towel. Of course, this took her some time as the lights were off but she didn't mind.

She gently wiped the blood away from his busted lip, apologising repeatedly whenever a sound left Kenma's mouth.

"I hope you don't mind me using this bag of frozen vegetable mix..."

"I don't like vegetables that much anyways..." Kenma managed to answer to which the girl chuckled softly. She let the cold bag take care of his leg as she just applied some cream into his right cheek, neck and wrists. She finished everything off by applying a generous amount on his bruised leg and wrapping it secured with a clean bandage.

"Where's your room? I'll carry you to your bed. It's not comfortable to sleep on the couch." She asked, looking around in the spacious house.

"It's okay... You've done enough." He mumbled, closing his eyes, trying to ignore the pain he was in.

"But you'll catch a cold. I'll go find a blanket."

She only wandered on the first floor of the house, hoping to find the laundry room. After opening the fourth door in the house, she finally found it. She blinked in the darkroom a couple of times as she touched a bunch of clothes and whatnot, ranging to something soft like cotton and woolly like a thick sweater. She even touched a bra which she immediately retracted her hands away, a soft pink dusted on her cheeks.

"I've finally found one." She called out only to find the boy fast asleep. She walked closer towards him, draping the blanket into his body. She sat back on the couch, tucking his hair behind his ears one by one. By the touch, she could tell he had hair that ended right before his chin.

'Well, I guess this is goodbye.'

There was nothing else she could possibly do and the boy was already fast asleep. It would have been rude for her to stay and invade his house. But before she could even lift an inch of her body from the seat, she heard a soft whisper, a hand on hers.

"D-don't leave m-me alone..."

He was scared.

Terrified.

What if something happens to him while he was asleep?

Just the thought of someone attacking him while he was powerless only made him tear up again, loud whimpers escaping his lips. The girl's eyes widened in shock before calming him down.

"Please don't cry. I won't leave you alone." She reassured him, proceeding to wipe his stray tears away with her thumb.

"I'll sleep here with you. I won't let anyone hurt you, I promise." She vowed, laying beside him on the couch. It was spacious enough for the two of them, without their bodies in contact with one another. Her face was facing towards him, his back fully on the couch.

"Go to sleep. I'll be here."

Kenma just nodded his head as he closed his eyes. He was tense, not expecting her to lay beside him. He could feel his heart beating loudly against his chest and his cheeks burning hot in the cold room. Nonetheless, he felt safe and secured. The girl did not hesitate to caress his head, running her fingers through his hair.

Slowly but surely he dozed off, a peaceful look on his face.

The girl woke up a few hours later, the pain in her arm made her hiss,  a string of curse words escaping her lips. She had to get it treated soon or she would risk an infection. The boy beside her was still fast asleep, his chest softly rising and dropping. She was glad that the sky was still dark, meaning she still had time to go back home and prepare for school.

Though, she rather not.

The girl stood up from the couch and quickly stretched. She then mentally facepalm, realising how worried her parents must have been.

She was sure her mom was and her dad was probably calm but secretly panicking in the inside. She couldn't go back home like this, not when her torso was exposed along with a bleeding arm. Taking the first thing she could grab from the laundry room and hastily putting it on, she hoped the boy didn't mind. She placed his phone by the coffee table, glimpsing at him for the last time.

The girl was about to open the door when her heart sank, guilt eating her away. She told him she won't leave him alone but here she was, about to break her promise. She hesitantly walked back towards the couch, bending down to reach his face.

"I'm sorry but I have to go." She soothes his hair down, tucking it behind his ear. As she did so, she noticed something dangling against her chest, an idea popping up in her head.
Unclasping the chain from her neck and doing the opposite to the boy, her lips curled up to form a smile. She let the alphabet charm drop under his shirt.

'If you keep this on...' The necklace meant a lot to her but she didn't mind giving it to him. It could be his lucky charm to remind himself that,

"You'll always be safe.''

━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━