Broken

New Look

Ban didn't know what to think when they had first taken in the kid, his only thought being what the hell had happened to the small child to make him so.... terrified.

He had seen that kind of look in a child's eyes before, but it was only in his own when he had been living on the streets. He had been so scared, so alone, and so.. angry at the world for giving him that crappy life. Although that anger he felt as a kid was nothing compared to the injustice he felt now at seeing the kid have that same look.

It compelled the man to feel a lot more for this boy than he might've felt for any other kid on the street. He wanted to protect the child from going through anything else that could hurt him deeper. He wanted to guide him and show him the joys of this world that Ban himself hadn't realized even existed until later in his life. He wanted to make him feel safe, and less alone.

But the immortal  had no idea how to reverse the damage done to the child. Physical wounds could already do enough harm, and it looked like the demon had enough of those. However mental wounds.. those could sometimes be irreparable, and it looked like unfortunately, the teen had those in the same quantity.

Ban sighed before downing the remaining contents in his cup. He was so glum over the current situation, and so deep in thought, he didn't even feel like getting another pint of ale at the moment.

Elizabeth had been in the bathroom with the child for about an hour now to help him clean up. Although, he supposed that made sense considering how much dirt was on the kid.

It made Ban sick knowing that the boy wasn't even allowed a bath during whatever hell he had been put through. Especially considering his injuries. They were bad enough that they would even do some temporary damage to Ban. So with a kid? Demon or not, it wouldn't take much for them to get infected, and not being able to have access to proper hygiene would only add to the high risk.

He wondered if he had any family. Someone as concerned over this kind of stuff as the man himself. Although unlikely, it was possible that his family is still around and he was taken from them by the sickos putting demons in slavery. He wondered if the child even remembered them considering he coudn't even think of his own name.

That made Ban feel sick. At least he remembered Killua and his mom before they kicked the bucket. Even if they were gone, not being able to remember them? Remember what it was like to have a loving family? There was a time he would've thought that would be better, but now? He couldn't even bare the thought, and felt his anger and feelings of injust for the demon double in that moment alone. If he were left with his thoughts any longer, hid grip on the wooden cup probably would've gotten tight enough to split it in two.

But he wasn't as the sound of small footsteps caught his attention. Looking up towards the sound, crimson eyes landed on the small boy consuming his thoughts, and Ban found himself shocked by the drastic change he saw.

The little demon was in a spare uniform they carried with a baggy suit and a little tie- much better improvement to the filthy rags from before. And his messy blond hair was cut to a much shorter degree, going from down to his shoulders to a sharp but messy cut that was about the same length as King's hair. Although what was more shocking than the hair style was, was the color. It was blond instead of the black, brown, and red it had been stained from filth and blood.

And the last thing Ban took note of in his observation was the clean bandages wrapped around the teen neatly. Although it was clear he was covered in wounds and scars, the cuts and other such injuries were wrapped and his skin was revealed to be a light tan now that it could be seen instead of grime and blood.

Ban had to admit, if he had seen the child on the street now, he probably would have just walked by not knowing it was the same kid they were treating now.