• CHAPTER 138 - TAKE ME, NOT HIM

    Likely? How likely is likely?

    Kai was leaning over me, bandaging my bite wound on my neck while Matsuda was threading his needle. I refused to move a single inch; every movement I made would bind my body in pain. It hurt to make any facial expressions from the wounds on my face, which Kai stuck band-aids on. The whole time I was lying in pain, I was kicking myself internally at the fact that I shouldn't be complaining; Kira was dying from a shot to the stomach so my pain wasn't nearly as bad.

    "Ow!" I cried out as the first stab of the needle perforated my skin.

    "Kai, get me some more of the herbal mix," Matsuda asked. "It didn't numb her leg enough."

    My ankle was so sensitive, both the bone and the skin. The herbal mix spread over my wounds and seeped inside with a sting. I hadn't experienced such pain in so long. I repeatedly squeezed Kai's had, using it as a stress ball. As soon as Matsuda finished spreading the minerals, he threaded his needle again and poked it through my skin; only the surface was numb.

    "Let me know if it hurts," Matsuda mumbled.

    My lips pursed together as I gripped my head pillow with one hand and Kai's hand with the other. I was starting to calm down more since my leg was finally numbing. Kai sat next to me in apathy, still not moving his left arm.

    "What happened to your arm?" I asked Kai.

    Kai shrugged, "It was shot; it's no big deal."

    "Won't it kill you?"

    Kai shook his head, "No, only if I was shot in the head or the stomach,"

    I studied Kai for a long time, taking in his expressions and the tone of his voice, "You're worried sick about Kira,"

    Kai paused for a moment, looking down, and nodded, "Yeah,"

    Just as Kai said that, a painful-sounding groan flooded from upstairs. I flinched as I heard breaking glass; Kira was losing it, "Kai..."

    "It's okay," Kai kissed my forehead weakly. "He'll be okay."

    "No he won't; he's going to die." I cried.

    There was another crash, followed by another painful groan, and I covered my ears. I wished the pain would go away, and that Kira would be spared. I couldn't bear to lose anybody else I loved so dearly. But Kai had it worse. He had been with Kira for a hundred seventy-seven years. They went through everything together. They were born only nine months apart and they always had a close brothership bond. They only had each other left of their biological family. They mean everything to each other.

    "Hey..." Kai wiped a tear from my cheek and smiled weakly. "Don't worry about me."

    "Of course I'll worry about you," I whispered and took in a deep breath. "I'm worried that you're worried."

    "I'm not worried," Kai stared at me, but his eyes showed defeat.

    "Don't give me that; he's your brother."

    "Kai, maybe you should bandage that would of yours before you lose too much blood and go hungry," Matsuda advised. "We can't have Arisa losing any more blood."

    It was somewhat rude of Matsuda to automatically assume Kai would attack me, but it was logical. Matsuda was probably tapping into Kai's mind; Kai rarely had those urges anymore, but sometimes he just couldn't hold back. Kai slowly started unbuttoning his shirt with one hand and removed it. His arm was coated in blood and the bullet wound at the crease of his elbow was black. I flinched and covered my mouth, gagging.

    "Arisa, you might want to avert your eyes," Kai warned, lowering his mouth towards his arm.

    I was just about to ask why until Kai's cuspidate teeth started digging into his flesh. At that point, I was too shocked to avert my eyes. He burrowed a little further, slightly turning away from me. He struggled to get through the wound--which I could tell was hurting him badly--until his teeth managed to grab the back of the bullet. After pausing for a moment, he ripped the bullet out of his elbow, followed by a cracking sound. Kai dropped the bullet from his mouth onto the ground and examined his wound.

    "It got my bone," he told Matsuda. "It's cracked."

    "It'll heal," Matsuda told Kai nonchalantly while still stitching my leg. "Just give it a few hours."

    "Kai..." I breathed heavily, gripping his sleeve. "Kai, get me a bucket..."

    Kai comprehended and he reappeared as fast as he disappeared. He set a big black pot at the side of the couch and I leaned over and heaved out the bile in my mouth. Not only was Kai's display completely sickening, but I was already sick from stress and shock. I was going through too much; I was lying down, bleeding like crazy with a broken ankle and Kira was upstairs dying. We didn't know if he would live or not, but the persisting groans of pain didn't sound too faithful.

    "Take it easy," Kai whispered, brushing my bangs away from my sweaty forehead. "Just relax." He told me while pressing his iced lips against my heated forehead.

    "I-I killed Mayura," I finally realized. "I-I murdered her. Kai, I'm too young for jail!"

    "You won't go to jail," he soothed. "There are no records of her; they were destroyed long ago. She doesn't exist."

    "I-I'm a fugitive," I cried.

    Kai tucked my hair behind my ear, "You just need to concentrate on getting better,"

    "No, I-I need to focus more on Kira," I stuttered. "I need to help him get better."

    "If you help him, it will probably kill you," Kai warned. "He's lost a substantial amount of blood; he's starving."

    I looked up at him, "How is Orihime going to help him?"

    There was another audible groan of pain from Kira before Kai started, "She needs him to calm down first; she needs him to lie down and not move because one movement from him could ruin Orihime's concentration and kill him."

    I flinched at how easy that seemed, "Oh,"

    I looked down at Kai's arm and it was still bleeding, running down his arm and dripping onto the white carpet. Matsuda looked over at Kai, "Cover that up with a towel; you're still losing blood."

    Kai must have been thirsty; his eyes were turning red with thirst. We couldn't afford him to attack me with the condition I was already in. Kai disappeared and reappeared with a green towel pressed to the crease of his elbow. He didn't seem to be showing much pain, despite he was shot in the elbow with a Necromantic Hunter gun. His wound would take longer to heal since the miasma prevents wounds from healing fast enough. I still didn't understand how a Necromantic Hunter gun couldn't kill me, despite I was shot in the chest by Mayura just about a month ago.

    "Your leg is sewn; I just need to wrap it." Matsuda smiled at me, although his eyes showed sorrow--most likely for Kira. "I'll need to get the crutches too; you might not be able to walk on it for a while."

    Matsuda dipped and wrung out a wet washcloth and started cleaning off the dried blood on my leg. I showed little to no pain, seeing as my leg literally felt like jelly. I was too distracted by my severe nausea anyways; it would most likely stay with me for several days. Everything I got usually turned into a flu bug; lucky me.

    I looked over at Kai again and his face was blank but his eyes were glazed over with fear and sorrow. I timidly reached over and intertwined my fingers in between his and he looked down at me. His faint smile showed he was okay outside, but was being destroyed inside. I knew he couldn't bear hearing his big brother's pain, his brother's dying. Nobody could stand the pain, that was granted, but Kai cared about Kira the most. It was just like when Aya was dying; I was hurt the most out of anybody because we were twins.

    "Orihime just needs time," Matsuda mumbled, patting my leg dry and getting out the gauze. "If Kira could manage to lie still in the next fifteen minutes, it should hopefully go smoothly."

    "How come Kira can't lie down?" I asked. "If he's...dying...then shouldn't he be out of energy?"

    "That's the thing; Necromantic Hunter guns work the opposite. When a Vampire or a Werewolf or a Succubus is shot in the stomach, the pain and the miasma makes them go mad. They lose their sanity and train of thought and have no other intention but to kill." Matsuda informed regrettably. "After their life energy runs out after that, they die."

    After hearing that, the last thing I wanted Kira to do was regain his sanity. I didn't want him to stop moving; I wanted him to live. I gripped my hair as soon as tears started rolling down my burning cheeks again, "Matsuda, I was supposed to die," I cried. "I was supposed to be the one to die. Mayura was after me and look at what I caused..."

    "Arisa," Kai breathed out a sigh and played with my bangs. "Please don't think this is your fault. It's all just bad timing; you had no intention or idea for this to happen."

    From upstairs, the loudest noise yet echoed. Instead of a groan of pain, Kira released a shout of agony; pure agony. I pressed my hands against my ears and started bawling, wanting it all to stop. Kira had to allow Orihime to help him but he had lost all of his sanity; his mind and body weren't his own.

    I looked up at Kai and, for once in a long, long time, he had the appearance of major panic and worry on his face.