Back ---> Yoroshiku Chapter 4

Chapter 5: To be Trusted?

   Kyoko sat at the kitchen table, naked, besides Vick's bathrobe that she had changed into after removing her wet clothes. She looked at the floor. Completely embarrassed, she drew circles on the table with her finger, waiting for Vick's angry response.
   “There's no need to be embarrassed about it. If anything, I should be embarrassed. Besides, from what you've told me, you've seen a man's body before, right?” He opened the freezer and pulled out a package of ground beef.
   “Yes sir,” she mumbled. Wow. He's so cool and confident about himself. And he's got a nice package.
   “Please, call me Vick. Are you ok? I mean, did you hurt yourself? Are you cold?”
   “ I'm fine, thanks.” Now that she thought about it, she was a little chilly in the bathrobe. At least she was dry now.
   “Can I get you something to drink?”
   “Yes please, water would be great.”
   Before she could turn around, there was a glass of water sitting in front of her.
   “Thank you.” He was being so kind to her, she almost felt uncomfortable. Her old sense of “oh my god anyone who is this nice is probably going to end up raping me” kicked in. Vick popped the meat in the microwave and started defrosting it. The little beeping of the numbers reminded her of home. Don't tell me I'm homesick already, I just left today. She sighed.
   Vick pulled out the chair next to her and sat down. He leaned back and closed his eyes, relaxing. Kyoko rested her head on the table and sighed again. 
   “You're homesick, aren't you?” he asked.
   “You read my mind.” He smiled and put his hand on her shoulder.  She picked her head up and looked at him quizzically. She smiled back, then put her head back on the table.  She didn't know what to think. Vick jumped up as the microwave went off. 
   As he formed patties out of the defrosted meat, Kyoko imagined why Vick would have any reason to be this nice to her. Maybe he's a serial rapist and is luring me into a trap. Or maybe he's a cannibal and is fattening me up to eat me. Or maybe he's just a nice guy. Or maybe... the possibilities were endless. 
   “How do you like your hamburgers?”
   “Oh! Um, medium rare is good.”
   “Medium rare it is!”
   She watched him cook the burgers. They smelled heavenly. How a hamburger could smell heavenly, she would never know, but if a scent could personify paradise, this was it. She took a deep breath, then set her head back on the table.
   “Here you go!” He set the plate down in front of her. Kyoko daintily picked it up and nibbled the corner. “You don't have to eat all polite-like, I know you're really hungry.”
   Kyoko ate the rest of the burger in about three bites. 

---

   Kyoko lie awake in the cot in the dusty back room. She turned over and looked at the clock. By the light of the moon coming in from the cracked window in the corner, she could see that it was almost three. In the moonlight, the room looked so much different than before. The machines and metal reflected the light a million times over, the whole room looked like a prism. The shadows of the mechanical parts melted into one giant haze of darkness. 
   Her pillow was damp with tears. She could hear footsteps upstairs, Vick was awake too. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but her thoughts would not allow it. Look at me now. What have I gotten myself into? I'm sleeping in a dusty room filled with machines in a store of a guy I barely even know. I'm not a human. I ran away from home. At least I don't have to worry about school. 
   School. If it was possible, school was even more of a hell than home. She was constantly made fun of for her ears, and her “condition” with Kain. How people found out was a mystery, but they found out. And they would not let her forget it. Even her teachers looked down on her. At lunch she sat alone, and watched the cliques and gangs sit together, talking, staring, laughing. She developed a kind of“power” in her mind. She could read people. She watched them. Just by looking she could learn so much about them. That's when she realized. People are scum. 
   Now she re-thought this theory. Could it be true? Vick had been so nice to her, but she couldn't tell for sure, whether or not she could trust him.. She started to cry again. There's no way he's just being nice. He knows something that I don't. He must have some sort of plan of what to do with me. Combined with an unusual sense of homesickness, and confusion, the tears flowed harder. So consumed in her thoughts, she didn't even realize that Vick was standing in the doorway of the room.
   “Are you ok?” He seemed sincere and concerned. Either he's a wonderful actor, or he really cares. He sat down at the foot of the cot. 
   She turned and sat up, head down, still sobbing. Vick only smiled. He seemed to do a lot of smiling. Not a smile of laughter or happiness, more like pity. 
   “Look at me.”
   Kyoko picked her head up, tears flowing freely. He gently touched her face, wiping her tears. His hands were rough, from the wear and tear of his daily job. He bent down and kissed her, softly on her lips. 
   “The first day is always hard, but things will get better,” he reassured her. He got up and silently left the room.


Next ---> Yoroshiku Chapter 6