KIRO’S STORY / CHAPTER 11 OF 36
Seen
by hasira · about 5 min read
Air tore into Kiro's lungs.
His whole body jerked.
He coughed hard, dragging in another breath like he'd actually been underwater.
“Kiro!”
Susie.
He opened his eyes.
Not water.
Not darkness.
The living room.
The television still glowing across the room.
Rain against the windows.
Thunder outside.
Floor beneath him.
Susie was kneeling beside him.
Hair messy from sleep.
Eyes wide.
One paw gripping his shoulder.
“Kiro?”
Kiro stared at her.
For a few seconds, he didn't understand.
His chest still burned.
He could still feel something around his leg.
Still see blood floating through black water.
“...What?”
Susie let out a shaking breath.
“Jesus fucking Christ.”
Kiro looked around quickly.
Couch.
Table.
Window.
Closed.
No roof.
No broken body outside.
No water.
His paws immediately went to his arms.
Nothing fresh.
Then his legs.
Nothing.
He swallowed.
“I fell.”
Susie frowned.
“Yeah.”
Kiro looked at her.
“What?”
“Off the couch.”
Silence.
He looked down.
He really was lying beside it.
“...Oh.”
“You started moving around.”
Susie sat back slightly.
“You were breathing weird. I tried waking you up, then you just...”
She gestured toward the floor.
“...fell.”
He stopped.
Too much.
Blood.
The roof.
The impact.
Water filling everything.
He could still hear his own thoughts screaming at him.
Susie watched him.
“Nightmare?”
Kiro stared at the floor.
“...Yeah.”
His voice shook.
“Something like that.”
Susie didn't ask.
Kiro was grateful.
Then he noticed she wasn't looking at his face anymore.
Her eyes had moved lower.
His arm.
Kiro followed them.
And froze.
One sleeve had been pushed almost completely up when he fell.
Scars.
Too many.
Some faded beneath the fur.
Some older.
Some much more recent.
Still bleeding.
Not only the smaller marks his claws sometimes left.
Different ones.
Deeper ones.
Things she wasn't supposed to know about.
Kiro grabbed the sleeve.
Pulled it down immediately.
Too late.
Susie had already seen.
Neither of them spoke.
Kiro's heart started beating harder.
Not from the nightmare anymore.
“How much...”
His voice caught.
Susie looked at him.
“What?”
“How much did you see?”
She hesitated.
Only for a second.
It was enough.
Kiro's ears lowered.
“Oh.”
“Kiro...”
“I'm fine.”
The answer came automatically.
Susie stared at him.
Kiro looked away.
“I'm fine.”
His paws started shaking.
She saw it.
Kiro grabbed the end of his sleeve.
She saw all of it.
“No...”
Susie moved slightly closer.
“Kiro?”
Now she knows.
His chest tightened.
She knows what you really are.
“Stop.”
Susie froze.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Pathetic.
Kiro squeezed his eyes shut.
Fucking disgusting.
“Shut up.”
“Kiro...”
Look at her.
He couldn't.
She's scared of you.
“No.”
His voice cracked.
She'll leave.
“No, no...”
“Kiro, look at me.”
“I can't.”
“What?”
“I can't.”
His voice broke.
And then he did too.
Kiro folded forward and covered his face.
The first sob came out suddenly.
Ugly.
Loud.
He immediately tried to swallow the next one.
Couldn't.
“Fuck...”
His shoulders shook.
“I'm sorry.”
Susie's ears lowered.
“For what?”
Kiro shook his head.
“I'm sorry.”
“Kiro.”
“I'm so fucking sorry.”
Another sob tore through him.
His breathing started speeding up.
“I don't want you to see that.”
Susie didn't move.
“You weren't supposed to.”
“Kiro...”
“I know how it looks.”
“What?”
“I fucking know.”
He grabbed the sleeve and pulled it farther over his paw.
Like he could hide what she had already seen.
“I know it's disgusting.”
Susie's expression changed immediately.
“No.”
Kiro laughed once.
A horrible little sound between breaths.
“Don't.”
“I'm serious.”
“You don't have to fucking lie.”
“I'm not.”
She feels sorry for you.
Kiro's breathing caught.
Just like everyone else.
“Shut up.”
Susie stared at him.
“Kiro, I'm not saying anything.”
“I know.”
He pressed both paws against his head.
“I know, I know, I know...”
His breaths became shorter.
Faster.
Too fast.
Susie noticed.
“Kiro?”
He inhaled again.
Nothing.
Again.
Still nothing.
His chest felt locked.
“No.”
He shook his head hard.
“No, not again.”
Susie moved closer.
“What do I do?”
Kiro couldn't answer.
His paws were starting to tingle.
His heart slammed against his ribs.
“I can't breathe.”
“You are breathing.”
“It doesn't fucking feel like it.”
Susie glanced toward the hallway.
For a stupid second, like Rin might appear there.
He didn't.
No one who had seen this before.
No one to tell her what she was supposed to do.
Just her.
Kiro curled tighter.
“I don't want this.”
“I know.”
“I don't want another fucking...”
His breath broke.
He couldn't finish.
Susie watched him for another second.
Then stopped thinking.
She moved forward and wrapped her arms around him.
Kiro went completely stiff.
Susie immediately loosened her grip.
“Sorry, I...”
Kiro grabbed her.
Hard.
Both arms around her.
His face disappeared against her shoulder.
Susie froze.
Then hugged him again.
Tighter this time.
Kiro broke completely.
A sob tore out of him.
Then another.
And another.
He clutched the back of her shirt like she could disappear if he let go.
“I'm sorry.”
Susie closed her eyes.
“Stop apologizing.”
“I don't want you to fucking see me like this.”
“I know.”
“You shouldn't have to deal with this.”
“I know.”
“I'm fucking...”
He couldn't finish.
His breathing broke again.
Susie felt his whole body shaking against her.
She didn't tell him to calm down.
Didn't tell him everything was fine.
It wasn't.
She just held him.
One paw against his back.
The other behind his head.
Kiro cried harder.
Messy.
Loud.
He buried his face deeper against her shoulder, trying to hide while literally holding onto her.
She knows now.
His claws caught slightly against the fabric on her back.
She saw what you did.
His grip tightened.
She'll leave.
A small broken sound escaped him.
Susie felt it.
“Kiro?”
“Don't.”
He struggled for enough air to speak.
“Don't leave.”
Thunder rolled outside.
Kiro held onto her like he already expected her paws to disappear from his back.
Susie lowered her head slightly against his.
“I'm not leaving right now.”
Kiro squeezed his eyes shut.
Another sob.
His breathing was still too fast.
His heart was still hammering.
His paws were numb.
But she was there.
No Rin.
No instructions.
No perfect words.
Just Susie sitting on the floor beside him.
Holding him.
Kiro's sleeve stayed clenched between them.
He knew she had seen underneath it.
There was no hiding it again.
Not really.
He cried until the apologies stopped sounding like words.