Chapter 9

                                    

                                          
A/N:First update for the month of September! Super sorry about the wait, I spent all morning making Potatoes Au Gratin yesterday, then went to a Labor Day weekend party and got wasted. The potatoes were SO GOOD. I got the recipe from Spend With Pennies, but if you want a crowd pleaser you just have to add nutmeg, like a half teaspoon. Seriously, so good. Also I'm going to come back through this chapter tomorrow morning for typos, but I wanted to get it out for y'all before I went to bed. A big special thank you to all my readers out there that helped me get this far! Please keep reading, as the best is yet to come! If you have the time and want to see me keep going strong with the rewrite, please stop in and leave a review before you go! It means more to me than you could ever know!
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"I don't think you understand, Yusei. I'm not letting you go with no backup." She crosses her arms. Having had a bit of time to rest, some color had returned to her skin, breathing life into her battered visage.
"Last time I took you with me you were marked. And-" I try to object, but I'm silenced summarily by the glare she shoots me. In the safety of Saiga's hideout, I'd helped drain the fluid from her lid. She had complained enough to put Rally to shame.
"I don't know how much help I'll be but I want to be there. And I thought we agreed no more feeling guilty about the detention center? I want to support you, Yusei." Her face holds no malice, no signs of trickery. Pinoko wouldn't lie about things like this, though I suspect she's not inclined to tell just anyone her whole story. If she can sincerely say that she trusts me, I can trust her to tell me about her past when she's ready.
I should also trust her to know her limits... But I can't help the monsterous worry from dredging its daunting head from deep inside, gripping my heart in its maw.
The marker is ringed by a border of irritated pink skin. The same torturous device that was used on me, they had turned it on her. She'll be looked at with disdain for the image of a droplet upon her cheekbone. It marks her as unfit for polite society. Unfit for life. She winces when a guard snaps a baton against her back. "Eyes down!" She obediently follows the prisoner ahead of her up the ramp and into the back of the vehicle, eyes on the floor, but raises her gaze when she enters. When she lays eyes on me the elation on her face catches me off guard. I watch her sit next to me, thighs pressing against mine.
"Yusei!" She embraces me once the doors have shut. "Thank God! I was really worried I'd never see you again."
Her reaction to my presence was the exact opposite of what I expected. She was glad to see me, not resentful for my involvement in her capture. Her life will never be the same because I took her with me and yet the gaze fixed on me is adoring and hopeful. The longer we remained in the detention center, the less I expected to see that look in her eyes.
"Himuro has committed a terrible crime, with the assistance of his cellmate Pinoko! Everyone here will be held responsible! Your free time is revoked for an entire year! No one is allowed to leave their cells!"
Himuro's limp body rests before her. She scrabbles on all fours, eyes intently locked on his chest for the tell-tale rise and fall of breath.
When she tries speaking to me, she's kicked to the side. Takasu tells her to shut up, that she and all the inmates are garbage. Her body wasn't moving for longer than I was hoping. When I spoke it was like the words were pulled from my chest. I had no way of preventing that duel. Seeing her thrown around, something pulled on my heart and made me act.
Even after being tortured for her connection with me for a second time, she graced me with the special brand of affection only she could give. Lying on the concrete of her cell, she looked me in the eyes and apologized. She gave me her Marshmallon, trusted me to keep her card safe. The last card she got from her late brother.