The Bus Stop

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She was just sitting at the bus stop when he walked by it that night. He thought, even many months after, how lucky he’d been to have gone home a different way that night. How lucky he’d been to have found her there and noticed something was wrong with her the moment he walked by.

And he had walked by at first.

It was close to midnight when he passed the poorly lit bus stop. She’d been sitting with her legs drawn up to her chest and her head slumped on her knees. He wouldn’t have given her a second look if she hadn’t tilted her head at his presence, revealing the dark purple and cobalt bruise that had formed around her face. The sight of them had stopped him in his tracks.

Where in the hell did she get that?

The one eye he’d seen had been tear-red. Less than an inch below it was a bleeding cut that had swelled the eye almost shut. She’d looked away quickly but the vision had burned itself into his eyes, leaving him slightly stunned and reeling in anger.

Even if he wasn’t what he was, it would have been cruel to just walk away. But as a police officer, off duty or not, he knew that he had to at least check on her.

“Miss?” he asked. Her whole body was shaking. She was so small.

She wasn’t more than thirteen or fourteen years old. She was in a school uniform, but he didn’t recognize it as being one of the school’s close to his apartment. He couldn’t see any school crest on the clothing either.

Her plain short-sleeved shirt was white, and her pleated skirt was a light green. It was a little less than 40 degrees outside this time of year, and she wasn’t wearing a coat. When she didn’t answer, he walked until he was in front of her, kneeling down a few feet away.

“Miss,” he repeated, “are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” she said curtly, wrapping her arms around her head.

“Do you live around here?” he asked.

“I’m fin,” she murmured. “Just go away.”

“Are you hurt? If it was-”

“I’m fine!” she screamed.

He blinked at the sound but wouldn’t let it deter him. “You must be freezing,” he said, swaying forward onto his toes. “Why are you out here in the cold?”

She shivered and he sighed quietly. If she wasn’t going to answer his questions, he'd have to take her in. It was midnight, he was sure, and he didn’t want to go back to work, but this little girl had obviously been in a fight of some sort, and was a long way from home. He just wanted to get her to a warm place and call her folks, maybe get her a little something warm to drink, and put some ice on her eyes and cheek.

“Alright then,” he said and stood, moving to take her by the arm to try and pull her to her feet. "You should-"

She surprised him when she lashed out with her feet, catching him in the back of the left knee with her small shoe. He was halfway to the ground when she got up and ran.

Jumping to his feet, he cursed. He ran after her but by the time he'd gathered any speed, she was already rounding the first corner. He’d give her one thing, she was damned quick.

He shot around the turn, willing his eyes to find her along the next street. He spotted her sprinting about ten yards down the sidewalk as she darted in between the walkway and a chain link. When he managed to get through the small hole she’d found in the fence, his breath was coming out in puffs of white mist. The lot she’d found was a broken down shell of a gas station, and there were endless places for her to hide.

He stopped to check out the building, making sure not to make any sound as he walked. It had boarded up windows and a couple of doors along its side, and he checked every one to see if they gave to his pushes and pulls. When he'd checked them all, he came around the back of the building, and face to face with the girl.

She was grasping a large two-by-four in her small hands and had her feet spread shoulder length apart.

She was scared to death, he thought to himself, and with good reason. He couldn’t see very well by the dim light coming in from the street, but she looked as if a group of people had taken a good couple of pounds of flesh out of her.

Her other eye was swelling too, and she had a deep scratch across her other cheek. A large blackened bruise was shaping on her skin just below her right elbow and other red, blue, and purple marks colored her skin along the bottom half of her body.

It hurt just looking at her.

If she wasn't already sore, she would be in the morning. To run in that shape, she had to be desperate to get away from him. She was so small that she couldn’t have weighed more than a hundred pounds. Her hair looked black, and her eyes were amber.

The dim light shinning in from the street illuminated her face briefly and there was exhaustion in her eyes.

“Stay away from me!” she yelled, holding up the piece of wood above her head.

“Look, I’m not here to hurt you,” he said as he took a step in her direction. He was careful; even being well over a foot taller than her, she could still get a good shot at his head with that two-by-four, and it would hurt.

“Then why are you following me?” She was crying now, tears forming at the bottom of her eyes. One slipped down her cheek and mixed with blood. “Just leave me alone!”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.” He reached into his pocket for his badge and held it up at her eye level.

Her grip relaxed a bit, and she stared at him. “Now put that thing down so that I check you over, okay?” he said gently, slipping his badge back into his coat pocket.

She released her grip on the weapon and it fell to the ground with a loud thunk. She back away from him. “Just go away, please,” she pleaded with him, drawing her fists up to her chest and shaking her head.

“I’m not going to leave you alone in the middle of nowhere,” he told her, walking up to her and gently taking her wrist in his hand. She was so small that he would've had no trouble covering her whole fist with his palm.

She made a soft sound of discomfort, and he released her left wrist, taking a look down at it. It was bleeding as though she had been tied up with something. He took both of her hands in his own and looked at her wrists. Both were rubbed raw and he looked again at her face. Attacked? More like beaten and god-knew-what-else.

She averted her eyes, looking at the ground by her feet.

“Honey, what happened?” he asked quietly. She didn’t answer and there was no way in hell he was just going to leave her there.

“I’m going to take you to the hospital-”

“No!” She said frantically. She pulled her hands free and took three steps away from him. He was sure she would run from him again if he wasn’t careful. He was starting to get irritated; not with her but with the situation.

“Look,” he said, “you look like you got run over by a car. Either you tell me what happened or I’ll carry you all the way to the precinct.” He knew he sounded harsh, and the look in her eyes turned to anger quickly. For someone as young as she was, she had lost her childlike innocence fast; he could tell by her reaction.

“I’m not telling you anything,” she said and slowly lowered to the ground. He took a cautious step backwards as her hands closed over the two-by-four she'd dropped She stood back up gradually. She was starting to get tried, he could tell by her slow movements. “And if you touch me again…” she warned quietly. She had the right to be wary of him. Not all cops were good guys.

He noticed that she was still shivering as she tightened her grip on the plank. He wondered how long she’d been sitting at the bus stop before he had found her.

“Fine. I won’t take you to the hospital.” He looked around a little. “Where do you live? I’ll take you home instead.”

She shook her head and her body weaved with the movement. “No, I-” she began and her arms fell to her sides. It looked like she was having a hard time breathing; her chest worked furiously with each breath. She swayed again.

He thought about taking her arms and steadying her but then her eyes glazed over and her grip loosened on the plank as she collapsed.

“Whoa,” he said, catching her as she fell and picking her up in his arms. No, she wouldn't weigh a hundred pounds fully clothed and soaking wet. “Okay, I’m definitely taking you to the hospital,” he said, but he felt her hand cover his wrist and he looked down at her. Her eyes were full of tears and she was gasping for air, her pants coming out in short foggy bursts.

“Please,” she pleaded, her eyes imploring him. “He… Can’t find out…” she said, before her hand released and she fell into unconsciousness.

Had see been running from someone. And if she was, why had she been sitting in one place, out in the open? She didn’t want to go home, and she didn’t want to go to the hospital. Maybe this had happened at her house. But why hadn’t she gone to the police?

Her skin was hot against his hands, and he was almost certain she had a fever. He considered taking her to the hospital anyway, but the memory of her eyes held him back. She wasn’t in any immediate danger except for exposure. He just had to get her someplace warm and safe.

He set her on the ground and took off his black wool coat, wrapping it around her still body. He picked her up again, and carried her out of the old lot. A safe, warm, out-of-the-way place? He could only think of one.

----------------------------------------------------

She awoke to the sound of a coffee maker dripping its last drops. Alert, she lay where she was, staring up at a ceiling she didn’t recognize. She took a deep breath, and instantly regretted it. Her chest hurt so bad she could barely inhale. Her face was pounding, and she wondered absently if she had a black eye. Her legs itched and any small movement had her discovering a new bruise somewhere along her body.

But she was warm. Looking down her body, she noticed that she was in a large bed and covered head to toe with heavy blankets and a big blue comforter. Taking shallow breaths, she took in her surroundings with a wary eye.

At first she thought she was in a bedroom, but closer inspection told her differently.

On the other side of the room was a kitchen, separated from the rest of the space by a small bar with two barstools. Along the wall was a small entertainment center and a computer desk. Coming full circle, to her immediate right were two glass doors leading to a large balcony and a small side table full of papers.

A noise caught her attention and the police officer she’d run from came out of a door in the hallway she hadn’t seen. He looked over at her and gave her a small smile before walking over to the kitchen and busying himself with the coffee maker. Maybe she was in his house? Apartment more like it. He didn’t seem to want to hurt her, so she made herself busy by inspecting the papers she’d seen on the side table.

They seemed to be the day’s mail and she read the name on the top letter. Kurogane Suwa. Was that really his name? How did you even pronounce that?

Suddenly, he was beside the bed and she jumped. She hadn't heard him cross the room and she looked down at the carpeted floor, cursing it silently. He was holding a small breakfast tray, and he looked down at her.

“Can you sit up?” he asked. She stared at him for a few seconds; wondering if he was safe, but found she didn’t rally have a choice. She did her best to get into a sitting position. She managed to get halfway up before he sat the tray down on the floor and helped her the rest of the way, adjusting the pillow behind her.

“Here,” he said and set the tray over her legs. “I made you some hot chocolate to warm you up.”

She looked down at the tray and saw two coffee mugs, one blue and the other was white. The white one had a drawing of a stick-figure man surrounded by clocks. Beside the picture was writing that read “I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once.”

He picked up the white one and took a sip. “I put some disinfectant on your legs.” He smiled again, "Drink up."

She took her cup and sniffed at it, burning the roof of her mouth with the first sip. She managed to keep the fiery liquid in her mouth before she swallowed. She watched him warily.

He's tall , she thought as she looked up at him. He was way taller than anyone she’d ever met before. He had to be well over 6 feet. He wore his black hair short and spiky; it grew no longer than his ears. He had dark eyes, but she wasn’t sure of their color, and he was broad. Not fat, just big. He looked to be of Asian decent, maybe half or a quarter Chinese or Japanese. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a dark orange shirt.

“Thank you, sir,” she said softly before turning her attention back to her hot cocoa. She didn’t drink anymore, just stared at the cup as it burned her hands.

What was she to do now? She was scared of him. He was so big and she was so alone. He didn’t seem to live with anyone because she only saw stuff that would belong to a guy. Plus, there was only one bed and she currently occupied it.

“Look, I told you already; I’m not going to hurt you,” he said as if reading her mind. She chanced another look at him. He turned and took the swivel chair from in front of his desk and brought it over so he could sit down by the bed.

“What’s your name?” he asked. He didn’t seem to have any emotion when he talked. She found it unnerving.

“Olivia,” she answered softly. If he noticed the lack of a last name, he didn’t say anything about it.

“Okay, Olivia,” he said, taking a seat and placing his hand on his knees, “care to explain why I found you sitting by your self at a bus stop beaten to a pulp in the middle of the night?” he asked with no humor in his voice.

“No,” she stated. She was feeling brave now; brave and foolish.

“Olivia, I can’t help you unless you tell me what’s wrong.” He said, folding his hands.

“I don’t need your help,” she spat angrily. Who was he to get involved in her life anyway? This was her problem; she was going to deal with it. If only she could think of something to do.

“Did someone beat you up?” he asked.

“No,” she said sarcastically. “I did this to myself,”.

He didn’t flinch. “You said something about some one not finding you. Was it a boy?”

“Stop asking me all these stupid questions, okay? You can’t help me.” Her anger was rising, and he wasn’t giving her any emotion to attack him with. It was pissing her off.

“Was it someone at home? Is that why you didn’t want me to take you to the hospital?”

“Why didn’t you take me to the hospital? Huh?” she demanded, fisting her fingers in the bed spread. “You’re a cop. Isn’t that what cops do?”

“I didn’t take you because you asked me not too,” he said, sadness slipping into his voice. She stared at him.

“What?” she asked, now fully confused. “Isn’t that against the rules or something?” she wondered.

“Yes, actually it is,” he said, and looked into her eyes. “I could lose my job for not doing so. Not to mention all of my credibility by taking you to my place instead.”

More confused than ever, she gawked at him. Man, she was still so tried. “Who are you anyway? Kuragan right?”

“Kurogane. Kur-a-gone-ae. But since we’re being so informal, civilian to civilian and all, call me Suwa.” It felt like he was teasing her, and she didn’t know what to say.

“How old are you?” he asked, giving her a once over.

“How old are you?” she retorted.

“Twenty-five.”

“Thirteen.”

They stared at each other for a few seconds before she looked down at her cup again. God, say something.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?”

“I got the crap kicked out of me, okay?” Tear started forming in her eyes as she spoke. No, no. She would not cry in front of this stranger. She would never cry about it. Best to forget it had ever happened.

“Is that all?” he asked, and she glared up at him.

Stop asking me all these questions Her mind screamed. Stop. It’s too easy to spill it all out. To cry until I’m empty. To remember everything.

“Yes,” she lied. Believe me, please make him believe me.

“Would you like to borrow my phone?” he asked.

Startled, she stared blankly at him. “What?”

“The phone. Would you like to use it?”

“For what?” she asked. He just confused her more and more as time went by.

“To call your parents. I’m sure they’re worried sick.”

“I don’t have parents,” she snapped.

“Oh. Who do you live with?”

“With my big brother and sister okay? Why are you asking me all these questions?”

He looked at her with his dark eyes and she realized she was no longer afraid of him. When had that happened?

“Okay, then,” he said, “I guess I’ll take you home.” he started to stand and she panicked.

“No!” she cried.

The look he gave her filled her with worry. No, No! Now he’ll be even more curious.

“So, you don’t want to go home to your brother and sister, you don’t want to go to the hospital, and you don’t want to tell me why,” he stated. Even to her it sounded ridiculous.

She was so tired and her whole body hurt. She had been ready to break when he arrived, and now it was only a matter of time. She was weeping again and she couldn’t stop the tears.

“No. I just…” Tears ran down her face and she wiped at them, but they wouldn’t go away. The shame built up inside her until it overflowed. “I just don’t want him to see me like this,” she cried, covering her face with her hands. No, not like this. Not when he could guess what had happened to me.

Arms covered her and she jerked her head up to see Suwa sitting on the bed next to her, hugging her tightly to his rather large chest. She should be angry, but she just turned into his warmth and cried.

“Olivia, tell me what really happened, okay?” he pleaded, the first bit of real emotion working its way into his voice. He sounded so worried about her that she almost believed it to be actual emotion rather than just a cop doing his job to get her to talk. “How many were there?”

The question was so sudden she didn’t even stop to think about the answer.

“Five,” she said. The memories filling up her head until she couldn’t think about anything else. Five horrible, terrifying males. So much stronger than her, so much faster than she was.

“Olivia, what happened?” His voice was so soothing, so comfortable that she knew that he would protect her from her own hellish memories. And so she told him.

Her face was covered in tears as she told him about the white truck. She told him about how she’d fought with everything she had. How she’d scratched and clawed and bit and punched and screamed until she was hoarse. How they’d laughed at her until they managed to keep her from moving by tying her hands together with coarse rope. How they’d thrown her out of the truck just to form a circle around her and to kick at her and hit her while she tried to find her footing.

She had been so scared that they would tear off her clothes; would rape her and kill her when they were done. So afraid she would lose consciousness and not be able to fight them off. The terror had been so great that she couldn’t think about anything anymore, only the fear. And she told him about when the first man had grabbed her and held her down, his hand finding its way under her skirt, that that was when she'd started crying. And the shame she felt when her tears hit the ground. How angry she’d been when she had regressed into the whimpering female.

And then she told him about how just as suddenly as they appeared, they were gone. And she was left alone; innocence intact, but never the same. How she’d run when she spotted the security guard that had scared them away with his dog and his gun. How the shame had kept her going until she couldn’t run any longer, and had just sat where she fell.

And Suwa embraced her, whispering to her compassionate words and holding her with comforting arms. And she cried until she couldn’t cry anymore.

And when she was done, he took the tray away and settled her into bed, pulled the covers over her shoulders, and stayed with her until she fell asleep.
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When Olivia’s breathing had become heavy, and her grip loosened in his, Kurogane went out the front door and locked the entrance behind him

After the door was secure, he took a moment to let his fury fill his blood.

In his four years as a cop he’d seen a lot of things, but he'd taken a kind of outsiders view on the whole ordeal. When beaten women came in, he still felt that tinge of male anger that was associated with any hurt woman. Had anyone even tried to harm his mother in any way, even if it had been his own father, nothing would have stopped him from tearing them apart.

But after four years of the same things, you got used to it, and the anger became more of a dull ache that never really went away. This was the first time in years that his ache had become a full wound, and it was bleeding rage.

He had remained calm throughout her explanation. Though he’d tried to keep their talk an interrogation to get information out of Olivia, his anger had been getting harder to control, and the last thing that girl needed was a man angry at her. Even if the anger hadn't been directed at her.

But that didn't help him solve his problem.

What was he supposed to do about the girl he had sleeping in his apartment? Let her go? Take her to the hospital and let them worry about what those little shits had done to her mentally? You could heal a body. She would live, but what about her head? What about her personality? He could protect her body, but he could do nothing for her spirit.

It infuriated him knowing that with all his training, there was nothing he could do for that one little girl.

Kurogane sighed and walked forward, away from his apartment door. He wanted to check out something that had caught his attention in Olivia's description of the place those bastards had taken her. It was close to three am but he wasn’t tired; his cold temper was running through him like ten cups of coffee. He walked down the hallway, shielding his eyes from the bright halogen lights that littered the halls.

She would only be asleep for another couple of hours at the most. He had to get her home before then.

He came out the side door of his complex and made his way down the three flights of stairs to the ground floor. When he reached the bottom, he gave his balcony one last look and started to walk.

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Olivia thought she heard the coffee maker again and she moaned before turning over in bed. Something pulled at her arm and she sat up, only to feel that same uncomfortable drag at her upper limb.

She looked around and couldn’t breathe. She was in the hospital. She was in the hospital with its white walls and horrible smell and fake flowers and stupid pictures on the wall. Her heart rate increased as betrayal filled her veins; she knew because the machine next to her that had been imitating a coffee maker was now beeping a lot faster than before.

She looked around the room. Where was he? Where was Suwa? She needed to yell at him and scream at him and cry. But he wasn’t there and she hadn’t really expected him to be.

But the man asleep in the chair next to the bed was also someone she hadn’t expected to be there. She would have recognized his thin blond hair anywhere, and even without seeing his face she knew he was her older brother.

Great, he was here, which meant that Suwa had told him she was here. Again betrayal moved like hot iron through her blood, and tears filled her eyes. She trusted him, damn it, and now…

Her brother shifted in the seat and lifted his head. His first look was at the bed, but as soon as he figured out she was sitting up, his blue eyes went to her face.

“Olivia?” He looked tired and she assumed he hadn’t gotten much sleep during the night.

“Hi,” she said sadly. No need hiding from him now. He probably already knew what had happened, and was about to get angry at her for being so stupid and weak. He opened his mouth and her heart sank into her stomach to protect itself.

“Thank God you’re awake,” he said and grabbed her into a sideways hug, careful not to catch the IV tubes attached to her arm and hand. She could stare in disbelief.

“Fye?” She looked at her brother with confusion. Why was he hugging her? Their father would have hit her, would have yelled at her the moment he knew she was awake. Why was her brother being so ….nice?

Fye let her go and smiled at her, his face full of sadness and regret. “The doctor should be in any time to check up on you. You’ve been out for a while.” He stood and grabbed his coat from the back of the chair and placed it slowly over his arm.

“Livvy, I’m sorry that you didn’t trust me enough to come home.” He had whispered it but she’d heard him loud and clear. He smiled at her before leaning over and kissing her forehead. “I’ll be back when the doctors done seeing you.”

She watched him leave and immediately felt a sense of emptiness. He hadn’t gotten angry with her, but she wasn’t sure that what he i had /i done was any better. She started when the door opened again, and a small woman in a lab coat smiled down at her.

“Good afternoon, Miss Darsis,” the doctor said, and took a clipboard from its place at the end of the hospital bed. “I want to get one thing out of the way before we start; you’ve been beaten pretty badly, and although there will be no permanent damage, sitting at a bus stop all night was hardly to smartest thing to do.”

She took out a chart and began going over it with her eyes.

“We’ve given you something for the pain, and you should be fine to be released some time tomorrow.” She looked up from the chart and gave Olivia the deepest stare the girl had ever been given.

“You were very lucky, Olivia,” she said solemnly. “I see cases like yours all the time, and let me tell you, from what Officer Suwa said about your ordeal, it could have been a lot worse.” Her eyes were serious, and Olivia just stared at her.

Olivia gave the doctor a confused look, not rally ready to talk to the woman just yet.

“You weren’t raped, for one, and although you told officer Suwa that a security guard came and scared off those boys,” she paused, and sighed, letting the paper in the clipboard drop back down.

“You must know that they had you for hours,” she said with disbelief. “You told Office Suwa it had been dark by the time you got away. Did it ever occur to you that you kept them at bay for that long?” she stared deep into Olivia’s eyes, and Olivia just stared back. “Fought them for that long? Even after that, you were still able to stand up and run away. You stayed out in the cold all night long. You might have started out as a victim, but you sure as hell didn’t stay that way.”

Olivia’s chest hurt. Was this doctor -this woman- telling her the truth? She hadn’t really stopped to think about it. She’d been walking home from school when they’d taken her, and it had been dark out when she’d gotten away. She did the math in her head: they’d had her for over four hours. Had she really been fighting that long?

Olivia had never been one to keep her mouth shut. If anything, she was too talkative in school and at home; most of the time her friend’s parents didn’t like her because she was too loud. But the events of the past day had taken her voice away. She could do nothing but stare at the woman doctor in appreciation, tears in her eyes.

The doctor stood and placed a hand on the end of the bed. She replaced the charts before smiling down at Olivia and walking out of the room. Olivia watched her leave, and wiped at the wetness on her face, and waited for her brother to walk in.

The next morning she awoke to the same old heart-machine sound. But that wasn’t the only sound she heard upon awaking. She heard another, her sister’s voice.

“Olivia,” her sister whispered into her ear, no doubt hoping to wake her up without making too much noise. “Olivia, wake up okay. I have to talk to you about something.”

Olivia opened her eyes and found her younger sister standing over her bed side. As soon as the small girl realized her sister was awake she sat down in the same chair that had been occupied by their brother.

Olivia gave the clock next to her bed a look. It was about seven o’clock in the morning. Her sister was dressed for school; her pink streaked brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she was dressed in their private school’s uniform. Her book bag was on Olivia’s legs.

“Rose?” Olivia asked, not quiet sure she was there. She’d seen her sister yesterday night, when Fye had come back to visit. “Rose, I’m not due out until later today, why are you here?”

Her sister was a lot different than she’d been last night. Then her sister had been crying, sick, coughing and wouldn’t let Olivia go. But now she wasn’t crying and she didn’t look quite as sick. If anything, she looked determined. Her sister grabbed the remote control on the side table and turned on the TV attached to the wall just below the ceiling. Then she looked back to her sister.

“Olivia,” Rose said and leaned forward, her voice still quiet. It would have been hard to hear her over the TV, but she was close enough to understand. “I didn’t get the chance to talk to you yesterday, and since your coming home today I had to do this now.”

She placed her head in her hands and looked at Olivia like she was here to accomplish something. “Fye doesn’t know I am here, and I haven’t talked to the police yet. Yesterday, before he came to the house to tell us where you were, the police officer that brought you here,” she said and Olivia nodded, “he came to the school. I asked around, and it seems that he was asking everyone if they knew where you lived.”

Olivia looked on with some surprise before pieces started clicking into place. So that’s how he knew where she lived. He must have found her backpack in i that /i place and found her school ID.

She’d learned by questioning the doctor that Suwa had told them that he’d found her on his way to work in the morning, not walking home the night before. He’d completely left out the night at his apartment. He told the doctor he’d taken her statement before she passed out on the way to the hospital.

Olivia knew from their talk earlier that he would be in trouble if they learned about the apartment thing, so she’d kept her mouth shut. He’d saved her after all, and had known that what she really needed was her brother and sister. Over the last few hours, she some to see that this move had not been a betrayal.

But her sister wasn’t done yet.

“I don’t think he knew your little sister went to the same school because he didn’t ask me. But,” Rose stopped talking and Olivia raised her eyebrows. “I have to ask you…”

Rose looked away for a second, “Fye says that you were attacked by a gang of boys. The doctor says that you were beat up by a lot people. But you haven’t said anything yet,” she looked at Olivia. “It seems like everyone is taking what that cop said in stride. But you haven’t said anything yet. Did that really happen?”

Her sister’s question surprised Olivia. She hadn’t said anything because what Suwa had told the doctor and her brother was the truth. But of course, Olivia should have realized her sister would worry. Since it hadn’t come out of Olivia’s mouth, her sister had her doubts.

“Rose,” Olivia said, and it must’ve sounded like she was avoiding the questions because her sister just got more urgent.

“Come on Olivia. Tell me. Did it happen like they say? Because, let me tell you, that cop was pretty big.”

Olivia took a full minute to comprehend what her sister had said. Did it really happen that way? Suwa was a big guy, yes but why would her sister… Their father’s behavior had taken its toll on all of them.

“Oh,” Olivia said and gave her sister a smile that hurt. Her face was still bruised and it was painful to move her mouth around too much. “Rose, are you saying that you think that Suwa—that Officer Suwa did this to me?”

Rose just took it in stride, “Did he?” her voice was still at a whisper, and to TV was loud behind her. Olivia just smiled sadly.

“Rose,” Olivia said, and took her sister’s hand in her own, “Officer Suwa didn’t hurt me. It happened just like he said it did. The only difference between my story and his is that I would call him a hero. He saved me.”

She had just finished the sentence when the TV caught her attention. The local news was on and the headline story, Olivia saw, was something she recognized. She saw his face first, then the rest of him. He was in full uniform and was helping other police officers place a few young men in the back of squad cars. Suwa was taller than all of the people around him and was very hard to miss.

The woman that was reporting the story stood away from the crowd, but the group of cops was still in the background.

“…made several arrests today in connection to the attacks on teenage girls that have been terrifying local neighborhoods for a month. Sources say that the latest attack, which happened sometime last yesterday afternoon, was carried out by no less than five members of a gang that, police say, was responsible for all the attacks. Chief of Police Rodney Stout told reporters in an interview earlier this morning that these arrest were made possible by the latest victim coming forward and identifying where the attack happen and the vehicle used. She is currently being hospitalized and has asked to remain anonymous.”

Olivia just watched, stunned as Suwa and other police officers moved around in the background. But her eyes remained on the man who’d saved her. He seemed different than he had yesterday some how, and she couldn’t place her finger on it. Olivia watched, tuning out the reporter, and smiled as Suwa stayed behind to handle the press.

Reporters jumped at him the moment he came to the fence, and fired questions at him. He just raised his hand and waited for them to clam down before smiling at the camera and taking a breath.

“Like the chief said,” Suwa said as soon as it got quiet enough, “this is all due to the strength of a young woman who was brave enough to fight back. And if she’s watching this, we all just want to thank you.” He looked directly into the camera and it seemed like he was looking right at her, “Thank you.”

And then he was gone.

Olivia just stared at the TV. Her sister, who’d been doing the same, turned her gaze on Olivia. “Sis?” she asked.

But Olivia wasn’t paying attention. Something told her that he wasn’t just grateful to her for the police. He wasn’t just thanking her for the arrest either. It was as if he was thanking her for something completely different, and Olivia wondered if she’d ever be able to find out what it was .

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Kurogane Suwa stood off to the side of the main floor watching his pupils warming up before starting their drills. He’d been running the self defense class for a year and three months, and it already had a large number of students in attendance each meeting.

He’d started the class as a way to help out the community. With funding coming in from the police budget, he’d made the class a success in little under a half a year. It had been going strong ever since; he could now keep it running on the funds it generated alone.

But that wasn’t why he kept doing it.

He could still remember every girl that had come to him with a story about how his training had helped them get away from, or fight off, someone who had tried to hurt them. It was his way of making sure no more Olivia Darsis ever made their way into his precinct; now he was doing something other than consoling them after the fact.

He could still remember her, his broken and bloody thirteen-year-old inspiration. She was the reason he’d started this place, and she was the reason he kept it going.

Before meeting her, he’d been in a spiraling whirlpool, slowing being drug down until he’d almost given up on the police force. He had been so close to giving up; he hadn’t even realized the thought had wormed its way unto his head until it’d been too late.

He watched his students and a content smile crossed his lips. Yes, this place was his way of helping out those who needed protection.

“I’ve heard of this place,” a female voice called from behind him and it didn’t belong to one of his students. “They say it’s the best self defense dojo in the state.”

“I know, Rose,” replied another girl, “that’s why Fye sent us here to enroll.” The familiarity of that voice drew his attention away from the other people in the room.

He turned around to look at the front door. Standing just inside it were young women in green and white private school uniforms. The shorter girl had pink streaks in her hair was looking around excitedly. The young woman standing next to her, however, was looking straight at him.

Olivia.

She had grown in the year and a half since he seen her last. Even though she looked different- older- he’d recognize her eyes anywhere.

She was no longer small and no longer fragile; she was at least four or five inches taller than before, and looked a lot stronger built. She smiled when he caught her eye and nodded to him in acknowledgment.

She looks good , he thought, and she looks happy . And happy was something, she had assured him in her thank you letter a year ago, that she wouldn’t have been if not for him.

Again, as she stood there smiling at him, he thought back to that night beneath the dimly light bus stop. How lucky he had been to find her there. How lucky he’d been to be able to save her from herself.

And how lucky, he thought as he made his way over to greet her, that she’d saved him right back.