(That employee is one of his sla.ves, the other employee is Peter’s healer girl, but she’s just sitting in the corner of the room rn)
Peter let out a dark chuckle, then moved back to the stairwell and went up, up, up; to the helicopter. Rigel reached out weakly towards Kohaku, but he was hardly more than a rag doll.
Kohaku followed on behind Peter, and this time, she had enough— enough of being ignored, enough of Rigel getting punished for something he didn’t even do. She finally reheated her throat effectively and blew a incinerating breath of fire at the man’s back. Rrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!
Peter spun, jerking Rigel with him. Fury lit his face as he shoved his back against the wall to put out the flames before they burnt him, but in the process Peter’s grip loosened on Rigel and he managed to push away and stumbling, falling towards Kohaku.
Kohaku managed to cool herself down a bit before catching Rigel's fumble, totally flustered. His weight was heavy and even though he was more hurt than her, she felt her knee tingle with imaginary pain. "Rigel…" She cried, holding him up strong. "….Rigel…."
Peter was just about to yank Rigel back to him, but then someone else entered the hallway. A cop, and then more, rushed in, each holding a gun. Pointing them at Peter, who immediately stopped. Dumbfounded. But Rigel had been quick, and he had wrapped the towel that had covered him around Kohaku instead- so the cops wouldn’t see her animal features. Then he was ushering her towards the exit, hoping she wouldn’t be spotted as he shifted his weight to lean against the wall instead of her. And few cops were already occupied putting hand cuffs on Peter, and he hoped the attention would stay off Kohaku.
Kohaku was a bit blindsided by the towel, and she fluffed around to at least get it so she could see. Rigel was there, barely hanging on to life by a thread. "Rigel…" She blinked sorrowfully, joining him gingerly at his side. She wanted to say something, but she had no idea how to say it while capturing every emotion she had stirring up in her heart. Forgive me… Tears began streaming down her face.
“Go,” Rigel urged, blinking away the tears in his own eyes, knowing the cops were just about to move on to helping him since the only thing he was wearing was his own blood. “You need to go, they won’t notice if you leave now,” Rigel insisted, though he was putting most of his weight on the wall in order to even stand.
She knew it had to be done. But just the thought of leaving him– "I c-can't," She whimpered, closing her eyes tight. I can't leave you like this…. "I don't care anymore… I just want to be with you."
“Kohaku…” Rigel breathed, shame filling his features. I don’t deserve you. But he was pulled away a moment later as a cop approached and draped a blanket over him, putting his arm around Rigel to give him support, and another cop was quickly at his other side to start leading him down to the stairwell, where Peter was currently being led with his hand behind his back. Two other cops came over to Kohaku, one scanning her eyes over the fox girl before asking, “Who are you? Are you okay?”
"I– I'm ok-kay…." She shuttered, a sudden chill passing through her body. Although the heat inside her wasn't totally gone, she was definitely deprived of it, and she needed it quite badly. "B-But…. I…. I…." Kohaku backed away a little, knowing well what they were going to do to her if she lashed out. It was so long since they talked to a human– besides Rigel….
“What’s wrong,” The cop asked gently, reaching out a hand but immediately turned as a few new figures entered the room.
Three cops, followed by Drake (and possibly Youichi) entered, “It’s just this way- here. This was where they were.”
Kohaku shivered. I need… warm… hot…. something…
Youichi barely recognized the girl beneath the towel, but it only took a couple seconds. “Kohaku!” He tried not to push and shove, yet he inched his way through to her, hugging her tight. “Kohaku— I was so worried…” She’s safe…. she’s safe…. He told himself over and over.
“Here, these rooms was where Peter… uh… hurt people.” The cops nodded, one of them even opening one of the doors. The one that Rigel had been in. A metallic smell of blood filled the air, and a few cops filed in. It was a few second before two of them came out with Peter’s employee, taking her downstairs.
Kohaku clung onto Youichi tight, trying not to let go She suddenly drew back at the thought of him. "Where's Rigel???" She glanced around, but fretted when she didn't see him. "Where did he go???"
Rigel had been helped down the stairs, a healthy distance away from Peter. The two cops at his side had been as gentle as possible, but it didn’t stop the pain in every injury that had been inflicted on him.
Kohaku broke away from him and slipped through all the people to scrambled on downstairs, still holding the towel firmly over her head. "Rigel!!" She called out. "Rigel!!" I can't loose you!!
Youichi chased after her. "Kohaku! Stop! You shouldn't overwork yourself after that!"
Cops turned their heads immediately as Kohaku passed them, but Rigel tugged again his helpers, turning his head back. No, no, no, she has to go… away from here… away from these people…
Youchi caught up to her and grabbed her hand. "Come on– we have to go back to the others… And fetch Mamoru…"
"No…" She sobbed, tears leaking from her eyes. "I can't let him go." Kohaku made the best choice not to make it too obvious so that they could shun her. "I can't let him leave me." Not after all that we've been through…
Drake caught up to the fox girl and Youichi, “Shouldn’t you two be, uh, hiding?” He asked quietly, looking at the cops that weren’t to far away. “That guy -Rigel, was it?- will probably be let out soon, he needs to go to the hospital.”
Kohaku sobbed. "I-I just want to be with Rigel…."
Youchi glared at Drake, but tugged at Kohaku. "Come on… We have to let him heal properly. And Daichi's– er… Methods don't count; not this time it doesn't…"
She was pulled close to him, but she continued to cry.
"What makes you think that we should be hiding?" He growled a little, scrunching his brow.
Mamoru got a bit tired of waiting for someone– anyone to come to the top. He flew off the top of the building (I assume he be still an eagle…) and down into the side alley to hear the commotion of police sirens and people. What happened….? He found the leaf under the stone Youichi had left, and used it to take on the same human that brought Rigel out to Katsumi. He walked on out, trying not to be too involved.
“You don’t exactly look human,” Drake pointed out, eyeing Kohaku, “Listen, I’m just trying to look out for you, and these cops don’t mess around. You need to disappear, soon. One minute, they’re going to want to question you and you won’t be able to hide yourself.” He turned, walking back up the stairs.
Peter was forced out of the doors, and into a cop car. Rigel was helped out a moment later, a stretcher being brought to him.
Although he wanted to stick around to see if Rigel was going to be okay, Youichi realized Drake was right. “Come on, Kohaku— we need to leave.”
“Youichi’s right,” Mamoru came out from behind the building, almost out of nowhere. “We need to get back to their place before they begin to worry too much about us.”
“But—“ Kohaku stammered, being covered up even more and lightly escorted away from the police. “I— How will— what if I never get to see him again??”
Mamoru and Youichi lightly ignored her and went along, trying to keep themselves as hidden as possible.
Rigel….
Rigel and the employee had been sent off the hospital, Peter had been taken to the jail to await trial, and teams of cops covered the scene of the building and tied up lose ends.
(Want to do a time skip to the next day?]
(Yes pls)
Back at Naoki's house…
Kohaku lied awake in her bed, constantly rethinking about what happened. Ryuu…. Watch over Rigel and tell me he's going to recover well…. It was unfortunate she wasn't transformative like Mamoru or Youichi, but she could get some news that way.
Rigel was laying in the hospital bed, staring towards the opened window. He’d refused to answer any questions- refused to talk, even. He was very broken, more broken than his body. They said that it was too broken to be fixed, but they hadn’t known that his other knee had been as broken as it before that girl healed it. He didn’t feel like trying to explain it.
Youichi touched at Kohaku's door, slipping inside. "Kohaku…" He called gently. "You need to go to bed. I understand you're upset–"
"Do you understand?" She snapped, her voice wavering. "Do you understand what Rigel means to me? To us??? He's the first bridge between Doku Ningen and humanity in centuries!" She barked. And I love him…
Rigel stared and stared for what felt like an eternity, before the door creaked open. He didn’t bother to turn his head, probably just another nurse. But this time… the person approached, and came into Rigel’s vision. It was that employee. She wordlessly put her hand over Rigel’s broken knee, quietly saying, “It was unfair what he did to you,” Her voice was hoarse, like a wraith’s. Rigel wondered if she had said anything since she left the building, either. “His other victims… he would maybe punish for a few hours, but he would always kill them afterwards. But you… you were the only one he raped like that. You were the only one he didn’t let die.” Rigel felt a hot tingling in his knee, “Sometimes me or one of my sisters would try to keep you unconscious for as long as possible, so you wouldn’t have to keep going through that pain.” She withdrew her hand then walked to the window. “That girl -the fox girl- was worried for you. I saw her when they were taking me out of the building.”
Youichi realized she was right– It was hundreds of years since any human acted as benevolent as Rigel, and the people around with the police and such didn't seem all to violent or excessive in the use of force. "Well, perhaps…." He was about to go on, but realized that he had no method in seeking out where Rigel went after the incident.
Kohaku just glared at him. "Who knows when I'll see him again, if I ever do!" She began to sob uncontrollably.
“Do you know where she is?” Rigel asked, the first word she had spoken in a while. His voice was wrecked from how much he had screamed.
“I don’t, but…” She glanced at his face before returning her hollow gaze out the window, “The nurses are preoccupied because certain recovering victim has gone missing, so if you want to go find her now would be the time to do so.” Rigel’s eyes widened a fraction, and a few moments later he had collected himself and was sneaking out the back door of the hospital and making a run for it, on newly recovered knees. His body still ached immensely, but he made it into the woods without being seen. That was all he wanted, to get out. The first step to finding Kohaku again.
Youichi joined her on the bed, hugging her close with an arm around her back. "I'm sure you'll get to see him again…" He rubbed her back, interrupted by frequent sobs. "It…. However, I don't know how long it'll be…"
Kohaku wiped her tears from her eyes, but her throat was fairly sore and rough. He has no idea… Youichi doesn't know…..
