[4.2] Just in Time

The monster stood tall. Several heads taller than Akuma. Its dead, rotten eyes stared right into Akuma's.

At that moment, he could feel his heart stop for a moment. Never before was he faced with something as terrifying.

Merely seconds later it lets out an incredibly loud scream. It sounds like a half dead bear mixed with a human in incredible agony.

As soon as Akuma hears it, he turns to run. He runs fast. As fast as he can.

The monster starts chasing Akuma soon enough. Running on its muscular legs while it used its arms for stability, rather than speed.

Akuma does his best to run away. Fight is not an option. Even if he has a sword, he is no swordsman. He can only swing it around.

He puts all of his strenght into running. [That's it! I just have to get back to the camp! Brann will help me!...But...what if this is something he won't be able to handle...what if he'll hate me because i led it to the camp...]

With such thoughts, Akuma slows down, until he eventually stops completely. [What if he'll hate me for it?]

The fear of being rejected, the fear he ran from just now caused him to end up here. Chased by a monster. He can't go anywhere. He fears both. The fight with the monster and facing Brann after running away.

Tears run down his cheeks as he realizes what he has done. He ran away from the only person who accepted him. He can't face him now. [He'll hate me for sure now.]

He is conflicted. Stuck between a rock and a hard place. Even if he somehow manages to kill the monster, there's no telling if Brann would even be happy to see him. There's no telling whether he could even come back to Haku. Zack might have lied to him about Akuma.

Being hated by the one person who showed him kindness by the one person who helped him when he needed it the most is worse than death to Akuma.

As the monster approaches at inhuman speeds, he slowly turns around. His eyes mirroring how he has given up on life.

The monster swings at Akuma with its long arm. Akuma is knocked into a nearby tree.

As he sits, his consciousness slowly starts to fade away as he hears the familiar voice once again. "Giving up, huh? Good. You don't have to do a thing from now. You don't have to worry about anything. I'll do it all for you. So sleep well and don't wake up."

Those words sounded like salvation to him. He wouldn't be responsible for any of his actions if the one controlling his body isn't him. When he is merely a spectator. Less than that. When he runs away far far away. Somewhere, where no one can reach him. Akuma lets out a sigh of relief as he speaks, for what he believes is the last time. "Yes."

Before his eyes close for good, Akuma looks up. He sees the long, skinny arm of the monster reaching out to him. Ready to kill him. Yet in the last moment, it stops. A tall figure stops in front of Akuma, as it cuts the long arm along its lenght. The monster backs away as it lets out a blood curdling scream. Its arm sliced all halfway to its elbow.

In blind rage it charges at the man standing in front of Akuma.

The attempts of that "thing" inside Akuma are futile once more. Akuma realizes who the figure standing in front of him is. Brann. Even when he ran away in fear from him, he still came to save him.

From the bottom of his heart, he is grateful. Yet his words are different. "Why? You should run away! You don't have to get hurt!"

Brann doesn't look back to Akuma before speaking. "We'll talk later!"

He says as he pierces the palm of the other hand of the monster. He lets go of the sword. As the monster lets out another paralyzing scream, Brann, unfazed, pulls out the other longsword at his hip and pireces the monster's exposed ribcage along with the flesh behind it with a single straight thrust.

The monster falls to its back. Screaming, as it passes away in agony.

Brann slowly turns around with a worried expression. Akuma is sitting with his back to the tree, looking down to avoid facing Brann.

As Brann slowly approaches, Akuma only tries harder to avoid him. He can't.

Brann stops right in front of Akuma. The worried expression remains unchanged. He stares down at Akuma's face. He notices soon enough that Akuma is avoiding his eyes.

He tries to offer Akuma a smile along with a hand. "C'mon. We should get back."

Akuma looks up at the stretched out hand in front of him.

Tears start to flow down his cheeks. Yet his heart doesn't allow him to take that hand. He grits his teeth as he slaps the arm that offered him help away.

Brann is taken back by Akuma's response. "Aku-" He is interrupted by Akuma. "WHY?!"

"WHY DID YOU COME BACK FOR ME?! I...I RAN AWAY FROM YOU BECAUSE I WAS AFRAID OF YOU! SO WHY DID YOU COME BACK FOR ME?!" In a single moment, everything that has been boiling inside Akuma is out.

A single moment. That's all it took for Brann to understand Akuma's insecurities.

He opens his mouth, yet no words come out. [Ever since i've talked to Reinold i didn't talk much to Akuma, did i?] Brann tries to recall every time he really helped Akuma ever since they left Deltum.

[Barely a few times. And that was still just asking him whether he was hungry. God dammit, raising a kid like this is harder than i thought...But it still leaves me to wonder what happened to him to be afraid of something like this. Kid must have been fucked over real bad.]

Brann places his hand on Akuma's head. Which came to Akuma as a surprise.

Brann looks down to the ground as well. "You know. This probably ain't no secret by now, but i'm no expert when it comes to taking care of others." Brann's gaze lifts, and he looks directly into Akuma's eyes. "But i still want to help you. And that's a fact. You may not believe it, but i'll be there for you when you need help. When you do something right, i'll praise you. When you do something bad, i'll scold you, harder than anyone else." Brann's expression turns serious for a moment. "But i'll never abandon you."

Akuma looks up to Brann smiling once again. That smile of the tired old man who is trying his best, gives Akuma comfort. "You promise?" Akuma asks as he looks to the ground, this time in embarassment.

Brann steps back and reaches his hand out to Akuma one more time. A smirk appears on Brann's face. "Yeah. I promise to never let you be alone 'till you're a full fledged adult!"

A smile of relief appeared on Akuma's face as he took Brann's hand.

He found something. Something he wants to hang on to. Something he wants to protect. Something that is worth protecting. A person that will wait for him when he's late, picks him up when he trips and offers him a smile when he is successful. But most importantly, he now has a person that will always be there waiting, no matter what.