Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Ren arrived to his place one day, that’s when he found out. The poor AllMate was dirty, with some broken parts and malfunctions. He didn’t now what to think when he said it, when Ren said Aoba was trapped and needed someone to save him. He asked Ren where was Aoba and he said in Platinum Jail, trapped in Oval Tower.
Koujaku asked Ren to explain what happened, so Ren did. He said that Aoba was with Clear when someone attacked them, they looked just like Clear, but had some evil on them. Ren was disposed and Aoba was took for experiments, while Clear for some “reparations”. Koujaku then asked about how much time had it passed since this incident, and he wanted to die when he heard the answer… 1 year, that’s what Ren said. That was the time it took the AllMate to restart himself and find a way out of Platinum Jail.
Koujaku hadn’t heard of Aoba for one year, but when he asked Tae-san about him, she said he was in a trip with a friend and wasn’t going to return in some time. He didn’t worry, since he new Aoba wouldn’t do something stupid that would put his life in danger, but he was wrong. Aoba was now trapped in Oval Tower, used for some kind of experiments that Koujaku knew were nothing good.
Koujaku had ways to enter Platinum Jail, so he did. He took only his sword, nothing more, he didn’t need anything else, he was just going to slash every single person that came in his way in Oval Tower, no one would be spared. He was going to find Aoba, even if it costs him his life.
He entered Oval Tower by killing the guards, they didn’t put much of a fight, and he continued he path this way, by killing whoever crossed his way. He entered a different wing of the building, it was full of different rooms. He walked through the hallways, opening each at a time, founding different and horrifying things in some, and empty rooms in other. He killed about 5 or 6 people, or should he think of them as robots, who looked like Clear.
He continued walking, opening rooms and slashing robots until he found it. He opened the room and found a cell inside the room, there was a man with white hair standing at the other side of the bars in front of a metal bed, tending to someone. Koujaku recognized the man with white hair as Clear, because of the clothes he was wearing. Clear moved and turned because of the opening of the door, that’s when Koujaku saw it. He saw Aoba’s blue hair, it wasn’t its lightly blue anymore, it was opaque. He had a black bandage on his eyes, making his pale skin look paler. Without a second thought Koujaku entered the room and slashed Clear, he knew he was the one responsible for this, he knew that Clear was the one to blame for what have been done on Aoba.
Then he got closer to the table where Aoba lay, he was paler than what he remembered and thinner, he was skin and bone, nothing more. He was covered with a white sheet waist down. Koujaku removed the sheet, but he already knew what he was going to find. No legs, Aoba’s legs where cut before where the knee should be. The end of the leg, if it could be called that way, was covered with a black bandage, the same as the eyes. He thought of the worst for Aoba’s eyes, but he didn’t have the courage to look under the bandage. So he just wrapped Aoba on the white sheet and walked out of there. In his way out, he founded Toue so he cut his head off with just one slash, while grabbing Aoba with his other arm. He was more than angry, he wanted that monster to be death, without any possibility of getting ‘resurrected’. Anyone could recover from an stab in the stomach, having the correct medical equipment, but until now Koujaku haven’t heard of anyone that could reattach a head after being cut.
Koujaku went to his place, he didn’t want Tae-san to find out about Aoba’s condition, at least not for now. He lay Aoba on his bed and watched the different expression in his face, it was hard to notice bu he did. During all they way home, he felt Aoba’s tension, like he didn’t know that the one carrying him was Koujaku even though he talked to Aoba trying to make him answer. When Aoba touched the soft bed he realized that he was no longer going to be played with, he was free and maybe safe. He was out of that horrible cell, and maybe even away from Clear.
Koujaku called a doctor, one he new would work this late in the night and that wouldn’t ask to much questions about what happened. In the time the doctor arrived, Koujaku dressed Aoba with one of his old t-shirts and some boxers, they were big on him but Koujaku didn’t mind, he just wanted Aoba to fell better with more dignity.
The doctor arrived and Koujaku let him see Aoba without explaining anything. The doctor was astonished by the looks of his patient, a guy with no legs, with a high level of malnutrition, and a bandage in his eyes that hid what was behind it. He got closer to Aoba and turned his head to Koujaku, asking for permission to remove the bandages form his eyes, Koujaku nodded: The doctor started talking to Aoba, receiving nothing in return, he explained who he was and what was he going to do. When the doctor first touched Aoba’s face, he tensed up. Aoba’s expression changed and his body tried to move, with no success because of the lack of strength. The doctor said he didn’t need to worry, that he was there to help him, not hurt him, but Aoba didn’t change.
The doctor finished taking off the bandages and Koujaku knew immediately that what he most feared was true, there were no eyes behind his lids, Clear had taken out Aoba’s eyes. The doctor looked inside Aoba’s eyes lids, explained everything of what was he doing, but that didn’t kept Aoba from tensing even more. The the doctor inspected his body, lifting the t-shirt a little so he could fill the heart beats and look at his malnourished body. Then he got to his legs, taking out the bandage and observing the cut. When finished the doctor put the bandages in place and asked Koujaku for a minute outside. Koujaku followed the doctor, leaving Ren and Beni in charge of Aoba.
“How is he?” he asked, with fear of the answer that was going to be given to him.
“It’s difficult, but I think that with the right care he’ll eventually get better.
“About his eyes and legs…”
“They were removed surgically, they were perfectly cut and extracted. They are clean, but I recommend cleaning his eyes once in a while, I’ll tell you what to use and how to do it. He’s level of malnutrition is high, it’ll take time but I personally think that with the right diet he will get better.” the doctor made a pause and continued. “I’m not saying he’s in a good condition but I believe that with the right care he’ll get better. What I’m really worried about it’s his mental state. I’m not a psychologist but I know that he had some kind of trauma and his consciousness hid himself to protect him from any more pain.”
“Do you have any recommendation?” Koujaku asked
“Patience. I don’t really know since I’m not a psychologist but I recommend to go slowly and with patience, don’t press him. And another thing, he won’t say it but I bet he’s in a lot of pain, I’ll give you some analgesics for him.”
“Thank you”
 
The doctor gave a prescription to him, with the analgesic and the instruction on how to take care of Aoba’s eyes. Then Koujaku paid him and he left. Koujaku entered the room where Aoba, Ren and Beni were, he guessed Aoba was asleep because of his breath, Ren beside him. Koujaku got closer to Aoba and observed him. He noticed thing he didn’t before, he noticed Aoba’s arms had bruises, he was paler than what he originally thought and he’s hair was really dirty. He always loved Aoba’s hair, but he wasn’t permitted to touch it because of the sensibility it had. He decided to give a bath to Aoba tomorrow, and clean him carefully.
That night Koujaku slept on his sofa, it wasn't comfortable but he slept well, knowing that now Aoba was in good hands, and hoping he would get better