Their First Encounter (CLOSED)

[Layton "Chu" Lewis]

For Your Consideration

Pawns:
Layton "Chu" Lewis & Akio Tokuhana.
Status:
Private/CLOSED
Setting:
A physical therapist office located in the Hospital.
Scene:
Chu's knee has been dislocated, he's been ordered to visit a physical therapist to get it examined and worked on.

It was roughly 1:30pm in the after noon. Out of an adjacent open window a warm summer breeze blew through, the sun beat down on to the wooden floor. A thin and timid looking young man sat awkwardly in a chair anxiously fumbling with his long fingers. He had been ordered by a doctor to visit the hospital's physical therapist, and perhaps this would help strengthen his muscles so his knee wouldn't pop out of joint anymore.

He wasn't sure how many Doctors he's seen over the years, he wasn't sure of how many bottles of pain killers he'd been prescribed, how many times he'd been on crutches, how many times he'd been bandaged up or given a new brace to wear. It had all become a blur to him, thinking back, he wasn't even sure how many times he'd even been admitted to a hospital. Every time he came back, he was reminded how much he disliked it. He hated the smell, the death, the pain, the memories.

Thinking about it all made him physically sick.

He held his stomach with one hand and glanced around the room. The room he was in was decently sized, with several different machines to exercise on, stepping stools, exercise balls, weights, there was a set of bars for patients who had to re-learning how to walk and could use the bars to stabilize themselves, and other odd configurations for therapy. To his left was a large metal door and then a long glass window, through the window you could see a small pool, that was probably used to help patients walk without too much impact on their bodies.

The young man's deep honey colored eyes looked up at the clock again, 1:35pm.
Whoever his physical therapist was he was probably caught up eating lunch or at a meeting.

However, he didn't mind sitting there in the silence. He leaned forward in his chair and looked at himself. He was wearing a loose black shirt, a pair of blue basketballs shorts, his silver ring, and the brace around his knee that the doctor had given him.

Truth be told, he was embarrassed to have to wear the basketball shorts. Despite having a dislocated knee, he also had several scars and burn marks running up his legs. But, the doctor told him to wear shorts so the therapist could see how bad his knee was. He truly hoped that the therapist wouldn't comment on all of his scars. He didn't want to talk about them, at all.

1:45pm. Was he too early? Was he too late? Was the appointment on another day? Was he in the wrong room? What if his therapist was mean? What if the therapist didn't like him? What if...? What if...? What if...?

He could only think of the worst possibly scenarios, as he anxiously rocked himself back and fourth in his chair; nervously chewing on his perfectly plump pink lips.

[Akio Tokuhana]

Akio ran through the hospital. He'd left class late after dealing with a particularly curious student, and now he was 15, almost 20 minutes late for his Physical Therapy appointment. He dodged lithely through the halls, getting calls to watch his step and slow down from the staff. He smiled and waved back at them in apology.

Normally, he was very punctually. He hated keeping people waiting. And more importantly, his discipline told him it was rude. A weakness. He berated himself mentally as he reached the door to his room.

He stopped and took a deep breath, forcing himself to relax. He wasn't breathing too heavily, but enough that anyone could see he had just been running. With a final deep calming breath, he pushed the door open.

His hair was pushed back from his eyes slightly for the workout he'd been doing earlier. He was still in his boxing shorts and a plain black tank top. His feet and hands were still wrapped in the work out tape to protect them during practice. A pair of black running shoes over top of his feet. He hated coming into an appointment dressed so unprofessionally. But, it couldn't be helped today. And he'd rather be here underdressed, than not show at all.

He looked at the boy who was waiting nervously and bowed slightly in apology. "I.. apologize. Normally, I am not so late." His accent was thick with what was obviously Asian, most likely Japanese dialect. If his voice hadn't given it away, his facial features certainly had to. He smiled kindly and closed the door, taking a chart from the wall and looking it over.

He could read English lightning fast. He'd been doing it all his years in school. Speaking and understanding it always took a little longer. He glanced at the name and turned back over to his patient. "Layton, yes?" He nodded and looked back to the chart, then at the bracer on the boys knee. "Knee injury. How did you receive the injury?" He suddenly stopped and mentally slapped himself.

"Ah. Forgive me again! My name is Akio Tokuhana. Just, call me Akio." He smiled, a large grin that made his entire face light up and his eyes seem brighter.

[Layton "Chu" Lewis]

Chu was startled as the door swung open, anda surprisingly good looking young man walk in. He was slender, well built, with wispy dark brown and blonde hair, and not to mention much taller than him. From a distance, Chu probably would have mistook him for a model, but he was surprised to find out that this man would be his physical therapist.

Chu swallowed hard and looked down at the ground, avoiding eye contact with him. He was timid, quite, and very reserved, like a doe. His honey eyes glanced around the room, as he began to speak,

"It's fine...I don't mind... I'm sure you were busy and...." His voice became more and more faint as he spoke, he hunched over a bit more and began to nervously tug and pull on the bottom of his shirt.

He bit his lip, his eyes still fixated on the ground, he took a sharp breath, "P-please don't call me Layton... my name is Chu."

He swallowed again, slightly rocking his body. "I... I was beat up.. and... it popped out of joint and and and..." His words slurred together and the two men fell back into prolonged silence.

He licked his lips and he slowed picked up his head, withdrawing his body ever so slightly. Chu looked at the young man, and reviled his face; His perfect skin, his plump pink lips, those deep honey eyes, and that gentle and frightened look in his eyes.

"... It's... nice to m-meet you... A-... A-Akio..."

Chu was a very timid fellow, his shoulders hunched over, his thin arms wrapped around his scarily thin body, and his head down low. It was as if he was preparing for a punch or a kick. He didn't mean to come off rude or offensive, he just did what he was taught as a child: That he was useless and a bother, and as long as he kept his head down low and he remained as quite as possible then he wouldn't be harmed.
He was a young man who was piratically scared by his own shadow.

[Akio Tokuhana]

Akio cocked his head to the side slightly. He was afraid he'd done something to offend the young man at first. But it took a number of seconds for him to realize that wasn't the case. "Nn. Nice to meet you, Chu. Sorry, they didn't put that on the clip board." He pointed to it accusingly, then set it aside and knelt in front of him at his seat, reaching up and taking the brace off slowly.

He saw the scars on his legs, a patchwork of patterns and angles. He furrowed his brow. Akio could tell they weren't all recent. "When did you first get the injury? It looks like it's been out of joint more than once." He let the brace fall to the ground and pressed his fingers gently against the joint, top and bottom. He hissed lightly, displeased with the boys condition.

He looked up at Chu, who couldn't look at the ground easily now that Akio had positioned himself so close. Their eyes finally met. Akio blinked. The boys eyes were filled with misery, sadness, loneliness. There was something empty and broken behind the soft brown orbs. His hands paused in their work.

He didn't know how long he just sort of, lost himself, but Akio quickly cleared his throat and returned to his work. "The muscle is weak. The ligament is torn. It was a bad surgery. You may need to work hard to fix it. And be careful it doesn't get injured in the process."

He pressed on the joint until he felt it pop and flinched, he knew it would hurt. He hadn't wanted to hurt Chu, but the joint was in very bad shape and it was easy to cause pain within it. "How many times was this re-broken?" It came out as angry, an accusation, but it wasn't directed at Chu. It was directed at whoever had caused it. "This was... recent." He looked up at Chu again. "Someone, here?"

This wound wasn't self inflicted and, judging by his build, it wasn't a sports accident. This was intentional. Meaningful. "Why?" He was half asking the world, and half asking the timid creature in front of him.

[Layton "Chu" Lewis]

A sharp gasp of pain escaped Chu's lips as Akio took off his brace. Akio's hands maneuvered around his skin expertly, touching his fair skin gently easing some of his discomfort.

Chu turned his head away from Akio, "Umm... I... I got it when I was 15... 5 years ago. I... I was b-beat up in school... and it broke..." Chu's voice was still faint, as he nervously chewed on his lower lip.

When Chu solemnly turned his head back to Akio, he found that their faces were much closer than before. Akio's eyes were a deep sapphire blue color. The look in Akio's eyes was strong, but seemed to carry the slightest bit of concern. He also noticed Akio's lips; they were, in a word, perfect. He wasn't quite sure how long they just looked at each other, but it was long enough for Chu to realize that Akio had completely stopped his handy work on his knee. When Akio cleared his throat, Chu turned his face amd a gentle red tint crossed his pale cheeks.

"I... I don't mind ha-hard work..." Chu whispered, "I'll... I'll work hard... I pro-promise."

When Akio asked who had harmed him, Chu became slightly withdrawn again. He didn't want to rat out Fisher, because if Fisher found out he'd probably get his goonies to come and maul Chu in whatever amount of proper sleep he got.

He thought long and hard of a reasonable excuse, "Umm. J-just some guy kicked me... and umm. It's-- It's really no big deal... I.. I mean accidents happen and it just popped out and Iprobablyhaditcominganywayandit'sfinereallyIdon'tmind. Thissortofthinghappenstomeallthetime." Chu's words collided together as he spoke to Akio, his eyes avoiding contact with Akio's if that meant staring at the ceiling like an idiot.

He noticed that Akio's hands were still on his knee, and instead of trying to shove it back into joint like all of the other doctors, that Akio was being very gentle with him, massaging his knee and carefully working it.

That red tint crossed Chu's cheeks again, he didn't want to admit it. But having Akio's hands on him felt... almost nice.

He cleared his throat and leaned back into his chair as Akio continued to work on his knee, "Umm... umm... w-will we start the therapy to-today? Or s-should I come back another day... or something...?" His voice was still faint as he innocently glanced up at Akio. Out of nervous habit he began to absently fiddle with that silver ring on his finger. "I-I... don't want to be a burden or a-anything..." Chu muttered.

[Akio Tokuhana]

He had been speaking language the entire 4 years he'd lived at Haven, and could read and write it even before that. But now, while he was listening to Chu speak. The words didn't make sense. He bit the inside of his lip slightly and furrowed his brow. The words were so quick, he couldn't understand them. He tried to work through each syllable, but was quickly brought out of the thought.

"Nn? Ah! Well, I've already started the therapy. That's what I'm doing. We can't have you do anything too physical, it will hurt it too much. You will need to come back." He felt the joint and the bones beneath the skin. He slid them back into place and felt the tendons strain. He sighed.

"If the person who did this to you is here, they are only going to make this worse. I don't know... if you can avoid them?" He looked up at the boy questioningly. "I would suggest you do so. If you can't... Perhaps... You should let me walk you home..."

Akio didn't like seeing people hurt. He didn't like when "accidents" brought people in to see him. He hated when people decided what other people did or didn't deserve.

"You can't allow them to hurt you."

[Layton "Chu" Lewis]

A sharp gasp escaped Chu's lips as Akio guided his knee back into joint. The abrupt pain radiated through his body like a sharp blade cutting through a peach's skin. A look of discomfort crossed his face as he massaged his own knee.

He couldn't even begin to explain how sick he was of being so sore all of the time. It if wasn't his knee, it was his legs, if it wasn't his legs it was his joints. It seemed like the pain was never ending, like he could never escape it. Though, it seemed like the perfect explanation for his life: Never ending pain.

Chu didn't answer as Aki began to question him. He let his bangs droop down in front of his eyes; he felt like a lab-rat being examined as Akio kept asking all of these questions.

Then suddenly his eyes widened, "W-what?!" Chu blurted out as Akio had offered to walk him home. His hands quickly clasped over his mouth, he didn't mean to be so loud. "S-sorry..." he mutter through his fingers.

"W-walk m-me ho-home?" Chu stuttered nervously. "Umm... Akio... It's... fine. I mean... like... I... I can... do it?" He found it hard to sound to reassuring, considering the fact that he could barely walk and was still hopping around on crutches.

"You can't allow them to hurt you."

The words cut him deep, as if Chu wanted to be beaten to a pulp regularly.

"... I... I don't want them to... hurt me." He whispered.

He looked down at himself, disgusted at the sight of him, "J-just look at me... I'm so thin, and small, and... ugly... and... pathetic." Chu opened his arms a little, and allowed Aki to get a good look at his delicate frame.
"I don't want to be hurt... b-but... they do it anyways. Th-they do it be-because I... deserve it... for-- for being so... so... so..."

There was a prolonged silence between the two of them.

As a look of defeat crossed his face his eyes fell down into his lap. Chu's lips moved ever so slightly and the mouthed the word, "Disappointing".

There was no trace of real emotion in his eyes, as he looked back up. Chu had accepted the fact that he was a disappointment. He always has been a disappointment. He always would be.

2:10, the clock read.

"... I guess I should go. I'm sorry I wasted your time Akio... I'll wait for my knee to fix itself... you have other, more important patients coming in soon. You-- you should pre-prepare for them..."

How low could this poor boys self-esteem be? He didn't believe that he was good enough for help, or for compassion, for sympathy, or any amount of goodness. It was heart breaking to see a boy with such potential to throw it all away just because he didn't realize how much potential he actually had.

Chu didn't ask for help as he desperately tried to reach for his brace that was lying on the ground, he eventually gave up; then tried for his crutches. He couldn't reach those either.
He did everything on his own.
Just like he always did.

[Akio Tokuhana]

The look of utter defeat in his eyes broke Akio's heart. This man, was the kind of man that never got what he deserved. He'd been mistreated and manhandled all his life. Pain, loss, it was all he'd ever known. Akio rubbed Chu's knee slightly at the look of discomfort, attempting to make it stop aching quickly.

His answers were always stuttered, or so quick he couldn't actually understand them. He preferred the stuttering if he had to have a choice, at least it gave him time to understand. But, it was just another clue into the dark past of the boy in front of him.

"Chu, I know you can walk home. With much effort. It's not the walk I'm worried about..." Akio allowed his fingers to brush against some of the more prominent scars on Chu's leg, trying to make his point. "No one ever wants to be hurt. I can help you." He gestured to his attire. "I didn't dress like this as a fashion statement." He pointed to the black tassle hanging from his arm. "This is the same as a black belt in Karate."

It made him ache, it made him angry. He'd been abused for so long. Not only the physical scars were a testament to this. "What right do they have to call you disappointing? Nn?" He sighed and shook his head. "You are small and frail. But, only pathetic because you've let them convince you. And," Akio looked off to the side slightly, the lightest of blush coming across his cheeks, "you're... very attractive."

He reached down and grasped the brace, sliding it back over Chu's knee and deftly attaching it back into place. "You were certainly not a waist of time. Your knee will not fix itself. And I expect to see you back here the same time next week." He stood up and held a hand out to Chu.

"I don't have any more patients today. And no one is more important than anyone else." He picked up Chu's crutches in his other hand. "And I will walk you home."

[Layton "Chu" Lewis]

As Akio's fingers slipped over the scars on the back of Chu's leg, his eyes widened and he quickly retracted his leg. No one had ever had the boldness to out right touch his scars.
"Don't touch them." He said defensively.

Chu noticed the black band around Akio's arm, "A black belt?" He muttered.
"... Wow... that's really cool Akio. S-so that kind of makes you like a ninja. Strong, and smart and swift and stuff... right?" A gentle, small, beautiful smile crossed Chu's face. That little spark of life in his face eliminated his once dreary face.

When Akio called him 'attractive' a hot blush covered his cheeks, "Umm, thank you..." he whispered with a small chuckle.

For a moment, he felt the need to compliment Akio back, he wasn't sure what to say. That his eyes reminded him of a sparking Hawaiian sea? That his lips were perfect? That he had a body of a Greek god?

Wait.

What was he thinking? He was dating someone! He couldn't possibly think of somebody else.

In an instant, Chu became withdrawn again. Akio carefully put the brace back around his knee. Then insisted on walking him home.

Apparently Chu couldn't convince Akio otherwise. With a sigh he nodded his head 'yes'. Allowing Akio to walk him home.
In a small way, he felt flattered that Akio cared enough to want to keep an eye on him.

Akio helped him stand, and handed him his crutches and soon they were on their way.

Chu hadn't spoken two words as long as they were in the hospital. He kept his head down, hopping along, trying not to look up all of the doctors, dying patients, sick children and suffering families.

As soon as they got outside, Chu was able to breathe a little easier.

"So... umm... A-Akio... you... you have an accent." Chu pointed out, "Where are you from? W-when did you come to Ha-Haven? I've ne-never seen you before...."

[Akio Tokuhana]

He felt bad for touching the scars. Chu's reaction was sharp. He flinched a little, fingers avoiding the scars. But it had proven his point, which was all Akio had aiming for. He was glad for the sudden distraction.

"Nn. Yes, well. Not a ninja. I don't know ninjutsu. But I am strong and swift, yes. I teach Muay Thai." Akio was happy to talk about his martial art, and happy to see that small bit of excitement in this boys eyes.

It was crushed seconds later. He didn't know how to handle the sudden silence. Chu was a puzzle. Akio wasn't sure how he'd react to any given thing, or what he should say in response. He never knew what would upset him. At that moment, he really was uncertain what response to make. But, as Chu finally agreed to be escorted home, Akio grinned.

"Good. Let me change. I don't want to walk around dressed like this. He helped Chu to the locker room. He always kept a set of spare clothing here, just in case. He walked into the room and changed quickly, careful with how he handled the cords and wrapping of his Muay Thai uniform. He didn't bother with hair and make up, even if he normally would have taken the time, and instead simply changed.

He came out of the locker dressed in a pair of tight fitting jeans that fell to the floor, covering his shoes almost completely. Only the toe of his black boots showing beneath the dark fabric. His white shirt was long sleeved and white on the left side and black ending at his shoulder on his right. His right hand was gloved in a fingerless black mesh that ended at his elbow.

His hair was still pushed back, showing the piercings in each ear, which now had earrings in them. A small gym bag was slung over his left shoulder, containing his work out clothes.

"Ready. Sorry." He walked out of the hospital at Chu's side, getting glances from patients, most of the staff accustomed to his attire. He waived and said his goodbyes as he walked beside Chu on his crutches. It was obvious he was well known and liked, and very talkative.

As they exited the hospital and Chu posed his question Akio smiled. "I'm from Japan. But I've been in Haven four years. I didn't speak English at home often. I read and write perfect, but not speak." He shrugged. "I like it here alright. I had to leave family behind, and friends and my boyfriend. But it worked out better for him this way, anyway." He shrugged.

He spoke about his orientation with little regard for anyone's opinion and no concern about being critisized. He slid his right hand into his pocket, completely laid back. He moved with ease and confidence. Completely offsetting the man hobbling on crutches beside him.