Ken turned to face the door as it opened. She took in a deep breath, wincing from the small sting as her empty stomach expanded, but released it when she realized it wasn't her aunt.
It was her uncle.
She exhaled deeply but remained tense. "Yes, Uncle?" she asked quietly, shifting slightly from her seated position.
He closed the door behind him and turned to smile gently at Ken. "Don't worry. I just came to check on you. I heard her yelling like she does sometimes...she gets upset like that every now and then. I was worried that she might have hurt you." He frowned, staring at Ken's face. "You're bleeding."
Ken touched her face, her fingers coming away red. "Oh, I guess I am. It's fine, Uncle. I'll clean it up."
He shook his head. "Allow me." He went out of Ken's room and came back a minute later from the bathroom with a damp towel and the first aid kit. "Here, let me see it." He gestured towards her as he took a seat on the bed.
Hesitantly, Ken sat beside him, sinking down onto the mattress gradually.
"Tilt your face this way," he said, and she did.
"This is going to sting a bit," he warned, and Ken nodded.
He gently pressed the cloth against her cheek, and she blinked a few times. Then he put the cloth down and rummaged through the first aid kit, grabbing a bandaid. He carefully pressed it onto Ken's face. His finger slowly slid off the bandaid and onto her cheek. "My bad," he said.
"It's fine," Ken whispered, but he didn't move his finger.
"Uncle?"
His lips slowly turned into a smile, and not a nice one.
Things can always get worse.
Ken swallowed and hurriedly tried to stand up and back away, but he grabbed her wrist, squeezed tightly.
"Ken, relax. Don't worry," he said, the same words as earlier, but everything was different now. Ken was scared and she wanted him out of her room.
She tugged against his grip but he just laughed.
She opened her mouth but he just shook his head, smiling. "Who are you going to call? My wife? She'll beat you to death. Nobody listens to you, Ken. Even if you screamed, no one would come-"
"YUUICHI!" Ken yelled, panicked. She didn't know if she could trust Yuuichi, but she had to try. She couldn't just lie down in submission.
As she helplessly fought against her uncle's grip, her phone slipped out of her pocket and slid to the other side of the room near the door.
The door opened a second later, the light from the hallway revealing Yuuichi's blank stare.
"Help me," Ken gasped, but her uncle just turned to Yuuichi with a fake kind smile on his face.
"I'm just cleaning her wound. It seems to be a bit more painful than she thought it would be, but I can't say I didn't warn her," he said, laughing. "She's going to be fine. Go back to your room, Yuuichi."
Yuuichi nodded, looking at the ground before looking at Ken, who stared at him desperately.
Please. You're my only hope.
But Yuuichi just turned, bending down to grab something before shutting the door and leaving Ken alone with her uncle.
***
Five minutes later, Ken was still struggling against him. Every time she tried to break his hold, he hit her in the face near where she was already wounded. Her right eye was squeezed shut from where he'd punched her, and her vision was starting to black out, but she kept resisting.
Just a little longer...I can keep fighting for a little longer...