Alone On the Ship

Goliaths Disarm Their Davids

Yumi and Shugo had spent the night together. They talked for hours about themselves, their outlooks, and each other. As Yumi talked about her childhood, all Shugo could do was notice her scar. He knew he was hallucinating, but he thought it was pulsating. It was in his vision. It was almost as if the scar was speaking to him. Despite his best efforts to ignore it, he couldn't.

"Yumi... Does it ever hurt you?"

"What?" She asked, and he rubbed down her scar. "Well... The memories hurt, but not the scar itself..."

"I can't take my mind off of it..." Shugo said.

He knew that he didn't love her, or at least not yet. He held on to the hope that he could. He figured that she merely had an infatuation with him because he kept her safe. But he didn't let any of it bother him, rather he wished to see it through. He hoped that he was wrong.

"It's okay... Look... Maybe I can get your mind off of it..." Yumi said, and she climbed into his lap, gently pushing him down against his pillow.

She kissed him, and when she pulled away from the kiss, she took her shirt off.

"No, we're not doing that." Shugo said.

"For all we know, we could die tomorrow... I want to know what it's like to be close with someone... With you..." Yumi replied.

Her argument itself wasn't a weak one, but it was out of desperation. He knew that she was begging to be loved, and that she had begged for it her whole life. He believed that it didn't matter that it was him, and that it could've been anyone.

"Yumi, we can't do that, and you know it." Shugo said. "We've known each other for a day."

"So...?" She asked.

"We don't know each other even close to well enough." Shugo responded.

"We aren't going to if we die..."

"It's not about that, Yumi." He said.

"What if you die? What if you and Aoi both die?" Yumi asked.

"Then that is the unfortunate truth." Shugo replied.

"I don't want to go through life not knowing how it feels... Shugo, I love you..." Yumi said.

"It's only because I'm the one who is here." Shugo replied, and Yumi blinked.

His words hurt her, regardless if they were truthful or not.

"You really think that's it? Why do you think I looked for you?" Yumi asked. "Do you not remember when Aoi invited my sister and I over for a therapy session, and the four of us had dinner together? When you let us stay for the night because we had nowhere else to go? Do you not remember when I had nightmares, so you let me sleep next to you...?"

Shugo sat there. He was defeated, because the memories came back to him.

"I told you that I loved you then... We talked all night just like tonight... Nobody's ever been as kind to me as you have... If I lose you and the last piece of you I have... I don't know what I'd do... You and Aoi were the only reasons that I'm still here... Shugo, I lied when I said all of the scars on my shoulders were from my mother. Most of them were, but the fresher ones were by my own hand. It was all I knew until I met you... Nobody ever kissed my forehead goodnight before you... Why do you think I was so excited to see you when we got on the ship? I would've ran over to you had Viorica not distracted me..." Yumi explained.

Shugo hugged her and stroked her hair.

"I remembered... I just didn't realize it was you..." Shugo said.