Waiting For My Words Seen But Never Heard

Before she could begin to pick the tomatoes on the vine in front of her, she heard a rumble from Akuma. She glanced over to see his ears low, eyes fixated on something in the distance.

“What is it boy?” She asked, shifting herself slightly to see where he was looking. She couldn’t see anything, but the dog still looked spooked. “Akuma.” He still didn’t pay her any attention. “What can you see?”

Akuma barked slightly, before taking a few steps forward. He paused, ears picking up and sniffing the air, before he let out another bark and stepped forward. Usually she’d just assume he saw a squirrel or something, but there was a strange sinking feeling in her gut. She abandoned the basket, following the dog over to the shrubbery that signalled the borders of their land. Akuma paused, nose down and sniffing at something poking out of a bush.

Harumi went cold when she realised what she was looking at.

A human hand, covered in blood.

“Hanzo!” She immediately screamed, hoping to god her Husband would hear her. Harumi didn't dare look and see if the hand was attached to someone. The fact there was no reaction when Akuma’s wet nose pushed against it didn’t fill her with hope.

She heard footsteps rush up behind her, and heavy breathing as Hanzo’s voice asked “what’s wrong?”

She pointed towards where Akuma was, and Hanzo looked over with a frown. Harumi knew he’d seen it too when his face dropped and eyes widened. He placed a hand on her chest, a silent command for her to stay back, before he began to approach. Upon noticing Hanzo was coming over, Akuma bounced away, trotting over to join Harumi.

Hanzo dropped to one knee, following the arm into the bush. He split it slightly, peering inside. Harumi couldn’t see anything, but she could only assume there was someone attached to it when Hanzo dug deep inside and began to pull the person out.

She wanted to throw up at what she saw. The person in Hanzo’s arms looked like a man, hair a mess, unkept beard and completely limp. That wasn’t what made her feel ill however, it was the massive gash along the one side of his face. So deep she assumed he must have bled out. His clothes were as covered in blood as his hand had been. He was dead. He had to be.

“He’s still breathing,” Hanzo informed her, sounding as shocked as she felt at the news. He adjusted his grip on the man, reaching down to press two fingers to the side of his neck. “His pulse is there, but weak.”

“We need to get him inside and call for the doctor,” Harumi insisted. She didn’t know who this man was, or how he’d ended up in their bushes. All she knew is that he was injured and needed help.

Hanzo went to scoop the man up into his arms, only to suddenly grunt as the man very suddenly sprung to life. Harumi rushed forward as her husband was pushed backwards, and the man slowly crawled away from them. As she got to Hanzo, she was relieved to see he wasn’t hurt, it seemed the man’s sudden movements had just surprised him.

The man continued to try and crawl along the floor, causing Harumi to call out “wait, we just want to help you.”

She tried to follow the man, but stopped when he curled up into himself, as if to protect himself from her.

“We don’t want to hurt you,” she told him, and she saw him move his head just enough to look at her. Dear god, she’d never seen someone look so terrified before. “It’s okay, it’s okay.”

Hanzo found his bearings again, also coming over towards them both. When the man saw Hanzo however, his breathing grew heavy, panic clear on his face. He began to claw at the floor again, desperate to get away.

Harumi had to find a way to get this man to trust them. She glanced over to the plants. Depending on how long he’d been out here, this poor man was probably hungry, right? And they had enough of a harvest that they could afford to use a tomato to try and calm the man down.

She picked a tomato off the vine, one that looked particularly juicy. As bad as she felt about it, she walked in front of the man, essentially blocking off his escape route. The man whined, attempting to push himself backwards. She got down onto her knees, and held out the tomato.

“Are you hungry?” She asked, and the man looked up at her. His eyes looked hazy, but he attempted to focus on the tomato. “Here, it’s good.”

To her surprise, the man went to push himself to sit up. He still didn’t take the tomato, but was staring at it like he was interested. She held it out closer to him. As he reached a shaking hand forward, Harumi could see how his knuckles were scuffed, and there seemed to be scars running along his wrists. He gingerly took the tomato, pulling it close to him and looking it over. He brought it up to his nose, sniffing at it.

Finally, he put it in his mouth, taking a small bite from it.

“There, see,” she encouraged, watching as the man continued to take small bites, the tomato’s juice dripping down his chin. She wondered if the man could even understand her, as he wasn’t really reacting to what she was saying. Even so, she tried to ask “what’s your name, sweetie?”

The man didn’t reply. He didn’t even look at her, just continued his meal.

Hanzo moved around, flopping down onto the ground beside her before leaning in close and whispering “what do we do?”

“I don’t know. Maybe convince him to come into the farmhouse and then call the Briggs and see if Vera can take a look at him,” she suggested, keeping her voice low and eyes on their guest. Yet again didn’t react, and she could not tell if it was because he couldn’t hear them or not.

“Vera’s a mental health nurse though,” Hanzo replied, his own eyes flicking between the man and Harumi. “I’m not sure she’s cut out for this level of injury. It’s more of a job for Akemi.”

“I know but she’s the closest medical personnel we know,” she sighed, “she can be here in about half an hour. It’ll take Akemi 2 hours to get here if she gets lucky.” She bit her lip. “Vera at least know’s basic first aid, and can probably keep the wound clean until Akemi can get here.”

Hanzo looked like he was considering that, before letting out a breath. “Right. You’re right. We’ll get him in the house, then call Vera.”

The man finished off the tomato, and after he did so he gripped his stomach like he was still hungry. The way his body moved it pulled his shirt tighter against his skin, letting Harumi see how thin he looked.

“Did you like that?” She asked gently, and the man lifted his gaze to her, tilting his head. “How about we get you in the house, and I can make you a proper meal?”

The man looked at her as if she’d never said a thing to him.

“I don’t think he understands English,” Hanzo said while clicking his tongue. He lent forward slightly and asked “English? Uh. Eigo?” The man still didn’t react, so he probably didn’t know Japanese either.

“He looks like he could be Chinese,” Harumi suggested, although she couldn’t be sure. But the patterns on his clothing, despite being worn out and faded, were reminiscent of ones she’d seen on traditional Chinese clothing.

“Well, I think we’re out of luck speaking to him then,” Hanzo snarked at her, and she rolled her eyes. She’d maybe have to try something else.

She pointed at herself and said “Harumi.” Then she pointed at Hanzo, and said “Hanzo.” She then pointed at the man, hoping he would understand.

It took a couple of seconds, but he finally mumbled out “Kuai Liang.”

“Kuai Liang,” she repeated, and he actually smiled at her. Harumi tried to hold out her hand to him. He stared at it expectantly. “Come?”

Kuai Liang blinked a couple of times, before reaching out his own hand. When he placed his above her own, she took a hold of it. Kuai Liang made a surprised noise, but didn’t fight it. Harumi was worried he might not be able to walk, but she still stood up and pulled Kuai Liang’s hand to try and encourage him. Unfortunately his legs gave out under him, whining as he collapsed to his knees.

“I think you’ll have to carry him,” Harumi said to Hanzo and he nodded in understanding.

He stepped forward, reaching down to scoop Kuai Liang up in his arms. As he did, Kuai Liang made an alarmed yelp, and actually spoke to them. But what he was speaking was definitely not English or Japanese. To her it sounded like a Chinese language, although she couldn’t tell exactly which one. They had a few friends who were Chinese though, there was a possibility one of them could translate.

“Alright, I’ve got you,” Hanzo said soothingly, and somehow it seemed Kuai Liang actually relaxed to that. As he turned to begin walking to the house, he said “maybe we should contact Liu Kang and Kung Lao as well. They might be able to talk to him.”

“You read my mind,” she laughed, looking over Kuai Liang. He still looked a little baffled at what was happening, but hopefully they could help him. “So, I’ll try to make him something to eat, you make a few phone calls and see who can get here?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Hanzo agreed, stopping just short of the door so Harumi could open it for him.

As she watched Hanzo disappear inside with Kuai Liang, all she could think was how she hoped to god they could get to the bottom of all this.

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