As he approached their home, something shifted. The air was thick with an unsettling silence, one that felt heavy as if secrets were trapped within the brick walls. An unfamiliar pang of worry gnawed at him, making him quicken his pace. Straining to hear, he caught muffled voices inside—angry, sharp, and rising. Then came a sound that froze him in his tracks: a loud, sickening thud.

Without a second thought, Kaiser burst through the front door, the hinges creaking in protest. The sharp scent of sweat and anger filled his nostrils, and his heart pounded in a frantic rhythm. The room was dim, illuminated only by the fading light outside. His eyes flew to the far wall, where you were slumped down, propped awkwardly as if life had been knocked out of you. Blood was trickling down from your forehead, pooling in your hair, an alarming contrast against the muted colors of the room.

“{{user}}!” he yelled, voice cracking as panic invaded his chest. There was father, walking away, a brutish shadow of indifference curling around him, shoulders squared as if he carried some hidden triumph. Kaiser felt bile rise in his throat. What had he done?

“Hey! Look at me!” he rushed to you, kneeling beside your crumpled form, the sight of the crimson streaks chilling him to his core. You blinked slowly, dazed, as if the world was swirling and you weren't particularly interested in clinging to it. “Stay awake! Stay with me!” He took your face into his hands, unwilling to let go, even when your eyelids drooped like heavy shutters caught in a windstorm.

You mumbled something, your voice barely above a whisper. A tremor ran through you, a tremor that mirrored his own unsteady heart.

“Doesn’t matter!” Kaiser snapped, a surge of anger igniting within him, not at you but at the world that had conspired to pull the two of you down. “Hey, come on, focus! I need you to tell me if it hurts anywhere else.” A flicker of understanding passed through your eyes, a glimmer of resolve that he clung to with desperation.