Daniel kept his eyes closed as Kaori approached. He didn't hear the small confrontation, or the yelp, or Kaori's voice over the pounding in his head. He felt pain everywhere. He couldn't move, and when he was picked up slightly and held, the pain grew a little worse. He let out a small groan and slowly opened his eyes. He managed a small smile when the blurry figure cleared up and turned into Kaori. He noticed another figure on the ground and saw Kain, clutching himself. He rose a hand up and touched the back of the girl's head, taking some of her hair in his fist and giving it a small, light tug, meant only to get her attention.

[i]Hey,[/i] he sent the thought to Kaori's head, and even that sounded pained. [i]Take it easy on Kain... He was only doing what was needed to be done. You can't punish him for that. You seem fine, so you were the one probably torturing. That means that you did the same thing Kain did to me. For that, maybe Kain should kick you.[/i] That gained a small, wheezy laugh from Daniel that immediately made him cringe, afterwards. Daniel slumped back into Kaori's arms and shook from both exhaustion and pain. [i]Look. I don't know how much longer I can last. My regeneration is taking forever to kick in thanks to the lack of blood... So if I don't last, you need to promise me that you will do everything you can to get Kain and Alfons out of here, okay?[/i]