THIS CHAPTER IS VIOLENT AND ABUSIVE. READ WITH DISCRETION.
"I guess it's you after all…" he sighed, knowing deep down, of course, he wouldn't mistake her. "Ayumi…" His red eyes held a tinge of sorrow. "…I'm sorry."
"…?" She stopped pacing. "…Why?"
"Nothing." He stood from the couch. "I don't know what your plan is," he said, walking toward her. "But return that bracelet. Go back to where you came from. Don't ever come back here again."
"What… do you mean?"
"If your goal was to learn the truth, I've just told you everything." He brushed his fingers through her pixie pink hair. "But whatever else you were thinking of…" His hand rested gently on her cheek. "Forget it." A tired breath escaped his lips. "Forget it and go home."
.
.
.
Their conversation ended. Seiya sat back down on the large couch and stared around the empty room. His head leaned back as his heart twisted in a storm of emotions he couldn't name.
"She's alive…" He looked down at his right hand, still feeling the warmth of her skin.
Should he be happy? Sad? Angry? Or maybe guilty… bitter… remorseful? He couldn't tell. After all, she had 'come back to life.'
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.
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Eighteen years ago, in a private martial arts ground:
"Again!" the coach shouted.
It had been seven hours. Seiya trained nonstop, just as his father "ordered."
He was exhausted. His small body was drenched in sweat, covered in bruises. His mother, Keiko, waited by the door with that same sorrowful look she always wore.
She listened to the pounding of his feet on the wooden floor, to his heavy breathing, to the soft groans of pain.
It never seemed to end. She watched her little boy push through, wondering how much longer he could hold out. The routine was soul-crushing: school, train, sleep, repeat.
"My poor child…" Keiko whispered. Her own body bore bruises too. She sobbed quietly as she watched her ten-year-old fight to stay upright, squeezing out the last of his strength.
"Come on, Seiya!" the trainer bellowed, his voice echoing through the dojo. "Pick up the pace. You're slowing down!"
Seiya gritted his teeth. His muscles screamed. He knew he wouldn't be allowed to stop until he finished the session, but he was at his limit.
"YES SIR!" he shouted, hurling his little arm forward with everything he had. His vision blurred. The floor tilted beneath him. Then darkness swallowed him.
"Sei-kun! Sei-kun!!!" His mother's panicked footsteps rushed toward him. "Please! Just for today, please let him go… I beg you…" Keiko dropped to her knees, holding her unconscious son tightly, tears running freely down her pale cheeks.
.
He didn't know how long had passed before his heavy eyelids cracked open.
"Oh my god…" His eyes adjusted to the light. His mother's face hovered above him, tear-streaked, but glowing with relief.
"Oh thank god… my poor Sei-kun…" She stroked his charcoal black hair gently.
"Mama?" He sat up, dazed in her lap. "What time is it? Did I finish? What happened!?" Panic set in.
"It's okay, baby!" She wrapped him in a warm hug. "We got a break today, don't worry…"
"Really? Are you sure, Mom?" He clung to her shirt. "Dad will be so mad… if I don't complete my mission…"
"Yes, it's okay. Mommy will protect you, alright?" She smiled softly. "Now, how about a nice bath?"
Her encouraging smile soothed his little heart. He nodded and got up, holding her hand.
As they washed up together, Keiko's eyes welled with tears at the bruises covering his body. She took a shaky breath, her fingers trembling as she gently cleaned him. Each bruise burned beneath her touch.
Her heart cracked under the weight of it. Misery layered over misery. How had things come to this?
Keiko shut her eyes in shame, drowning in the guilt that had haunted her since marrying Shino. He was a monster. A pathological liar and manipulator. A man who faked normalcy to trap her in a nightmare.
He was too good to be true, and she had been too blind to see it. The love she once felt had curdled into disgust and fear. And now, holding her battered son in her arms, she wondered if she could ever fix what had been broken.
A sob escaped her as she washed him. Her tears soaked into his hair.
She couldn't leave him to that man. No matter what, she had to survive. She had to protect her child. She must.
Seiya sat quietly, absorbing the weight of her sorrow. He'd seen her cry before, but this was different.
"Mama, why are you crying? Did I do something wrong?"
Keiko took a deep breath. "No, my love. You did nothing wrong. I'm just… a little sad right now."
He stared up at her, wide-eyed and worried. "But why?"
The weight of his innocence crushed her.
"Sei-kun, I'm crying because… your father can be difficult." She fought to keep her voice steady. "And it's my job to protect you. But sometimes… no matter how hard I try… I can't stop you from getting hurt. And I'm so, so sorry."
She forced a smile, even as her chest ached. "But I promise, I'll do everything in my power to keep you safe. I love you, my precious boy. I'm sorry if I haven't done enough."
He didn't respond with words. He just leaned into her arms, breathing shakily, trusting her warmth.
The bath ended on a quiet, aching note.
Keiko dried him off and helped him dress. She needed to act normal, for his sake.
"Come on, let's make dinner together, okay?"
Seiya nodded, gripping her hand.
Keiko started preparing the ingredients, pretending to be cheerful.
"Want to help me make rice? Just wait for the cooker to beep." She smiled, too wide.
Seiya nodded again.
"We're making teriyaki salmon tonight. Your favorite."
But then, the sound of a car engine. The air in the room thickened.
Keiko froze. She knew that sound too well. So did Seiya. He squeezed her hand tighter.
Footsteps on wood. Heavy. Measured.
.
"Fucking dogs."The man slammed his fist against the wall as he stormed into the kitchen, "The fuck did I said? HUH?"
He yanked his wife's head upward from behind, "Could your small little brains not understand?" He gritted his teeth as he whispered into her ears, "Do not try to undermine my authority, you fucking bitch."
He threw her head away before leering down at the weakened child. "I told you to complete the training, you dare disobey me?"
Seiya immediately dropped to his knees. He trembled under the weight of his father's anger. He felt like a deer in headlights. "I'm sorry Father. I started the training, but I couldn't finish it."
Keiko interjected, trying her desperate best to at least explain, "Shino, please, he could barely stand-" A painful slap landed across Keiko's pale face.
"When I speak, you shut your fucking mouth."
There was a piercing silence after that slap before he glared back down at the shaking 10-year-old, "You know what's gonna happen? The kind of punishment you deserve."
Tears streamed down, and he could feel the weight of his father's rage bearing down on him with every breath.
"You shall do as I say without negotiation. You know that, right?" Shino grunted, "So go ahead, slap yourself. I want to see your face bruised and swollen."
"W-what?" Keiko could not believe her ears; she couldn't believe what her husband just asked their 10-year-old child to do.
The tips of her fingernails clenched onto her own arms as she swallowed the lump of disbelief in her throat.
As Seiya realised what he was being ordered to do. He tried to protest, but his voice caught in his throat, and he was left standing there, helpless and terrified, his father's orders echoing in his ears.
With trembling hands, Seiya raised one hand to his face and began to slap himself, slowly at first, but then with increasing force. The pain was intense, and the slaps quickly left his face red and swollen, but he continued to slap himself, his eyes filling with tears.
"Harder."
Seiya knew that this was only the beginning. A small smirk furled across Shino's face as he saw the bruises aching on those swollen cheeks.
Keiko was pinching herself so hard she started bleeding, tears were flowing out of control, she couldn't take it anymore, the lady dropped down on her knees, she clenched onto her son's tiny hand and shook her head violently. "No more…no more, please…please, my poor baby…" she wept uncontrollably.
"Mama…" Seiya whispered, his eyes widening in fear as tears rolled down his bruised cheeks.
Keiko suddenly stood up, her eyes darkened, her hands shaking, her breath was so heavy it felt like steam.
"You…"*SLAP* a thrashing slap was sent across the man's cheeks, *SLAP* followed by another one, "YOU FUCKING MONSTER, YOU FUCKING, FUCKING BASTARD!!!"
She gripped onto his shirt collar, "ARE YOU CRAZY HUH?" She was shaking and pushing him so violently he fell back against the wall, "IS THERE EVEN HUMANITY IN YOU? WHAT THE FUCK? WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?? YOU FUCKING CUNT! FUCKING BASTARD!" Her teeth clenched tight, lips were shaking,
"Stay the fuck alone…from now onwards I and Seiya will no longer be associated with you…" she let go of him slowly.
"You…" Shino's voice was so deeply intimidating it send chills down her spine, "fucking bitch." A smile of extreme agitation smirked upon his psychopathic face.
*CLASH* A breath-ripping kick thrashed down Keiko's belly, she was smashed back against the kitchen counter behind, blood gushed out of her mouth, gasping for air as she could feel her throat completely jammed. "Fucking TRASH!" Shino grabbed the knife on the chopping board behind her and sniped a spiking stab right into her chest.
.
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"Dirty bitch." Blood dribbled down the wooden floor as Keiko dropped down slowly.
"Mama.. mama…" Seiya still couldn't comprehend what was happening, his eyes was so wide he felt like his socket could pop out, "mama…" he helplessly crawled and limped towards his mother's body.
"Sei…kun…" she gasping for air, she tried to reach up to caress his cheeks, "mama…mama is so…so sorr-"
*BANG!*
The heartless metallic bullet struck through her skull. Ringing engulfed the breathless room. Her yearning hand dropped, but her eyes were still so enlarged with all the steamy tears dribbling down her cheeks.
The lady's body was dead, completely dead, so dead she couldn't even close her eyes, or finish her last words.
It was just silence, unpleasant silence, suffocating silence, eerie silence.
Seiya's heart raced, his mind spun. He tried to comprehend the horror unfolding before him. The sound of his mother's muffled gasps still rang in his ears, and the image of the gun was seared into his brain.
He tried to breathe, to take in the world around him, but it was as if he was trapped under water.
"Shall this be a lesson for you, Seiya?" Shino's piercing eyes glowed red, as his whole face dimmed black, "This is what happened when you mess up."
It was as if his heart had been ripped from his chest; even after weeks, he could still hear the gunshot, the sound echoing through his mind like a relentless nightmare.
His mother was ripped from him in the darkest of ways. He couldn't bring himself to accept that his mother was gone.
Seiya felt like he was living in a dream, a world that was no longer real. Nothing made sense, and the world around him had turned grey and lifeless.
He mindlessly wandered through the days, continuing to complete whatever his father ordered in a zombie-like state, unable to recognise reality itself.