TW: child abuse
Nighttime shortly came, and my parents and my half-brother were all having dinner. It was quiet, my brother had a Bluetooth headset on and refuses to acknowledge us.
My father was drinking, he was down to his last bottle of alcohol and he was starting to lose his temper, yelling at the maid to grab him 5 more bottles from the wine cellar. My stepmother finished her dish and I noticed her looking at me as I ate.
I've always had a hard time eating, not everything is easy for me to digest. So I always eat a little bit of everything. My stepmother's staring continued and I started to feel uncomfortable. "Ugh, Hiroshi. Your daughter is getting on my nerves." She said, still keeping her eyes on me.
I look up at her, what stunt is she trying to pull now...
"What?" He stops sipping from his wine cup and looks at her, his eyes red. "What did she do this time?"
I put my fork down and was about to get up when my father's loud voice startled me back to my seat "Sit down child." He paused then continued after taking another sip and putting his cup down, hard "What did you do?" I looked at my stepmother, an evil grin forming on her face.
She held my father's hand "She's being mean to my son." I sighed, getting me into trouble was probably the only thing my talentless stepmother excelled at. My half-brother somehow heard what his mother said and smiled, still keeping his headphones on.
We were all startled when my father hit the table with his fist, hard. Making everything on the table shake. He glared at me "Not only are you a good-for-nothing weak child, but you're also being a bitch to my only son!?" He yelled, making me shiver in fear.
My father's drunken rage was much scarier than his sober one. I should be used to this by now, it happens every other day, but I never got used to it.
"You filthy disappointment, you brought nothing but misfortune to our family!" He yelled again, louder this time. Tears started to fall from my eyes, again after this morning's incident. "Get out of here, you disgust me!" He ordered, and I had no choice but to obey him.
I made no comment and I spoke no words. I simply wiped my tears and walked away, showing no emotion at all. I could hear them, my stepmother and half-brother, laughing and joking as I rush to my bedroom.
I finally get there and slam the door shut behind me and I shouldn't have done that, my father probably heard it. I sat down on my bed, clenching the sheets as hard as I could trying not to cry. I need to be strong, I need to show them that none of their abuse is affecting me in any way.
But I couldn't hold them in any longer, I cried. I was never weak, I've lived with them and dealt with their bullshit for years. I've been strong ever since I was born.
I clench my sheets harder, my knuckles turning white. Just then, I see a large figure in the corner of my eye. "Are you seriously crying right now?"
It was Ryu, I really did not need him to see me like this right now. He looked at me, with a teasing smile. He tucked his hands in his pockets and his wings flapped a bit. He walked closer and stood over me. "You really think crying is going to solve this?" He asked sarcastically.
"No... Nothing is going to solve this." I say, my voice shaking. There is no solution to this. Unless I die somehow, I'm going to be stuck with them forever. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to force my tears back in.
He sighed, closing his eyes and taking one of his hands out of his pocket and putting it out towards me "Get up." He spoke. I raised my head to look at him, noticing his hand. I reluctantly took it and did as he said.
As soon as I got up, he pulled me close into a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around me and put his hand on my head to rest it on his chest. "Consider yourself lucky for having someone like me. "
I let myself loosen up, leaning into his touch. I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly. I somehow felt safer in the embrace of a demon than being around my own father.
My father has been nothing but evil and abusive since the day I was born. He never spoiled me or treated me right like he treated my half-brother Theo. He never wanted me so it makes sense.
I was caught off guard when I heard loud and quick footsteps getting closer to my room. "Oh no!" I said to myself, he must have heard me slam the door and only now decided to come scold me.
I pushed Ryu away, which surprised him a bit. "Quick! Hide." I said, panicking. He quickly realized what was about to happen and disappeared into thin air, leaving me alone. My dad opened the door, forcefully, barging into my room and slamming the door behind him.
He gave me a cold glare, he definitely drank more than the usual amount of alcohol today. He opened his mouth to speak, but his words were delayed, he was too drunk to even form a sentence in time. "You little bitch... You think you can just walk into our lives and-" he stopped suddenly.
I looked him in the eyes, anger starting to consume me. He walked closer to me and slapped me, hard. Ryu didn't save me this time. It was painful. I let my head down, I was tired. Too tired to respond, too tired to give him the satisfaction of seeing me suffer.
"You disgrace, you took away my wife. You killed her!" He yelled, loud. My ears rang from his loud voice. He thinks I was the reason my mother died, and I hated that. I hate how my mother is only remembered by that lie, that I 'killed' her. It's starting to get to my head, maybe I really did kill my own mother.
Ayumi. That was the name of my mother. I don't know much about her. My father never cared to tell me. I know she's a nice and genuine soul. She loved nature, she loved to go on long walks in the woods when she was pregnant with me. She knew my father wanted a boy.
She knew he wanted a successor, to inherit his wealth and his company, a capable responsible son. But I came instead, a weak sick miserable child. Despite my father's terrible world vues and personality, my mother loved him. She decided to keep me, which is a decision that I will never understand. Why would she choose to make me suffer? If she truly loved me, why would she let me live this terrible life?
I'm tired, I don't want to live this life anymore. I don't care what my father does to me at this point, nothing hurts anymore. I feel no pain, no sadness. This is the life I've been given and I have nothing to change about it. It's my fate, my destiny.
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Ryu POV:
She may not be able to see me, but I'm right there. I always am, and I always have been. He beat her, hard. Called her names, and she didn't shed a single tear. She lay on her carpet, in defeat.
I got used to this too, seeing her like this, seeing her suffer. I shouldn't be feeling like this, this should make me feel happy, it is my job to make her suffer after all. But I can't, I can't sit there and watch her anymore.
I'm sick of this. I don't care what he has to say, I don't care about what anyone has to say. I can't stand by and watch this anymore. I clench my fists in anger. My teeth were clenched hard. I will make him and everyone else pays.