／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼
Author Notes:
Credit to Hügel for the idea and suggestions for development!
Will I ever finish a fic?
／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼
CHAPTER I - Mind over matter.
The morning sun was setting in the horizon giving the afternoon a blood red glow, the trees casting shadows on the road. It was a welcome sight after the unbearable heat that had been plaguing the city of Kasamino that month, the kind of heat that makes the skin get all sticky and that turns an activity as simple as breathing into a challenge.
The redhead walking across the road of dirt couldn't care less as she slowly made her way back home, her shoulders hung low in defeat and her head protesting with every step. Her stomach grumbled again and she rubbed it with her rough and thin hands trying to appease it.
"I feel so tired, how long since I've eaten?" truth being, Kyoko Sakura couldn't remember the last time she had. Relief marked her features as she spotted the Sakura church and she tried to accelerate the pace at the prospect of rest. Maybe, just maybe, father had finally got some more of those delicious apples from their neighbours or even better, the church had finally changed their minds and he was back to the loving father she remembered him as.
"Ah" she tripped. Even though she usually had quick reflexes, she was too weak due to lack of food and couldn't avoid a scrapped knee. Composing herself quickly, the redhead held back the tears that made their way to her eyes. I won't cry, I won't cry. She tried to remind herself, just like her father always said, though times are but a trial from God and she wouldn't fail the Lord nor her father. She was raised better than that.
／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼
"I'm back!" she said with as much strength as she could muster while making her way to the church. The whole place was abandoned and dusty, just like always and she couldn't avoid letting out a small sigh as she spotted her father, unkempt and completely drunk huddled in a corner. A small bottle of wine hung from his hand and he appeared to be sleeping as Kyoko passed him by.
"Did you get any money?" whispered a voice that made Kyoko stiff.
"Father! I thought…I thought you were asleep" she answered while trying to recover from the scare.
"I won't repeat, did you get any money?" her father answered again, his eyes unfocused. Too drunk to spot Kyoko correctly.
"I…I got this" said Kyoko visibly scared as she handed the few coins she had managed to get from charity that day. While the people from town had been very generous the first days the redhead had asked for their help, as the days passed with her situation staying the same, people stopped helping them and she could barely get enough to buy a single taiyaki. "I know its not much but…"
"Only this! You ungrateful child!" said her father visibly angered. "I almost kill myself trying to raise you well and this is how you repay me?!" he continued as he threw the coins at her.
"Dad…please…I…I tried!" she said still cowering as her father slowly stood from the ground, the same scorn marking his features.
"Then try harder! Oh Lord give me strength to discipline this ungrateful child correctly" he started to pray, one hand rubbing his temples from the hangover. Kyoko took it as the cue to run away.
／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼
"Oh sister! Welcome ba…"
"Momo run!" said Kyoko as she grabbed her little sister by the arm and took her rather forcibly to the closet. Their only safehaven from when their father got like that.
"Sis! What's happening?" asked her little sister visibly scared. "Don't tell me…"
"Yes, now hurry!" said Kyoko visibly stressed. It was one thing to be on the receiving end of their father's punishment, but her sister wasn't at fault that she hadn't been able to get enough money. It just wasn't fair.
"Come back here you useless child!" said the voice of their father visibly approaching. The two redheads hidden in the drawer, huddled with one another for comfort.
BANG, BANG
The door to the drawer creaked as her father's fist hit it with uncoordinated movements. Momo started crying in Kyoko's arms and she embraced her with more strength in a vain attempt to comfort her.
"I'm scared sis!" said Momo as the drawer shook and their father kept trying to open it. It wasn't really hard to open but the wine had an effect in his coordination.
The banging stopped.
"Did…did he go away?" wonderd Kyoko out loud while still embracing the small form of her sister.
"Kyoko" said her father in reply from the other side of the drawer. "Perhaps I was rash with my decision to punish you, and I'm sorry. But you need to understand" he continued. "What you did was wrong, for the young have to respect their elders, you know? But he also says to be generous with your brothers and sisters, so I'm going to make you an offer. Your mother will come back soon, if you get out this moment I'll only give you half the punishment you deserve. But if you don't, then your mother will get double your share to cleanse you from the sins you commited. Got it?"
Kyoko gasped. He was right, their mother was about to come and wouldn't be aware of what their father was going to do. Last time she had barely been able to walk and it had been her fault too. It just wasn't fair…and she was the one that had sinned, so it was she that had to be punished…somehow the thought didn't make her feel any better.
"So what will it be?" asked Mr. Sakura again as the door slowly opened.
"No! Kyoko-chan don't go!" pleaded the voice of Momo quietly. Too scared of letting go of her sister.
"Don't worry Momo, he's right. I have to pay for my sins, but don't worry, everything's gonna be fine" answered Kyoko while trying to comfort her sister with a smile, somehow it felt more like a grimace. "Just don't get out until I tell you to, got it?"
It's only a trial from God, only a trial…
／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼
"So I was planning on 50 hits with the wet rope but given your good behaviour, you'll only get 25" her father said as he grabbed her across the abandoned church and set her over the altar. Ripping off her shirt and exposing her naked back. Scars from previous beatings lined her tanned skin.
Lying upside down with her back exposed, Kyoko started breathing hard as she heard the sound of water dripping from the wet rope beneath her.
"Remember Kyoko, this is for your own good" and she did, she tried to remember how the Lord works in mysterious ways and that one day, her father would get better, and they wouldn't be hungry anymore. And they would all be happy ever after…
"One!" the familiar sting of the rope on her back made itself known as she gasped in pain.
"Two!" "Agh!" Its my fault, I'm okay. I can bear it!
"Three!" If I bear the punishment, no one has to suffer for my sins.
"Ten!" Feeling the stinging pain and the familiar wetness that indicated her skin had been broken, she bit her lips until they too started bleeding.
"Twenty!" A ringing in her ears and the feeling she would pass out from the pain. No use screaming, the punishment would only take longer that way.
"Twenty five!" She was shaking from the strain and the sweat that covered her face and body only made the stinging in her back worse. With a sigh of victory that was more akin to a grunt Kyoko finally let herself fall to the floor.
"Guh, ah…ah…" gasps of pain as she moved, she decided to stay in place to avoid displeasing her father further.
"Well done my daughter, your sins have finally been cleansed." Spoke the soft voice of her father behind her, too close for comfort.
"Can I go to bed now, dad?" uncertainty in her voice, it would do no good to displease him.
"Kyoko dear, you know its pointless to clean the sickness of the body without introspection. Shed blood is wasted without meditation, so in order to learn your lesson you need to reflect on it. I think…yeah, an all night prayer should suffice"
Kyoko felt her stomach drop at the thought, it was deep in the night, her head was pounding and her stomach felt on fire due to lack of food. Not to mention the stinging on her back where blood kept running. "But…dad…" she tried to protest.
"What have I told you about disrespecting your elders? Do you need to be cleansed further?"
"No! I…I'll do what I'm told"
"That's a good proper girl" smiled her father with cheer, evidently more sober than he was before the beating. "Not kneel and pray, so that your soul can find salvation. And I expect you to do better next time with the charity"
And so, getting on her trembling knees while looking at the moon in the sky, the redhead prayed for her father to get better, for her family to go back to what they once were, and for herself to survive the night.
／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼