To: Sjohnson428
From: Mariajohnson6590
Subject: No subject
Sent on 12/18/07 at 11:45 AM from Yahoo mail
Dad—
How are things going in America? Have you met the president yet? I'm so excited to see you on TV! When are you coming back to Japan? My teacher says that she wants you to come speak to our class once you do. We're having a career day next week. Will you come and visit for that? Ritsuka-kun's dad is going, too. He's a really, really famous lawyer. Ritsuka didn't seem very excited about that, though. I wonder why. It's always exciting when parents come to the school. He was happy when his mother taught an assembly on first aid. She's a doctor, you know. Well, maybe Ritsuka-kun just spends too much time at his father's workplace, so it probably isn't exciting to learn about his work anymore.
I can't wait for you to come back to Japan! Make sure you have lots and lots of exciting stories to tell me when you do!
Love you!
-Maria
To: Mariajohnson6590
From: Sjohnson428
Subject: No subject
Sent on 12/18/07 5:28 PM from Yahoo mail
Maria—
Things are going very well overseas. I have not yet met with the new president, but I will on the inauguration date. I was given time off afterward to come back to Japan to spend time with you, your brother, and your mother. I should make career day. If I can't, I'll make a call and ask if I can have some more time off.
By Ritsuka-kun, you mean Ritsuka Aoyagi, right? He seemed like a nice boy. Does he play with you and the other kids often? Is he your age? If I remember correctly, he has a brother, unless my 'old age,' as you call it, has made my memories fade. I think I met his father and mother, as well. Kiyoshi Aoyagi and Misaki Aoyagi were his parents and his brother was…Seimei Aoyagi? Perhaps I really am getting old.
With love,
-Dad
To: Sjohnson428
From: Mariajohnson6590
Subject: No subject
Sent on 12/19/07 at 6:45 AM from Yahoo mail
Dad—
I think you were right on their names, even though you used the wrong order. It's supposed to be Aoyagi Kiyoshi, not Kiyoshi Aoyagi. I've met Ritsuka-kun's mother lots of times. She's nice; and as for Mr. Aoyagi… I try to stay away from him. He scares me a lot. He's been especially scary in the last few months. I can always hear him yelling at Ritsuka at night and then I hear Ritsuka-kun crying really, really loudly. It's…weird and I'm scared for Ritsuka. I don't know what to do.
-Maria
To: Mariajohnson6590
From: Sjohnson428
Subject: URGENT
Sent on 12/19/07 7:12 AM from Yahoo mail
Are you still online, Maria? Pick up your phone. I need to talk to you.
Maria Johnson was a girl who'd been born in America. She considered herself Japanese, though, since she'd been living in Japan for the majority of her life. In 2008, she was only ten years old and knew that there was something clearly wrong in the Aoyagi household. Being only ten, though, she expressed her concern to no one but her beloved father, a noble and good man, in hopes that he would help her friend. This had been going on for months before she finally told him, although both her older brother and her mother knew about it. Later on the night of December nineteenth, she finally picked up the home phone after a phone call from her father, which went unanswered. She told her father everything she had heard from the house next to theirs, all about the screams from her friend and the loud groans from his father. Her father, Samuel Johnson, promised to fly out as soon as possible and warned little Maria to stay away from Aoyagi Kiyoshi.
After all was done, Maria lived with the pain of not telling anyone after her father's death. As she aged, she learned what exactly had happened. She would never forgive herself, for every time she closed her eyes, she saw the eyes of her dear friend, the pain, the suffering….all that could've been fixed by her telling a teacher.
Coroner's Report Autopsy Summary
Name: JOHNSON, Samuel Walter
DOB: 5/7/64
Race: Caucasian, American
Sex: Male
Date of Death: 12/21/07
Body identified by: Mary Johnson, wife of deceased; Maria Johnson, daughter of deceased
Case #: 000388-21A-2007
Investigative Agency: Tokyo Sheriff's Department
Place of Death: Tokyo, Japan
Manner of Death: Homicide
Immediate Cause of Death: Gunshot wound to front of head
It's on the nightly news at seven, he sees. A woman, the regular newscaster pales as she prepares herself to present the next story. She's new and it's obvious she's squeamish about murder stories, especially this one, since it is a murder of an important figure in America. He already knows the story before she even speaks, but listens to everything anyway.
"This next story happened just hours ago," She speaks loudly as if to cover up her blunder. He sees it, though. He sees everything. "Samuel Johnson, the secretary of security in America, was shot execution style on his way to the airport to return to America. The shooter has been caught. In other news…"
He smiles, a wicked grin finding its way to his face. That man had been too nosy. Nobody will ever stop him. Everyone is too afraid to do anything. He can look all he wants and touch all he wants. He's unstoppable. He holds the power in his hands, power over the boy, power over the woman, even power over the neighborhood. Without another thought, he calls the boy down and rubs the front of his pants, already hard from all the thoughts of him.
Principal Hoshino,
I'm sorry that this is not written in an email. The system seems to be broken again. Anyway, Aoyagi Ritsuka came to school late once again with his uniform dirtied. This is the third time this week. I'm beginning to think there's something going on at home.
Watanabe-sensei,
I'm sure your worries are for nothing. He is a child, after all, and children get dirty. Aoyagi-san is not a particularly exceptional student, either, and he is young, so please don't expect him to be punctual every day. A little dirt never hurt anyone, anyway, and being a few minutes late to class isn't so bad, though, as long as it's only every once in awhile. I would not worry.
Principal Hoshino,
Perhaps I was not clear enough in my first note.
Aoyagi Ritsuka has been hours late to class, not minutes, and his uniform is not dirtied with dirt, but with what looks to be semen. It is also not just 'a little.' It is all over his uniform, shirt and pants. I apologize if this note comes across as rude and short, but I am very concerned about what's going on at home.
Watanabe-sensei,
Yes, this is an issue to be concerned about. I will make sure to look into this. I will immediately schedule a conference with his parents and ask his brother's teachers at Honor High School. Thank you for informing me of this problem.
CONFERENCE REPORT: Aoyagi Ritsuka
PART ONE of four
Date: 1/3/08
Time: 4:00 PM
With whom: Aoyagi Ritsuka (alone, with brother), Aoyagi Seimei (alone, with brother, with reports from his teachers)
Conference by: Watanabe Reika (Aoyagi Ritsuka's teacher) and Principal/Doctor Hoshino Fujio
Location: Tokyo Pediatric Hospital
Notes (written by Watanabe Reika): The first thing Principle Hoshino and I did was: ask for Ritsuka-kun's parents to wait outside. Ritsuka asked for his brother to come in with him and Doctor Hoshino agreed that he could sit in for at least part of the interview.
The first thing I noticed was that Aoyagi Ritsuka immediately sat in his brother's lap, instead of in the provided chair. Aoyagi Seimei did not object. Ritsuka-kun seems very comfortable with his brother, even hugging him around us. Seimei-san did not interfere, as he promised. I asked Ritsuka-kun a round of questions, and he seemed to become increasingly uncomfortable. I have logged the question, comments, and answers.
Question one, asked by myself: Hello, Ritsuka-kun. I'm sorry we had to call you in here on a Saturday. Were you doing something important with your friends?
Ritsuka-kun: Not really. I was playing basketball with the kids in my neighborhood. Seimei was watching us.
Comment (Doctor Hoshino): I heard you are on the basketball team, Ritsuka-kun. I'll have to come watch the next game.
Question two, asked by Doctor Hoshino, following his comment: Do your parents come to your games?
Ritsuka looked down, and then answered, clearly a bit uncomfortable: Mom does. So does Seimei.
Question three, asked by myself: What about your father?
(Ritsuka-kun hesitated and whispered something to Seimei.)
Comment (Doctor Hoshino): Ritsuka-san, please speak to us. You're not in any trouble, I promise. We're just talking. Are you uncomfortable?
Ritsuka-kun: I'm a little thirsty…could I please have some water?
(Doctor Hoshino smiled, agreed, and left the room. Ritsuka-kun grabbed the pad of paper from my hands and wrote 'help' on it.)
Me: Ritsuka-kun…?
Ritsuka-kun: …I'm sorry…
(Ritsuka-kun glanced again at the paper before ripping it off the pad and crumpling it up, proceeding to tear it to shreds.)
(Here, Seimei-san asked for a few moments with Ritsuka. Doctor Hoshino returned and agreed. Seimei-san took Ritsuka-kun into the bathroom. Doctor Hoshino told me to follow them. They left the door open and only Seimei-san noticed me, not Ritsuka-kun. Seimei-san knelt down to Ritsuka's height, holding him by the shoulders. Ritsuka-kun cried and franticly rubbed his eyes. Doctor Hoshino had asked me to record their conversation.)
Seimei-san: Ritsuka, please tell me what's going on.
(Ritsuka-kun cried and shook his head.)
Seimei-san: I saw what you wrote on Watanabe-sensei's notepad, Ritsuka.
(Ritsuka-kun whimpered)
Seimei-san: Please tell me what's wrong. I can only help you if I know what's wrong.
Ritsuka-kun: I can't…
Seimei-san: Ritsuka, is it something to do with Mother?
(Ritsuka-kun shook his head again and rubbed his eyes)
Seimei-san: Is it Father? Is he doing something to you, Ritsuka?
Ritsuka-kun: No! No! He's not! He's not, Seimei! He's not!
(Seimei-san hugged Ritsuka. I walked away and returned to my post with Doctor Hoshino. We gave Ritsuka a small break to talk about whatever he wanted, and then continued on with our first conversation.)
They were called 'The Circle.' Or, at least, that's what the parents of the children called them. The name was only given to said children because they were the youngsters who lived in or near the large cul-de-sac. The Aoyagi family (Ritsuka, age 10; Seimei, age 15) lived at the very pinnacle of it. Next to them were the Johnsons (Maria, age 10; Jake, age 9) to the left, and the Honda family to the right (Nakamaro, age 12), the Watoga family (Ryushi, age 10; twin brother Roku; elder sister Rinako, age 12) lived next to the Honda family, and the Toma family (Chizu, age 10; younger brother Yuu, age 8; elder sister Fuyuko, age 13; elder sister Rin, age 11) lived next to the Johnsons, the five families making up the round portion of the cul-de-sac.
On the streets leading up to the round portion, lived four families on each side of the street, totaling thirteen houses on the same street. Four of the houses on the non-curving part had kids: the Sakai family (Junichi, age 10, elder brother Giichi, age 11; younger brother Daisuke, age 8), the Ijichi family (Tomoyuki, age 11; elder sister Tomoe, age 15), the Eto family (Elda, age 11), and the Nakayama family (triplets Yatsuhiro, Aki, and Hayato, age 10), making the grand total for kids on their street twenty-one.
It was a miracle; really, that all of the families had their children around the same years and all happened to move in to the neighborhood. That's all it was—a miracle. As a result of this miracle, the twenty-one kids were very close, especially the ten year-olds and the eleven year-olds. The older kids usually went off and did their own thing and the younger kids tended to separate themselves from the others, but the twelve kids making up the ten through eleven group stuck together. They were closer than close, and most went to the same school. They protected each other and played together. Nobody was left out.
There was one secret that they never talked about, though. All of them were too scared of Aoyagi Kiyoshi to even approach that topic. All of them knew what he did to his son, but not one of them did a thing.
It wasn't really their fault. They were just children, after all, children who knew nothing about sex. They knew that whatever Ritsuka's father was doing to him was bad, but they couldn't comprehend exactly what it was, and therefore never knew what would happen if they neglected to tell. Every one of them knew, and would later regret not telling, especially when they watched their dear friend get taken away by the demon.
CONFERENCE REPORT: Aoyagi Ritsuka
PART TWO of four
Date: 1/3/08
Time: 4:23 PM
With whom: Aoyagi Ritsuka (alone, with brother), Aoyagi Seimei (alone, with brother, with reports from his teachers)
Conference by: Watanabe Reika (Aoyagi Ritsuka's teacher) and Principal/Doctor Hoshino Fujio
Location: Tokyo Pediatric Hospital
Notes (written by Watanabe Reika): By now, Ritsuka has calmed down considerably, though he still appears to be jumpy. We gradually ease into proceeding with the questioning. I have logged the question, comments, and answers.
Question three (Doctor Hoshino): Are either of your parents coming to the school fair, Ritsuka-kun?
Comment (Doctor Hoshino, following his question): We would be very grateful to have your father here.
Ritsuka-kun: NO.
(He shouts his answer. Both Doctor Hoshino and I notice.)
Ritsuka-kun: I…I mean… I already know so much about my dad's work. I want my mom to come instead. She's a doctor.
(He laughs nervously.)
Question four (myself): Is your mother home much?
Ritsuka-kun: On weekends.
Question five (myself): What about on weekdays?
Ritsuka-kun: Not really. She tries to be home as much as possible, but I understand it's not her fault if she gets called away.
Question five (myself): So, are you home a lot alone?
(Ritsuka-kun hesitates.)
Ritsuka-kun: …no…
Question six (Doctor Hoshino): Who stays home with you?
Ritsuka-kun: Seimei… Daddy…
Question seven (Doctor Hoshino): Do you have a baby sitter?
(Ritsuka doesn't answer until his brother leans forward and says something in Ritsuka-kun's ear. What he says is loud enough for Doctor Hoshino and I to hear.)
Seimei-san: Ritsuka, you need to talk to these people. They're here to help you. We'll go home soon.
Ritsuka-kun: I don't want to go home, Seimei…
Seimei-san: I'll take you to Grandmother's house after this, then. We'll spend tomorrow there. I promise. Please talk to these people. We're all concerned about you.
Ritsuka-kun: Okay…
(Ritsuka turns back to us.)
Ritsuka-kun: No… but sometimes I have to play the babysitter game with Daddy.
(I notice Seimei-san looking rather startled. It appears to be the first time he's heard this.)
Question eight (asked by Doctor Hoshino): What's that, Ritsuka-kun?
(Ritsuka begins to cry again. He asks Doctor Hoshino to leave.)
Ritsuka-kun: I don't want to do this anymore!
Me: It's okay, Ritsuka-kun. Do you want to take a break? There's a nice garden outside. We could go out there and talk a little more. I think Doctor Hoshino wants to talk to Seimei-san a little.
(Ritsuka-kun looks at his brother.)
Ritsuka-kun: Are you sure it's okay to go to Grandma's house after this? How are we going to get there?
Seimei-san: Yes, we'll either go there or we'll stay the night somewhere else. I have an older friend who can drive us. Go with Watanabe-sensei, now.
Ritsuka-kun: Okay…
Ritsuka's mother had invited Watoga Ryushi-kun and Roku-kun over to play one afternoon. They were having fun with Ritsuka, playing video games with him and then laughing and playing tricks as Seimei pretended he couldn't tell the three of them apart, even though Ritsuka looked nothing like the Watoga twins. Then, Ritsuka's mother had left to take Seimei somewhere, and Ritsuka's father had called the boy down to his office. Minutes passed, and soon the twins heard a sound that sounded like a muffled scream. Following that noise was Ritsuka's father yelling at him to shut up.
Both twins started at the sound, the two of them creeping towards the door.
"No, no, no, please! I have friends over! Please, Daddy! Stop it!"
Ritsuka sobbed; his voice high and loud. The twins were both curious and terrified, both shaking uncontrollably but inching down the stairs now. They could see the slightly open door from the middle of the stairs, but none of what was going on inside. They could still hear sounds, though: Ritsuka's crying and begging "Stop," and his father's grunts, as well as a creaking of a desk. What was going on inside? What was happening? Ten was far too young to understand what Kiyoshi was doing to Ritsuka or why. Even Ritsuka himself could not quite comprehend the reason.
When the twins peaked inside the half-open door, they saw a sight they would never forget. Ritsuka's father had him tied down to his desk and was on top of the boy, a hand over his mouth. Ritsuka, the twins' happy, energetic friend, was crying, tears streaking down his face. His body was stripped of any sort of clothing. He saw them and turned his eyes to them, pleading for help. The twins just bolted, running as fast as they could back to their own house.
CONFERENCE REPORT: Aoyagi Ritsuka
PART THREE of four
Date: 1/3/08
Time: 5:44 PM
With whom: Aoyagi Ritsuka (alone, with brother), Aoyagi Seimei (alone, with brother, with reports from his teachers)
Conference by: Watanabe Reika (Aoyagi Ritsuka's teacher) and Principal/Doctor Hoshino Fujio
Location: Garden Courtyard of Tokyo Pediatric Hospital
Notes (written by Watanabe Reika): I have taken Ritsuka outside into the garden so that he will feel more comfortable. For some reason, he seems wary and uncomfortable around Doctor Hoshino. I'm not sure why. Perhaps he is like that with all men? I do not know and it is not my place to figure out. Once Ritsuka-kun calms down, we continue talking. I have logged the question, comments, and answers.
Question nine (myself): So; Ritsuka-kun. You seem very close to your brother. Do you spend a lot of time with him? Are you around him a lot?
Ritsuka-kun: Yes. I'm happy that he likes me so much. He's my best friend, sensei. He's never hurt me.
Question ten (myself): Has he ever made you uncomfortable?
Ritsuka-kun: No.
Question eleven (myself): Has he ever touched you in a place you didn't want?
Ritsuka-kun: No, never.
Question twelve (myself): Does he know what's going on at home?
(Ritsuka-kun looks away)
Ritsuka-kun: Nothing's going on at home.
Comment (myself): Ritsuka-kun, I know you're lying. Please talk to us. Your grades have been dropping into near failure and you've changed in the past few months.
Question thirteen (myself): Is it your brother, Ritsuka-kun?
Ritsuka-kun (yelling): No! Seimei would never hurt me!
Question fourteen (myself): Has someone been hurting you?
Ritsuka-kun: I can't tell…
Comment (myself): If you tell us, we'll stop whoever has been hurting you. We'll take you away from there.
Ritsuka-kun: No one's been hurting me.
Question fifteen (myself): Are you telling me the truth?
(Ritsuka-kun is silent.)
Question sixteen (myself): Ritsuka-kun, what was the substance on your uniform Monday, Thursday, and Friday this week?
(Ritsuka-kun is silent.)
Question seventeen (myself): Why were you also hours late to school on those days?
(Ritsuka-kun is silent.)
Question eighteen (myself): Are you safe at home?
(Ritsuka-kun is silent.)
Question nineteen (myself): Are you happy at home?
(Ritsuka-kun is silent.)
Question twenty (myself): Ritsuka-kun, are you alright?
Ritsuka-kun: No…
It was so cold out, so very, very cold. It seemed to send a chill right through his heart. He pressed a hand against the glass, hoping that she'd be back soon so that It wouldn't hurt him again. Or better yet—maybe his savior would be back and they would let him curl up in bed and would hold him until the pain passed. That was a nice thought. When he was with his savior, he almost felt human again. When he was withIt, however, he felt like a monster or a dirty piece of garbage.
Snow blanketed the outside world. It was winter, after all, and that was what happened when it was winter. He'd almost forgotten that the outside world could function correctly when the inside was so broken. He wanted to go outside and play in the snow, just like all of his friends were currently doing. He'd taint the pure whiteness of it, dirty it, turn it into something terrible. He didn't want to break something so innocent, so pure. He'd ruin it. He could do no good.
Now he pressed both hands against the clear glass of the front door. He hoped It wouldn't come out and see he had opened the big wooden door so he could see out through the clear glass screen. If It did see, It would beat him and force him to do…other things, things that he was far too young to even know about.
He watched his friends play out in the snow. He wanted to play, too. Maybe when his savior came home, they could go play together in the snow. He'd like that. He liked nice thoughts like that; it kept his mind off of It. They could frolic in the snow and perhaps he and his brother, his savior, would go to their grandmother's house. Then, he could see his brother's older friend, a man who was also friendly to him. He loved Seimei and Soubi, his brother's friend. They helped him and were the only men he wasn't afraid of.
Silently, he unlatched the door and padded outside, barefoot and coatless. When he got into the yard, the snow crunched beneath his cold feet and he tiptoed across the yard, scared to put his entire foot down and put footprints in the snow. His friends stopped playing in the snow, watching him, probably curious why he was out so soon after hearing his screams. He didn't even know why he screamed anymore. It was useless. It never stopped. It never let him go. It only got satisfaction out of his sobs and screams.
He lay down in the snow, making an exact imprint of his body. His back still bled from the belt lashings he'd been given for his grades falling. Why couldn't It understand that the reason his grades fell was because he could only focus on how It had pinned him against the counters earlier that morning, had groped him and squirted milky liquid all over him again and again? How could he study for test at night when It would shove him to his knees, unzip his pants, and make him, a little, ten year old boy suck him until he released that strange liquid? Every day it got worse and worse and he was beginning to feel less and less human.
He was failing in school. He tried, he really, really tried to do better, but he couldn't pull himself back out of the hole It had pushed him in. Even calm, gentle Seimei expressed disappointment in him, and that especially made him cry, since all he wanted was for Seimei to love him.
HONOR SCHOOL CHAT ROOM—GRADE NINE
Rules: Please refrain from usage of bad language and be nice!
USER Sozui: Does anyone know the homework for Geometry?
USER Hatsuyo: Ask Seimei-san. He's in the same hour as you.
USER Chomei: Is Seimei-san even online?
USER Sozui: Don't think so. He's too obsessed with his brother.
USER Chomei: What? But we're required to meet here on Thursdays.
USER Sozui: Please. He values his dumb brother over everything else.
USER Machi: Dumb is an understatement. My little sister is in Seimei-san's brother's class. The kid is failing nearly every subject.
USER Haruhiro: That can't be true. Seimei-san tutors his brother every day.
USER Hatsuyo: Seimei's the top of our class. His little brother can't be stupid.
USER Chomei: Maybe he hates his brother and gives him all the wrong answers…
USER Sozui: Can you not read? I said he's obsessed with his brother.
USER Machi: I'm not lying. The kid has nearly failing grades. His teachers had to call a conference!
USER Hatsue: No way. I've never heard of a teacher calling a conference unless it's to talk about school choices.
USER Machi: It's true!
USER Akira: My brother says the exact same thing. Also, the kid comes to school hours late and his uniform has this weird white stuff all over it. It seems gross.
USER Hatsuyo: Ew.
USER Hatsue: That is really gross.
USER Sozui: I don't see why Seimei-san is so obsessed with him.
USER Haruhiro: I know. The last time I was over to study, the kid came right in Seimei-san's room and went right up to him and sat in his lap. He didn't even say a word!
USER Chomei: WHAT?
USER Akira: Did he say why?
USER Haruhiro: No! He didn't say anything! The little idiot just sat right in Seimei-san's lap and started crying like a little baby.
USER Haruhiro has been permanently banned
USER chat disabled until ADMIN re-enables
ADMIN chat enabled
ADMIN Seimei: None of you have any right to talk about Ritsuka. I've been monitoring the entire session. If any of you say another word about him, you'll be banned.
ADMIN Seimei disconnect
CONFERENCE REPORT: Aoyagi Ritsuka
PART FOUR of four
Date: 1/3/08
Time: 5:30 PM
With whom: Aoyagi Ritsuka (alone, with brother), Aoyagi Seimei (alone, with brother, with reports from his teachers)
Conference by: Watanabe Reika (Aoyagi Ritsuka's teacher) and Principal/Doctor Hoshino Fujio
Where: Tokyo Pediatric Hospital
Notes (written by Doctor Hoshino): After Aoyagi Ritsuka leaves with Watanabe-sensei, I am left with his brother, Aoyagi Seimei. Seimei-san seems very calm, but frustrated. As a psychologist, I can make a hypothesis on what he is frustrated about. Perhaps he has observed his brother acting differently and wonders what about? Perhaps he is the one abusing his brother and is worrying about Ritsuka-san telling?
Me: Is there something you're worried about, Seimei-san?
Me: Ritsuka. He's changed a lot in the past few months.
(Seimei-san seems rather distracted, as if he is not focusing on me, but something beyond me.)
Me: Changed?
Seimei-san: Yes. He used to be energetic and happy…like a normal ten year-old boy. He loved playing with the kids on our block and playing sports and even when I helped him with his homework, but lately…he's not Ritsuka. He barely goes outside, he rarely talks, he only goes to basketball practice if I walk him there and stay with him…and even when I try to help him with his homework, he just ends up crying or throwing a book at me.
Me: You seem concerned about him.
Seimei-san: I am. Something's going on and he won't tell me.
Me: How do you know something is going on?
Seimei-san: How could I not?
Me: What do you mean?
Seimei-san: He used to tell me everything, and now he won't tell me a thing. He pulls away when any male touches him. He—
Me: Any male? He wasn't fazed when he was sitting in here with you.
(Seimei-san seems quite irritated I interrupted him.)
Seimei-san: Yes, I'm the only male he allows to touch him. I've noticed that it's only worse with males—he will also pull away from females, even our mother.
Me: Is there anything else that is different about him?
Seimei-san: Yes. He's been wetting the bed lately.
Me: Is there a reason why?
Seimei-san: I hate that question. No, I do not know why.
Me: Did he tell you this?
Seimei-san: No. We sleep together a lot. He sometimes comes into my room in the middle of the night and tells me he wants to sleep with me. Other times he just falls asleep in my room.
Me: Does that make you angry?
Seimei-san: Why would it? We're brothers. He trusts me. He comes to me for comfort. It makes him feel better to sleep with someone. Is that so wrong?
Me: Does Ritsuka-kun talk to you a lot?
Seimei-san: He goes through phases. Sometimes he's the energetic, talkative boy I used to know. Sometimes he just sits in my lap and hugs me and won't say a word.
Me: Does he seem to like you?
Seimei-san: Most of the time.
Me: What about the other times?
Seimei-san: When he gets frustrated, he'll usually throw books at me. I haven't the slightest idea why.
The snow was so cold, even through his thin, white shirt. He lay in the snow, staring up at the blindingly blue skies, wondering where the sun had gone. He breathed slowly, in, out, in, out; his breath creating little visible puffs in the air. The chilly snow wet his back, his shoulder blades probably still bleeding. It had known that he was sensitive there. It knew everything, all his weaknesses, all the things that made him happy. It took all the things that made him smile and shattered them, breaking them right in front of his eyes and then getting off to the way he cried and screamed afterward.
He let the coldness numb his body, first causing it to go tingly and then completely numbing him.
He was only ten. A ten year old, laying in the snow, his arms out and his legs spread slightly. Why did he feel older? He didn't feel like 'Ritsuka' anymore. That was such a pretty name for such an ugly monster. The tears beaded in his eyes, and he wanted the inside to be numb, as well as the outside. Couldn't this numb feeling seep into his inside, as well? There had to be a way to make it so. He wanted to feel no more, to have all the pain disappear into nothing. He wanted an end, an end to everything. Then, there'd be no more feeling left, no more pain, and no more bittersweet hope. Nothing; there would be nothing. Everything would be numb, everything inside and out.
He wondered if someone out there still loved him.
His savior just seemed to become increasingly frustrated with his silence every day. It only seemed to get worse. Last night, he'd woken up to It standing over his bed, watching him sleep and rubbing himself as he did so. It had scared him, terrified him, and paralyzed him. He'd kept his eyes shut, praying It hadn't noticed he was awake. When It groaned, the boy had known it was all over and had breathed out a sigh of relief. It then left, and the ten year-old, in tears, had crept to his brother's room and crawled into bed with him.
It no longer loved him, and Ritsuka didn't want It to. As much as he hated to acknowledge the fact, It was his father, the man he called 'Daddy', the man who'd taught him to walk and talk as a child.
He hated his father. He hated himself. He couldn't take this feeling any more. Every feeling that came to be only brought more pain. This all needed to end. Even if there was someone who loved him…they wouldn't be able to pull him out of the grave It had dug for him.
Slowly, he stood, looking down at his snow person. It couldn't be called a snow angel since he hadn't waved his arms around. Blood dotted the snow, on opposite sides of the imprint, on the very edge of the snow person, right where his shoulder blades would be. He smiled morbidly at what he'd done. An angel with its wings ripped off. It seemed so fitting.
A crash from inside alerted him, making his ears stand straight up and his eyes grow wide with fear. He didn't want to get in trouble again! He'd just been punished! He couldn't go through that again, not so soon!
So, he did the only thing he could do. He ran away.
So, I reached 300 reviews on Healing, so I decided to put this, the first part of the first prequel up. The second part will be up in a week or two. I'll write another prequel, too, one revolving around Soubi and Kio.
Title taken from The Offspring's 'Kristy, are you doin okay?'
Review please!
~Wolfie