Disclaimer: I don't own .hack//SIGN or any characters.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Abuse, possible language, and possible mature themes. One-shot. Angsty and possible deathfic depending on interpretation.
Fear No Evil
By: Lost-Remembrance (Red Tail)
"Fear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil."
The sun was smiling as her tears were falling.
She could remember it all clearly that day—how she was standing at the bus stop after talking for a while, how she stood there with a smile on her face of freedom that sung through her veins.
It was the happiest day of all her life.
Then she remembered that she had nowhere to go, how she had no money, and no other relatives that would house her and take her in.
After all, she thought bitterly, if you see an abandoned kitten in an alley how many people would go and take it in? Not many, too few that wouldn't usher themselves away from the smell and awful sight.
"Don't touch her," They'd say to their children as they gazed at her as if she was a stray cat, "She's dirty." Well, she felt dirty. She felt her skin crawl when she realized she'd have to go back to the one place she'd never call home.
The police had come to pick her up, pointing her out and getting out of their patrol cars. She was just another run away with a worried parent that had called in the station to them.
Panic seized her and she tried to run, get her feet working but something stopped her—was it fate? She kicked and screamed, trying to bite her way out of their grasps as they dragged her unwilling body to the door.
It opened before the policeman could knock and she halted in her attempts.
Fear.
It quaked through her, coursing through her veins and she clenched her jaw, trying to look defiant and resilient. She tried not to look like a leaf, holding on for dear life to that branch in autumn.
Her father looked as worried as ever; the police had not seen that glint in his eyes. She knew what was coming, just like it always had—and she knew no one would stop him. Not even the doctor was able to do such.
They talked, like adults do. The police passed information and gave back a photo, getting a signature from the man that could even be called a father and they smiled and nodded.
"Teenagers," They muttered as they removed their grasp from her. All thoughts of bolting were killed when his large hand landed on her shoulder, holding her in place with the promise of pain later.
They left.
She was pulled back into the house, the door closing like the gate to freedom as her heart began to slowly clamp shut, constricting and emotionally shutting down. The door closed with a loud 'click' that echoed through her mind.
His hand came down on her, hitting her across the cheek sharply as her head jerked the other way.
Then, the words came. "Why couldn't you be a boy!" She wanted to be, if it would all stop. If she could do just one damn thing right to show him she was worth every cent that he spent on her.
Tears prickled at her vision. She refused to let that monster see her tears.
Never again.
She turned her head back and looked at the man as he paused his assault on her, her eyes burning with a fiery look in her eyes.
"I am not afraid of you." Those words sealed her fate.
He sneered back at her, "Oh really?" Then his fists and feet came pounding down on her in a wave.
Darkness clouded her vision.
Wetness woke her up and she flickered her eyes open, slowly as she looked up at the sky to see gray clouds. Her head was on cement and she felt her whole body burn with pain and aches.
She laughed bitterly, a wet cough interrupting her as she panted for air. She wished, wished that her friends, or the ones that she hoped she was allowed to call such, would come and save her like they did.
Only they didn't save her—they saved Tsukasa. Not her—never her.
She closed her eyes, slowly giving up on life as she continued to gaze up on the rainy sky. The tears fell and hit her eyes, sliding down her cheeks like fake tears.
The sky cried for her when she could not.
FIN
Originally Published: 7/18/2005
Revised: 2/17/2009