Hello again,
Here is something new. I do not know exactly where this is going yet, I am just along for the ride, as much as you are. This story is muse-inspired, by wondering about what if and what can happen? Feel free to let me know what you think.
Author's Notes – The story you are about to read deals with a very serious issue, child abuse. By writing this story, I am by no means condoning the behavior. I loathe people who do this, but as an author, I needed to explore it and stretch myself, by writing about something hard. If you do not like this topic, then heed my warning do not read this. Otherwise, read it and let me know what you think. This first chapter is a bit short, but you should know by now that my chapters are usually a good length, so do not let this first one throw you off.
Standard Disclaimer applies – I do not own the rights to Sailor Moon, everyone knows this by now. I do it purely for the experience.
Holding out for a hero
Chapter 1 – Life or something mocking it.
Usagi glanced at her own house in trepidation. Is Mom home? She chewed nervously on her lip, before stepping forward and entering the house. Thursdays were the odd day of the week when her Mom surprised her. She listened with an attentive ear, and everything seemed silent. She inched the door closed as silently as possible. If she is here, I don't need her to know I am…
She made it to her room, and with a relieved sigh slung her bag off her shoulder. She turned around, and quietly closed her bedroom door. There was no telling when she would arrive, and the unknown scared Usagi. She flopped onto her bed, and thought about life.
Why does my own mother hate me so much? The same question she asked herself each day with no new answers. Life had been fine until she turned twelve, and that is when everything changed. She still remembered the first day she had come home from school as usual, only to find her mother angry.
Her mother had just stared at her with a dead look in her eyes. At first Usagi had thought her mom was studying her, but soon realized her mistake. When the first blow came, Usagi stared at her mother in shock. Her mother had never raised a hand to her before. She never even spanked us when we were little.
Ikuko had slapped Usagi several times while berating her with devastating words. "You ugly little piece of crap!" The words ran through Usagi's memory with a chilling clarity. Her mother had dragged her to the coat closet, and forced her in, locking the door. Usagi had stayed there in the dark until she heard her father come home.
Ikuko let her out when Kenji's car pulled in the driveway. She gave Usagi a serious look, and told her to wait in her room. Usagi had hurried to her room, not wanting more trouble.
From that day forward, Usagi's life had changed completely. If her father suspected anything, he never let on or interfered. Ikuko fed him stories regularly of Usagi's defiant, rebellious behavior.
Kenji only spoke to her once about it. He asked her to try, and be nicer to her mother. When she tried to explain, tears got in the way, and he took that as a sign of guilt. With a sad shake of his head, he left her there, for her mother to punish.
Ikuko had walked back into the room with a smile. "You see, he will not believe you. If you ever dare to tell anyone, I will take it out on Shingo. He's smaller than you, and I don't know how well he could take it." She stood there smiling at Usagi as if everything was right in the world, and that was the first beating. Her mother pulled out a wooden paddle with holes drilled in it. The first smack caught Usagi on the shoulder, and stung like fire. Ikuko did not stop with just one hit. She kept smacking her anywhere she could land a blow. When Usagi began to cry, plead, and beg, her mother seemed to enjoy her suffering even more. By the time Ikuko stopped, Usagi could barely move from the stinging pain.
Ikuko had grabbed her hair, and dragged her to the closet. Usagi spent the night kneeling, curled up in the closet, delirious with pain. The next morning her mother had let her out just after her father left for work.
A sound from below brought Usagi back from her memories. The front door had just shut. Mom's home! The thought had her trembling with fear, until a bellow from below sped her heart up.
"USAGI…" She could hear the anger in her mother's voice. She opened the door hesitantly, and made her way downstairs. When she reached the kitchen, her face was a blank mask. Show no fear…show no fear…show no fear. She repeated it over, and over again, to stave off the terror.
Her mother stood at the counter with a smile. She gave Usagi a single look that filled her stomach with ice water.
"I bought your father a new leather belt today. Can you believe it was on sale?" Ikuko chatted idly in a pleasant tone. "That means I can keep the old one, and it will serve me well." Ikuko smiled before her demeanor changed and she continued. "It's time for you to learn something."
Ikuko grabbed Usagi by the ear and dragged her to the couch. "Bend over the arm." Usagi had no choice but to obey. When she leaned forward over the arm, her mother flipped her skirt up over her head.
"This is for being stupid." Ikuko swung her arm back, and Usagi had no warning. Her father's leather belt whistled through the air, and snapped into her flesh. Usagi made no sound at first. She held onto her control as her mother kept going. By the fifteenth stroke, she was losing it, and small whimper escaped from her throat.
That sound was all it took to goad Ikuko into further action. "I think you need a few more, just for good measure." She increased the force of her swing so that it stung even more. By the time she reached twenty Usagi was crying out-loud.
The front door opened, and Shingo walked in. He stopped in his tracks when he saw what his mother was doing to his sister. Ikuko barely glanced at him.
"Your sister had been very disrespectful again. Why don't you go in the kitchen, and have a snack." She gave her son a sunny smile as he left the room. As soon as Shingo left, she continued with the punishment. When she reached twenty-five, she finally took a breath, and stopped. "No dinner again…you just never seem to learn, closet time for you."
She pushed a whimpering Usagi towards the closet. "Please….not the closet, I'm sorry, I'll try harder to be good." Usagi tried to convince her mother not to lock her in, but it did no good. Ikuko pushed her in, and locked the door.
"Just remember…I better not hear a single sound out of you." Ikuko spoke through the door, and then Usagi heard her steps wandering away. Usagi could not sit down and instead knelt on her knees. The closet was not big enough for anyone to lie down in.
Hours passed by, and her mind wandered trying to escape the prison she was inside of. She thought about running away. She could imagine each step of her plan, tasting freedom. When she dreamed of running away, it helped keep a tenuous hold on her sanity. Usagi knew realistically that it would not be possible. There was no help available for a fourteen-year-old girl on the streets. At some point, she finally fell into a troubled sleep.
Here is an end to Chapter 1 of Holding out for a hero. Let me know what you think?