~Tortured Souls Chapter 1: Caught Red-Handed~
oOoOoOoOo ~Kiku's POV~ oOoOoOoOo
The next morning, Yong Soo and Min got into a very loud argument, unaware that Aniki had not yet left the house. Apparently, I had twisted one ankle by tripping over a root while running through the forest the day before, so Yao had opted to stay home and patch it up.
"I told you and told you, da~ze!" Yong Soo yelled. "'It won't work,' I said. 'It's not going to work, we'll get caught.' But no, you said. 'Of course it'll work, don't worry, we won't get caught, it'll all work out.' Look where that got us! We were this close to getting caught, Min! This close, da~ze!"
Yao shot me a questioning look, but I couldn't meet his eyes - not without bursting into tears.
"So I forgot the exact reason why Yao is always okay with Kiku running around in the woods!" Min shot back defensively. "It's not my fault he always comes back when Yao calls!"
Judging by the volume of their voices, I realized with a jolt, they must be in the room right next to us! Without warning, Yao stood and left the room. Instantly, panic began to blossom in my chest. Had I angered Aniki by not telling him?
Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to ignore the pain in my injured ankle and stand up. I was not able to stop myself from wincing as the pain increased tenfold, my ankle protesting against supporting my weight, but I followed my eldest brother out of the room regardless.
"Min," Yao asked from the doorway of the neighboring room. Inside, my tormentors froze before slowly turning to face Aniki. "what exactly did Yong Soo tell you wouldn't work, aru?"
The look on their faces was something akin to what I envision as the face the hero in a horror story probably makes when faced with the monster they fight against for the first time - pure terror. "Um... J-just a... just a harmless little joke," Min managed, giggling nervously under Yao's steady, furious glare.
"... 'Joke'?" Yao repeated, one slim, dark eyebrow raised. "Would that... 'joke' be 'trick Kiku into spending the night in the woods,' by any chance, aru?"
As Yong Soo and Min exchanged nervous glances, gulping, I could not help but let a small, relieved smile spread across my features. The day I had been dreaming of, hoping for, had finally arrived.
That day was the day I hoped the "games" would finally end.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
As it turns out, getting caught only made my illogical siblings more reckless.
The "games" they once "played" with me, the various psychological tortures they would put me through... I would give anything to return to the days when that was the worst they would do to me.
They are no longer afraid to physically injure me, brave enough to even scar me.
The scar on my left arm, for example: the scar Aniki believes I got from falling out of a tree and scraping my arm, the result of a mere accident. That story could not be further from the truth. I actually got it when Min attacked me with a knife as Yong Soo held me down. Had I not been able to fight them off... Kami knows how much worse my wounds might have been.
I want to tell Aniki what is happening, I really do; however, I am terrified of what they might do to me if I tell anyone. The attacks already grow more violent by the day, to the point where I fear of my life.
I feel like a castaway on a deserted island with a life raft floating near the coast, just out of reach due to some unknown danger in the water: isolated, but with means of escape visible yet unobtainable.
oOoOoOoOo ~ Feliciano's POV ~ oOoOoOoOo
I lean back in my chair, sighing. After a long day of work, I often lock myself in my bedroom and paint until dinner time.
Turning, my attention is drawn to the large, sheet-covered canvas in the corner: my current project, the painting I am working on as of right now. It's a portrait of myself and...
No... no, not that, not now. I cannot bring myself to work on that...
Shaking my head, I pull out a blank sheet of paper and begin to draw, not quite sure what my sketch will end up being yet. Eventually, Austria calls me down for dinner. I stand, heaving a sigh as I abandon my half-finished drawing. Plastering a (false) carefree smile on my face, I leave the safety of my bedroom and make my way down to the dining room.
Today has been a long day, and I can hardly wait for it to end at last.
Well, there's chapter two... wow, not only have I portrayed Yong Soo and Min as horrible people, but I have made Kiku's life really suck.
If you ask, I might be willing to tell you a bit of what South Korea and Taiwan put poor Kiku through... maybe.
By the way, as the end of the chapter suggests, Feliciano will be having his sections of the story... probably England, too, once we get to the right time period.
This story is (as far as I have planned) going to introduce characters, show a bit of their lives to explain how exactly they are being tortured, either by themselves, the past, other people, or other factors, cut off kinda suddenly (sorta like how Japan's did), and then reintroduce them later to resolve their problem. Make sense? Good.
Be on the lookout for chapter two!