"So now what?" Both girls looked at Armin, but no one said anything.
"It's not like there's anything we can do" Mikasa said sitting on the floor against the wall. Annie came over and sat next to her on her left, she rested her head on her girlfriends shoulder, despite their size difference.
Annie gave Armin a worried look, he sighed and sat on Mikasa's right side, resting his hand on top of her knee. "...Wanna play a game to take your mind off everything?"
Mikasa raised and eyebrow at the boy. "What are you talking about? I don't have any games."
Armin got up to grab his backpack and pulled out his 3DS. "I've got Mario Kart 7 and Super Smash Bros."
Mikasa smilled, Armin really was a great friend. "I'll take Mario Kart"
They took turns playing the game, passing it off when a new race started. After a while they switched it over to Smash Bros, a good game to get all the frustration out, Mikasa wasn't the best at it compared to Armin who's put in god knows how many hours playing. Annie didn't always play when it was her turn, instead she would either cuddle Mikasa's back or rest her head on the girls shoulder and give her a kiss on the cheek whenever Mikasa would knock her opponent off the screen.
Annie has been super affectionate lately, Mikasa wasn't complaining but it did seem like a bit much even for her, like she feels bad about something….
"YES! First again!" Armin cheered for himself, he didn't die once and the cpu's were set to level nine. "That's how it's done" the blonde boy handed the DS over to Mikasa for her turn.
"Wow you really are an expert" She turned around to face her girlfriend. "Babe do you want a turn?"
Annie looked up and placed her hands on Mikasa's cheeks "No but I do want a kiss"
Mikasa happily complied and gave her girlfriend one small kiss which turned into two, then three, then four, and then they lost count.
"You two almost make me jealous" Armin commented with a small smile.
"Armin are you interested in anyone?" Mikasa asked while putting her hand on Annie's face who was attempting to give her another kiss.
"Not really, it's not that I don't find people attractive, it's just that I'm pretty content with being single right now. Besides I don't think anyone would want to date me anyway." The blonde boy scratched the back of his neck.
"That's not true" Annie's words came out muffled from Mikasa's palm. The dark haired girl removed her hand "I would totally date you if I wasn't with this beauty"
"W-what?!" Armin's voice cracked "Come on now don't play around like that" a blush starting to form on his cheeks.
Annie and Mikasa just laughed at the flustered boy. Just then Armin's phone made a sound indicating he had a text, he picked it up from the floor to check it.
"It's Historia, she's wondering where we are today."
Historia is another one of Mikasa's close friends, she had been out sick for the past two weeks.
"Guess she's finally feeling better" Mikasa looked over the boys shoulder to read the text.
"Yea I just talked to her the other day, I forgot she told me that she was coming back this week" Armin typed his reply and sent it. After a few minutes he got another text. "She says that there's a lot of talk going on about you two today, I'm not surprised"
Mikasa's body stiffened a little, Annie must have noticed because she gave her right hand a firm squeeze. Mikasa squeezed it back and relaxed a little.
"I'll give her the low-down of what's going on, that okay?" Armin looked to Mikasa.
"Yea that's fine, let her know I'm glad she's feeling better" Historia was another one of the few people who knew Mikasa's secret but since the girl has been out sick she missed the most recent events.
Armin sent his reply then picked the DS back up. "Next round?"
Both girls nodded their heads. They continued to play for the next few hours, taking small breaks every now and then to reply to Historia's texts or bicker with each other about who the best character is to play as. Before they knew it, it was already four o'clock and they heard the sound of a car pulling up the driveway, Mikasa looked out her window and saw her dad getting out of his car and walking up to the front door.
"Shit my dad is home, you guys gotta go now" she turned to the two blondes. Armin was already packing away his DS while Annie went to open the window to the backyard, before climbing out she went over to the taller girl and gave her a quick kiss.
"I'll be back as soon as I can," she whispered. With that she was out the window and on the nearest tree branch.
Armin however was having a bit of trouble, he had one foot on the branch and the other still on the windowsill, Annie grabbed his hand and tried to give him more balance without falling herself. Mikasa could hear the footsteps coming up the stairs, she panicked and pushed Armin out. He let out a small yelp as he fell, pulling Annie down with him, they weren't that far up but still, the fall was going to hurt. Mikasa made a mental note to properly apologize to the two next time she saw them, she closed her window and quickly sat on her bed.
When her father unlocked the door and entered her room he looked around briefly, then looked at Mikasa for a second. He then grabbed the toast he had given her that morning then closed the door, locking it again, and left.
"Hi, how are you? Oh I'm fine, thanks for asking" Mikasa muttered under her breath. She sighed and went to look out her backyard window so see if the two survived the fall.
Annie was helping Armin up while rubbing her head, they looked okay for the most part. Once he was up and steady they made their way to the neighbors yard to sneak away, Annie having to help hoist Armin up and over the fence, the boy really needs to get himself into better shape. Mikasa sighed a breath of relief, she feels really bad about pushing them but they almost got caught. Hopefully they come back tomorrow, how long is she going to be staying up here anyway? Surely the school or someone will ask about her at some point right?
XX
It was getting close to seven at night and Mikasa hasn't heard from her parents since her father came home earlier, her mother should be back by now too, no doubt they had dinner already and it was pretty clear that she wouldn't be getting fed tonight. She should've eaten that toast from earlier, she was starving.
Mikasa passed the time by cleaning up her room, it's the most she could really do. She was a little on edge since her parents haven't really acknowledged her today, she felt like something bad was about to happen and this feeling was usually accurate. Of course as she was thinking about it her father entered her room, her mother not far behind him, she was holding a bucket with a few bottles of what looks like cleaning supplies? What is going on?
Suddenly Mikasa was grabbed by the collar of her shirt by her father and dragged into the bathroom. He shoved her into the tub and began pulling her shirt off along with her pants, Mikasa tried to fight back but he had more power over her.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Mikasa yelled while trying to push him away. He didn't reply, once Mikasa was stripped, save for her bra and underwear, her hands were bound by thick rope that was pulled out of the bucket her mom was holding. When her hands were tied tightly together her father wrapped the remaining rope around the faucet of the tub.
"What's happening?" Mikasa tried to pull her hands free but the rope wouldn't budge, her father then grabbed the shower head off its hook and turned the water on. There was a burning feeling on Mikasa's back, it was hot water, she screamed loudly it felt like her skin was boiling. Mikasa continued to scream until her throat burned, he then pulled her head back and sprayed the water on her face, she instantly screamed more but that caused the water to go down her throat only burning it more. She kept her eyes shut tightly, it felt like her eyelids were disintegrating from the constant burning of the water, her father continued to spray her whole body, when he turned the water off she could hear him rummaging in the bucket for something, Mikasa didn't have the strength to move her head up, her entire body was throbbing from the heat and her skin was a dark red.
"You've been unfaithful, Mikasa." Her father spoke, emotionless, no sympathy behind his words at all. "You need to be cleansed.."
Mikasa didn't say anything, her throat was still throbbing from swallowing the hot water, what did he mean by cleansed? Before she had time to think it through Mikasa felt something cold being poured down her back, she thought it was just cool water at first but then the strong smell of bleach filled her nostrils, then her skin started to sting. Her father then started to scrub her back with a rough cloth, causing her to scream again, she could feel some of her skin being pulled off from the cloth and the bleach burning the tissue underneath. He scrubbed harshly up and down her back and poured more bleach on the rest of her body, scrubbing everywhere. Mikasa felt like her body was on fire, it was a never ending burning, tears now pouring down her cheeks she looked to her mother who wouldn't look up from the floor, she just allowed this to happen. Her head was pulled up so she was eye level with her father but her view was blocked by the rag scrubbing all around her face, Mikasa held her breath and kept her eyes shut, she could go blind if it gets in her eyes.
After he was done scrubbing he turned the water back on hot again and rinsed her off. Mikasa screamed. The hot water pouring down her wounds and burning her skin again, the pain was too much, she tugged on the rope constantly while thrashing her legs against the tub, Mikasa screamed at the top of her lungs until her throat went completely dry. Eventually her entire body started to go numb from the burning water, turning it off again her father untied the rope. He picked her up, not gently, and dropped her on the bed. Both of them left the bedroom, locking the door again, Mikasa just laid there looking up at the ceiling.
Her body was throbbing twice as hard now, her mind felt numb, her skin was still burning but all the energy seemed to be sucked out of her. After a while she ended up rolling over onto her stomach to let her back get some air, she was shaking, but not from the cold. Her breathing was shallow because her throat was still sore, she could feel the blood slowly rolling down from the open wounds but she didn't care right now.
Mikasa didn't even have the strength to cry, she just stared in one direction not looking at anything in particular. At some point she fell asleep.
XX
Morning came too soon. Was it six? No it's eight, the sun was coming through the window by her beside, shining on Mikasa's exposed body. She tried to push herself up so that she could turn her body away from the light, but as soon as Mikasa moved her arms the rough dead skin around her shoulders cracked and blood started to ooze out. Grunting, she flopped back down on her stomach, it's not worth it right now. She turned her head to face the other side of her room, away from the sunshine, the girl still felt pretty drained so she closed her eyes and fell back asleep for a while.
Mikasa awoke to a tapping sound, what time was it now? Still somewhat groggy she looked at the clock on her nightstand, it read 11:30. The tapping continued and she looked over to her backyard window, Annie was back. She was probably waiting for Mikasa to come and unlock the window and let her in, but her body had a constant uncomfortable tingle and she knew that if she got up her wounds would start to bleed again. She waved her hand in a motion that said to come in, remembering that she didn't lock the window yesterday after pushing Armin out, thank god she didn't have to get up.
Annie slid the window open and climbed in, she walked up to Mikasa's bedside and let out a small gasp once she saw the girls torn up back. Immediately her expression turned to anger, she knelt down next to Mikasa's face, she looked angry but you could see the concern in her eyes.
"Did they do this to you?" She asked in a firm whisper.
Mikasa only nodded, her throat felt like it was on fire, she needed some water.
"Fuck…" Annie quickly stood up and walked back to the window. "You can come up now" she yelled down to who Mikasa was guessing is Armin.
But she was wrong, instead it was Reiner and Bertholdt climbing through, those two are never apart from each other.
"We need to go get some ointment and bandages" Annie pointed over at Mikasa who still laid limp on her bed.
"Oh shit" Reiners eyes went wide, so did Bertholdt's.
"I don't have any cash on me right now, can one of you spot me?" Annie was starting to panic a little.
Reiner pulled out his wallet and handed her the money. "Why not let us go? You stay here with her."
"No, I can run faster than both of you" Annie pocketed the money and was out the window in a flash.
"Of course today of all days she doesn't have her truck. The only one of us that can actually drive too." Reiner crossed his arms and examined Mikasa's back. "Bert go get a cold washcloth"
"Right" Bertholdt finally spoke and went to the bathroom.
Reiner knelt down beside the girl and spoke softly. "How badly does it hurt? Can you move at all?"
"It hurts a lot, I can't move without it bleeding" Her voice was hoarse but she needed to speak.
Bert came back with the washcloth, he very gently pressed it on her back causing Mikasa to yelp. It stung but the coolness felt good.
"Careful you're hurting her!" Reiner hollered at him. "You have to be gentle!"
"I have more gentle hands than you do" Bert snapped back, he continued to pat down Mikasa's back and around her shoulders. "I'm gonna rinse this and then I'll do your legs okay" He walked back to the bathroom.
"Does it hurt anywhere else?" Reiner's voice was back to calm.
"My whole body, and my face. Do any of you guys have water?" Mikasa croaked out.
Reiner grabbed his backpack and dug around until he pulled out a half empty water bottle. "I don't know how old this water is but once you sit up you can have it"
Mikasa nodded, Bertholdt came back and patted down the back of her legs. Slowly and with Reiners help she sat up and Bert finished the rest of her body and her face. Reiner gave her the water and she drank it down in about five seconds, it wasn't much but it was better than nothing. After Bert cleaned the washcloth he then searched for a pair of sweatpants for Mikasa to put on after they get the ointment, in the meantime Reiner pulled the sheet off her bed and wrapped it around her.
Soon Annie returned, she tore open the bottle and applied it to Mikasa's back, some of the blood seeping out and blending with the ointment, it felt very soothing despite the slight burn. After that she placed the bandaids on the most severe spots.
"They didn't have any that you could wrap around so i got the giant pad ones instead," she said in a soft low tone.
"Well it's better than nothing" Reiner spoke up.
"You want to tell us how this happened?" Bertholdt placed a hand on top of her leg, probably where she was burnt the least.
"They… just tied me up and sprayed hot water and bleach on me, m-my father said i needed to be cleansed… and my mother didn't do a thing" Mikasa's voice started to crack. She did not feel like talking at all today.
Annie carefully pulled the sweatpants up Mikasa's legs, they didn't put a shirt on her so her back wouldn't rub up against anything and peel more skin off, that seemed to be the most damaged part of her body so they just left her in her bra. Her face was a light pink from the burn of the water, her arms, legs, and front looked the same. The tips of her hair were dry and rough from the bleach and her skin felt constantly dry, it'll take a while for that to heal.
"Do you have any idea who might've leaked that picture of you two?" Reiner asked, earning an elbow jab and a look from Bert.
"We're not gonna talk about that right now," Annie said and gave him a pointed look too. "Mikasa doesn't need that right now. You two should probably go"
Both boys were quiet for a moment, "Yea that's probably best" Reiner said and turned to grab his bag. Bert gave Annie a knowing look before he patted Mikasa on the head.
She had know idea what that look was about but she smiled at the two boys "thanks for helping me today" her voice was a whisper but loud enough for them to hear.
Reiner came over and pressed her head to his chest in some form a hug without hurting her. "I'm sorry" was all he said before letting go and climbing out the window, Bertholdt not far behind.
Annie laid down on the bed and gently pulled her down to lay on her chest, she placed her left hand on Mikasa's head and stroked her hair. It was quiet for a while, until she heard a sniffle, Mikasa looked up at her girlfriend and was a little taken aback by the sight.
Annie was crying.
