I've decided to update twice a week instead of just once. Enjoy and thanks for reading!
"Yuzu! Wake up!" Shuzo gently shakes his daughter by her shoulders. Yuzu jolts awake and backs away from the shadowy figure in front of her. "Hey, it's alright. It's Otosan." He tells her. "You were having a nightmare."
"I was?" Yuzu touches her face and isn't surprised to find it wet with tears. "Did I wake you, Otosan? I'm sorry if I worried you, go back to bed." Yuzu wipes her tears and tries to lie back down. Her body is still aching beyond belief and try as she might she can't hide the groan of pain that escapes her lips.
"Sweetheart, tell me what's bothering you. Are you feeling alright?" He places the back of his hand on her forehead.
"I'm fine Otosan, just very tired." She just wants him to leave.
"Are you worried about Yuya?"
Her heart skips a beat.
She instantly shakes her head. "No. Why would I be worried about him?" She speaks quickly to hide her rising panic.
"I heard you calling out to him right before I woke you. You kept saying, 'not Yuya'."
"I was?" She covers her mouth with her hand.
"Want to talk about it?" He's so worried. Yuzu sounded terrified, as though she were suffering. He hates hearing his little girl like that.
"Actually, Otosan, I don't remember the dream anymore." Yuzu confesses. "I think I'll just try to go back to sleep." She says quietly.
Shuzo realizes whatever was bothering her will remain private for now.
"Alright then. If you need anything at all, let me know." He puts the comforter over her.
"Thanks, Otosan. Goodnight." Yuzu mumbles.
Early the next morning, Yuzu wakes with the feeling of lead in her stomach. Her legs feel like they've been crushed and worst of all, her backside is even more sore than it was yesterday.
Yuzu musters up the strength to get out of bed. She spends an hour pacing in her bedroom to find a way to hide her funny walk. The pain in her whole lower body has caused her to develop an unsightly limp. She can't have people asking questions-questions she hasn't yet made up answers for.
"Breakfast!" Her Otosan announces from downstairs. Just the thought of food makes Yuzu nauseous. She can't even imagine herself eating right now. It makes her feel worse than she already does.
"Not hungry, Otosan!" Yuzu calls down. "I'm getting in the shower!" She knows he won't disturb her there. If she takes long enough, maybe he'll head off to You-Show and she can avoid further conversation with him.
Yuzu hobbles down the hall to the linen closet to retrieve a towel for herself. She then locks herself in the bathroom.
When she strips down, she gets a look at the visible damage on her body.
The backs of both her thighs look very beat up. The bruises don't even look like they should be there. They weren't there yesterday. She doesn't know how that could have happened. Yuzu remembers however that as younger children whenever she and Yuya were playing and would hurt themselves, that sometimes the bruises would show up immediately or the next day. It always depended on the severity of the injury.
It makes sense why only the bruises on her bottom were visible yesterday.
There's a single dark purple bruise in the center of her lower back. Simply thinking about it makes it hurt more. She would rather have taken a worse beating if it meant he wouldn't have hit her back the way he did. It was the only blow to her body that radiated throughout- aside from the actual assault.
There are bruises in the shape of hands on her hips. This, she remembers. After it was clear she would no longer fight, the monster removed his hand from her mouth and grabbed her hips. It hurt so much more than she thought it could. It didn't make sense how strong he was. She knows Yuya's capabilities. Yesterday went beyond what he was mentally and physically capable of in every way.
Lastly, Yuzu observes her neck. She removes the bandage to reveal a prominent, red, angry looking bite mark. Oh no… she thinks. Yuya saw this. He saw this bite mark. He asked about it. Yuzu got lucky because he passed out. She prays he doesn't remember. It was his mouth that did the biting, even though he never made such a choice to bite her.
Yuzu carefully steps in the shower and makes the water as hot as it can be. It's not comfortable in the slightest, but anything cooler than this makes her feel like the horrors from yesterday won't wash away. The hot water might be able to burn away some of the evil that's still covering her body.
She scrubs her skin from head to toe until it's raw and tingly, and then proceeds to sit in the tub with the scalding water hitting the top of her head. She sits and sobs until the flowing water runs ice cold… and then she sits and shivers a little while longer.
Yuzu still feels incredibly filthy when she steps out of the shower, despite having bathed for at least an hour and using up more than half the bottle of body wash.
Yuzu wraps her towel around her shoulders as chills run down her thin frame.
Just as she had hoped, her father has left for You-Show already.
Upon returning to her room, Yuzu notices that she has a missed call from Yuya.
She sends him a text.
Yuzu: Hey, what's up?
Yuya: Where are you? Class is about to start and even I'm here on time today.
Yuzu: Not feeling very well. Can you email me the homework, please?
Yuya: Everything okay? Want me to stop by?
Yuzu: No, I think it's contagious. Just tell my dad that I stayed home when you see him, please.
Yuya: I will, no problem. Feel better, Yuzu!
Yuzu: Thanks, Yuya. Now pay attention!
Yuya: ) no promises hahaha
So he doesn't remember.
Good.
She prays he never finds out. It would crush her if he did. He can never know what happened. What this rage made him do.
"He can never know." Yuzu finds herself speaking aloud.
After getting dressed, Yuzu heads down to the kitchen.
The only thing that doesn't make her feel like vomiting is water. But she knows that isn't enough. Yuzu makes herself some toast and nibbles on that, trying hard not to taste it. She manages to eat about half before giving up. It's just too much. She can't handle it. She washes the taste out of her mouth with more water.
When she really needs food, her body will allow her to eat. Just not now.
Yuzu moves to the living room. She takes one of the plush pillows from the corner of the room and places it on the couch. She still can't sit without feeling immense pain. The pillow makes it bearable. She grabs a blanket and wraps it around herself. When that's not enough she goes to get another. 4 blankets later Yuzu feels better. She feels protected. Nothing bad can get through these layers of warmth. She's safe.
Yuzu sits in complete and utter silence for hours. Not thinking of anything except the warmth.
Then something comes to mind.
She can't hide her injuries. Even after all her attempts to walk and sit and feel normal she just can't do it. The idea hits her. An accident would explain it all.
A fall down the stairs ought to do it. It would explain the limp at least.
It takes her at least a half an hour to untangle herself from the blankets. There are goosebumps on her skin as she sheds the last blanket. She groans in pain as she moves to stand. It's almost time for Otosan to return. She needs to get a fresh bandage for her neck, but recalls that the only ones are in the upstairs bathroom.
Yuzu takes her time making her way up the stairs. She's trying to catch her breath by the time she reaches the top. This hurts.
Yuzu doesn't have time to register the lightheadedness until it's too late. By the time she falls backward she can't catch or hold on to anything. She tumbles and rolls down the stairs, feeling new bruises and aches form on her body instantly.
So in actuality, Yuzu did fall down the stairs completely by accident.
She hits the bottom of the stairs with an ugly thud. The pain has grown to a level where she can't even cry because of it. It's pain beyond tears. Yuzu feels consciousness slipping away. No. This wasn't part of the plan. Stay awake. Not now. She can't….
Darkness takes her.
"Yuzu!"
"Yuzu!"
"Oh my god, she won't wake! Yuzu, honey, please!"
"Call an ambulance… Quickly!"