Trials and Tribulations
Bitter Crimson Tears
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Other children cheered him on. His name voiced in a steadily rising pace, urging him to do it. He was engrossed by temptation. Whatever morals he once had quickly became nonexistent as he ruthlessly drove his fists into his victim‘s stomach, taking their breath away. The feeble child was brought to his knees, wrapping his arms tightly around his bruised abdomen while gasping for air. He examined his prey closely, searching for any signs of emotion: fear, anger, hopelessness, humiliation. His face revealed nothing.
Angry and confused, he hit him once again, this time with a killing uppercut to the face. The boy flew backwards before piling into the ground head first, followed by a weak cry. He laid there motionless. The striker his lips and smiled devilishy. It was over--or so he thought. His smile quickly vanished when he noticed the boy rise to his feet as if unhurt; but the bruise on his face clearly showed it. Blood emerged from his injury and trailed down his fractured face till it reached the end of his chin, spilling on onto the surface. Such strong impact caused his cheek to swell so prominently that his face appeared slighly distorted. Despite the hideous bruise, the boy remained emotionless.
With his blood boiling inside, he was livid. It wasn’t much fun for him to humiliate someone when the victim showed lack of emotion.
Suddenly a sinister smirk appeared upon his face when he placed his hand inside his kimono pocket and wielded out a sharp petite knife.
He wasn't planning on doing the most extreme, just mindless taunting, that was all.
Grabbing him by the collar, he pinned his victim to the ground with his weight on top of him. The boy's body was cold and lightweight, it was equilvalent to sitting on thin ice. The striker tauntingly slide the knife up and down the boy’s flesh. Hoping for any type of reaction, he gazed into his dark brown eyes, only to be provoked once more from his expressionless face.
He grew tired of his blank expression.
His audience begged for more entertainment as simple punches was not enough to please their sadistic nature.
“Go ahead, stab him right in the arm!”
“Teach him a lesson!”
“What are you waiting for? Do it!”
Those repeatedly spoken phrases raced through his mind, tempting him to do the unthinkable. He looked at the boy one more time.
“Am I really doing this?” he thought before slashing his victim with his knife. The chanted cheering in the background grew silent as bitter crimson tears flowed endlessly down the boy’s ghostly pale cheeks.
Not another sound was heard.
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Trials and Trbullations
01.
Misery flooded him.
He couldn’t even begin to decide what he despised the most; the gloomy atmosphere, the sheer silence, the inevitable feeling of despair that struck his nerves. But worse, those horrifying eyes. Gazing into such eyes consumed with sadness and sorrow gave him an unpleasant experience he’ll never forget. Just thinking of the unsettling place made him cringe.
It was always a trial for Akihito: to take a foot inside the child’s dwelling and be afflicted upon the malicious curse that preys on anyone who dares to enter. Yes, a mere child. A youngster who will forever be shunned and labeled as an ’outcast’. The older villagers looked down at the boy--a behavior that’s been adopted by the younger generation, despite the fact no one truly knew the whole reason behind it. Even the child himself was oblivious to the answer and he will remain to never know as it was strictly taboo to speak to him of it, or to anyone for that matter.
Akihito wanted this to be over with as quickly as possible, although it seems that no matter how long his visit may last the remaining hours of his day would always be ruined.
The young man cursed inwardly before knocking, now frowning deeply as the sound echoed throughout the eerie silent house.
No one answers
As if anyone ever did.
With a sigh, he opens the door--only to be confronted by a sudden chill that creep upon his skin, leaving an unwanted trail of goose bumps behind. Feelings of anxiety and nausea drove throughout his nerves, causing his hands to shake uncontrollably and the hairs on his back stood erect.
The curse of despair has begun.
Continuing entering, he notices something quite odd, even for him. There, by the far right stood the rarely touched fireplace being lightened by a small human figure sitting in front of it.
Unwittingly, he calls out his name in a firm tone. “Ryosuke.”
The figure turned its head slightly, just enough to capture a glimpse of the tall man that stood by the doorway.
Akihito hesitated for a brief moment until Ryosuke turned his head back towards the fireplace, completely ignoring his presence.
This is certainly not what he was expecting and this was certainly not part of Ryosuke’s mundane patterns of behavior. Usually the child would either be in his little ‘corner’ with his back against the wall in a fetal position or he would sit in the embrace of his blankets and stare blankly at the floor.
Calming his nerves, he nonchalantly heads over to Ryosuke’s direction and sat beside him. Out of curiosity, he observed him as the boy observed the flames or at least that’s what Akihito believed Ryosuke was doing. His wild unkempt dark hair hid part of his face, mostly his eyes which made it hard for Akihito to tell if he were actually staring into the fire.
At first glance you would assume that the child was a mere corpse. His skin was awfully pale, ghost-like rather, and his fragile body was practically transparent as you could see every bone structure that protrudes throughout his thin flesh. Standing by the fire only made his appearance more frightening when it revealed every unhealthy aspect of his body.
To Akihito’s surprise, Ryosuke finally speaks, ending the long pause of silence.
“This is what people do when they get cold, they make fire, do they not?”
“Is that why you made the fire? You were cold?”
The boy bit his bottom lip before replying. “No, I like cold but she doesn’t.”
Akihito raises a brow. “She?”
Akihito hadn’t a clue what he was talking about, he was the only one who lived here. Maybe his loneliness driven him to hallucinate or maybe he wanted to still believe that this ‘she-person’ that use to live here was still ‘here’.
Ryosuke bit his lip once again, eyes now flickering everywhere else except the burning fuel or the slender male next to him. Sighing, Akihito ending that conversation and started a new one.
“Have you been eating lately?”
“I eat enough.”
Akihito narrowed his eyes. Certainly doesn’t seem like enough. He was about to protest but he decided to save his breath, arguing with this child would be pointless. He simply does what he pleases and it’s not like Akihito could force him to do anything against his wishes.
“What exactly did you eat today?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, a few berries I guess.”
“Eating a couple of berries a day isn’t enough for a growing boy like you. You keep this up and you’ll end up very sick, maybe even worse.”
“I’m fine.” he protested.
Akihito‘s voice suddenly became much darker and serious. “You say that you’re fine but whenever I come to see you you end up looking more like a skeleton than the last time I visited.”
Fringe of hair hanged from the side as Ryosuke tilted his head slightly to gaze into Akihito’s light brown eyes. Akihito did the same and what he saw was heart wrecking. Into those dark dull orbs was pure emptiness. It was frightening to see how lifeless he appeared to be.
Akihito gently placed his hand against Ryosuke’s cold, pale cheek. Ryosuke winced at the sudden touch, he hated physical contact but that never stopped Akihito from showing his affection.
“Look Ryosuke, if you don’t start taking care of yourself I fear the worst and I don’t want the worst to happen to you.” He tilted the boy’s chin. “It hurts me to see you do this to yourself. Promise me you’ll eat more alright?”
Ryosuke brushed Akihito’s hand away from his face and made no reply. Instead, he went back to starring blankly into the fire.
He really did fear the worst. He feared that Ryosuke will end up like his parents which is being buried beneath the surface, a faith that most of the villagers prayed for to happen soon. Akihito truly wanted to improve Ryosuke’s lifestyle as he did care for the child. After all, he was his sister’s legacy, her treasure.
Akihito shook his head. He pulled out a small bag from his kimono and placed it beside Ryosuke.
“Here are your daily expenses, don’t spend it all up on useless stuff. I’ll check up on you again in a couple of days.”
The boy said nothing.
Akihito sighed and left the dreaded building but the feeling of despair stuck with him throughout his day, as it always does.
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Word Count: 1485
A/N: I am constantly rereading this chapter in search for any embarrassing mistakes.
Disclaimer: I do not take custody of typos and grammer mistakes.
I have merged chapter 2 with chapter 3 if you wondering where chp 3 went. Sorry for any confusion.
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