A Trail of Shattered Diamonds

Chapter Ten

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Those black stains of coal on my hands scared me. Like a password to enter through to another land of nightmares. To travel on another road of doom...
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"Never even think for a moment that anyone likes you. Such a hated soul like you should be dead," I heard my aunt curse. 

I was back at her house. I was back on the cold floor, covered in my own blood. She had that same long, thick belt in her hand as she towered over me. My hands were washed with the coal she had rubbed on them. 

"Hands of a sinner, you killed your own parents! Killed my only sister! You stupid girl! Curse you!" she screamed. 

She lifted the belt up in the air and brought it flying back down on my wrist. She took it up again and made it land on my back, on my head, on my face. On me. My voice was gone from crying. Nothing but disgusting pain came out. Only pain came out, my aunt gave me pain. A lot of agony and pain. I cried in silence as blood covered my face and fell from my head. I cried in silence as I helplessly knew that she was right. I was a sinful murderer. She had a point. She always did.

I watched that same scene unfolding in my own head all over again. I could still feel the pain. It was like all my wounds were opening up again right here. Opening up that same door to that nightmare again. My heart ached. That same poisonous pain returned. That pain that my aunt had dug cruelly into me.

I looked back at Nagisa. His eyes were fierce, dangerous. Hatred swam in them. I could tell. But it was worse that he pretended not to hate me when it was clear to me that he hated me so strongly. Why? Could he have been my aunt's minion? Could my aunt have sent him to make sure I was hated? Knowing aunt, it wasn't impossible. Nagisa kept watching me and was probably making sure that I felt uncomfortable. 

"Are you two having a staring competition?" Yukimura Aki asked, looking at the both of us. 

I blinked, quickly breaking the spark lighting up between Nagisa and me. 

"Looks like Nagisa wins," she laughed. 

She called him by his first name. Were they close? A stupid voice in my head was going: Ooooh! They are girlfriend and boyfriend! Nagisa had a strange taste for girls. 

"We weren't having a staring competition," I slowly said. 

"Oh. I thought the idiot actually won," grumbled Yukimura. 

Idiot? Would a girlfriend call her boyfriend that? No! 

"I was looking at the wall...actually," I hopelessly lied. 

"Wow. You were?" asked Yukimura, confused. 

I nodded, "Yeah, it's my hobby," I swallowed, wondering how I come up with these strange things. 

Nagisa quickly covered his mouth. He looked like he desperately wanted to laugh. 

"What kind of hobby is that?" questioned Yukimura. 

"Um...I established it from childhood so...it was kind of hard to let go," I fibbed.