Authors note: I do not own the original story line or characters, just my added plot line.
(Y/n)'s POV
2003
"Get up!" The voice shouted over and over again. Tears fell from my beaten face as I cower in the fetal position, trying to protect my face from anymore damage. In return, my stomach and back were being kicked harshly, I kept coughing, each blow to my stomach was more intense than the last.
"Common loser, you picked this so why don't you finish it?" The boy above me stopped for a moment to bend down, taking a fistfull of my hair and pulling me up by it. The tingling pain made me gasp, my face once again fully exposed. "Aw look at that, you've been crying."
"Know your place before speaking to us again, I'll cave your face in next time." Another boy spoke, my head finally being let go, my body falling back onto the pavement. The sound of their footsteps and laughs became further and further away before I dared to look up. I broke down fully at that point, blood and tears mixing on my face and the ground below.
The few kids that had stayed to watch what was going on slowly started to go away by this time as well. Nobody dared to check up on me and god was it embarassing how everything went down. I wish they'd done this behind the school or something, when it was in public it was so much worse. After I cried out my pain and emotions I finally stood up in the empty park, the sun had been setting for awhile now and it was far past the time I'd usually be home. I pulled out my phone to check the time, 20 o'clock, my mom would be worried sick, especially from the 5 missed calls I had recieved from her.
I snatched up my school bag that had been thrown during the beating, gathering up the contents that thankfully didn't fly away or get taken. With my stuff and my emotions gathered I finally made my way home. The cold breeze made me shiver, the urge to lay in bed and just rest overwhelmed my being. But I knew better than to think I'd get away with that so simply. The 30 minute walk back home felt like it lasted so much longer as my thoughts wandered to what my dad would say to me. I had to clean myself up before seeing my mother, maybe waiting until the next day when the swelling when down would be better.
I brought out my key to unlock the door, the lights were mostly off excluding the dim kitchen light and the light coming from my parent's room from under the closed door. I carefully and quietly closed the door, taking off my shoes and placing them next to the rest. I snuck into my room, putting my belongings down on my chair with an audible sigh. I could hear my parents arguing again, my mom pleading for my dad to stop yelling at her. My body shook, I hated him. He never physically abused us but the way he treated us was horrible. The only reason my mom stayed with him was because she needed the help and income. As much as I wish I could, I couldn't support my family on my own.
My mother was disabled, she was confined to a wheelchair for awhile now after a botched surgery to fix her ankle. She was now unable to work, cook, clean, or anything she used to do. Those duties were put onto me now, my siblings were only in 3rd grade, I couldn't put the burden on them. I took that responsibility as best as I could while we still all depended on my dad. No matter how put together he seemed on the outside, he was a cruel and harsh man. He was an office worker, head of his department and had been for years. He made enough money to support our family but only to guilt us into thinking it was a burden to him. He didn't want to support us but he and my mom had married and he didn't want to carry the dishonnor and embarassment of divorcing his wife.
So he took it out on us. He and my mom would get into arguments almost every day, mostly at night when my siblings were asleep. But I couldn't block out the screaming and crying. As was happening right now. I typed out my arrival to my mom, my finger hovering over the send button, I didn't want to cause more issues tonight until I heard them stop yelling at each other. So I rested my phone down as I changed into my night clothes, I snuck into the bathroom and closed the door. I dug under the sink in the cabinet to pull out the first aid kit, running the water and gently cleaning up my wounds and patching them up. I heard the door to my parent's room open and shut, the arguing finally stopped. But as I listened closer, footsteps were approaching the bathroom.
"You're home (Y/n)?" My dad called out. I hesitated to answer but knew better than to not answer.
"Yes, sorry, I got held up at school for awhile and then some friends wanted to hangout." I lied, it wasn't uncommon for me to come home slightly beat up but today was much worse than normal.
"Go to bed, it's late. Get out now, I want to take a bath." He directed towards me. I took a few extra banages and shoved them in my pocket, closing the first aid kit and putting it back and turning off the water. I opened the door, facing down as I tried to walk past my dad but was stopped by a strong arm. I froze in place.
"Look at me." He ordered, I gulped, more nervous now as I looked up.
My face was swollen and I had scrapes and bandages covering my face and body. "The hell happened to you? What'd you do to get your ass beat this time?" He questioned, letting go of me and insteaded going into the bathroom. "Don't answer, you deserved it whatever the reason was..." And with that he closed the door.
I walked back to my room, finally sending the text to my mom. I crawled into my bed which I had been craving for so long. That's when the tears began to flow again. 'Why did I always get treated like this?'
'Because you deserve it.' I told myself, over and over again.
\\\\---\\\\
I cleaned myself up for the day, trying to look as presentable as possible. After such a long and intense day before I had slept really restlessly. Narrowly avoiding my mom I made my way out of the house, waiting patiently outside for my siblings to join me so I could take them to school as well.
The two followed me out soon after, they were twins, a boy and a girl name Hajime and Miki. They may be in 3rd grade at this point but were mature for their age. Unfortuantly we all were very mature for our ages. I grabbed onto Hajime's hand as he took ahold of Miki's. "Ready to go?" I said cheerfully at them, Miki speaking up as we began to walk to our school.
"What happened to your face?" She asked so softly, I lifted my hand to my face, feeling the still slightly swollen muscles.
"Oh this? Don't worry about it Miki! Sometimes you get a little rough with your friends is all-" My words were cut off by Hajime adding in.
"Are you being bullied?" He asked, my heart dropped in my stomach, it has been obvious for a long time that I've been messed with but this was the first time I was asked directly by my siblings.
"No, of course not. Your brother would stand up to any bullies, after all." I stopped and knelt down to their level. "I gotta protect you two. I pinky promise I'm okay." I lifted both my hands with my pinkies out so both could take one. The pair locked their pinkies with mine, a smile never leaving my face. "Now lets get to school before we're late!" I said, grabbing back onto Hajime's hand. The two smiled at me and followed closely.
We arrived at school not long after and went to our respective classrooms. School was my sanctuary at times, studying was what I had going for me. My intelligence was something I took pride in, and that was the only thing my dad liked about me. I spent all my time studying to get the best grades in the class. It always paid off too.
I was the top student in the class in terms of grades, it was a wonderful feeling. But it also made me enemies. That's partly why I was bullied so much. I was also picked on for my soft nature.
I was a gentle kid, I never picked fights and was very introverted. I was able to make some 'friends' but they were nothing more than people to causally talk to. I never had a close friend, they were always passing faces in my life. But that shouldn't matter to me anyways, my goal is to get good grades and have a sucessful life ahead of me.
"(L/n)-san, would you come answer this question?" My teacher requested, I stood up and went to the front. I took out my notes and completed the problem and then explained my process, the teacher was obviously proud of his top student. But at the same time I earned some glares from others, it was clear I was the teacher's pet. Everyone hated it too.
Later on when we were getting our tests handed back to us, the teacher called out our names and gave us back our papers. As students went up and came back to their seats there was a mixed array of expressions. Once I was called up at the end the teacher smiled. "A perfect score as always." He announced loud enough for the class to hear. I couldn't help but smile in pride, but when I walked back to my seat I could feel the glares and hear the whispering about me. I guess that was the downside of trying so hard in school. When it is all you've got going for you it can also be your downfall.
Once classes were over for the day and everyone was packing up, the group from yesterday walked up to my desk. The leader of the group named Kaito leaned on my desk and eyed me intensely. "Good job on your test, cheating again?" He questioned, I sighed and looked down.
"No, I just-" I didn't even get to finish my sentence.
"Lets meet in the bathroom, now." He demanded. I knew where this was going, leaving my things knowing if I brought them they'd get ruined. I stood up, shaking already as I followed the group into the bathroom. There was no use in objecting after all.
The next thing I knew was that my head was being shoved into the toilet bowl. The hand holding it there gripped my hair and brought me back up for air. " You know how annoying you are?" He asked before shoving my head back into the bowl. I held my breath as best as I could while trying not to panic. But the longer he kept me in there the more I flailed. He didn't bring me back up right away like he usually did. My breath was running out as I finally let go of it and inhale the water.
I couldn't breath, I tried pushing up on the hand to get out but it just pushed me further in. "Huh? What? Can you not breath now?" He laughed but it was all mumbled by the water that was starting to fill my ears. He lifted me up for a second, not even enough to catch my breath and pulled me close to his face. " Why do you even try? Nobody likes you, you're just annoying." My face was shoved back in and somebody flushed the toilet, the added water only clogging up the toilet more as I gasped for air, struggling and panicking horribly. I was going to die, I couldn't breath.
When I thought I was done for I was pulled back out and thrown onto the hard tile floor. I curled up into a ball, despratly trying to catch my breath. Breathing in air was like the most precious thing in the world. My lungs burned and I started crying. My bandages had fallen off after getting wet so my wounds were exposed and my hair was soaking. During my recovery for air I was spit on and then kicked.
"Learn your place punk." Kaito kicked me in the stomach once more before leaving with his group. I stayed still on the bathroom floor, heaving and crying. The pain was so immense right now that I couldn't even move. After what felt like forever I finally crawled onto my knees and checked my phone for the time. It was 16 o'clock, school ended over half an hour ago, Hajime and Miki should be home by now. I stayed on my knees a bit longer and assessed my situation, I stood up and looked at myself in the mirror.
'You're pathetic, you know that right?' My mind told myself, I looked horrible and felt disgusting. I gripped tightly onto the sink, my knuckles turning white as I did so. Tears once again pricked my eyes. 'What a cry baby...'
After taking some time to get myself together I dried my hair under a hand drier messily. My hair was a disaster but at least it was dry. I walked back to the empty classroom, grabbing my belongings and looking out the window. I watched Kaito and his group leave, laughing and smiling like they did nothing wrong . 'They don't have a conscious...' I thought, my expression was blank and I didn't have the energy to talk. I made my way out of my classroom and changed my shoes at the entrance. My mind wandering over pointless thoughts to just keep myself distracted.
I walked out of the building finally, debating on going home immediately or to the park to relax. I don't know what it was but I turned behind me and looked up. 'The roof is so high...I bet if someone fell from there that'd really hurt them. Maybe they'd die-' I shook my head, my heart beat quickening. 'Don't! Stop!' I tried to convince myself, grabbing my head in my hands as I ran away from the school, trying to ignore my own thoughts.
That was it, I needed to cool down. Maybe I should just go to the park for a little while the sun is still out. I adjusted my school bag on my shoulder, my eyes glued to the ground as I walked. 'I could...I could try it.' My mind concentrating hard on the dark thought from earlier. I didn't notice at first that I had got to a crosswalk, people had passed already and now the light had turned red again. I lift my head to watch for the light to change. But a boy walked past me and didn't stop. "He's gotta be careful..." I mumbled to myself.
He continued to cross the road, getting to the middle when I noticed it. A large truck was driving down the road, it was so high up I doubt it would be able to see what's in front of it. 'It can't see what's in front of it...' My body moved on its own from there. I ran into the road, my arm outstretched as I attempted to grip onto the boy's hoodie. I was able to grab onto it and in an instant pulled him back. It felt like slow motion, the slow turn of his head, the look in his eyes as he registered what was quickly approaching.
Both of us fell back, the truck honking its horn loudly at us but didn't stop. My breathing was heavy, my heart was beating a thousand miles per minute. 'He almost got hit. He almost got hit...!' I stumbled over myself as I pulled the boy over to look at me. I cupped his face, the intensity of the situation making tears rush out of my eyes. "You're okay right? You didn't get hit?"
The boy looked at me, still in shock as well over the situation. He gently placed a hand over mine and brought it down with his. "Hey, stop crying." Those words surprised me.
"Huh?" I didn't know how to respond. The boy crawled onto his knees and then stood up, reaching a hand out for me to take. I looked at it for a moment before taking it, a crowed of people at this point started forming around us.
"Are you okay!?" A woman shouted out.
"Stupid kids! You could have died." A man yelled at us.
The boy sent a glare his direction and shooed off the adults who tried to talk to us. He grabbed onto my hand and lead me across the road which was now green. I didn't protest and just followed him to where ever he was taking me. It didn't take us long at all to end up at the park I was already on my way to.
"You can stop crying now." He said, I lifted a hand to wipe my face, I hadn't realized I was still crying.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry." He let me calm down before speaking again. "Thank you, I wasn't paying attention I guess." I looked at him blankly, just staring and nodding.
"Please be careful! You can't be so reckless. What if something happened to you?" I said with obvious concern in my voice.
"Nothing did happen." He responded surprising me.
"But-"
"There are no but's, nothing happened to me because you were there and now it's in the past." His words seemed so grown up. I couldn't help but stare at him, he turned away probably feeling uncomfortable from my gaze.
"What's your name? Call me Mikey." He turned back expecting my answer.
"I-I uh I'm (L/n) (Y/n)! Nice to meet you." I bowed, Mikey just seemed to chuckle.
"No need to be so formal with me. After all, you just saved my life."
'Saved his life? I guess I did, didn't I?' I nodded back towards him.
"So (Y/n)," Mikey started. "No more crying. You're just wasting tears okay?"
I was shocked by this boy, he seemed so okay after what just happened. " I-okay..."
" So, I guess I kinda owe you one now huh?" He smiled gently towards me. I shook my head rapidly.
"Not at all! I'm just glad you're okay." I admitted, it was true. I don't know how it would have affected me if I saw someone die right in front of me.
Next thing I knew Mikey put his hand on my shoulder. "Meet me here tomorrow, same time. I'll introduce you to some important people."
"Huh?- I don't know..."
"Just trust me, I trust you now." He said kindly. I took a moment to think before agreeing to him. "Great, see you tomorrow (Y/n). You look pretty beat up, keep it together till then."
'What did he mean by that?' I watched Mikey walk off in the opposite direction, my feet stayed glued to the floor. Today had been too much for me. 'I just want a break...' I didn't want to go home, I didn't want to go to school, there was nowhere I could just relax.
'I wish someone would save me too.'