A fact:
Yuu was forced to participate in prayer hour after a sermon.
Another fact:
Absolutely not. Confessing to the Lord of his possible sins was not, per say...
Ideal.
Although it was a designated time of confession and forgiveness, Sister Anna was not particularly fond of letting the confession go to the skies without an ass beating on planet Earth.
She said her sins, skipping out on some for she knew Yuu and the other children were there.
Hypocritical.
After she was "done," it was a little Aryan girl's, and then Yuu's turn.
On his knees next to her on the thick, musty carpet, four of the other children contributing to the activity, he took a deep breath as the last child finished her sin.
"I... Took a cookie from my friend at lunch."
Scandalous.
The little Aryan girl continued, tiny fingers shaking in their clasped position just afront of her face. "She wasn't looking, and it looked so yummy... Forgive me, Lord."
Yuu suppressed his sigh, picking at the carpet strands. He didn't even have his own hands in the right positioning, too unsupportive of the activity.
But he'd have to confess something; if you didn't you were perceived as a liar and being untruthful to the Holy Spirit. The thought just made him yawn.
What did he have to confess? What sins--
He froze.
I'm not supposed to get aroused... That's sinful, isn't it?
He swallowed hard after everyone had forgiven the German girl for her iota of a sin, all eyes closing again except for Sister Anna's as she shot a stare inspired by Satan himself into his soul.
"Hands." She hissed in a nasty whisper, spit still managing to fly.
He puts his hands up, wishing if only it were a gun in his hands that he could put to his own temple. How could he confess something so humiliating? So sinful?
So horrific in the walls of the orphanage that he mind as well pack his bags and leave...
If only.
Tears swelled in his eyes, his throat tightening and sinus clearing.
"...I..." Silence. Only the creak in the floorboards from one of the little boys shifting on his legs.
Yuu was the eldest there.
"...I got an... I got aroused by another boy in the locker rooms two days ago..."
It's like he could see the spirit he didn't even believe in in the first place standing before him with hatred burning in his eyes.
How dare you? Pray and confess to me?
The devil grinned behind his back, scruffing his hair in approval.
He slowly peeked his eyes open, all the children with their eyes still closed as they had no understanding of what the words meant or how bad the situation was. Sister Anna's eyes, however, never left his gaze.
He shut his eyes again, finishing off his reveal. "Forgive me... Lord."
The Lord he didn't even believe in to begin with.
Just as the innocent children leaned in for a hug of forgiveness, the nun snapped.
"Don't!" she spat, everyone suddenly still in their actions as if there were a pause button for the world. "Don't you dare touch that boy."
They all leaned away.
At this point, Yuu couldn't help but stifle a grin. Why feel bad for the uncontrollable things?
The real issue was containing his excitement to see the same boy later that evening.
"Sister Anna, what's 'aroused' mean?" the little Aryan girl asked, her little blonde bob swaying as she curiously tilted her head.
The nun looked as if she were contemplating suicide. "You'll learn soon enough. All you need to know is to never hug that boy for his sins again. Ever. He's filthy. He sins without contemplating the real consequences of-"
"I thought this was confession hour?" Yuu interrupted with a sarcastic innocence only aware to him. "An hour of forgiveness as well?"
Her expression was beyond spiteful. "You take it too far! You commit the worst ones! You don't care about the consequences or the unholiness of-"
"A sin is a sin, Sister," Yuu protested, "and my sin was uncontrollable. No sin is worse than another. You're teaching me that my sexual tendencies are worse than a young girl's robbery? Thievery is uncontrollable, while my arousal is not? Do you still, 'Love thy neighbor' after this? Or is that one little line excluded for boys under the name of Yuichiro Amane who live in a foster care system and go to school in the hood?"
The room fell so silent only the heartbeat of the children could be heard.
Yuu was dead the moment he was taken here.
The nun was always stone-hearted.
Her jaw tightened, wrinkled face scowling in the kerosine glow. "Prayer hour is over."
~
Yuu was in utter disbelief - and slight smug pride - as he hadn't gotten beaten once that day.
In fact, the nun brought him along to the food market.
Pick out something you like, huh?
Well, no... Not that kind of luxury. But he at least did get fresh air.
And an apple. An unpaid-for apple, but an apple. That he snuck. Under his hood. Nice and cozy in his soft, tiny palms.
They were in season, Jesus, one apple isn't going to kill anyone... Except Eve.
Not a word was spoken between the two to and fro on the trip, only terse directions of retrievals of food from the list and a 'put your seatbelt on'. No real conversation.
Yuu was elated.
He would've propped his feet up on the dashboard as well if he didn't want to keep the no-beating streak going.
As soon as they arrived back home, he helped stock away the food, spinning on his heels to leave and bite into that delicious, crunchy apple.
Finally, better food... Fresh... Nature-y... Crisp.
He finished it all, too, tossing out the core as soon as the nun stepped into view of the area of prayer.
"What was that?" she questioned, Yuu's stomach suddenly plummeting.
So much for that apple.
"Nothing," he lied, rubbing his nose.
Well, not like the untruthfulness was going to get him anywhere to begin with. She rummaged the trash.
"Where did you get that apple from?"
"...The market."
Hell arose on the floor level of the building. "I don't remember buying an apple on the way out of the market, Yuichiro..."
He began to sweat. "It's just an apple, there's so many this season. What's one-"
The most sacred fruit in the name of the Bible was not one to be taken lightly, and in the name of the disrespect put to the fruit's name, a slap hard enough to tear skin brought him to the floor.
To add onto the pleasure, he landed wrong on his arm, an infection of pain blooming up his arm in a cynical revenge.
The best part: she pinned him rough, slapping him repeatedly with every collision carrying the utmost amount of force she could muster in her old body while he was screaming in terror on the floor.
Over fruit.
"Are you kidding me?! Lying! Stealing! This - pornography you bring into these walls?! You'd ought to rot in hell thinking your little brothers and sisters can grow up around this kind of satanic promotion!" she bellowed at the top of her tarred lungs, one of her nails catching his cheek as blood began to draw.
There were the children again, watching from the railing on the upper floor in pure paralyzation.
"Is she gonna kill him?" one of the little boys fearfully asked his brother, tears stinging in his eyes as Yuu's sounds of terror bellowed throughout the house. They could hear his limbs banging against the floor as he tried to escape, the struggling voices and shouts.
The older brother just stared, not sure whether to possibly lie or... Who knew.
After his cheek was smeared in blood, eyes blood red with tears soaking his face, she got to her feet, clutched her calloused fingers around his shirt hem, and began to drag him towards the closet.
He was too blinded with the glimpse of death to acknowledge where he was going.
His blood smeared along the floor in scarce trails, incomplete with a sudden end as she shoved him into the closet and slammed and locked the door behind him.
Fuck, not here again... It's impossible to breathe in there...
He got to his knees, hardly able to speak as he cried so hard. He banged on the door, face in pain as he screamed.
"Let me out! I'm sorry! Please... I didn't mean to make you upset! ...Please!! Let me out I can't breathe in here! I'm..." his voice broke, sorrow taking him over as he knew well enough no one loved him that much to let him out. Anyone he knew would easily let him die in there without a care in the world.
It seemed as if the nun didn't feel like breathing either as she lit her cigarette ablaze outside on the front steps, a tear racing down her face.
Subtlety is everything, no?