Chapter II
I'm not going back to when the incidents happened, but to the just after
the last time they happened, because I don't think I'm strong enough to relive
that just yet. It was a little before I met - Wait I'll spoil it if I tell you
now, wont I? Well, you'll have to keep on reading to figure out who it is, now
won't you?
'I looked at myself, tears running down my face, in the mirror, beads of
blood finding their way down my naked torso. HE had carved words into my chest,
telling me that he was moving and needed to give me a 'good-bye' present. The
letters engraved into my chest glared back at me angrily, their message burning
deep into my brain.
'Dirty, ugly, little hoe.' They said, a pulsating red blemish on my
ghostly pale skin, along with the bruises that were always there now. I glared
at the red tributaries that twisted grotesquely into a single, thick, metallic
stream slicing through the center of my torso and beyond my waist. It hurt, but
I felt I deserved it as hatred coursed through me. Hatred towards myself, hatred
towards him, they blended together until I couldn't tell which was which. My
body looked damaged, ugly, and small, only standing a whole 4'6'' at my tallest
point. (Yes, I was 4'6'' when I was 12.) Even my vibrant green hair had dulled
to a dim shadow of what it used to be.
Picking up my forgotten clothes carefully, I opened my bedroom door and
headed towards the bathroom, desperate to wash the blood off of me before Jinx
and Jace got home. I turned the water on as hot as it would go, wanting to burn
the sins off of my tainted flesh. As I stepped into the shower, the boiling
water scorched my flesh, but the pain made me feel even the tiniest bit better.
I deserved pain and suffering. It was about the only thing I could understand
about myself then. I could feel the stinging begin as my fresh wounds met the
steaming water, and I hissed at the feeling. The pain made life bearable. I
needed some sort of punishment for my sins, and only I could administer
it.
As the last of the blood trailed off of me, I ceased the constant spray
of water, rubbing myself dry roughly with a towel before slipping my clothes on.
My wet hair hung carelessly over my shoulders and strands scattered across my
face wildly. I didn't bother brushing it, I just headed down the hall to the
door. I wanted to sit in a tree, just thinking for a while. I was smashed out of
my thoughts as I swung the door own and slammed into a soft
form.
"Nice way to welcome us home, Ai. Slamming into me." Said Jace
sarcastically, Jinx and a stranger bounding up behind him. I flashed a fake
smile and a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of my damp head apologetically while
staring up at them.
"Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going... Who's that?" I inquired,
my gaze fixated on the strange man beside Jinx. The man’s eyes widened with
shock as I stared straight into them. They were a crystalline blue and I felt as
if I could drown myself in them. There was suspicion dancing in them, and for a
split second I found myself wondering if he saw through my facade to the
depressed, disgusting, morbid creature I really was. But I quickly shoved that
thought to the side as Jinx answered the question I had directed at
Jace.
"This is Itami!! He's one of my friends!" Jinx exclaimed loudly, a grin
wide on his face. Itami looked down at me, at least 5'11''. I looked up at him
bravely, sure nothing could faze
anymore.
"Damn." Muttered Itami loudly, his eyes scanning over me. " He's fucking
adorable!" I felt my face flush a deep red. I definitely wasn't expecting
anyone to call me adorable, especially when I was so
ugly.
"I told you he was!" Said Jinx, my face flushing redder.
"What's your name?" He asked me, nearly doubled over trying to reach my
eye level without kneeling.
"Ai...." I answered sheepishly, my false smile dimming. His hand ruffled
my hair and I winced slightly, though no one
noticed.
"And how old are you, Ai?" He asked me as you would a child. Jinx was
giggling quietly to himself while Jace was just shaking his head back and forth,
his shoulders shaking in silent
laughter.
"Your grammar is wrong." I blurted out, my face flushing again as
confusion crossed his gaze.
"Excuse me?" He said, confusion lining his voice. Sighing, I
replied.
"You never start a sentence with 'and'. It is not proper grammar. The
correct way to phrase that sentence would be 'How old are you?’. I'm 12, by the
way." I stated simply as shock crossed his face once again. Jinx had begun to
laugh hysterically while Jace was attempting to stifle his own. Itami's gaze
twisted between the two for a moment before exclaiming, 'He's shitting me,
right? He's gotta be shitting me!"
"Actually, I'm not. I was born in 1996 (This arc takes place in 2008...),
I'm just short...." I said to him, my hand reaching out and gently tugging on
the front of his shirt to gain his attention. His gaze met mine and he pushed
his face forward, his lips meeting my forehead softly. I stood there, stunned,
as he got up and winked at me before Jinx or Jace noticed my dumfounded
expression.
"You really are adorable, you know." He said, winking at me once more.