A little comfort at night.
Convoitise Kurosawa, Yui Komori.
SPOILER! from Convoitise's Route. (maybe)
Freedom was scary to Yui. After all, ten, maybe more, years worth of abuse aren't really easy to erase from your memory, not even if she tried. With her change of scent and her escape to a safe place in Germany, Yui can't barely sleep on one of those horrible nights.
Thankfully, she has still a little problematic creature that keeps her company at night.
Trigger Warning: Mentions of physical and psychological abuse.
Content Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Angst.
A gasp left her soft lips as she opened her eyes wide, shaking. Before she knew it, her face was filled with her own tears . The pain in her neck was just too familiar to bare, yet there was nothing, no matter how much she rubbed it. Turning around to look at the window of her small apartment, Yui held her breath. She was so, so sure that one of them was going to come in any moment now...
It was painful.
She chose to be left alone, she chose to just not stay with neither and live her life, yet she was still under her protection. Then why does she feel like this? Why does she feel like she made a grave mistake? No, she did made a mistake, a fatal one, a mistake that could take her life. She just signed a dead wish with those guys...!
Yui closed her eyes shut, slowly. She wanted to bawl her eyes out, but any sound, any noise could attract an unwanted attention. The pettite girl carefully got up from the bed, looking around. As much as she disliked the apartment, she didn't hate it completely, and it was a really nice offer she just couldn't pass on: Kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and a small living room with a T.V., what else could she ask for? Well... For starters, she could ask for the nightmares—No, the memories to go away. As far away as possible. But that's not how humans work, now is it? Yui couldn't sleep in peace knowing what she did. She really left them, all without them knowing, in secret and with a little bit of help. She left for good. She'll be replaced in a week or two. The years she spent with them will be nothing for them soon enough, and their rage and betrayal they'll soon fell will colapse on them.
... Ten years.
Ten years of what could be described as a portion of hell, with her disguising it as "little bumps on the road" with her relationship between the three families. Ten years, yet now that she was away, now that she never had to see them again, she feels the same danger as she felt every time she went to sleep, just ten times— no, a hundred times worse. She couldn't help but feel that emerald pair of feline-like eyes on her. Her stomach started to twist and move in disgust, an uncomfortable knot began to form itself in the middle of her throat, along with the horrid need of vomiting. His gaze, his touch, everything felt so disgusting. He was disgusting. Everyone of them was disgusting.
A rush of fear went down her body the moment she heard something, probably a sound the wood made, but still Yui pulled the covers up her head. Childish, yes, but what else could someone like her do, when she was so used to just helplessly lay there? She couldn't fight them. They were stronger. She still remembered that time Subaru broke her wrist, and she had it like that for a long, long while... Well, a week doesn't seem that long, but it was only when her blood started to decline that they finally let her go and see someone.
But it was in that moment Yui had to leave those memories behind, since she noticed something smells. It was bad at all, but she couldn't figure out what.
( Someone's in the kitchen. )
That thought alone was enough to make her shiver. She didn't want to get out of bed, but not only the subtle yet somewhat audible sounds of kitchen stuff were keeping her awake, but the feeling of uneasiness was killing her.
Carefully, she got up, not caring a bit about her bare feet against the cold floor, just to make her best to go out of her room and see what was happening... Until she opens the door and two bodies frozen when meeting each other's gazes.
“... Uh,—” The albino, pale-looking young man started, stuttering, yet looking at her in the eyes, not knowing what to say or do. “—good night for you, too...?”
Her body somewhat relaxed. This was Yvonne's eldest son, after all... And one of the people that helped escape. Still, Yui rubbed her eyes in pure exhaustion. Seriously, she wasn't in the mood for this, she almost had a heart attack.
“Convoitise—”
“I know, I know—” He cut her off while looking away, thinking to himself just how stupid this was. “I know it was creepy on my part to just... Well, do this, but it's really concerning me when I literally feel your feelings... You're literally right in front of my shop, you know?”
Yui snapped her neck to look at him and her expression told her everything: She did not, in fact, know that she was right in front of his clothing shop. With a sigh in unison from the both of them, Yui looked down at his hands. When he noticed, the albino boy made a sign to make it clear the little red velvet tart was for her. She reluctantly took it, still glaring at him.
“How did you get in?”
“... What—”
“How did you get in, Convoitise?”
“Oh, your door was open.”
Silence.
“... Without lock?”
“Without lock, indeed.”
Yui wanted to scream. Uhg, she was so used to the doors of her room not having any way to lock anyone outside nor inside... It was pure habit at this point. Yui just sighed, resigned, and turned back while turning the light on. Convoitise followed, and just like the platinum blonde girl, sat on the side of the bed.
“... You can't sleep.” He started. “I can tell.”
“... I'm fine, really.”
“You know you can't lie to me, Yui.” He scoffs with a smile, looking down at his hands. “But neither can I...”
They stayed in silence for a bit. It was awkward at first, but somewhat Yui was... Glad, somehow? Well, it wasn't necessarily a good thing, but still, it's been a while since she has something near to a normal interaction.
“How are you holding with the translator mom got you?” He asked, finally turning his head to look at her. Yui sighed with 0a smile, all while tasting that delicious red tart he... Got her? Made for her? Well, doesn't matter, it was delicious anyhow.
“It's been a live-saver. I'm still learning German little by little, but having that little device your mom made is actually amazing.” Yui gave him a sided smile as she finally left the empty plate on her nightstand, turning to him. “... Was it ok?”
“What?”
“Leaving them, was it really OK?” She asked, closing her eyes. “I can't help, but feel bad that I left without a trace...” Yui took a good look at the only window in the bedroom, the night sky gracefully clear and full of stars. “They... Really cared about me.”
Silence, then Convoitise sighs.
“You know that's a lie, don't you?”
Silence.
“As much as I'd like to say the opposite, you know I'm right.” He continued, looking at his own hands. “Not because they're demons, that's the most cheap and lamest excuse I've ever heard. It's because of what happened to them, but even something as horrible as their own childhood is just a stupid excuse for their behaviour.” He continued, looking at Yui's face. That expression, even when filled with sadness, was exactly the one she had when his mother asked her if she really wanted to stay with those beasts. “You know... You're the first one.”
“Eh...?” Yui seemed to come back to her senses when he said that. “What do you...?”
“You're the first bride I've met alive...” He, hesitant at first, placed his hand on top of hers. “and let me tell you, I was happy. I was happy that you were alive, that you were safe in a sense or another.”
Silence. Again.
“... I've met so many souls that came from that wrenched place, so many girls and, sometimes, boys that just were completely broken from that place alone. And I've never met someone like you.” He took his hand away, slowly, but didn't notice how Yui sat closer to him. “Maybe because you were special, maybe because you had pure "luck", but either way, you decided to live...”
“... What can I say? Any member from the Komori family is rather stubborn.”
The both of them chuckle at the joke. Convoitise feels like she's finally feeling somewhat relieved.
“Well, you stubborn woman, I promise you, whenever you need m—us...” He quickly saved himself the humiliation of saying "me", it's not only him that's there to protect Yui... “We're there for you. All of us...”
“I know... I just wish that things were different. That they were different...”
They looked at each other's eyes, and without noticing, they talked in unison.
“But once a Sakamaki, always a Sakamaki.”
“... Can I hug you, Yui...?” His question was simple, spoken in a soft manner. The Komori girl hesitated, but nodded, and instead of arms, soft wings are wrapped around her body. What was this scent...? It made her nostalgic in a way, even if she knew it was the first time she smelled something as... as soft as this.
Yui sighed. She chuckles a bit, but Convoitise looks at her. Just as he thought, the little chuckles turned into giggles, and the giggles quickly turned into soft sobbing from her. The pink-eyed girl quickly covered her face, and Convoitise just looked at her, waiting for her to say anything, but there was nothing. She couldn't find the words to express just how nerve-wracking was all of this. It was absolutely terrifying, but at the same time, she felt happy. After ten years, ten horrible years, she was finally away from them. She was alive. And as much as she felt like it was a lie, a part of her reassured her that nobody was going to hurt her nor suck her blood like she was just a Kool-Aid. Still, she was so, so sure that they'll eventually find her, and there'll be hell for her to pay, probably so much worse compared to what she endured. And through her stay with those guys, to think that millions and millions of girls suffered just as horrible things, if not worse, before her.
She still remembered the night Laito finally got his way with her with Kanato's and Ayato's help. She remembered just got painful it was, her blood, and how miserable she felt afterwards. It was a miracle nothing happened out of that, the last thing she needed was a child out of that situation. Still, their touch, their mocking, their looks; just remembering that was disgusting. Remembering just the ways she was dragged to the dungeon, either by the hair or by her wrist; remembering just the dreadful feeling when Reiji called her to have tea with him, with her knowing it was poison, most likely; and that was only the tip of the iceberg. The night Ruki tried to force himself into her, the night Yuma almost killed her with a single punch, the night Kou almost made his fans kill her, the night Azusa tried to make her kill herself with him even if that wasn't his entire intention at all, the night-no, the many occasions Carla choked her to the point of leaving marks that lasted a week at least, all while all of them sucking her blood. She didn't even want to remember Shin...
She tried. She knew she did, and she knew Convoitise was aware of that, too. She really tried her best, trying to make them better... But, at last, she stopped believing in them. It was just as Yvonne said: “Those kind of abusers, those kind of monsters are bound to stay like that for the rest of their life.”
“I—” Her voice was just as broken as she was. “I just thought they could change... I really hoped, I really knew they could, but— but—”
“Yui... Hey, Yui, listen to me, ok?” He gently pressed his forehead against hers. “Follow my lead, ok...?” Once he saw her nodd, he smiled softly. “Alright. Good... Breath in...”
Silence fills the room once again after she let's out a shaky sigh, her tears not stopping from going down her face, not even once. As for Convoitise, he doesn't answer, and just holds her hands while his white, feathered wings embrace the angel in front of him. He rubs her knuckles with his thumbs, and looks at her.
The both of them do as he said, Yui squeezing his hands tightly.
“One, two, three... Breath out...”
“Haah...”
“There we go. You're doing great. Let's go again, ok...?” He saw her nodd again. “OK... Breath it... One, two, three... Breath out.”
They did that a few more times, and eventually, she felt somewhat better, but she just... She just wanted to be alone and sleep. Convoitise noticed that, so as his wings slowly backed off and disappeared, he got up from bed.
“Well... I'm going to let you rest, ok? You had a long day, with the studies and all...” The golden-eyed boy smiled at her, immediately remembering what she told him what she wanted to do if she ever had the chance to go to college. “You wanted to study medicine, right?”
“Fufu, yeah... It's been a bit complicated, but the money your father sent is... You know.”
“Haah, yeah, I know...” Yui can't avoid a little laugh because of Convoitise tired reaction to that comment alone. “But he literally adores you. He can't help but see you as one of our own...”
“Pretty funny... And, uh, Convoitise...?”
“Yes?”
“Movie night tomorrow? My—”
“My treat, you stubborn human. But, I gladly accept.”
With a pout, Yui sighed and proceded to send Convoitise off. A wave from each of them, and she closed the door with lock this time. The pettite girl walked back to bed and found, to her surprise, a DVD music player, with a CD next to it and a note.
“I remember you told me you liked those melodies that you liked, the ones that reminded you of fairytales. I hope this helps with your sleep.”
Yui smiled softly. He really did listen to her, huh? Well, maybe tonight is going to be peaceful after all...
