[Completed]
"Why won't you draw faces?"
"Because I don't remember what they look like, I can't see faces."
Harua and Aiko shared something in common - The ineptitude to see the faces of humanity, which turned out to be the proficiency to see the hea...
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"Dad isn't here, you can make yourself at home." Aiko smiled vaguely and guided the drenched fellow into her room. She handed him the towels and some clothes of her dad to change into. Later, Aiko went to change her own attire while being extremely inquisitive and at the same time distressed about Harua's condition. He was always a bright boy, she wanted to know what made him wretched.
"You look better now, I will go get something warm for you," Aiko declared after getting out of her washroom. She strolled towards the door until she felt two slender arms around her waist. It was Harua who was preventing her from shifting, as he nestled into her bare shoulder.
"Please stay, I don't need anything but your presence." Aiko was caught off guard, even if it wasn't the perfect time she felt a twist in her abdomen. The flustered girl nodded slowly and pivoted around to face him. "Tell me, Harua. What's bothering you?"
"I-I don't want to stay with my parents Aiko…" He managed to mutter. Aiko knitted her brows, nonetheless, she had to soothe him down before letting him converse.
The duo sat down at the edge of her bed comfortably and her hands rested on his thigh gently.
"My stepmother…she was all nice and loving at the beginning. I used to love her like my own mom, who ran away while abandoning me. It was all perfect until I started middle school." He took a deep breath, drawing up for the worst aspect and Aiko knew it was up, hence she put her arm around his shoulder pulling him closer.
"I noticed her being too touchy…I thought it was out of her love for me, but it took me a while to understand it wasn't that kind of fondness she had for me. I told this to dad but all he did was beat me up for telling something outrageous, then I never dared to speak up and endured every torment by her."
Aiko couldn't believe it, she knew what she was going to listen to next but at the same juncture, she didn't want to hear it. It would absolutely shatter her apart.
"After going home that night after meeting with you, I was in my happiest form. I thought the day couldn't get any better, but as soon as I stepped inside my house I couldn't handle the strong odor of alcohol. She was at it again, getting wasted and distorted. I avoided her and went upstairs…but I didn't know she followed me." Harua ceased for a while and cuddled closer to her side.
"She-she…forcefully…I was too vulnerable, Aiko…I couldn't save myself. I screamed for help but nobody came…'
Harua ultimately broke down to the point he wasn't able to respire. Aiko couldn't hold back anymore, figuring out that that boy she loved went through the direst thing ever, made her lament endlessly.
The teenagers cried into each other's arms as both of them were in each other's solace.
"Harua…I don't know how to comfort you, I don't know how to make you feel better…but I promise I will be here by your side. Everything you go through isn't because of your fault. We are the prey of life's brutalities…but it makes us more worthy than others." Aiko murmured and put her chin above his head as he sobbed into the alcove of her neck. Following her words, he broke the hug and joined his forehead with hers.
"Aiko…will you love me?"
♤
We are almost at the end! Plse vote and feel free to comment~~
