The Broken Shadow of You~||KazuScara||

Chapter 13

TW: ABUSE!!

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Kazuha had once more insisted on coming to Scaramouche's house again.

"I want to see Shoko again and your cooking is SO much better than my moms so just let me come over for dinner again, please?" 

Any person who knew Scaramouche well would know his main goal in his shitty life was to make Shoko as happy as possible in their fucked up household and bringing Kazuha along would indeed make Shoko happy so he agreed. He definitely only agreed because of Shoko and not because he felt flattered at Kazuha complimenting his cooking. Definitely just because of Shoko. 

And Shoko was absolutely elated when she saw Kazuha there with her brother when they came to pick her up. She ran to squish them both into a tight hug before holding Scaramouche's hand while speaking rapidly of what they did in school today.

Since there was no grocery shopping today as Scaramouche had already emptied his wallet yesterday to fill up the fridge and pantry, they headed straight home. Kazuha and Shoko went down into the basement to play together while Scaramouche started to work on dinner. Today he just decided to make some 'Dry-Braised Slated Fish'. Shoko did say she was craving fish earlier so this was the best choice.

Down in the basement, Kazuha and Shoko were role-playing two kingdoms at war and Shoko seemed to be winning. She had occupied a lot of Kazuha's land and now Kazuha only had his capital left which he protected with all his might against Shoko's fearsome army when he heard the sound of the front door opening and closing. He figured it must be Scaramouche's dad returning. This was his mistake. He had averted his attention from the game and instead focused on the sound of the door, allowing Shoko to knock down his flag and put up hers.

"I win!" She exclaimed, with a triumphant smile.

"No!" Kazuha let out a cry of agony and despair at his fallen kingdom as Shoko laughed until they heard a few crashes from above. The sound of two plates breaking.

Shoko's expression immediately shifted from happy to horror as Kazuha just stood up confused and a bit concerned if Scaramouche was OK. He was going to suggest going up to check when a scary, booming voice echoed throughout the house.

"YOU USELESS PIECE OF SHIT! LOOK WHAT YOU FUCKING DID! I WORK MY ARSE OFF TO PAY FOR THIS HOUSE AND YOU AND YOUR STUPID SISTER AND YOU REPAY ME BY BREAKING THE FUCKING PLATES?! HUH?!"

Was that his dad? Kazuha expected he would be angry over two plates breaking but wasn't this a bit of an overreaction? Maybe they should really go check on the situation. He stood up and headed to the basement door when he heard a thud. What the hell was happening?! Did their dad just HIT Scaramouche?!

He whipped his head around to look at Shoko for an answer but Shoko was still as a statue, the terror visible in her eyes. Kazuha didn't know what to do. He desperately wanted to go check on Scaramouche and see if he was OK but what if he just made things worse? It was clear by Shoko's terrified expression, this was not something he should meddle in.

More thuds. More sounds of Scaramouche being beaten up by his dad. Kazuha just did the only thing he was capable of doing in this situation. He pulled Shoko into a tight hug and started whispering comforting words, mostly to block out the sound. He didn't do this for Shoko only but for himself too. The sounds from upstairs and the yelling was making him scared but he tired his best to be brave so Shoko could feel a little bit safe. He steadied his trembling hand before putting it on Shoko's head as she cried quietly into the front of his shirt.

They just sat silently, for a small while before the noise finally stopped. Than, after a minute, the basement door opened. Both Kazuha and Shoko flinched as they looked up to see who it was but thankfully it was just Scaramouche.

He was a complete and utter mess. His face was covered in bruises and there was blood, everywhere. There was blood trickling out from his mouth and streaming down his face or hand. Kazuha rushed forward to Scaramouche, who just stood there, gazing at the floor, refusing to meet Kazuha's eyes.

"Are you alright?!" Kazuha asked, which was a stupid question, of course. Did he look alright to you, dumbass?! But, right now, Kazuha had no idea what to say and this was the only actual sentence to form in his mind.

"Scaramouche..." Kazuha hesitated for a second before asking his question. "Was that... your dad?"

Scaramouche didn't reply, nor did he even look up.

"Scaramouche, this is serious! We need to call the police...!" The moment Kazuha said those words, Scaramouche grabbed his wrist and looked up. His eyes were filled with tears and he was shaking. He was actually shaking. Scaramouche was normally good at hiding his emotions in front of others and make him self seem like a blank state, but now that Kazuha had found out this ugly truth about his family, he couldn't control himself anymore.

"You can't call the police!" Scaramouche said, a slight crack to his voice. "You just can't!"

"But-!" Kazuha tried to protest but was once more cut off by Scaramouche.

"Nothing you can say will change my mind! But, just, please forget about everything you saw today, Kazuha..." Scaramouche muttered. "This isn't any of your business so, please, just don't say anything."

Kazuha just stood there, silently, Scaramouche still holding his wrist, though his grip was now a lot more loosened. He didn't know what to do anymore. It was clear Scaramouche didn't want to call the police, but why? He didn't understand. Why didn't Scaramouche wanted to free himself from this abuse? What was stopping him? Kazuha was so confused. So many questions were muddling together in his head and not a single one of them could be answered.

"Alright... I think I should go..." Kazuha mumbled. "Bye."

Scaramouche didn't respond and just let Kazuha walk away. 

After exiting the house without managing to attract Scaramouche's dad's attention, Kazuha decided to stop at the supermarket where he first met Scaramouche. Like always, Tamaki was on duty for the night. He was just scrolling through his phone behind the cash register when he heard the bell, to which he quickly put away his phone and stood up, alert.

"Welcome!" He greeted to Kazuha, who just nodded in response, not able to muster a smile today after witnessing something so horrifying. 

Tamaki noticed this, of course. He was always good at reading others emotions and noticed even from the smallest signs. He decided not to say anything, though. He shouldn't poke into his customers private lives. He just put on his shopkeeper smile as Kazuha came over with a few cans of soda.

"That'll be 165 mora." Tamaki said, as he placed all the cans in a bag.

Kazuha handed over the money and took the bag from Tamaki before leaving, not uttering a single word.

"Thank you for shopping here! Please do come again!" Tamaki called after him, before going back to his phone.

To be honest, the way he acted was just how Tamaki did when he found out...