How Did I Miss Your Tears?

What Broke Us Down?

Nagisa's POV

Three days had passed since the special punishments I had earned from my mother. Three days to hide in the park and pretend I was at school while nursing my wounds and washing my bag, which had been splashed with a certain red liquid.
That night had been the worst so far; she had used more than just her hands. It had involved kitchen knives and skillets. The pain now was a faint memory of the burning agony of that night.
I shook myself out of the memory as the homeroom teacher entered, glancing at me before doing a double-take.
"Shiota. Nurse's office. Now." They ordered, shuffling a stack of papers around as they collapsed in the hard rolley chair.
I blinked, slowly standing. All eyes were on me.
A certain golden pair burned into my back, and I glanced at Karma. He looked distraught, head in his hands, eyes dark.
My heart was pounding, about to burst from my chest. They were staring at me. Into me. They could see everything; the bruises and bandages and scratches. They could see everything.
I took a deep breath as I slowly started moving forward, reminding myself they didn't know the origin of the injuries. No one knew. Except Karma.
Into the hallway, into the main office, into the nurse's office. Each step was wince-worthy, as my ribs complained and my leg ached. I pushed past it.
The moment I entered the nurse's officer, she gasped, her mouth making a big O and her hands cupping her cheeks.
"Shiota! What happened?!" She was a fussing frenzy around me, bustling in circles and grazing her hands over different wounds.
"I fell down the stairs... Again..." I muttered, wincing as she prodded my side.
She gave me a knowing glance. "You're really clumsy then? How unfortunate." The last word was drawn out longer than the others.
The nurse ordered me to sit on a hard mat that they called a bed, before returning with a few painkillers and a plastic cup of water.
I downed the pills and drank all the water, before leaning back on my hands. "I have a big talent for falling." I teased, smiling softly at the nurse.
Dang, even that hurt.
The nurse gave me another one-over. "You are in no condition to be attending class, so how about you go home—"
"No..!" The word escaped my mouth before I knew it. My heart was racing. Anywhere but there. Anywhere but there. I didn't even care that I had pretty much given myself away. I couldn't go back there.
She raised her eyebrows, before continuing. "Or stay here and rest, though during lunch I would need to have someone else watch you." She concluded, watching me with dark eyes.
"I'll stay here." I said quickly, slowly laying back. Once I had accomplished this mission, I turned on my side, away from the nurse.
Not talking to anyone sounded great at the moment.
I managed to drift off into a half-sleeping daze, ignoring my aching wounds and instead focusing on the slight cushiony-ness of the mat below me, wishing it would magically turn into a king-sized downy bed, and it would swallow me up.
I let myself finally really think about what had happened that night; my mother had beaten me up.
She had used weapons too, all because I had told her the truth. I wasn't a girl. I was a guy.
Wasn't something like that chargable? Couldn't I send her to jail for that? Why would she even do it if she knew I could.
My breath caught as the answer found me.
She knew I wouldn't tell on her.
I felt sick to my stomach, and I pondered on the idea: my mother knew I was too, what—Protective of her— to tell anybody about what she did to me. Maybe she thought I had no friends.
I bit my lip, my hands curling into fists. She was wrong about me. I told Karma, didn't I?
"Shiota..?" The nurse's voice broke my concentration, and I turned my head to look at her through sleepy eyes. Next to her was another figure, who looked downright uncomfortable being there.
Karma Akabane.
"Listen, Shiota. I have to go eat lunch and I got Karma to come and watch you. You two used to be friends, right?" She glanced between us anxiously.
"Well, yeah but now—" I was cut off by her.
"Great! Well then, you two have a good time and I'll be back in an hour." The nurse bustled away, grinning.
I stared at Karma, unsure of what to say, and he shifted under my gaze, before taking the seat next to the fake bed.
"Nagisa, I wanted to... I wanted to apologize." Karma said slowly, staring at me with those golden eyes.
I couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth.
He wanted to apologize?
Karma had never wanted to apologize before, even when we had been friends.
"I realized that all of this," he gestured to my injuries, "is my fault. I teased you and hurt you and you went home wearing that stupid costume and your mom saw you, right? And then she tried to make you change into other dresses and you finally complained and she hurt you for that." He was speaking so quickly it was hard to understand, and his words were garbled.
It surprised me how much Karma seemed to know about what had happened. Did we really used to know each other that well?
Karma's face slowly lowered, until it rested in his hands, rubbing his eyes. "You're so much stronger than me, Nagisa. I don't think I ever would have been able to stand up to her," he whispered.
I slowly reached out and ruffled his hair, my heart pounding. It was hard to believe Karma had just apologized and called me strong.
"Karma, it's not your fault," I said softly, smiling at him. "It's her fault."
As I spoke, the words seem to come to life in my mind.
Yes, it was her fault, not mine, not Karma's. She was the sick one with all those crazy fantasies of me being a girl.
She was the one too blinded by her own desires to notice what she did have: a son.
My breath hitched as this all sunk in, causing Karma to look up at me. His eyes widened. "Nagisa!" He gasped.
I realized warm, wet tears were dripping down my face. I quickly wiped them away, laughing softly. "I never cry in front of anybody." I told him weakly, before collapsing into tears.
His arms wrapped around me slowly, cautiously, being careful of my injuries. His shoulder was the perfect place for me to bury my face, and I did so, feeling the tears soak his shirt.
"I'm so sorry, Nagisa." He whispered into my hair. "I'm so sorry this happened to you."

A/N: To be continued in the next chapter whoo hoo! Sorry this is late, but it's also longer so your welcome. It's all coming down to an end too! Should they kiss at the end or not?