nodus tollens | t. morinozuka

Prologue

Arashi sat on her bed, staring at the laptop's screen wistfully. Her pale face was blemished with a purple bruise on her cheek below her right eye covered by her thick side bang. It was a reward from her father after serving him dinner when he asked her to, claiming that if mere servants could do it, she could do it too. He was drunk and usually, when he wasn't, he wouldn't lay a hand on her but insulted her anyway.

She sighed and continued to stare at her brother's pictures with his beautiful wife and one-year-old son. The idyllic background of the pale blue hues of the sea water, glimmering under the rays of the sun made her stomach squirm with want. Whoever had taken that picture must have been an expert to be able to capture such a scene.

She wished she could tell him what their father was doing to her. Alas, her father would know in some way. Last time she tried reporting him, the man beat her in ways that would make any other person in a coma for a whole week. But having been used to it, it took her two days plus a temporarily broken voice box for her to open her eyes. By then, her father was probably at another meeting. She didn't care anyway. He was the reason she was mute, he was the reason for her anti-social behavior and he was the reason for her forcefully plastered smiles.

She abruptly shut the laptop, not wanting herself to get even more depressed. Not when Inazuma was going to come in after half an hour with a book in hand and ready to read her to sleep. He would surely notice the vibe around her and question her until she was surrounded. She hated that about him but she loved it too. It made her feel like he was her friend. Her lifeline.

She sighed again and leant back into her pillows, eyes straying to the ceiling above and their engravings of intricate yet calming designs. Her lips twitched upwards bitterly. She wanted to become an architect but knowing her father, he'd force her to take on the business with no time to even reach that thought again.

A knock snapped her out of her reverie and made her shoot up, her stance transforming to a proper one in fear it would be her father, however, the sight of Inazuma and his warm smile made her return it and sit back down, legs diving into the comforters.

He chuckled fondly and sat beside her, already opening the book to where they left off last time. The Land Of Stories: An Author's Odyssey; just looking at its cover was so satisfying.

"Ara-chan, are you aware that what I'm doing is not allowed?" he mused, looking down at the young lass.

She nodded.

"Do you know why I do this?"

She shook her head but her eyes expressed avid curiosity. In return, Inazuma smiled mysteriously and closed his eyes peacefully.

"You'll know soon, little bird."

Tease.