Alternate Sirens Song (Editing)

Chapter 17

I managed to convince dad to let me stay away from the dorms for a few more days, told them I wasn't ready to face the rest of the class yet. Which in all honesty I wasn't. I wasn't ready to get the looks of skeptical people, looks of sympathy, looks of pity and the looks of out flat hate. Seems like the Bakusquad, as some people have started calling them, know that what the news is saying is false that doesn't mean that everyone knows that. Shinso already told me he would put people in their places if he caught them speaking bad especially since I proved to him months ago I wasn't a bad person. Dad and papa didn't want me to be home alone though, figuring that was the last thing I needed after what had happened, so they left Eri with me. She was a little apprehensive about being left with me since she knew I was with the league during the whole overhaul thing.

Before school actually started that day, Recovery Girl came by the house one more time to heal me up. Thankfully it looks like it'll be the last time she'll need to come by. My leg was doing much better now, leaving me with only a small limp. She smiled and gave a satisfactory nod of her head.

"There we go. Seems like you're all good to go now Melody. Try not to get injured like that again."

"Yes ma'am. Of course." She has fussed at me for getting hurt so bad almost every time she came over. She knew it wasn't entirely my fault so she didn't reprimanded me too much. Dad on the other hand she scolded like he was a child for letting me go in the first place. After she left, I limped my way to the kitchen to fix something for breakfast. "Eri? Are you hungry?" I called out to the young child. There was a tiny scuffle of feet as she moved about the house, stopping at the doorway to look at me. "Pancakes and eggs alright with you?" I looked over my shoulder at her and she gave a small nod of her head in response. "All right then. Give me a few minutes and I'll be done." I hummed a bit as I moved about the kitchen fixing breakfast.

"You don't seem like a villain..." Eri says softly and I paused mid egg mixing to look at her again. I shouldn't have been surprised honestly, the news still portrayed me as an accomplice of the League. My response at the press conference didn't help that really either.

"Not all villains are fully bad. Some are honestly just labeled wrong and thus think that's how they have to be because of it. I'm not a villain though... At this point I don't even know if I'm a hero. I'm just here." She shuffled a little bit closer, stopping now at the kitchen table. "I'm not going to hurt you. You don't have to be scared of me too."

"What happened to your leg?" It took me a moment to realize she wasn't talking about the one I had broken, but was in fact talking about the handprint burned into my flesh. I blinked and looked down, just now realizing that she was right next to me. When did that happen exactly? Also, how would I answer that question to a seven year old? Much less a seven year old who would report what I said back to dad and papa? I pondered the answer for a moment as I flipped the pancakes.

"Someone got a little too rough and accidently burned me." I finally answered after a few minutes of silence. She seemed to accept this answer.

"Why do you have all of those piercings?" Lovely, twenty questions time.

"Because I liked them, so I got them."

"Your hair is really pretty. Is it always like that?"

"No, I cut and dyed it for the mission." Ten minutes it seemed like of nothing but questions before I set her plate down on the table. Finally she was quiet for a few moments. As I cleaned the kitchen up, I hit the record button on my phone as I sang. 

"I don't care if it hurts, I'll pay my weight in blood to feel my nerves wake up. So love me now or let me go. Let me feel these highs and lows before the doors to my heart close. Touch me someone. I'm too young to feel so numb, numb, numb, numb. You could be the one to make me feel something, something. Make me feel something, something. Show me that you're human, oh, make me feel something, something. I never thought I'd miss the bittersweet. I gave those years away and lost my sense of taste. 'Cause all of your lovers eventually fade and leave you alone in the bed you made and all of the colors that bleed to gray leave nothing. Touch me someone, I'm too young to feel so numb, numb, numb, numb. So give me just enough to make me feel something, something." When I finished the song, I hit the end button with a small smile.