Chainsaw Man: Heart of Hell |Aki Hayakawa|

Chapter 22: A Mother's Love

What is a devil? 

All devils are all from hell. A place of grotesque, ungodly, torment, and mercilessness. 

When a baby is born is ought to forget its earliest memory as it fades with the rest of the forgotten past. Memory is lost when every hair, tooth, skin, and blood is forgotten and becomes buried in the soil of the earth.

All I could remember...

A silver-haired child was crouched on the ground idly watching the ground as a little worm sprouted from the soil. She delicately dug up the worm. It squirmed on her hands tickling her. She giggled at the gentle creature that softened her heart. "Wormie," She decided to call it.

"It's the freak!" She flinched upon hearing familiar voices from behind her. She turned her head. But she was taken back when something wet had splashed on her face. Instinctively, she wiped her face and looked at the mud on her hands. However, that was not what upset her. The mud had stained her sundress. 

"HAHAHA soo disgusting! She's like poop!"

"Poopy head!"

"Shit-faced!"

Only the worst flooded her thoughts as droplets of tears trailed down from her eyes. They were bombarding her with more insults but she drowned them out all she cared about was running away from them. Their laughs got louder and louder until she was forced out of her thoughts as she felt two pairs of hands on her back. It threw off her balance and she fell over her feet planting her face hard on the ground. There was a throbbing pain on her face but in just a second it went away. She suppressed her urge to cry more. Especially in front of them.

She pushed herself up seeing she was dirtied all over. There was no way her dress would go back to the way it was. It was the most expensive dress her mother had given her and she promised she would treasure it. But that all went down the drain.

"Why would you that!?" She yelled at them but was tackled by one of the boys.

"Shut up! My mom told me your old hag is a whore and must have made love with a devil to give birth to you!"

She gasped and pushed the boy hard. She was not willing to hear insult to her mother. They didn't know her as she did. All the townspeople did not feel what she felt. Her mother would smile but she knew deep inside she would be feeling the opposite. They lived on the outskirts of the town just inside the forest because they were shunned by the townspeople. 

"You monster! You hurt Souta!" Souta lay on the ground crying and had grabbed his elbow he had scraped on the ground.

But all she felt was rage. There was no hint of kindness towards her from them. So why would she give them the kindness they don't deserve?

"AAH! Her hair is glowing!" One of the boys threw a rock at her in fear and all the three of them ran away.

She watches them all disappear into the town leaving her all on her own in the mess they made. It was only then the loudness of the silence amplified her sadness. Tears threatened to leave her eyes until they overflowed and she couldn't stop. There was no way she could come back home the way she was.

She did not want to worry her sick mother.  She always tried to look strong but she knew that her body would be in pain every time she moved.

The silver-haired girl stared at the sky watching the orangish hue become drowned in the pools of night. It would worry her mother more if she did not come home before dark. She walked down the carved-out path to her home. On her way she tried to wipe as much as she can. But she thought she had made it worst.