Ignite

Scars

WARNING!! Violence and coarse language!!

[also im just going to stop writing chapter summaries, i have already stated that this is a pretty mature fanfic so if you are uncomfortable with reading TW chapters, im sorry!!]

⸻ Friday, 12.19 am

"Strange..." Kazuha mumbled. 

"What's wrong, Kazuha?" Scaramouche asked, munching on his sandwich. 

Lunch had started half an hour ago, the team was, as usual, sitting under the big tree eating lunch together. 

"Aether went to collect his lunchbox from Lumine a while ago, but he hasn't returned," Kazuha responded. Heizou looked up from his phone, now listening. 

"Maybe he just had to take a dump!" Venti chimed in. 

"It's been half an hour! Who takes a half-hour dump?!" Scara retorted. Venti stuck out his tongue and the two began to squabble. Xiao sat quietly in his corner, contemplating the possible places Aether could have gone. He didn't appear worried, but his insides were twisted in fear. 

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It turned out that Aether had, in fact, gone to take a dump. However, because it was lunch and everyone was pissing, he had to go all the way to the level 6 toilet. By the time he reached, his legs were burning from climbing stairs. 

After releasing himself in his cubicle and washing his hands, he proceeded to leave the toilet when a group of seniors noisily entered the place. Aether accidentally bumped into the one with a funky buzz-cut. He was bulky and tall, at least 180 cm. 

"Uh, sorry," Aether mumbled hastily before attempting to exit the toilet. However, Buzzcut had grabbed his arm, squeezing it tightly. 

"What did you say, kid?" he whispered menacingly, looming over Aether. Aether gulped. 

"Sorry."

"I'm your senior, you know?" 

Aether nodded. Anyone would guess these overconfident jerks were seniors. 

Outside, thunder boomed and rain pelted against the small window in the toilet. The golden-haired boy's breathing quickened. 

"I said I was sorry. Please let me go!" Aether pleaded. His arm was sore from the boy's grip. 

"Why? Are you rushing off somewhere?" 

Again, Aether nodded. 

"Well then," Buzzcut yanked hard at Aether's arm, causing him to jolt and nearly topple over. Still, the painful grip remained. "Wouldn't it be sorry if you didn't turn up?" 

Right on cue, lightning flashed, illuminating his and his cronies' faces. Aether began to hyperventilate. He felt his throat closing up. It might as well remain like that, the amount of asthma attacks he got. 

Oh no... why was this happening again?

"Nice scar you got, kid."

'Kid'. They call me that like I'm a generation younger than them. 

Aether wasn't going to do anything about his situation. He had learnt that trying to fight back would only cause him more hurt. 

A sharp pain numbed his right arm. The senior was pressing his thumb against Aether's scar that he had gotten because of laceration. It hurt like hell. His mind was white with agony and his body was trembling violently. 

Finally, his finger lifted. Aether's breathing returned, though now ragged and choppy. Everything was a slight blur -- the faces, the actions, the words. All he knew was that he was in for a lot of beating up. And for what reason? None. 

A ringing filled Aether's ears. His ringtone. His phone. Someone was calling. But one of the cronies -- the one wearing a red bandana -- snatched the phone from Aether's pants pocket and hurled it against the mirror of the bathroom sinks. Both things cracked. Actually, the mirror cracked, the phone shattered. 

Before Aether had time to react, Buzzcut executed an uppercut to his chin, causing him to bite his lip. Blood spilled in his mouth, why was the taste so familiar? Aether crashed against the door of a cubicle and slid to the ground. His entire body tensed up, as it had been a year ago. He remembered, ever so clearly. And the dream he had had a few days ago hadn't made things any easier. 

He instinctively blocked a punch coming straight to his face. It infuriated the bullies and they were only more riled up, ready to beat the shit out of this loser. And they did. 

The victim was already on the ground, so all they had to do was kick. First to his nose, breaking it. Blood splattered all over Aether's clothes and mixed with his saliva. Next, the stomach. The reaction -- a series of violent coughing. His breathing was now hoarse, as though he were on the verge of stopping. Then they began to kick him altogether, everywhere. His neck, his groin, his shins. Soon the pain wrapped Aether in a hot, skin-tight blanket. Aether lay in a pool of saliva, blood and more blood. All he could see were the shoes of those kicking him. Two pairs of Nikes, one from Bata, Jordens and lastly a pair of Adidas. Aether closed his eyes, welcoming the white agony. His breathing stopped. He would wait for them to get bored of him and leave. They always did once their victim stopped writhing and wailing. Then, Aether would pull himself together, shed some tears, clean himself up and be on his way. It always worked. 

But for some reason, the bullies did not stop. They continued throwing him against walls, shoving his head into the toilet bowl and even pissed on him. Aether began to cry. 

Just... stop. Please. I can't take anymore. I'm done. Please...

He would have yelled, or screamed for help, but he couldn't even breath. What was he to do? He could barely move his arms to get his inhaler. And even if he did, he would find that it had been crushed within his pocket.  

Aether was going to die. 

__

"I'm going to look for him," Xiao declared, standing up five minutes after Kazuha called Aether's absence 'strange'. 

"Huh? Did he text you? Is he in trouble?" Venti asked, swallowing the last of his rice. 

"No. He hasn't picked up any of my calls, or even read my texts."

"Let's go," Scaramouche said, also standing up. It was rare that Scara would take initiative like that. Aether must have been important to him. He was, indeed, a good friend. Venti, Heizou and Kazuha also got to their feet. They split up and checked the toilets on each level. Venti with Xiao handling level 4, 5 and 6 while the rest checking 1, 2 and 3. 

__

The seniors had stopped to take a breather. Aether was sprawled on the floor coated in piss, blood, saliva and toilet water. A human could stay alive for 3 minutes without air. It had been 1 and a half minutes since his body had stopped breathing. His body was sore and cut. He was crying silently on the ground, chest heaving pointlessly. His eyelids began to shut, the last thing he had seen was two people running into the toilet and...

nothing. 

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"FUCK I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! I'M GOING TO KILL ALL OF YOU! HOW DARE YOU-" 

"XIAO, STOP ALREADY! YOU MIGHT ACTUALLY KILL THEM!"

"THAT'S THE FUCKING POINT, YOU DICKHEAD! I WANT THEM DEAD!!" 

Aether awoke to Venti holding Xiao's middle, trying to stop Xiao from punching someone. Aether didn't know what was going on, but he wanted to let Xiao know he was awake, that he was ok. He reached out and touched his calf, the only thing near enough for him. 

Xiao froze, then turned around and saw Aether. Helpless, weak, on the verge of death. He dropped to the floor and whipped out the inhaler Aether had given him just in case of emergencies like this.