(Cover is not mine)
Tighnari has been living in an abusive home for years, he never felt like he was enough for his parents, and his parents never felt like he was enough for them. Especially his father. They were always pushing him to the peak of...
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Hello everyone! (Cover and art are not mine) This is my first story and I decided to write a cynonari one because they are my favorite ever. Anyways, I write for fun so I apologize for any grammatical errors or a boring storyline. I really tried to make this interesting and I had a good time writing it. There are multiple chapters, so if a part seems unfinished it's probably because the chapter ended and I haven't uploaded the next chapter yet. Anyways have fun reading!
[!T/W!] mentions of blood, abuse, alcoholism, self-harm, and others that may be triggering. Please read with care.
Chapter 1: I can't do this anymore.
(Somewhere in Sumeru City; Tighnari's junior year of high school; Tighnari age 17; Tighnari POV)
Tighnari walked home from school in the snow, it's his junior year and he's only a few months into school and already feeling the wear of it. He hasn't slept in what feels like days, but he keeps working despite that. Though he's smart, his parents expect a lot from him, too much in fact. They made him skip sixth grade because they felt he was too smart for it, that set him back a bit considering that he had to learn algebra and biology by himself during the summer. This year he has almost all A's, minus a B+ in chemistry, a B- in language arts, and a B+ in history. He works hard to please his father, a narcissistic perfectionist, and his mother, who is so afraid that his father will leave her that she started beating and yelling at Tighnari every time he did something wrong, worrying that if Tighnari wasn't perfect, his father would lose faith in the family and leave them both.
Tighnari's father always went to the bar before Tighnari got home from school, he would come home drunk and violent most of the time. Tighnari dreaded the minute his father walked in the door, and he shuttered just thinking about it.
"Mother, I'm home!" He took a few steps inside before he realized he made a small mistake; he tracked snow in the house as he walked in the door. He listened for his mother's footsteps hoping he had time to clean up his mess before she came to greet him, but his hopes were in vain. He threw himself on the ground over the wet floor, hiding the slush and water from his mother. His mother appeared in the hallway as Tighnari pretended to untie a tight knot in his boot laces.
"Hello there, honey! How was school?" She paused, noticing her son's strange behavior. "Why are you on the floor?"
"Oh, I um...got a bad knot in my laces. I was getting tired standing, so I sat down to get a better look at it." Tighnari was clearly flustered. His ears were down, worrying that she would hit him, and he avoided her eye contact.
"Well, work on your stamina and tie your shoes correctly next time. After you're done, go upstairs and study." Her response was blunt and felt condescending and Tighnari whimpered when he heard it. He knew he had messed up, but he was glad she didn't lash out and hit him again.
He watched her walk away into the kitchen. Once she disappeared from view, he frantically threw off his boots and snatched his sweatshirt from the coatrack and began mopping up the remaining water with it, most of it had seeped into his uniform. Once he was done, he ran upstairs with his backpack and straight into his room. He shut the door and let out the breath he felt he had been holding since he walked in the door.
Tighnari sat on his bed and stared down at his hands, they felt weak and he was trembling. He laid back on his bed, exhausted, and closed his eyes. He fell asleep.
(7 hours later; 11:30pm.)
He felt a distinct thud as his father shut the door, returning from the bar. He opened his eyes when he heard yelling.
"Why didn't he eat his food? Why is his plate still full?" Tighnari's father was raising his voice in some kind of drunken rage.
"He never came down for dinner...he never even came after I called him!" His mother pleaded, trying to convince him that she tried to get him to come down and eat, hoping he wouldn't hit her.
Then it hit him. He fell asleep before doing anything, his backpack sat in the corner by the door, and he was still in his Akademiya uniform...he hadn't done anything. He heard his father stomping up the stairs. His eyes widened and he panicked. He tried to look like he had at least changed his clothes, but his father barged in on him before he finished, his upper body was bare and he had thrown on some black sweatpants.
"Tighnari. Why didn't you go down for dinner." His voice was harsh, Tighnari's ears flattened.
"I didn't hear her call for me." He replied, knowing his answer wouldn't be accepted.
His father grabbed onto one of Tighnari's ears, he shrieked as he pulled violently on the soft cartilage. "With these ears? I don't quite believe you. Tell me the truth before I rip these right off your pretty little head." He was right in Tighnari's face, and he could smell the alcohol on his breath, tears were streaming down his face as he tried to pull his father's hand off his ear.
"I f-fell aslee-EEP!" Tighnari's voice and breaking and mid-sentence his father yanked on his ear again, he wailed, begging him to let go. He was now clawing at his father's hand trying to pry it off of him, it was to no avail.
"I don't accept that answer. Do your homework and go to bed, if you'd rather sleep than eat, than you don't need any food today. Don't even think about stealing anything from the kitchen." He pushed Tighnari backward, hitting his head on the top of his desk, and walked out the door as Tighnari fell to the floor, a sobbing, whimpering, bleeding mess curled up on the ground.
It was a while before Tighnari woke up again, he assumed he had passed out after hitting his head. He felt the back of his skull, damp with blood and he flinched when he touched it. He walked over to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. Dull eyes, messy hair, blood running down his neck, scars littering his torso, and forearms scarred and scabbed from cutting.
"I can't live like this anymore. I can't do this anymore. I want to leave...I must leave." He thought to himself, tears filling his eyes once again. It stung, his eyes were raw from rubbing them day after day after not sleeping for days on end, he was exhausted...physically, mentally, emotionally.
He hopped in the shower while trying to guess what time it was, wondering if he would wake someone up and get yelled at again. Blood and water washed down his body; he gently massaged his head, trying to get the blood out of his hair. Tighnari finished washing up, bandaged his head, and went back to his room. He threw on some clothes, warm ones, and packed a bag to leave. He put on his boot at the doorway, his heart was beating fast, his mind racing, hoping he wouldn't get caught.
A light flicked on and shone under the door in the hallway. His parents were awake.
