Courage to Fly

Walls Closing In

On a special day that blossomed from an early part of the year, it had been a long day at school for purple-haired Asahina Mafuyu. She had just come home from an on and off rainstorm that had a confusing pattern of heavy and light, and it wasn't something worth sticking around for.  Asahina made haste in her path that day, something she usually didn't do since she didn't like spending much time home. 

Her house wasn't too far, but some days she wished it was far enough to stay out a while longer. Today was the opposite. Swinging the door open, she made a beeline for the stairs as she kicked off her soaked shoes onto a soft, fluffy carpet. The smell of coffee was omnipotent, no doubt what fueled her mother through a laborious day at home cleaning. 

The pastel pink and brisk white walls welcomed her as she walked through the couches that only she and her parents sat on, with occasional visitors. She sometimes wished she could find a cat lingering nearby to come home to, and alas, it wasn't meant to be. 

 As she walked up the creaking stairs,  her feet were heavy as her every step seemed to stop her, as if something was wrong. Really wrong. The smiles on her family's faces were plastered on pictures hanging beside her, and they sang a different tune to what she was feeling. They looked peculiar, and odd. The girl in the framed photos looked like some sort of clone, an alien to her.

 Turning away, she could feel the pulse in her chest kicking up higher, going boom, boom boom, echoing in her ears, as the creak and thud of her feet made a rhythm of their own. This didn't make much sense to Asahina; what could this mean? As she reached for support of the railing, her pale hands suddenly trembled. The usual couple of steps down the hall seemed to last longer, as her head felt too heavy to keep up, drowning in the sea of air around her. When she made it to the doorway of her bedroom, the wooden door was almost a protector to what could possibly be waiting on the other side. 

Would her cozy yellow walls, if they could talk, speak the truth unknown? With the cold doorknob, firm in her quaking hand, she slowly turned into the hands of her fate, as she pondered, worried and wondered. But soon, she would see. The eeeek of the door screeched out in agony as she found out exactly what it was. Stock still in the doorway, mouth open wider than Asahina ever thought possible, as it had hit her: her stuff to make music was stolen. 

Her headphones, her microphone, beat pad, everything she could ever need to pull her weight in Nightcord at 25:00, the band she partook in. Taken, like the stars when daybreak arrives. Except the stars actually come back, and it's a beautiful, wonderful, amazing thing. Not so much like this.

Asahina, panic symptoms increased with every breath, staggered throughout the containment, prison, she had come home to. It was all....gone. Gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone. This couldn't be true, it couldn't be true that the place that was her protective space, the haven she returned to when all was wrong could be violated like...this. The soft carpet that comforted her feet after a lengthy day now seemed to stab at her feet unwelcomingly, the plants seemed to sag in the presence of this pain, the fish tank echoed silence she couldn't help but emanate herself. Nothing was making sense. 

As she had made her way to her bed, the one thing that couldn't harm her now, her mother entered the room. She had a smile on her face, but not the kind a mother gives when looking lovingly at their child. It was a smile that spoke in volumes, as if she was awaiting this moment all along. Asahina was Mrs. Mafuyu's carbon copy, and yet they were worlds apart. 

Figuring her mother probably had something to say, she turned to face her, muttering her hopeful prayer that her mother couldn't see the display of mortification on her face. 

"Oh dear, there you are, I knew I heard you come in! As you can see, your room may look a bit different today, I'm so sorry about your stuff.  You see, I was...searching for something on your laptop, and I happened to spill coffee all over the place! And yes,  I had cleaned it all, but I couldn't stop it from slopping all over the place! It's going to be cleaned, I'm figuring out how to do that myself, as a matter of fact." Mrs. Mafuyu explained, the smile she welcomed her daughter with fading in and out as she spoke. 

Realizing she had to say something, Asahina played along. "A-Are...are you sure? W-Was it that b-bad?" she asked contemplatively. She couldn't let her mom know that she was onto her, and downplaying her knowledge was the way to go; it did wonders playing dumb when you truly knew something.

And her mother fell for it. She finally managed to mute her smile, as she replied. "Yes, your father and I had decided to throw it all in a big garbage bag for us to dissect through when we get the proper chance, since spring cleaning is ever so hectic. I was looking for some cleaning hacks on your computer, since I know you like researching so much...things." That edge in her voice sounded wrong.

She knew it. Her mom was lying. Mrs. Mafuyu was efficient with cleaning, putting all the other housewives in the world to shame with skills such as hers. And knowing such, it was plain to little Asahina Mafuyu her mother had simply taken it all away from her. She would never do such a thing, "cleaning improperly," but stooping low as to lying and taking Asahina's things? Never too low for her. 

Because last time Asahina checked, all that was left was her miserable fish tank, desolate desk, and possibly traitorous bed. This was enough to leave speechless, mind racing with all the words she could say, and yet words that couldn't seem to come out. So, she just stood there. She just stood there. She could hear a faint smirk creeping onto her attacker's face, and with that, she was gone, seemingly satisfied with her results. 

Her final words to Asahina that day were "Dinner is almost ready, dear!~" she sang out, in a voice of poisoned honey, if a horrible thing like that had a sound.

Those words of choice echoed in her mind, over and over,  hollowing the thoughts that had been rampant seconds prior. It was almost like a song you couldn't get out of your head, but this was a dangerous peril. That excuse she gave was nothing short of an apology, it was almost as pathetic as she felt. An icy, familiar feeling crawled out to her, creeping over her with an odd burn, and it burned. It consumed her. 

Without interruption or delay, Asahina continued to wander in the vague direction on her bed as the world around her spun, the walls closing in on her, her eyes shutting closed as she felt her body heave on the soft, almost fragile mattress.

This couldn't be happening.