Blossoms of the Dark

CLXXXVII Shouto: Conviction

Trigger Warning:

- witnessing someone else be abused

- blood

- vicarious trauma

_________________________________________________________

The Hanada mansion looms in the distance like a menacing threat.

It has only been a few minutes since I got here, but each second passes by like an eternity.

The lake is frozen over, but I still skip a stone across the surface.

The ice barely cracks.

Instead, the rock skids away with an echoing shrill.

Sighing, I lie down on a boulder. Last winter, I set her on this boulder after she nearly slipped during ice skating. That night, the stars glittered like diamonds. Looking at them twinkling from the sky right now, I am reminded of that night. The memory brings a small grin to my face.

But where is the girl who was the center of that memory?

No sooner than I think that question do I hear a familiar voice echo my name in the distance. I whip toward its owner. Selene tries to climb down carefully from the rocks bordering the lake. It isn't easy with a cane in one hand and fabric in another. I get up and approach her.

She stumbles over one jut out slab. I reach her just in time to halt her fall. "Are you hurt?" I ask. "Here. Lean on me." Lifting her into my arms, I place her on the boulder. She hit her left foot. I remove the loafer and inspect for blood. None. But when I touch it, she flinches from the pain. I hurry to massage the wound.

"I'm fine," she replies. She pushes my hand away and slips inside the shoe. "I'm truly happy to see you. Come sit with me."

Confused, I do as she says. She unwraps the fabric. They are shawls, I notice. Selene puts one around my shoulders and the other one around herself. "A treat for you. You must be hungry, and you deserve more than a handkerchief and salt. After all, none of this must have been easy to endure." A container of onigiri rests in my lap. I'm not even finished opening the box when she says, "Shouto, listen to me carefully. I don't have much time. I gave Hanada-sama the excuse that I needed time to prepare for the press conference. He will come looking for me if he believes I am taking too long."

I nod in understanding. Even getting that note to me must have been difficult for her.

Right now, I would love to do nothing more than hold her and shower her with affection. I want to protect her from the abyss that she is being dragged deeper into. But she does not have time to spare. Then neither will I. My gaze falls onto the ring of band-aids that are no longer hidden by the pearl necklace. "Are you okay?"

Selene smiles wistfully. She knows that I am not asking about the foot injury. "I promised you the truth. No, I am not all right."

I figure as much. I glance at the shoulder Hanada-shi gripped tightly. "May I ask about the murders?"

"You may."

My first question is about what happened that night. Selene tells me that the League of Villains appeared in her bedroom. All of Hanada-shi's sons were in her bedroom. This detail comes out with a wince. The implication that they hurt her ... it makes my blood boil. The dead are dead, I remind myself. Hate them all I want, but don't let the hate consume me. Suppressing my rage to a simmer, I listen to Selene continue. She watched the villains kill the boys one by one before it was her turn. Immediately, my fury shifts into pity. You did not deserve to see that. As disgusting as those boys were, you did not deserve to witness their deaths.