NIKE -Blue Lock-

Interview

Long ass chapter
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That night
Nicole's pov

I looked down at my arms.

My skin was immaculate, perfect, as if it had never been touched, never even grazed.

Yet, my eyes seemed to pass the filter of reality and 'obviousness, seeing things that no one else could see.

The shape of that man's large, heavy hands on my wrists, the red lines left by his short fingernails that abruptly pulled me to him, the black stains left by him slamming me against the sink... I could see it all.

They were figments of my imagination, of my twisted and unhealthy mind that enjoyed intensifying a scene I did not remember, creating a memory I did not possess.

I placed my wrists under the cold stream of water, staring at the icy waterfall in hope that it would calm the burning that had continued to make me feel wrong in my own skin for days.

Vain hope.

I stared blankly at the grim scene, like a viewer watching a silent, black-and-white short film. No sound reached my ears, no color was picked up by my pupils.

One of the many videos of my life: without meaning, without end, without passion, without title.

"It was a peculiar episode, to say the least." a familiar voice made itself heard from behind my back, interrupting the lack of sound.

The flow of water against my wrists returned to ring in my ears.

I bent my head over one shoulder, not looking up at the mirror to make sure that the voice heard was his and not someone else's.

"Everything about me is peculiar." I said casually, raising my dull red eyes to our reflection as soon as I sensed his presence closer to me.

Our gazes crossed, one focused on the other's reflection.

I can see that you are thinking.
I can see that you have been thinking.

You've been thinking hard about how to move, where to put your feet, what words to say.

Almost as if you were afraid of something.

"You're not mistaken." he agreed to my words, scrutinizing me with his typical intense attention, taking as much time as he needed to study every tiny detail of my face.

Almost as if you were afraid of me, Noel Noa.

I lowered my eyes back to my wrists under the water, shifting them slightly so that it was my hands to be affected by the coldness of the stream.

Noel's gaze pierced the back of my shirt, almost as if he were trying to denude me of the only protection that separated his eyes from my wounds.

I had stopped paying attention to their presence: they had become familiar on my skin, almost as if my body was made to get used to receiving that old man's abuse.

I had stopped paying attention to the pain they caused me, simply because now I also had to pay attention to the burning that came from the rest of my body.

It was easier to forget about one part of my skin when all the others hurt as well.

"When I didn't let you participate in the game against Manshine City, I didn't expect these to be the consequences." he said as he approached me, his voice so mature and warm despite its apparent coldness and distance.

I let my eyelids relax for a moment, letting the adult and welcoming vibration of his voice penetrate my bones.

Adult and welcoming... the exact opposite of what I had always been used to.