A Broken, Once Supposed Fairytale

𓆩𐏑𓆪

"Look at her ugly shoes!"

"Her body is in such bad shape!"

"How hideous..."

Jiyuu Kushimoto, 9 years old, had transferred to another school. Again. Not that she wasn't used to this. Ever since she started elementary school, she'd been causing strange things to happen – not that they were put in the category of strange anymore. They weren't even scientifically possible.

At her first school, her classmate claimed that she saw Jiyuu in class, just spinning her pen. But the pen had been spinning very fast. Too fast. At first, they were just little minor things, like making the janitor's cat fly or making something fall. But little by little, these turned into bigger, more serious incidents, and the principal couldn't ignore this any longer. He expelled Jiyuu, just like all the other principals did.

Many of her classmates dubbed her insulting nicknames, and even bullied her, calling her a weirdo or an outcast. The teacher didn't even bother trying to stop them, since they were all disgusted by her too. But being ostracised wasn't just because she caused peculiar things to happen. It was also because she was ugly and fat.

She had a number of pimples on her chubby face, and she had a large mole under her right eye. Her eyes were very small, only exposing part of her would-be beautiful amber eyes. Her hair was unusually greasy for her age, and she always kept her hair short, much to the distaste of other girls. Not to mention she was fatter than many of the other girls in school. Not that she wanted any of it; she was just born that way. Poor Jiyuu had to endure all their taunts and insults with only her family for support.

Jiyuu hated being bullied, but she had never hated her strange abilities. Growing up, she was a hopeful little girl who was always told fairytales. Her parents, Kyoka and Kyo, loved telling Jiyuu and her 6 year old little sister, Yuuri, lots of stories before bed. Jiyuu really enjoyed listening to her parents' familiar voices read out the tales in her huge storybook, coaxing her to sleep. But she'd never want to fall asleep until she heard the favourite lines of her favourite characters in her favourite stories. 

Jiyuu was a hopeless romantic in a way, as she always dreamed of someone who wouldn't mind her weirdness or her looks, coming to sweep her off her feet someday. Because of this, she loved listening to romantic fairytales which ended in a happily ever after. She always wished for a happily ever after for herself, too...

"Mama! Papa! Can you read Sleeping Beauty for me and Yiruu before bed?"

"Sure, candy cane!" her mother would reply sweetly, pecking them on their foreheads.

She and her sister would listen to their mother act out Sleeping Beauty's voice, while their father voiced Prince Charming. They would laugh when they acted out dramatic scenes, tense up when Charming was about to battle the wicked witch, and sigh with relief and joy when Charming kissed Beauty awake. It would be her favourite time of the day.

"Mama, Papa, did you have a love story when you met?" asked Jiyuu one night. Yiruu had already fallen asleep.

"Of course we did! We met each other when we were just little children, and we grew up together." said her father happily.

"Your father was so silly then!" laughed her mother, reminiscently.

Jiyuu's expression suddenly grew a little sad.

"What's wrong, candy cane?"  they asked concernedly. 

"Mama, Papa... I'm weird and ugly, and nobody likes me. Will I have a fairytale happily ever after too?" 

Her parents were so sad and worried to hear this. They knew their eldest daughter was being bullied, they had tried doing something about it, and her father had almost had a brawl with one of the principals. But they didn't think it would make her feel so bad.

"Jiyuu. Just because you're not pretty on the outside doesn't mean you are on the inside. One day, someone will come and be your Prince Charming, regardless of how you look. Don't lose hope, candy cane."

It was the best thing she had heard. Ever. She smiled as she started closing her eyes.

"I hope I'll get my own happily ever after! Goodnight, Mama, Papa." she said enthusiastically, with a hint of sleepiness. She was starting to fall asleep...

"Don't worry. You'll always get your happily..."

"Happily..."

Huh?

She was standing right outside the apartment she and her family lived in, and she could hear the sound of sirens. Jiyuu had always hated sirens, because they always meant bad news. But what was worse was the sight that was laid before her. The entire apartment was ablaze, swirling with vicious flames, licking anyone who got close. Part of the highest floors had crumbled and disintegrated, looking as if a giant had punched it with his humongous fist.

She wasn't concerned in the very least what happened next as she ran in the crowd surrounding the ambulances. She searched frantically for her family, fear pounding in her chest as beads of sweat trickled down her chubby face. As she reached the front of the crowd, what she saw was more horrifying than the flames tenfold. 

She saw her father and mother being hauled up into the ambulance on stretchers. They were badly burnt and injured, their clothes singed and black from burning. She then saw a firefighter marching towards the ambulance, with Yiruu on his back. She was sobbing her eyes dry, and Jiyuu ran towards her as fast as her fat legs could let her. But she tripped on an unsuspecting pebble and fell face-first onto the rough ground —

"Mama? Papa?"

She wasn't sure if she was dreaming or not. She didn't even know if she was alive. What was important was finding her parents as soon as possible. She stumbled across the infinite black space she was in, trying her best to stay on her feet.

All of a sudden, she halted as her path forwards was blocked by a fence of terrifying flames. And then she saw her parents on the other side of the fence of fire.

"Mama! Papa!" she screamed.

 She tried running towards them. The next thing she knew, she was filled with dread as she started falling...falling...

She jerked awake, lying in a hospital bed. She was panting and breathing heavily, as if she'd just run a marathon. Not that she could anyway. She wanted to find her family as soon as possible, to hug them, to make sure they were alive—

Her thoughts were cut short as a grumpy nurse trudged into the infirmary, like a predator exhausted from chasing its prey. She turned her head to Jiyuu with crick when she saw her awake.

"Great. You're awake. Now, you should be about fine. I need you to come with me—"

The door slammed open and Jiyuu's little sister sprinted in. She heaved herself off the bed and hugged her so tight her ribs could break. However, when she let go, Yiruu was still sobbing as she did when she was rescued out of the fire.

"Yiruu? What happened?"

Jiyuu couldn't comprehend why, but she swore her gut flipped over before she even got an answer.

"Nee-san..." sniffled the little girl. She looked so pitiful.

"Yes?" replied Jiyuu, fear crawling back into her, sending shivers down her spine.

"Mama and Papa's heartbeat stopped. Mama and Papa are...dead.

Thanks to anyone reading this chapter! I'm going to try posting another one soon. Writing this wasn't so bad. :)