°˖✧Gaijin✧˖°

°˖✧Fake Happy✧˖°

[Trigger Warning: Depictions of abuse]

"Daddy, please stop!" She cries out, fat tears rolling down her chubby cheeks. Her shoulders shake as she sobs, but he pays her no mind. His grip only tightens further on her small arm, his steps wobbly from how much he'd been drinking that night.

"Shut up," he snaps at her. "God, you're so fucking annoying. Just like your mother. Now go to bed and leave me alone."

He grabs her and tosses her haphazardly onto the bed, her small amount of weight making it easy for him. He stumbles over to the nightstand and grabs the remote, flicking it onto some random channel. "There." He throws the remote back onto the bed and opens the nightstand. He grabs his pistol from the drawer and drops it onto the surface, making it clatter. The sound makes her flinch. The implication is clear.

He leaves her alone in the bedroom, slamming the door shut and making the house shake in response. She just lays there, trembling. She dares not make any noise, lest she want him to actually come back and hurt her. Or even worse... her gaze travels to the gun on the nightstand, the barrel pointing straight at her. A warning.

Her eyes snap open, a gasp leaving her lips. She sits straight up, a feeling of dread filling her body. She trembles just like she did in her dream, looking around with wide eyes. The scenery of her room fills her vision, and she lets out a shuddering breath. That's right... She's over 6,000 miles away from him now.

She brings her hands up to her head, tears pricking at her vision. It's been a long time... she's blocked out the majority of her memories of him, yet these nightmares and the trauma he inflicted on her still persist. Why can't she get his face and his voice out of her head? She begins to hyperventilate, the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"A-Ari? Ari, what's wrong?" Megumi, who had just walked back into the room, rushes to her side. She crawls onto the bed, hesitating for a split moment before she puts her hand on her shoulder. "Did something happen? Did you have a nightmare?"

She's having a really hard time breathing, let alone responding. She just flails her hands helplessly, feeling like she's going to pass out any time now.

"D-Dammit, um..." She's visibly panicking right now. She retreats her hand from Ari's shoulder and reaches down, grasping her hands tightly. She looks her in the face, trying to keep her voice clear. "Ari, listen to me. You have to breathe. Take a deep breath, okay? Even if it's shaky. Please, just... Do it with me, okay? One, two, three."

She inhales deeply, and Ari matches her actions, though it's obvious that she's struggling. "Good, good, now hold it for a couple seconds," she instructs, causing her to snap her jaw shut as she's told. A couple seconds pass, and she speaks once more. "Now let it out... Let's keep doing this until you calm down. I'm here. I'll always be here."

Little by little, she helps her breathe until her panic attack has subsided. Even though she's done panicking, she's still crying, although much more quietly than she once was. "I-I'm sorry," she croaks out, tucking her legs close to her chest and holding them with her arms. "I'm really sorry... I don't want to make you worry about me or anything."

"Ari, we're friends. You know more than anyone that you're going to worry about those you care about," Megumi insists, shaking her head. "Now tell me what's going on so I can help you through this."

Ari hesitates, stifling another sob by biting down on her bottom lip. She doesn't know if she wants to say it out loud. She's always thought that if she just didn't think about it, didn't talk about it, that it would all go away. But it never did. There's a reason she hates the sound of yelling, why she always gets nervous when she sees people drinking, why she has a bit of a fear of men around that age... "I-I... had a nightmare about my dad..."