Broken Smile

2: The Letter

This is a really triggering chapter. Trigger picture at the bottom–don't read if you're squeamish about seeing blood–yes, seeing. Not reading.

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"I'm sorry for your loss."

Those words were something that the family eight–now five–never expected to hear. Each of them were crying as they stood in a hospital room, the constant beep of a heart monitor echoing.

"There's no way to pull them out?" the father of the family asked, his voice choked up.

The doctor shook his head. "I'll leave you to them."

Everyone from the mall had been looked over and the people stuck under cement or wood had been checked. The official count was forty dead from the bombs alone, seven more from the debris falling, and two from when the man killed the mother and her child.

Everyone but two were injured from the sixty remaining. Eleven were in comas, six with permanent damage.

Through all of the death and pain, the Koriyati family was among them. The funeral of Kani Koriyati would be in two weeks. Kiana and Kiara Koriyati were both in comas–possibly for life or for at least a decade. Kylo, Kenzi, and Kai were all put on watch for possible depression, along with both parents.

With them, Kai was one of the six with permanent damage. Miss Joke had strained her muscles and forced them into a permanent strain from the close proximity and the time she had used her quirk.

Because of this, Kai's facial muscles were permanently damaged, along with the fact that her lungs would rattle randomly and her stomach would clench suddenly.

All in all, Kai couldn't stop smiling. No, it wasn't that she was happy that her sisters might never wake up or the fact that her brother was dead, it was just that she physically couldn't change her facial expression. She would always be smiling, even when she didn't want to or didn't mean it. The least she could do was give everyone a closed-mouth smile that looked a bit more like a smirk.

But her eyes... Kai's eyes said it all. The sadness floated everywhere in the purple and blue gaze. The colors clashing together and swirled with her sadness.

Kai closed her eyes tightly, trying to frown, but it was impossible. So she cried. She cried for her family. She cried for her brother. She cried for everyone.

~

I watched my brother, the permanent smile on my face and my aura sad. The funeral had just ended and everyone was crying. A few shot scornful glances in my direction as they saw my smile, only to look at me with sympathy as they realized what had happened.

To be honest I hated it. Kenzi and Kylo had both been silent to each other and to me. I returned the same treatment. It wasn't that we were mad at each other, it was that we were mad at ourselves. It didn't help that I looked like Kiara and Kiana while the boys looked like Kani.

I ran to my room and slammed it shut, pulling the swiss army knife Dad made me carry from my bed and headed into my bathroom. The other side was locked, seeing as it led to a storage room.

I avoided looking in the mirror as I pulled a black towel out, laying it on the floor and sat. I took my shirt and my bra off, raising my left arm. Four cuts lingered underneath my armpit. Closing my eyes, I felt the metal bite into my skin.

I focussed on the pain as I let my memories flood out for a few seconds. The smile on my face reminded me of everything and I let the metal bite my skin once more.