Fly (Tanjiro x Kanao)

Prologue

"I'm going to get you two out of here, " He smiled warmly.

A feeling of security washed over her and pulled at her heart when she looked up at his eyes and smile. It made her want to trust him.

She reached for his calloused palms with her own.

The moon shone ominously against the cloudy sky with grass softly tickling the bottom of her feet. Rain drizzled onto the children, and a cold breeze billowed through her mangled hair chilling her to the bone.

A loud, raw voice bellowed behind them, and she felt the urge to run, to get away from him, to stop the hurting.

"Come here, you little shits, " A large man slurred, fumbling and staggering around the broken doorway while wildly swinging a bottle around.

Her eyes searched desperately for an opening through the splintered fence dusted with moss and grime.

The larger boy stepped forward shielding the small girl and the whimpering boy behind him despite his own trembling.

"Shut up, you're lucky I still take care of your lazy asses!" The unsteady man angrily broke the bottle and brandished it up to the boy.

The sharp smash rang into the air, lingering and echoing through the night.

The children flinched, cold shivers running up and down their spines.

The boy tried to speak, "I didn't mean-"

The man ground the broken bottle into his stomach and jabbed it into his stomach promptly.

"Who said you could speak?!"

Blood came gushing out of his mouth, and he clutched his abdomen with the look of strain tightening on his face.

The large man harshly yanked her and the little boy by the wrist into the cramped, dirty house, leaving the other boy on the floor with blood dampening his filthy shirt.

He hurled her and the other boy into a pitch-black, empty room with only a small window as their light.

She cushioned the fall of the little boy, resulting in her landing onto the tattered wooden floor.

He stared up at her, small tears spilling out from pale, innocent eyes.

The small boy quietly huddled up to her, trying to smother his soft sobs onto her grimy dress.

Gunshots and sirens could be heard a ways away as she hugged the small boy, stifling her own cries.

She quietly snuck out after the young boy fell asleep, and loud snoring could be heard in the room over.

She opened the rickety wooden door, careful to not wake the man up. She saw him lying in the exact place, a steady stream of blood still trailing out of the wound on his abdomen.

Tears filled her eyes as she approached him, hands shaking. He smiled at her although weakly. He squeezed her hand with his own.

"You shouldn't be out here, what would he do if he caught you?"

She started weeping softly.

"Come on, don't do that. You'll make me cry too, " He flinched as the sharpness grew stronger.

Immediately, she started gazing at him with worried-filled eyes.

"Hey, I have one final request, okay?" She nodded, shoulders shaking, anything she would do anything.

"S-stay alive, okay?" He grinned, still managing to comfort her during a time like this.

She wiped her tears and nodded, biting back the rest of her bitter tears. After seeing her nod, he smiled one last time, and his hand slipped. When he did, she let him go.

Survive, she needed to survive. Without a word, she walked back into the room.

~•~•~

Today, in particular, he was mad, really mad.

Bottles were littered around the house as he went on a mad tangent, wrecking everything in sight. The loud crashes and shatters filled the room.

The young boy made a silly face at her, trying to prevent her from flinching at the abrupt noises.

She giggled before hastily putting a hand upon her mouth.

"What's so funny?" The man roared as he snatched her by the hair and hoisted her up.

She impulsively yelped as her hair jerked back on her scalp harshly. This resulted in him hurling her against the wall.

An angry thud rang out as her body flopped onto the floor like a ragdoll.

The little boy ran at his legs, sobbing and hitting him with his tiny fists. He lifted him by the throat and threw him on the ground.

He was powerless to contain his sounds of anguish as the man repeatedly battered him.

She watched in horror as blood began freely flowing from the body, yet he kept beating the boy, over and over again.

He turned to stare at her after kicking the limp body of the little boy. She had small tears rolling down her face as she tried containing herself.

~•~•~

The daylight peeked through the cracks of the shabby interior.

The man punched her before opening the door and roughly throwing her outside.

The grass that was once soft and luscious had turned coarse and dry, it pricked her face and body.

Her nose bled, bruises and cuts riddled her body. She gasped, slowly and sharply as her chest burned with every breath she took.

She curled in a fetal position, It hurts. I'm hungry. I'm sad. I feel hopeless. I'm in agony. I'm lonely.

As she lay there, unmoving. She heard a snap.

889 Words