Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Synthetic Emotions ❯ Phase 10: Abuse ( Chapter 10 )

WARNING: This chapter deals with physical abuse. It was hard for me to write considering how I feel about the subject but I cannot go against my character. If you don't like the issue of abuse\domestic violence then please turn away.

XxXx

Synthetic Emotions

By: Melissa Norvell

Phase 10: Abuse

XxXx

Aroura glanced at her friend Himemari from across the hall. The curly-haired girl wore such an innocent and happy smile although she was going out with the biggest jerk in school. Aroura couldn't help but feel that she should watch out for her friend around that guy, not only because she all but hated him but because she saw him as a threat to the general public. 'Sometimes I worry…If all people are as happy as they as they seem. I mean Hima-Hima seems so happy even though she's going out with the biggest jerk in school and she acts like it doesn't even put a dent in her happiness…'

The bell rang as her thoughts ended and she watched her friend walk off. Soon, Himemari was stopped by Sonata and the two were engaged in conversation. The two then walked to class together as Aroura decided that she should be heading off to class. 'Maybe she really isn't that bothered by it…'

"My class ended," she could hear the monotoned voice intone behind her and she turned to come nearly face-to-face with her Syntacom.

"Hm? Oh, sorry Eros!"

"You looked blank," the robot observed.

"I was having a daydream," the black-haired girl responded.

"Day dream?" Eros asked with a tilt of his head. He didn't understand the concept of day dreaming and wondered what a daydream was. Robots didn't really have daydreams. They were a simply programmed for nothing but darkness even when in sleep mode and periods of time when they were shut down.

"Yeah…" The red-eyed girl blinked. "Oh, you don't have daydreams do you?"

"When I go into sleep mode, I have dreams," Eros commented. He had a dream-like program that simulated the dream-like sequence that humans went through but it was only a program and may or may not hold all of the operations of dreams themselves.

"Oh, I see," Aroura looked over her shoulder to see Himemari and Kyoui talking to each other. 'I just hope she is truly happy with a jerk like him…I mean, who knows? I could just be over exaggerating things…Maybe he isn't so bad once you get to know him the way she does.' The girl then gathered her belongings and informed Eros that they should be heading off to class. The Syntacom agreed and followed suit, leaving Himemari and Kyoui to talk amongst themselves.

Kyoui's harsh voice could be heard from the position of the couple. "What were you talking to him about?" He asked brashly and over-protectively. His voice nearly made his girlfriend recoil at the abrasive quality it had.

"He said that he was going to help me with some math problems that I was having trouble on," the girl replied meekly. She didn't want him to be angry at her for speaking to another guy again but she had already known what mistake she'd made, no matter how small it was.

"What? After school or something?"

"No at his house, Hisame and I were going to go over there after school and get help," the curly-haired girl explained.

"Don't be a slut, Himemari," Kyoui shot. What else would two women be doing at a male's house. He had always had a suspicion that Himemari was a little promiscuous but only until now was he proven right. This irritated him beyond all belief. Why couldn't she just be faithful to him?

"What?" The girl was astonished that he would accuse her of something like that. She had never even cheated on someone much less acted slutty in any way. "But I'm not! We're just studying!"

"Right, because your little friend isn't boy crazy or anything," Kyoui rolled his eyes. He knew very well that Kisame only had a crush every five seconds as soon as the next cute male walked by. He wasn't stupid and he almost bet that she slept with all of them too.

"She's not a slut. She's just looking for a boyfriend. I wish you wouldn't talk about her like that," Himemari told him. Sure, Kisame liked a lot of men but she'd never sleep with them unless they were going out with her. Despite her attitude towards man at times, Hisame had a lot of morals and standards. It wasn't right for Kyoui to judge her like that.

"Then hang out with someone more note-worthy. You hardly do anything anyway. What kind of girl are you? You're not even in any clubs," the dark-headed man told her condescendingly.

"The only club I'm in is the Academic Club. I can't be in any clubs because of their club events happen after school and I can't leave my grandmother at home by herself," the girl's dark blue eyes shown with slight sorrow for she knew that she could not participate in normal activities but her grandmother was very sick and needed her help. Himemari gave up her activities to care for her.

"Shut up with the excuses. You need to be more of a woman to me," the angry man demanded with a quirk of the eyebrow and turn of his head. His shoulder length chocolate hair moving slightly as he did so.

"But I try to-" The girl's sentence didn't even get finished as she was delivered a harsh blow across the face by her boyfriend's open hand.

"I said shut up! Quit trying to be a bitch, okay!?" Kyou said loudly almost as if to draw attention.

His girlfriend was silent and just leaned against the wall, holding the stinging side of her face with one long, pale hand and her knees were slightly bent in submission to his cruel blow. She had her face turned away from him. Himemari was filled with sorrow and pain but she couldn't tell anyone this. She loved Kyoui and saw the good in him. If only he could get past being so angry.

"Oh please! I didn't hurt you! Get up!" He commanded and she followed his order, standing straight and holding her red cheek. Her eyes sparkled in a familiar way that irritated him beyond all belief. "For the love of- Don't even think about crying. If I hear one thing from someone else, you'll be sorry."

"I won't tell." No, she knew better than that. Things would only be worse if she told her friends. They would be angry at him because none of them really liked him. Of course they would be angry and very much against him and that would only make him take more anger out on her. She had to keep it a secret as long as she could for everyone's sake.

"You'd better not if you know what's good for you," Kyoui turned and stalked down the hall. "I'm going to class,love you."

"I love you too…" Himemari trailed lowly, and then clenched her eyes shut to hold back the rivers of tears that she secretly wanted to shed. If she cried then everyone would ask her what was wrong and she didn't want to cause herself more problems so she forced herself to hold them back. "I can't cry…I won't cry…."

"Hey, Hima-chan," Hisame walked up to the girl, who answered holding her cheek. The brown-haired twin asked if she was alright with an expression of concern on her face. She was worried about the red mark on her friend's face. Himamari told her that her book fell out of her locker and hit her in the face. The black-haired school girl even managed to smile and stick out her tongue in a fakely playful way in order to try and console her friend. Himemari secretly hoped that the twin bought her false expression.

"You genius," Hisame smiled a little and closed her eyes. It seemed that she had bought it, considering she knew her friend could be quite clumsy sometimes. Himemari changed the subject casually by telling her that they should head off to class. The twin agreed as they walked towards their classroom.

In the science room, the two girls walked up to Aroura engaged in conversation. The redness on the curly-haired girl's cheek had gone away some but there was a faint spot still showing. However, she looked as happy as could be. Aroura stared at her for a while until she heard Hisaka speak up from beside of her.

"Well, I hope you're ready to take the finals."

"Are you kidding me?" The girl's black hair and red streak flowed in what seemed like slow motion as she turned her head with a surprised look. "I'll fail for sure."

"If you enter it with that negative attitude, you will," Chacha informed.

"Your positive nature increases your good fortune," Tetsumaru added, "or so they say."

"You think so?"

"Do you see that?" The lime-green haired girl asked as she looked slightly over her shoulder.

"See what?" Aroura quirked an eyebrow, wondering what her friend had seen.

"Himemari's face."

"Oh my gosh, what happened to her?" She exclaimed upon seeing the red mark still lingering on her skin.

"It appears as though she's been hit in the face," Hisaka's remark sent chills down Aroura's spine. She feared for the worst when she heard things like that. Aroura knew that Kyoui was a very angry person and his attitude didn't seem to match Himemari's meek and gentle nature. Her Hima-Hima would never be mean to anyone and Kyoui was a real jerk to mostly everyone. She didn't want to believe that he would strike her but she didn't put it past him either.

"She said her book fell and hit her in the face," Hisame walked up to them.

"It doesn't appear to be from a book," Hisaka challenged her explanation.

"We should stay out of it. It's far too sensitive of a situation. Don't you think Himemari would have said something if it was serious?" Chacha knew that the girl usually came to her with her problems, no matter how sensitive of a subject. She trusted that she wouldn't keep anything from her. She also didn't think everyone should come up to such rash conclusion about her like that. That's how rumors and propaganda were spread and she wasn't about to be put in that drama.

"That's a pretty dangerous assumption to make."

"I'm not going in to this either way. We shouldn't interfere," Chacha commented after Hisaka warned her about her phrase.

"Himemari…" Red eyes looked worried for the slender, frail girl with long, curly jet black hair and a pleasant smile on her face. Aroura had hoped that it wasn't what she thought it was but at the same time she could not ignore the rising sickness of worry that grew in the pit of her stomach.

XxXx

Susumu strolled under a tall tree. He was silent and simply gazed around at all of the tranquil scenery. The birds chirped into the crisp air as his red eyes scanned the area. High above him, Kisame's head popped out of its hiding place, deep within the foliage of the leaves. She wore a light purple robe that was brimmed in dark purple and crossed in the front, held in place by a large, red sash. Kisame wore black, fingerless gloves and lavender arm wraps with long, purple lingerie-looking socks and sandals. Dark blue eyes gleamed with mischievousness as she laid sights upon the darkly clad man beneath her.

A smile graced pink lips. 'Target spotted. Time to catch you, Susumu.' Her thoughts stopped as she now decided to take action. Taking a flying leap from the tree, she had attempted to jump on him and tackle him to the ground but he had moved from her position and she let out a yell as her form went crashing to the ground. Her legs stuck up and she nearly flashed all around her.

"Fool…" The black-haired boy uttered and kept walking.

"Ouch…" The spunky girl rubbed her head in agony. "I will catch you."

XxXx

Aroura walked out of class with a semi-distressed look on her face from taking a long final that she was all but unsure that she had failed. While she was worrying about passing the test, she had noticed a large group of students a few feet away. There were many female students and they all seemed to be surrounding Eros. She decided not to give him any trouble or ruin his status with them so she simply walked past without a word. Slate grey eyes looked upon her form as concern registered in his circuitry. He wondered why his master wasn't talking to him as she normally had been. He called out to her and followed her off, leaving the three most popular girls in the dust for his mater.

"I'm sick of getting ditched for her," Eri put her hands on her hips as her red lips plastered themselves in a deep frown of displeasure. "Every time we're around him and she walks by, he always follows her off. That's not how it's supposed to be!" The white-haired girl fumed.

"Well, they do live together," Noel informed. Maybe there was a logical explanation that they were left for her. Usually family tends to come before friends and they hadn't seen each other in a while. Perhaps the new hasn't worn off of their relationship.

"I don't care!" Eri shouted. 'I will find a way to make him pay attention to me.'

When they were out of sight, Eros put a hand gently on the side of Aroura's face, causing the girl to blush slightly at the contact. Not many men have ever touched her in this way. It was one of the few times Eros seemed human. His skin was so soft, even though his eyes were still cold it looked as if he held some sort of emotion without it being expressed in a traditional way. He didn't have to wear the look in his eyes, nor did he have to smile or frown to convey it. It was what he said, not how he said it that made her feel fluttery inside.

"W-What are you doing?" The girl stammered, not quite sure what to make of his touch. She knew that some things he did came off innocently enough and she didn't want to misread him like she did when she had sauce on her mouth and he cleaned it off.

"You seem worried."

"I am a little but I'll be alright," she assured.

"Is it about those girls?" Eros asked. From his observations it seemed that Aroura always produced a look of great sorrow when other people were around him. It was almost as if she wanted to come over to his location but couldn't find the strength to move her body to do so.

"What?" Aroura asked, only to feel the strong and semi-void embrace of the robot as he pulled her into a gentle but tight hug. This caused her to blush and utter his name in a meek and timid voice.

"You are my only master," Eros didn't want her to get the wrong idea and assume that someone else was trying to move in on her position just because they were pretty women who fancied his attention. He could faintly feel a soft hand touch the small of his back.

'He feels so real. It's hard to believe that he's a synthetic humanoid.' The black-haired girl thought to herself. The blush was still apparent on her cheeks as the robot pulled back slowly.

"You are the most important person to me. Do not forget it. I must go to class now. See you."

"Bye…" The still-blushing school girl told him as she watched his form slowly retreat down the hall. She didn't know why but his comment earlier made her feel a strange sensation inside. It was almost as if butterflies were trying to run rampant in her stomach but he managed to hold them all captive.

XxXx

"Chance number two," Kisame said lowly and confidently to herself as she let her form drop and grabbed the tree branch below her, swinging around it and letting go. As she did this, her form collided with Susumu's as both students went to the ground. The black-haired man did a belly-flop on the ground and the lavender clad girl sat atop of his form with both legs out to either side.

"What are you doing?" Susumu seemed slightly agitated at her foolish games. He didn't have time for this cat-and-mouse game.

"We're in the same club, just thought I'd hang out with you," she suggested. Surely this would be a good way to get to gather more information about him.

"Could you be a little less annoying?" He asked as she removed herself from on top of him. Kisame then extended a hand to help the young man up but he stood on his own and left her with her hand extended to nothing but air. Twin rivers fled down the girl's face as her eyebrows furrowed in irritation.

'Rude.'

"Well, what are you doing? Let's get to the training area. You know Asagi-sensei hates people who aren't punctual," Susumu informed the girl of Asagi's lack of patience or tolerance for such a thing.

Kisame mumbled under her breath. "Stupid, cold, dead fish."

"What?"

"Nothing!" The girl sweat dropped and put a hand behind her head, laughing nervously as she followed him to the training area. She decided not to talk to him for a few minutes. Kisame had a feeling that he knew what she had said about him and figured that it wasn't wise to talk for a while or at least until they got to the training area.

Himemari walked in the door of the training area carrying a sword she had found on the ground earlier. She was pretty sure that it belonged to someone in the martial arts club. Swords were expensive and she knew that if she lost it that she would surely like someone to return it to her. Calling out Asagi's name, she walked only a few paces into the doorway before the sword hit the ground with a couple of clanks.

Asagi had been passed out on the ground. Panicking, Himemari rushed over to him as she tried to gather her thoughts. She remembered that Mariko had told everyone that he had seizures. Kneeling beside of him, she lifted him in to her lap. 'Where's Mariko? What happened? Oh no! I don't know what to do!' Fear and panic ran through her round, dark blue eyes as she looked around the room. The girl decided to put a hand over his mouth to check his breathing. Himemari was relieved when she felt a small breath escape his mouth. 'Oh good, he's breathing…' She sighed in relief as Asagi slowly opened his lime-green eyes.

"Hime-" His words were cut off by the curly-haired girl placing a gentle finger over his lips. "It'll be okay." Himemari hushed him gently.

Asagi removed her finger with his large, yet elegant hand. "I'm fine, I just fainted. It happens to me all of the time."

As Asagi produced those very words, Kyoui had thought he heard Himemari's voice come from the martial arts hall. It was strange for her to be there considering she didn't have any martial arts classes. He decided to investigate by walking over to a nearby window to spy a little.

"You should rest a little before you train again."

"Nonsense, I'm fine," Asagi dismissed, as if it were nothing.

"Please don't try to get up," Kyoui heard his girlfriend say as his brown eyes peered through the window to catch sight of the two. Asagi was laid out in her lap and the girl had one hand placed on his chest and the other still held his hand from when she tried to hush him but he was being stubborn about it. Suddenly, a wave of intense jealousy and anger consumed him as he balled his fists and shortly after, they began to shake. He was so angry that he simply stomped off without a word. He passed Sonata, who had just been coming back after running a few laps around the hall. The short-haired martial artist asked him how things were going but the other male was so angry that he shoved him backwards and told him to get out of his way. Stumbling, Sonata ended up falling in a nearby trashcan and calling him a jerk. He didn't know what his problem was, but that was uncalled for!

XxXx

"You should swing the bokken to the left. Remember this strike is-" Asagi was in the middle of a lesson when Sonata walked in to the class. "You're late." He commented as a bokken came flying in their direction, nearly taking off Asagi's head. The spiky-haired man turned and uttered Eros' name in a warning tone.

"It was Jinpei."

"Sorry, it slipped," Jinpei apologized.

"Let's begin our sparring time. Everyone pick a partner and we'll begin," Asagi instructed.

Susumu began to look through all of the students to see if anyone would want to spar with him. Sonata looked at him and thought to himself, 'There's that new guy. I heard he was really strong. Don't look over here! Don't look over here!' He said a silent prayer but on sight of his short hair that was curled in the back, Sonata could feel his steely gaze and quietly whined to himself. 'Ack! He looked over here!' Worry coursed through the boy's form as the darker male neared him.

"I am Susumu, would you like to spar?" He asked coldly but respectfully.

Sonata grabbed the closest student to him, which happened to be Jinpei who looked confused and a little irritated.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" He asked.

"Sorry, I already have a sparring partner, right Jinpei?" The boy looked to his classmate as if to silently ask him to save his soul and all the other male told him was to stop squeezing him so tightly. Susumu apologized and walked off simply as Sonata sighed in relief to himself.

Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his hand.

Jinpei had bitten him.

"Wargh! My hand!" He squealed in pain.

XxXx.

A frail, slender body was slammed against the locker door as it then popped open and books, papers and pens fell all over the floor with a clatter. A delicate hand held a glowing red cheek as Himemari uttered the word 'ouch' lightly to herself at the dull pain she felt in her back and stinging pain in her cheek.

"How many times do I have to tell you that you belong to me?" Kyoui fumed as nothing but pure rage flowed through his features.

"But I know I belong to you, Kyoui," She tried to reason gently.

"Then stop flirting around!"

"But I wasn't."

"Like I didn't see you with that instructor of the martial arts team."

"No!"

"No that wasn't you?"

"He dropped his weapon outside and when I went to give it to him; he was fainted in the practice room. You can even ask him yourself! We didn't do anything," the kind girl tried to tell him as calmly as she could. She was afraid and she didn't want to get hit again but all of her fears soon came true as a harsh slap was delivered to her face once more and crystalline tears sailed through the air, her sorrow held captive never to be released.

"Why? So he can lie for you?" Kyoui asked, livid with anger.

"He doesn't know me," Himemari's voice was subdued as she sat on her knees on the ground. Books cascaded all around her in disarray on the floor. Her head was down and she felt too low to look at him. Tears were streaming down her face but she couldn't help but cry. All she wanted to do was have him think she was faithful and a good girlfriend but things were being taken way out of proportion.

"You're getting on my nerves!" The livid boy yelled as he kicked her harshly in the side as she rolled a couple of times and another locker, which popped open and the books from it fell on top of her. The curly-haired girl covered herself with her arms as they fell on her, hitting her already battered body. "I'll see you in class…little slut," he condemned before he walked off without a word more and left the girl to cry to herself softly.

'Why? Why are you this way, Kyoui-kun? I wished I knew…I want to help you…Please…I don't want it to be like this. I know you're not this type of person.' Himemari thought as she cried, her form crumpled and lying on the ground.

When she got home later on that day, her grandmother greeted her at the door. She was a very small and feeble old woman with white hair and a pleasant smile on her face. She was very short, pudgy yet charming. She asked her granddaughter how her day was. When Himemari looked at her face she smiled and had to force a lie out of her mouth by telling her that she was fine and her day had went well. The girl told her that she hoped that she was doing well today and her grandmother told her that she was. It turned out that she'd found a new medicine that really worked against her sickness. She even commented that she felt as if she were twenty years younger. Himemari smiled brightly at the comment. It really was great that it seemed like her grandmother was getting better.

"By the way," the old lady smiled kindly at her, "that sweet girl Aroura and her little friends were over here earlier. They wanted to talk to you but I told them that you were gone. Why did you get home so late today?"

"I was with the Academic Team. We were studying for an upcoming contest!" She lied yet again but she didn't have the heart to break an old woman's heart or worsen her condition by telling her that Kyoui had been abusing her. 'Sorry to lie to you, grandma but you'd never let me see him again if you knew.'

"Well good luck, I know your team can ace it!" The elder smiled.

"Thanks!" The black-haired girl smiled back. "I'm going to put my stuff up and then we can go to the park, okay?"

"Oh, I'd like that," her grandmother beamed.

After she had gotten up stairs she sat with her knees bent up and back to the door. Himemari could feel all of the physical and mental anguish from that day let go and finally sink in. It was like this every day. He would hit her, slap her, humiliate her, kick her and even punch her but she sucked it up and tried to hold her head high. Always with a smile and kind glimmer in her eye for she knew that she had to be kind. They weren't the ones who caused her so much pain. At the same time, she wished they could see how she'd hurting.

Himemari just wanted someone to understand and sympathize without making things worse. A single tear ran down her pale cheek. 'Sorry grandma…I don't want anyone to worry…I know Kyoui is a good person! He just has to be! He used to be so nice…Everyone's wrong about him! They have to be! He hurts me for a reason…and I'm determined to get things back to how they used to be, then we'll be happy together…and he'll never hit me again…'

To Be Continued…