Chapter Text
Ocean-blue eyes looked bleakly out the window.
"We are almost there, baby, and then you and I can have a nice vacation. A girl's getaway," Iyo said from the passenger's seat, looking back at her little girl. Yoruichi turned her vacant eyes to her mother before looking out the window. Iyo sighed before turning around.
"She still in shock?" The man asked as he drove in and out of traffic on the highway. Iyo sighed and leaned back into her seat. She brought up a hand to her eyes and covered them. She bit her lip and sighed.
"Yes," she muttered, "this is all my fault." She thought about what got her and her daughter into this situation. Iyo brought a hand to her mouth as she thought of the vile act. The man in the driver's seat was silent. "What? No 'I told you' so?" she remarked as she brought her hand down and into her lap. She looked at the man. "Come on, nii-san. You've always been honest with me."
The man sighed and then looked at his sister out of his particulars around his glasses. "I am not giving you the hassle because you seem to be doing it yourself. What's done is done. What is important now is to get you and Yoruichi to Mom and Dad's in Kamakura City so you both can start to heal," The man said as he turned his eyes back to the road. Iyo's eyes started to water and began to spill onto her cheeks. "Don't cry, Iyo. I know we don't have the best relationship because I went overseas to pursue football, but that doesn't mean I don't care about you or Yoruichi." Iyo dragged a hand across her eyes, wiping away tears.
"Thank you, Jin. For coming to get Yoruichi and me," she said as she bowed.
"Yeah," Jinpachi Ego said as a slight blush appeared on the apple of his cheeks.
In the backseat, the girl, Yoruichi, watched outside past by with vacant eyes. Even though her expression was expressionless, her mind was racing. It is our fault that Mom is crying and bowing to another person. Why did I have to be so weird and upset, Daddy? Why can't I be like everyone else? Her mind thought back to a couple of days ago.
Yoruichi was outside in the backyard. She was playing with her dolls. The smell of dinner wafted thru the air as her mother prepared dinner for the three of them. It was peaceful until the door slammed at the front of the house. Iyo looked up, and her face paled.
"Yoruichi, come," she whisper-yelled. The little girl dropped her dolls and ran to her mother. She slammed into her. Tears came to her eyes, and she looked up at her mother. Iyo started pushing her into the open closet at the corner of the hallway before entering the room section of the house. "Hide, please!"
"But what about ----" the girl started before a scream ripped through the house.
"IYO! Get your ass in here and help me!" A man screamed as the voice sounded like it was coming in the direction that they were.
"Go, Yor," Iyo said as she gently pushed her daughter into the closet. Yoruichi let a tiny whimper as she looked at her mother as Iyo closed the door. "Don't say a word, and don't come out until I call for you." Iyo put her forehead on the door and took a deep breath for what was about to come.
Yoruichi's tears started to fall as she heard the slapping of flesh and crying. Screaming and yelling filled the air, and it hurt her ears. She covered her ears and crouched down to get away from the door. She bit her lip as the volume of the yelling increased. Please please, please, please, her 4-year-old brain chanted. Please don't come this way.
"Where did you hide the weird brat? Huh? God, she is so weird and creepy. She takes after that no-good brother of yours. And I can't believe you let her play with boys in the park," her dad said as he stomped in the direction. Yoruichi's breath picked up as she placed one hand over her mouth and nose to stem the noise from her. "Women are only meant to service men by cooking and cleaning. Your gender is only meant to do that and give me children. Unfortunately, you can't even do that, Iyo. I was supposed to have a boy, but you gave me a girl. What the hell am I supposed to do with her?" Yoruichi closed her eyes as she continued to hold her breath.
Please, she thought as the footstep retreated the way they came. The sounds of flesh slapping fit the air once more.
"A wife of one of my friends had told my buddy that you are allowing her to play football in the park with boys. Girls don't play that sport and never will. Your women kind fuck up everything you goddamn touch. I started to wonder why I even fucking married you," Father said as something hit the floor. A cry filled the air.
The footsteps came back in that direction. Tears coated Yoruichi's face as she tried to calm her breathing. The footsteps stopped. Yoruichi dared not move or remove her hands from her lower face.
The door was ripped open, and a hand grabbed her hair. She screamed as she was roughly pulled out of her haven.
"Fuckin' found you, little attention whore," Father spat as he pulled her by her hair out to the living area. Her scalp burned from the pressure of the tight grip. Tears still dripped down her face.
"Leave…her…alone," Iyo whispered as she looked up. Blood leaked out of the corners of her mouth and onto the rug. Father threw Yor to the ground and kicked her. Yoruichi coughed up saliva and puked on the carpet. Her cough ripped her throat as he continued to kick her again and again. Iyo was crying as she helplessly watched the man, she called her husband, beat her daughter.
"You know what?" he said as he unbuckled his belt, "I am done, but I am going to leave you both a present." He pulled the piece of leather from the belt loops of his pants. Yoruichi's lungs burned from the onslaught of blows as she watched her father make his motion. "Since you are a girl, sweet daughter, I am going to make use of you." He grabbed her ankle and dragged her over to the couch. The carpet burned Yoruichi's skin as he pulled her along. "You are going to watch, dear wife of mine."
Iyo watched in horror as the man raped her little girl in front of her. Yoruichi's mind turned blank as the man did what he wanted. All Yor could feel was pain everywhere in her body. She felt like she was being stretched apart from the inside. She tried to cry a couple of times but was rewarded with a hit to the face. A couple of minutes later, the man patted her hair.
"Good girl," he cooed as he righted himself, "As much as I would love to stay. I must go now. I hope you both have a lovely life ahead of you," the man said in a condensing manner, and walked out of their lives. Iyo crawled over.
"Yor, baby!" She cried as she cupped her daughter's cheek. Blank eyes turned to her. Iyo brawled. "I am so sorry! Sorry sorry, sorry." She only remembers a little after that. Sounds of sirens and people talking. The smell of antiseptic and other things fills the air. Then darkness.
"Yor….Yoruichi."
Yoruichi turned her eyes to her mother when she noticed the car had stopped. Her mother waited outside the vehicle with the back passenger door opened. She hmmed as she looked out the window. The ocean gleamed into her eyes, making her flinch and cover them. She whined as she rubbed them.
"Oh, baby. We are here," Iyo said as she reached into the car and unbelted Yor. She helped the little girl get out of the vehicle. The first thing that hit Yor was the smell of the ocean and the wind coming off it. She flinched as the wind whipped her. Iyo picked her up and shielded her. "It's okay. Let's go inside."
And with that, a new chapter in their lives began.