( you're so cold but you feel alive; )
Title: satisfied and empty inside
Characters/Pairings: Kaito/Minatsuki + Hana Kuroba.
Summary: It's not their daughter that she hates.
Rating: M
Warnings: Child abuse, language, trauma.
Notes: I-I am doomed to write child!meme fic every time it comes around, aren't I. ;3; s-sob.
♥
Kaito doesn't believe Minatsuki when she says she hates their daughter.
She insults the girl in and out of earshot (he's always been incredibly relieved that Hana has never asked what the words she uses mean), she's hardly above threats of violence and abuse, she screams, she curses, and although she hasn't actually struck her yet, she's come frighteningly close, on more than one occasion; she's gotten as far as grabbing her arm and raising a hand to hit her, and once wrapping her hands around the child's frail neck, before Kaito steps in to stop it, and Minatsuki always runs. She's never once apologised for anything she's said or done.
But Kaito still doesn't believe her.
He has her staying at his house for the week while she recovers from a particularly bad fight (it's been three years since they met, and she's still fighting; it's a miracle that she's still alive, really, even if she does look like a "crumbling skeleton with a few organs left rattling around," as she describes herself); she's still coughing up blood, and he promises Yoh that she can get better medical care if he takes her away from Deadman Wonderland for a few days. It's difficult to have Minatsuki around the house - he has to come downstairs frequently, both to check on her health, and to make sure that Hana isn't in any danger from her. Today seems to be a rare day of calm, though; Hana is practising card tricks silently on one side of the room, and Minatsuki is reading a book on the other.
It's either by some cruel fate or shit luck that Kaito is upstairs when the worst happens.
Minatsuki is the first to notice and recognise it - faint tremors under her, and the sound of rattling glass. She knows what it is, and she knows what to do, but she freezes and all of a sudden she can't think, or move, or speak, or breathe. She knows Hana is panicking and saying things to her, scared and shrill, but she can't hear the words, and she can't see the words on the page of the book that is slipping from her hands; she can only see a woman running from a crumbling home, and a little girl standing alone.
She looks up, and the bookcase is falling.
Kaito runs down the stairs three steps at a time, panicking and frantic and maybe more than a little scared, because shit, of all the times, and of all the things to happen, why an earthquake, and why now? For a second, he can't think of anything but the worst scenarios - this is Minatsuki's worst trigger, Hana doesn't know what to do, shit shit shit - and he hears both his daughter and his girlfriend scream before he reaches the bottom floor and tears into the living room.
He finds Hana sprawled on the floor, surrounded by books and shattered glass, and Minatsuki standing over her, bracing her back against the bookcase. She's bleeding and shaking violently and even her Whip Wing is snapping about uselessly; there are shards of glass embedded all across her arms, and cuts down her sides, and her expression is screwed up in pain, eyes barely open, there are tears in her eyes, but she's not crying.
"You stupid little shit," she snarls at Hana, and moans in pain. Hana stares up at her, wide-eyed, crying and trembling. "F-ffffuck--Dumb bitch."
Kaito is by her side in an instant, and he helps Minatsuki put the bookcase back up before she collapses; he kneels beside her and puts a hand on her shoulder while she hisses and swears. "Hey," he says gently, and she manages to crack an eye open to look at him blearily. He smiles. "You're better than that woman, Minatsuki."
She mumbles a near-incoherent insult at him, but he sees her entire body relax and slump with relief. Kaito stands, takes Hana by the hand and goes to call an ambulance.
A month later, Kaito brings Minatsuki home from Deadman Wonderland again, and she doesn't give Hana a single glance.
But the next morning, when Kaito and Minatsuki are talking quietly over cups of coffee, Hana walks into the kitchen with a chirpy, "Good morning," and Minatsuki mutters, "Morning," into her cup.
She punches Kaito when he asks if she hates her.
Characters/Pairings: Kaito/Minatsuki + Hana Kuroba.
Summary: It's not their daughter that she hates.
Rating: M
Warnings: Child abuse, language, trauma.
Notes: I-I am doomed to write child!meme fic every time it comes around, aren't I. ;3; s-sob.
♥
Kaito doesn't believe Minatsuki when she says she hates their daughter.
She insults the girl in and out of earshot (he's always been incredibly relieved that Hana has never asked what the words she uses mean), she's hardly above threats of violence and abuse, she screams, she curses, and although she hasn't actually struck her yet, she's come frighteningly close, on more than one occasion; she's gotten as far as grabbing her arm and raising a hand to hit her, and once wrapping her hands around the child's frail neck, before Kaito steps in to stop it, and Minatsuki always runs. She's never once apologised for anything she's said or done.
But Kaito still doesn't believe her.
He has her staying at his house for the week while she recovers from a particularly bad fight (it's been three years since they met, and she's still fighting; it's a miracle that she's still alive, really, even if she does look like a "crumbling skeleton with a few organs left rattling around," as she describes herself); she's still coughing up blood, and he promises Yoh that she can get better medical care if he takes her away from Deadman Wonderland for a few days. It's difficult to have Minatsuki around the house - he has to come downstairs frequently, both to check on her health, and to make sure that Hana isn't in any danger from her. Today seems to be a rare day of calm, though; Hana is practising card tricks silently on one side of the room, and Minatsuki is reading a book on the other.
It's either by some cruel fate or shit luck that Kaito is upstairs when the worst happens.
Minatsuki is the first to notice and recognise it - faint tremors under her, and the sound of rattling glass. She knows what it is, and she knows what to do, but she freezes and all of a sudden she can't think, or move, or speak, or breathe. She knows Hana is panicking and saying things to her, scared and shrill, but she can't hear the words, and she can't see the words on the page of the book that is slipping from her hands; she can only see a woman running from a crumbling home, and a little girl standing alone.
She looks up, and the bookcase is falling.
Kaito runs down the stairs three steps at a time, panicking and frantic and maybe more than a little scared, because shit, of all the times, and of all the things to happen, why an earthquake, and why now? For a second, he can't think of anything but the worst scenarios - this is Minatsuki's worst trigger, Hana doesn't know what to do, shit shit shit - and he hears both his daughter and his girlfriend scream before he reaches the bottom floor and tears into the living room.
He finds Hana sprawled on the floor, surrounded by books and shattered glass, and Minatsuki standing over her, bracing her back against the bookcase. She's bleeding and shaking violently and even her Whip Wing is snapping about uselessly; there are shards of glass embedded all across her arms, and cuts down her sides, and her expression is screwed up in pain, eyes barely open, there are tears in her eyes, but she's not crying.
"You stupid little shit," she snarls at Hana, and moans in pain. Hana stares up at her, wide-eyed, crying and trembling. "F-ffffuck--Dumb bitch."
Kaito is by her side in an instant, and he helps Minatsuki put the bookcase back up before she collapses; he kneels beside her and puts a hand on her shoulder while she hisses and swears. "Hey," he says gently, and she manages to crack an eye open to look at him blearily. He smiles. "You're better than that woman, Minatsuki."
She mumbles a near-incoherent insult at him, but he sees her entire body relax and slump with relief. Kaito stands, takes Hana by the hand and goes to call an ambulance.
A month later, Kaito brings Minatsuki home from Deadman Wonderland again, and she doesn't give Hana a single glance.
But the next morning, when Kaito and Minatsuki are talking quietly over cups of coffee, Hana walks into the kitchen with a chirpy, "Good morning," and Minatsuki mutters, "Morning," into her cup.
She punches Kaito when he asks if she hates her.