Chapter 7

Chapter 7

My dreams stirred like a hurricane, lifting me through the countless windows of past memories.

"Why were you born?" The fury blazed on my father's cheeks as his gaze pierced me with rage.

"I-I'm sorry father!" I whimpered out, guilt gnawing my insides, acidic spit lurching up my throat before I swallowed it down. "I know, I didn't get first place, but I did get the runner up-"

Pain shot through my left cheek as my glasses clattered with a crunch onto the floor.

"Runner up?! Runner up?! You even have a face to say that word?!" He seethed, heaving his chest up and down before grinding his teeth together and whacking me onto the ground. I gasped as my elbows pounded into the ground, wincing from the blunt pain that dulled my senses. I kept my eyes lowered onto the ground, not daring to meet his eyes.

"Why-why can't you do such a simple thing? After all the money I've spent on you!" His scream momentarily made my ears deaf, a buzzing sound ringing in my ears before sound toned into my body again, blasting me with another shout of frustration. My body yelped as I felt his foot bash into the side of my stomach, forcing gravity to smash me into the wall as I slid down onto my bleeding knees, shrieking in silence.

"Sto-"

"Why-why-why!"

His feet pounded into my stomach, each time earning a lurch from my organs, throwing up dry air from my mouth. Only a few times did the saliva and acid spewed out from my lips, making my father quake out in another burst of anger.

Stop it.

Stop it.

Stop!

Daddy, stop...please...

The room stilled as I hiccuped, tears staining my sleeveless t-shirt, soaking the black into a darker shade of black.

"I...I'm sorry." My father bent down onto his knees, placing both hands on my shoulders before lowering his head against my chest. "I'm so sorry. That was in the heat of the moment."

He raised his eyes as they stared deep into mine, smiling sadly.

"You'll forgive your poor father, won't you?" His voice grew stronger as he echoed his words with such desperation. "You know that everything I do is for you, right?"

I was too tired to nod, only a few inaudible noises left my mouth before father nodded at his own words.

"Only in this way, you'll succeed. The harder I push you, the more successful you'll become." My father's voice stuttered out again, the movement of his head burned into my swollen, half-lidded eyes. "Yes, that's right. I'll have to get you a new pair of glasses. Everything is for you, for you, do you hear?"

I could barely croak another word out. My voice burned as hot tears slid off my face as usual.

"Forgive your father, I know you will. I love you, my dear daughter."

"Do you know your purpose of existence?" My mother lifted my chin with one of her painted nails, beaming at my shivering stature. I stayed silent, eyes swimming around the room like a trembling fish about to sink.

"Speak! Do you not hear?! Are you mute?!" Her voice barked into my ears, forcing the water out of my eyes for the tenth time this morning.

"Your...slave," I whispered hesitantly, my inner chest pounded on the walls of my ribcage as the words slapped my face, destroying my well-made walls of self-preservation.

"Louder, child!"

"Your slave!" I yipped out, sobbing with a blurred vision.

"Such a crybaby." Mother threw my chin away, flicking my head to the ground. "You should be more thankful to be born. That is how you repay us."

I am not your slave.

I am not anyone's property.

I-

"Fetch me my beauty masks. The rose ones." She commanded. I glared at her, the insides of my mind swirling in fury before silently wincing at her penetrating stare.

"What are you waiting for? Go now!"

I scampered out of the room after whispering a, "yes, mother."

I woke up with a jerk of my body, gasping as sweat and tears trickled down my hot face.

Useless! Why can't you do better?! It's not even much to ask for!

You're my slave! You exist to serve me!

Voices of my parents twisted in sick humour, shrieking at me to move on. The ground beneath me started to spiral, dropping me into a deep crimson hole before I screamed silently in agony. Silently, just as they had trained me to do so.

Stop it. Stop it!

I tried grappling on the thin strand of air before bashing my fists on my bedsheets before throwing my blanket onto the ground, crying soundless words. Screeches tore out of my lips as a sharp inhale of air of penetrating pain battered into my chest, hammering at my internal organs and tearing at my ribcage. I hunched over and gagged dryly, hurling nothing but air as strands of my dark hair flew across my face. Saliva leaked out of the corner of my open mouth, dripping slowly onto the sheets as my insides lunged for another motion to retch. I fell back into the bed, both arms clutching over my head as my statue curled into a small ball, rolling sideways until I fell onto the floor with a thud, body spasming in agony.

Kill them! Tear them apart!

Spit flew out of my mouth against as I reached out, hyperventilating.

Kill them! Make them bleed, make them suffer for their deeds!

The voices whirled around my head like a march, executing their declaration.

Kill them, tear them, grill their hearts!

Taste them, make them, scar their parts!

Drown them, burn them, let them suffer.

The voices hollered, clomping the syllables hard into my mind as I screeched in between gasps, finally breaking the curse of silence that was hammered into my mind. Wobbling on my feet, I crashed back into my bed, wheezing.

Don't just let them go, make them feel the pain!

Make them want to die, torture them until they're slain!

The loudness suddenly roared up, flaring through my mouth like a hypnotized chant.

"Kill them, kill them, kill all who makes you suffer. Face them, face them, let them face their consequences."

As if the voices were pleased with my answer, they slowly retreated their silhouettes, fading out of my ears and deafening into their silence.

'So this is his infamous daughter? The one who pales in comparison to her genius brother?' A voice rang into my ears, replacing the shrill of the high-pitched ones.

"Kill him," I repeated, the image of the man in a suit resurfaced into my mind, sinking their teeth into my flesh and seeping their poison into my blood.

"I am here," I repeated slowly, announcing my presence.

"I. Will. Not. Compare. To. Anyone."

"Kill him…" I hissed out, glaring at thin air. "Shinori...will pay…"

"Soichiro, isn't it great that Sayu has finally changed?"

I halted my silent footsteps on the stairs, narrowing my eyes as I slithered back into the darkness, watching the two strangers sip their tea under the dim lamppost on the counter of the kitchen. I heard a subtle movement from the chair scraping across the kitchen tiles before dad's voice lowered out.

"Whatever it is, the change is good. She's finally showing her talents." He said quietly.

"I agree...I was beginning to wonder if Sayu was lacking her...areas compared to Light." Mom sighed fondly at my older brother's name, bashing the Sayu before I took over her body. I scoffed at her tone and choice of words before crossing my arms over my body and leaning my head against the wall that served as a shadow maker over the stairs.

What a gentle way of questioning my intelligence capacities. Well, in this case, Sayu's intelligence capacities. The Yagami family's voice flashed from Sayu's memories into my mind as I sneered at the words.

"Thank you for being born in the Yagami family, Sayu!"

Thank you my ass, they couldn't have been more hypocritical if I hadn't taken her place.

"No one can compare to Light, Sachiko." Dad answered, stunning me at the usage of mom's first name. "You can't use him as an example."

"I know, I know," Mom muttered. "It's just that, even compared to her peers, Sayu showed no interest in her future."

"The stabbing incident must have made her realize how life was precious," Dad said as I heard another shift in his clothes. I raised my eyebrows at the new information.

Oh? It was a stabbing incident?

The Yagami family avoided the topic by not bringing up the details of the incident in front of me. Seeing how Sayu did not have any scars or injuries, she must have witnessed a murderer. Yet why wasn't she questioned after waking up?

"Did the criminal admit his reasons?" Mom's voice questioned out as I mouthed a small, 'oh.'

"Apparently he was under the usage of dopamine." Dad simply stated before elaborating, "a dangerous drug that caused hallucinations. We can't jail him for a longer time because of the fact."

I mused at their words, slipping away back into my room before staring at the dark void every object cast in the dark. I sauntered towards my desk, reaching out as I pulled on one of the drawers, fishing out my purse before turning on my desk lamp and unzipping the item.

A hundred, two, three, four, five…

Holy cow, this girl was rich.

Six thousand and ninety-eight dollars?! Shoot me right now.

I clutched the wallet and returned back to the desk, pulling on the lever to turn off the lamp before shrouding myself in darkness again. I needed to keep tabs on the family. My mind whirled furiously as it hovered above someone that I could use, smirking to myself before striding towards my bed.

Poor little Sayu, unneeded and hated by her own parents.

I cooed into my own mind, mocking at her own pitifulness. It felt good, despite the very thing I was mocking was a problem I had in the past. What a pathetic little thing, always compared to that older, genius brother of his. Perhaps she wanted to disappear, washing all her frustrations away. I laughed darkly in her gloomy room.

So similar, yet so different.

We're both filled with hatred and lies that attempted to swallow us whole. Yet I made it out by diving headfirst into the lure of the lawless while she mopped the grounds her brother walked. I was a single child while she was often compared. We neither had dreams or hopes for the future. I bet her statement to become a lawyer was to please her family too.

Rage scaled coldly on the tip of my tongue, forcing an ironic smile onto my face before the voices chanted their wills into my ears again.

"I'll help you, Sayu." A tight-lipped smile pressed onto my face before I slipped under the covers of her bed. "Take this as thanks for your body."

"That is why X equals 78." My math teacher's voice droned out from my mind, forcing me to stare blankly at my textbook, tapping my pencil onto the lined notebook hiding under my textbooks.

It was actually surprising that I could read and write Japanese even though I've never been an avid learner of the language before. I scribbled down a random sentence about the weather, watching in awe as my hand swept gently across the pages, the gray smooth lines of the pencil stopped, finishing the words with a graceful tap.

Was it because of Sayu's memories?

I continued to write another sentence, this time in English.

No, it's more like I had an upgraded version of google translate in my mind. I paused, this time changing my sentences to Chinese, then proceeded to french. Unfortunately, the only languages that I know of, were these four. Whenever I wanted to write something in another language, my mind automatically starts speaking in that language.

Curious, curious. How curious.

Was transmigration a common thing nowadays?

I pondered quietly on the question, quirking my eyebrows back and forth at the sheet of paper. Well, in novels and manga the trend is so frequently used that I'm not even slightly fazed at my situation anymore. I rolled my eyes towards the front as I heard my name bellow out from the teacher.

"Sayu, can you come up to demonstrate this equation?" She said harshly, tapping the blackboard with her half used chalk. "If you're so keen on not listening in my class, you should be able to do this."

Her eyebrows raised up as well as the corner of her mouth, forming a rude sneer. The room was dead quiet as I felt a whisper on my right, one of my friends mouthing a 'that's not a question we learned in class, hurry up and apologize!'

Touché Mrs. Kaname. Touché.

"What are you waiting for? Come up or else you can stand outside!" Kaname, my math teacher barked as I raised my eyebrows at her, plastering a casual smile before standing up and paced myself in front of the blackboard, staring at the question for a split second before picking up a loose piece of chalk.

It would have worked, teacher, if I was actually Sayu.

I inhaled a breath before scribbling down my thoughts and work across the board, underlining and circling the important steps. Although math was never my strong point since I was, sorted into the arts faculty by my talents, I still was an undergraduate from one of the most famous universities in this era. Even now, I wondered why an English major like me would be freaking considering to be a member of the police force or a stuck-up lawyer occupation in this life.

Was I stupid? No.

But I can't memorize for good lord's sake.

I scribbled down a formula that I used to calculate the 7th step, inching my way to the right of the board and earning a small look of surprise from the teacher as she backed away, giving me more room.

I sucked at math, but not quite for this level. Not to mention the rigorous exercises that Light had hammered into my brain, formulas poured out of my skull as I finished the equation with a tap of the chalk I had in hand.

"You've...improved, Sayu." I heard my teacher grudge out hesitantly before I beamed at her, putting down the chalk and patting both of my hands from the chalk dust.

"Thank you, Mrs. Kaname! I've been taught by the best!" I said.

Kaname's eyes blinked in surprise before realizing that I was mentioning her. She bit her lip, glancing away from my gaze before flushing red.

"Ahem," She swallowed, nodding to herself bashfully. "Flattery gets you nowhere, Sayu. But well done on this question. I am proud to be your teacher."

Although she had specifically mentioned my sneaky comment, she was smiling through her teeth at my flattery, gesturing merrily at my seat as I nodded, skipping back.

What. A. Hypocrite.

Well, I am one too. Can't blame her. Whoever says that they don't like compliments are lying through their teeth. I hate it even more when people flaunt their beliefs on the so-called 'justice' word. I mean, come on, if you're living in this world, there is no such thing as justice in your mind.

People cheat, steal, hate, and kill. Justice was only a word to cover their nasty selves, hiding under a facade of light. They were dogs for society. Scums for the law. Those who did not break the law could only cower in the limits bordered by human conscience, murmuring all their blames on the law.

...Which was why Light was my favourite character in the anime.

Although he turned into a reckless motherfucker in the end.

"Class is over!" Kaname called out before gathering her notes as the bell rang for lunch, students scampering into the cafeteria or reaching out for their packed lunches in their bags.

"Did your brother teach you advanced algebra?!" The friend that warned me about the equation raised her voice, pushing her seat out as she came towards my desk, lunch in hand.

"Isa, don't say that I'm so lucky to have Light as my brother." I rolled my eyes as she pulled her seat over and pouted at my words.

"But it's true! Your brother is a genius! What's not to like about him, right, Miyara?" Isame, the small-faced girl giggled at another one of Sayu's friends. Miyara walked over with another two girls, one with a red frilled bow tied in front of her bun, and the other who had waves in her short hair.

"I have to agree with Isa. Your brother is perfect. What's not to like about him?" Miyara slid her bum onto the desk in front of me, dangling her long legs as she unpacked her blue lunch box, loosening her tie afterwards.

"You guys don't get it!" I whined, slouching on my desk. "He's a genius. Yeah, but he's a stuck-up narcissist!"

Aoiko, the one with the red bow, sat in the empty seat to my right side and giggled at my reaction, flicking her painted pink nails at my direction with a smug look.

"Yeah, I can see you manicured your nails again, Aoiko. How much did it cost this time? Also, how the hell are you able to eat with those daggers?!" I rolled my eyes, pushing myself up and pulling out my own lunch box from my bag.

"A hundred and eight dollars!" Aoiko tucked her hair strand behind her ear, blinking doe-ishly at me while beaming proudly at herself, expecting a reaction.

"That's way too expensive." Tsubame and I said at the same time, both flashing each other looks of disbelief.

"Rich kids." I heard Miyara mutter before Aoiko leaned towards the girl, a chilling smile upon her face.

"What did you say, miss Mi~ya~ra~?"

Isame turned pale at Aoiko's tone, glancing at the blonde-dyed Miyara in panic.

"You have a problem with that, young miss?" Miyara pounced on the attack, earning a high-pitched growl from Aoiko.

"Shit's about to go down," I whispered towards Tsubame as she nodded, brown bangs shifting into her eyes as she brushed them out of the way nonchalantly.

"By the way, Tsu, your father runs a second-handed electronic thrift shop?" I asked.

Tsubame stared at me with a baffled look before immediately pushing it down into a professional poker face.

"What do you need?" Her tone hardened.

I almost grinned at her response, loving her blunt and serious personality. Before us, the other three chattered away, Aoi and Miya going through a hand in hand wrestle and Isame trying to stop them by simply just...shrieking in silence.

"A wireless earpiece and three listening devices, can you obtain them?" I lowered my voice, glancing around to make sure no one was eavesdropping into our conversation. Tsubame paused for a moment, eyes narrowing at my request before searching hard through her memories.

"What size do you need them to be?" She also lowered her tone, ducking her head closer to my eye level.

"The smaller the better," I confirmed before she nodded quietly, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. It was at that moment, where her electronic watch caught my eye. It was way too advanced for the current era. It was a prototype for the apple watch. Well, it didn't look much like an apple watch, but the smooth square surface definitely reminded me of one. I shook my head, clearing the useless thoughts away from my head.

"I'm actually surprised that you're not asking what I need those gadgets for," I said as Tsubame winced instinctively.

"Customer confidentiality." She explained. "It's been trained into my mind by now."

A potential secret keeper, huh?

"800," Tsubame stated, momentarily confusing me. She then made a gesture for money with three fingers, earning an 'oh' of surprise from me.

"200." I shook my head.

"750." She asked again.

"400. No more higher than that. Can't you give me a friend discount?" I whined, giving her the puppy eyes and drooping my head like a dejected puppy. Her dark yellow eyes twitched for a second before changing the number.

"500. Those things are expensive, I'm already giving you a discount." She huffed before meeting with silence and my strong counterattack by clashing my hands together, pleading.

"4-450." She shuddered out before I beamed and shook her hand with both of my hands.

"Thank you so much! You don't know how much you saved me!" I said, sniffing a bit.

"How long do I have to wait?" I added.

"I'll have them ready by tomorrow." She sighed, shaking her head at me. "Would you like to pay in credit or cash?"

"Cash," I answered immediately. "Also I would like to keep this transaction as hidden as possible. I don't even need the receipt. Could you also keep it from your dad?"

"Done." She shook my hand firmly before sitting down into the seat behind me. We were both quiet for a minute before both of us burst out laughing from our overly serious conversation.

"You know," I called out, listening to her chimes slow down before continuing. "It really sounds like your dad does some shady business there. Are you writing your English report on that?"

Tsubame shook her head, smiling warily at my comment.

"Of course not, I'm doing it on my mom's bakery shop." She said.

"But you're taking over your dad's shop?" I raised an eyebrow at her answer. She flinched before sighing and reigning to her fate.

"I'm the only heir to my family. The shop has been passed on from 7 generations ago." Tsubame reached out her hand towards me as I laced my fingers through hers.

"I really don't want to. But I have to. It's for my family." Her grip tightened as I gave her a look of sympathy.

"If you really cannot defy your parents and their wishes, then might as well make the best of it." I gently soothed her with my voice. "Or, you can just pass it off to your kid when they turn five or something."

I snickered as Tsubame's stunned face evolved into a grin.

"That sounds like a plan." She whispered, closing her eyes. "That sounds like a plan."