by Amy Sumida
I fought back the grin threatening to break free. “I already said I’d go with someone else.”
I hoped he bought my second lame excuse, even though it might upset him. Instead of pissed off rejection, JJ burst out laughing, doubling over at the waist and dropping my bag to the floor. Well, almost. A gush of wind went by me, and my bag slowly descended to the ground.
“Nice try, Sera.” JJ gasped out. “But Souta’s a gossip king. He’d know if anyone else asked you.”
I narrowed my gaze at him and stuck out my tongue as I reached for my bag. At the last moment, JJ snatched it back up and slung it over his shoulder before heading in the direction of our next class.
Our math teacher, Mr. Lane, tended to be oblivious, which meant everyone played with their phones in class. JJ texted me.
Go with me to the dance.
No.
Why not?
I didn’t reply since the only reason I could give, I refused to tell him. He persisted, though.
You have cooties?
I snorted. No.
You need to take a litter of rescued kittens to find new homes?
I shot him a disbelieving glance. No.
You're a member of a secret society of superheroes, and Saturday is your day on call.
I snickered. You watch too much TV. No.
I do not!
He joked, right? Please, Souta told me you watch all those weird superhero shows.
He sent me a big, grinning smiley face, knowing he got caught.
You’re waiting for some celebrity to ask you?
The bell rang, and this time, I managed to get my messenger bag from the floor before JJ. I shook my head at him as I left.
He caught me quickly, matching our strides. “You're actually a guy and Saturday you're having gender reassignment surgery?”
“What?” I stopped dead in the hallway, someone bouncing off my back and muttering an apology before skirting around me. I winced, but JJ missed it as he grinned and gave a little wave before he headed off to his third period class. I shook my head and hollered after him, “You’re crazy!”
“And you love it!” he hollered back, giving me a jaunty salute.
I hoped that might be the end of it. But he went right back at it after lunch with a slightly different tactic. “You know I like you, right?”
“Yes.” Not exactly a secret.
“You like me?”
Elements help me, I did. “Yes.”
“You know how to dance?”
What did my ability to dance matter? “Yes.”
“You like hanging out with all three of us?”
Duh. “Yes.”
“You’re an Ignis?”
Did he really ask that? “Yes.”
“Go to the dance with me?”
“Ye—” I caught myself in time. His rapid firing of the questions nearly caught me off guard. “I can’t.”
Like every time before he took it in stride, and in science, he tossed me notes with reasons on them.
You’re volunteering at a soup kitchen.
You can’t go out on a full moon?
It’s that time of the month?
I shot him a glare. One last one landed on my desk as the bell rang.
You have some crazy superstition about the date?
He hit a little too close to home on the last note. I took off, grateful we didn’t share another class until the end of the day. When JJ didn’t continue during PE I figured he decided to finally drop it. We worked on powered defense moves and the control needed in order to avoid serious injury took a lot of concentration. More than one person lost it while trying a move, and half the class ended up soaked or toasty. One poor girl got sent to the nurse with blistering burns.
“Go to the dance with me.” JJ’s voice surprised me as I walked out to the courtyard after class. Startled, I lost my balance, tripping over my own feet. Souta caught my elbow, steading me.
I sighed. “I can’t.”
“Why?” Something about the way he asked this time worried me.
I didn’t want to lie anymore, and he knew my excuses to all be bull anyway. I hunched my shoulders, the muscles in my side smarting, and fixed my gaze to the ground.
“Saturday is my eighteenth birthday.” I barely whispered the confession, but JJ caught it all the same.
“That’s great!” Souta clapped from where he stood behind JJ.
I shook my head rapidly, though.
“It’s not great?” Souta questioned.
“I don’t have any family.” I muttered. “I won’t get an Ad Aetatem.”
An Ad Aetatem, the Elementum coming of age, was a big deal. Combination of ritual and big, fancy, expensive party, every child got one at eighteen. It was the first time Iunctura could occur between Elementum, and parents would invite those of age from far and wide in the hopes of their child finding their Genus. Being part of a full Genus meant an increase in control, strength, and discipline, along with a few other perks. Without anyone to plan or pay for an Ad Aetatem, I wouldn’t be getting one.
The guys’ faces fell and their eyes met, then Souta lit up again and grinned. “Then we’ll give you one ourselves!”
“Huh?” They wanted to what?
“Yeah,” he said. “It won’t be real big or anything but we know the rituals. We’ve all had our Ad Aetatem. We could pull this off.”
I could practically watch the plans unfurling in his eyes and shot a panicked glance at his boyfriend to cut off this craziness. Brooks shrugged and gave me an apologetic smile.
“It’s a good idea,” he rumbled, and my mouth dropped open.
I sent a pleading gaze to JJ.
“Don’t expect me to stop him.” JJ held up his hands. “I love the idea.”
“You guys, you can’t…” I sputtered.
Ad Aetatems traditionally only got hosted by family. Their importance meant not any old person threw them, not like giving someone a regular old birthday party. They all began talking at once, bouncing ideas around for the Ad Aetatem.
A strange emotion rose in me, embarrassment yes, but something more, and it mingled with a bit of hurt. It felt like they mocked me, but I understood the feeling to be false. They wanted to do this for me, but what about when I left? Would they end up regretting their hasty actions?
I couldn’t let them get attached to me. They needed to find their own Ignis after all.
“Stop!” I hollered.
Silence descended, along with my tears.
“Please, stop.” I sobbed. “I’m not part of your Genus. I’m not yours to celebrate.” I choked on the words. I wanted to say more, to explain my fears and worries, but I couldn’t speak past the lump in my throat. “Don’t do this,” I whispered and turned to run.
I took about three steps when searing pain shot up my arm, and I cried out. Glancing back revealed surprise on JJ’s face, his eyebrows arched high, and his hand gripping my injured wrist. His expression hardened as he shifted his hold to my hand. I wanted to pull my arm away but pain stabbed through me when I tried. He stepped closer and yanked up my sleeve with his other hand, revealing the wrap on my wrist. Fury engulfed JJ's face.
“Who did this?” Barely contained anger made his voice a low growl, and his eyes flash.
I licked my lips and darted a glance over to Souta and Brooks, hoping for some help diffusing the situation. Instead I found the same fury on their faces.
“What the hell happened?” Souta spat out the words, eyes narrowed in on the bandage on my wrist.
Brooks remained silent, but I didn’t miss the white knuckles on the fists at his sides. I shook in the face of their obvious outrage.
“It’s nothing.” The words slipped out too fast, and I knew it. Even though I still planned to try to call May again, I needed to do something now. They couldn’t know about Aguirre. I didn’t want them to get hurt, too. “I banged my wrist on the counter this morning.”
Now I did tug at JJ’s hold, desperate to get away.
“I’m not buying it, firefly.” Still not letting go, JJ stepped closer as he spoke, and then, to my complete horror, he began undoing the bandage.
“No! JJ, don’t! Please stop!” I shrieked and pushed at his hand, but nothing I said or did halted him.
Brooks came over to me and rested a hand on my elbow, forcing me still.
“You can’t expect us to ignore this, Sera.” His deep voice, low and quiet, contained steel in every word. With no way to stop their inquiry into my injury, I gave up.
“It’s okay Sera.” Souta came to my other side, compassion warring with anger. I swallowed, looking anywhere but at them. As I focused in on a group of colorful flowers nearby, Souta patted my shoulder, right on top of my burn.
“Ah!” I couldn’t stop the sound, or Brooks when he whipped my shirt up and revealed the bruises and burns covering my body.
JJ’s eyes went wide, and he released my hand, turning abruptly. He made a grabbing and twisting motion with his hand. I watched as a nearby sapling knotted itself. His other hand thrust out and chunks of dirt in the garden flew to the sides as a furrow dug itself, nearly ten feet out. The wind whipped around me, swirling into a tight cone surrounding the four of us. The water in the fountain whipped around, churning up huge waves before spilling over the sides. It felt like hours, but only moments passed before the guys’ initial anger seemed to fade, leaving the still hot and raging embers behind.
“Who-the-Fuck-am-I-killing?” JJ’s entire body shook in rage, tightly contained fury waiting for an outlet. Fear shot through me. I couldn’t let them risk themselves when I didn’t understand their actions.
How could they do this? How could they make me care about them when it was all for nothing anyway? I would be leaving in a few months, and they wouldn’t remember me. Everyone forgot about me.
Part of me knew my thinking to be irrational and untrue but I couldn’t stop the fears, the feeling of pointlessness or the need to lash out. I gritted my teeth against the pain and tore my hand out of JJ’s grip.
“Stop!” I screamed. “Why do you care? You shouldn’t care! I’m nobody! Leave me alone!”
I knew I shocked them because they stood frozen long enough for me to dash away.
Chapter Ten
I slammed through the door to the dorm heedless of the young faces turning to stare at me. My mind fixed firmly on making it to my room in order to lose it in privacy. I never made it past my doorway as a fist connected with my cheek. My head whipped to the side, and my adrenaline spiked. Pushing past my pain, I came back swinging. I knew who hit me. I recognized the punch.
“Where is it?” Aguirre growled.
My fist slammed into her cheek. For a second, I believed I stopped her. Then she disabused me of the notion by backhanding me. The crack of her knuckles across my cheekbone echoed in the hall, and I knew the kids in the common room suspected something happened. The fact no one came running to find out what was going on worried me.
“You’re going to regret coming here, you stupid child!” Aguirre’s fist flew, slamming into my eye, while the other connected with my gut.
I thrust out my good hand, attempting to protect myself. A foot to my midsection sent me flying into the wall, and I crumbled onto the floor in a flood of pain. Though it hurt, I curled in on myself. Another kick connected with my head, then my ribs, and then my arms.
Her abuse danced on my body. Rough hands yanked me unsteadily to my feet, followed by open palm slaps hard across my face. My skin blistered, sending shards of pain through me. I fought back a scream as the smell of char on flesh tickled my nose, her hands searing my flesh. Knowing I had to try to stop her, I kicked at her, my foot thumping weakly against her shin. She tore into me, her heated fists rained blows over my head, my arms and my torso.
Ears ringing, pain raging through me, I collapsed again, sobs finally breaking through. I couldn’t defend myself anymore, the pain unbearable. Another blow hit my ribs, and another. I curled up again, tight as I could, and rolled to face the wall. As her foot came down again, I slipped into unconsciousness.
~
I came to still curled up into a ball on the floor. Tears flowed down my cheek, blood dribbled down my face, ribs screaming, and the smell of burnt flesh stung my nose. A young girl, barely more than ten, leaned over me. Her blond hair pulled into a ponytail spilled over her shoulder, eyes wide with fear, as her fingers gently shook my shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, eyes darting nervously toward Aguirre’s closed door. “We wanted to help but she’s never done anything so horrible before. Normally, she only yells and pushes us, sometimes slaps. We need to move you in case she comes back.”
My agonized body said moving might not happen, but she seemed adamant. I rolled over. Her hand clamped down over my mouth to cut off my cry of pain. I bit it back, and with her help, I made it to my aching knees.
Whimpering, I decided to not even attempt to stand. With the young girl’s help and encouragement, I made the slow, torturous crawl across the few feet of the hall to my door.
The bed presented a new challenge. Burns ran down both arms, and my wrist hurt worse than ever. Breathing shot small tremors of pain through my sides. My ribs might be bruised. It took several tries, but finally we got me into the bed.
“Can I get you anything?” the girl asked anxiously.
“Water, pain pills.” I gasped the words out, barely getting them past my sore throat.
She dashed into my bathroom and returned fast enough with my stuff, setting it on the nightstand and handing me two pills.
“How bad?” I managed to ask before tossing down the pills.
Her face screwed up in pity. “I wouldn’t go to school for a few days,” she whispered. “I should go, but one of us will check on you before bed. I don’t know what got into her. She’s always strict, but nothing like this.”
She dashed off and left me alone with my aches and pains.
Craving the oblivion of sleep, I closed my eyes. This was the final straw. I was done taking what she dished out. She’d gone way too far. As soon as the worst of my injuries allowed, I planned to make a few calls.
Chapter Eleven
I drifted, waking up long enough to pop a few pills when the pain became excruciating, but never long enough to make the call I needed to. At some point, I managed to get a mirror app on my phone and examined the visible damage.
Colors bloomed across my face, brighter than any makeup would ever cover. Abandoning any thought of going to school, a couple days passed, but I didn’t care. Every place on my body screamed in agony. I slept mostly since doing anything else hurt. The painkillers wore off for the millionth time as voices filtered through my haze of misery.
“This is her room?” The male voice sounded familiar, but in my mostly sleeping state it took a few moments to put a name to it. JJ.
I turned my head away as the door creaked open. My eyes remained closed. I didn’t want to witness the guys’ reactions to my injuries. Light flared, and a swift, indrawn breath almost made me open my eyes.
“Fuck, JJ,” Souta muttered. “Look at her.”
“Believe me Sou, I am.” His voice held rage, but his fingers grazed my cheek gently. His hands slipped under me, and I couldn’t hold back the cry of pain. My eyes flew open, meeting his worried ones and then darted to Souta and Brooks.
“Don’t think of arguing,” Brooks rumbled. “You know damn well we aren’t about to leave you here.”
Pain made protesting impossible, and I allowed JJ to curl me into his chest. Souta pressed his phone to his ear as we walked out, but the haze in my brain didn’t allow me to listen in. When they headed to the school, I let out a squeak of protest. They ignored me. I felt eyes on me as we walked down the hall, and my cheeks heated in embarrassment. Whispers followed us. JJ murmured soft reassurances in my ear.
When we made it out the front doors, a black sedan idled by the curb. I whimpered as JJ shifted us to settle into the back with So
uta, Brooks sitting in the front with a uniformed driver. A large, red patch with a golden bird and an ornate K decorated his black jacket, and the jaunty little cap rested at an angle on his head. As the car rolled along, I drifted off again, still curled into JJ and one hand clutching tight to the one Souta offered.
~
The sharp jabs of pains from being shifted brought me awake again. My eyes went wide, and a shocked squeak escaped me as I took in our location. Beautifully manicured lawns spread out in an emerald expanse. A curved, stone drive surrounded a small, simple, yet elegant fountain ringed in roses. The house before me stood proud and strong, like someone took it out of the English countryside and dropped it in the middle of Washington. The glass fronted door opened as we ascended the steps and an older, Asian man lifted an eyebrow at us. The same red and gold patch rested on his coat.
“I take it, Master Souta, you need me to call your mother.” His voice held a heavy accent, telling me English was not his first language.
“Yes, please, Shiro,” Souta said absently as JJ carried me down the hall.
The boys’ extreme focus on me seemed wrong. They needed to worry about school and finding their Ignis, not me. JJ slid me onto a plush, red sofa, his hand brushing back some of the hair matted to my forehead.
“You’re okay now, firefly,” JJ murmured. “We’re going to take care of you.”
I wanted to protest, to tell them not to be like this but the words stuck in my throat. Souta and Brooks settled on the floor with JJ whispering reassurances of their own. My aching body refused to allow my mind to settle. I knew I would be intimidated by the obvious wealth around me once I could focus again, but for now, I rested.
The four of us sat in silence for some time before Souta’s mom walked in. Her appearance closely resembled Souta’s own. Her dark hair, pulled into a simple twist, framed delicate features. A pair of gold, wire framed glasses perched on her nose, and an easy, confident smile spread over her face. Her low-heeled, black pumps clicked over the floor and echoed throughout the house. Her gaze swept over me, taking in my bruises and obvious injuries before finding Souta.
