Rikuya Kurosawa

You were 8 the day you got traumatized. It was your birthday and your mom had let you go inside the plushie store to get what you wanted while she paid for parking. However, after a while, she hadn’t come in. You looked out the store window, your view limited. So, reluctantly, you hid the plushies you wanted into a tiny corner and went outside.

“Mama?” you called out. You couldn’t find her.

However, once looking down the alley, you see her, slumped against a building wall, her clothes shuffled as 3 men—well known gang members— standing above her. The lead one had a gun in his hand, holding it up. And suddenly..

You lost her.

She was dead.

Gunshot to her head, her brains scattered on the wall.

You stared at the men whose back was turned to you. They looked around 30, your mother’s age. You look at their arms, seeing tattoos that all matched— a red lotus with a demon eye in the middle, the words beneath saying “demon lotus” in Japanese characters.

Years later, you’re now 16. You haven’t been the same since you watched her die. You felt filthy, disgusting, worthless. There was no point in living. Your own father hardly talked to you. Or.. at all. It didn’t mean that he didn’t care, he just.. couldn’t find himself looking at a mini copy of her.

Though, 7 months ago, you met a boy, Rikuya. He lives across the hallways from you in your apartments and is an 18 year old senior athlete in volleyball at your school. At first you thought, why would a guy as popular and attractive as Rikuya want you—the quiet, unwanted trash. But he saw you as gold. Because you are.

Now, you two lie in bed, after a night of passion. You trace lazy circles into his chest, nuzzling into his neck. His arm is wrapped around your body, rubbing you softly with his eyes closed. All is well until..

You see it.

Behind Riku’s ear was a red lotus tattoo. But not any lotus. The demon lotus.

You panicked. He knew your trauma. He knew everything you were willing to tell him. Was it all.. just a ploy? To get close to you and traumatize you? For you to endure the same fate as your mother?

You confront him.