Holistic deals

[Cranked out some words pretty slowly, I don't really think I can do Paradise travels atm so I decided to do something else on the side for the guys that like my work. Lost most of the vision in my left eye, that kinda bums me out but I'll wear a cool eye patch. Just need some good clothes to go with it.]

The beatings had been going on for as long as I remembered them. Maybe if I hadn't taken them for my mom and sister, I would have had a break, but I wouldn't let that man touch them. There weren't many things that kept me going in this world but family and not letting that man have everything he wants is two of them.

I honestly felt like it was a gray world. Even when it was a fun-filled day with no clouds in the sky, it looked overcast to me. It had even become a hobby of mine to lean my head against my window when I was alone and zone out, imagining freedom from this place. Sure, I could run, but my body was in so much pain recently that I don't know if I could make it far anyway and who would protect my family.

Mother wouldn't even look at my and my little sister anymore because of the shame, I believe, the fact that she was counting on her fourteen-year-old son to take the daily beatings of three people and she couldn't say a word to help was too much for her pride.

As for my younger sister, she was the only warmth on my coldest night. Her name was Aika, and she was always the biggest bundle of joy a nine-year-old could be. I watched whatever shows she wanted or played whatever games she wanted to play.

She was a huge fan of the Nasuverse because of the strong females, so we had started playing Fate/ Grand Order a few months ago. Between that and watching anime with her, I was mostly able to ignore our father's constant rampages. Aiki's favorite character was Musashi because of her voice lines and personality, and because of how cool she was with the sword when she chopped chaos in half. I honestly might agree with her; she went beyond everyone else's swordsmanship with that final cut, didn't she?

Aiki wants to grow up like Musashi, and honestly, I can see it. Maybe not the world cutting powers, but their personalities are already very similar. The laughter and energy, the love for meat, and all that good stuff. I would say if our father had a dojo in the Edo period that Aika would be Musashi.

The school wasn't anything special; I kept my grades up so I wouldn't invite more anger from my father but never accepted my classmates' invites to go anywhere. I could tell they were worried, but I never said anything so they wouldn't get involved.

The teacher's never want to be involved, living out ordinary lives so they can collect their paychecks and have a clean record that says they never failed to see that a student was being beaten into a pile of shit every night. Even if something was said, what then? My father goes to jail for a few years at maximum, and then he comes back, and it gets worse?

I'll survive a few more years, and then it will end. I can drop out of school, leave, and take Aiki with me. Finding two jobs won't be hard; it depends on how desperate you are and how far down you are willing to stomp your pride.

Construction and convenience store jobs and movers are always looking to hire, even if it's part-time. Holding two or three at once will be fine though, I will have enough to take care of Aiki and me and put aside for her school.

Lifting my head off the school window, I packed my books up and left the classroom. Before the others, getting home was the number one rule I had. It was the easiest way to intercept that man's frustrations. It honestly irked me that he was home before our mom, me, and Aika because most of my classmates' fathers worked a lot later.

Though I don't really know anything about him, and what I know are things like his favorite places to hit and how making a sound makes him hit harder. Thinking about that stupid bastard and his mustache makes me angry, it looks thin and weak, and I'll make sure to tell him that right before I leave.

Crossing the street, I made sure to look both ways, avoiding any trucks and cars. I had a sister and mother to protect, after all. The walk home takes me about twenty minutes, and that's if I don't stop for any distractions, but today was going to be a day, I knew it. I heard a lot of barking and yowling coming from a small side alley to my left, so stopping at the entrance, I saw three dogs surrounding a small gray cat.

They were taking turns hopping forward and nipping at the cat before leaping backward, slowly harassing it so it would tire down; grabbing the bag on my shoulder, I walked forward and started waving it at the dogs.

"BACK. BACK."

I said in a stern tone as they yipped and squeezed between my legs and the alley walls before bolting out of the alley entrance. I gave the cat a look and saw it was mostly alright before I turned around and headed home.

Well, I had already been close to home, about five minutes, so I was preparing myself for the daily 'toughening' as he called it. Turning the knob, I walked inside and was immediately blindsided by a large, heavy burning pain on the side of my face.

I bounced off the wall before hitting the floor and felt several duller burning pains on my left arm and ribs. A tearing pain assaulted my scalp before I heard him speak:

"Three minutes late, does it look like I have the time to wait for a pathetic excuse of a child?"

I knew saying anything would make it worse, as it would count as talking back to him. So I kept quiet, taking my silence as affirmation my beating continued.

The only good thing about his beatings is he was oddly careful about them since he wouldn't hit anywhere already bloody since he didn't want to ruin his suits. He targeted areas that were already slightly healed or completely healed and cracked them open.

After he finally grew tired, he pulled out a chair from the dining table and sat down as he looked at me. I could see the contempt in his eyes, but I'm sure he could see the same in my own as I prompt myself against the wall.

"Got something you want to say to me, boy?" The man said in a mocking, daring tone. One that said he didn't think I had the balls too.

"Why don't you just wipe the shit off your lip and grow a mustache?" I asked with blood dribbling out of my mouth. Maybe if the bastard kills me, my sister will be free from him. I gave him a little smirk " You shit-stain, Pillow-bitter, Yo-"

I never finished that sentence when the chair that was next to him slammed into my head. I remember a couple of vibrations after that, heard the sound of wood breaking.

I heard sirens a second later, a few seconds after that crying, and then nothing.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Aki woke up in a room with a very haunting atmosphere, there was mist clinging to his ankles and legs, and no matter where he looked, he could only see tombstones of different sorts. Gray dirt, gray stone, gray sky, and gray trees, honestly, it reminded him of an old Ps2 series he used to play.

Walking forward, Aki wondered where he had woken up, more importantly, how had he gotten here? The last he remembered was taking a chair upside the head by the bastard. Walking for a few hours before his legs started to feel tired, Aki was about to rest before he saw the outline of a huge tree in the distance. Or at least he thought it was a tree.

The mist wax and waned, making it harder to see at times and fully engulfing his head. The place's strangeness didn't end there because even when he tried to read a headstone, most of them were in a language he had never seen on earth. Well, it was more accurate to say he hadn't seen a language from the earth he recognized yet.

Walking for so long, Aki finally lost track of how many times his legs hard hurt, but the tree that reached the sky was finally getting closer, and his anticipation was building. He had imagined what was under it this whole time, a town, treasure, answers, something?

It still took another ten rests before he could finally discern details on the tree, but even then, he couldn't make out what was next to the trunk, with the tree being so huge it looked more like a world could be held on top of it. So he kept walking.

Eventually, he lost count again. Lost in thought about his little sister, about if she was alright, and if she had gotten away from that bastard, how he hoped his mom was alright as well even if she never helped. He hadn't noticed that he was almost next to the trunk, but when he did notice, he was in front of a couch and an old T.V. set that even had antennae on it.

The couch was a faded red color like it was washed in gray, and the T.V. only showed static. From the branches of the tree hung stuffed dolls held up by small bits of thin string. The dolls circled the area with the couch and T.V., so Aki grew curious about why they hung there. Walking up to one of them, he resolved to see if it was actually there since he hadn't touched anything since he had come here.

Right as he was about to touch it, though, a young, feminine voice that was slightly distorted rang out, "Hehehe, they don't like it when you touch them. Only I can touch them."

Aki felt a pair of arms slide over his shoulders, slender and cool though, not the warmth he was used to. Twisting at the waist, he didn't see anything behind him, but the arms remained " Who's there?"

"Ahahaha, Who do you want to be here? Hmmm?!"

The voice trilled on for a while, teasing him. "My name is mine after alllll. I can't give it to others~ hahaha~!" While the pair of arms yanked and pulled at his neck from obvious excitement and laughter, Aki did his best to remain upright.

"Mori wants to make a deal with this soul! Deal, deal, deal! Entertain me!"

"'Soul'? So I died?" Aki asked

"Yeppers!" The voice responded excitedly as the hands started poking his cheeks and mouth.

"Then how would I entertain you?"

"I will revive you and send you to interesting places and watch you! I will give you a boon if it is interesting, but if it isn't, I might not give it to you. If you keep me really entertained, I might give you more!"

'I guess I don't have anything better to do, but I want to ask about my family first.' Aki thought, "Sure, I will take your deal. But can I ask about my family first?"

"EHhhmmm, Mori says your Mommy is fine, you Daddy is in a small room, but your sister is like you. Your daddy will definitely be tortured when he comes to Mori." Said the floating pair of arms, but with that information, Aki already knew what his first wish would be.

"I'll take your deal then."

The hands gripped his shoulders and shook him in excitement, "Tell me! What is your boon! I know where I want to send you first! Hurry, please! We have been so bored!"

"Can you bring my sister here?"

"Ehhhh, that's not good at all! How does that make your journey more fun?! Nonono, I can't just leave her here anyway; souls sleep here."

"I mean to travel with me." Aki tried to clear the misunderstanding up; he didn't want his boon to go away, especially not his chance to get his sister back. She would definitely help him keep going through whatever he was getting himself into.

"Oh! Now that sounds interesting! Traveling through worlds! Protecting your sister! HOW AMAZING!" The voice screamed as the hands started shaking our nauseated protagonist. "DEAL! I'll give you a second boon too! Because that first one will make everything really interesting!"

'Making sure it is something she won't reject and finds entertaining while remaining useful, that's a lot. Maybe some skills, this way, I can teach it to Aiki as well. I know the perfect thing.' Aki thought, "You said I would be going to different worlds, right?"

"Yesyesyes!"

"Is the place with the holy grail wars and Chaldea real?" Aki asked

"Absolutely! That is a super entertaining place as well!" The hands mimicked speaking, after which they started to play with his ears.

"Then for my second boon, can I ask for the swordsmanship of Miyamoto Musashi, when she reached beyond zero?"

"Hmmmmmm, I LIKE THE IDEA. Everyone else asked for stupid stuff, like immortality, unlimited mana, the perfect body, and crazy stuff. No one ever asked for skills, something that keeps them mortal! Yeah, I can give you that!" Said the voice as the hands were ruffling his hair. "Are you ready?! I'm gonna change you just a tiny bit, though! I have to make you look good for later! Bye-bye!"

'Look better...for what?' Aki thought as his vision blackened around the edges until the last thing he saw was the old television with its static screen.