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  1. Public Bookmark 62

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    Useless.

     

    In his mind, that word is almost exclusively spoken in the headmaster’s clear, cruel voice, and with it comes a rush of remembered sensations, so vivid and all-consuming that Atsushi half-believes he’s back in the orphanage.

    The ache of hunger, radiating out from his stomach and deep into the bones of his ribcage.  The sharp, bitter taste of blood in his mouth.  The strange but undeniable rhythm of a beating, the pauses and blows almost as metrical as music.

    The agony of a nail pierced straight through his foot, the admonishment that he must learn to endure pain echoing throughout the room.

    And then Atsushi can breathe again.

    Because he knows.

    He knows what he has to do to make this right, and the certainty and simplicity of it are oddly comforting. He just has to prove his worth.  Despite his mistakes this morning, he isn’t useless.

    He just has to show everyone exactly how much he can endure.

    Whumptober #29: Troubled Past Resurfacing

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    20 Jul 2025