(113)

'9 years ago' Y/n's POV

"113, I found you!"

On my right ankle, I felt a hand wrapped around it tightly. Suddenly someone pulled me down roughly.

*crash*

As I collapsed to the ground, I noticed my sister, 324, chuckling as she sat on a tree branch, swinging her feet in the air. Her ponytail hairstyle flowed delicately in the breeze as she swayed her head.

I sat on the ground and rubbed my swollen head.

"THAT HURTS, YOU KNOW?!" Since the tree is roughly 7 feet tall, my body, particularly my skin, feels as if it has been stung by a swarm of bees.

My sister stuck her tongue out and grabbed a handful of leaves. She then threw it towards me. I covered my face using my arm to avoid the leaves landing on my face, but it still landed on my hair. I patted the leaves off my head and glared at her.

"I HATE YOU!"

"I LOVE YOU TOO, LIL SIS!"

She giggled once again then climbed down the tree.

324 walked towards me and stretched out her hand to help me stand. I took her hand and stood up. I then patted the dirt off my white kimono.

"You're only four years older than I, so stop calling me little anymore!" I crossed my arms together and pouted.

"Sure, my big 3-year-old sister," She sarcastically said and smirked. That diabolic smirk caused my temper to explode like an active volcano. I glared at her and tilted my head to the side. Her cheeks puffed with air as she desperately held her laughter inside.

"Why are you laughing? Do you think this is funny?!" I curled my knuckles and placed my arms towards the side as I questioned her as if she's some criminal who tried to escape my wrath.

She then held her mouth to stop her laughter, but it got its way out, anyway. She laughed like a clown in a children's party who loves pissing off kids. Well, she looks like a clown, especially with that smirk.

Anger swallowed me whole, and I wanted to throw a tantrum like a spoiled brat. However, I believe that I'm already too old for that. I took a deep breath to calm myself before talking to my sister. I want to talk to her calmly.

"Why are you *sniff* laughing?" My plan to talk to my sister calmly but failed miserably as my vision became clouded with tears. As soon as my sister saw the tears rolling down my soft chubby cheeks, she stopped laughing.

"Shhh, shh, I'm sorry," She cupped my cheeks with so much care as if my neck would break at any moment. I ignored her and kept crying my eyes out,"

"WAAAAHHH!"

"I'm sorry, baby," she tried to calm me.

"Darling?"

"Princess?"

"Sweety pie?" she panicked. She usually calls me by a cute nickname to calm me down, but nothing is working.

"My dear poopsie?" I stopped crying and looked at her in confusion.

'What? Do I look like poop?'

Suddenly, I began crying again because of the nickname.

"Oh, no," she rubbed my back and smiled.

"My sweet potato pie with chili cheese on top?"

"What in the goddamn fuck are those nicknames? Wahhhh!"

"I'm sor- wait, what did you say?" I stopped crying and gazed at her.

"What in the goddamn fuck are those nicknames?" She furrowed her eyebrow.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm not standing in your way, though. Am I?" I stepped to the side.

"No, I mean, where did you learn that?" She held my shoulder with both of her arms and stared dead into my eyes. I shivered. She looks like she's going to eat me at any second.

"Uhh, Ummm"

"Hi guys, what's happening here," our brother 108 waved his hands towards us. 324 let go of my shoulder and turned to 108.

"My darling, 113, learned how to swear. Can you believe it?" 108 eyes widened and let out a nervous laugh.

"Really?" he smiled nervously.

"Yeah," She said as if she's going to murder someone.

"Oh, I'm gonna go now." 108 walked away, slightly shaking.

"Why?" 324 crossed her arms.

"Ehhh, 267 is asking me to help her cook lunch," 108 walked away faster.

"First 267 doesn't know how to cook, second she's already adopted." 324 turned to me.

"What's wrong with him?" She raised her right brow.

"Maybe because he's the one who taught me those words" I placed my index finger at my chin and turned to the sky.

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah, he found a book with those words written on it. He then taught me those words to make me seem cool!" I exclaimed, slightly clapping my hands.

324's right eye twitched.

She then turned to 108, who's running for his life.

"108, YOU BASTARD!" She chased 108 like a lion who's ready to crush its prey's skull.

"I DIDN'T KNOW THAT THOSE WORDS ARE BAD WHEN I TAUGHT HER IT," 108 replied fearfully while running.

"YOU'RE SO DEAD!"

I watched 324 chase 108 like a hungry-furious lion to a zebra. Suddenly, someone touched my shoulder. I turned around and saw my brother 501.

"What's happening here?" He rested his arms on my shoulder.

Suddenly, someone messed up my hair from behind.

"Oi, 113, what's up?" just by hearing her soft-boyish voice. I immediately realized that it's my sister, 347.

"Nothing much,"

"Damn, 324 looks like she's gonna swallow 108 alive." 347 said.

"Yeah, 113, what happened?" 501 questioned calmly with a smile.

"Well, 108-"

"113, daughter, let's go. It's your turn now," I heard my father say calmly. I ran to hug my father then pouted.

"Is it going to hurt?" My father picked me up and carried me on his shoulder.

"Yes, but it will be necessary for your treatment, remember?" He tickled my stomach to cheer me up. I giggled a bit.

"Yeah,"

"Don't worry. It only hurts like an ant bite, "

"Okay!" I cheered.

'It only hurts a bit, right? Right? '

----

"There you go," a woman dressed in white said calmly. She injected something liquid into my body using a metal syringe. I gritted my teeth as I endured the pain. As the needle enters my skin, it feels 10x more painful than the glass syringe.

She then patted my head and went to the door. She entered the other room and gazed at me with a smile through the glass. Suddenly, she pressed something on the table.

"AHHHHHHH!" I screamed in pain. I tried to get up, but the metal chains stopped me from leaving the chair. Electricity played in my body as tears fell from my eyes.

It hurts a lot.

I feel as if I'm being burned alive, but aside from a few minor burns, there are no scars visible. My blood vessels felt like they were exploding from the pain, blazing like a lightbulb from the electricity as it traveled through my body.

Suddenly, I felt something wet. A thick liquid was running down from my ears. The sounds of metal chains as I struggle are now mute. As if they have vanished into the air.

I can't hear them.

Suddenly, everything went black.

I opened my eyes and saw that I was back in my room. My body felt numb, and I couldn't control my arms for a moment.

With my eyes half open, I sat on the bed and rubbed my head. My head hurts as if a drill keeps digging into my skull until it reaches my brain.

It hurts. Everything hurts.

But it's for my health, right?

This is for me to be free from my illness, right? Right?

Suddenly, 347 entered the room, covered in bruises and wounds, and hugged me,

"What happened?" I felt her tears wet my white kimono.

"I'm still not as strong as a normal human being. I still can't be adopted," she said, heartbroken.

I rubbed her back to comfort her. Even if we all want to be together forever, we also want to be free from our illness and be normal. We want all the treatments to stop since we don't know if we can still manage to endure it. All of it hurts like hammers and burns like hellfire. However, we need it to be normal.

347's problem is her strength. I already passed the strength test about a month ago and the test was no joke. Just like we are told, a normal human can kill a lion with ease.

I managed to kill the lion with the help of a dagger but it almost cost me my life. Now, what I'm trying to cure is my lack of speed. I'm still pretty slow as I can't still beat a cheetah in a race.

I just want to be healed and go to the real world. Interact with humans and make friends.

But do humans really have the strength a gorilla and the speed of a falcon?

Of course they do, my father wouldn't lie to me, right?

After a few minutes, my other siblings entered the room with blood on their kimonos and bruises all over their body. We all hugged each other as the pain in our body overwhelmed our minds. We can only feel pain but at least, having each other's company makes it easier to endure.

However, someone is missing.

Where is 501?

Suddenly, the door handle of our wooden door turned, then our father entered the room with a smile.

"Where is 501?" I asked.

"He just got adopted," he replied calmly.

"And we didn't get the chance to say goodbye," 324 mumbled into the hug.

She's right. Just like when 267 got adopted, we didn't have the time to say goodbye, and now 501 got adopted without even having a chance to give us a last hug.

That broke my heart into a million pieces, but at least now he's happy with his own family, right?

"He has a wonderful family now," my father said.

"Now, 113, we have another test, okay?" He stretched his hands towards me.

My eldest sister, 8136, entered the room just as I was going to stand up and hastily hid me and my siblings behind her. Her body is strewn with red bruises that appear to have been caused by a rope. Tatters are all over her kimono, and she has shorn off all of her hair.

'What happened? Did she just finish her strength test?'

"No more tests for them, please!" she begged, kneeling on the ground while keeping us hidden behind her.

She looked horrified, she had black circles under her eyes, and she kept begging our father to stop our treatment. Why?

I didn't understand what she meant, but I'm happy that she's there. It's been a year since I last saw my eldest sister.

Suddenly, doctors began taking her away from us.

"Wait! No! Let go of me!" she began screaming and fighting back as the doctors dragged her away.

"What happened?" I asked my father.

"Your sister, 8136, got mentally ill since she didn't take her medicine, and now you and your siblings saw your sister in this state. It broke my heart since I treat all of you like my own children," He hugged us.

"It's not your fault, father," we all replied.

"I love you all so much," he whispered. My lips turned into a smile as my father said those loving words. 'I love you too, father,'

After a few minutes, he pulled from the hug, wiping the tears off his eyes.

"Now, 113. Let's go?"

"Hmm," I stood up.

Suddenly, a tearful headache occurs on my head to the point that it's hard for me to keep standing up. I wince and lose balance, then fall on the floor.

"Are you okay?" My father picked me up and laid me on the bed.

I didn't answer as the headache got worse and worse.

Since I can't keep my balance, my father left the room, and the test got moved to the other day.

I slept for hours until it's dinner time.

108 softly woke me up and guided me to the dinner table. He helped me to sit on my chair and patted my head softly. He then went back to his seat and smiled at me.

We all ate dinner in silence, and no one dared to talk due to the pain we're enduring.

These are all my favorite foods. However, I can't seem to like any of them. I felt like vomiting every food that entered my system. Maybe because of the side effects of the medicine? Just like what happened last time.

After dinner, our father gave us gifts and chocolates.

Because 347 enjoys painting, my sister got a set of canvas and paints as a present. 108, my brother, received a range of fantasy literary novels as presents. Various colored kimonos and jewels are gifts for 324.

For me, I received a goat plushy.

"What are you gonna name your goat plushy, darling?" 324 asked, starting a conversation.

"Well, I don't know," I ghosted my fingers on the soft synthetic fur of the plushy,

"What is your favorite thing about your plushy?"

"Its horn and its fur,"

"How about name it, furry?"

"No, I don't like it?"

"Then what are you gonna name it?"

"Umm, maybe... Horny?" My father immediately choked on his food.

"What?" I asked innocently.

Suddenly 324 smacked 108's head.

"DID YOU TAUGHT HER THAT?!"

"NO, I DIDN'T- OUCH!"

"HOW DARE YOU TALK BACK TO ME!" she then smacked his head again.

347 and I then began laughing as the 324 and 108 began fighting each other. Our father tried to calm them down, but it's no use to 324's exploding anger.

After 5 minutes, they stopped fighting. Well, 324 stopped attacking 108 like a cat towards a filthy rat.

"Darling, you cannot name your plushy that, okay?" I smirked and decided to tease 324 more.

"Why? He's Horny though?," I pointed at the goat's horn.

"No," I grinned. To be honest, I have no idea what that word means, but it seems like it irritates 324 so much. I wonder why but I'll go with it just for the sole purpose of teasing 324.

"He's horny,"

"Stop!"

"He is,"

"Shut up!"

"Horny," I hugged my plushy tightly.

"Horny,"

"Horny,"

"Ho-"

"DON'T YOU DARE FINISH THAT WORD," She stared dead into my eyes, causing me to smirk.

"Horny!" I stood up and began running. She chased me with one of 108's books, ready to smack my face with it.

"My book," 108 mumbled, looking defeated.

After a few minutes of running from a crazy girl, we sat back in our seats.

"Father, can we see 8136 again? Just for the night," You begged.

"No, it's dangerous,"

"Why?"

"She's crazy, 113,"

"Please," 347 begged, helping me to persuade our father.

We missed our sister dearly. We only meet our sister once or trice a every four months but, even so, we love her so much. She treat us with so much respect and loves us.

And I know, she wouldn't lay a finger to hurt us.

We managed to persuade our father for about 2 hours of begging. As a result, our sister will be sleeping with us tonight.

----

"The princess found her prince, and they lived happily ever after. The end," 8136 closed the storybook as she kissed our foreheads.

"Why does every story have a happy ever after? What if she's not happy with the prince? What if she never found her prince? Does real life have a happy ever after?" I asked.

"Well, for me, if you're not happy with your life. It means that it's not the end," she pinched my cheeks and smiled. She then pulled our blankets up to our chin and placed another kiss on our foreheads.

"I want to have my happy ever after one day, sister!" I exclaimed.

"Me too!" 347 said.

"Does that require a prince or a princess?" 108 asked.

"No, you can be happy even without a prince or a princess," 8136 replied.

"Good, I don't wanna get married,"

"Same," 324 said.

"It's not like anyone's going to want to marry you, 324," I replied. 324 glared at me and tried to attack me, but 347 held her hand, stopping her and pulling back on the bed.

8136 chuckled, then lay beside me.

"I love you all. I promise to protect all of you with my own life,"

"We love you too, 8136," me, 108, 347, and 324 replied.

She ghosted her fingers in my hair as I drifted into a deep slumber.

This is the best day of my life, I missed my sister, and now she's here with us. I wish in the future that we can have our happy ever after together, where we can live in a place filled with flowers and butterflies, where happiness shines within us like the sun.

After we all get treated, we will be happy, and nothing will separate us.

In the morning, I woke up not in my room. I'm laying on a hospital bed. My siblings are nowhere to be seen, even a single trace of them. Maybe, my father picked me up when I was asleep to begin my treatment a lot earlier? Or did they need to treat me when I was in a deep slumber?

I stood up and tried to leave the room, but a doctor stopped me.

"113,"

"I just need to get something inside my room,"

"No,"

"Why?"

She tried to stop me, but I'm persistent. After a few minutes, she gave up and let me go.

I immediately went to my room, but instead of the lovely scent of 347's lavender perfume. I was surprised by the disgusting smell of copper.

As my eyes scanned the area, I noticed a slew of doctors holding 8136, who was wielding a knife. She's drenched in blood as she fights to free herself from the doctor's hands.

My eyes startled as I noticed 347's body resting on the ground. The beads from my sister's jewelry dispersed all across the floor, and her white kimono has turned maroon. Her jaw got pulled away from her face, so her face is unidentifiable. The only reason why I identified her is because of her pearl bracelet.

As I examined her body in shock, something caught my attention, causing my breath to stop and my heart to beat faster than a horse stomp.

Behind her body is 108. My brother's neck got snapped in half, leaving the veins in his neck hanging in the edge of the chair. His body is bent backward against the chair, causing his backbone to pierce out of his body and become visible. Beside him is 324, whose body parts and organs are scattered everywhere in the room. Their blood darkened their clothes and created maroon splashes on the white wall.

I watched their blood flow away from their body, delicately, turning the color of their skin to lifeless pale.

My breathing gets heavier. I didn't know how to react at first.

I was just standing there, frozen, unable to think.

This isn't real, right?

Right?

Suddenly, tears escaped my eyes. The recollections of my siblings felt like they were crushing my heart.

"Y/n, your hair is tangled again, and your body got covered in wooden splinters. What happened this time?" My sister 347 placed her fist on her waist as she scolded me because of my reckless actions.

"I fell from the tree. Why are you nagging me?" I answered stoically and raised my right brow.

"You little! I'm going to rip the tongue off your mouth if you keep talking like a disrespectful brat," She said, smiling. I pouted.

"347, come on, she's hurt already," 108 defended me. God, I love my brother so much.

"She's being a brat," 234 replied, glaring at him.

What happened here?

Then something clicked in. The knife in 8136, the blood and...

My father's word

"She's dangerous, 113,"

Did you do this?

Why?

Sister, I thought we'll grow old together? Why? Why? WHY?!

Why did you kill them? I thought you loved us.

You said you're going to protect us. Why?!

If only I listened to our father, they would still be alive. If only I-

I didn't believe your words.

Now I'm suffocating in the fires of your so-called love with no one to save me from the lethal smoke and horrific burns.

I want to hurt you for what you did.

I want to stab you.

I want you to bleed to death just like what you did to them.

But what exactly am I doing here? As though the soles of my feet got cemented to the floor. I'm stuck in this place I can't get out of. I don't know what else to do but tremble. The fire of your lies consumed my strength and courage to move. My mind is luring me with plots of vengeance and the prospect of your blood on my hands. My heart, on the other hand, is telling me no.

Then I realized something.

I can't hurt you.

I'm too scared

I'm too weak

And-

My love for you was too much.

But why?