Chapter Text
"You... just... said... what ?"
Maya uttered the words slowly, her voice icy, her dark eyes fixed on her adoptive sister, Coco. The seemingly innocuous phrase Coco had spoken was, on the surface, harmless. Yet, it was the spark that lit the fuse. Like a dam breaking, painful memories surged in Maya's mind. Every humiliation, every frustration accumulated since childhood—all of it was tied to Coco. That phrase, insignificant to anyone else, was the last straw for Maya.
"Maya, what I meant was—" Coco began.
She didn’t have time to finish. With a swift motion, Maya grabbed Coco's silky blonde hair, yanking it with brutal force. A sharp cry escaped Coco’s lips as strands of her hair were torn free, left in Maya's clenched fist.
"Stop, Maya ! You're hurting me !" Coco cried, shocked by her sister's violent outburst.
Maya didn’t flinch. Her long-suppressed anger was now pouring out uncontrollably.
"Hurting you ? How dare you talk about being hurt ? Since the day you arrived, Coco, you’ve done nothing but hurt me. You took everything—my space, my place, my very existence !"
The sharp sound of a slap echoed in the room, breaking the oppressive silence. Coco's cheek turned bright red almost instantly. A solitary tear slipped down her face as she whispered, her voice trembling, "Why...?"
Maya, her eyes blazing with tears of rage, replied, her voice shaking with emotion:
"That’s for the cat I lost because of your allergy. You’ll never understand how much I resented you for that. He was my ray of sunshine—the only one who truly loved me for who I am."
A second slap, harder than the first, struck Coco’s other cheek.
"And that," Maya continued, her voice rising, "is for the time you almost threw me out of the library window while we were preparing that history presentation about Belgium. You act like the perfect little innocent, but you’re toxic, Coco. Dangerous!"
Desperately, Coco tried to reason with her. "I know I lost control that day... I apologized, Maya ! Please, stop this. We can talk, I beg you !"
But her words only fueled Maya’s fury. Grabbing the collar of Coco’s sweater, Maya shook her violently.
"And what about the time I made a South Korean friend at school, only for you to ruin it by beating her up in our home and throwing her out ? You took my only friend, Coco ! My only one !"
Maya’s fist collided with Coco’s face, sending the blonde reeling. Despite being a skilled athlete and rugby player, Coco was paralyzed—not by Maya’s physical strength, but by the raw emotional violence behind each blow.
Maya’s voice reached a fever pitch, her anger erupting like a volcano.
"And the time you invited me to join your band just to have me play the triangle ? Your assholes friends ignored me, humiliated me, trampled all over me! I was nothing but a punching bag for your shitty little band !"
Grabbing Coco's wrists with a crushing grip, Maya locked eyes with her.
"Listen to me, bitch," she spat, her voice dripping with venom.
"You’ve poisoned my life, you parasite. Not only do you hog all the attention at this fucking school to the point where I feel like I don’t exist in this damn place, but you also stole my family’s love just because your own parents couldn’t keep you safe !
"So hear me loud and clear, Miss ‘I’m-Better-Than-Everyone’: stop pretending you can fix anything for me because it’s already too late ! My problem is you. Your very existence ruins my life. Don’t talk to me ever again ! You’re not my sister anymore. Go waste your time with that degenerate redhead who thinks she’s something she’s not !"
With a violent shove, Maya pushed Coco out of her room. Coco hit the hallway wall hard before collapsing to the floor. The door slammed shut behind her, sealing the rift between them.
In a final, desperate attempt, Coco murmured weakly, "May..." before breaking down into sobs.
She lifted her gaze and met the eyes of their other sister, Mymy, who stood frozen, a drink in her hand. Pale and trembling, the redhead slowly backed away into her room without a word, the door closing silently behind her.
Shaking, Coco crawled to the bathroom. Facing the mirror, she examined the damage: her cheeks were swollen and red, her eye already blackened, strands of hair missing, and a thin line of blood trailing from her lip. She washed her face, but the water couldn’t wash away the searing pain inside.
In her own room, Maya sat slumped against the door, her body shaking with sobs. She covered her mouth with her hand, stifling her cries.
"What have I done ? What have I done ?" she whispered over and over.
"I’m the worst kind of monster," she murmured, fully convinced of her own damnation.