ch 2

Momiji pov

I... can't wrap my head around it..

Looking at myself in the mirror at the shabby green hair wrapped in a wide bandage, I swore under my breath.

Dammit....my head hurts I hardly get this at all....

Hearing footsteps, the shoji doors opened to a familiar woman in a kimono as she tutted and gazed at me in spite.

"Why did you have to survive?…...You would've done such a huge favor had you just died."

The woman, Okaa-sama, said as she placed the tray of food in front of my bed harshly and left but not before I noticed Oto-sama gazing outside glaring.

As the two shut the shoji door..

I'll say it again...

"Dammit.."

I swore from my headache as I grabbed the tray and gobbled the bland rice with my chopsticks in irritation.

Ok...my bike slipped off the ice when I meeting my best friend at the cafe..

The last thing I heard was the ringing paramedic until everything went full black.

And..

.....

Alright, now I'm feeling chills...or my head's still probably a bit cracked after I tried bashing it in concrete.

The vision of the tall buildings I used to pass in my old town resurfaced.

If I jumped off those things, I probably would be surely dead.

The shivers in my spine arose as I remembered something after I slipped off the ice.

The scene as Ougi Zenin threw Maki and Mai to that pit of curses..

For the first time in my life....I really think that he would never love us...

I always thought that maybe it could change..

Maki used to say he'd throw us to the dogs but I never thought he'd do it..

At least now I know hoping for his aknowledgement is just pure stupidity..

And to think I spent my whole life yearning for just that...

To the point of dying for it...

To think this is the first I understood why Maki-nee called me an idiot.

And to think that it was because I was...

Now that I know.... Oto-sa-.

Why the heck should I have ever called that man my father..

I did everything I could..

To think he'd do that..

I bit my lips feeling the sting as I dropped my chopsticks on the tray.

..Ougi Zenin will never love his daughters so far as to kill them for his own gain....

A man who only cares for himself.....how stupid of me to hope for his approval...

I knew that back then but I couldn't hope but want it..

Seeing that thought, I bit my lip as bitter tears flowed....

Maybe I still do..

Hah....I think it made it hurt worse than it already did..

The shoji doors slide open as a green haired girl wearing a childish red kimono went inside.

"You feeling alright, Momiji? Maki's out cleaning the yard and since I had some extra time she told me to check on you."

Mai said as she sat on space of my futon.

"mhm... I'm good."

'I think.'

I replied to her as she held my bandage.

"Maki-nee told me to change the bandage. I'm not good at it but it's better than getting it infected."

Mai said as she sighed and took out a bandage roll from the cabinets.

"Momiji.....how did you fall off? You're good at climbing trees. How could you fall off..."

She said gnawing at her lip as she changed the bandages on my head.

"It doesn't matter. I probably just took a wrong ste-....you good, Mai?"

I replied but then noticed her silence gazing outside the shoji door as she froze.

Then I noticed the sound...

'¢€¥~Let me in!~€¥¥'

'P0-po-p-po-pp0~•'

The voice said as it knocked on the door sliding open to see its ugly deformed face.

A figure as if a deformed baby crawled in with purple skin and bulging red eyes.

It looked frightening.....I would freeze too...

But....

I stood up and shut the door.

"You don't see it. It won't do crap, dammit."

I said as an rang old chant resurfacing as I lunged back to my futon.

The vision hazily as I sat on a couch popcorn in hand as I sat with a blurry figure touched my mind as I groaned.

I loved horror movies... or rather my best friend loved them and I had to deal with it a lot.

I still feared them but gained enough tolerance to at least swear at them when I don't want to deal with them.

Remembering seemed to help get that certain tolerance back....

Also....

It did help now that I remembered from the story that most of the curses in the clan house were mostly harmless despite looking so ugly.

Looking to Mai, I noticed her gazing at me strangely.

Well, I suppose it was weird. I usually would be even worse off than her then start bawling at the sight of them.

How do I explain this...

"Maki told me that she won't talk to me and I didn't want to go to sleep with it looking at me s-so I'd rather shut the door."

I reasoned acting cowardly as I made myself sunk into my knees.

Hah....to think I'd be using my usual behavior as an act to keep things out of suspicion...

how weird..

And to think because this should've been my usual behavior.... I'd act it out perfectly...

"Momiji.....Maki-nee's really mad at you...."

Mai said as she sighed and sat in a ball position holding her knees.

"I've heard. Apparently because of my actions they made you two get more chores as punishment."

I replied.

Heared...? more life was deafened because of it. Last night, Maki-nee ran to the room kicking the door berating me about that to the point that I nearly thought she'd murder me.

If it wasn't for somebody dunno whose name complaining about the noise, she would've continued all night.

Thus I'm freaking tired, why can't the injured just rest?...

"I'm mad too, you know. But, I'm not as mad as Maki-nee cause' I know what Oto-sama said yesterday..."

Mai told me as she held my hand softly.

"Maki-nee warned you. You were dumb. But don't die."

She said as she leaned on me.

Dumb huh? well she isn't wrong...

Not even the slightest...

"Mai-nee.....why did you never hope for it like me?...how did you figure out so easily that it'd be dumb..."

I asked melancholicly as I breathed an air of exhaustion from the reminiscence.

"Simply because it is."

Mai reasoned as Maki entered the door suddenly as we both stood silent looking at her.

"Because our clan's shit and He is too."

Maki said as she took her own futon and layed on it.

"The only reason you didn't know is because you're a complete numbskull. Good thing you were. No wonder you survived your head getting hit."

She scolded harshly as she punched the futon's sheet.

Well..

Hmmm..... That's true....

I failed to see it...

This place is like a jungle of apes at it for each other's throats....

Primitive and cruel..

The weak are shattered under its weight or .....

because you're a girl....

Haaah.....

How crappy...

I, Momiji Zenin, was stupid enough not to notice that.

Hah,....if it were a game of instinct I guess I'd lose...

Even a dog figures when its environment is hostile..

How stupid of me....

"Is that so....."

I whispered to myself as Mai pulled out her futon next to mine.

From the shoji doors, I heard the sound of clacking knocks.

"M-maki-nee.....I think it's there again..."

'Po-P0-po-p-po-pp0~•'

Mai said as we heard the curses voice knocking at the door.

"Haaah....when will you two grow up...you know I can't see them.."

Maki told us as she stood up.

ughhh.....I don't want it looking at us as we sleep. But....even if Maki isn't scared of them...

She can't exactly do much to keep them away... except try to chase them a bit...even if she can't see them...

As Maki opened the door to our surprise instead of an ugly curse was a black feathered creature.

A crow....?

" A crow? Either way, Go away!"

Maki said as she tries to shoo it away but despite her efforts it dodged and stubbornly wanted to stay fighting her for it.

'Just go away already'

I thought as I noticed it gaze at me as it suddenly stood still.

I heard it caw as it flew away.

How odd...

"Finally! stop bothering me and go to sleep you two."

Maki said as laid down in her futon.

She's right I'm exhausted.

I found myself yawning with that thought as I dozed off.

Little did I know about the crow gazing from afar carrying the irritating curse in its beak.

'

'Po-P0-po-p-po-pp0~!!'

The curse struggled.

The kin of dark birds surrounded the forest cawing in unison as I only groaned.

Just shut up...

As the silence returned allowing me to fall asleep.