***EXTREME TRIGGER WARNING AHEAD, PROCEED WITH CAUTION***
A few days after she left the military.
Day 26
Shizuka had been fixing up her stuffs after moving to her new home in good mood. She was very happy because her home was spacious enough for her and at the same time, she had been able to place the furniture at all the necessary spots.
This is already the fifth day since she moved in, the house seemed more like a home after she made sure to personalize every nook and cranny to appeal to her interests. Amateur Interior Designing 101.
Actually, this house of hers was only found after endless house hunting from different agents and real estate agents.¹
This was how she made her life more exciting before, even though work and home squeezed her dry. The mindset of moving out had greatly driven her to excell and to understand.
From day 1 up to present she had been adjusting but now there was relative peace deep inside her. The small speaker she got for free when she bought her new phone greatly satiated her need for music as she busied herself. Since she was almost done, she couldn't help but dance to one of Queen Bee's girl power music. She felt so much like an independent woman and she's loving it! Of course it came with a price, but it's all worth it.
Her heart was also brimming with so much joy because the money she got from the research (since she's currently on days off with pay)+the money she saved ever since she started working, the money she got from the novel that she only found out after she came back, and the military's payment for a co-ownership rights for her personally owned customized and configured software gave her the chance to pay for her house in full. When she informed her real estate agent of this, she reminded Shizuka that since she would be buying the property in cash, she could obtain it with a lower price.
So, other than the excess money she saved up in case of an emergency plus the money she was able to keep because of the discount, she had been shouting out to her future self, "Hey, we still have savings!!☆☆☆ No deficits~ No deficits~ Awooooh Awooooh Awoooh!!"
Just so you know, her throat felt parched and became hoarse after her shenanigan. She didn't dare speak the day after.
....93% done with the house...
Day 27
On the sixth day, when she finished up the small details in her home. She had the sudden urge to just laze around. Literally.
After cleaning up, when she sat on the bed, she habitually succumbed to laying on the bed planning to stay there for the whole day, except of course for meals.
But before heading to her bed, when she looked at the window, it felt like something was calling her. She walked towards it, stood in front of her window, and looked at the busy street.
The sun held an inexplicable quality that day, it reminded her that she also experienced days of peace like this... a long, long, long time ago. The sun was brightly shining, the world seemed so pure back then.
She was having another episode.
Her heart pounded at her, while she saw something her eyes couldn't physically see, the streets were still there, civilians walking, cars moving about. It was her mind instead, showing a very distant place. She saw a Little Shishi walking with Shino on their way to her pre-kindergarten school.
She remembered that time, that was the time Shino came back from abroad. She closed her eyes to look away, but every detail became more precise, more defined.
Nineteen years ago, that was the Shishi from nineteen years ago.
That was the time Little Shishi was the child everyone showered with love and gifts and dreams.
Looking back, she was such a small, adorable, quiet, and obedient Shishi. She had the upbringing that could make any parent proud. They all just wanted her so much. So much so that Shino never really felt like a mother to Little Shishi, there really was no stress. After all, her daughter was always borrowed by her relatives and her friends. Who wouldn't, she was such a good girl with no qualms.
She also felt a sense of bitter sweetness. Just like the adults at that time, seeing her small self, she understood why so many people wanted to take care of her.
Her younger self was so adorable, dazzling in an effortless way, like a ray of warm light. Coming to terms, the Little Shishi did give people a sense of respite of some sort. You just can't help but swoon and sigh.
It was really unnerving for Shizuka to see this self.
Seeing that they were walking that old road, she was bothered by how her mother decided to enroll Little Shishi in that pre-school a few years back.
Why was she bothered, you ask?
It's because Shino had a close friend that had a position in that pre-school. She used that very connection to get Shishi in. Well and good, sure. Using connections is something normal, but it wasn't a normal pre-school. It was a charity organization with a free pre-school program for the poor. They were poor, but they weren't extremely poor.
The scene changed, Shizuka saw a stage with children performing on it. Below, there were many people watching, it was a mixture of children and adults but majority of them were children.
After becoming familiar with the memory, she saw the Little Shishi sitting with Shino. She was quietly watching the other kids perform.
Her small hands clung unto Shino's arm so dependently. While Shino looked at her from time to time. She really wasn't a hand full. Other kids would become bored by that time, Little Shishi on the other hand would just quietly observe or fall asleep. She fell asleep most of the time.
When the kids performing on the stage went down, there began a hubbub with the parents(audiences). A staff then went on stage to inform which class would perform next. Shino nudged her lightly. Little Shishi snappily became attentive.
From Shizuka's perspective, she saw a woman coming towards Little Shishi and her mother. She talked with Shino before smiling at Shishi.
Her face was something the older her deemed as average, but her heart said otherwise. The emotion of her memory said that she was very beautiful, very kind.
This woman knew that Little Shishi was quite shy and quiet, standing there she squatted until she and Shishi's eyes were leveled. She couldn't remember anymore what this teacher said, all she knew was that she was going to take her to her partner because their segment's about to begin. The beautiful teacher offered her hand, Shishi looked at her palm, then at her mother. She nodded. Shishi blinked a bit more before slowly taking her hand.
She gently lead her to her partner who was smaller than her. He was a very energetic boy who seemed to really like her, or that's what everybody around them said to Shishi. Little Shishi didn't think the same. Big Shishi even evaluated from her memory and Little Shishi's expression that she didn't even remember that boy that much, just that he was very energetic around her.
Music then began to play. She wanted to watch Little Shishi dance, but the memory became hazy. Big Shishi had an odd feeling. How come she doesn't remember how she danced? She remembered the event, the people, the venue. But her body and her mind felt that the dance was an all together memory that she couldn't see. She just whisked it off as a lapse on her young self, since she can't see herself in third person. Though Shino really was there that day. Big Shishi even remembered her telling Little Shishi to smile while she was performing. She saw that in the memory, she did say that again to Little Shishi.
After all that, she vaguely remembered that she didn't even know how she changed clothes. She was very sleepy after the performance.
The memory moved on to her little uncle's school disco which happened on the same day. She saw her mother and herself meet up with her uncle. Seeing her small uncle doting on Little Shishi once her little arms hugged him. Big Shishi's lips trembled and her eyes began to blur. She felt acutely sensitive with how her uncle treated her before. He was the best big brother then. The kind that novels talked about. The uncle closest to Little Shishi's heart.
Shino and her brother opted to make Shizuka model a bit as they took pictures of her. They pointed out how she should move about, to smile, to give certain expressions that Big Shishi found funny to reminisce because these people in this memory never did act this way in front of her again, even when her baby siblings came into the picture. Then her little uncle left for a bit to socialize with his classmates. Shino carried Little Shishi to the food stalls asking if she wanted any? She saw little Shishi politely saying no each time a food was offered to her. Big Shishi felt weird seeing herself little self so dull with food that time.
Later that day, Shino noticed how clingy Little Shishi was with her little uncle, hugging him even when he walked. Little uncle was so love struck with little Shishi that he couldn't help but to just stick close to her since the disco was almost done. Shino told her little brother that she would take a picture of the two of them. After taking the picture, Shino asked his brother to also take a picture of them. After that, they left the school premise.
Big Shishi started to wander, when did it began? When did her mother and everybody else change?
Looking at the view outside, Shishi felt that the sun became glaring and unrelenting, an el niño doing exactly its job. As if it wanted to blind her sight, as the outside of her house seemed too hazy. The kind of hazy brought about by a high temperature creating a bit of distortion visible to the naked eye. That's when it dawned on her, one time when a relative of theirs borrowed her little self, she clearly remembered an event that changed her life.
That relative of hers was deemed as an opportunistic person by Big Shishi. Memories started to flood as she once again saw everything in a third person point of view. Little Shishi was brought to a shooting set. Unknown to little Shishi, this relative would be auditioning her to become a child star.
Little Shishi was so adorable when she was younger, so much so that the director chose her over all the kids that auditioned, including the child stars.
Little Shishi just had to act like a child, so it was all good. However, one of the characters in the story was a disabled person. The character was on a wheelchair because her knees were burnt, when Little Shishi was tasked to act with her, upon seeing her disfigured skin, she cried and cried for that was the first time she saw such a thing on human skin.
The relative experienced for the first time her crying fit. As far as Big Shishi can comprehend, that was also one of the cries that started the many others. The director and the relative had very little patience with Shishi, luckily, the actress who was a very renowned actress, knew how to handle kids. When she was asking Shishi to come near her, Little Shishi cried and kept saying no, seeing this, the actress opted to take off the prosthetic skin and showed her fair knees to the little child. Upon seeing this, Little Shishi was so shocked she forgot to close her gaping mouth and to even cry . She just stared at the actress' knees and then her face. The woman told Little Shishi to come near her, so she did. She heard the woman offer, "Would you like to touch to see if it's real?" Little Shishi nodded politely. The woman couldn't help but find her actions adorable so she slowly placed her small hand on to her knees.
Feeling the smooth skin on her fingers, Shishi's eyes sparkled like the night sky in amazement as she looked at the woman before her in consternation. The actress laughed at her quick shifts of emotions that were clearly seen on her cherubic face. She then explained, "This is just fake skin. It is used on television performances or shows to make an actor look sick if necessary so that the people watching will believe the actor. Just like how you cried earlier on."
Little Shishi nodded her head in understanding. The actress added, "Shizuka, you have to make sure that if you see a real person with a burnt skin, you won't cry."
Hearing that, her innocent self asked, "There are real people with skin like that?"
The actress shook her head as she couldn't help but adore this child who immediately got the meaning of what she said, she spoke sternly while also having a dark expression, "Yes. And you must never cry because of them nor be afraid of them. People like them are also people. They get hurt when you do things like what you just did."
Her face gave away that she still didn't fully comprehend what she said, so the actress further elaborated, "What if your mama or grandmama got into a bad bad situation and this happened to their skin?" she pointed at the prosthetic before continuing, "Wouldn't they be sad if you no longer loved them just because you're afraid of them?"
Little Shishi's lips trembled, she shook her head, her eyes at the brink of tears.
The actress found the child too lovely, she immediately caressed her cheeks as she wiped away the tears that were about to fall, "Don't cry, as long as you understand, then were good. Just promise me, you mustn't cry when you see disfigured people. Okay? So that you won't hurt their feelings."
She nodded her head and her short hair bobbed accordingly making her seem like a doll. The actress couldn't help but tease, "Can you give me a smile now? Your smile is really beautiful."
Little Shishi's small lips broke into a pretty smile while her cheeks blushed.
Seeing this, the actress felt like the child could make an even prettier smile. She launched a tickle at Little Shishi and the set was filled with her melodious laughter.
The scene was easily shot by the director for the rapport between the actress and Little Shishi was really good to watch through the lense.
After the take, Little Shishi began to care less about the things around her as she fell asleep again, unbeknownst to her.
The next thing she knew, she was laying down in a bed, she recognized it as the bed she slept on while she stayed here. The relative was so happy when she came in to see the little girl awake. She couldn't help but ask, "Shizuka, did you like what you just did with that pretty woman?"
Remembering the actress, Little Shishi immediately nodded her head.
The smile on the relative's face deepened, she then proceeded to inform her, "We can only do that if you learn to cry."
Little Shizuka frowned and the sight was still just as adorable. She mumbled, "Cry?"
"Mm, to cry. Because the next audition required that the child they pick cries."
"Audition?"
The relative found her cheeks so attractive coupled with that frowning face. She couldn't help but pinch her cheeks and distract Little Shishi, "You just have to cry."
Big Shishi's face became ice cold, Little Shishi was a very good girl that always followed the orders of adults so long as the order was nothing she was afraid off. Her family, didn't think the child thought this way. All they knew was that Little Shishi was a very, very, very good adorable little girl that did what she was told. In other words, she's unaware of crying herlself.
That relative had a young daughter whom she also had audition in shows, she asked her daughter to show Little Shishi how to cry. Little Shishi just found it amusing but unfamiliar. The relative remembered how she cried because of the prosthetic, "Shizuka, crying is the same thing you did when you didn't want to get near that actress."
Her young daughter left them for she had homework to finish.
Little Shishi did remember that, but she didn't know how she did it.
That relative began to get impatient with her, she then informed Little Shishi, "Shizuka, I'll be hitting your hand lightly, okay? This can help you cry."
Little Shishi tried to understand what she meant, blinking her eyes in thought, she couldn't understand, so she just nodded her head.
*slap
Little Shishi immediately gasped when her relative's hand hit hers. Her gaze held a bewildered look. The sensation was relatively bearable so she didn't cry.
The relative noticed this, she then deliberated, "Maybe I should hit her with a bit more strength?"
The next thing Little Shishi knew was that her relative hit her again, her right eye closed as her face scrunched up, the feeling was stronger than the one before. Nonetheless, she still couldn't understand the sensation she felt.
The relative decided to change her tactic. She walked towards a closet and got a belt. "Shizuka, I'm gonna have to ask you to lay on your tummy okay."
Little Shishi looked at her, then at the belt, she then nodded and did what she was told.
"Good girl, Shizuka. Now, I'm going to have to take off your shorts and undies, okay?" She didn't wait for the little girl's answer as she proceeded to take off her clothing.
*smack
Little Shishi suddenly grabbed hold of the bed's fabric as her head instinctively raised itself. Her face was still emotionless but her eyes were wide open.
Seeing this, Big Shishi's expression became frosty.
*smack *smack
The muffled whimper Little Shishi made further aggravated Big Shishi.
*smack *smack *smack
"Stop, please." Little Shishi begs her relative, her face flustered in pain.
The relative saw this and she couldn't help but remark, "Shizuka, you still aren't crying. We can only stop when you cry."
*smack *smack *smack *smack *smack
Clenching her fist, Big Shizuka watched on as she saw her little self.
"Stop!" she whimpered as tears fell from her flushed face. She didn't understand what was happening anymore, sweating all over. All she wanted was that whatever she felt to stop.
The relative stopped at the sight of her tears. She then congratulated Little Shishi, "Very good, Shishi. You see, you're crying. I knew you could do it."
Noticing that the pain did stop, so did her tears as her emotions started to calm down.
"Okay, Shizuka, you now know how to cry. Show me your crying face." She let go of her hair and sat at the edge of the bed as she waited patiently for Little Shishi to face her.
Little Shishi saw her tap the part of the bed beside her. She understood this, she shifted to the side she was supposed to sit at and faced her relative carefully. Her lips were in a pout, the tears that fell from her eyes left traces on her cheeks. She really looked pitiful. Seeing this, the relative couldn't help but smile. The little girl blinked at her, she didn't seem to understand what she said.
The relative then chose to go soft on her, she caressed her back and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Shizuka, you have to understand, if you want to do what you did with that big sister earlier on, you have to cry." her manner of speaking was that of someone who was teaching the child with some important life lesson.
Little Shishi lowered her head, "I can't cry anymore."
The relative was perplexed by her words.
Noticing that her relative kept quiet. Little Shishi couldn't help but look up. The expression she saw on the relative's face was unfamiliar.
"Shizuka, if you don't show me that you can cry on your own, I'll have to hit you again until you remember how to do it." she said seriously.
Little Shishi had a bit of apprehension on her face. She kept quiet waiting for her relative.
Her relative patiently explained, "Try crying on your own. Try to remember how you felt when you cried."
She blinked her pretty little eyes. She tried. Her face changed from all sorts of expressions she knew. It took so long but no tears fell. I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but she couldn't cry.
Big Shizuka already knew this.
...
She also knew what would happen next.
...
After waiting, the relative began to feel impatient. She was thinking the audition was tomorrow and that she can't help Shizuka cultivate tears the normal way. She steeled herself as she held on tightly on Little Shishi's small shoulder she pressed a bit of weight on it heavily. The little girl instinctively looked at her.
"Shizuka, you want to do what you did earlier again right? Wear a nice dress and play with adults..."
Hearing this question again confused Little Shishi, but that beautiful face flashed by her mind and so she nodded.
There wasn't any trace of perversion nor sadism in the woman's eyes as she spoke, "Shizuka, I have to hit you again until you learn. You have to go back to the bed and lay on your tummy again."
Hearing this, Little Shishi felt nervous for the first time as she unconsciously started gasping for air.
"I also don't want to do this to you, Shizuka. But we have no choice, tomorrow you have to know how to cry to get picked."
Little Shizuka understood a bit of what she said and what her relative wanted her to do. She asked, "Do I really have to cry?"
"Yes"
"Can you not hit me?"
Her relative smiled at her and explained, "I have to since you still don't understand how to cry on your own."
Big Shishi closed her eyes, breathing in deeply. She bit her lips to the extent that she tasted blood. She lowered her head wishing that she couldn't remember everything so clearly.
The bed creaked followed by *smack *smack *smack. Little Shizuka's gasps for air became louder and louder.
The sound of hand pulling and trying to grip her hair was heard.
*smack *smack *smack *smack *smack
One could hear leather hitting skin accompanied by a whimper.
The strength with which she used to hit the leather on Little Shizuka's back and butt was increasing. Red marks could faintly be seen on her fair white skin. The relative sighed in exasperation, "You can cry because of prosthetics but you can't cry on your own!"
A sense of alarm was understood for the first time by the little child, Little Shishi's body was sending distress signals to her brain that the situation was no longer bearable. Her body became tense as she started to tremble in fear, so much so, that each gasp felt so hard to do. Her hand held on so tightly to the bed while her face scrunched up in so much agony. But she also felt very weak, like all of her strength was spent on enduring the hits.
*smack *smack *smack *smack *smack *smack *smack
Her vision started to blur as her body was drenched in sweat.
*smack *smack *smack *smack *smack *smack *smack *smack *smack
"Aaaghh. Mama!"
Tears fell from her eyes like water fall. This time the relative pulled her hair to see her crying face.
She sighed at how heartbreaking Little Shishi's face looked like. "That's it Shizuka, keep crying. I won't hit you anymore, but you have to keep crying."
Tears kept falling her little face. She wasn't crying because she was ordered to. She was in complete pain and she couldn't hear anything beyond what her body could comprehend.
The only thing she could hear was that white feedback sound, her vision was blurry, she was also anxiously breathing for air, her sensations were tingling so much, so much pain.
After her crying bout, the relative calmed her down. The relative observed the little girl, seeing as she now looked at her in the eyes, she couldn't help say, "See Shizuka? You cried spectacularly."
Little Shishi's lips and chin were still trembling from the pain, her eyes felt so dry and tired. She only blinked at her relative, her little frame seemed so haggard as she sat upright.
"Okay, Shizuka. I need you to show me that cry again." the relative gently whispered.
The little girl blinked a lot of times, however, she no longer had the energy to cry. She was so exhausted.
The relative had a grave look on her face. She carried Little Shishi and placed her on the bed on that same position.
"Shizuka, if you don't cry, I'm going to have to hit you again."
Little Shishi wanted so much to cry but her eyes already felt so heavy and her body didn't seem to listen to her.
Her relative shook her head as she stood up and walked to the wardrobe. She took another belt, one that was wider and thicker. A military belt. She stood beside Little Shishi.
The next second, the crisp sound of leather hitting skin could be heard. Little Shishi brain couldn't register what just happened, her body just reflexively became tense.
"AHHHH!"
*smack *smack *smack *smack *smack *smack *smack
"STOOOOP! NO MORE!"
*smack *smack *smack *smack *smack *smack *smack
Amidst her piercing shouts, her voice started to become hoarse and dry. Her throat swelled from the pain. Her pleas were like sirens in Big Shishi's head.
"MAMA! MAMA!"
*smack *smack *smack *smack *smack *smack *smack
"STOP IT! AAAAAH!"
Big Shizuka looked expressionless, but her eyes held a particular look. Kill. Like a soulless human, she looked at that relative thinking of ways to cut her into pieces and feed her to a horde of Siafu ant.
The door to the room opened as a woman barged into the room. Little Shishi only felt that the pain stopped.
...
She was lifeless, drenched, and pale.
...
Little Shishi could vaguely hear their conversation.
She heard this woman shout, "MOM! What are you doing?!"
The relative looked at the man irritably, "I'm teaching her how to cry."
"Stop it, she can't take anymore."
"Her mom allowed me to teach this child how to act. We already divided the money she got from the shooting before."
"Mom stop, if you continue, I will no longer be your child!"
The relative frowned at her daughter, "You better teach her how to cry then." she left the room in huff.
While they were conversing, Little Shishi whispered with her dry and weak voice, "Mommy?" before fainting.
The following day, Little Shishi had a fever of 38.5°C. During her fatigued and dazed state, she could hear faintly, "How unfortunate that she's sick, we were supposed to go on that audition too."
"Mom how could you say that?"
"The previous director already recommended her. Had she been present today, she would've surely gotten that role."
"Mom, stop! What if the child hears you?!"
"She won't, still the money that she could've earned went to waste just like that."
When Little Shishi's temperature dropped a bit, she was already home. Once she woke up, she was back in her bed. She saw her toys and she heard the voices of her family outside the room. A while later, she heard her mother and her second aunt having an argument outside her room.
"How could you allow that, Shino?! She's just a kid!"
"You were also proud to see her on television!"
"I was, but I didn't know that she had to go through that!"
"I needed the money!"
"What money? Mom is giving you some money, I am too! Isn't that enough?"
"It's not! I can't even go work abroad again because of that issue!"
"You can get a job here!"
"I didn't graduate, Yuuki! What job could I get!"
"I won't let you do this to her!"
"Yuuki!"
"Noooo! Shino, I'll break of all relations with you if you pursue this."
After hearing this, Little Shishi felt her head throbbing and her eyes stung. Her fever made her sleepy again, so she slept.
When Little Shishi came to, she felt someone rubbing her face with a semi-wet towel. She saw her mother's face. She didn't know why, but in her heart, she didn't feel like looking at her mother so she looked at the ceiling instead. Time passed by tediously, both of them not speaking.
Closing her eyes, Shizuka had wrinkles on her forehead.
The scene changed to a family celebration.
It was Suisen's birthday, all their relatives came to celebrate with her.
Big Shishi looked at the little girl in front of her. She wanted so much to hug her. To tell her so many things that she knew Little Shishi would understand because ever since she could remember, she always easily understood what the adults told her. What she heard from conversations. Words from television.
Shizuka questioned her childhood. She realized that metaphor of kids being like sponge was true. She couldn't have comprehended whether she was happy or not, all she could do was accept and absorb everything that everyone gave her.
When Little Shishi went to a particular corner in that house, her little uncle was talking with her when that relative came.
"Shizuka, it's good to know you're better." she said while her mother was beside that relative.
She looked at the both of them with anxiety.
"Shizuka, aunty here wants to apologize with what happened that time." Shino said.
The relative squatted to level herself with Little Shishi, her smile held a bit of sadness as she said, "I'm so sorry Shizuka. It's just that you said you wanted to act and I just wanted to help you."
Little Shishi started to cry. She didn't like this relative's presence anymore, the very sight of her reminded her of that day. She answered with her raspy voice, "No! What you did was bad! I heard it from little uncle, you shouldn't have done that."
"Suzuki!" Shino reprimanded.
"I didn't think she'd understand."
The relative felt embarrassed, so that's how this family viewed her actions.
"Shizuka, she already said sorry. When people tell you they're sorry for the wrong they did, you forgive them. It's bad to keep such anger inside you."
Little Shizuka felt wronged, she shouted, "No! What she did was wrong, I don't like her! I don't forgive her!"
Shino felt frustrated and ashamed seeing Shizuka act this way while her relative at the side was quietly observing the situation.
Shino held on to Little Shishi's arms tightly and pulled her while reprimanding, "Shizuka, say sorry! That was very rude of you!"
The girl felt at a loss, what she's saying was contrary to what they all taught her before. That when someone does something bad to her, she must be careful and not trust so easily anymore. That bad acts are bad acts and requires a punishment afterwards. She squirmed as she shook her little head, her face already flushing from fear and other emotions she didn't understand.
Betrayal... that was her first experience of betrayal.
She soon understood this when Shino raised her other arm and slapped her left cheek.
Little Shishi was so shocked that she didn't know what to do. Her little heart felt so hurt. She looked at her mother in disbelief. She reasoned with her, "Mommy...You told me... I shouldn't be bad! She's bad.., why are you hurting me instead... Mommy?"
"Shizuka! I've had enough, say sorry!"
Little Shizuka looked at her mother, then at the relative who looked at her like she was some bad girl. She shooked her head in protest as she squirmed, "No!"
*slap *slap *slap
Little Shishi only felt that her bottom was hit very painfully. Disbelief apparent on her little face as she gasped in pain. Tears falling endlessly.
--------------------------------------
"Shizuka!"
"Shizuka!"
Someone shook Shizuka. Shizuka woke up from her trance, she saw a beautiful woman in front of her.
The woman looked at her worriedly, Shizuka's tear stained face evoked pity. "Are you alright?" the woman asked.
Shizuka blinked, wiped her face, then nodded.
"I'm sorry if I entered your house without your permission. I've been knocking for a while and no one came out. I was worried that something happened to you so I let myself in. I'm Kiefer Campbell. I was assigned to watch over you for the next three months."
Shizuka nodded. She spoke with her raspy voice, "Can you... leave me alone for... a while..?"
Kiefer nodded gently. "I'll be in the living room." She closed the door as she left.
Shizuka went to the middle of her bed, she lay there in fetal position. Her heart felt empty after remembering that... her happiness came by just like that.
The views and opinions included in this chapter belong to the author and do not necessarily mirror the views and opinions of Webnovel.The content of this chapter is restricted. It is forbidden to copy, forward, or in any way reveal the contents of this chapter to anyone outside of the Webnovel app and in the internet. The integrity and security of this chapter cannot be guaranteed over the Internet. Please help me keep my novel away from plagiarists. Support my novel here in Webnovel.