My father was not an ordinary man. He was born with supernatural abilities. At a time, his parents were afraid that they had given birth to an abnormal child and so, they had tried to hide the truth from everyone once.
Sakagami Karuma had grown in a circumstance none other did, a life full of lies. When he grew up to awaken his powers, he learned the truth about himself. He then thought that it was unfair that he was treated this way. It wasn't his fault that he was born this way; so why must he endure this lie about himself?
The eldest son of Sakagami family then set out to a journey to gather all the people wjo were born with abilities. But unfortunately, he didn't find any. He was the only one who had such abilities back then. Seeing this, he asked himself why he could have been born with such abilities.
It was not that he could only control things but also that he saw things that other normal people didn't. So he thought, "𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯. 𝘚𝘰 𝘐 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴."
He then created a clan called 'Power Clan' and decided to start off his life anew. He traveled through countries and finally, he was able to find five youngsters that had similarities with him. He talked to their parents and told them about the clan he had created. He also told them about the plans he had made for the people who had abilities like him. And not surprisingly enough, their parents agreed to send their children with the stranger.
Since Karuma was a man who always has himself collected, he had no problem to learn control his powers. He self taught himself about his abilities and took his skills to higher levels. So he thought about the problems that could happen if one could not control their power. That's why he thought of starting with teaching them what he knew.
As years passed, more and more students, that is, residents came into the clan. When the older students completed the three year course on their abilities; some of them became middle schoolers, some went back to their family and some stayed in the clan for farther knowledge. However, there were always at least ten or more students, who would come back to the clan and take up a post there because the love for that place would be unforgettable.
The circle of abilities started from Sakagami family and it ended up there again when I was born in the arms of my father and mother. There wasn't anyone else in this family who was born with these powers since my father so everyone was taken by surprise again. But this time, my father wrapped his protective arms around me. When there wasn't anyone beside him in his time, he stood by me in my time.
He told me all of these too many times that I have them plastered into my brain. He taught me everything, too and I knew what he was thinking. It was his time to choose the successor of this clan, to choose the next headmaster after him. And I knew who he was going to choose.
Despite the good relationship we used to have back then, it was all destroyed after the incident of Kariu. I had known I would be handed the clan over and Kariu would have been the true heiress of father by taking his business. But now, I knew that Kariu had no place like that anymore. It broke my heart.
*Bzzt, bzzt*
The buzzing sound of my cellphone broke the trails of my thoughts. I picked it up from the table and took a look at it. It was Kariu. Instead of replying to her essay like message, I decided to give her a call.
She picked up right away that it didn't even get to ring once.
"Kazuma!" She said into my ear through the phone excitedly.
It brought an instant smile to my face, "Hey. What did you text me about?"
"You didn't read it?"
"You know I'm too lazy to read text messages. Just say it to me directly."
"Kazuma," Kariu said, suddenly her voice becoming more serious. She said, "I think Kaori also has abilities like you."
My eyes widened, "What? Really? Did she do anything?" I asked briskly.
"We're just guessing-"
"I'm not in this, Kazuma. Your sister is going crazy about this," My brother-in-law, who must've snatched the phone away from Kariu, said to me in defense.
I laughed at his defensive manner, "It's okay to think that. After all, Sakagami family is getting more and more descendants who have such abilities."
"What do you mean, Kazuma?" My sister said from the other line.
I thought that they might not have been informed by Kira yet. So I said, "Touma has awakened his abilities, too."
A gasp followed my reply. "Oh my, really?" Kariu said in hurry, "Then maybe Kaori is also someone like that. Kazuma, you are an expert at this stuff. Why don't you come over here and check her?"
"Kariu," I was taken aback, "Don't talk like I'm some doctor who's visiting my patient. And your house isn't two blocks away. Why are you asking me to come over like it were?"
"It's countries away," Ren agreed with me as he said to Kariu.
Kariu seemed to have been disheartened, "Oh."
"Ren-senpai is right," I had begun to say. But upon hearing Kariu's disheartened voice, I tried to show more reasons, "Besides, I would try to be there if I could, I haven't met Kaori face to face in a whole year. I always wonder how much she's changed. But something big has come up and now I have to deal with it before it gets bigger."
"What happened?" Kariu asked me after she told Ren to go check on Kaori.
"dad has brought up my marriage," I stated curtly.
No sooner had she heard my reply than Kariu began with a big sister like voice, "Kazuma.." but I stopped her midway.
"Don't try to talk me into this, Kariu," I said firmly, "I already told him that I won't marry yet anyway."
"But-"
"Look," I cut her off again, "I'm old enough to make these kinds of decisions now so it's okay for me to tell him what I want."
"I know," Kariu finally said with sharpness. "But Kazuma, I'm just worried that this is the first time of you to make this kind of decision. How can you be so sure that what you are doing is correct?"
I let out a sigh, spreading out my legs fully on the bed, "It's my instinct. You know how good my instinct is."
"I just hope.." Kariu muttered distinctively, "You won't end up doing something I regret now."
I was surprised.
𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥?
"You regret marrying Ren-senpai?" I asked slowly.
"Nope," She replied instantly, "I don't regret that at all. Ren is the most supportive and an amazing life partner I could ever get. I would never regret that decision. But I do regret some of the things I did whilst carrying out the other. What I regret is that why I didn't talk to him properly that day and why I didn't apologize properly before it was too late."
I stayed silent for a moment. From her voice, I could tell that she was remembering all the memories again. So I wanted to stay silent and let her pull herself together.
"Somewhere in my mind," She went on, "I knew that he was lying about the phone call - I felt pathetic when Ren told you guys about how I've waited for it every day. I knew things wouldn't be solved so easily. But I couldn't hide the fact that I was greedy to solve this matter fast and was being inconsiderate. When I awaited his call every night, I thought that this was my punishment. A punishment that I deserved-" Kariu's voice cracked and she stopped talking.
I let out a sigh, her words repeating in my head. That was when it suddenly came to me.
"Kariu," I called her, "I think dad has already forgiven you."
Kariu sniffled, "What?"
I told her everything that happened when he called me to his office that day morning.
"Really?" Kariu screamed into the phone.
I quickly pulled the phone away from my ear, "Hey! My ears!"
"Oops, sorry," Kariu laughed, "But are you telling me the truth right now? Kazuma, you can't be lying about this. I would be so happy if only this was true!"
"It's true," I smiled, imagining her happy face, "I really hope it's true, too."
𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴...
"Why don't you come over?" I blurted all of a sudden.
Kariu's hails of happiness died down on the other side, "You mean, I should visit home?"
"Yeah," I nodded, "You should come over. I'll manage everything here with mom and dad. Kira will be with me, too. So everything will surely be fine. Come over, Kariu. Let's put the broken pieces of this family back to its place again."
"Okay," Kaori said softly, "Let's do that."
**********************************************
On the same day in the evening.
I knocked on the door of my father's study, asking for entry.
"Come in."
Hardly had I cracked the door open when I met eyes with him. I entered the room and gave him a slight bow.
"What is it?" He asked me softly.
That was surprising. I acted so rashly with him in the morning but he's being soft to me.
I gulped in uneasiness. "I came to talk to you about somethings," I said hesitantly.
He looked up from the book over his glasses, "Sit down."
I quickly sattled myself on a chair before him. Watching me, he urged me to explain then.
"I know, dad, how you feel about me," I began, "You want to hand the responsibilities onto me, your successor. Yes, I'd be happy to oblige. However, dad, I don't want it to happen like this." I said firmly as I looked up at him to see what expression he was wearing.
Not surprisingly, he was poker faced. "Continue," He said indifferently.
I let out a breath, "I want to take over this family when I am ready enough. I don't want another family to support my back, I want to be the outmost supporter of my own. So please understand me. It's not that I have someone I like or anything. It's just that... After Kariu, marriage has become a trauma of mine."
The room fell into a deadly silence. The sound of crickets and frogs from the pond at the west house could be heard from outside.
𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴.
"I understand."
I came back into reality as I heard my dad. "R-really?" I stuttered.
"Yes," He nodded, "I understand very well now that you made it clear." "Thank you for talking openly to me," After all these days, the warm smile of his was finally visible again.
I then asked like an idiot, "That means you won't be looking for a bride, right?"
Father laughed lightly, "No, I won't. Not until you say you are ready, that is."
And then another moment of silence when he muttered to himself, "I just really hoped Kariu would have talked to me openly like you..."
"Dad," I decided to tell him away, "I asked Kariu to come visit with her family."
My father looked at me in surprise.
"Please, allow her to come home," Suddenly I felt the urge and ended up begging him, "Please forgive her and let's reconnect this family again. Please."
"Kazuma," Father called me in an emotional tone, "I'm glad that you took this step. Thank you."
**********************************************
"Dona!"
"Yes, mistress?" Dona appeared promptly.
Kariu fixed her earrings as she instructed the maid, "Tell buttler Lin to make something for dinner that our sweetie likes, okay?"
"Sure, mistress," Maid Dona said, "But when will mistress and master come back? It won't be too late, right? It's night time after all. It might be dangerous and the weather also seems rather foul today."
Kariu went over to fetch her elegant purse and replied, "Well, we might end up running late. That's why I told you what to do and not to do. Oh and Dona, please take care of her. I'm relying on you. Sorry if it's asking too much."
"No, no, mistress!" Dona immediately protested, "It's my duty to take care of young mistress! Please don't worry and enjoy the night in reunion with your friends!"
"You're so nice, Dona," Kariu grinned.
That was when the doorbell rang.
"Oh! That must be Ren," Kariu said in hurry, "I must take my leave. You can take care of everything, right?"
Dona nodded in reply.
"If anything happens, just give either me or Ren a call, okay?"
"Stop worrying, mistress and go! Master is waiting!"
"Oh, okay!"
Kariu hurried towards the front door while Dona followed her to see them off with buttler Lin.
Kaori was already at the front door with her father and they seemed to be bidding goodbye for then.
Kariu walked fast and picked Kaori up in her arms, "We won't be late, promise! So be patient, yes?"
"Uh-huh," Kaori nodded.
"Aw, my sweetie bean! Mommy loves you a bunch!" Kariu gave Kaori a tight hug, "I'll miss you, sweetheart."
Kaori smiled sheepishly and looked over at her father who smiled back at her, "I'll be waiting for you, so come back fast."
"We will!" Both parents said in unison.
**********************************************
Kaori felt problems to breath properly in her sleep. She was turning and tossing around the bed again and again from this side to that side but she couldn't wake up from the dream she was having.
Or more like, a nightmare, that she was having.
"𝘒𝘢𝘰𝘳𝘪."
"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘯."
"𝘒𝘢𝘰𝘳𝘪, 𝘯𝘰!"
"𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦."
"𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬."
"What?" Kaori muttered in her sleep.
"𝘐𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯."
"𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯. 𝘌𝘭𝘴𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮."
"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦. 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯."
"Mom," Kaori whimpered to herself in sleep, clenching the pillow.
"𝘚𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘦!"
"𝘔𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩!"
"𝘋𝘢𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘰𝘰!"
"𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘵𝘰𝘰, 𝘙𝘦𝘯."
"𝘉𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶."
"𝘞𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶!"
"Da-"
!𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘬 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘬!
Her breath hitched in as her body tensed up in her sleep while the dream took a quick turn.
!𝘚𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩!
!𝘊𝘙𝘈𝘚𝘏!
!𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘮!
"NO!"
**********************************************
Kaori bolted upright as she panted, cold sweats appearing on her face. She was technically drenched in sweat. She gulped as she recalled the dream and that was when she noticed she had moist eyes.
Looking around at her side, she saw Dona peacefully asleep.
Kaori let out a sigh.
𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭-
𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵.
Kaori looked at the table clock to see it was half past midnight.
𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘺𝘦𝘵?
She started remembering the dream again that she shook Dona awake.
The maid asked in half sleep, "What is it, young mistress?"
"Dona," Kaori said in a worried tone, "It's half past midnight. Why haven't they returned yet?"
This enquiry slapped Dona full awake. "You're right, young miss! We should inform buttler Lin. Miss definitely said they would be back before midnight and if they were to be late, she would give a call. But she didn't. Something might be wrong."
"Dona, I'm scared," Kaori said shakily, "I had a bad dream.."
"Shush, young miss," Dona hugged the little girl, "It's okay. It's just a dream. Let's go tell buttler Lin and then we can do something about it, okay?"
"Okay, Let's go," Kaori jumped down from the bed.
When they awoke buttler Lin and told him everything, he was also worried. However, there wasn't actually anything to do since it was past midnight already.
The house was awaiting the master and miss' return in worry but nobody came to ring the doorbell.
It was nearly one o'clock when a sudden phone call came. Dona quickly picked it up to answer.
"Hello, this is Sanemi residence."
"Hello, we're sorry to disturb you at this time. This is the deputy chief in charge of the local police department, Harrison Caster speaking. There's been a car accident on road no. XXX and we found this contact information in a young lady's purse. The four bodies which were found along with the driver and they have been identified dead by the car accident. Are you in any way, related to Mr. Sanemi Ren and Mrs. Kariu?"
**********************************************
Kaori was staring blankly at space. She was currently inside a funeral home where all the relatives and others had gathered before the funeral of her parents. They were here to visit the late Mr and Mrs, now having an eternal peaceful slumber in their respective coffins, for the last time before the bodies would be buried.
Letting out the third big sigh of the day, Kaori looked down at her hands that were sweating mildly. She was wearing all black clothes just as everyone else were. Her sleek short hair was messy and unkempt. The brightness in her eyes had dimmed a little from before.
She sat at a corner all alone in silence in order not to gain too much attention. However some people from time to time walked over to her in pity and had given her some words of condolences. But as Kaori was busy staring into nothing, she just let them enter by one ear and slipped them out through the other.
It was rather hard to believe. Even in this morning, she had happily greeted her mom and dad. They had exchanged words of love and affection. But how is it that she was sitting here all alone right now, awaiting her parents' funeral? How is it that they had left her all alone in this world already? It felt so unfair.
𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦? 𝘕𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴, 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦? 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘵𝘩. 𝘔𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶.
She looked over at the way the two coffins were placed to be buried soon. Everyone were going over there one by one to take a look and say goodbye to the lifeless bodies.
Kaori has to go say goodbye to them, too. But she wasn't sure if she was brave enough. Glancing around to look for Dona, Kaori spotted something else that took away her interest.
Unfortunately, the car accident that had taken away the life of Kariu and Ren, had also taken way the life of their two friends who were also in the car that night. Kaori never met the friends of her parents that they had always talked about. So she was being hesitant to go over and talk to the other family and give them her condolences. But as far as she knew, the friends were from Yamaguchi family.
"𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘠𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘪 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦," Kaori looked over at the other side of the partition and watched the family's actions.
The old lady, who seemed to be Mr. Yamaguchi's mother, broke down immediately. There were four other men. One of them was an old man who was undoubtedly the old lady's husband. Kaori didn't give the other three men much thoughts since she looked over at the three young boys who were standing quietly along the elders of the family.
There was a boy of Kaori's age, a boy who was a little younger than Kaori and a boy who was some years older than Kaori.
"𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘠𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘪 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺," Kaori thought as she read the boys.
The greet and meet was going all well until the boy of Kaori's age came forward to look at the lifeless bodies his parents inside the coffins.
He clenched his hands into fists and said through gritted teeth as water filled his eyes, "It's all your fault."
The atmosphere became tense as the sentence didn't go unheard by anyone.
"You two, are the cause of this," He turned to look at the old man and the older looking boy. "This isn't an accident, it's murder."
"Yoshii," The older boy adressed the younger who had spoken, in a warning tone.
"Don't call me that," The boy named 'Yoshii' snapped.
Kaori gulped, "𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦."
Yoshii said angrily, "Only my mom and dad and Yuuma is allowed to call me by that name. Other than them, none of you have any relationship with me from today on!"
"How dare you!" The old man exclaimed.
Yoshii's glare pierced through the old man's eyes, "Oh, yes, I dare. Because if it wasn't for you two, they would be alive right now. And we wouldn't be here, we would be in our home - warm and cozy. It's your fault."
"How is it our fault?" The older boy queried calmly.
"Don't play smart with me, Ooyama," Yoshii looked back to the older, "You know it, too, don't you? You know that you could've stopped them if you had told them not to go-"
"Then why didn't you do it? Why didn't you tell them not to go?" Ooyama, who was - Kaori guessed - the older brother of the family, said back.
"Because she asked you," Yoshii said quietly as if he would start howling with tears anytime soon but he didn't. "She asked you," He emphasized, "If they should go or not. But you said it was okay and that they should go enjoy some time with their friends." "Wow, Ooyama, you made them enjoy so well that they don't even exist in this world now. Look at your ability," He scoffed. "Knowing about the weather and time nonetheless, you couldn't forsee the possibility of what might happen, huh? Poor you."
Ooyama looked so taken aback that he must've lost his words before the younger.
"𝘞𝘩𝘰𝘢, 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘱 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘦," Wondered Kaori as she peeped farther in.
"Yamaguchi Yoshii!" The old man lost his temper, "How dare you talk to your older brother like that?"
"Oh, come on," Yoshii laughed, "Don't let me get started with you! Do you think I don't know anything, hm? Grandfather?" He forwarded toward his grandfather. "Don't act all innocent," His voice turned cold, "You have always wanted dad to be your puppet. But he refused to be so and then you ended up giving up on him since he would be useless unless. Now you're all about my older brother since he's next in the line! Look at you. Grandfather, you are such a-"
!Slap!
The small boy ran to his second brother in tears, "Aniki! Are you okay, Yoshii-aniki? What is wrong with all of you? Why are you fighting? Mom and dad is gone, you shouldn't fight now!"
The grandmother tried to pull the little boy away from this but he didn't let go of his second brother.
Yoshii smirked as the part of his face that was hit had swollen and turned bright red, prickling in pain. "Not bad," He looked up at his older brother, "Ooyama."
"Yoshii! Show respect-" Grandfather had begun but Ooyama stopped him in the middle.
"It's okay, grandfather," He said calmly. "If you think it's our fault, fine. It is our fault," He stated directly to Yoshii.
Yoshii's eyes slightly widened.
Kaori smiled, "𝘜𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘶𝘩?"
"But if you think of us as the murderers of our parents," Ooyama went on, "Then shouldn't you be cutting ties with us? You can't be wanting a family who consists of murderers." He boomed the room with the question.
"𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨," Kaori squinted, "𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘖𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘮𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴."
"You want me to cut all the ties to the Yamaguchi family?" Yoshii asked with a smirk, "Sure, I'd prefer that. But, this family still has to pay the expenses of my life until I become self employed since I can't live my life anyway if I get out like this. However, after I become self employed, don't ever come find me. I'm no longer a Yamaguchi. Deal?"
"Yoshii-aniki!" The small boy cried, pulling Yoshii's hand, "Why are you doing this? What will I do without you?"
Yoshii crouched down and hugged the smaller boy, "I can deal with this, Yuuma. You are still too young. So you need to be with them. If you wait for me until I am of age, I will come get you if you wish for me to."
"Really?" Yuuma pouted at Yoshii.
"Really," Yoshii smiled affectionately at his little brother. Then he stood up and looked at Ooyama who was watching the other brothers indifferently.
Yoshii stretched his hand out for a shake to the deal and Ooyama took it.
"As the future heir of Yamaguchi family," Ooyama said to Yoshii, "I'll go along with your deal."
**********************************************
Kaori was called by Dona who was in search of her. So she quickly went back to the place she was sitting at before Dona could catch her eavesdropping in someone else's business.
Dona took Kaori's hand and pulled her to the coffins, buttler Lin followed them.
The three stood before the coffins silently for about three minutes. Well, Dona had broken into tears as soon as she reached the coffins and Lin went near her to give comfort while Kaori just stared at the soundly sleeping parents of her.
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴.
𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦? 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦? 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯? 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘮𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘥.. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.
𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰... 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵... 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯.
𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘦, 𝘮𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘥. 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.
"Sanemi Kariu."
Kaori was just about to let out a sigh and turn around but for some reason, as she heard the name, her eyes widened and she snapped her way in the direction of the voice.
There stood a man in his twenties. Messy brown hair all over his head and clothes tugging out from here to there. He had round glasses on but his eyes were visible clearly.
𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦.
"Uncle..." Kaori said uncertainly, "Kazuma?"
But the addressed man, smiled warmly at her.
⭐🌟⭐❤⭐❤⭐❤⭐❤⭐❤⭐❤⭐🌟⭐