Chereads / Kuroyoru The Midnight Tale Vol. 1: The Reason And The Will / Chapter 5 - Cold Morning; Repressed Memories, Taro's Resolve

Chapter 5 - Cold Morning; Repressed Memories, Taro's Resolve

I woke up to feel a blanket covering me.

*Snore*

That sounded like....Taro?

He--he did not went home?

I feel around to see if he was nearby. I touch his face which it is in front of me.

*Snore*

I feel and notice that he did not covered himself from the elements outside. He just drifted off to sleep.

*Sighs*

"Stupid Kid"

I then pull the blanket from myself and covered him.

*Shifts*

"Mmm."

He pulled the blanket over himself tightly and turned around to face the once warm fire and snored more. I can't help but make one of my seldom seen expressions..my smile.

"Hehe."

Ten minutes pass. I can feel the summer air warming up, meaning that the Sun is climbing high into the sky. The wind picks up as the scent of cherry blossoms and sour plum trees gets stronger, carrying the stray leaves along from the winter dead and drifting them away to who knows where.

"....yawn..."

I hear movement in front of me.

"That was the best nap ever...yawn...huh? What?"

Based on his reaction, he was suppose to go home last night. His Old Man will let him have it.

"Gosh darn it!"

"Taaarooo!"

"Uhhhhh...I don't want to go home now..."

I can hear the Village Chief calling from the stairs. It sounds like he is coming up here. I can feel Taro's gaze shift to mine. I give him a puzzled look.

*Sighs*

He got up and brush himself off.

"I'll be right back."

He then turned around and start running.

"I'm coming! Stop Yelling!"

There was more arguing. The yelling from Taro became distant, meaning he is leaving his Old Man behind. I am puzzled. Did...no..is the Chief coming up here to see me?

I swallowed.

A few minutes later, I hear heavy footsteps coming up the stairs and heavy breathing.

"Damn Brat, disrespectful to me as always. When will he forget about it?"

He stop on top of the stairs, as if surveying the camp and then bitterness, sour bitterness filled his heart.

"Damn you...if you have not come back from the Dead or came here that day, your cursed exsistance wouldn't have effected this village. Do the demon inside you hate me so much that it wanted to torment me, take away my grandson, and destroy everything I cared about? Did your mother cursed me because of how I treated you? You cursed child..."

He then began striding over. I got up and tried to get away. He grab me by the ear and grasp it hard, causing his nails to bleed my ears.

"Aaaaarg!"

What---why is he mad? I did nothing this time. So why?

"You will never be accepted to this village. The Villagers may pretend to like you, but it is a facade. Demons will never be welcomed here. Not even after I die. I will kill you as many times as you revive. I will make sure you stay dead!"

He let go of my ear and struck me across my face with his cane.

"Aag!"

I collapsed on the ground, holding the side of my face.

He storm down the hill, muttering curses under his breath. There was silence...a sad and shocked silence.

I shivered in shaky breaths. Bewildered by the ordeal.

What does he mean by cursed? Mother? False Love? And that word, that disgusting word that I tried so hard to forget.

Demon.

Cursed Demon.

...Cursed...

*Shaking sobs*

Fear took over. Is he saying....that those people yesterday.... they are lying? Lying about how they feel towards me? Then...what about The Little Ones? Do they hate, too?

*Sobbing to tears*

"That can't be....The Little Ones....they love me don't they? He is lying...he has to be...he...he.....he.."

Suddenly, the sobs stop coming from my mouth, and my body stopped trembling, as if my body did it on it's own.

"Stop...stop with the talk...you are fine...just like anyone else..."

The cold unfamiliar words leak from my mouth like ice water from a cave.

"Human emotions does not concern you. Just oppress them like you always do."

Then...an unfamiliar rage boiled in me, and my body trembled. A thought crossed my mind. An idea that I can't remember having in my life, but is sounds familiar.

Destruction.

Bloodlust.

Kill or be killed.

Reap and sow despair.

Time seem to slow down, as if this space is disconnected from the world. The air became very cold, as if summer had passed not to long ago.

*Shakes*

"Kill.... destroy....blood.."

I want to devour. I want to erase.

" ...Erasure...."

Suddenly, something grab me by the collar. I glare at it with blood fury and grab it by the wrist. Trying to crush it.

*SLAP*

Something hit me hard on the face. Time seem to be moving forward again. Shock of disbelief filled my face. The slap...It burns....who would....burns? Burning...

I hear cracking of fire...fire....fire....it....hurts....my body...it is burning...!!!!

"Aaaaaaaaa!"

I try to tear of the rope that is binding my neck, instead, I was clawing something flesh like, causing it to bleed. Something grab by hands, preventing them from clawing. Then, it kept hitting my face.

"Kuroyoru! Kuroyoru! Kuro! Wake up! Wake up!"

"AAAAAAAAA!!!"

Great dread spread over my body.

....I...I am going to die....I am going to be killed....then something hot and sharp jabbed in my chest, causing warm blood to come out...I gasp, trying to breath.

"... hurts....it hurts.....*sobs*"

Tears come out of my eyes.....I can't breath.... can't ....breath....

My body shake for a few seconds before falling limp. My hands stop clawing.

"Damn it, Grandpa!!!!"

The hands let go of mine.

I can feel my conscience fading. Fading....

.....

.....

*cough*

*cough, cough, cough*

Something tasted sweet, very sweet....it is burning down my throat. I turn over to my side, coughing it up. Something then touched my shoulder. I flinched in fear and try to run away from it. It pulled me back and shook me.

"Kuro! Kuro!"

I tried to regain my senses. The person then pour more of that liquid down my throat. I hacked.

"Wake up!"

I snap back.

I gasp between breathes, calming down and trying to remember where I am. I try to grab something from my neck, only I don't know what it is and it is not there.

"Where....am I? What.... was I..?"

Taro then forced me down on his lap. He then began applying treatment to my neck....it stings, really bad.

*Winces*

What happened to me? Why .... can't I remember? I remember that..... Taro's grandfather came up the stairs....he hit me...yelling....about something...strange...I can't remember....

Suddenly, something wet dropped on my face. Then more drops kept coming. Is--is he?

*Sobs*

"Taro?"

*Shakey breathes*

"I hate you. I hate you Papa..."

Taro?

He lowered his head down to mine, til our foreheads touch together. He then began stroking my chin and cheeks. I was about to remove his hand and ask him what's wrong when something warm touched my nose.

!

"I'll protect you...*sob*..... I won't let anything like that happen again... I'll be by your side... even if you turned....at least you'll be happy.....just hang in there.... I'll find a way to restore your humanity....or maybe find something even better for you...*sob* ....so that way.... they.. won't...*sob*...keep treating you like this....*sobs even more*...."

I can't say anything. I couldn't. I was just... shocked. I never expected Taro to cry the way he did. What ever happened to me before I woke, it must have really hurted him.

I just lay there, not knowing what to do to console him. I let my hand down on the grass, pitying myself for not knowing what to do.