Chapter 1
Life was a burden. Humans were rotten. Did living even mean anything at all? Seasons changed but hearts of humans barely changed. Even if they did change, how significant could they change? Humans couldn't be black or white. They changed from white to black, vice-verse or just black. The longer a human lived, the darker he was smeared. The innocent was condemned guilty and the guilty was freed. If everything was for a purpose, for what purpose was I born into this world? The world was nothing but torment.
"Hit her! Hit her!" thus, was shouted. Punches were landed on me, kicks were directed at me and rocks were aimed at me. They were three; two boys and a girl. Crouching with my arms over my head, I endured the agony. Holding back my tears as I bit my lower lip, I didn't hope for anyone to help. I only hoped they would get bored soon.
"Tomoki, are you sure it's alright to bully her like this?" The girl asked. She sounded guilty.
"It is fine, Momo. People say she's cursed anyway, isn't it, Kamui?" The boy whose name was Tomoki replied.
"Tomoki is right! Since she's cursed, she's not supposed to be in this town!" Kamui agreed as he took a rock and threw it at me. The harsh surface of the rock scratched my arm and made it bled. There was a short silence before they landed kicks at me again.
Lowering down an arm to pick a rock, I pretended to aim it at Tomoki. Pretense was because I didn't want to hurt anyone. However, he held my wrist and threw me off balance, making me fall on the dusty ground. He made a scoff and kicked my shin. Gathering my strength, I propped myself up to run only to trip over Kamui's foot and return to the ground again. Tilting my head to look at them, I saw them laughing. Grimacing at their laughter, they only laughed harder.
"How dare of you to try aiming a rock at me?!" Tomoki raised his arm; rock in his palm. He looked angry and furious. I shut my eyes tight with my arms over my head once again. The sun is hurting me… I thought, distracting myself from what was coming to me. However, the rock didn't land on me. There was no damage inflicted on me. Wondering what was going on, I opened an eye to peek.
"Why are you bullying her? It's not good to throw rock at a girl you know…" A man's voice rang. He held Tomoki's wrist, stopping him from throwing the rock. Why did he come? Why did he help me?
"Mister, can't you see she's cursed! Her hair is all white! She is dumb too!" Tomoki explained with a sort of frightened tone as he pointed at me.
"Yeah! She even carried around an umbrella when it's sunny!" Kamui argued.
"Doesn't mean you can bully her, you know? Go, go! Shoo!" That man shoo-ed them away. Those three ran like dogs with tails between their legs. They seemed to be afraid of that man. Is this man worse than they are? Am I going to be tortured? I wondered. Fear crept up my heart, making me nervous. Keeping still, I prayed for the man to go away and leave this monster alone.
"Hey, the cursed kid is with the killer!" whispers were heard. A killer? A shiver ran down my spine, making me sweat nervously.
"Hey, are you alright?" The man asked. His voice was a little bit higher than average men. Peeking, I could see he was full of smile. Seeing that smiley face, I knew he was suspicious. Uncle, what should I do…? Unknown to me, my arms trembled at his sight. I want to go home! Getting up in the count of three, I kicked that man in his shin and was ready to escape. However, what made me stop my track after running for a while was a wail. Yes, a wail. Glancing back, my eyes were transfixed at the man whose hair was tied in high ponytail. He's…c-crying? I couldn't believe my eyes that the man who was called 'killer' was holding his shin, rolling on the ground as he wailed. Rolling close to me, he got up and smiled at me.
"I'm fine." He said. "Man… our geta[1] can inflict enough pain for a man to wail around. Maybe I should bring up this idea to Hijikata-san." He cupped his chin, looking upwards; pondering.
What is this man speaking of? Clueless as I was, I stood there staring at him.
"I'm Okita Souji. For the time being…let's get some dango[2]!" Souji giggled despite there was nothing funny around. Regaining his standing posture, without getting rid of the dirt, he pulled my hand and led the way. I found myself confused. Then I remembered something. Tugging his sleeve, I pointed to my umbrella which was lying on the ground where I was bullied. Running back to pick my umbrella, I thought it was my chance to run towards home. Taking my first step, I found myself being carried away by Souji.
Uncle, help! I mentally screamed.
[1] Japanese wooden sandals.
[2] Japanese snacks, made of rice flour in round form. Usually served with green tea.