Silence: Ok, this special chapter is VERY different from the other ones. Since Rei and Hotaru's past was revealed in Rei's special chap, I made this one VERY VERY different. Like 'landmark huge point in the story' different.
Raiden: So, you better read it... it is indeed pretty intense.
Silence: Yep, it is!
Raiden: I will go ahead and do the disclaimer so we can get on with this. We own absolutely nothing, other than the plot. The characters belong solely to their creators, which are not us.
Silence: Too bad, though...
Thank you to... Angel-eyes56, Taeniaea, Spirit of the Dead, AthenaNoel, Broken Gem, Darkbadkitty, Ancient Death, and no one for reviewing! I appreciate every single one!
We Who are Cursed
Chapter Thirteen: Socio
Hotaru sat in her room, lying on her twin size bed. Rei wasn't home as usual, Minako was surprisingly grocery shopping, Ami was at the library, Makoto was planting her flowers, and here she was; bored and alone.
Well, not completely alone.
For the past few days, the same spirit had been following her, which was awkward because none of the other spirits had done this before. Most of them appeared sporadically, speaking inaudible words whilst waving around their blown limbs with crooked smiles.
This one was different.
It was a woman, that much she could tell. Her face was a blur though, hiding her features behind a foggy mask. She wore blue jeans and a t-shirt, tennis shoes to match. Her hair was long, draping a curtain around her features, hiding the face she couldn't see.
Freedom in a cage- no sun and too much rage
I don't know how much I can take
It didn't matter what day it was or what she was doing, this woman wouldn't leave Hotaru alone, much like today. Now she stood, or rather floated, in the corner of her room, looking at her from beneath the mass of hair that flowed from her scalp.
Hotaru looked at her back, staring her down with her own amethyst eyes. Something about this woman seemed familiar though, made her want to get up and deck her transparent self in the face. Resentment was the wavelength connecting them.
Push it down inside, but it knows just where to hide
I know that 'normal' is hard to fake
"Ugh, who are you? Why are you following me?" Hotaru asked the spirit hatefully, knowing that she couldn't respond. "This is getting annoying."
Looking back down to her hands for a minute, trying to ignore the ghost to see if she would leave, Hotaru frowned. After a good minute or so, she flipped her head back up, but the spirit still stood.
"Why won't you leave me alone?!"
The ghost seemed to react to this message, raising her hand to the door and pointing.
"Yes, go through the door and leave."
The spirit pointed to Hotaru and then to the door this time.
"No, I will not leave. This is my room."
This time the woman pointed to herself, Hotaru, and then to the door, seeming more insistent than the previous times.
Hotaru on the other hand was confused. Before now, she wasn't able to make contact to any spirit. Was this allowed in her curse?
Bleeding into life- it's like a thousand knives
Are slowly turning me into this
Why does it have to be like this?
The woman moved and proceeded to leave the room by floating through the door, giving Hotaru no time for decisions. It was either now or never.
Leaping off her bed and dashing down the hallway, Hotaru followed the floating figure, running through the living room and out the door. Almost tripping on the steps leading to the dirt below, Hotaru sprinted to keep up with the woman, who floated through the trees swiftly and with ease. She gritted her teeth and gripped her fists tighter, pumping her legs hard in the chase.
The further they went into the woods, the ones that separated them from the rest of the town; it became much harder for the small girl to keep up. Rocks littered the ground, making it almost impossible for her to run. Branches jutted out in her path, hiding the ghostly spirits trail. How was she supposed to follow this thing when she couldn't see her?
I don't know what's wrong
It's like I'm too far gone
It doesn't matter anyway
A few scrapes and falls later, she finally found the woman, levitating in the middle of a small clearing by a pool of water. All other forms of life seemed nonexistent, only the grass and trees giving off that force. The clouds hung overhead, glowing in their purple radiance.
The spirit turned her downcast head towards Hotaru, pointing at the pool of water with her right hand. Hotaru, wary at first, stepped forward slowly, not daring to look in the eyes of the ghost. For some reason, she felt like she wasn't supposed to see her identity, at least not yet.
Upon getting to the edge of the pool, the girl hesitated, trying to avoid contact with the small body of water. However, feeling the intense gaze of the ghost made her relinquish her vision, forcing herself to look into its depths.
At first, it appeared to be just an ordinary puddle, small waves vibrating back and forth, pulsing from the center towards its banks. Then she began to make out pictures, outlines of people.
"What is this?" Hotaru murmured to herself, getting down on her knees to get a better view. By this time, she could better make out the scene.
It was Rei and herself, sitting in the living area of their old home. Rei was sitting on the couch, watching a Saturday morning cartoon in her school uniform while she slept in the middle of the floor, not ready to start the day. Subconsciously she grinned while watching the past unfold.
Then her mother walked in, shaking her awake and leading them to the door. Undoubtedly it was time for them to go to school. Grabbing their backpacks and lunch boxes, they filed through the front door, their mother following close behind.
A change of scene followed closely behind, going to a memory Hotaru wished to be permanently erased from her mind. It was the day they first heard their parents argue about them.
Fear is in my heart- just when I stop it starts
And I can never live this way
Rei held her close in their room, which at the time was just outside the kitchen where their parents fought. They could hear them screaming curses at each other while throwing in degrading comments about them, making it seem as though their ears would began bleeding at any moment from the harsh words.
It was then Rei and Hotaru knew it would soon be over. Their family, their lives, their dreams… over.
"Why are you showing me this?" Hotaru asked angrily, looking to the faceless woman. "I don't wish to look back on these memories!"
The woman pointed back down to the water again, the old scene moving onto another one. This time, it was one she did not recognize.
It was showing a car driving down the highway, sleet coming down in tons around it while ice coated the asphalt beneath it. The small car was driving very quickly, and did not heed the signs that were being displayed by the oncoming bridge, warning travelers that ice was likely to be on the overpass. The vehicle showed no sign of slowing down.
Hotaru couldn't clearly see what was going on, but the car somehow lost control, spinning into the guard rail and into oncoming traffic. The small car was smashed between a dump truck and the railing.
It switched to a scene where the medics and police officers were swarming the area, taping off the area of the wreck and pressing back the public. The smoke from the engine and the breath of the people around hung in the air.
Two men broke off the door to the smaller vehicle, tossing it to the side like a broken doll, its metal case hitting the street below. One man got down on his knees pulling out a bloody body, only its arms and legs being visible to her.
The second man pulled out the black bag, holding it open while the first man slid the body inside. Hotaru wondered why they instantly placed the person in a body bag; because her vision of the entire body was limited she couldn't see the extent of the injuries. However, that would all change in just a few moments.
Both men moved in sync, stepping away from the body to bring a stretcher. It was then she saw it.
Protruding from the neck of the body was a piece of the guard rail, blood oozing from the gash and trickling down the chest and shoulders, running like a river on the asphalt below. And like a clear film, the blur was raised from her sight, revealing the victim's face.
It was her mother.
Living with a curse, sometimes it's even worse
It slowly kills me everyday
Her eyes were wide, pupils dilated to the size of a pinpoint. Her skin was white and clammy, looking cold to the touch from a few feet away. It felt as though a hammer had made impact with her chest.
Hotaru blinked back a few tears, only to find herself looking back to a clear pool. Turning her head back up to the spirit, she had found that like the blur in the wreck scene had been lifted, the one in present life had been also.
Before her floated her mother, eyes still dilated like the day of the wreck, a slit stretching from her chin to her collar bone, showing the place where the guard rail made impact. Her once shiny, black hair was now dull, hanging by her face limply.
Her mother was dead.
"M-mother…" Hotaru let a few tears spill from her eyes. "W-what…."
"I'm sorry, Hotaru." Her mother told her, floating a few feet back. "I am so sorry."
Feeling her chest compress harshly and send pains through her heart made Hotaru wince, landing on the soft grass with a thud. Holding onto the front of her shirt as she rested on the ground, Hotaru blinked, letting a tear fall from her tear duct.
But this tear was different than the rest. It wasn't of remorse, but rather of happiness.
Taking a deep breath and turning her head up one last time, Hotaru saw that her mother was no longer there, giving a small smile as she rested her head back on the grass.
"It is ok, mother…" Another tear drifted down her cheek. "It is ok."
It began to rain while Hotaru stayed there, closing her eyes while she continued to smile.
"It is ok, mother…" Hotaru whispered to herself. "Because I don't feel my curse anymore."
Something I despise is going to take my life
I guess I'll try again today
End of Chapter Thirteen
Silence: Ok, so Hotaru's curse has been broken! But how? And will she be ok? All of that will be answered next time!
Raiden: Or the time after that.
Silence: That too... because something happens with Rei and Haa-san next time! And don't forget the conversation with Usagi!
AN: With the 'different tear', I am reffering to the point in the FB manga where the curse is broken and how the Sohma react. The Taisen seem to be reacting the same way.