I apologize for the shortness of this chapter. And not much happens. So, yeah.
Inner DestructionChapter Three
Izanami tore through her drawers, opening and slamming them shut until she found what she was looking for.
A photo album.
She flipped through the glossy pages until she came to a picture from long ago.
A young, innocent Izanami stood in it, next to a young, innocent Neji.
They were both smiling happily, and Neji's arms were wrapped around her waist.
She felt tears smarting in her eyes. She angrily wiped them away.
This photograph brought back memories. Happy ones, joyful ones.
And painful ones.
Izanami tore the picture from the page and set it down on her desk. She went through the album until every single photo of her and Neji was lying in the fireplace.
She held up a lit match.
'What am I doing?' she suddenly thought. 'Destroying these would mean destroying all the old connections…destroying all the old memories…'
I hate you too.
Those words came back to her mind. Neji hated her.
And she hated him.
Without a second thought, she threw the match into the fireplace.
And watched the memories go up in flames.
x.X.x
I – Hate – You.
She really did hate him.
Well, he hated her too, didn't he?
Neji reached over and picked up a framed photo on his desk. He studied it.
A cheerful Izanami smiled back at him. And there was himself, too, next to her.
How close they had been then!
He lightly traced Izanami's features with a finger. She still looked the same now, except more mature, more serious, prettier.
'Wait, did I think prettier?'
Neji mentally beat himself up. 'I hate her. She hates me. End of story.'
But it wasn't the end of the story.
It couldn't be.
There was no happily ever after.
'What am I thinking?'
Neji opened a drawer and placed the picture in it. He locked the drawer with a key.
There. Now the memories were locked up.
But they weren't.
They were still haunting him.
