what lovers do

chapter 11

 She's a monster!

This is the punishment of the heavens!

She has no cursed energy!

How many did she kill?

A disgrace!

Get rid of her!

Before the other clans know of this!

Silence!

The last voice is the cue for everyone to stop talking altogether and give them a breather. Utahime stands between a dream and reality. Yes, this is a dream and she is very much aware of it. But here she is nothing but a phantom, unable to exist in their actuality. All she can do is watch and see how the past unravels before her.

Utahime remembers Gojo's words a week ago; that it is a good thing that the dream has been visiting her. In this way, they could know more about the child and if they got lucky, they may learn how her fate turned out.

A familiar-looking hall greets her aside from the synchronous, aggressive shouts she heard from earlier. Just exactly what Gojo and her talked about before, she finds the Gojo clan crest engraved in the wooden walls, shaped like a plum blossom. Inside the hall are around twenty people, composed of more men than women, all clad in venerable kimono. Their bare presence brings her restlessness as their eyes speak nothing but death towards a child not even older than six years of age.

The girl hides behind her - from what Utahime assumes - is her father, a white-haired man with the same crystal blue orbs as the man she knows. The child clasps the lower part of her father's kimono so tightly, she possesses a doll-like face framed perfectly with her shoulder-length silver hair. Her lips quivering from fear that a kid of that age normally should not be dealing with and Utahime feels her heart tightening as she sees the bruises and cuts on her wrists, neck, and the one next to her lips.

A member of the family yells from the crowd. "That child is your curse! She is bound to kill you!" the man's voice was so loud that it startled the little girl which made her dash outside the hall. Her father screams back at everyone and it only brings a heated commotion between family members. However, Utahime's main concern is the child and swiftly she drags her feet to follow her. It is troublesome when one tries to run in their dreams like they are running in water and Utahime swears under her breath. The time glides faster in this dream and she notices that she's been running for quite a time.

Where are you?

She stops before entering a thick, green forest. The blinding lights shine brightly from above and the chirping of birds inside the woodland is quite a spectacle. Everything seems to be real.

Utahime wastes no time and enters the forest. The enormous trees, the smell of timber, and the earthy scent are too real for anyone to mistake the place for a dream. After a few minutes - that's how she put it - Utahime finds the girl sitting while hugging her legs, staring at the sparkling flowing river. Her shoulders shudder and it is clear as day that she is crying.

I wonder if she could hear me...Utahime wants to comfort the girl, holds her and tell her that she is not alone anymore yet at the same time, she is seething in anger at those adults who had caused an innocent child to cry like this.

She attempts to reach the little girl, leaning down to touch her shoulder when a voice speaks from behind.

"Oi, it's you again?"

Utahime holds her chest with a hand and turns around to find a boy with dark, spiky hair and green eyes. She can tell how she seems invisible from the boy's view.