Butterfly's Curse

Only A Corpse

In the room of Mifuyu's grandma, there was always a photo near her bed. A photo that would always be upside down. That photograph always reminded her of all the pain she went through when she lost her husband. The photo was taken a long time ago when Leiko and her husband were young, when Mifuyu's grandpa was still alive.

In the picture Leiko is holding a little kid in her arms with a simple smile on her lips -- the little boy is Enmei, the father of Mifuyu. Standing beside her, there's a tall man that in one of his hands is holding a black hat and wearing a long-black coat. Just like Leiko, he's smiling, but for some reason his smile and eyes expressed sadness. His gaze was focused to his left like he was seeing something there; something Mifuyu found kinda strange.

When Mifuyu looked at the photo for the first time, he quickly noticed the features that his grandpa shared with him. His grandma used to always tell him, that he was a carbon copy of him. That every time she looked at her grandson, she would always remember him. But what most reminded her of her husband was Mifuyu's blue eyes -- Mifuyu's blue eyes that looked just like the sky.

A few days after that photo was taken,
Mifuyu's grandfather, Hifumi, disappeared leaving no trace behind. Then after a month he came back from the place the red butterfly took him away to. No one really believed in any word he had spoken, except for his wife. Leiko, just like Hifumi, was able to see the unseen.

He told almost everything he knew about the mysterious place he was taken and about the red butterfly, but he kept to himself alot of things about the blue butterfly. Sadly after few days of his return, he took his own life. Even when Hifumi confessed to his wife about the sins he had committed in his past life, she was unable to stop him from doing such a thing.

It wasn't his fault, so why did he still have to die?

To escape from the hands of the red butterfly, his only escape was death. Leiko was aware of this, and still, she couldn't believe her husband was capable of taking his own life. Since when the life of her husband fell into the hands of an evil spirit? Why did she not realize it before it was too late?

The worst thing, she was unable to say goodbye to him. She was unable to see him one more time, not even could she find the body of her husband after his death. Everyone believed he vanished one more time and maybe he would appear after a while once again like last time, not believing in Leiko's words.

How could they believe in such a thing? Hifumi in their eyes was a man that always enjoyed his life. It was impossible that he would take his own life, but in the end, they believed in Leiko's words after they couldn't find any trace of him.

Since Mifuyu's grandpa passed away when his father was only a little boy, he was confused at how he knows who he is. He was supposed to have been gone for a long time ago, but suddenly his in front of him looking as young as he looked in the photo.

"Grandpa?" Mifuyu managed to ask after staring to long into the man's blue eyes, confused.

"That's right" He said with a smile on his lips. "I'm glad I was able to see you one more time, my child."

Mifuyu couldn't believe what he was hearing. "How? My grandma told me, and even my father, that you disappeared a long time ago, that you took..." He paused, changing his words. "How you're still alive? How do you even know who I am?"

"Because I been watching over you since you were born." He said, taking off his hat. "I knew some day a kid that would be able to see the unseen would be born in our family, just like Leiko and me. And that the red butterfly would take that poor child away to consume their life.

"And that kid is me." Mifuyu said in a low voice, unable to hide his sadness.

Hearing the sadness in his grandson voice, Hifumi felt guilty for all the things he had been through because of him. Still, he decided to continue. "With the help of the blue butterfly, I was able to be reborn as a white butterfly, becoming your guardian angel. Before I died, I promised myself that I would protect my descendants from the red butterfly. Since she was unable to consume my life, she said she would consume the life of the people who are precious to me," he explained, putting his hand on Mifuyu's shoulder. "I'm sorry, for getting you involved in this."