𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐨 𝐔𝐳𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢 𝐗 𝐅𝐞𝐦!𝐔𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐡𝐚!𝐎𝐜 ── ❝ 𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 ❞
── Misaki could never have anticipated what awaited her in the years to come-her tumultuous feelings, her fractured famil...
I opened my eyes, hoping, wishing, praying that what I was about to see would be the sterile white walls of a hospital, and what I was about to smell would be the pungent scent of disinfectant. My prayers were not answered. My eyes fluttered open to a blank, white sky. I turned my head, and there saw the white spider lilies, slowly turning red at my presence—the air heavy with their musky scent.
I slumped forward as I sat up, a deep groan arcing out of my lips with an intolerance of weary muscles. The ache in the curse mark at my neck was too familiar, every pulse reminding me of the darkness in me. The ache spread through me, some dull, relentless pain gnawing into my resolve.
I forced myself to my feet, slow and deliberate, as if the air had coalesced. Every step was an effort of biblical proportion, but something made me push forward, to see if I could find any hint of clarity in this endless white canvas.
"Hanami," I called, my voice echoing back at me from the emptiness. "Where are you?"
I was met with silence, which was so oppressive, relieved only by the far-off rustling of lilies. The landscape just seemed to go on and on, monotonous, while my mind was racing a thousand thoughts and fears.
"Why are you doing this to me?" I shouted out loud. My voice cracked. "What do you want from me?"
A soft, mocking laughter filled the air around me, and I turned to find Hanami standing amidst the flowers with glittering eyes, full of malice.
"You still don't understand, do you?" she jeered at me, closing the distance. "This is your fate, Misaki. You can never outrun it."
I bunched up my fists as anger and frustration bubbled over in my chest. "I won't let you control me," I spat.
Hanami's smile was twisting on her lips, and it turned quite cruel. "You are already mine," she whispered, her voice full of relished satisfaction. "With every use of that curse mark, you are slowly losing pieces of yourself."
And with that, her words cut deep, another pang of despair washing over me. But I couldn't afford to give in—to them, to myself—not now, not ever.
"I'll fight you," I told her, my voice even though I was churning inside. "And I will find a way to overcome."
Hanami's laughter sent a shiver right through me. "We shall see," she said, her voice hanging on the heavy, oppressively silent air.
I watched warily, confused, as Hanami's smile twisted into something even more sinister. "But before you go on your little crusade, I have something to show you, Misaki. Something that you really would want to find out."
