Reap What You Sow / A BNHA Story

Chapter 21

Sana's POV

My fingers were rubbery as I grazed them against my palm, retching at the wrinkly texture, watching the moisture run down my wrist, the hem of my sleeve drenched from the damp towel. My knees were raw and bruised from the rough pavement under me, the extent of my position due to the withering mother that lay beneath me. Her breathing was labored and seemed to draw out her lungs in painful intakes that soon formed into heaving coughs, leaving blood bubbling past her lips in its wake. It was hard to tell how frail she had become, since she was never a plump woman, her bones only more brittle with the lack of appetite adorning her many other symptoms. Her once bright purple hair, was now a muted shade of lavender, though that was primarily due to her old age. The head of this clan, Chiyo Murakami, was reaching her bitter end.

Death, in all its predicaments, was not frivolous due to the loss of a being, it was the void of responsibility that was left in the physical world, that was responsible for all its strife. Indeed, the loss of my mother would sadden me, though no more then if I was to miss my daughters first steps, or forget my happiest memory. Death comes for us all. It was pointless to mourn a spirit gone when there was more concerning matters to contend to.

The bucket of water to my side had turned warm, despite the fact that it was icy cold only minutes ago. Chiyo's temperature was at a climax, the towel doing little to dim her spiking heat. She opened her eyes to slits, lifting a bony hand to my wrist, pushing my hand away from her face.

"Sana, I beg of you. Stop coddling me like a child, I feel no better with or without your insistent pecking." She pushes herself to a higher situated position, so her back leaned against her bedframe.

"Shall I bring more medicine then? No point being stubborn when you can ease at least some of the pain." I dry my hands off against my dress, tucking my palms into my lap.

"I'm fine, put the pillow over my head if I ever start whining about hip pain or any such matter. Whilst I still have breath in my lungs, I must urge you on something, though I'm sure you already know." She reaches over to her desk, opening up her drawer and pulling out a wrinkled sheet of paper.

I furrow my brows, sitting up to find a place on the edge of her bed, trying to see what she was clutching on to.

"You must find her Sana. Find her and tell her to come home." She squeezes the paper between her fingers, a distant look in her eyes I couldn't quite place.

"But Ina-" I start, not before I'm met with a harsh curse. Chiyo's hands folding against her chest, the paper now visible to me.

It was an image of Chiyo, Kaito, and Sunako. The young girl of 12 at the time had her arms slung around my parents, their beaming faces ones I was foreign to. Kaito had lost his sanity decades ago, though of course only being married into the legacy, his loss of identity wasn't mourned over. Yet he stood there, embracing a child that wasn't even his own.

"Ina was never good with words, she mustn't have been convincing enough. Sunako would never have rejected her offer now that she knows we're alive."

"But-"

"No. I don't want to hear it. It's either her or Hotaru."

I shiver at the mention of my brother, and refrain to bring up his extended absence. He had been gone for years, the threat of our demise the last thing he had spoken of. Though it was as if a heavy cloud had been lifted off of this residence after his leave; even glimpsing him in his office would send goosebumps trailing up my skin. Hotaru was unlike any of us. He killed, because he could. He was a leader in all attributes, and was possibly the only one not led by redemptionable purpose. He was ruthless. Cunning. Terrifying.