𝐌𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 || 𝐒.𝐆𝐨𝐣𝐨 | 𝐍.𝐙𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟑 : 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬

✩ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟑 : 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬 ✩

The sea slammed against the rocks of the Zenin estate like an ancient drum, a fossilized heart refusing to die.

At the edge of the cliff, a girl stood barefoot, hands open.
She did not cry. She did not scream.
She sang.

But only in her mind.

Chihiro had never spoken.
Not a word, not a whimper.
Her silence was her talisman, her poison, her sacred chant.
And from the depths of that silence, incantations bloomed — too ancient, too dangerous for human ears.
The elders whispered, "She carries the sea in her belly. A curse disguised as a girl."

Child Naoya watched her from the dojo's doorway.

He hated her.

Or so he thought.

— "You think you're special just 'cause you don't talk?"

He threw dirt at her face.
She didn't flinch.
He smashed the seashell she always kept in her pocket.
She didn't blink.
He pushed her to the ground, growling like a small god.

She stared at him.
Right in the eyes.
Wordless.

That's when it began.
The obsession.
The violence.
The thread between them.

⸻

Later, he dragged her to training.

She was too thin for her robes, vacant-eyed.
He was shirtless, cruel, radiant, his body coiled with cursed energy.

— "Hit me, Chihiro. Move. You think silence will save you?"

He laughed. She fell.
He said the same words again. And again. Until exhaustion. Until blood.

Then he'd pull her into his room.

— "Come. I have something for you."

He made her listen to music.
Ancient chants. Modern symphonies. Wordless melodies.
She held the headphones like a prayer.
And cried — silently.

He would lie beside her and whisper:

— "I love you the way one loves a curse."

She never replied.
But her fingers curled.

One evening, she placed her hand on his cheek.
He hit her, softly, by instinct.
She smiled.

And he knew he was doomed.

⸻

The first time...

She returned broken, bruised, stained with something she didn't name.
Naoya waited in his room.