The Cursed Ones

Chapter Two

"Hanako, slow down." Hanako stopped skipping and slowed to a fast walk. She seemed more eager than usual to get to work. We had gotten a job at the cafe so we we could live more comfortably. We used our inheritance for anything that was necessary and we used our earning for extra things.
She turned to walk backwards, smiling ear to ear. I raised a brow at her but otherwise kept my expression blank. Whatever she was excited for I would know soon enough. She hummed as she walked and when we got to Main Steet, I made her turn around. Last thing I needed was for her to get ran over by a cart. She was never this careless. "What has you in such a good mood?" She slowed further so she could walk beside me.
"I have a good feeling about today." Her smile turned into a mischievous grin. "Things are going to be changing quite a bit around here very soon." I looked at her confused. Whenever Hanako spoke like that, it usually meant that she had a vision. They were rarely ever wrong and if they were then they were simply misinterpreted. I was confused by this one. We lived in the kingdom of Armenia. Nothing here ever changed so what big changes could she possibly be talking about.
We entered the cafe where Aiko greeted us. The cafe wasn't officially opened but it would be soon so we had to help set up for the day. "Hanako, can you please help me out back. I bought the loveliest table cloth and I would like help bringing them out but they need to be ironed." Hanako agreed immediately. "Good! Now Miyuki, do you mind taking charge of the place while I'm busy?" I shook my head no, letting her know I could handle that just fine.
           They went out back and I went behind the bar to put on my apron. I grabbed a dang and wiped down the counter, then I started polishing the glasses. When I finished, I started a fresh pot of coffee. It wouldn't be long before people started coming in. The bell on the door rang as it was opened and I was about to ask them for their order when I saw who it was. It seemed Isamo decided to return.
           He was about to sit down at a table until he saw me and changed directions to head my way. Great. I was hoping for a normal day without him here. Not specifically but I didn't consider him normal. He sat on the stool right across from where I stood and he grinned. I kept my expression blank.
           "Good morning." Instead of returning his greeting, I set a menu in front of him. "You're not much for talking or smiling are you?" I shrugged and tapped my notepad, indicating for him to order. "Very well. I'll take some black coffee."
           I turned around and poured some coffee into a mug. I placed in front of him along with a small jar of sugar and spoon. He thanked me as he added sugar to his coffee. I hoped he would just drink it in silence and then go but I guessed he just felt particularly chatty today.
          "So how do you like it here? Like, what do you think of this place? Love it? Hate it?" I raised a brow at him and he sighed. "Come on. Help the new guy out."
           "Look, I'm sure Suzoko can answer your questions better than I can." I made sure to sound annoyed. Perhaps that would hint him to shut up. His smile didn't falter.  I could see that he wasn't going to stop talking however
          "It doesn't hurt to get the opinion of multiple people. If you answer my questions I'll leave you alone."
          I sighed, deciding it couldn't hurt. "I have a home here. I don't hate it. I don't love it. Follow the rules and you should be just fine. There. Now will you leave me alone?" He frowned and tilted his head. The way Hanako often did when she was confused. It also meant they were reading more into what I said.
           "So you're okay with how things are run around here? You aren't mad about what the king and his people are doing to the people here?" I shrugged.
           "They have left my family alone so far and other people aren't of my concern. If it doesn't concern me it hardly matters. If you don't like it here then go back to where you came from." I glared at him. Talking about the king in this way was considered treason. Punishable by torture or even death. "Look, if you're smart you will act as though nothing is wrong. Stay away from my sister. I know you're trouble."
          He looked at me confused. "I don't understand how you rather ignore your surroundings when so many bad things are going on around here. I'm not the real trouble here. How can you decide to side with that tyrant?"
            I let my expression go blank again. "Don't judge my choices without knowing my reason."
             "Then help me understand." I was about to tell him to screw off until I heard a noise. Isamo became quiet as well as he finished his coffee.
             "Hello Isamo. What's going on here?" Hanako came out of the back door with an armload of cloth. She looked at me concerned. "Is something wrong Miyuki?" I shook my head no and she smiled. "Good! It was nice seeing you again Isamo." She moved to set up the table cloth. I leaned across the counter so I could speak with only Isamo hearing me.
           "You will leave me and my sister alone. Do you understand? I'm perfectly willing on getting rid of any threat to her in any way. Trust me." I leaned back and placed the check in front of him. "Have a nice day."
            He looked stunned as he paid. He left and I washed his cup.
  
            I hung up my apron as Hanako and Aiko finished wiping down the tables. Something felt off as we closed the cafe. Hanako had a knack for knowing about good things. I had a knack of knowing when things were wrong.
           As we walked home when we finished cleaning, the feeling got worse. It even became painful. Until I felt I was being stabbed in the chest. I fell to my knees, gasping, Hanako at my side in seconds. "Miyuki! What's wrong? What happened? Are you okay?" My head began to pound in pain. This was knew. I never actually physically reacted to a bad feeling.
           "Up ahead. Something...is wrong...over there." I forced out. Hanako looked up ahead on the alley. It was dark out but there was enough light to see clear enough.
           "It's Suzoko! She's with someone and they look hurt." She help me stand and though the pain was still unbearable, I kept walking until we reached Suzoko. She had stopped when she heard us and even from the distance I could see the panic in her face. The person she was holding on to was Isamo. Great. "Suzoko! Isamo! What happened? Isamo why are you covered in blood?"
             "He's been injured deeply." I couldn't see his wounds but the blood was his for sure. I wrapped a hand around my stomach. I felt like I was the one who had been injured. "He needs to go to a hospital." Suzoko shook her head violently.
             "No! He can't! If we take him to a hospital they won't help him. Please. I was going to take him to your place. I need you guys to help me. Please." She rarely asked us to do anything for her and Isamo clearly was important to her. I may not care for him but Suzoko was one of my few friends.
             I nodded at Hanako. "Help her take him to the house." I would help myself but o could barely walk on my own as it was. It was slow going but if we moved any faster Isamo's wounds could get worse. We reached the house and I opened the door. They dragged into the house and laid him on the floor. Kuma came to greet us but when she saw Isamo she didn't ask any questions. She went to grab a blanket and wash cloths with a bucket of water.
            "Hanako, can you heal him?" Hanako looked panicked and shook her head.
            "I-I'm sorry. I-I can't." Ignoring my pain, I grabbed a wash cloth, dipped it in water, and began cleaning him a bit so we could see where his wounds were exactly. Kuma helped me. Suzoko and Hanako were clearly to scared to help.
           "It's okay, Hanako. I can handle it. Make him some soup for when he wakes. He'll need to eat something. Suzoko, fo you mind helping her?" The two quickly agreed, neither wanting to see the fullness of his injury. Hanako hasn't been able to heal anyone after mother died. She believed her abilities disappeared when mother died. I think it was just because she couldn't heal mother that she gave up.
           I opened his shirt to where I assumed his wound was. Sure enough, he had a deep wound in his chest. It looked painful and in the same place I had felt my own pain.
           I cleaned the wound a bit but it was very messing. He was losing a lot of blood and I had to bandage it quickly. "Kuma, can you get me some bandages and rubbing alcohol?" She nodded and went to go get it. I applied pressure to his wound to slow the bleeding. What kind of trouble did he get himself into? And why was my pain linked to his. It was linked wasn't it?" Or was it just a coincidence? My pain was slowly fading now. It has to be a coincidence. Kuma returned with what I asked and I focused.
            I balled up the towel and stuffed it in his mouth. He was unconscious right now but he wouldn't be for long. "Kuma, hold him down while I pour the rubbing alcohol okay? On three. One...two...three." I poured the alcohol as I wiped. Isamo's screams were muffled by the towel but he fought against Kuma. She kept him still enough however. I knew it was painful but it was necessary. It wouldn't matter if I bandaged it if  it got infected.
            Kuma held him up in a sitting position as I bandaged him up. I made it in a form of a cross so it would stay still and apply pressure to the wound. I would have to change them in a couple of hours but his bleeding was less now. With the main wound dealt with I worked on the others. The other wounds weren't all that bad and I could handle them without any help.
            "I'll go make sure the girls are doing fine. They may want some dessert after this evening." Leave it to Kuma to think about dessert with what was happening. He had a cut on his right biceps which wasn't too bad. It already stopped bleeding. I propped him up carefully so I could take off his shirt and search his back for more wounds.
          I wasn't expecting to see the Mark on his shoulder blade. This explained why I didn't trust him. I knew he was hiding something but I wasn't expecting it to be something like this. He was one of us. He was a Cursed One. I cursed under my breath. I called Kuma back to help me put him on the couch and we placed a blanket over him. Suzoko had a lot of explaining to do.
            Hanako and Suzoko were sitting at the table as Kuma took over the cooking. I motioned for Suzoko to come with me and I led her down the hall were no one could hear us talk.
           "Thank you so much for helping Miyuki. I was so pan-" I held up a hand yo stop her from talking. I crossed my arms. She looked down at her feet, knowing what I was wanting her yo explain. "You have to understand. I couldn't tell you what he was earlier. I didn't think it would matter since I told him to stay away. But he was injured and I know if I took him to the hospital they wouldn't have helped him. You of all people know that. I knew you would help me and I know you won't turn him in. Not when he's like you." I looked down the hall to the living room. Isamo was laying still but he looked pained even as he slept.
            "Who is he really and how did he get injured?" Suzoko bit her lip and I knew she was holding back another secret.
            She gave in and told me. "Isamo isn't an old friend. He's my older brother. When my parents found out he was a Cursed One, they kept him a secret until he was old enough to take care of himself. When he was ten they sent him away, disowning him. My parents don't know but I've kept in touch with him. I don't know why but as we were walking someone attacked him out of no where. They were masked."
           Why would the Imperial Guards attack Isamo? I didn't ask her anymore questions and went to go check ip on Isamo who just woke up. When he saw me he tilts his head just slightly. "Im not dead am I?" He tried to sit up, moving the blanket, but hissed in pain. He stayed laying down. "Nope, definitely not dead. Where am I?"
            "You're at my house." He looked around and then down at himself. He looked at me and raised a brow.
            "Did you fix me up?" I nodded and he smiled at me. "Thank you." I shrugged and was surprised at the way he became serious. He placed a hand on my shoulder. "No really. Thank you. I thought you hated me."
            I shrugged off his shoulder but his warmth still lingered. "I never said I hated you." I stood up. "You need to eat something. I'll bring you some soup." Not waiting for an answer, I went to the kitchen. Without a word to anyone I poured a bowl with soup, grabbed a spoon, and returned to Isamo. I helped him sit up with less pain. "Can you eat on your own?"
            "If I say I can't will you hand feed me?" His grin was back and I rolled my eyes. I handed him the bowl and spoon.
            "When your down we'll try to move you into one of the bedrooms." He nodded and slowly are his soup in painful movements. His injuries must have left him sore. I sucked up my pride and sat on the edge of the couch next to him. I took the bowl and spoon, and fed him myself. Before he finished a third of it he didn't want more. "Look, you lost a lost a lot blood. You need to eat to refrain you'd strength."
           "No you look. I don't want more. Even if you're the one feeding it to me." I blushed slightly but frowned at him.
           "Eat more." He shook his head no. "You have to." He kept his mouth shut in defiance. I sighed. He was being so immature. "At least eat half of it." He didn't say anything for a minute and then smiled.
            "What do I get if I do eat it." I raised a brow at him. Was he serious?
             I sighed again. "I wasn't aware I was dealing with a do child but very well. What do you want? And you will only get it if you eat all of it." He pretended to think about it but I had a feeling he already knew.
            "You have to sing me a song. Just for me." I blushed again. I agreed and he ate his soup. The whole time I wondered why I gave a damn.