I N N O C E N C E (Shu Sakamaki)

Chapter 22

"On the other hand, there are big mistakes. Mistakes you make that change the course of your whole life, and the lives of others around you. Those mistakes, open up a third path, the one you weren't willing to choose. You are forced to take that path, as your mistake can neither be forgiven or fixed. You cannot grow from it, but you can only live with it for the rest of your life, remembering how it forever changed you and the people around you."

Those words may have sounded trivial to some, but to Manami, they were becoming more obvious at this time of the year.

"I haven't visited her in years..." Manami sighed, staring blankly at the pages of the album which laid in her lap.

The familiar blonde curly locks which cascaded down the woman's shoulders, and the signature smile she gave to almost every stranger.

"Sometimes I wish I would have inherited your gentle beauty." Manami smiled lightly.

The thought of having anything related to that man made her sigh. But she was of his blood, and therefore, he was still her father.

Manami closed the album and threw into one of the desk's cubbies and closing it shut. She got into the bed and covered herself with a blanket.

Hours passed in silence until she could finally drift of to sleep, her eyes closing and darkness taking over.

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Shu decided to stay back on this school day, as he has heard that the girl insisted that she wasn't feeling well.

It became customary for her to be left alone at the house without supervision, in comparison to Yui. Shu wondered many times as to why this was the case: why didn't they feel the need to watch over her?

Shu chuckled.

He knew. He just didn't want to say it out loud. He thought the girl to be smart and cunning, no matter how much he disliked to admit that. She grew accustomed to avoiding them when needed and diverting all the attention away from herself. She had made them involuntarily trust her, even Reiji getting fooled by her facade.

"Indeed, this woman is dangerous." He muttered to himself.

His eyes began to close slightly, but they abruptly shot open at the hearing of a loud feminine scream.

The scream surprised him, though he couldn't quite understand at first where it was coming from. Until the realization struck him like lightning: there were only two people in the house - him and her.

He quickly got up and teleported to the girl's room

Just as he expected. In front of him laid shattered pieces of glass and a frame. He looked up, noticing the girl clutching her head in her hands, gripping tightly on her now messy black hair.

With his usual expression, he bent over and picked up the photo, which was now slightly cut at the edges from the impact of the sharp glass against its smooth surface.

The photo was familiar to him, as he had already met both the woman and the child, and one of whom, now sat right in front of him.

"What is with the meltdown?" He questioned, standing back up. "Your screaming isn't pleasurable to the ear."

Silence.

"Stop acting."

"Hm?" Shu hummed, his face staying disinterested despite his contradicting thoughts.

The girl looked up, as Shu's eyes widened at the sight of her expression.

Even he could tell that in this moment, her usual calm and emotionless facade was starting to drop, and the sorrow along with the anger was starting to appear.