Chasing Dreams (Dropped)

Chapter 64: A Sparrow's Back

The memories of the past stay with us forever...

SPLASH

Suzume looked on silently only to see blue eyes staring back at her. 

She raised her hand placing it along her cheek gently grazing along the bruised area before slowly moving towards her eyelid. She continued to watch carefully, examining herself as if were expecting to see something different.

But to her disappointment all she saw were cold eyes looking back at her. 

The same eyes as her Mother.

Suzume seemed fixated on her own stare looking at it as if it were foreign to her. Suzume paused for a moment allowing everything to sink in before the sound of running water finally poured into her ears.

Suzume glanced over, noticing the mountain of steam being produced from the running water.

"..." she watched the water run for a moment with an odd expression. Her face was unnaturally pale, and her eyes distant as if she were looking for something that wasn't there.

While she silently stared clouds of steam expanded throughout the room shrouding her in a white veil. The sudden obstruction of her vision didn't seem to bother her as she slowly began to remove her clothing.

She ran her fingers through her hair finding a hairpin in which she used to shift her bangs in a specific direction. With a small movement of her fingers she removed it, allowing her bangs to shift from left to right slightly revealing a scar. It was a deep gash, a bit short in length but easily noticeable when standing up close.

Suzume's eyes slowly narrowed as memories flashed before them.

"You completely botched this..." Sayuri's voice flowed within her mind as she envisioned the scene.

Sayuri was holding a small mug and stared at it in disgust, and with a wave of her hand the mug went flying crashing into Suzume's face leaving the first scar.

Suzume then continued down her hair before removing her hair tie allowing her long locks to flow freely completely shielding her backside.

Suzume glanced up before taking a deep breath inhaling some of the steam in the process. 

Suzume then proceeded to remove another article of clothing. She ran her fingers along her haori before pushing it off of her shoulders. She then glanced down at her hands noticing the guards the covered them.

With a quick flip of her finger the guards came off, falling to the floor just like her haori.

She examined her hands carefully taking note of every scar on them. The scars on her hands at a range of appearances, some looking nothing more than thin lines, and others looked like they healed improperly mainly the ones on her knuckles.

She ran her hand against it before slowly closing her eyes once again allowing her memories to flow freely.

"You're holding it wrong." Sayuri's voice echoed within Suzume's mind as she envisioned her. 

Sayuri slowly walked around a younger Suzume before striking her hands with a stick.

Each time Suzume would let out a groan or any type of sound in response to the pain Sayuri would strike her again.

She did this until her hands bled.

Suzume's mind flashed back when she finally reopened her eyes. Like before she let out a deep breath before removing the tassel around her trousers, allowing her pants to collapse to the ground and her kimono to fly open.