Chasing Dreams (Dropped)

Chapter 159: A Vermillion Bloodbath(1)

"You're better at this than I thought." Suzume took a moment to examine herself in the mirror, slowly but surely she was beginning to look like her old self. Suzume twirled her wet hair and faced Sarah with a thin smile.

"Oh Suzu did you really expect less of me?" Sarah joked. However, Suzume's lengthy silence served as an appropriate answer. "You did...didn't you?"

Suzume noticed Sarah's face flatten, quickly being stripped of her typical vibrant emotions.

"Sorry..." Suzume awkwardly apologized. "I just never took you as much of a hairstylist." Sarah immediately raised a brow, clearly offended by Suzume's innocent comment. Sarah stayed quiet for a few seconds, batting her eyes until having the nerve to respond. "How come?"

Suzume immediately gestured towards her surroundings. "Well you live in a big house an all. Compared to the rest of us you live a pretty prestigious life." Sarah looked even more confused by the comment. "Don't you also live the same way?"

Ever since the founding families first settled in America centuries ago, the Vermillions had always considered the Fumiko Clan their greatest rivals. Not only in terms of wealth, but also in status and prestige. Both families established themselves by trade, with the Fumikos selling their diamonds and the Vermillions producing different types of metals to various factions within the world.

Due to the metals produced by the Vermillions, the Hero Association has made great strides in technology advancements. Thus making the Vermillions one of the most influential families in the world.

"No I don't." Suzume continued to stare around at the golden bathroom. Every detail of it seemed refined, from the silver interior to the jeweled sink. "It may be true that the two of us share large homes. But the inside of my home isn't as refined as this or as crowded."

Suzume raised her finger. "I only have one servant, and even then he is a member of our extended family. He handles cleaning up after us, and even assists my mother in my training. But outside of that he doesn't do much else."

"Interesting." Sarah didn't know much about the Vermillion household. Like everyone else, most of her knowledge of it stemmed from the rumors produced by her peers. Sarah recalled her father calling them demons once, and other representatives always repeating the phrase. "Don't ever mess with the Fumikos."

"So I just assumed with the amount of maids you have here. At least one of them was tasked with doing your hair and makeup." Suzume admitted.

"Nope that's all me." Sarah smiled. "My mother used to do my hair as a child, so when she died I had to learn how to do that all on my own."

"Oh..." Suzume mumbled under her breath and looked around. The last thing she wanted to stir up such a delicate memory. "Sorry I didn't mean to..."

"Oh no no it's fine really." Sarah waved. "Talking about it now isn't as rough as it used to be."

"From what it sounds like the two of you must've been very close."

"Yeah we were as all mothers are with their children." Sarah smiled but then noticed Suzume's face drop. "Crap, I'm sorry I uh..." Sarah bit her tongue, trying to string the words together. "I'm sorry." Sarah hit her head, "I shouldn't have said that..." Sarah continued to hit her head. "That was so insensitive of me."

"Trust me Sarah it's fine. I've gotten over the mother stuff awhile ago." Suzume lied. Both she and Sarah both knew Sayuri's actions had left scars too deep to heal. But Suzume could tell Sarah's comment wasn't meant to antagonize her, and the last thing she wanted was for Sarah to beat herself up over nothing.

"Besides..." Suzume sadly smiled. "I do like hearing about your relationship with your mom. It makes me think about what sort of mother I'd like to be for my child." Suzume rubbed her stomach warmly.