[Shatter Me] [Shu Kurenai]

Part 4

"What does dad have to do with this?" I looked between the two of them, and Mizusawa shrugged. At this part, he was as lost as I was. My eyes landed on my mum, who refused to look in my direction. "Mum?"

"Your dad had stumbled upon a curse and traded it to me in return for his life." My mum explained, and I looked at Mizusawa. That explains so much, yet so little.

"The curse was... turning people into glass balls?" I questioned it, realising how strange it sounded. Was this real life?

"The curse was storing people's lives instead of taking them. You could choose any object. I chose glass balls because they were convenient. But the catch was that they had three days left to live when they were summoned again unless we found a way around it." My mum told me, with a sigh. "I haven't called on anyone because I still haven't found a way around it."

My eyes widened in surprise. Am I going to be the reason for Mizusawa's downfall? I looked at him, the guilt rising in me.

"Stop feeling guilty. You weren't to know. And from what I gathered, it was an accident." Mizusawa said, sensing my concern. "It just means we have to find a way around it. Is your father still in the picture?"

"He died four years ago." I murmured, the pain returning to my chest. We were close, and it hurt when he died.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Mizusawa told me, with more sympathy than I was expecting. "It must have been hard for you."

"It was." In more ways than one.

"Are we done?" Mum asked, abruptly, and I just stared at her. Why am I surprised? It's not like she ever cared to begin with.

"One more question." I said, and she narrowed her eyes at me. "Why choose to kill?"

"To save you, Shu."