After the death of Junpei and the encounter of the cursed patchy face spirit, I fell into a fever which lasted for 5 days. Luckily my parents took care of me during those long nights. I could barely move a muscle nor had the strength to eat. Also, I would slip in and out of consciousness recalling the event of letting Junpei go. It haunted me that I couldn't get there in time to prevent his death. I guess I can't save everyone, especially the ones who are nearby. I'm not a superhero; I'm only human.
"Kana, how are you feeling?" Mom asked, sitting on the edge of my bed as she concerningly stared at me. I know I made her scared. I'm the only child she worries about the most.
Sitting up, I grabbed her hand in mine and grinned brightly. "I'm better than ever! With your and dad's help that is." I want to live a long life so I can watch my parents grow old and brothers grow up. I don't ever want them to prepare an early casket for me. Children aren't supposed to die before their parents—it's the other way around.
"Honey... Don't you ever wonder how the curse originated?"
Mom's question caught me off guard because usually nobody in the household talked about it. Mom made it clear that discussing the curse makes her uncomfortable. It came from her lineage, which was why she refused to let me become a sorcerer because she had to watch her older sister die so young.
"It's if you want to tell me." I didn't want to pressure my mom if she didn't want to. Also, I'm scared to know the truth too. Will I get mad at the root cause? Was it for the sake of the world? So why did it have to be my family?
There was an uneasy look on mom's face. "It dates back to the golden era..." She explained that the heavens decided to curse the Ozaki's leader for killing humans for the means of pleasure. Our ancestor was more ruthless and evil than Kamo Noritoshi. They had to be killed before they could ever cross paths with the rising Sukuna at that time. "It's ironic how our clan is the symbol of death, and the future generations' first born dies before adulthood. It's the heavens' way to maintain balance in our lineage." A forlorn expression took over as she stared off into space.
I tried to be open minded about this given information. However, it was only one person who caused this, and everyone had to suffer regardless if they wanted to stray from that path of evil or not. It's just unfair. "That's bullshit. So the heavens want to punish us, but not the Kamo clan? That doesn't make any sense...." I grumbled in annoyance.
"Kana... There's something I need to tell you." Mom's aura felt off from usual, not her being disappointed that I'm a sorcerer but something else. It kind of scared me because she looked really guilty as if she committed a big crime that hasn't been discovered until now. "I'm... You're not my daughter, and I'm not your mom."
"HUH?!" She just dropped a bomb on me. "What?! What do you mean?!" My head couldn't wrap around her words. She never made jokes or even lied to me before, so it must be true? "I-I don't understand...!" Standing up, I paced around the room to relieve some type of stress in me. Memories of my childhood flowed in my head; I recalled the fun, good, and sad moments I had with them all. And now she's proclaiming I'm not her child?! What was this?! "This doesn't make any sense. I look like you. You raised me, and—"
"I'm your aunt! Your mom was the first born who died! She's your mom!"
My mom—no, my aunt's words shook my existence. "H-how?! Why?! I don't get it! I'm confused!"
Immediately, she took me by the hand and dragged me to her room where she pulled up pictures of my mom. "She is your mom!" In all the pictures scattered on her bed, all photos resembled me. I looked just like her from the cursed white hair to our facial structure. It's like I had no drop of my biological dad in me. I'm just a mirror of my mom. How haunting it must be for my aunt who has to relive her niece to follow the same fate as her older sister. "I took you under my wings when she died at 17. You were 3 at that time."
"17? 3?" If I did my math correct, she had me at 14. "What?! Why was she so young to have a child?! That's... that's child abuse right there!" My mind was spiraling downhill. What the heck did I just discovered?! My real mom had me at 14... And I'm 15. I can't imagine myself with a child. I can't even take care of myself!
"It was your mom's choice surprisingly. She wanted to experience motherhood before it was too late. My parents let her because she's going to die anyways, so why stop her?" My aunt's eyes were drenched in sorrow as she took a trip to memory lane. She's really thinking back to the past to answer my dying questions. "Luckily for her, she already had a boy she knew and liked for a while. He was only a year younger than her—13 years old."
These young ages didn't suit me. They were basically kids. It felt so wrong because they're too young to be doing the dirty like that! Yet I'm not sure if I should be grateful that they did it because I wouldn't be born. It's really hard to digest this information...
"So... Who's my real dad then?"
"You probably might know him."
I gasped loudly, mentally jumping to conclusion to who it could be. If it was him, my life has been a real lie. "Don't tell me it's Gojo-Sensei?!" I blurted in fear, crumbling on the ground as I laid there like a sad, melted snowman. My heart was beating rapidly in anxiety, hoping this wasn't true. Perhaps that's why he liked to be around me because I'm his actual daughter, not his 'niece'. He was probably afraid to tell me the truth because I would hate him. "Ahhhh, my head is going crazyyyy!" But I have no resemblance to him...!
"N-no... Never."
Hearing her words, I instantly sighed in relief. I put a hand over my ceased heart rate as I calmed myself down now. A big burden jumped off my shoulders. "Thank goodness...! I would've died if it was true...." Gojo can't be a dad if he can't be a working adult.
"He's dead now, but his name was Geto Suguru."
I sat up quickly and stared at her in disbelief. "You're talking about that sorcerer who unleashed cursed spirits last year?" I recalled it was the hottest topic because it was the biggest declaration of war. "Have I ever met him?"
"Yes, when you were a baby. However, when your mom died, he stopped making contact with you."
Although I didn't really know him, hearing that stabbed a pain in my heart. Was I really that unbearable to look at since I resembled her? Yet then again, who knew if he wanted to be a dad anyways. "Damn... You're really trying to kill me...." My heart and soul couldn't handle this. It's as if my aunt kept slapping me over and over again like woman, I am in enough pain already. What's next? I'm not actually cursed?!
"Besides him, I don't know much about their love story, but they genuinely cared for one another—"
"That she convinced him to be a dad at 13...?" I didn't mean to judge, but I couldn't understand her thinking. I believe it's more painful to leave a child behind rather than dying without strings attached.
"Hey," my aunt snapped, clicking her tongue. "I said I don't know. I was also 13 when she got pregnant okay? I didn't have a normal childhood either." She further explained that my mom was happy during her pregnancy. "She would sing to you, talk about how you would look, and apologized for leaving you early and passing the curse to you."
Again, my heart ached. I can already imagine her brimming eyes covered in tears as she stroked her growing belly, expressing sorrow for my future. Her delicate hands and arms probably cradled her belly to keep me warm, and I'm pretty sure she tried to make this pregnancy the best she ever had. My mom only had one shot at life, and she couldn't ruin it because her life was too short.
"She was incredibly happy on the day you were born. She didn't care if you had white hair or not; you were her flesh and blood she could hold. Your dad was there too. She gave birth at home." She passed down a picture of my mom in her bed and my dad right beside her, smiling happily at their bundle of joy. Viewing how my mom seemed happy swelled my heart, but it felt like I was looking at myself since we looked identical.
Although I had minor questions, I could ask that later, but my biggest one was about my 'brothers'. "Soooooo you're 28, and your two sons are 12 and 10. Care to explain if you also had a young pregnancy too?" I don't know math anymore. My mind jumbled up into a knot after this.
Her eyes widened from my question and she laughed. "Oh no! They're my step sons. I decided not to have kids because I don't want to torment my own flesh and blood. Your uncle's step sons are my own sons. I don't need my own kids if step children can fill them. The two boys may not know this, but I will tell them in the future. I kept this away from you because I didn't know when the right time was." She inhaled sharply, locking eyes with me.
I wondered how many times she cried because I resembled her older sister in everything. Watching me must be a burden for her too. I should leave this place and put a distance between myself and my family. I don't want them to hurt. "So why did you lie? Like make me feel like I have a family-family, not relative-family."
"Because you would've treated us differently. There's a distinction between your real parents versus your parent figures. If I were to tell you to call me 'aunt,' we wouldn't have been close because you'd probably see me as your aunt not your mom."
She has a point. I would've treated her and my uncle like that, except my two cousins because we practically were siblings. "Mo—Auntie," I heavily sighed, standing up from the ground. "Thanks for telling me this, and I wish you the best of life."
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"I'm always making you worry about me because I look like your sister, so please let me go from your heart." I smiled through the tight sensation in my chest. She may have raised me, but I don't want her to suffer anymore. I want her to think about her small family excluding me. "I'll always love you guys no matter what. This is my final goodbye to you..." Wrapping my arms around her, I made it clear that I appreciated everything she's done for me.
"K-Kana...!" Her voice cracked, realizing that I'm never coming back while her arms tightened around my frame. I felt her beating heart against mine. The uneven pounding was like Morse code; it was telling me her woeful feelings of me never turning back. However, I wanted to leave them out of my fated situation.
Suppressing my tears, I breathed out shakily. "Don't be sad... You made your sister proud and raised me up to be a good sorcerer. Goodbye."
After leaving their house, I waited at a bus stop to pick me up. "Wow... Did I just remove myself from the family?" That's only when everything came crashing down on me. There was an emptiness roaming around my chest that hasn't been there before. I've never felt so hollow in my life until now. "So this is what it feels to cut ties with people...?" I placed a hand over my slow beating heart. Every loud thump echoed straight into my ears.
"My, my. Aren't you my cute daughter, Ozaki Kana." A soft, river-flowing like voice called out of nowhere, and I turned my head to who it was. No one can automatically know my name... I'm not that special or famous.
Glancing at the person, it was a tall male, wearing traditional Japanese clothings. His hair was long and tied back while a prominent scar laminated on his pale forehead. "You...!" Immediately, my brain looked through the files in my memories to pull out a picture of him when he was beside my mom after birth. Compared to when he was a kid, he really grew into a handsome person...even if he's supposedly my dad. "I... Um..." I lost all function to speak coherently because my aunt said he's dead, so was he really not? Did he fake it?
"Ah, I see I startled you." He stepped closer, tucking a few strands of hair behind my right ear. When his fingers grazed against my skin, I jerked back in fear and confusion. "Why do you look so scared to see your dad?"
Even though he's my dad, he didn't give out good vibes. Unease trembled in my heart, telling me to run away. But what if I did run? He might hunt me down as he's still a powerful sorcerer. However, he might not harm me.
"You're dead." I bluntly spoke, taking a step back from him.
He didn't show any signs of discomfort from that word. All he did was laugh jovially which caused me to shrink in place. This didn't feel normal at all. Bad vibes. Bad vibes. "My child, I know you're afraid of me because you never formally met me, but I will tell you this; I had to fake my own death so sorcerers would stop hunting me down. I never stopped thinking about my child who I created with your beautiful mother." My unrest suddenly disappeared when his warm, caring emotion changed the sounds of his words.
Did he really care about me? The gentleness in his eyes never ceased to emit how he felt despite my cautious behavior, and his sweet smile wanted to make my heart pound in excitement by the fact I met my real dad. "Then how come—" I wanted to ask him why it took him so long to see me, but he quickly cut me off.
"I'm sorry, my daughter. We will have to speak about this the next time we see each other. I hope you're not scared of me by then..." He disappeared without a trace.
On the other hand, I felt perplexed about what happened. In general, today was a weird day. Nothing was normal—I mean, my life was never normal to begin with, but I didn't have secrets kept away from me until now.
"What the heck is going on with my life?"
On the bus ride to campus, I did a deep reflection on today. Not only Junpei died, my whole life was a lie. I felt like Kermit the frog meme who's staring out at the rainy window. If things get worse when I'm on campus, then it's a sign that my life is ending. It wasn't a cursed spirit that killed me, but a big fat white lie. My world has unraveled. I guess I'll see Junpei soon if that's the case.
Luckily, the world or my life hadn't ended when I spotted Megumi leaning against the school gates waiting for me. I wondered how long he's been there. However, there was a big scowl on his lovely face. What a warm welcome I received after my weird day. Changing my whole attitude, I smiled brightly like a sun coming out after its storm and skipped over to him with my arms wide open. "Hi, Megumi! Hug me! I need it!"
Megumi didn't say a word as he released a small sigh and let me in his arms. His muscular arms wrapped loosely around my back while I held him tight to me. I squeezed him so he knew I'm alive after not contacting him for a few days. He's probably mad, but my aunt must've handled him meaning he understood my situation.
I pulled back from him and still kept my smile. "How are you—" Before I could finish my sentence, Megumi attacked me first with his blunt words.
"First, you didn't contact me on the day you were out almost 7 days ago. Don't you know how concerned I was? You promised me." I felt a sharp arrow stabbed through my chest. "Secondly, after that day, I tried calling you and found out that you went to your parents house which I'm glad you're safe but you get my point. When I got there to pick you up, we all discovered that you. Weren't. There." His second arrow plunged into me.
He sounded more like a nagging mom. "M-Megumi... Listen," Perhaps he was my real mom after all. He's truly the one who I have to confirm all my safety and locations to.
A tick mark grew on his forehead. "No, I'm not done yet." Megumi shoved his pointer finger against my lips. Even his finger was hot like his attitude. "We did a wild goose chase...." At this point, I tuned out his words because he was just scolding me. I'm sparing my ears from the awful bleeding. His words no longer hurt me while my ears blocked everything.
Why does he always have to be so mad? One small thing I forget to do, and he starts getting agitated. Megumi might be that person who yells at air for tripping him. He can admit that he missed me and was worried rather than telling me a long story.
Sighing really badly, I clamped his mouth shut with my hand squeezing his cheek inwards. This prevented him from blabbering even more. "Please, stop talking about this! I understand that you're mad and hurt! But you can say that you missed me and was scared in one short sentence! I didn't want to be lectured upon my return; I wanted to be comforted by you because I lost a friend!"
Immediately, Megumi composed himself less than a second and changed his attitude as he apologized. "O-oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know that. Let's go inside and talk about it." He placed a hand on my shoulder, guiding me to my dorm. Now he wanted to be sweet and attentive to my feelings because Junpei died. However, I still can't blame him for feeling uneasy by my dead absence.
Sitting on my bed in my room, we faced each other and I told him what happened to Junpei. I excluded details of my horrible health and Yuji because it's not my place to talk about him. Reliving the moment of failing to protect him hurts that red tears swelled up. "I've killed disfigured humans, and I casted Junpei to eternal sleep! I made sure he had a beautiful view of life...." My voice trembled, recalling how calm Junpei was in my arms. He stopped resisting against me and enjoyed the scenery I displayed to him. "But I wished I wasn't too late!" Slowly I lowered my head down as my lips quivered and tears blurred my vision. I didn't want him to see me weak.
"Don't be afraid to cry because it's natural. Your bloody tears don't bother me either." Megumi then lifted my chin up, wiping my eyes from the incoming tears which broke through my waterline. His facial expression didn't seem disgusted by my tears at all. He simply wiped them away as soon as more kept falling. Megumi's voice was so tender and thoughtful compared to earlier.
Ugh, my heart was squeezing so bad because he's too good for me. I need to find a person who will treat me like this when I'm sad!
Megumi listened to me as I cried about Junpei's death. He even cradled me in his arms too. The smell of vanilla lingered on his shirt as he stayed quiet with his ears open.
Once I let out my feelings about his death, I lifted my head and stared up at Megumi with my reddened doll eyes. "Today, I found out that... My mom isn't my mom but my aunt, and my two so-called brothers are my cousins!"
"Huh? Did you hit your head before coming here?!"
Of course he wouldn't believe me, so I recited the very words that my aunt told me. "Look, she even gave me pictures of my real mom!" I flashed him a photo, and his eyes widened by the uncanny resemblance. I bet he's thinking that me and her looked like twins.
"I guess you're not lying. It's just unbelievable, but I mean we all have stories we don't tell to others—"
"Mhmmmm! I know, mister-so-secretive! Sometimes I have to pry it out of you."
"So your dad is—" I closed his mouth to prevent him saying his name out loud. If words got out that I'm supposedly his daughter, then it wouldn't look good on my end despite never being in contact with him.
"Don't say his name so recklessly! You know he's the most hated sorcerer because of last year...and I want you to promise me that you'll keep this secret to yourself." I stared at him with puppy eyes. As he's the man with secrets, he shouldn't have a problem with this one either.
"I promise." He nodded, easing my tense heart. "So have you ever met him after your mom passed?"
I'm surprised he asked me that because he didn't care about his own parents' whereabouts once they left. He has that mature mindset where he moves on and never looks back. "No... I haven't and I will never because he's dead." I didn't want to tell Megumi because I'm still unsure if it was really my dad or not. Right now my life didn't make any sense.
"Come on," Megumi got off the bed and gestured to the door.
"Come on what? Where are we going?" What did he plan to do under his sleeves?
"Let's go to the kitchen and bake. I know you like doing that anyways. Cheer up,"
My eyes widened from his cute behavior. He may be a stone rock with no emotions but getting irked, but he knew people's emotions and how to treat them right. "Wow, wow, wow! He wants to bake with me?!" I happily got on my feet, eagerly pulling him out of my room.
"Yeah... We're going to poison Gojo-Sensei."
He really chose the wicked and dark side because of Gojo's antics. I can't be his partner in crime; I still want my freedom. I needed to tweak his plan to be slightly non-lethal. "How about laxative? It's a safer option...." I suggested as we made our way to the kitchen. "You can't just make poison out of nowhere anyways!" A nervous chuckle slipped out, making me wonder if he knew how to create one.
"No, poison will be fine. After all, he's the strongest sorcerer, and he swears on that too so let's see if he can survive death."
What did Gojo do to Megumi to make my best friend hate him so much?!
"But I'm barely surviving death!" I exclaimed.