Snow and Ash - Two
I run my hand over Ryo’s back in an attempt to calm him down. We’re back home now, sitting by the coffee table and everyone is here, waiting for an explanation of what is going on. I don’t know either - Ryo hasn’t said a word since and it’s as if he’s frozen with fear.
I told them as much as I knew - I felt anxious, we went for a walk and it was fine at first, but then he collapsed and lost control of his power as he attempted to protect his ears from a screech I couldn’t hear. Then he fell into silence and began trembling for a reason I don’t understand.
“Ryo,” I whisper softly close to his ear. “Talk to us. We’re worried about you.”
When he doesn’t respond, Koyama kneels on the floor across from us and ghosts his fingers over the cuts on my face, causing them to heal and the sting to subside.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Ryo finally says in a weak, shaky voice. Everyone instantly leans forward curiously and begins asking questions all at once.
“I saw someone.”
“Wait, that little girl? That’s what has you like this?” I ask in surprise, remembering seeing a little girl run off in the park. It was dark, but it looked like she was wearing a white dress. If Ryo hadn’t been in such a state, I would have asked her if she was lost and then proceeded to help her, but I couldn’t think of anything else.
“You don’t know her?” Ryo responds, the conversation suddenly becoming between the two of us.
“Am I supposed to?”
He looks away, lost in thought. “I thought you would…”
“Who is she?” Yamapi chimes in, becoming impatient with Ryo’s answers.
“She’s not a little girl. Well, she looks like one but she’s not human.”
“A mutant?” Massu asks before joining Koyama on the floor across from us. Normally I would ask that they give him some space, but he’s talking so low that it is hard to hear what he’s saying.
Ryo shakes his head and I look down to see him scratching the rug below as if trying to grip onto it. I refrain from rubbing my hand over his back and take his hand. “I don’t know what she is. But when I had the dreams, she was there most of the time, watching. Sitting on a ledge, standing in a dark corner…just watching. As if she was in charge. Like a boss watching over his workers to make sure everything is going smoothly.”
“And you saw her?” Tegoshi is the next to kneel on the floor. Yamapi is still on the armchair in front of us, interested but at the same time afraid. All of this was supposed to be over the moment the XMA building blew up. It seems that now, mutants aren’t the problem, but instead it’s something to do with the curse.
“We both did. I never thought she actually existed.”
Yamapi directs his attention to me. “You can’t see what she wants?”
“Not at all.”
“When I said she made sure everything went smoothly, I meant that she made sure the fear felt as realistic as possible. Whatever she wants, she’s not as sweet and innocent as she might pretend to be.”
---
Around 3AM, Ryo finally falls asleep beside me. I continue combing my fingers through his hair, though now he is in the comfort of sleep.
“Ryo,” I say quietly as I run my fingers down his back. “Wake up tomorrow and tell me that tonight was just a bad dream. That something’s not trying to hurt you or the rest of us again.”
Tell me that we’re not going back into the darkness of night and the unknown. Say that we’re going to follow the example of the sun and rise out of this in a few hours when we open our eyes.
---
Ryo:
I can feel myself slowly drifting out of a dreamless sleep and into the reality once again. Birds are chirping outside of my window and a warm breeze is passing through the open window, causing the light material of the curtains to flow with it.
Shige is lying peacefully next to me, with one of his legs hooked over mine. I can’t help but smile a little, realizing how comfortably he slipped back into this life with me.
Carefully, I move his leg off of me so I can sit up and look out the open window at the blue sky painted with scattered white puffy clouds. The wind feels refreshing on my skin but I can’t help but remember what happened last night.
Perched on the fence below is a black crow, and just as I begin to feel it is a bit ominous, it flaps its wings and flies away as if it was startled by something.
I can feel Shige flop over on the bed and mumble something unintelligible into the pillow. Instead of focusing on the wings of a crow, I decide to join him and get more sleep before facing what’s ahead of us.
But just then, I move my eyes the slightest bit and see Shiku sitting on the grass and leaning against the fence, looking directly at me.
“Ryo,” Shige mumbles and grabs my arm, pulling me back down next to him. “What time is it?”
“We don’t have to get up yet.”
“Wasn’t planning on it,” he says and pulls me to him so we’re chest to chest and he smiles against my neck.
“I’m going to see Noriko today.”
The smile fades.
“Why?”
“She might know something. You didn’t see Shiku in the weaker dreams, so she’s the only one who might have seen her too.”
He doesn’t say anything for a few minutes, and just when I think he must have fallen asleep, he asks me if I want him to go with me.
“If you want to.”
“She’s part of the curse, right? That means she’s my problem too. Even if that wasn’t the case, you shouldn’t go through this alone.”
---
The white painted gate creaks when I push it open, and I glance at the flowers that decorate the yard. Shige follows behind me until we reach the door and I press the button, hearing the chime from inside the house.
The door opens and Noriko appears, her black hair reaching her shoulders and a big pair of sunglasses shielding her eyes. She begins to close the door almost immediately upon seeing us but I hold it in place with a force stronger than she can break.
“What do you want?!” she yells angrily, still trying to shut the door.
“I need to talk to you.”
“That’s too bad. I’m busy!”
“It’s about Shiku. Please…”
She freezes, much like what happened to me last night, and loosens her grip on the door. Reluctantly, she steps away from the door and lets us into her house.
The inside is filled with flowers as well, and an orange cat is sprawled out across the top of the couch, asleep. Noriko sits on the couch in front of the cat and motions towards the couch directly across from her.
Once we take a seat on the couch, Noriko removes her glasses and reveals the black eyes that used to be exactly like my own.
“You know who she is, don’t you?”
“Of course I do. How could I forget the twins that made the dreams even more hellish than they would have been originally?”
“Twins?” Shige asks curiously, only having seen the white half of the girl.
“Shiori and Kumiko. Born together, died together.”
“How do you know so much about them?”
She shakes from a chill. “They replayed their fears for me to see - that is, the fears they had while they were still alive. Shiori’s were normal, things I was afraid of as well. Losing my parents, being locked in a room that was filling with water...things like that. But Kumiko…her entire life was lived in fear and anger.”
“Why do they show up in the dreams if they’re dead?”
“They’re the daughters of the curse. The dreams were their creation. Well, Kumiko’s. She lived her life in fear, so she wanted those with the curse to see how it felt.”
“What do they have to do with the originator?”
“They died on the same day. Kumiko’s vengeance was too strong, and she needed to find a way to act upon it. She lives through those who have the curse.”
“What else do you know?”
“I told you. I know everything about them. I saw it all.”
Two B: Twins
June 12, 1885
Twin girls were born.
The first, named Shiori, was born with platinum blonde hair unlike anything seen before in that region.
The second, named Kumiko, was born with the screams of those around her drowning out her own. She looked like any other baby, but stared back at those in fear with eyes that were fully black.
Some called them “angel” and “demon,” others used the terms “good” and “evil,” but they were mostly known as “snow” and “ash.” Snow is gentle, beautiful from its first moments. Its innocence is known by most, and Shiori was precisely like that. She was something everyone around her marveled at. Her eyes were a clear blue, said to only see the good.
Kumiko, however, was called “as useless as ashes” and therefore she was treated as such.
Shiori was the perfect daughter, and her parents adored her more than anything. She paraded around in a white dress her mother made for her and used to sit on her neighbors’ laps and watch the stars as if they had adopted her as their own.
Kumiko, however, was feared and discarded. She was locked in a dirty room where she was forced to hear her sister’s laughter and the words of love her parents showered her with. Needless to say, she began to hate them. She began to hate them almost as much as those who banged on her window, wanting desperately to get rid of her.
The silence frightened her, and without comforting words, she cried.
One night, as Shiori slept, she heard the sobs of her sister, younger only by a few minutes, and walked down the hall to her room. She unlocked the door and hurried to Kumiko, who pushed her away immediately upon feeling her touch.
Tears began to stream down Shiori’s cheeks as well as her sister fought her off.
“Kumi-chan,” she began helplessly. “I won’t hurt you.”
“What makes you any different from the rest?”
“I’m your sister.” Shiori tilts her head innocently. “We were born together, remember?”
After that night, Shiori began sneaking into Kumiko’s room at night to talk, or to teach her the things their mother was too afraid to. “I hate them,” Kumiko would repeat every night, with vengeance burning in her dark eyes.
On their eighth birthday, Shiori sneaked into her sister’s room just like any other night, carrying two bundles made out of her mother’s finest material.
“We should match,” Shiori suggested sweetly as she held up two pendant necklaces and handed one to her sister.
Kumiko took the pendant in her hand, and stared at it for a long time, watching as the silver reflected the little light that shone through the small window. Shiori put the delicate chain around her neck and Kumiko did the same, but not without hesitation.
Shiori scooted forward, and took both of the pendants into one hand, curling her fingers into a fist. “We’ll always be together, okay?”
Before Kumiko could offer a response to her sister’s request, the banging that had Kumiko trembling in the past began again, this time breaking through the window and the man squeezed through it and into the room.
“We’ll get you, once and for all. Ever since you came to this town, you fucking demon, businesses have failed. Our markets are deserted…” The man pulled out a knife. “All because of you.”
“It’s not her fault!” Shiori screamed in defense, and the man quirked an eyebrow.
“Leave, Shiori. You shouldn’t have to see this. But it’ll all be better now that she’s gone.”
Kumiko glared at him, ignoring her sister who spread her arms out in front of her to protect her.
“Don’t touch her! She’s my sister!”
The man’s hand that held the dagger trembled. “I have to. Someone posted a reward for her death…enough for me to live any way I want! Eat anything I want!”
“That’s all that matters to you,” Kumiko said in a low tone, with no question present in her voice.
“Get out of the way, Shiori! I don’t want to hurt you.”
Shiori remained where she was, protecting her sister and staying true to the promise she made with their pendants. Together they were born, and together they died.
When they died, their feelings of anger and vengeance never disappeared. They were joined together and became known as Shiku. A combination of their names, but also of the beginnings of shiro and kuro - black and white.
Kumiko turned to destruction, wanting to punish those who weren’t happy with all the things she’s always wanted. Jealousy and greed go hand in hand.
After all, there is a reason all the carriers of the curse have black eyes.
I told them as much as I knew - I felt anxious, we went for a walk and it was fine at first, but then he collapsed and lost control of his power as he attempted to protect his ears from a screech I couldn’t hear. Then he fell into silence and began trembling for a reason I don’t understand.
“Ryo,” I whisper softly close to his ear. “Talk to us. We’re worried about you.”
When he doesn’t respond, Koyama kneels on the floor across from us and ghosts his fingers over the cuts on my face, causing them to heal and the sting to subside.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Ryo finally says in a weak, shaky voice. Everyone instantly leans forward curiously and begins asking questions all at once.
“I saw someone.”
“Wait, that little girl? That’s what has you like this?” I ask in surprise, remembering seeing a little girl run off in the park. It was dark, but it looked like she was wearing a white dress. If Ryo hadn’t been in such a state, I would have asked her if she was lost and then proceeded to help her, but I couldn’t think of anything else.
“You don’t know her?” Ryo responds, the conversation suddenly becoming between the two of us.
“Am I supposed to?”
He looks away, lost in thought. “I thought you would…”
“Who is she?” Yamapi chimes in, becoming impatient with Ryo’s answers.
“She’s not a little girl. Well, she looks like one but she’s not human.”
“A mutant?” Massu asks before joining Koyama on the floor across from us. Normally I would ask that they give him some space, but he’s talking so low that it is hard to hear what he’s saying.
Ryo shakes his head and I look down to see him scratching the rug below as if trying to grip onto it. I refrain from rubbing my hand over his back and take his hand. “I don’t know what she is. But when I had the dreams, she was there most of the time, watching. Sitting on a ledge, standing in a dark corner…just watching. As if she was in charge. Like a boss watching over his workers to make sure everything is going smoothly.”
“And you saw her?” Tegoshi is the next to kneel on the floor. Yamapi is still on the armchair in front of us, interested but at the same time afraid. All of this was supposed to be over the moment the XMA building blew up. It seems that now, mutants aren’t the problem, but instead it’s something to do with the curse.
“We both did. I never thought she actually existed.”
Yamapi directs his attention to me. “You can’t see what she wants?”
“Not at all.”
“When I said she made sure everything went smoothly, I meant that she made sure the fear felt as realistic as possible. Whatever she wants, she’s not as sweet and innocent as she might pretend to be.”
---
Around 3AM, Ryo finally falls asleep beside me. I continue combing my fingers through his hair, though now he is in the comfort of sleep.
“Ryo,” I say quietly as I run my fingers down his back. “Wake up tomorrow and tell me that tonight was just a bad dream. That something’s not trying to hurt you or the rest of us again.”
Tell me that we’re not going back into the darkness of night and the unknown. Say that we’re going to follow the example of the sun and rise out of this in a few hours when we open our eyes.
---
Ryo:
I can feel myself slowly drifting out of a dreamless sleep and into the reality once again. Birds are chirping outside of my window and a warm breeze is passing through the open window, causing the light material of the curtains to flow with it.
Shige is lying peacefully next to me, with one of his legs hooked over mine. I can’t help but smile a little, realizing how comfortably he slipped back into this life with me.
Carefully, I move his leg off of me so I can sit up and look out the open window at the blue sky painted with scattered white puffy clouds. The wind feels refreshing on my skin but I can’t help but remember what happened last night.
Perched on the fence below is a black crow, and just as I begin to feel it is a bit ominous, it flaps its wings and flies away as if it was startled by something.
I can feel Shige flop over on the bed and mumble something unintelligible into the pillow. Instead of focusing on the wings of a crow, I decide to join him and get more sleep before facing what’s ahead of us.
But just then, I move my eyes the slightest bit and see Shiku sitting on the grass and leaning against the fence, looking directly at me.
“Ryo,” Shige mumbles and grabs my arm, pulling me back down next to him. “What time is it?”
“We don’t have to get up yet.”
“Wasn’t planning on it,” he says and pulls me to him so we’re chest to chest and he smiles against my neck.
“I’m going to see Noriko today.”
The smile fades.
“Why?”
“She might know something. You didn’t see Shiku in the weaker dreams, so she’s the only one who might have seen her too.”
He doesn’t say anything for a few minutes, and just when I think he must have fallen asleep, he asks me if I want him to go with me.
“If you want to.”
“She’s part of the curse, right? That means she’s my problem too. Even if that wasn’t the case, you shouldn’t go through this alone.”
---
The white painted gate creaks when I push it open, and I glance at the flowers that decorate the yard. Shige follows behind me until we reach the door and I press the button, hearing the chime from inside the house.
The door opens and Noriko appears, her black hair reaching her shoulders and a big pair of sunglasses shielding her eyes. She begins to close the door almost immediately upon seeing us but I hold it in place with a force stronger than she can break.
“What do you want?!” she yells angrily, still trying to shut the door.
“I need to talk to you.”
“That’s too bad. I’m busy!”
“It’s about Shiku. Please…”
She freezes, much like what happened to me last night, and loosens her grip on the door. Reluctantly, she steps away from the door and lets us into her house.
The inside is filled with flowers as well, and an orange cat is sprawled out across the top of the couch, asleep. Noriko sits on the couch in front of the cat and motions towards the couch directly across from her.
Once we take a seat on the couch, Noriko removes her glasses and reveals the black eyes that used to be exactly like my own.
“You know who she is, don’t you?”
“Of course I do. How could I forget the twins that made the dreams even more hellish than they would have been originally?”
“Twins?” Shige asks curiously, only having seen the white half of the girl.
“Shiori and Kumiko. Born together, died together.”
“How do you know so much about them?”
She shakes from a chill. “They replayed their fears for me to see - that is, the fears they had while they were still alive. Shiori’s were normal, things I was afraid of as well. Losing my parents, being locked in a room that was filling with water...things like that. But Kumiko…her entire life was lived in fear and anger.”
“Why do they show up in the dreams if they’re dead?”
“They’re the daughters of the curse. The dreams were their creation. Well, Kumiko’s. She lived her life in fear, so she wanted those with the curse to see how it felt.”
“What do they have to do with the originator?”
“They died on the same day. Kumiko’s vengeance was too strong, and she needed to find a way to act upon it. She lives through those who have the curse.”
“What else do you know?”
“I told you. I know everything about them. I saw it all.”
Two B: Twins
June 12, 1885
Twin girls were born.
The first, named Shiori, was born with platinum blonde hair unlike anything seen before in that region.
The second, named Kumiko, was born with the screams of those around her drowning out her own. She looked like any other baby, but stared back at those in fear with eyes that were fully black.
Some called them “angel” and “demon,” others used the terms “good” and “evil,” but they were mostly known as “snow” and “ash.” Snow is gentle, beautiful from its first moments. Its innocence is known by most, and Shiori was precisely like that. She was something everyone around her marveled at. Her eyes were a clear blue, said to only see the good.
Kumiko, however, was called “as useless as ashes” and therefore she was treated as such.
Shiori was the perfect daughter, and her parents adored her more than anything. She paraded around in a white dress her mother made for her and used to sit on her neighbors’ laps and watch the stars as if they had adopted her as their own.
Kumiko, however, was feared and discarded. She was locked in a dirty room where she was forced to hear her sister’s laughter and the words of love her parents showered her with. Needless to say, she began to hate them. She began to hate them almost as much as those who banged on her window, wanting desperately to get rid of her.
The silence frightened her, and without comforting words, she cried.
One night, as Shiori slept, she heard the sobs of her sister, younger only by a few minutes, and walked down the hall to her room. She unlocked the door and hurried to Kumiko, who pushed her away immediately upon feeling her touch.
Tears began to stream down Shiori’s cheeks as well as her sister fought her off.
“Kumi-chan,” she began helplessly. “I won’t hurt you.”
“What makes you any different from the rest?”
“I’m your sister.” Shiori tilts her head innocently. “We were born together, remember?”
After that night, Shiori began sneaking into Kumiko’s room at night to talk, or to teach her the things their mother was too afraid to. “I hate them,” Kumiko would repeat every night, with vengeance burning in her dark eyes.
On their eighth birthday, Shiori sneaked into her sister’s room just like any other night, carrying two bundles made out of her mother’s finest material.
“We should match,” Shiori suggested sweetly as she held up two pendant necklaces and handed one to her sister.
Kumiko took the pendant in her hand, and stared at it for a long time, watching as the silver reflected the little light that shone through the small window. Shiori put the delicate chain around her neck and Kumiko did the same, but not without hesitation.
Shiori scooted forward, and took both of the pendants into one hand, curling her fingers into a fist. “We’ll always be together, okay?”
Before Kumiko could offer a response to her sister’s request, the banging that had Kumiko trembling in the past began again, this time breaking through the window and the man squeezed through it and into the room.
“We’ll get you, once and for all. Ever since you came to this town, you fucking demon, businesses have failed. Our markets are deserted…” The man pulled out a knife. “All because of you.”
“It’s not her fault!” Shiori screamed in defense, and the man quirked an eyebrow.
“Leave, Shiori. You shouldn’t have to see this. But it’ll all be better now that she’s gone.”
Kumiko glared at him, ignoring her sister who spread her arms out in front of her to protect her.
“Don’t touch her! She’s my sister!”
The man’s hand that held the dagger trembled. “I have to. Someone posted a reward for her death…enough for me to live any way I want! Eat anything I want!”
“That’s all that matters to you,” Kumiko said in a low tone, with no question present in her voice.
“Get out of the way, Shiori! I don’t want to hurt you.”
Shiori remained where she was, protecting her sister and staying true to the promise she made with their pendants. Together they were born, and together they died.
When they died, their feelings of anger and vengeance never disappeared. They were joined together and became known as Shiku. A combination of their names, but also of the beginnings of shiro and kuro - black and white.
Kumiko turned to destruction, wanting to punish those who weren’t happy with all the things she’s always wanted. Jealousy and greed go hand in hand.
After all, there is a reason all the carriers of the curse have black eyes.