Souzou Forest - II

Mary pouted, giving herself a mental facepalm. She should've been more careful about the teakettle! Now it was whistling like a maniac, and if a human heard its infamous screeching... what trouble would she be into? Then again, she could turn one to stone... but she didn't want to feel like a monster! What good would that do? And she didn't want anyone to die either!

     With a desperate flick of the switch, the quarter Medusae sighed in relief. The whistling died down. She took a reach for the handle, and yelped, sucking on her finger. She was such a clumsy child--she had forgotten how hot the kettle was. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Oh, well. It wasn't like she could help it. She was going to be this way, whether she liked it or not.

     "Pouring tea, pouring tea, I just love... pouring tea!" Mary sang to herself, watching as her green tea plopped into the cup. She blew on the liquid for a tad bit, and then took a sip. She squealed; it was still oh, so hot. But the warmth trickled down her throat and made a funny feeling in her stomach. It was as if her mother was right beside her and gave her one of the best hugs ever. Mom... the thought left Mary feeling slightly depressed. It was because of her own foolishness that her mother died. Or was it because of her father? Either way, she was going to blame herself.

~[***]~

"Daddy!"

     Mary's voice cracked, and she thrashed wildly about, though Shion held her back. Mary tried reaching out for her father's hand, though he wasn't facing her. He was facing towards the door. He was going to leave.

     "Are you really going to leave your daughter right now?!" Shion exclaimed, effortlessly holding her struggling daughter in place. "My gosh, she's only 5 years old right now! We were supposed to spend with each other as long as possible--"

     The father turned around, staring at his wife in the eyes. "You guys... really are monsters."

     At that, Mary froze in place from shock. Then, she sat down and began to weep. Her mother was right! Humans thought they were monsters! And now, even her own dad was against them! Such a harsh, cruel, world! It made her cry more and more.

     Shion, however, held her ground. "What do you mean? I thought you accepted us!"

     "I let Mary outside for a few minutes so she could have some fresh air. And she was playing with a baby bird. And you know what she did? That poor bird froze!"

     "Only temporarily!"

   "What about you? You can actually turn people to stone and temporarily freeze people at eye contact!"

     Shion shook her head, ignoring him. "You lied. You said you would accept me on the day of your proposal!"

     The father glared at her eyes--er, or rather, forehead. "I was blind then. I didn't realize that being around you guys could be at the cost of my own life." He muttered, and walked out the door... forever. And now, as Mary hushed her sobbing, it was Shion's turn to weep. Rain began to pour outside.

     "Your father... I hope he doesn't rat us out. If he gives the people false rumors about us... they'll surely want to kill us in an angry mob." Mary's mother whispered with shuddering breath. She held Mary close to her, who was presently exhausted from crying and decided to nap. Then, the half Medusae turned to the window, streaked with the raindrops from the gray clouds. Perhaps this is similar to what her mother, Azami, went through? Except the only difference was that Azami's husband  loved her all the way through until the end of his life. Shion, on the other hand, felt utterly betrayed. She had hated her father for dying, and hated herself for giving her youthful Mary such a hard life. "Sleep well, my dear Mary. Don't look humans in the eyes."

~[***]~

Mary took another sip of her tea, this time putting the former book back and taking out a book titled All About Flowers! She smiled, looking through at the marvelous pictures of roses, lilies, daisies, carnations, and so much more. They all looked so pretty!

     As Mary put her cup of tea down onto the table, for she heard a knock, knock, knock on her door. It startled her so much, she jumped up, spilling her drink all over her furniture. However, she wasn't interested in her table getting ruined--she was more focused on the person who knocked on the door. Who was it? An ambusher? A thief? A ruffian? What did it want? Money? She had none! She could offer it some flowers or tea leaves she was growing, but she didn't want to part with that! Oh! Relax, Mary, it's probably a deer who's scratching its antlers on my door.

     And then there was a voice.

     "Uh... hello?"It was clearly a male's, and it couldn't possibly be a Medusae. It was a human! "I'm... um... hello? Anyone in here?"

     And Mary knelt on the floor, burying her face in her hands, beginning to cry.

Kallik's note: I was checking my overview thing... oh my gosh! The blog had 5(?) pageviews! Thank you so much, strangers! And on top of that, Souzou Forest - I had 2 pageviews! Thank you, thank you! Oh, also, I'm pretty sure Souzou Forest (the song) never mentioned the father, so I'm kinda making up what happened. Then again, what can you expect? This is my interpretation! Also, I guess the flashbacks could actually be known as Gunjou Rain. But, oh well.

The story about seeing eye-to-eye.