"Mai, hurry up! It's time for lunch!" called a young woman with black hair tied in a bun. She wore glasses and an apron as she set the utensils on the table.
"I'm coming!!"
A little girl with a bowl cut ran across the room to take her place at the dining table. A man entered next, newspapers in hand.
"I haven't even finished reading my paper. Why are we rushing so much? The game won't start until 3 PM."
"Yes, but we need to arrive early to get good seats and cheer for Yume. This is an important match for her."
"Very well." The man had short black hair and blood-red eyes. His gaze fell upon his 12-year-old daughter, who waited joyfully beside him.
"Mai, would you like us to stop for ice cream on the way home?"
"Yes!! I love ice cream! And can we also go to the park afterward?"
"That's not a problem, but what do you want to see at the park?"
"Big sister told me she'd teach me how to hit and catch the ball like she does," replied the little girl, filled with anticipation.
"Since when do you like baseball?"
"I don't like it."
The man was surprised by her response and scratched his head.
"What I like is spending time with big sister," the little one continued.
The father began to laugh and ruffled his daughter's hair.
"My little Mai is truly the cutest."
During their conversation, the young woman had finished placing the various dishes on the table, removed her apron, and taken her seat across from the father.
"Enough talking—it's time to eat," she said.
All three closed their eyes and joined their hands forward in gratitude for the food offered to them today.
"Itadakimasu," they said in unison.
The young woman served little Mai's plate, who immediately began eating. She then served her husband, who made a loud sound of satisfaction upon taking his first bite.
"My wife's cooking is truly the best in the entire country!"
The mother blushed before responding. "Stop being silly and hurry up and finish."
"Your strict side is always just as cute."
The meal continued peacefully for a moment, then—
Crack
The father suddenly stood up from the table, looking all around with a grave expression.
"What's wrong, honey?" his wife asked, concerned.
He began searching through the room. "There's a smell of smoke," he finally answered. He quickened his pace toward the other rooms and opened each door one by one.
When he opened one of the bedrooms, an enormous amount of smoke burst from the doorway.
"Oh my God, it's coming from Yume's room! What is all this smoke?!" exclaimed the mother.
Her husband plunged into the smoke, covering his nose and mouth with his elbow, and rushed to open the window. The room's temperature had already risen considerably, and one corner was already covered in flames.
He tried to open the window with all his strength, but nothing worked. He grabbed the desk chair and smashed it against the glass.
Baam Kraak
The chair broke on impact. The fire had begun spreading across the bed and to all sides of the room.
"Honey, come back!!! Let's get out of here! You're going to suffocate!" cried the mother, holding her daughter firmly beside her.
He finally gave up and left the room coughing, rushing toward the front door and delivering a tremendous kick to it.
BamBam
The door sustained no damage. He tried the handle, pulled, pushed, and smashed all the furniture and objects against it, but nothing helped.
"The water isn't working in the bathroom, and all the windows are blocked!" his wife warned.
He grabbed the fire extinguisher stored in a kitchen cabinet and returned to the bedroom, which the flames had already abnormally invaded.
Pssshhhhhhhh
He sprayed the extinguisher in all directions. As he sprayed, he gradually backed away because the flames continued advancing and showed no signs of change.
Mai didn't quite understand what was happening, but visibility had become horrible due to the opacity of the smoke.
Clang clang
She could barely see, but her mother seemed to be trying desperately to make water flow from the sink, even attempting to break the water supply pipe.
The extinguisher finally emptied. The father closed the bedroom door where fire now reigned and grabbed his wife and daughter to hold them close.
They crouched as low as they could, where there was the least smoke. With clothes over their mouths, each of them coughed regularly despite everything.
"This fire isn't normal," the mother began. "All the exits are sealed, and even the water is cut off."
"I know, honey." The man held his two treasures tightly against him and kissed his wife on the forehead. "Everything will be alright."
The door as well as the entire wall of the bedroom had caught fire, and soon the dining room and adjacent rooms became prey to the flames.
"Cough cough There's nothing in Yume's room that could cause cough cough cough... such a fire, and the cause is far from ordinary. Someone cough... probably wants our lives," the father revealed.
"My little Mai... My love," said the mother, who began shedding tears while looking at her daughter.
Seeing her mother cry, Mai cried in turn. She cried with all her might.
"Uwaaaaaaaaahhh uwwaaaaaaah"
As the fire gradually began to surround them, Mai continued her tears, nestled against her mother. Her father covered them both like an igloo protecting Eskimos from the cold.
"I'm truly sorry. I thought we'd finally be at peace if I cut ties with that cursed family. All I wanted was for us to live normally," he confessed. "Why did I have to be a Kurohana?!"
"Cough cough You may hate your family name, but marrying you is the best thing that ever happened to me." His wife's tearful face, which continued to smile, broke the man's heart.
She gently caressed her husband's cheek, then his eyelids, and finally his hair.
"We must act like good parents until the end..."
The father's face cracked upon hearing these words from his wife's mouth. It was an expression of defeat and unparalleled sadness.
"You're right."
He gently removed his sobbing daughter from his arms and held her in front of him by the shoulders. "Mai, my darling."
When her father pulled her from his arms, Mai's tears stopped immediately. She now had both parents side by side facing her.
"Mai, know that you are a special girl. Your mother and I have always wished to raise you and Yume normally. But I want you to know that now the choice belongs to you. One day you'll learn everything about yourself, about us, and about our clan, and at that moment, it will be up to you to decide."
"It's just a selfish wish from your parents... cough cough Mai... We wish for you to be happy." The mother, who seemed to be saying her final words, looked her daughter straight in the eyes. Mai wanted to continue crying but held back with all her strength. She knew these were words she needed to hear and a moment she absolutely must not spoil.
"Don't hesitate to have fun from time to time and make lots of friends, okay? Always take care of your body and your heart first."
Mai nodded with tearful eyes, clenched fists, and a trembling lower lip. She didn't quite understand but did her best to remember the words.
"Don't get a boyfriend before you're 18—you must focus on your studies first."
"Honey!"
"What? Eighteen is the minimum I can tolerate."
"Above all, don't be afraid of failures or starting over from scratch. You're going to learn many things in life, and it's through mistakes that you'll learn the most."
Fwoooooosshh The fire continued spreading inexorably.
"Aim to earn your own money, don't spend it on just anything, and always save a little as savings because you never know."
"Never touch cigarettes because once you start, it's sometimes hard to stop, and it will just damage you. And take care of Yume as she will take care of you. You'll only have each other, so always stay united."
"Cover yourself well in winter, always bring an umbrella when the weather looks bad, and don't forget to always look both ways when crossing the street..."
...
Fwooooooossshhhh
The two parents spoke for a long time. Just before the flames reached them, the smoke had already filled their lungs and began putting them to sleep.
"Above all... never trust... strangers..."
"Travel... don't forget to travel a little..."
The mother lost consciousness first. Mai didn't know what to say or do when her father finally spoke his last words.
"Mai... Yume... we love you... with all our... hearts..."
There was only her and the flames left.
She felt as though she had already cried all the tears in her body. Now it was an immense, impossible-to-externalize void that she felt.
Then she realized the flames were already burning beneath her legs and that her clothes were on fire.
It wasn't hot.
She felt absolutely nothing in contact with the flames—only her clothes were being consumed.
She looked ahead and saw before her eyes the two intertwined bodies being swallowed by the flames. In a few seconds, they became unrecognizable. The flames burned their clothes and hair and charred their skin until it became black as coal.
Mai was insensible to the fire covering her but could very clearly smell the scent of burning flesh coming from in front of her.
"Bleeeeeuuuuurrgh"
She began vomiting, empty-eyed, naked, and drowned in an ocean of flames.
She watched the bodies of those she loved most in the world turn to ash before her eyes.
Fwooooooossshhhh
This vision engraved itself deeply in her mind—a scene she would never forget.
Fwooooooossshhhh
"Mai!"
Fwooooosshhh
"Mai!!!"
Fwoooooosshh
"Miss Mai!!!!"
Splash
Her head covered with water, Mai finally came to her senses.
End of Chapter