A Terrible Curse

“Oh my! What are you doing here on your day off, Miss Suwa?”

Of all the people for them to run into at the museum, it ended up being Midoriko’s mentor and de facto boss, Dr. Tanaka.

“G-good morning, Dr. Tanaka…” Midoriko greeted her with a strained smile.

“And who might this be?” Dr. Tanaka asked, tilting her head in an attempt to see the child hiding behind Midoriko’s legs.

“This is…” Shit. She hadn’t thought of a cover story for Itoko. Realizing how incredibly stupid it was for her not to come up with one before bringing the child to her place of employment, Midoriko remembered the funeral lie. “This is my deceased relative’s child. I’ll be taking care of her now.”

Dr. Tanaka’s mouth gaped open in surprise. Was that even believable?! Midoriko tried to maintain the smile, masking her internal panic.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!” Dr. Tanaka chided, pushing Midoriko playfully on the shoulder. “Well, I think I understand now why it took you two weeks.”

Thank God, she bought it…

“What’s your name, little one?” she asked, reaching her hand out to touch Itoko.

“Don’t!” Midoriko quickly grabbed Dr. Tanaka by the wrist and stopped her.

“...!” The mentor flinched back in surprise.

“S-sorry! It’s just– She um…She has some trauma and is shy around strangers,” Midoriko hastily explained to save face. “She only lets me touch her right now…Ahaha…”

“I…see…” replied the confused Dr. Tanaka. She looked at Itoko and pouted. “That’s too bad…”

Midoriko crouched down beside Itoko and put her arm around the girl’s shoulder as a comforting gesture. “This is Dr. Tanaka. We work here together. Why don’t you go ahead and tell her your name?”

“My name…is Itoko now…” she said, looking up with her glassy doe eyes.

“Oh my! What a lovely name!” Any lingering offense on the part of Dr. Tanaka likely evaporated by the girl’s introduction. She bowed politely. “Nice to meet you! Please enjoy the museum today!”

Midoriko pushed Itoko forward into a reciprocal bow. Being half-feral and having Enishi Ryouma as a guardian meant that she’d never learned how to properly greet people.

“We will! Thank you!” Midoriko said as the two of them waved off Dr. Tanaka. With that out of the way, they continued their museum tour.

She explained to Itoko how a museum was a look-but-don’t-touch place that had lots of old things. Something that rotten guardian of yours doesn’t seem to understand.

They looked at all of the various cultural artifacts and displays that the National Museum of Ethnology had, while Midoriko did her best to teach Itoko about everything. She wasn’t even sure if the seven-year-old could understand half of what she was saying, but Itoko looked at every single thing with eyes full of wonder.

She was experiencing the world for the first time, and Midoriko couldn’t help but experience it all vicariously through her.

Midoriko saved her own exhibit for last, unsure of how the topic of curses might affect the emotions of a child acutely aware of her own curse. However, it was Midoriko who felt a surge of emotion stepping into that gallery.

She looked at the display case that once housed the kīla. Only the toxic lacquered box remained. The information card was rewritten to focus on the box itself. Midoriko found herself remembering how she’d tackled the thief right then and there without thinking, and laughed.

Her eyes traveled over to the samurai armor on display, where they’d crashed into the velvet ropes during their fight. Never in a million years would she have expected to be spirited away to the other side of the world only to encounter sorcerers and gangsters.

Finally, Midoriko’s gaze settled on Itoko. She stood on her tiptoes, nose pressed against a display case, looking fixedly on its contents–a collection of “cursed” dolls. Itoko’s eyes glistened as she admired the dolls, her breath fogging up the glass on the case.

Tears welled up in Midoriko’s eyes and began pouring down her cheeks faster than she could wipe them away. She would have never met this precious child if not for everything that led up to it. As she stood there sniffling, Itoko took notice.

“What’s wrong, Midoriko-nee?”

Midoriko pulled Itoko into a tight hug. “It’s nothing. I think I’m just really happy to be here with you right now.”

***

Not wanting the day to end so soon after they finished their trip around the museum, Midoriko decided to take Itoko to more places.

First, they stopped by a boutique children’s clothing store that only had one employee on duty. Midoriko let Itoko pick out a new outfit, though she guided her into finding something that matched.

“Maybe that was a bad choice,” Midoriko said as they left the store. “I had to practically fight the clerk to keep her from touching you.”

But Itoko didn’t hear her. She just twirled freely in her lovely new dress and sandals.

After that, they visited a quiet cafe for lunch before heading to the library. There, they checked out a private room to help Itoko practice her reading. The two of them read together and looked at books until they got hungry again.

For dinner, Midoriko took Itoko to a family restaurant where the girl got to try a parfait for the first time. Having taken the train during a dead hour after the morning rush hour, the two of them roamed around for a bit after their dinner to let the evening rush hour die down.

At one point, Itoko tried to drag Midoriko into an arcade. But as much as Midoriko tried to convince her that they couldn’t do it, she ended up giving in when the girl batted her eyelashes pleadingly. After spending way too much time and money on a UFO machine to win Itoko an ugly plushie, it was time to return home.

Itoko yawned as they climbed the stairs to Midoriko’s apartment. It had been a long day, but a very good one. Midoriko’s heart felt full.

When Midoriko put her key in the door lock, something didn’t feel right. It was already unlocked. I could have sworn I locked this when we left this morning…

“Stay behind me,” Midoriko told Itoko in a firm voice, guiding the girl behind herself.

She opened the door slowly, but it was too dark to see inside. Stepping into the entryway, Midoriko flipped on the overhead lights.

As the fluorescent lights flickered on, a figure sitting on her desk chair in the middle of the other room came into view.

Midoriko yelped in surprise, nearly falling over, at the presence of a strange man in her home.

“Midoriko-nee! That’s the man I saw!” Itoko cried, clutching Midoriko’s side and pointing at the man as he stepped into the light.

“What?!” Midoriko looked back and forth between Itoko and the man. Itoko had described a man with black hair, but this guy was bald.

“Long time, no see, neytraliztchka,” said the man in a mixture of Japanese and Russian. He grinned widely, showing off those gold teeth.

She knew him. He was that Russian sorcerer she’d met in England. He’d been stalking her home under the guise of his glamour magic to avoid drawing attention to himself. But how did he find her? How did he get in?

The purse! Everything needed to hunt her down had been left gift-wrapped for him in that burnt-down house.

Midoriko pulled out her phone. The Russian pulled out a shiny, silver revolver.

“No phone,” he said in English.

She felt a pit in her stomach as she raised her hands. I thought he said sorcerers didn’t carry guns…

“P-please, do not hurt the girl…” Midoriko begged in English. It was because she was a neutralizer, wasn’t it? He couldn’t use magic on her, so he had to resort to this.

As Midoriko crouched down in surrender, Itoko rushed the man.

“NO!”

The little girl gripped his free hand with her own and began rubbing it on her face. He tried to shake her off, but Itoko just latched back on. Midoriko watched as he raised his gun, preparing to bring the butt of it down on Itoko’s head.

She dove in, shielding Itoko with her own body as the gun and his fist slammed against her forehead.

“Agh!” she cried out in pain, falling backward.

Itoko bit down hard on the man’s empty hand.

“Сука!” he shouted in pain. But before he could even try to land another blow, his arms went limp. The gun fell from his hand and clattered to the floor.

Midoriko kicked it away from him, but there was no need. He grew weaker and weaker as Itoko wrapped herself around the man’s legs and held tight to his hands.

Midoriko could only look on in horror as she witnessed the child’s cursed power in action. When the Russian collapsed, she snapped back to reality.

“That’s enough!” Midoriko yelled as she pried Itoko off the now convulsing man. “Itoko! No more!”

When the girl let go, she was red in the face and crying.

“I’m…I’m s-sorry!” she choked out through her sobs.

Midoriko picked up the girl with one arm, then gathered up her phone and purse with the other hand. She bolted out of the apartment, down the stairs, and into the street.

She’d run a full three blocks with Itoko in her arms before becoming short of breath and stopping. With trembling hands, Midoriko managed to fumble through her apps to call the one person she knew could help her now.

“Hello? Midoriko? Is everything alright?” Enishi Ryouma’s voice on the other end was like an angel’s song.

“M-my apartment! They found me!” she stammered, trying to keep herself from breaking down. “The girl…she–”

“Stay calm. Are you being followed?”

Midoriko quickly looked around at the dead and quiet street. It was just her and Itoko. Alone. “No! I don’t think so!”

“I’m going to send you an address in Osaka. Go there immediately. I’ll come to you soon.”

He ended the call abruptly before she could thank him. Was he mad at her? Should she have reached out sooner? Midoriko felt so stupid.

When the message with the address came through, Midoriko wandered to a main road and hailed a cab. With the distraught child and her injured face, it was bad enough to receive pitying glances from the cab driver. If they were to take the train, it would only draw more attention or even increase the chances of them being followed.

“I’m…I’m s-so sorry, Midoriko-nee!” Itoko sobbed. Tears and snot streamed down her face.

“There, there…” Midoriko cooed, pulling out a handkerchief from her purse to wipe the child’s face. She had not stopped saying sorry since they ran away. “Why do you keep apologizing?”

“B-because I…hic…I h-hurt s-someone again!”

Although she had first described her power to Midoriko in childish terms, it was clear that she understood what it was and what it did. It was part of the reason why Ryouma had tried to keep them separated initially—not only to keep Midoriko out of harm’s way, but more importantly to protect Itoko from the weight of her actions if an accident were to occur.

“It’s not your fault,” Midoriko said, petting Itoko’s dark hair.

“It…hic…It is!” she sobbed. “I…d-did it…hic…to protect you!”

Midoriko’s heart hurt. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Why would she rush into danger to protect me?

“You don’t need to protect me, Itoko,” she said softly.

“B-but I d-do!” Itoko protested. She looked up at Midoriko with large, glassy eyes as she sniffled. “P-Papa t-told me to protect you n-no matter what!”

“...What…?” Suddenly, Midoriko recalled what happened the day they left Gunma.

Enishi had whispered something to Itoko that Midoriko couldn’t quite make out except for the word “protect.” He was giving her instructions.

She swallowed back her anger. The Russian probably wasn’t going to hurt Midoriko—she was useful to him after all. But he could have easily fired that gun at Itoko the moment she latched onto him.

“Midoriko-nee, do you hate me?” Itoko asked, wiping tears from her cheeks.

“Itoko, you were so very brave back there.” Midoriko smiled reassuringly. “I could never ever hate you.”

The despicable man you call “Papa,” however…