Chapter six: Withered Past

I held Kasumes hands

Kasume's fingers were cold in my hands

Fragile.

And then I noticed it.

The bandages on her wrist.

I'd seen them before... but I never asked.

Why now?

My eyes lingered for a second too long.

Kasume noticed.

She gently pulled her sleeve down.

"...Sorry," she said quietly.

Something in my chest tightened.

I could've asked her about it.

I should've.

But instead—

"Sometimes... Dad drinks too much."

Her voice shifted.

Like something inside her dimmed.

"When he gets angry... he throws bottles. Whatever he can grab."

"...Kasume."

I held her hands a little more carefully this time.

"I'm okay. Really. It doesn't happen all the time."

"That doesn't make it okay."

My voice came out sharper than I expected.

She looked away.

"Please don't look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you feel sorry for me."

"I'm not..well."

I paused.

"I'm just angry. Not at you. Never at you."

Silence settled between us.

Then she spoke again.

"I've always dealt with it alone."

My grip tightened slightly.

"...Then you don't have to anymore."

She didn't answer.

Just stared at the ground.

"...Why does he do it?" I asked softly.

Kasume hesitated.

When she finally spoke, her voice felt distant.

"When I was little... my mom was sick."

"She died... while holding me."

My breath caught.

"My father blamed me."

The words came like they'd been buried for years.

"I think after that... everything broke."

She swallowed.

"People around me... things kept going wrong."

"My dog got sick too."

I frowned slightly.

"But..."

"I stopped going to school."

"I couldn't take it anymore."

Her voice didn't shake.

That was what made it worse.

"I gave up on my future."

The air felt heavier after she finished.

I looked at her.

Not like someone broken.

But like someone who had never been allowed to heal.

"...That's not the end," I said quietly.

Kasume didn't respond.

Then—

She suddenly leaned forward and hugged me.

Not desperate.

Just tired.

Like she needed something real to exist for a second.

After a moment... I hugged her back.

"...Tomorrow's the last day before break," she said softly. "How about we go somewhere?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "We should."

She slowly let go.

And for a brief moment...

She smiled.

Small.

Careful.

Like she didn't trust it.

"See you tomorrow... Itsuki."

"...Yeah. See you, Kasume."

She turned and walked away.

Her house came into view.

I saw her father enter behind her.

My stomach dropped.

"...Again."

I stood there longer than I should've.

Then looked away.

"I need to do something."

Something so she could have at least one normal day.

Just one.

That night, I lay in bed staring at the summer festival flyer.

The colors blurred slightly in the dim light.

"...The festival."

Maybe I could take her there.

I reached for an old phone in my drawer.

"Does she even have one...?"

I checked it.

Broken

"Of course."

I exhaled.

No money for a new one.

My eyes drifted to the small café down the street.

"...I could work there."

If I saved enough...

Maybe I could buy her one.

Maybe I could actually stay connected with her.

I looked out the window.

The night was quiet.

"...I hope she's okay."

But turns out..