"Stop calling me a dog." Incensed, Yuta hollers at him.
Yuki"s mother rubs her forehead. They are too loud. Her father will wake up if they keep screaming. She wrinkles her nose and blurts out, "Yuki, go back in the house and clean up. I can"t bring myself to look at you."
The boy stares at his mother. He straightens his back. His small face becomes expressionless. He looks at Yuta and chins up. "I am letting you go today because your parents helped my mother. If you come at me again, I won"t go easy."
Yuta snorts. "Brat, you won"t go easy on me? Look at your wrist. Does it not hurt? I will break it next time. You can forget about playing the violin for the rest of your life."
The boy raises his hand and looks at his wrist. His mother pales when she sees it swollen and red.
"It"s not broken if you can still move it," Yuta mutters, disappointed by the boy"s reaction.
Rie has had enough. She tosses Yuta inside the SUV and steps into the car. Kiyohira gives an apologetic bow a little to Yuki"s mother who returns a stiff bow. Inside the car, Yuta raises his head to look at the boy. Their eyes meet again. The boy turns his back to him. Takes.h.i.+ starts the car. Yuta bites his lower lip, staring daggers at the boy"s back until the boy disappears from his vision. Takes.h.i.+ drives the SUV away from the house
"Why did you do it?" Rie glares at her son.
"I hate her," Yuta replies with a bitter tone.
Yuta"s response baffles her. His boy usually acts sweet. Is he going through p.u.b.erty at the age of four? "How can you hate someone you have met for the first time?"
He doesn"t reply to her. Yuta folds his arm and looks away. He should have broken those wrists. He should have poked those gray eyes. He won"t kill her before he finds out why she killed him.
But why is she living like a boy? Even her mother is calling her a boy.
Yuta closes his eyes, recalling how she was in his past life -- her each caress, the way she whispered sweet nothing in his ears, the way they would hold each other to sleep, and the way she would run her fingers in his hair, and the way she would pat his head when he had a nightmare.
"The sun blinded Icarus. He forgot the warning and flew too close. The world watched him fall. Icarus cried for help. Everyone watched him drown. The world pitied him. The world laughed at him. Icarus" father might have mourned him for a moment. Icarus may have pitied himself. When Icarus died, the world went on without him. If someone had helped Icarus when he was falling, he would have lived."
Those were the words that she told him when they first met. She wasn"t the world that only watched him. She was the sun who blinded him with her love and became the reason behind his death.
He believed that she was too good for him. He didn"t know that he was falling into the pit of despair. She held his hand and became his savior.
Seeing Yuta being quiet, Rie opens her mouth to speak. Kiyohira squeezes her hand and shakes his head. She"s uneasy and worried. What got into Yuta all of a sudden?
"It"s hate at first sight." Kiyohira whispers to her, trying to distract her. "Didn"t you hate me too?"
"I had a reason, and I was twenty-six." Rie frowns. "He"s four."
"Children often fight without reasons. They are less complicated than adults are. Yuta has gone through a few changes recently. All those changes must be stressing him." Kiyohira strokes her hair to calm her down. "He might have found that boy provoking him."
Yuta is listening. His father is trying to save him. But he"s too angry to care.
She called him a rabid dog. He will show her how a rabid dog bites next time.
He wants to know why is she dressing up as a boy first. What kind of secret a little girl is hiding and what"s the deal with her mother? A mother would know whether her child is a male or female. But the mother believed that Yuki was a boy.
Is he the wrong one? No! He would recognize her with his eyes closed. That woman is Yuki.
"We have arrived." Takes.h.i.+ pushes the break. "I am starving after watching the intense brawl."
Yuta squints at his uncle. Why is his uncle hungry when it was he who fought with that evil witch?
"Come, Yuta. Let"s get you cleaned up first." Kiyohira outstretches his hand toward Yuta. Yuta looks down at his clothes. His clothes must have gone dirty when he rolled with that kid on the ground. Irony! In his past life, they rolled on the bed when they burned with pa.s.sion.
He is disgusted with himself. He slept with the evilest creature of the world. What did she gain from doing all that? If she had been honest... No, she planned all this. She would have never been honest. From the moment they met and to the moment he closed his eyes, it was a well-thought plan. A selfish woman like her wouldn"t try to save him unless she wanted to kill him with her hands. He is still haunted by the smile in those gray eyes when she shot him. It was the same smile she showed him when she told him that she loved him.
"The child managed to scratch you on your neck." Kiyohira cleans his son"s face with the wet cloth. Yuta blinks at his father. His mother isn"t here.
"She"s preparing the meals." Kiyohira looks straight at him. "How do you know that child?"
Yuta replies in a straight voice, "She was my lover in my former life."