Chapter 11
Chapter 11
I’m really hurt.
The dry leaves rustled against the ground, filling the silence of the park with a scraping sound.
“Don’t come any closer like this. If you don’t want to get caught, then hide properly.”
Marie spoke, barely holding back the expression trying to twist on her face.
“…Really?”
Yuri’s pink eyes trembled as her lips shook.
“You really don’t want me to come closer?”
Her legs gave out, and she sank down on the spot.
She pulled her knees close, burying her face, and her small shoulders began to tremble as quiet sobs spilled into the air.
“Yes. Don’t come.”
That cold answer struck Yuri’s chest like a blow. She snapped her head up. Her tear-filled pink eyes were full of betrayal and hurt.
“Sniff… why suddenly!? Why are you doing this to me all of a sudden! Did I do something wrong? Do you hate me now? You can’t, right? You weren’t like this before! You didn’t hate me!”
Her voice broke into a desperate scream that sliced through the dark park.
Marie couldn’t bring herself to look at her. Guilt and something heavy tightened in her chest as she let out a long, exhausted sigh toward the empty air instead.
That silence only made Yuri more frantic.
“Say something! Say something already! Why do you just keep sighing and not saying anything!”
Her cracked voice echoed through the empty park, but Marie stayed silent, eyes lowered.
“I told you to hide. That’s all there is to say.”
That emotionless tone made something inside Yuri tear painfully.
Her breath clogged in her throat, but she forced herself to ask again.
“…Just tell me. Why are you doing this to me…”
Marie closed her eyes, unable to meet her face.
Yuri saw it. That refusal to even look at her. And something inside her finally broke apart completely.
“Sniff… unni… I’m sorry… I was wrong…”
Her screaming turned into a pleading whisper.
She dropped to her knees and grabbed Marie’s coat like it was a lifeline, clutching it tightly with trembling hands.
“I was wrong, okay? So why… why are you doing this…”
“Haa…”
Marie looked down at the small white hands gripping her clothes and exhaled a hot breath.
“You’re a villain. And I’m a hero.”
“….”
“So I have to catch you.”
At those words, Yuri shook her head violently.
Tears poured as she desperately tried to cling to Marie’s presence.
“Why! Sob… we can just stay like before… I won’t do anything anymore! I’ll stay next to you, I swear! Is it the Association? Are they saying something again? Is it that hard?”
Her eyes landed on the bottle of yuzu tea on the bench beside them.
She grabbed it and held it up like proof.
“I-I’ll drink this! I’ll do it, okay?”
“Drink it. Right now!”
She twisted the cap open and drank straight from the bottle. She coughed mid-sob, choking on the liquid.
“I drank it! So why are you like this! Why are you changing all of a sudden!”
Marie watched her in silence.
Something inside her chest felt like it was collapsing.
Slowly, she reached out and peeled Yuri’s fingers off her coat one by one.
“Don’t make things difficult for me. The Association keeps pressuring me.”
Yuri looked up at her blankly.
“Just… don’t show yourself in front of me.”
That final sentence hit like lightning.
Yuri wiped her tears with her sleeve and forced herself to stand, shaky.
Her throat burned. Her chest felt like it was being squeezed.
She tried to rationalize it. Maybe there was a reason. Maybe Marie didn’t mean it.
But the reality in front of her crushed every excuse.
“…My heart hurts.”
The words came out trembling.
“I’m really hurting… here.”
Even after saying everything, Marie still didn’t look at her.
Yuri swallowed hard, holding her chest.
The cold wind brushed through her pink hair.
“…I’ll go.”
She waited. Just a little. For anything.
But Marie didn’t move.
Didn’t call her back.
Didn’t even look.
“…Okay.”
Yuri turned away slowly.
Black liquid-like darkness began swallowing her body as she activated her ability.
The last thing she saw was Marie, still not looking at her.
And then she was gone.
The park was left silent.
Marie stayed seated for a long time.
Then she looked at the abandoned bottle of yuzu tea.
“…It’s cold.”
Yuri reappeared in a dark alley near her house.
She slumped against a wall and slid down, staring blankly at a small blade of grass growing through cracked concrete.
It looked like her.
“…She won’t even talk to me anymore…”
Her voice trembled as she bit her lip.
Tears rolled down her cheeks again.
“I’m all alone too…”
She cupped her hands around the grass as if shielding it from the wind.
“Don’t shake…”
She gave a bitter smile that didn’t quite form.
People passed by, glancing at her strangely.
But no one stopped.
No one cared.
“…No one notices me.”
Even a broken utility pole looked lonely to her now.
“You must hurt too…”
She muttered to it.
She opened her lace umbrella and crawled underneath it, hiding herself completely.
“…I don’t want to see anything.”
Inside the dark shelter of the umbrella, she curled into herself.
All emotions except sadness felt like they had drained away.
Like a doll left empty.
If only she could melt into the darkness.
If only everything could become as quiet and black as this umbrella.