Why Us?
Why us...?
The carriage rattled and shook as it made its way down the mountain path. Inside, two young girls—one with blue hair, the other with red—sat in silence, their eyes dull and lifeless as they stared into empty space.
......
The light had vanished from their gazes. Just when we thought we had finally found hope, despair had come for us once again without fail. Scarlet, who had been staring blankly at the sky, found herself remembering her childhood.
My mother was a prostitute. That was her job—sleeping with men for money. Rita and I were accidents. Customers’ mistakes. That’s what Mom told us, her voice flat and cold. She said she’d slipped up during one of her appointments, and that’s how we came into the world. Disgust filled her eyes as she spoke.
“You two should never have been born.”
She looked at us with pure hatred. We were crushed beneath that stare.
“Sigh… Anyway, I’m going out to meet a man. Find something to eat on your own.”
With that, Mom left for work, and the house was left with only the two of us. Dad drank every day and stumbled home late. When Mom went out, we scavenged whatever scraps of bread we could find. On the worst days, we dug up earthworms from the dirt and ate them just to survive.
Today was lucky. Mom had left behind a few pieces of bread she hadn’t finished.
“Rita, let’s eat this,” I said, holding the bread out to her.
“Our Rita should have the bigger piece.”
I naturally gave her the larger one. Rita looked up at my face.
“Why does big sister always eat the small piece and never the big one?”
Her eyes were so innocent. Honestly… I was starving every single day. The tiny fragment in my hand did nothing to fill my stomach. I lived on water most days. But I could never let Rita see me weak.
The one suffering the most right now is Rita… I can’t let myself break.
My one and only little sister had been born with a frail body. So I always gave her more than I took for myself. We might have had nothing, but I wanted her to eat until her belly was full.
“Yeah… Big sister is always full, so… Let’s eat quickly, okay, Rita?”
“Okay, sister!”
She smiled at me with that bright, sunny expression. Whenever Rita smiled like that, all my worries seemed to vanish. We returned to our spot and talked about everything we could think of. The sea so salty it could preserve meat. The magical tree that grew delicious food. Every story from the book was new and wondrous to us. That night, we made a vow. One day, we would visit all the places we had only read about. Rita and I hooked our pinkies together and swore on it.
.........
The Rita who had once hooked her finger with mine and promised we would see the world was now bleeding from her head.
It was the same as always—Mom and Dad fighting. The screaming always started at the same time each day. I thought it would end quickly like usual, but it didn’t. The words grew harsher, then Dad shoved Mom and started punching her.
“M… Mom…”
I froze where I stood. Red liquid the same color as my hair flowed from Dad’s fist and from Mom’s head.
“Ah… ah……”
It was so terrifying I couldn’t speak. The fear that I might end up just like Mom if I moved kept my legs locked in place. While I stood there helplessly watching, Rita—whose body had always been weak—forced her trembling legs forward.
“Dad… stop……”
Her voice shook as she tried to stop him. She reached out with trembling hands, but Dad—no, that beast—threw her aside.
“Kyaa!”
Red liquid began pouring from Rita’s head as well. In that instant, I swallowed my terror and ran to her. I pulled her into my arms and glared at the monster. The bastard who had hurt my precious sister wasn’t human. He was a beast. I wanted to kill him right then and there. But I had no such power.
“Heh… Look at these little shits.”
The beast began hurling objects at us.
“Never come back to this house again!”
He threw things at me—at us. Afraid Rita might get hit, I didn’t dodge or react at all. I simply carried her outside.
.........
Once we were out of the house, Rita stayed quiet on my back, as if she had fallen asleep. As we walked through the dark alleyways, I suddenly felt something wet sliding down my cheek. When I touched it with a trembling hand, the liquid was perfectly clear. Scarlet realized they were tears. The emotions she had held back for so long threatened to explode all at once.
“Sob… sob…”
I cried. Why did only we have to suffer? Why were we never allowed to be happy? Why were we always the victims?
Pushing the questions aside, Scarlet walked forward without direction. She had run out barefoot, and her feet hurt terribly. Perhaps that was why the tears refused to stop. As she wept, a door creaked open from a nearby house and someone came running toward them.
“Oh my goodness, are you alright?! You poor children!”
A woman looked back and forth between us.
“R… Rita… Rita’s……”
I collapsed on the spot. The last thing I saw before losing consciousness was countless pairs of feet rushing toward me.
......!
When I regained consciousness, I bolted upright at the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling. The first thing I did was search for Rita. Rita… Rita! She wasn’t nearby. Dragging my heavy body, I stumbled outside. The scene that greeted me left me speechless.
“This is so fun!”
Rita was running around and playing with children her own age. I rubbed my eyes, thinking I must be dreaming, but it was real. It was all real.
“Huh? Scarlet sister!”
Rita spotted me standing there in a daze and came running.
That day, I cried in front of Rita for the first time. From then on, we lived in the orphanage.
At first, I was suspicious. No one is kind without a reason. If a stranger offers you warmth, they must want something. So I kept my heart closed. Whenever Rita approached the teachers, I watched them like a hawk and never left her side. After a month of living there, I finally understood. This place was safe. Every day was happy. Delicious meals appeared on the table. The nights we fell asleep together were pure joy. Friends giggled and whispered stories until we drifted off. Before long, I had grown used to it. Every day was fun. Tomorrow was something to look forward to. I wished those days would last forever.
Then, one by one, everyone fell asleep. And that night, our dreams were shattered.
“Children, run! Get out of here!”
The teacher woke us from our slumber. When we opened our eyes, our toys were already burning. Flames roared, devouring everything with searing heat. Panicked by the sudden disaster, we tried to escape.
“Kill all the men! Capture the young girls alive! We can sell them to nobles!”
The bandits were climbing the only staircase.
“Hurry and get out!”
The teacher fought the robbers by herself.
“You bitch!”
A man’s blade pierced her stomach. She collapsed on the spot.
.........
We couldn’t move. The teacher who had sung us lullabies, who had played with us, was thrown into the flames by the bandits. After watching her die, we had no strength left to resist. We were dragged away and forced into a carriage.
.........
Scarlet, who had been staring blankly at the sky, turned to look at Rita.
.........
Rita’s eyes were the same—empty, devoid of any light. She gazed upward with a look that held no hope. Following her sister’s gaze, Scarlet lifted her head. There, in the sky, shone a large star.
Scarlet spoke to it.
“Why us…”
A single sentence heavy with resentment. She shouted at the brightest, largest star in the sky.
“Why us?! Why do we have to be the only ones who get hurt every single time?!”
Her voice, thick with long-held pain, echoed across the mountains. No one answered.
“Haha…”
Scarlet let out a bitter, self-mocking laugh and collapsed where she stood. That day, she gave up on hope completely. Soon, Rita and I would be sold as slaves.
“I can’t… endure this anymore…”
Scarlet’s heart had been smashed to pieces.
Time passed, and the next day arrived. Luizen reached the black market to purchase Scarlet and Rita. The place truly was hell. Stalls sold human organs. Others sold people. It was somewhere he never wanted to visit again.
Luizen spotted a promotional sign.
“This must be the place…”
I started running toward where they would be.