Mama presented Mutsuki and I with two bound books that she has made for us. I am very grateful. Mama says that we should write in it as much as we can because one day we just may end up cherishing it. What she means by that, I don't know.
Tomorrow the five families are going to the Old Tree Site. It's something we do every year. We bring flowers and pray for the souls of the Remaining so they will rest in peace eternally. To tell you the truth, I really don't like going there. I know you're probably wondering why so I'll explain.
When Mutsuki and I were very young our family decided to take us to the Site for the first time. My father said that we were very lucky to be going there this time because a Remaining would actually be there with us, alive. Of course the two of us were excited. Neither of us knew what a remaining was really but we did know that they played a very important role in our village.
We left our house to go to the Kurosawa house where the families would meet up and from there head to the Old Tree Site. As we walked down the path Mutsuki grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight. "We're going to actually meet one of the remaining!" he said with so much excitement in his voice. His eyes were shining brightly and he had a broad smile place upon his face. I giggled with excitement as well. Father then turned around and gave us a sharp look. We immediately became quiet but Mutsuki still grasped my hand and looked at me smiling.
As we arrived at the Kurosawa house we were greeted by the Tsuchiharas and Kurosawas. Yae and Sae immediately ran up to us and we all began laughing and shouting loudly. Our parents became angry and told us to keep quiet. We did as we were told. Mr. Kurosawa said that we were to leave as soon as the Osakas arrived because the Kiryus need a little extra time to prepare. We waited for about five minutes until the Osakas arrived. The adults greeted each other like always and then we were off.
As we walked through the village the villagers would stop and stare or wave and smile. Some of them peered out of their windows and watched and other would whisper things to each other. It was like we were royalty. We all walked quietly with our heads pointed up a little, like our noses were sticking in the air. Why did we do that? Because it's what our father had told us to do. Mutsuki and I kept sneaking secret glances to one another. Mutsuki then looked at me as an evil smirk crept to his lips and then suddenly he threw his head back like he was looking to the sky. I snickered quietly and did the same. Some of the villagers were quietly giggling at us. My father glanced around a little confused as to why they were laughing and then he realized that they were looking at us. He stared down at us snickering back and forth to each other. Sharply but quietly he told us to stop the nonsense and that we were to receive a strict punishment later that day. Unaware that we had been caught at first we looked at him very surprised and then quickly composed ourselves.
Father could be very scary. I quickly glanced over at mama and I saw a slight smile on her lips. I guess she thought mine and Mutsuki's antics had been quite funny. I knew that smile was a secret smile not for anyone other than her and I to know about.
When we were out of the villagers sight, father pulled Mutsuki and I aside and looked at us sternly. "Why would you do something in front of the whole village to make our family look foolish?" he asked very quietly almost like if he raised his voice any more than that he would explode. I stayed silent and looked at the ground. I expected the same from Mutsuki until I heard him say, "Well, you told us to stick our noses in the air so I thought that I should just put my whole head there!" He then smiled at my father innocently. I looked up in time enough to see my father give him a blank stare. He stared at Mutsuki for quite some time and then just walked back to the group and told us to hurry. I don't understand how he did it, but Mutsuki had gotten us out of a beating. Although it still could have came later, I believed that he had saved us. I was happy.
When we finally reached the Old Tree Site we sat down and began to pray. Mr. Kurosawa said we should pray until the Kiryu family arrived. I really couldn't focus on my prayers. I was too distracted by my excitement. I really wanted to meet the Remaining. As I glanced around I saw that everyone was in deep prayer, even my brother which was very odd.
All of a sudden we heard a quiet rustling at the door. Everyone immediately turned around to see the Kiryu family standing there. I had met Mr. and Mrs. Kiryu before but i had never met the girl standing there with them. She stood beside her mother looking at the wall. She had a very blank stare. Looking at her made me very nervous but i decided to swallow my fear. 'She couldn't be a bad person', I thought. she is the Remaining after all, and the Remaining is too important to be a bad person. Yes, in my five year old mind that logic made sense. I nodded in satisfaction with my decision and the turned quickly to Mutsuki.
He was still on his knees in a praying position. I crinkled my nose and crawled quietly over to him. "Mutsuki," I whispered to him as I gently shook his shoulder. "Stop praying, the Remaining is here!" I noticed that he hadn't heard me so I shook him harder. Suddenly he fell over and he took me right along with him. There was a big crash as we knocked down a small altar in the tree. Mutsuki then rubbed his eyes and yawned. I saw this and realized that he hadn't be praying, he was sleeping the whole time. I began to laugh so loudly that my stomach hurt. Sae and Yae also began to laugh right away as well. everyone was looking at us glaring. My father was red and shaking, he was really angry. Thankfully Mr. Kiryu smiled lightly and changed the subject.
"Well, we're here," he said. Mr. Kurosawa nodded "We should begin then." We were all told to sink back down to our knees and bow our heads. Akane's mother took her by the hand and walked her over to stand in front of us all. We all started to pray aloud as Mrs. Kiryu took a seat. Mr Kurosawa was leading the prayer giving thanks to Akane and her successful sacrifice. as listened I wondered what he was talking about. at that time I didn't understand a word he was saying.
Right as he was about to go on Akane started mumbling and shaking violently. everyone looked around questioning what was happening. suddenly Akane let out a small giggle then she did something that would terrify me for the rest of my life. She walked up to me with all eyes on her. She looked straight into my eyes and cocked her head a bit. "Why do you kill?" She asked me quietly. I starred back at her silently. her look was so blank and hollow that it was making my stomach sick. There was something wrong with this girl.
Everyone was completely silent as she stood in front of me waiting for an answer. I couldn't take it anymore. I tore my gaze away from her as quickly as I could. I was look for anything to focus on then but the best thing I could find was the floor. All of a sudden she gently took two of her fingers and lifted my chin up with them. Again I was stuck right where I was before. I felt like I was being sucked in to the emptiness of her eyes.
She looked at me and smiled gently. "Don't kill...you can't kill..." she whispered. I was so terrified at that point that I let out a quiet sob. She then slowly brought her hands up in front of my face as if she was going to wipe the tear that was rolling down my cheek away. How wrong I was. After that everything happened quickly. She lunged for my neck and wrapped her hands around it. I fell to the ground with her on top of me.
I heard lots of screaming around me as my father and Mr. Kurosawa tried to pull her off of me. Her hands closed tighter and tighter around my neck every time they pulled her. So many thoughts we racing through my five year old mind. She then brought her face close to mine so she was looking into my eyes again. She kept mumbling over and over that I musn't kill. By the time she was pulled off of me I was starting to black out. That's when the violence really started to erupt.
Mr. Kurosawa and my father held her back as she kicked and screamed. She kept screaming "He's going to kill his brother! He'll kill! He's a murder!" I was mortified watching her. Mr. Kiryu was trying to calmly sooth her. He stroked her hair and whispered to her quietly. It seemed like it was working for a moment. All became silent again. I was just about to breathe a sigh of relief until I heard her murmuring a song quietly.
She was looking at me with wide horrified eyes while singing, "You are a murder, you are a murder..." I started to cry silently as I covered my ears trying to block her voice out. Much to my dismay she only grew louder. Breaking from her father's grasp she advanced and stood right above me. "You're a murder! you'll kill him! He's nothing more than a petty sacrifice! Why do you kill?! Why do you kill?!?!" She screamed and sobbed at the same time. I began to tremble and sob loudly.Mr. Kiryu grabbed her and tried calming her once again but this time nothing was working. Mr. Kurosawa was growing more and more angry every second. Mutsuki quickly ran over to me and wrapped his arms around me. I hugged him back as tight as I could. We both stood there in our embrace as the tears rolled down both of our cheeks. Neither of us had ever been so frightened in our lives.