2 Not allowed to curse

"elder brother, who is that woman earlier?" kamiyama takeshi asks curiously. his elder brother looks like someone has squeezed a hundred lemon in his mouth. he isn't the one who heard her cursing his recently deceased parents. otherwise, he would have no better expression.

kamiyama kiyohira drinks a glass of cold water to calm himself down. his father and step-mother died in an accident in a foreign country. it hasn't even been a long since they died.

how dare she curse them like that?

his mother died while giving birth to him. his step-mother worked in his father's company as his secretary. she seduced his father and got pregnant. he never liked his stepmother. they always kept a distance from each other. but, his relationship with takeshi isn't bad. he cares for his younger brother. takeshi isn't like his stepmother.

that day, takeuchi rie didn't look much like his stepmother. her long brown hair wasn't washed. her skin was too pale. her pink lips were dry. she ran like a clumsy dog. she looked like she woke up and ran to attend the funeral.

who comes to pay respect to the dead like this? there wasn't respect either. she cursed his father and stepmother. she cursed him and his brother to rot with genital diseases.

"she's your mother's first child from her first marriage." his grandmother answers takeshi when kiyohira doesn't speak a word.

"what?" takeshi's eyes become big and round. "she is our step-sister?"

sister? kiyohira's face is distorted with anger. he would never accept a sister like her. he doesn't share a drop of blood with her anyway. he will keep his naive younger brother away from a woman like that.

"yes, she is." grandmother kamiyama takes a sip of her tea. her heart is still crying for her son. shintaro and hitomi, they died together. takeshi is only seventeen. he is still in high school. though kiyohira is mature and outstanding, he isn't married yet.

"she should have talked to us once." takeshi sighs. "she never contacts us. we are her family too."

"no." kiyohira suddenly snaps. he has been recalling her curses. it infuriates him to his core.

takeshi and grandmother kamiyama are startled.

"a woman like her is not a part of our family." kiyohira stands up and leaves the table. there is no one who is allowed to curse his family like that.

***

"done!" i tap the final key. work is complete. i mail the files to the client. i am a freelance programmer. i do these projects at home. i don't have to go out every day to get to work. i don't have to deal with people. the world calls me a hikikomori. they are not wrong. i am a hikikomori. i love my life.

life is good without a doubt.

suddenly, the doorbell rings. i frown. who is it? i didn't order anything. i ignore it and browse the latest updates of my favorite shoujo manga.

"so handsome~" i kiss the screen when i see the digital cover art of my favorite male character, sakurano kazu. i am not interested in 3d men. i am happy with my 2d love. nobody is perfect like 2d men.

i frown when there is a flicker of that man from the funeral. i wrap arms around myself and shudder. what a scary man! he can freeze souls with his eyes.

it is good for me. my love, i am here for you.

the doorbell keeps ringing. one of these days, i will break my doorbell. these pesky humans do not go away easily.

"who is it?" i yell.

"are you miss takeuchi?" i hear a man's voice. i don't recognize it. i open the door slightly and peek.

"who are you?" i ask suspiciously.

"is your name takeuchi rie?" he asks me with a plastic smile.

"yes." i narrow my eyes on him. he has an ordinary look. he is wearing casual jeans and a black shirt. he scribbles down something in his small diary and looks up at me.

"are you kamiyama hitomi's only daughter?"

i close the door on his face.

"miss takeuchi, is it true that your mother cheated on your father?"

i go to my kitchen. i need coffee.

"miss takeuchi, did your father divorce your mother because she got pregnant with kamiyama shintaro's child?"

no, i need alcohol.

"how did it feel to be abandoned by your both parents, miss takeuchi? is this why you are living a life like this? do you feel wronged by your parents and kamiyama shintaro?"

i feel the final cord snap inside my mind. i walk in long strides and open the door.

"kamiyama hitomi and kamiyama shintaro are human wastes," i yell at him. "i have nothing more to say. get out of here or i will call the cops."

i close the door and i sit against my door. i wrap my arms around my knees. this is shit. she is dead, but people are not leaving me alone.

going to elementary school wasn't easy. nobody liked to talk to me. the gossips didn't stop. my father wouldn't look at me. he even doubted whether i was his biological child. my grandparents had a hard time because nobody would let them forget. then, my father suddenly remarried her best friend and left.

i was alone with everyone pointing their fingers at me. i kept going to school because my grandparents didn't want me to drop out. after some time, it stopped. but, i didn't forget.

i hate the kamiyama family the most.