60 You are nobody's toy

ie wakes up with a scream. she can still hear them laugh when miwako fed her the dirty food. she can't forget what she felt when she was forced to eat dirt. she feels like she can't breathe in this room. she walks to the flower field. she wonders how long can she walks until it ends.

she pauses when she feels an intense gaze on her back. she sees the evil man smoking near the bench quietly. she looks around. ren isn't here. she is alone with this evil man.

"don't come close," she shouts when she sees him walking toward her.

kiyohira steps back. she is terrified of him. he can't help but ask her. "why?"

"you are bad," she replies with a childlike voice and throws the branch at him. "don't come near me."

it seems like he is labeled because of his intense eyes. she might not be afraid of him if he gets plastic surgery. he wonders if he should get it. kiyohira picks up the flower branch. "why are you here at night? you aren't wearing much. you will catch a cold."

she runs deeper into the flower field. kiyohira sighs. "don't run at night. you will fall."

his words act like a jinx. she falls on her face and screams. kiyohira runs to her and finds her crying in pain. her face and arms have small cuts. she crawls away when she sees him and sobs harder. she shields her shaking body, ready to get hit. "don't hurt me. don't hurt me."

kiyohira feels weak. what kind of monster turn her like this? he is ashamed of himself for treating her the way he did.

"i will do anything that you ask me to." she squeezes her eyes shut. "i am your dog. i am your toy. you can call me whatever you want."

kiyohira grabs her shoulder and shakes her. "you are nobody's toy."

she howls loudly. "mother, where are you? they hurt me every day. they make me eat trash. take me away from this place, father. i will be a good child. i will study hard. don't leave me here. it hurts so much."

her each desperate cry is heart-shattering to him. he holds her tightly in her arms and tells her softly, "it's okay. cry as much as you want. you have been keeping it all in your heart for a long time. i am here to listen. i will protect you from anyone. i won't leave you alone. i promise that i will make all of them pay for doing this to you."

yuhara kozue watches them from afar. they haven't noticed him yet. he writes down his observation in his notebook.

[day 5: the woman is caught taking the night stroll by the evil man. she has another episode. the evil man keeps her in his arms until she stops crying.]

"he's not all bad."

startled, yuhara kozue jumps. "professor, what are you doing here?"

umezaki yushiro raises his brow. "i am taking a night stroll."

when rie slips into sleep in kiyohira's arms, he brings her back to the house. umezaki yushiro follows them quietly into the house.

"did he come to watch her every night since she came here?" yuhara kozue mumbles to himself. "if he is keeping a watch, then why is he asking me to keep watch? one of us should get some sleep."

***

"uncle, i am doing the same thing." rie pouts her lips.

"if you are doing the same thing, it won't turn out like this." umezaki yushiro shakes his head. "you must have full concentration and patience when you are doing pottery. it's an art, not a chore."

the vessel is deformed again. rie is frustrated to see that umezaki and ren's works are better than hers. the one she made looks like it has been made by a 5 years old child.

"why do i have to do this?" rie grumbles. "it's ren who promised you that he would help you."

"sorry, rie." ren smiles at her. "we should help this old man as much as we can."

"this boy!" umezaki glares at ren. "who is old?"

"if you aren't old, then what are you?" rie smirks. "half of your hair is white."

yuhara, who has been watching from afar, writes down in his notebook.

[day 6: the woman and her boyfriend are teasing professor umezaki during the pottery session. professor umezaki is pretending to be offended. the woman is relaxing little by little. p.s. she doesn't have a bone of an artist.]

yuhara notices kiyohira standing by the door and watching rie with deep affections and a soft smile.

[the evil man's gaze is better today. he looks like a man in love. the woman already has a boyfriend, but the evil man wants to snatch her away from her boyfriend. the woman has seen the man now. she isn't running away today.]

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"ichihara, come and help us." umezaki yushiro calls kiyohira. "little one is bad at making this. we need an expert's hands to finish the number."

kiyohira takes a seat beside rie. she shifts closer to ren. her shoulders are tensed. she peeks at kiyohira. when their gaze meets, she looks away and hides her face with her hair.

it seems like she is a little less afraid of him. he doesn't need to get plastic surgery. kiyohira shows a small smile.

ren binds her disheveled hair into a bun. "you should tie your hair when we are making potteries, rie."

she breaks into a smile and pecks the tip of his nose. "ren, you are there to do that for me."

"uh..." ren glances at kiyohira who is looking down at rie's deformed piece of pottery. "yes, i will do that as long as you let me."

"young birds in love." umezaki yushiro looks dreamy. "it reminds me of the time when i met my wife for the first time on a blind date. it was love at first sight."

"old man, you are reminiscing your first date. what about us? i want to go on dates with him, but i am stuck here for a week." rie cracks her knuckles. "if we don't go on dates, we won't have anything good to remember when we are old."

"rie chan, you had an accident. you need to rest more." ren turns to kiyohira. is he the same man who nearly killed rie and ren for running away? he won't do anything crazy this time, would he?

rie furrows her brows. "how much rest? i am perfectly fine now. i will go crazy if i stay inside this huge place one more day. let's go watch a movie."

"o.k." umezaki yushiro makes o.k. signs with both hands. "yuhara will drive you to the nearest movie theatre. if you want to go anywhere else, he will take you."

yuhara drops the notebook and shouts, "professor, why me?"

umezaki ignores him. the kid needs exposure to the woman to get over his gynophobia. "ichihara, do you want to go too?"

"no!" rie crosses her arms. "old man, is it a date if there are so many people going with me? i will only take that driver."

"i am not a driver."

rie turns around and looks at yuhara. "you are not?"

"i-i-i..." she's talking to him. what should he say? "d-d-d-d-r-i-ve..."

"if you can drive, then you can come." rie smiles at him. "you speak in a funny way."

"t-t-t-thank you!" yuhara runs out of the room. outside the room, he realizes that she made fun of him. he writes another observation.

[the woman makes fun of him for the way he talks.]