What was the sin that caused the fall of the most radiant angel to tumble off his high horse?
Pride.
A force so lethal, it seemed poised to claim Kurai as its next victim.
Pride.
Something that was going to be the downfall of Kurai, too.
As Kurai held the golden pendant in her hand, all the children were awed in astonishment, taking turns holding it in their hands.
Lady Caltheris gave Kurai a death stare.
"I bet it's not even real gold!"
Kurai glanced over at Lady Caltheris and snickered.
"Would you like to feel it, lady?"
Without another word, Lady Caltheris snatched it out of her hand.
To her disbelief, it was really gold.
Twenty-four karat gold!
"How dare she come back here and disgrace me by coming back with real gold and showing off to make me look like a fool!"
Kurai could have gotten away with it, really, she could have, but if it wasn't that smug look on her face that made Lady Caltheris throw a fit.
"How dare you defy me like this! I gave you a roof to sleep under, I gave you breakfast, lunch, and even dinner! And now you go about your merry way and commit crimes without my permission?! What if you got caught? Would you have been running back to me like the helpless little girl you are?"
"Why are you pretending to be surprised?" Kurai asked blatantly, "This house is filthy, and besides. Since I didn't get caught, it means that being a Nightmare Fuel isn't only useless but it's wretched!"
Not a soul moved. The silence said more than anyone could.
A puzzled look crossed Kurai's face, looking over at the other Nightmare Fuels for support and even Gengyo, but none of them spoke up or even took a glimpse of her.
Lady Caltheris huffed and exhaled sharply for five minutes, keeping her eyes on Kurai without even blinking until she finally spoke again.
"So...you think you're so much better than us...hm?"
"I don't think! I know I am! Gengyo helped me steal this pendant, so suck it up."
"Gengyo..."
Lady Caltheris pupils dilated at Gengyo who heart almost forgot how to beat.
"So you helped this brat walk all over me ?"
"N-No, mother, all I did was distract the storeowner! She was the one who stole it!"
"So you still took part in this mess, then act like it's all her fault, you stupid snake, I should trample over you right now!"
Lady Caltheris' expression hardened.
"And you, little brat! I'll have you know I was planning to have all of them get rid of you, and Gengyo would be in it too."
Something in Kurai broke.
What?
"Gengyo?! What is she talking about? Tell me she is lying!"
"What did you expect, okay?! This is the only home I want to be in! It's eat or be eaten!"
Lady Caltheris separated them, pleased by breaking their friendship apart.
"It's fine, Kurai, return the pendant and we'll pretend all this never happened."
"But if I return the pendant to the store owner, I'll be in big trouble."
"Who asked? That sounds like a you problem. And it's quite impressive about this whole pendant thing, actually. You could have gotten away with it, but you had to let your pride get to you."
Kurai couldn't take it anymore, and the words that slipped out of her mouth could never be taken back.
"You're only scared to admit that I'm a better villainess than you!"
Silence again.
Then again.
Until finally, a dark cackle flew out of Lady Caltheris' mouth.
"You? A villainess? Pour me some wine with that one!"
She kept cackling for a few more seconds and then stopped abruptly.
"Prove it to me."
"How?"
"I'll set you up a mission. Notice I said I'll set you up on one? This mission would be impossible, but if you're a villainess like you say you are, you should find a way to make your way around it, right?"
Something about Lady Caltheris now felt unsettling.
It was as though this simple evil deed Kurai had committed threatened Lady Caltheris to the core.
"What's the mission?" Kurai asked, trying to sound brave despite her even more chilling aura.
"Kill your family."
Everyone gasped with horror.
"Mother! Even I know that's a sick thing to command!" Tobio said.
"I didn't stutter...did I?"
"N-No ma'am..." everyone muttered.
"But I can't kill my fam—"
"What's that you say? You would like to die on the spot? My pleasure!"
Lady Caltheris hit her cane on the ground, and the edge came as sharp as a knife.
"One stab wound and the angels from up above would collect a sinner like you. Or maybe they won't even come for you at all!" Lady Caltheris laughed manically.
"I'll do it..."
"Hm?"
Lady Caltheris' eyes widened, her lips curling with restrained frustration.
She hadn't ripped someone's guts out for a while, and she was rather disappointed that Kurai accepted her mission.
She then stepped into the bedroom and out came a bracelet that had the same icy blue eye has her hat.
"To show my love for you from mother to daughter, here's this bracelet, I made a lot of eye stuff for my cosplays so this would be my way of saying sorry."
"Cosplay?" Tobio whispered, confused.
Lady Caltheris slowly rotated her head to face him, and he remained quiet the rest of the conversation.
"But I'll have you know, you have three days."
"Three days for what?"
"I'll give you three days to kill your family in cold blood. If you don't take heed to my words, I'll come looking for you, and you and your precious time family will be goners."
Kurai gulped.
First, she stole a golden pendant, and now she had to be the one who spilled her family's blood, and it'd be all her fault, and no one else.
"If you all don't mind me, I'll go make dinner. Who wants miso soup?"
Everyone kept their head down. Gengyo comforted Kurai by holding her hand.
That's when an even more wicked idea popped into Lady Caltheris' mind.
"And Gengyo isn't allowed to come with you, or else I will kill you, your family, and Gengyo."
"What?! But he did nothing wrong!"
"Why should it matter? He's still an accomplice to this mess!"
"But—"
"No buts, young lady, now someone turn on the TV and switch it to the news. I want to see what those idiots have done this time," Lady Caltheris giggled to her sick fantasies.
All the children were gathered by the table watching the news and Lady Caltheris placed their miso soup one by one and had a seat herself.
Her nose flared up when she saw the storeowner on the news ranting about how Kurai and Gengyo stole the golden pendant.
"We're here at De Vaux, where a shocking theft took place earlier today. The stolen item...a golden pendant valued at over ten million yen, was reportedly taken in broad daylight. Mr. Masaru Fujimoto, the store's owner, joins us now. Mr. Fujimoto, can you tell us what happened?"
"It all happened so suddenly. There was a boy messing around with me and then some girl left with him and though nothing seemed wrong I had this gut feeling so I checked the display case and the next thing I knew, it was gone."
Mr. Fujimoto exhaled sharply, his irritation becoming more clear.
"That pendant took years to acquire to my collection of jewelry and that girl who took it must have known exactly what she was doing. But I trust the authorities will handle it. But if those two teenagers are watching this broadcast...I hope that girl knows that she will face the wrath of the devas."
Ayaka Mori, the news reporter, glanced at the camera, eyebrows raised slightly but maintaining her professional tone.
"Astriking warning from Mr. Fujimoto. While authorities continue to investigate the theft through legal channels. The thief remains large, and the public is urged to stay alert."
The camera panned to the shop, the National Police Agency inspecting the glass case for any finger prints.
Lady Caltheris switched off the television.
"Yatta, yatta, yatta. An old man whining about some stupid golden pendant."
"But it's not some stupid pendant, you heard how much it costs. It's over ten million yen!"
"Shut up! So what if it costs that much? The fact that it was stolen by a nobody is disgusting!"
"A nobody that could steal in broad daylight..."
Lady Caltheris head perked up.
"Who said that?!"
Hands flew to point at Kurai who awkwardly smiled.
"Two more days. Time is ticking."
"O-ok then I should get going—"
Lady Caltheris bolted to the door and quickly locked three locks.
"The only time you'd get to do this mission is when you admit to me that you are nothing and you'll always be nothing."
"But I am someone, I have a voice and you're just too jealous about me overtaking you—"
"Watch that dirty mouth of yours or I'll clean it with soap for you! If I reduce the days anymore, your life would flash before your very eyes."
Kursi stood frozen.
"I'm not an evil person like you want to be, I have patience which is forever my virtue."
"I'll start my mission tomorrow."
"That's my girl!" Lady Caltheris hit Kurai on her back hard.
Gengyo and the others shook their heads with disappointment.
"Is your life worth more than a family?" Gengyo uttered with disgust, shoving past Kurai.
"I thought you were hot but I don't like girls who are so normal with the idea of killing their own family!" Chihiro whined.
The rest of Nightmare Fuels included Tobio looked at Kurai with disgust muttering.
"I would rather die that lay a finger on my family."
Then they left Kurai alone in the dining room.
Do I look that much of a killer? I don't want to kill anyone not even my own family but it's not like they would ever want a daughter like me ever again.
Kurai looked at her hands that had to shed the blood of her mother, father and her little sister.
The blood that held them all together that made them known as a family.
The days where her mother would pester her about simple things like cleaning her room, washing the dishes and bothering her about stuff any seventeen year old should do played over and over in her mind.
It always annoyed her and in those moments she would wanna strangle her for not understanding how she felt, how life felt meaningless and she was just a girl whose life was on a thin thread, but being given the opportunity all felt...strange.
Her father who would join in the argument with her mother where she would feel tempted to just hit both of them in their heads.
The opportunity had presented itself but it made Kurai freeze in fear.
Her little sister, Teruna, always making her feel alone by spending time talking to Airi often and playing video games to the point her heart craved attention and being denied it made her want to beat her up.
The opportunity had presented itself but it all felt overwhelming now.
Kurai grabbed her hair and tried crying but the tears refused to flow.
They always made us feel sad...they're the reason we're in this mess.
No no!
Why spare their lives? They're bascially asking to die!
Stop it!
Make them regret making us feel this way, making us experience hell everyday!
No no! They never meant to! None of them did! But we bottled up how we feel so what did I expect when they treat me this way?!
Kurai breathe hard.
"No." Kurai said out loud.
What?
"I'm not going to kill my family. I never was."
This is why they call us weak!
Kurai didn't know what to do anymore.
Gengyo and the other children turned their backs on Kurai, and Lady Caltheris was enjoying every second of the fate that would await the Tsukikage family.