Bitter-sweet
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Her plain appearance, light makeup, and yet her striking features stood out. Her dimples, which appeared whenever she smiled brightly, were particularly memorable. Her long, loose hair gave her an even more innocent look, and her personality mirrored her appearance.
She was a typical popular student, with a cheerful personality and good looks that made her many friends, but also a lot of jealousy. But she paid no attention to them. Her life had a clear goal, and she seemed focused solely on it.
The number of children who idolized her grew, and she unknowingly enjoyed this popularity. She acted modestly in front of her friends, but a wicked smile blossomed inside her.
No one knew what was inside her. She was secretly swallowing her bitter emotions, and only one person knew her true feelings. But that one person was desperate to hide her feelings.
The pitch-black darkness, borne by the moon, enveloped her. Within it, she walked, relying solely on moonlight. The lights of the shops she'd seen every day were gone, and the only sounds around her were the buzzing of insects and the crunch of grass.
She walked barefoot through the grass, her feet rustling. Her small feet were bruised by the stones among the grass, but she paid no attention. Instead, a smile graced her lips.
She seemed a completely different person than during the day, blood trickling down her feet as she delved deeper into the mountain. Her unfocused eyes, the corners of her lips twitching in a smirk, her arms swaying limply with her movements, and her disheveled hair all added to her gloomy appearance.
How long had they walked like that? The summit of the mountain seemed endless. The atmosphere there was so ominous, as if something was about to come out, that it almost overwhelmed her. She stood tall in the center for a long moment, then pulled something out of her pocket.
One of the ghost stories that was popular in the past. If you attach a picture of someone you hate to a doll made of straw sandals and stab it with a blade without fail for seven days, that person will be cursed or die. However, if someone catches you casting a curse, the curse will return to that person.
She hated everyone. She had no trust. She wanted to curse both those who had shown her favor and those who had shown her hostility.
She seemed to be going crazy as she stabbed the doll. She kept twitching the corners of her mouth, making strange noises. At first, the sound was a chuckle, but it grew louder and reverberated throughout the mountain. She stabbed the doll until it was so damaged it could no longer function as a doll. Then, satisfied, she stopped laughing and put the things she'd brought back into her pocket.
Only on dark nights did she go mad. While she would laugh cheerfully during the day, at night she would burst into a sinister laughter. Her sweet exterior was enough to conceal a bitter, almost bitter, inner self.
/
On the seventh day after executing the curse, she climbed the mountain, her steps filled with a mixture of sadness and happiness that it was the last time. As she took out the doll and stabbed it once, she heard the sound of something falling behind her.
She turned around in surprise, and there stood the man whose photo had been attached to her doll. He was a popular boy who had been chosen as student body president and had shown a liking for her. He looked quite embarrassed.
“… I got caught.”
“You, you… is that him?”
“Today was the last day… It’s a shame.”
She spoke with a serious expression, her lips twitching ever so slightly. Seeing her for the first time made him take a step back, and she tossed the now-useless doll to the floor and chased after him.
He ran in panic, his legs giving out, and he stumbled, only to be caught by her, who was quickly chasing him. He cried and pleaded with her, and she wiped his tears away, saying:
“So, why did you come here at this hour of the night to check out the ghost story?”
“How…?”
“It’s too bad. If you had come just one day later, you wouldn’t have ended up like this.”
“I can’t be cursed in your place, can I?”
The blade that had been pointed at the doll with his picture on it suddenly turned toward him, and her ears, once filled with the chirping of insects, were now silent. In the strangely quiet mountain, she was busy.
/
“Where did the student body president go?”
“You didn’t come to school today. They said it was an unexcused absence… What’s going on? I’m worried.”
She casually spoke among the students about the student council president she had killed. No one suspected her of her usual good behavior, and no one could find him. No one knew her bitter feelings.
/
“I come to school just to see the student body president’s face, so why aren’t you coming?”
"Isn't she pretty too? She's the most popular girl in Class 2. Didn't the student body president say she's interested in her?"
“Ah… that’s true, but doesn’t he seem a bit cheap?”
“He’s a bit divisive, I don’t really like him.”
“Is that so? I don’t know, but she’s pretty and has a kind personality.”
“That’s true, but there are quite a few people who don’t like him.”
“It seems like I’m being pretentious… and my face isn’t that pretty, but it feels like I’m being treated with too much respect.”
“I see… I don’t know.”
Her voice echoed behind her. She had been listening to everything. But a smile broke out on her face as she listened, and the target of her curse changed. Sweet looks, bittersweet inside, perhaps because he was so obvious, people had mixed feelings about him. But most people were captivated by her charm, and she was pouring out that sweet charm while issuing a bitter curse.
She was beautiful, in every way.
She put a curse on everyone.
Who knows who will be the target of that curse?
Maybe, she would decorate the ending of the curse.