Reforming a Rake

"You're such a jinx!" the aunt screamed, grabbing Kana by the collar as she stepped into the house. The 21-year-old woman was forcefully dragged and thrown to the floor, her knees and palms slamming hard against the tiles.

Her heart and breath seemed to stop for a moment. She didn't even feel the pain in her knees and palms. Her eyes widened as she stared at her blurry reflection on the floor. Kana looked at her aunt with fear.

"W-what is it, Aunt?" she whispered.

"You still dare to ask? You jinx!" Suddenly, her cousin appeared, screaming hysterically from her room, tears streaming down her face. Kana's attention shifted. Why was her cousin crying? She turned to her aunt, whose face was flushed.

"I don't understand. What happened? Where's Uncle?" confused, Kana tried to get up, but her aunt approached her and yanked her short hair, pulling Kana's head back.

"Au-aunt... it hu-hurts..." Kana whimpered, trying to hold her aunt's hand to stop her from pulling her hair harder.

"Hurt, you say?" the aunt whispered, pulling Kana's hair even harder.

"Just this little bit, you complain about pain? Then what about me who has had to endure ten years of having a jinx like you?" the aunt screamed. Kana could only close her eyes tightly, hearing the piercing scream that stabbed her heart.

Being called a "jinx" was nothing new to her since she first came to this house after her parents died 14 years ago. Her uncle insisted on taking custody of her because he was the only family Kana had left, even though her aunt and cousin disagreed. As a result, whenever there was a problem in this house, Kana was always blamed.

"Au-aunt... at least, tell me, what's wrong? What happened? Did the debt collectors come again?" Kana tried to think clearly, even though her heart had been torn apart by her aunt and cousin's words and actions.

But her hair was pulled again, this time making her wince.

"You ungrateful child! You act as if the problem will be solved just by asking?" the aunt's voice rose. The woman in her forties looked at her sternly.

"If you only knew... your uncle..." The woman in her forties' voice began to tremble.

"Because of you..." Her breath hitched, her voice suddenly disappeared. Kana couldn't get any clues about what had actually happened while she was at work.

"You jinx! If you only knew, because of you, Dad died!" her cousin shouted, which sounded like a bolt of lightning to her. Kana couldn't believe what she was hearing. It couldn't be! Both of her hands immediately went up and covered her ears.

"No... This can't be!" Kana hysterically denied, which earned her a hard slap from her cousin, causing her aunt's grip on her hair to loosen, leaving a strand of hair in the forty-year-old woman's hand.

"It's all because of you, Kana!" her cousin accused, now staring at her with blazing eyes.

"Be-because of me?" Kana repeated, holding her cheek where she had been slapped.

"You ungrateful child!" Her aunt immediately pulled her collar.

"Do you want to act innocent?" the aunt snapped.

"But, Aunt, what caused Uncle's death? T-this must be a mistake. Maybe it's a scam! You know, Aunt, there are many scams going around to extort money-" Suddenly, Kana was spat on.

"You dare say that? I even saw my husband's lifeless body at the morgue!" the frustrated aunt screamed, gasping for breath. The forty-year-old woman raised her head again, staring coldly at Kana.

"He died this afternoon after being hit by a car on his way back from looking for a guarantor for his debt!" the aunt screamed again, which made Kana go limp. Her aunt's grip on her collar loosened. The forty-year-old woman then sat limply on the floor.

A single tear rolled down Kana's cheek. Her heart felt shattered hearing her aunt's story, but deep down, she thought the same. Her parents had died to fulfill her desire to vacation in the mountains, and now her uncle had died to support her.