Hahaha, really, ChiruChaCha? You think? I read the first parts of that story a while ago, but I could barely remember what happened until I just skimmed what I read now (forgive me, Rokun, but I've been so self-involved spinning out this tale that all other things have left my mind). I hope my subconscious didn't intentionally try to copy R's ideas. Hahaha! I'm flattered to be compared to him.
Chapter 27 The new day brings a splitting headache. I wake up in pain, and I don't want to get up. I look at the clock. Seven. I close my eyes and try to fall asleep, but the pain is too distracting. I start to get angry at my body. Why does it have to break down now of all times?
I get up, swallow some painkillers, and then get ready for the day, moving lethargically through my apartment.
I think about what happened last night. I was on the verge of running off, finding that man, and beating him senseless. The only problem is that I don't know where he lives or his last name, and neither does Shibata. I had forgotten that small fact.
It dawns on me now that what Shibata had done hadn't been to stop me from doing anything to him. She'd stopped me from doing something to myself. Who knows what trouble I would have gotten into if she'd let me run wild? I'm grateful to her for pushing some sense into me, but it doesn't make my anger dissipate one iota. Takashi is at the top of my list of hated people, and I have to find out who he is, where he is, why he did what he did...
The rest of my morning is spent at Miki's apartment finishing up my work there. I've emptied the place of all her furniture and most of her possessions. Now all I have left are some potted plants and cleaning tools like a broom and cleaning fluid. I decide to throw out the latter and take the former with me back to my apartment. They can keep my plants company. It'll be a bit crowded, but I can't let her precious babies die.
I carry the last of the trash out to the collection area and I go back in. I've put the two plants by the door so that the rest of the apartment is absolutely empty.
"Hey, Miki. It's finally clean in here," I try to joke aloud, my voice echoing in the bare room.
No reply comes.
I don't want to leave. I know that once I step out the door, I'll never be able to come back here again. I'll call Sugiura and tell him I'm finished, and he'll call whoever he needs to call. I'm sure that within days, a new tenant will be living here, and this place where I have so many memories will change forever. It'll die.
I walk back into the centre of the room and turn around slowly, looking at everything. It's so white and empty. There's no indication that a person ever lived in here. I walk into the bedroom and look around for the last time. I stand in the kitchen and an image of Miki cooking something flashes in my mind. I go back to the entranceway. I desperately want to cry, but the tears don't come. I can't force them. It worries me. Why can't I cry? This is one of the saddest things I have to do. I have to let go of this place that was practically a part-time home for me.
Frustrated that the tears aren't coming, I pick up the plants, take one last look, and then walk out the door, locking it after me.
I go home, call Sugiura, and then sit on my floor to watch television mindlessly, only then realising that my headache has gone away.
At five o'clock, I receive a phone call on my cell phone. It's Shibata. Her meeting must be over. I answer with a hello.
"Hi," she says without any indication she's going to continue.
I wait. I'm too impatient.
"Hi," I repeat. "What happened?"
The silence on her end stretches on. It becomes sombre.
"We talked about schedules."
That's the only thing she says. Usually she has a lot more to say.
"Okay," I say slowly. "What schedules?"
"Work and personal."
These short, one-sentence answers are disconcerting. It's like she's distracted, or she's trying to think of how to tell me something but is unsure how to. My temper has been short these days, so I blow up.
"Quit it with the cryptic act. If you have something to tell me-"
"Where are you?" she interrupts.
"At home. Why?"
"Stay put. I'm going there to meet you."
She hangs up before I can say anything, and I get a little mad at her. However, I'm more worried about what sort of news she could possibly bring.
I pace nervously, trying to mentally prepare myself for whatever I'm going to feel.
My doorbell rings and I race to the door to let Shibata in. She looks worried as she comes in and we skip all pleasantries.
"I had my meeting with Takashi. He... um..." she trails off distractedly. "I recorded our conversation."
"You what?!"
"Recorded it. And it was the right conversation to record. He talked about Miki again. And he threatened..." she trails off again. "Just listen. He reminded me of the favour he still has to call in, and that's where I'm starting the tape."
We sit down and she presses play.
"
... remember?" comes a voice from the speaker. It must be Takashi's.
"
I don't see why you think I don't trust you. What have I done to make myself look bad? " Shibata's voice asks.
There's a tense pause in their conversation.
"
Do you remember that I told you about that girl who worked for us?"
There's another silence. I assume that Shibata nodded at that moment.
"
Well, we promised her some things right before we fired her. We told her what she could get if she stayed with our team. She was trying to back out, so we had to tell her something good."
Takashi's voice is taking a strange turn. He doesn't sound so nice anymore.
"
What did you tell her?" asks Shibata's small, nervous voice. It's partially an act to make them think they've got power, but it's mostly her real reaction. She's just as shocked as me to be hearing this.
Takashi's voice comes loud and clear through the speakers.
"
Well, we told her what she wanted to hear. Grand world tour with whomever she wanted, sing for the people of the earth, benefit little communities in poor countries, give blind people hope, save forests, protect endangered animals. That girl was a philanthropist just waiting to bloom. And easy to play. Hell, I could have slept with her if I wanted. I'm so good at what I do."
Shibata's stunned silence on the tape matches my own stunned silence.
That outline for a trip around the world that Shibata had found. That hadn't been a vacation idea for me and Miki.
That had been the thing we'd been looking for. We had had no idea what we were looking for, though, so of course we had classified it as something unrelated to her meetings. We had thought it was a sweet little Miki-esque thing, when in fact, it was a list of lies that Takashi had been telling her to keep her from quitting.
But how could she fall for that?? She was smarter than that. Way smarter to believe that all that could be handed to her on a silver platter. Takashi had somehow tempted her with some power. He had also somehow known that travelling around the world was what Miki wanted to do so badly.
It chills me. He must have been watching her for a while to know all the things he's shown he knows.
His motive, however, is still unclear. So far, it has all seemed like a game. Just something to do to kill time. But somehow, I sense that there's something bigger behind it. I need to find out what that is.
"Where does he live?" I ask, looking down at my hands. They're white.
"Just stay calm-"
"
Don't tell me to stay calm!!" I yell. "Where is he??"
"I don't know. I couldn't get that information in the end."
"Then let's go find him and rip his guts out," I growl, standing up sharply, only to be pulled right back down by Shibata. My hip crashes into the arm of the couch and I wince as I sit back down to rub my injury.
"You're not going anywhere," Shibata snaps.
"What? Am I under house arrest?" I retort.
"Stop being stupid. You know I'm right."
I shut up because I do know that technically she's right. However, she doesn't understand what it feels like to be this close to the killer of the person you love. The rules change completely when you're in that situation.
"Just be quiet and listen."
I glower and continue to listen to the tape.
"
... I'm calling in that favour," Takashi says in an icy tone. "
I'll call you tonight with a location. Be there. One of us will meet you and give you instructions. And if you tell anybody, your most important friend might find herself having some problems."
Oh my god. That's me. That's me he's threatening to hurt. Just like he must've threatened Miki, he's threatened Shibata. Somehow he knows.
They wrap up the meeting, the mood changing completely to a very professional one. I hear them get up from their seats, put on their jackets, and walk out together. That's when Shibata stops the tape.
"So see why I couldn't just tell you? They've threatened harm to you again. I don't know how they know, I don't know what to do..."
I stare at the mini tape recorder, contemplating my entire existence. Maybe I'm a waste of space. Maybe if I didn't exist, Miki wouldn't have problems, Shibata wouldn't have problems... I wouldn't have problems.
"So do you still think this guy is innocent?" I ask bitterly.
Shibata, looking a little shocked, shakes her head.
"And what are you going to do about this mysterious meeting tonight? Are you going to go?"
I'm feeling oddly calm. I'm thinking clearly.
"I have no choice. I have to go, but I'll record my meeting. If I can get a confession, I can go straight to the police afterwards."
I smile inwardly. No, that's not what's going to happen. I've made up my mind. I'm going to this meeting with her. Shibata and her police. Hah. The police will thank me for taking care of Takashi when I'm through with him.
She must notice what I'm thinking because she gives me a hard stare, suddenly looking a whole lot more collected.
"You're not coming," she says with finality.
No. She's not going to pull this one on me again. I'm going. Nothing else matters but this.
But I won't argue with her. She knows me too well. I have to stop being so predictable. So Aya. I'm not Aya anymore. I stopped being her weeks ago. Now I'm someone else. I'm not sure who, but Aya's definitely lost and dead. This person I am now is all that's left.
"Fine," I say, pretending to give up. "But at least stay here until you have to go. I don't feel safe alone."
"Of course," she says softly, her voice changing completely.
I think I've fooled her. I don't even feel bad about it because it's for the better. If I can somehow find out where she's meeting Takashi, I can get there first and confront him. Find out why he did it. Maybe beat him with a shovel.
We sit and watch television together, neither of us speaking, neither of us suggesting we eat dinner.
At eight o'clock, her phone rings. My head shoots in her direction and I watch her like a hawk as she picks up and begins to speak. She doesn't say anything but "yes" and "I understand." She hangs up and looks at me.
"Was that him?" I ask.
"Yes. I'll have to leave soon."
"Where are you meeting him?" I ask casually.
"It might not be him I'm meeting. He said 'one of us' will be there," Shibata replies.
Details. If I can't get him, one of his lackeys will be good enough.
"Okay, but where?" I press.
She knows that I'm doing and she shoots me a disapproving look.
"You're going to stay here. I'm going to go out and take care of this. Your life is in danger," she reminds me.
"So is yours," I shoot back. "Stop trying to be the hero here."
Shibata just shakes her head. I look back at the television set and then back at her. I'm starting to feel restless. I need to find out where her meeting is.
But I have to play it calm.
I shrug and excuse myself to go to the washroom. I can feel her eyes on me as I walk away. She's watching me, making sure I don't do anything unexpected. I close the door to the washroom and turn on the tap, putting my hands under the lukewarm water. I need to find some way to go with her so that I can see for myself. I have a feeling it'll be Takashi there, not one of his henchmen. Now that I know what he did, I can finally look at him in the flesh and know that he killed my Miki.
Suddenly, I hear a door open and close rapidly. It's the front door.
I turn the tap off quickly and walk out of the washroom. Shibata's not in the apartment anymore. I look at the entrance. Her shoes are gone.
"Crap!" I swear out loud.
I grab my jacket and jump into a pair of shoes, leaving the apartment and not bothering to lock the door. The elevator is in service. She must be using it. I opt to take the stairs, and I race down them, running like I've never run before in my life.
Shibata's gone off on her own to find the killer that I'm supposed to confront. Me. It's my business. The reason why I made a call to arms was to get me face to face with Miki's killer.
I reach the front foyer and I see the front door just closing. I run and burst out into the dark outside. I look around wildly and see a figure just turning a corner. It's Shibata. I follow quickly. Once I round the corner, I have a good view of her. She's walking straight down the street. I cautiously follow, sticking close to the buildings and ready to jump into a corner at any given moment. She doesn't turn back, however. She doesn't think she's being followed. She thinks I'm just getting out of the washroom, discovering that she's snuck off, maybe yelling out that I hate her, and then giving up.
I follow her for twenty minutes, the whole time wondering where the meeting place is and what the favour Shibata has to do is.
We finally come to a stop. I keep back and kneel behind a car as I watch Shibata get into a car that's parked across the street from a bakery. I can see someone else in the car with her, but I can't see who it is since the car is facing away from me. They talk for a few minutes, and then Shibata gets out carrying something I can't make out. She looks both ways and then crosses the street.
The car drives off.
I take a deep breath. This is my chance.
Looking both ways, I cross the street.
Topic: What Needed to be Done (Read 48722 times)