Dear Friends,
I tried to update as fast as I could. But, got some technical problems posting on the thread before. (I had tried to post three times, but the page always reload even before I finished my post... Perhaps it's a problem with my connection). Anyway, thank you for reading the previous chapter. Another thanks for those who clicked on the thanks button. Another extra thanks for those who have left some comments
@KyouyaAnis: It's always nice to see a new comment, especially an excited one. Thank you
@Tupi: You're welcome! Here's the next update
I have to apologize, though. Although I've said that this part will be written from Yuihan's PoV, I went ahead and wrote it from a third-person PoV. But, no worries, the third-person PoV follows Yuihan. All things considered, I think, this may be a more suitable PoV for this part. So, please don't hate me
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MORNING LIGHT (4)
Onee-chan, I’m scared...
Don’t worry, I got you. I won’t let him hurt you.
But,... But, he got a knife...
But, he doesn’t know where we are now, so if we stay quiet, he won’t find us.
But, Onee-chan...
It’s all right, I’ll be here. I’ll protect you, okay?
...Okay.
Good. Now, sleep Yui. Sleep. The police will be here soon. We’ll be safe. For now, just sleep...Yokoyama Yui was startled. She did not mean to take a nap. But, no matter how hard she tried to stay awake, sleep would sneak past her and everything would replayed itself in her mind. It was so vivid as if everything really did happen again for real—repeating itself over and over again. But, no matter how many times it repeated itself over the years, Yui could never do anything—let alone to change anything.
It was tiring. But, there was nothing Yui could do. The flashbacks were not something she could deliberately summon or cast away—not that she did not want to do just that. She wished she could do something about it. But, whoever was up there never seemed to grant her wishes.
Ten years ago, she decided to start taking some pills to help her sleep at night. When she was able to form a better routine without the pills, she thought that she would never have to worry about insomnia anymore. However, when that particular time of the year came around, she would start losing her night sleep again. She would stay awake for days until her body could not stand it any longer and started to shut itself down for multiple short naps during the day. But, each nap was always packed with its own terror.
Yokoyama Yui tried to turn to her right side, but she could not. Her body was stiff and aching all over. She also felt nauseous like she was having a massive hang over. When was the last time she got anything to eat? She could not remember. She did not even know what day it was or how long she had stayed in her room. She did not really care anyway. She would stay there for as long as it takes for the hurricane in her mind to pass.
“Ah, Yui-chan, you’re awake!”
Yui looked to her left side and found Kitahara Rie, who used to live with Sashihara Rino on the second floor, walking toward her with a bucket of water.
“Rie-san?” she knitted her brows.
“
Haiiii,” the woman answered in affirmative while taking a lukewarm damp towel off Yui’s forehead.
“What are you doing here?” Yui’s voice sounded hoarse.
“What do you mean what I’m doing here? I’m taking care of you, of course!”
“But... You’ve moved to Niigata for work last year...”
“Yes. But, I am allowed to take a few days off and visit an old friend, aren’t I?”
“But... How did you get in?”
Rie, who was squeezing the towel after soaking it in the bucket, stopped her movement and looked at Yui with a bored expression.
“Really, Yui? We’ve been friends and neighbors for years and you think I didn’t know where you hide your spare key?” she said while folding the damp towel and put it back on Yui’s forehead, “You should really change the hiding place from time to time, you know. Otherwise, some bad people may find out and break into your place.”
“Well... There’s nothing worth robbing here,” Yui said while looking at the ceiling.
“Probably. But, you are here and anything can happen, you know,” Rie said, looking worried.
Yui did not say anything in response. She just kept on looking at the ceiling, feeling the cold damp towel on her forehead. Did she have a fever? Was that why she felt nauseous? She could not even keep track on the current state of her body.
“Yui-chan...”
Rie’s voice broke her quiet musing.
“You know that Sasshi and I care about you, right?”
Instead of answering the question, Yui asked, “How’s Sashihara-san?”
“She’s all right. Long distance relationship turns out to be harder and more complicated than we initially thought. But, we can still manage. She has a really good career in Hakata. Being able to work with idols seemed like a dream comes true for a big fan like her after all. But, even with all her busy schedule managing the group, she never forgets people who are close to her. In fact, she was the one who called me last night, saying that we may need to check on you, considering that your health problems usually come up around this time of the year.”
Once again Yui did not say anything in response. Seeing her like that, Rie just sighed and patted her head.
“I was going to make some lunch and prepare some dinner for later. But, there’s nothing in the fridge. So, I’m going out for a bit, okay? I’ll just grab some things from the grocery store nearby. I’ll be right back.”
Yui looked at her retreating back for a while.
“Rie-san,” she finally said.
“Yes?” the woman turned around.
“
Arigatou...”
“No need to say thanks,” she smiled widely, “For now, just get some rest, okay? Sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
Sleep was actually the last thing Yui wanted to do. She would rather stay awake for as long as possible. So she just stared at the ceiling.
She did not know how long she had been staring. But, it did not seem that long until she could hear the sound of the flat door being opened.
“Rie-san?” she called out.
No answer. But, she could hear a pair of shoes being taken off before the sound of footsteps came closer.
“It sure was fast...,” Yui said absent-mindedly.
But, still, there was no answer. It felt odd. Kitahara Rie was always the attentive type who would respond to anything others said, no matter how trivial. So, when the footsteps sound came even closer, Yui turned her head to the side, trying to take a look at her.
To her horror, the person who looked back at her was not Kitahara Rie.
It was a masked man with a bloody knife in his hand. He loomed above Yui, ready to swing his knife anytime. In shock, Yokoyama Yui felt as if she was petrified.
No... No... You’re dead! You can’t hurt me! You’re not real!The man smiled. Although half of his face was hidden beneath the mask, somehow, Yui could just tell that his lips were slowly stretched into an evil grin. Then, he raised his knife, holding it with both hands above Yui, ready to strike.
Run, Yui! Run!She could hear her sister’s voice in her head. She really wanted to run far far away—as far as possible from the masked man. But, her body would not move no matter how hard she tried. So, she tried to close her eyes as tight as she could and prepared herself for whatever would happen next.
Yes, that’s it Yui. Just close your eyes. Go to sleep. The police will be here soon. I’ll be here when you wake up. Just sleep for now.But, when Yui opened her eyes again, no one was there. Not even the masked man. But, she could hear the sound of a siren in the distance and she saw some blinking red lights.
It’s over, Child. It’s already over.She could hear someone said.
You are safe now. You will be okay.So they said. But, as they were saying that, Yui could see some people in white uniforms wheeling two bodies on the stretchers. One was smaller than the other, but both were fully covered with white bloody sheets. When she saw a small hand with a pink floral bracelet came out from under one of the sheets, she immediately knew.
No, no, no! Don’t take my sister away! You can’t take my sister away! Onee-chan...!She could feel her body being held back. The harder she tried, the stronger they were in dragging her away from that place. She could not do anything but wailing. She kept on calling her sister while deep inside blaming herself for letting everything to happen. It was supposed to be her on the stretcher, not her sister...
“Yokoyama-sensei?”
Yokoyama Yui was startled awake. Again. She did not know how many times it had happened over the last few days. The terror would keep on repeating itself in every twisted version possible. Then, Yui would no longer be able to tell dream from reality apart. She would be so involved in whatever scenario her mind was playing at the time, then she would be awaken so abruptly with her body in cold sweat. This time, her hands were also shaking.
“Are you all right?”
The voice filled with concern was not Kitahara Rie’s. So, Yui rubbed her eyes and squinted, trying to have a better look at the person sitting right beside her bed. The face she found there made her wonder whether she was still sleeping and it was just another twisted version of her flashbacks—the continuation of the previous one.
“...Shimazaki-san?” she said, not sure if she was right.
The woman in question averted her eyes by looking at the floor and confirmed it with a rather awkward, “H-hai...”
Yui closed her eyes tightly, not believing that it was happening. She did not know how Shimazaki Haruka could end up in her flat. She did not really want to know. Not now. She got a lot in her mind. It felt like her head was going to explode anytime. She could not deal with anything else right now.
“I’m sorry to come without any prior notice,” she heard Shimazaki Haruka said, “I came to the school earlier... to apologize for everything that happened a few days ago... But, I heard that you haven’t been coming to school, so...”
“Shimazaki-san,” Yui interrupted.
“...Yes?”
“How did you get in?” she asked.
“...Kitahara-san let me in...”
“Where is she now?”
“...She’s outside, answering a phone call...”
“All right, then... This really is not a good time for me. So, I need to ask you to leave.”
There was silence. Yui knew that she was being awfully rude. But, she could not have Shimazaki Haruka there while she was trying to get through all these recounts of a horrific past—not when the woman was also a reminder of another past she had been trying to move on from for years.
“Aah, Yui-chan! You’re already awake. Good. I was just done making some soup a few minutes ago before Sasshi called to ask how you’re doing,” Kitahara Rie chimed as she walked back in.
She might not be able to read the mood in front of her. But, Yui immediately made it more obvious for her.
“Rie-san, please see Shimazaki-san to the door.”
Her request stopped Rie on her track.
“Eh?”
“Shimazaki-san is done here. I may still have some trouble walking around. So, would you please see her to the door?”
Confusion was written all over Kitahara Rie’s face. She looked at Yui to make sure that she heard it right. Yui might be a loner. But, in all the years they had known each other, she never saw or heard her being that harsh. Since she went through all the trouble to go and visit her, she thought, wasn’t the woman also Yui’s friend?
Kitahara Rie was about to question what happened. But, before she was able to voice what was on her mind, Shimazaki Haruka abruptly got up from her seat.
“I’m sorry to disturb you. I’ll take my leave now.”
She bowed a little to Yui, then rushed to the door. Yui did not say anything in response. But, she was fully aware of some wet spots her guest had left on the floor.
To be continued...--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Topic: DeNight's YuiParu Delusions [Chapter Update: ML Final Chapter-Nov 22, 2022] (Read 57211 times)