@ alwaysYou : It's still too early to tell whether Risa can get out of the house now
More to come more to come - next chapter
@ kano-chan : The contents of the sketchbook is gonna to be revealed in this chapter, so take note!
Arrange marriage - thats very asian, so you can expect that from a very asian me
Nope Mama Gaki did not commit suicide. It was a robbery in the mountains. heheh
@ astro18, rndmnwierd : Alot of people was not expecting that ending. And i apologise for leaving it there. heheheh hopefully this chapter will make up the shockingness of the last chapter
@ SarangAi : Don't be sad . . . Mama Gaki won't die . . . i still don't bear to kill anyone in this fic heheh. I understood how you felt, cos I was too trying to finish up with my essay, but my mind was all filled up with the details of what to write next -.- anyway, I hope that eventually you still did manage to get your studying done
@ oddball : Nope, it's not Retora's man. It's just some random robber who had did that. heheh
And Hihi! I had finally finished the huanting essay I'm supposed to write, and there you go, a new chapter!
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[Chapter 19] - The Cry of the Heart
'It's all my fault . . . If it wasn't because of me, Mama won't retreat back to the ca to retrieve the blanket . . . It's all my fault . . .' Bringing her blood stained hand towards her face, Risa wept quietly.
"4 pints of Type A positive blood from the bank please." The voice of the doctor could be heard from where Risa was seated.
'Type A?' Risa puzzled as she looked up from her hands.
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'Should I ?' Eri thought as she sat behind the table in her study room. She was still staring at the sketchbook of Ai for an hour, debating with her own conscience whether should she take a look at it.
'Why do I have a feeling that Risa is so much more involved in this that I thought she would had been? ' Eri continued analysing as she rested her head on the soft cushion of the chair's backrest.
'Maybe I should . . .' Eri finally made her decision, after a month of self debating. She sat up in attention, reached for the tempting sketchbook before her, and flipped slowly to the first page of the book.
And there, stood an image of a door frame, with the back view a couple with a young kid in arms.
'What is this ?' Flipping to the next page, she was presented with a little girl, sitting in the mist of tall infrastructures, with her face hidden between her knees.
'Is this . . . the memo of Ai-san? What happened to her when she was young? But she was only 4 years old then . . . How is it possible that she have such a clear memory what had happened to her when she was a child?'Continuing her fingers on the edge of the paper, Eri turned to the next page. It was an older women holding onto the hands of the little girl. Scribbling was accompanied with that drawing.
"You promised you will not let go the hands of mine . . . But in the end, you did . . . " Eri whispered out softly. Her heart clenched tightly, causing her chest to tighten up.
'Is this the pain . . . you have been keeping to yourself all these years?'And as Eri continued to flip through the pages, she was revealed with more memories of Ai, and the little thoughts she would penned down with them.
"What am I living for? What have I been looking for? " Eri read.
'Ai-san . . . ' Feelings of sympathetic filled her heart.
And soon, Eri flipped till the first drawing she had seen accidentally a month ago.
'This . . . I was positive about this.' And laid on the paper was a faint pencil drawing of the face of a young little girl. And the striking features of the little girl had caught the attention of Eri since the day she had discovered the drawing.
'Risa . . . It looked exactly like how Risa was when I first knew her, thought the drawing looked a little bit younger. But I'm positive, that's Risa in there. But . . . How? How would Ai-san knew Risa looked when she was young? They never knew each other then, didn't they?' Eri wondered as she furrowed her eyebrows.
Turning to the next page, it was just a drawing of a closed door. A familiar door.
'That's the door of Ai-san's current apartment.' At the corner of the page, there was a slightly smudged writings at the corner of the page.
" The door is closed again. No one else. Just me alone. Living in a world of fear, living in fear of rejection, in fear of being abandon again, how am I suppose can I be able to gain the courage to learn to trust again? " Eri read silently in her mind.
The last drawing in the book was the portrait of the peaceful sleeping Risa. And the drawing was accompanied with a long passage of words.
'Thank you for walking into my life . . . Because of you, I have found the familiar warmth I felt whenever I was afraid . . . Because of you, I have allow the tears I held back all these years to surface. . . Because of you, I may have found the courage to trust again . . . Because of you, I may have found a reason of my existence on this world . . . It's all because of you, Risa-san . . .''So . . . Ai-san may have been slightly opened up her heart to Risa already . . . It seems like she could trust Risa. . . But now . . .The situation now . . . What had caused that? And Risa. . . ' Eri started questioning herself.
'Wait . . . ' Realisation struck Eri. She flipped the book back to the first page to the first drawing. . .
'Could it be . . .' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Risa buried her face on the patient bed where Renni was lying on and had fallen asleep by the bedside. Renni was out of danger, having transferred 4 pints of blood to replace the blood lost she had from the knife wound in her abdomen. The wound was stitched with 5 stiches of needles.
'Risa-ko? What is she still doing here?' Renni thought as she first opened her eyes and saw Risa being asleep beside her. Using a fairly amount of strength to move her hand right hand, she touched Risa's face gently.
Risa woke up immediately at the touch on the face. "Mama!" Signs of relieve was prominent on Risa's face.
"Why are you still here?" Renni croaked through her dry throat. "You should go away now, before Papa comes."
Risa shook her head stubbornly. "There's no way I'm gonna to leave when you are lying in the hospital. If it's not me, Mama would not brought me up to the mountain top, and Mama will not be lying on this bed right now." Risa mumbled, as tears choked her throat.
"Silly girl." Renni scolded softly. "Just leave. Mama doesn't want you to have any regrets in your life."
Risa continued shaking her head, refusing to make any steps to move.
"Sorry for interrupting." A third voice interrupted the conversation between the mother and the child. A middle aged lady, holding onto a clipboard, dressed in business suit came into the private ward and spoke.
"I'm Yoshizawa Hitomi, police officer from South Kyoto Police Station." Hitomi introduced.
Both Risa and Renni nodded their head lightly at the introduction.
"One of the residents staying at the bottom of the mountain found a man running down the mountain suspiciously with blood stained on his shirt. He found him supicious, thus had managed to grabbed hold of him and brought him into the station." Hitomi started off speaking before lifting up the sealed plastic evidence bag with a familiar hand bag contained in it. "Niigaki-san, does this handbag belongs to you?" Hitomi finished.
Renni nodded her head lightly at the question.
"Can you describe to me what had happened yesterday night?" Hitomi continued asking.
"I was on my way back to my car to take blanket for my daughter when attacked me from my back, pulling my handbag from me. I struggled with him for a moment before he plugged the dagger." Renni answered with her hoarse voice.
"Did you manage to catch a glimpse of his face? If we asked you to go back with us for recognition, would you be able to point out who was the one who attacked you?"
"Sorry officer, but I do not have the intention to bring any charges to the young lad who had attacked me. So I don't think there's a need for me to do that." Renni interrupted, which had caused shock to Risa and Hitomi.
"Mama! Why? They got that guy, didn't they?" Risa probed.
Renni shook her head to shut Risa up.
"But Madam, " Hitomi spoke up, trying to convince Renni to stop her intention.
"Sorry officer, my decision is firm." Renni insisted tiredly, but firmly. "I will just want to claim back my belongings, and that's all. Let that lad off." Renni finished.
"If that's the case, Niigaki-san, I will do it as your wish."
"Mama~" Risa started whining. "He attacked you, cause you to lose so much blood and to be in the hospital right now. Why aren’t you pulling any charges on that attacker?" Risa continued, trying to convince her mother.
"Shhh Risa. Mama has my own reasons." Renni answered, causing a pout to form on Risa's face. "Can you follow the officer outside to finish up with the paperwork?"
"Hai . . ." Risa agreed unwillingly, before following Hitomi out of the private ward.
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"Niigaki-san, please look through these to see if everything belongs to your mother and if there's nothing missing, please sign your initials over here." Hitomi informed Risa as she removed the handbag from the evidence bag.
"Okay." Risa responded as she took over the handbag to her possession.
Unzipping the bag, Risa ran her hands inside the bag and picked up several items out and place them back into the back again, until she pulled out a set of unfamiliar keys.
'What keys are these? I have never seen them before.' Risa noted mentally in her mind. And the next item she pulled out from the bag shocked her more. It was a photo of her parents with a little girl. The number of candles on the cake told Risa that the little was 3 years old when the photo was taken.
"Ah. You looked so cute when you were young." Hitomi commented as she saw Risa staring at the photo.
Risa smiled awkwardly at Hitomi's statement.
'That's not me. Definitely. Who is she?' And at that moment, a sudden faintness hit her, with a blurry imaged flashed over her mental for a second. It was a blurred image of a door.
'What was that?' Risa wondered as she shook her head to regain her clearness.
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Eri licked her lips nervously as she stood outside the door that was leading into Ai's room.
'Should I use that? Reverse psychology? What if it doesn't works on Ai-san? That would further intensify the current situation.' Eri groaned silently in her mind.
'But if I don't do that, I will never be able to get the answer I want, and I will never be able to help Ai-san. The question now is not about helping her to speak again and it's to get her to say what's causing her sufferings . . . and that .. . would eventually lead to the source . . .' Eri reasoned.
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"You're back?" Renni asked as Risa slid open the sliding door of the ward room.
Risa nodded her head in response, with her mind still in awe at the sudden faintness she felt previously. Risa proceeded towards the bedside and passed the handbag back to her mother.
"Do you want to check is there anything missing from there?" Risa asked as she fiddled with the set of keys she took from the bag in her pocket.
Renni nodded her head and reached her hands towards the bag. Just at that moment, before Renni could opened up the bag, Retora and Ume entered the room.
"How are you doing dear?" Retora asked as he stepped into the room. "What had happened? Why were you out in the middle of the night?" Then Retora turned towards Risa. "What happened? Did you tried to run away again? And what are you doing now, running around all over the place, soaking in blood? I ask you to go home right now and change into a fresh set of clothing before you come back and accompany your mom. Ume, send Risa home!"
"Yes sir!"
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"Ai-san." Eri called out as she entered Ai's ward.
Ai shot a glance at Eri before turning away, staring into the space she would usually do when Eri was there.
'When will you give up, Eri-san ? Haven't I said, I don't need any help? ' Ai thought angrily inside of her as Eri closed up to her bedside.
"How are you doing?" Eri continued asking.
Receiving no response from Ai, Eri pulled the chair towards the direction where Ai's attention was and settled down right in front of Ai.
"I took leave from work today. I have something to ask you." Eri stated, hoping that Ai would respond to her.
But no. Ai remained her stare at the space behind Eri.
'If I chose to remain to be quiet, there's nothing much you can do, Eri-san. Why not just give up? It would be so much easier for you as well. For me to step into your life was a major mistake in the first place. ''I shall do it then!' Eri had finally decided. She reached for the sketchbook that was in her working bag. "Does this looks familiar to you?" Eri started asking. Ai remain as still as she was, not flinching a bit even when Eri asked her to look at what she was holding. "Ai-san, just take a look at this. I know this would interest you."
And Ai moved, shifting her attention lightly to what Eri's was holding in her hands. Her eyes shot opened at the view.
'How did she get that?' And that was the reaction she gave. Nothing else more. Someone who had not knew Ai would regard the reaction Ai gave as nothing. But not Eri. Ai's eyes had betrayed her intention of hiding any emotion of hers.
"Interested?" Eri taunted a little.
Ai looked away from Eri, pretending that she was not interested in what Eri was about to say. But deep down inside her, her heart was already bleeding.
'Please tell me that you haven't taken any peek of the contents, please.'"It belongs to you, isn't it, Ai-san?" Eri continued asking.
Ai remained as silent as she was, still making no intention to communicate with Eri.
"Can you tell me what's inside?" Eri questioned, with double meaning in her one question.
'Inside . . . The inside of the sketchbook is equals to what’s inside your heart, Ai-san. I . . .have finally figured it out.' 'No . . .' Ai begged as the tear gland of her eyes had began its activity.
"Why not I tell you what's inside, Ai-san?"
'No . . . Please . . . No' A single teardrop traced down Ai's cheek.
Eri allowed her hand to flipped through the pages, and began the story she had derived from what she understood from the drawings. "The first drawing showed . . . The parents abandoning this little girl, leaving her all alone in this house. Then, she ran out of the house, finding herself lost in the buildings. There's nobody else, just her alone on the streets. Her mother had once promised her that she would never let her go, but she did in the end, didn't she?"
'Stop . . . Please stop . . .' Ai begged in her mind, with tears flooding her flawless face.
Eri, realising that she had yet to get a decent reaction from Ai, decided to continue what she was doing. " Ah . . . and all of the sudden in the middle of the story, there's an appearance of a new little girl. I'm pretty sure that she had a special relationship with the little girl right for the start. . . She's the . . . " Before Eri could finish her sentence 'third person', Ai had pounded towards her, trying to grab the sketchbook back to her possession.
Thankfully, Eri's reflexes were faster than that of Ai. She had managed to pull back the sketchbook before Ai could get her hands on it. "You don't like the story?" Eri asked in her most innocent tone.
Ai stared at Eri with her teary eyes, making the first decent eye contact in the month. Eri could see desperation and hurt of all the years in the tears Ai had in her eyes. They were begging her to stop.
'Please . . . Don't go on anymore. Don't go one anymore . . . It's enough. . . ' Ai had finally broken down, allowing herself to sob freely in front of Eri.
Eri closed the sketchbook, stood up, and sat beside Ai on the bed. "Cry it out. Just cry it out. Don't hold them anymore, Ai-san." Eri finished with a gentle voice as she hugged Ai tightly, allowing Ai to cry in her embrace.
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JaN~ Next chapter . . . should be coming during the weekends !
De Wa~
Topic: Because of You : Breaking the silence [Chapter 25 (completed) + Credits - 18/05] (Read 38128 times)