“Minami, there’s still some leftovers in the fridge. Just heat them up if you want to have dinner, okay?” Minami smiled and answered, “Okay, Mum.” Shibata, Minami’s father fixed his bow tie and said, “We’ll be going for the company’s annual dinner. So, we’ll be home a little bit late.” Minami looked at him and replied, “Okay, Dad. You’ll bring the spare keys, right? I’ll lock the door, then.” He nodded his head and held his wife’s hand, “Shall we go, then?” Her mother smiled and waved, “Take care, sweetie! We’ll be home late,” she kissed Minami on the forehead and hugged her tightly; “We love you.” Minami hugged her mother back, “Mum, you’ll only be going for like three hours only.” Yet, her mother was still hugging her until she said, “I love you, too.”

She waited by the door as her parents drove down the street, towards the main road. She went back into the house and closed the front door. After she locked the door, she went to the living room and switched on the television. She switched from channel to channel. “Come on! It’s Friday night! Out of hundreds of channels, none of them has anything good to watch? Oh well, I’ll watch DVD, then.” She browsed through the DVDs on the shelf next to the LCD TV. “Wait a minute. Where’s the movie that I just bought? Could it be the one that...”

Minami ran towards the phone and quickly dialled a phone number. She placed the cordless phone on her right ear and waited for a couple of seconds. Then, she heard the sound of the dial tones. After three beeps, someone picked up the phone.

“Hello, Takane resident. Kanae’s speaking.” Minami replied as soon as she recognised the voice, “Kanae! It’s me, Minami. I was just wondering, do you remember the last time you came to my house? You borrowed one of my DVDs, right?” Kanae answered, “Yes and I’m watching it now. Why?” Minami exhaled heavily and asked, “Is it the one that I just bought at the mall last week?” Kanae thought for a while before she replied, “Yes, that one. Why? You already watched it, right?” Minami sighed and said, “Well, not technically. I just watched it for a couple of minutes before I fell asleep. Forget about it. Maybe I just need to find something else to do. Can you believe it? It’s Friday night and yet, nothing good to watch on the TV.” Minami could imagine Kanae rolled her eyes before she answered, “Tell me about it. That’s why I’m watching the movie right now. Anyway, I’m sorry that I borrow this DVD.” “It’s okay. Enjoy the show. Bye.” Minami hung up the phone and lay back on the couch.

“What to do? What to do? Maybe I should finish up the school assignment.” Minami got up from the couch and went to her room upstairs. She took her laptop and switched it on. She reached for her textbook on the rack and started flipping from one page to another. Then, she turned her attention back to the laptop and opened a new document from Microsoft Word. While she was busy searching more information on the internet, there was a pop-up window at the corner of the screen. “What is this? ‘Someone is waiting for you in the chat room.’ Who could it be?”

She clicked on the pop-up window and a new window showed up. The person greeted her. “Seiryu? This nickname seems familiar. Wait a second. ‘Seiryu’ is the guy from my class. Does he want to chat with me? No way! That’ll never happen.” She quickly clicked on the ‘close’ button and continued her research. Once again, ‘Seiryu’ invited her to chat but she still ignored him. After a few times asking, he finally stopped. “Finally, I can get some peace and quiet.”

A couple of hours later, she shut down her laptop and went to the kitchen for a glass of water. As she drank them, she stared at the clock, “They should be home by now,” she thought.

Suddenly, she had an uneasy feeling. She went to the living room and took the phone. She dialled her mother’s phone number and placed the phone to her ear. After a few times beeping, her mother answered, “Hello.” Minami answered back, “Hello, Mum. Where are you? You should already be home by now. I’m getting pretty worried.” Her mother tried to comfort her, “Don’t worry, honey. We’ll be back later. Your father’s partner, Mr. Hisagi insisted us to follow him to a place that is quite fascinating. However, we’re not quite sure where it is since it’s so dark. But still, he said that the place only has a good view at night. Anyway, I got to go now. The battery has gone low. Love you, sweetie. Bye.” “Mum, wait...” Her mother already hung up the phone.

The next morning, Minami had been woken up by the annoying sound of her alarm clock. She got out of bed and went downstairs. With her sleepy eyes, she searched throughout the kitchen for any sign of her mother. “Mum, where are you? Is she still in the bed?” She dragged her feet as she walked towards the stairs until she heard the phone’s ringing. “I’ll get it.” Minami took the phone and pressed the ‘Answer’ button. “Hello, Hoshino resident. Who is this?” She heard the voice of a lady on the other line, “Hello. Can I speak to the family of Hoshino Shibata and Hoshino Hikari?” “Yes, I’m Minami, their daughter.”

“I am calling from Tokyo Hospital. I need you to come here as soon as possible, regarding your parents’ accident last night.” Minami blinked her eyes twice and shook her head in case she was still dreaming. Then she replied, “Accident? What accident? Are they alright?” The nurse replied calmly, “We’ll explain to you here at the hospital. Please bring a friend or a company with you as well. Thank you.” She hung up the phone.

Minami blinked her eyes a few times, and then she went to the sink and washed her face. “What should I do? Mum and Dad didn’t come home last night. Maybe I should ask Kanae to come with me to the hospital.” She called Kanae and explained everything. Kanae on the other line thought for a while before she replied, “Okay, I’ll wait for you at the train station in half an hour. Bye.”

Minami dashed upstairs and took a shower. She dried her hair as fast as she can and quickly dressed. She went to the kitchen and ate a slice of toast before leaving the house. She arrived five minutes’ early but Kanae was already there. She smiled at her friend and said, “Kanae, sorry I’m late. Thank you again for coming with me.” Kanae gave her sweetest smile and said, “You’re welcome. Anyway, we have to go now.” Both of them rushed to the ticket counter. They purchased their tickets and took the train to go the city where the hospital is located.

“Hi. I’m Hoshino Minami. I’m looking for the patients by the name Hoshino Shibata and Hikari.” The nurse who is waiting at the reception searched through some documents. “Please go to Room 202; next to the ICU.” Minami nodded and said, “Thank you, miss.” Suddenly, the nurse held her hand and said, “Please be strong, dear.” Minami had no idea what’s going on, so she just hoped for the best and replied, “Thank you again, miss.” She freed her hand from the nurse’s grip and took Kanae’s hand instead. Both of them picked up their paces to go to their destination.

The girls were about to enter the room when a doctor opened the door out of the blue. He said, “Where do you think you’re going?” Minami looked at him and said, “I’m Hoshino Minami and I’m here to see my parents.” The doctor who had a serious look on his face before, suddenly changed to a more gentle expression. “Minami, I want you to be strong. Your parents involved in an

accident last night. The car was completely crushed when it crashed down the steep hill. They were severely injured.”

Minami was shocked to hear the news, “Oh my God! So, where are they now? Are they okay?” The doctor placed his hands on Minami’s shoulder and looked into her eyes and answered, “I’m sorry. We didn’t manage to save them.” Minami was speechless. Kanae covered her mouth with her hands. Then, Minami said, “You’re kidding, right?” The doctor shook his head and removed his hands from her shoulder. Minami blinked a few times before she stared at the doctor right in the eyes, “It must be hard for you to deliver this kind of bad news every day, huh? Anyway, can I see my parents now?” The doctor gestured his right hand towards the room and gave way to Minami and Kanae.

There were two beds in the room and some where under the covers on the beds were the bodies of Minami’s parents. She removed both of the covers one by one until she saw the whole faces and necks of the corpses. There they were; her parents who she thought were still in their bed this morning. She stared blankly at her parents’ faces. She slide her hands towards her mother’s face to move away some strands of hair that were covering her mother’s perfect blue eyes which she knew would never open again.

Kanae looked at her friend with a sympathy feeling in her heart. She knew Minami was trying to be strong and tried her best to hide her feeling. She did not see any single tear rolled down Minami’s cheeks yet but she could tell Minami was crying hard because she was holding her hand since they entered the room. Minami’s grip was getting even tighter as she saw her parents’ corpses. After a few moments of silence, Minami said, “I love you too, Mum.”

After they took away the corpses for the preparation of the funeral, Kanae took Minami for a walk at the park nearby. She still had the same expression on her face since she saw her parents. Kanae offered her some ice cream but she refused to accept the offer. Finally, after they took a seat near the fountain at the park, Kanae asked, “Minami, are you okay? You don’t really need to hide your feelings. If you feel like crying, then just cry as much as you want. You know that I’ll be here for you. Looking at you like this will just make me even more worried.”

There was a moment of silence after Kanae said the last syllable. Then, Minami smiled at her friend and replied, “Thank you, Kanae, for everything but I’ll be just fine. There’s no need for you to be worried about me. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at the ceremony then.” Without even a goodbye, Minami stood to her feet and went home, leaving her friend behind. Kanae just stared at her friend as her shadow faded away. Then, she said to herself, “Minami, don’t torture yourself.” Tears began to roll down her cheeks.

The funeral took place at the Hoshino’s resident the next day. The living room was filled with people in black outfit and they were grieving for the death of the Hoshino couple. There were a picture of Shibata and a picture of Hikari placed at the feature wall with flowers decorated around them. Everyone expected to see Minami as the person who cried the most tears. However, none of them saw her crying; because she didn’t cry. She even put a small smile as she thanked them for coming over to the ceremony.

Suddenly, she saw Hisagi Tsubaki, her father’s partner, joined in the ceremony. He approached her and said, “Minami, I’m sorry for your lost. Your father was a wonderful man, and a great partner. I’m not quite sure how to handle the company now that he has gone.” Minami opened her mouth to reply something when she suddenly remembered what her mother had mentioned to her. Your father’s partner, Mr. Hisagi insisted us to follow him to a place that is quite fascinating. She closed back her mouth, reopened them and finally asked, “Where did you planned to take them on that night?”

Tsubaki looked confused and quickly asked, “What do you mean, Minami? Take who?” Minami was a little surprised to hear his replies. She asked him again, “You know what I mean. My mother told me that night on the phone that you were about to show them a fascinating place with a good view at night. Where was it?” Tsubaki rubbed his forehead, showing that he tried to remember something. Then, he said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Minami’s eyes widened. ‘What? He’s joking, right? I swore that I heard mum told me that it was him. He’s the one that insisted Mum and Dad to follow him. How come he had no idea about it?’ Minami thought hard. She was about to ask another question to reassure herself that he was only joking when all of a sudden, he said, “I’m sorry, Minami but I’m in a hurry. I’ve got a meeting in fifteen minutes. Once again, I’m sorry for your lost.” He turned around and left. Minami’s mouth was already opened but no words came out from it until Tsubaki shut the door behind him.

Kanae walked through the crowd until she managed to reach for Minami’s shoulder. She said, “Minami, sorry I’m late. Something suddenly came up. I overheard that man who just left said that he got a meeting. He’s your father’s partner, right? I totally cannot believe him. How can he have a meeting while his partner just passed away? What do you think, Minami?” Minami was still looking towards the front door. Kanae waved her right hand in front of Minami’s face but she was still spacing out. Finally, Kanae pricked her finger and brought Minami back to reality. She was impressed with herself and said, “Wow, I can’t believe it will actually work! Anyway, are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Minami’s hands started shaking and turned into grips. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. Kanae felt worried and quickly asked Minami, “What’s wrong? Is something bothering you? Is it about that guy who just left? Minami, are you...” “He lied...” Minami suddenly replied, “...he lied. I know what I heard. He did have the idea of what I’m talking about. He did...” Kanae held onto Minami’s shoulders and started shaking them, “Minami!!! Cut it out! What’re you talking about? Snap out of it!” All eyes were on them.

After a few minutes, Minami calmed down. Her friend handed her a glass of fresh lemonade; something that would definitely calm Minami down. She took a sip of the drink and took a deep breath. “Would you like to tell me what’s going on?” asked Kanae. Minami looked around. They were in the kitchen while the guests were still outside. After that, she answered, “Well, I really want to tell you but even I’m not sure what’s going on right now.” There was a moment of silence. Kanae went out from the kitchen to give Minami some space. She thought that Minami was still in shock of her parents’ death.

About an hour later, the crowd left the house, leaving only Kanae and Minami. Kanae once again went to check up on Minami. “Everyone has gone home. Are you feeling okay?” she asked.

Minami managed to smile and replied, “Much better. Thank you, Kanae.” Kanae was glad to hear those words. They chatted for a while before Kanae made her leave. “Are you sure you’ll be fine all by yourself?” Minami answered, “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. I’ll see you at school, then.” She waved goodbye to her friend and shut the front door.

“I just want to inform that your classmate, Hoshino Minami, had just lost her parents during last weekend. So, I hope that all of you would treat her kindly during one of the hardest time that she had ever faced.” The teacher informed to the class at school that day. Everyone, including Kanae turned their sight to a seat on Kanae’s left hand side but it was empty. She wondered, “Minami’s absent today. I wonder if she’s okay...”

After school that day, Kanae and her friends went to visit Minami. Minami opened the door and invited them in. After serving some drinks to her friends, Minami asked, “So, what brings all of you here?” Kanae looked at her straight in the eyes and said, “Minami, I thought you said that you’ll be coming to school today but all I got was an empty seat beside me. Are you sick or something? If you are, you should let me know.” Minami smiled and said, “I’m fine. I just felt a little bit tired this morning. I’m sorry if I made you worried.” Kanae sighed, “Good to hear that. How long are you planning to take a leave from school?” Minami answered, “Maybe until this Wednesday. I already informed the teachers, so there’s nothing to be worried of.”

They spent the rest of the evening at Minami’s place, trying to keep her company. By five o’clock, they all went home. After they had left, Minami walked into the kitchen to make some dinner. “What should I make today? Maybe I should just eat some salad. I guess I still don’t have the appetite.” She treated herself with some salad. While eating at the dining table, she stared at the picture of her father. Then, she turned her gaze to the picture of her mother. She quickly finished up her dinner, washed the dishes and went upstairs towards her room.

As she was about to turned the door knob, she looked towards her parents’ room. She let go her grip from the door knob and went inside her parents’ bedroom. The room was bright and spotless but once she glanced around, a sorrow feeling rushed throughout her entire body. She slide her hands over the furnitures in the room. She could still smell her mother’s perfume and her father’s cologne. Then, she sat on the bed and looked at a photograph of her parents, neatly framed and placed on the dresser. She picked it up and stared at it. “Mum...Dad...I miss you guys.” She was about to cry until her eyes lay onto one of the dresser’s drawer.

According to her mother, that drawer mostly kept all of her father’s valuable belongings. Minami slowly opened the drawer, as if with one false move, it would break into pieces. She looked inside and saw some files, pictures and other valuable items. She took out one of the files and browsed through them. It was some documents on her father’s company. While she flipped through the pages, a photo suddenly fell down. She picked it up and looked at it. It was a photo of her father shook hands with his first client while Tsubaki stood next to him. Her father looked very happy during that moment while Tsubaki smiled at him. Minami took a closer at the smile and she quickly realised that it wasn’t a sincere one and his eyes was full with envy and hatred. She was not a psychic but nothing could escape her sharp eyes and this time, the expression of Tsubaki in the picture made her came to a conclusion, “It wasn’t an accident. It’s a homicide.”

On Wednesday, Minami came to school as she said she would. Nobody noticed any changes in her since she was a shy and quiet girl at school in the first place. She took her seat and put down her bag. Out of the blue, Kanae appeared before her, “Good morning, Minami. Finally, you come to school. I was actually starting to miss you. It was a little bit awkward to look straight at Ryu every time I turn to face left.” Minami looked at the seat on her left but there was no one. Someone with the name Ryu sat there, someone that she paid no attention to. She doesn’t even know his first name. “Miss me? Stop fooling around, Kanae. I haven’t been here for only three days. Beside, you did drop by my house every evening, right?” Kanae gave her cheeky smile and winked, “Well, you are my buddy. Of course I miss you when you’re not around here at school. There’s no one that I can copy the notes with.” Those words managed to make Minami giggled. Kanae smiled as she looked at Minami’s reaction which she had not seen since they went to the hospital.

A few moments later, the door of the classroom slid opened and a boy entered the room. He greeted some of his friend and walked towards his seat. He was surprised to see Minami’s presence. He put down his bag before he took his seat and looked at Minami, “Good morning, Hoshino. Welcome back to school.” Minami turned her gaze towards the boy who was sitting at the seat on her left and said, “Thank you. You’re Ryu, right?” The boy smiled and opened up the window while replying, “You remembered my name? That’s a surprise.” Minami started blushing. Kanae who noticed her friend’s expression quickly turned around and said, “I guess you two have some introduction to do,” before she walked away while dragging the other girls with her. “Wait, Kanae…” Minami was left alone behind the class with Ryu.

Ryu turned his face back to Minami and held out his hand. He smiled and joked, “Nice meeting you.” Minami shook his hand while trying not to laugh, “Hi. I’m Hoshino Minami.” Ryu grinned and said, “I’m Hisagi Ryu.” Minami’s eyes widened. She tried to process his first name inside her brain. She asked, “Did you say ‘Hisagi’?” He answered, “Of course. Now that you finally know my name, do not ever erase it from your mind.” She quickly let go of his hand and asked, “Do you happen to know anyone by the name Hisagi Tsubaki?” He nodded and answered, “Yes, he’s my uncle. Why?” Minami looked away and said, “Nothing. Anyway, I’m kind of busy right now,” she took out one of her notebook and continued, “Talk to you later.” Ryu looked at her confusedly and finally, took his gaze off her after a little while.

The next few days were just as awkward as ever. Everyone could barely witness Minami’s smile except when she talked to Kanae or her other friends. They knew that she was quiet, but whenever any of them exchanged glances with her, she used to smile back; and her smile was heart-melting. They told Kanae about it. She told them that she’d try to talk to Minami about it.

During recess, Minami and the others went to their favourite spot which was under the cherry blossom tree. As they ate their lunches, Kanae asked, “Minami, everyone in the class worried about you lately.” Minami was confused, “Why is that?” Kanae put down her lunch and continued, “Well, they missed your smile. It seems like you ignored them for a while.” Minami looked away for a moment before she took her sight back to Kanae with a smile. Kanae smiled back, “There you go!” They continued eating and chatting, just like the times before Minami lost her smile.

A week had gone past and everything seemed to go back to normal. Minami was her old self once again. She did the class report, helped the teachers and paid attention in class. Everyone knew that she was over with her parents’ death, but there was only one boy who saw the real truth; the

sorrow and sadness behind Minami’s eyes. He kept an eye on Minami while in class. “Mr. Hisagi, stop staring at Miss Hoshino and start writing down these notes!” The whole class burst into hysterical laughter after the teacher called out to Ryu. Minami looked at him and he quickly turned away, covering his red face with his book. She giggled and continued writing her notes. Then, he put his book back down and thought, “You cannot hide your feelings forever, Hoshino Minami.”

During the weekend, Minami and her friends went to the mall. It had been quite awhile since the last time they hung out together. They went from one floor to the other. They also watched a movie and played at the arcade. After a fun-filled day, they decided to go for a last stroll around the mall. They passed an accessories outlet and suddenly, Kanae turned back, “I just remembered that I lost one of my earrings. Come on; help me look for a new pair.” They all agreed and together they entered the shop.

Kanae searched high and low for the right pair. Well, she loved perfection, especially when it was about her look. At the same time, Minami browsed through the whole shop. She did not plan to buy anything. While walking along one of the aisle there, she heard someone called for her. She turned around but no one was there. She just shook her head and pretended it was only her imagination. “Minami…Minami…” There it was again, the voice. She tried to listen where the voice came from. She continued walking until she reached the end of the aisle. There was a table with two baskets of various accessories. She looked inside one of the baskets and saw a necklace with red heart-shaped locket. She took it out and observed it carefully. It was just an ordinary necklace, but she got a weird feeling. It was as if the voice came from the necklace.

“Minami, hurry up! We’re leaving now,” the voice of Kanae brought her mind back down to earth. Without any second thought, she said, “You guys go ahead. I need to pay up for this necklace first.” She went to the cashier and purchased the necklace. As she walked out from the store, Kanae grabbed the paper bag from Minami and peeked in to see the necklace. She took it out to have a closer look. She said, “Did you buy this? Are you serious? This is so not like you. Well, I think it does look great on you, but you’re not the type to buy this necklace, right?” Minami snatched the necklace back from Kanae and answered, “I know that, but I just got the feeling I have to buy this necklace,” she put it back in the paper bag and continued, “What are we waiting for? Let’s go home.” And they all went back home.

Minami’s house was as quiet as ever. It’s already been two weeks but nothing had ever changed since her parents’ death. She came back home and went straight to her room. She put away her stuff and crashed down on her bed. She hadn’t enjoyed herself that much for awhile now. After a few times rolling on her bed, she got back up and took a long, relaxing bath. It seemed that everything she did on that day refreshed her whole body and made her forgot about the things that were bothering her.

The bath was so refreshing; she could barely close her eyes now. As she was drying her hair with a towel, her eyes caught the sight of the paper bag from the accessories’ outlet. She hung the towel and picked up the bag. She took out the necklace while walking towards the mirror. “Maybe Kanae was right, but this necklace is not that bad,” she told herself. Once she put on the necklace, she faced the mirror, “It does look good on me.” Suddenly, the red locket glowed; her hand began to shake while her eyes were turning red. An evil force ran through her entire body. Then, she saw an image of a devil that looked more like a black cat inside the mirror. Her whole body paralyzed.

“Minami, I know everything that happened to you. Tragic, isn’t it?” the devil said, “But you know what? You were right all along. It wasn’t just an accident. It was a set-up, I tell you. A plan to kill you parents!” Minami didn’t move a muscle. She was totally hypnotized. The devil continued, “Well, I could show you everything that you’ve been dying to know all this time.” The devil disappeared from the mirror. Minami blinked her eyes and when she opened them back, she was in total darkness. She was about to wonder where in the world she was when all of a sudden, everything was put back together.

She could see her parents arrived at the dinner party that they attended on the night of their accident. They were so happy, she could not even imagine who on earth would have any heart to kill them. They took their seats and that was when Minami noticed the presence of Hisagi Tsubaki. He sat with them at the same table. For the first few minutes, they chatted about the party. Then, Tsubaki turned his head the other way and picked up his cell phone. Minami knew that no one could see her. The weird thing was even she stood on the other side of the room, she could hear everything clearly; even Tsubaki’s conversation on the phone. She thought, “I guess that cat-like devil is only going to show me what I need to know. Is it really alright?” She jumped out of her thought when Tsubaki answered the phone call.

“Hello. Yes, it’s me… I believe he parked his car at the VIP parking lot… Yes, the red one.” He quickly hung up the phone. “Is something wrong?” Minami’s father grabbed his shoulder from behind. Tsubaki startled and answered, “No, everything’s fine. Now, you were saying…” he continued his conversation with Minami’s father, Shibata. Minami’s grip tightened. She had a feeling that something was wrong.

Then, she heard some voices were whispering to each other. She turned around and found herself at the VIP parking lot. She could see her father’s red Mercedes from where she stood. There were three men approached the car. She could not see clearly but she knew that these men were doing something to her father’s car; including the wheels, the engine and even the doors. She was confidently sure that these men were experts since they could switch off the noisy alarm in a blink of an eye. That was the reason why no one noticed anything about what happened there.

After they finished ‘fixing’ the car, one of them who had a bald head, took out his phone and called someone. A man picked up the phone and to her surprise, she could even hear the voice from the receiver even though she was more than fifty feet away from the bald-headed man. In addition to that, the voice sounded familiar. He asked, “Are you done yet?” The bald man answered with a smile, “Yes, everything that you asked for.” Minami could hear a faint laugh of the voice before he continued, “Good job. I’ll give the other half of the deal tomorrow at eight.” Once again, the bald man smiled, “You better do that; or else; you’re a dead man, Tsubaki.”

Minami widened her eyes. Her handgrip was so tight; her nails were about to go through her palm. She could not believe what she just heard. She shut her eyes tightly and mumbled, “Hisagi…Tsubaki…” She opened them back and once again, she was teleported but this time, she was on the road by the hill. She went to the other side of the road and saw a deadly cliff. She took a few steps back, looked up and saw the most beautiful night sky; cloudless and full with stars. She wondered, “What am I doing here?”

Suddenly, she heard her mother’s voice, “Don’t worry, honey. We’ll be back later…” She looked around but there was no one there. After she heard a few more syllables, she remembered that those were what her mother told her that night. “That conversation… Is Mom talking to me? If she is, that will only mean…” There was the sound of a car coming from behind her. She turned around and saw a black Chevrolet stopped by the road side. A man came out but it was too dark to see who he was. Minami knew that no one could see her, so she observed what was going on. It looked as if the man were spreading something on the road. Then, he went back to his car and took out a bottle. He poured the contents of the bottle on the road and drove away.

Minami was curious of what he did. She went nearer to the scene and smelled, “I know this smell. It’s like the smell perfumed gasoline that my class did for an experiment last week. Where did he get it?” She looked to her right and saw a flash of light from a car. She just watched as the light turned brighter. It was her father’s car! She turned her sight back on the greasy road. With the help of the light, she could see what the man spread on the road. She was shocked to see some nails that were pointed upwards. At the same time, the car was approaching. She yelled, “Stop, dad! There are nails and gasoline over here!” There were no sign that showed the car would slow down. “Oh no, they could not hear or see me,” Minami told herself.

She watched helplessly and in disbelieved as the nails pierced through the wheels. The red Mercedes were out of control because of the gasoline and quickly fell down the cliff. There was a huge crash sound echoed throughout the hill. She was expecting to hear an explosion but there wasn’t any. She took a step after another slowly until she reached the edge of the cliff. She looked down and saw the car was upside-down; the roof was flatted. An image of her parents’ corpses flashed through her mind. She mumbled, “Mom…Dad…” She went down on her knees and covered her ears. She shut her eyes as tightly as possible and screamed, “Stop it!!! Why are you showing me this? Why??? Stop it already. I’ve had enough!”

She opened her eyes and she was back in total darkness. She turned around and there it was, the devil, looking at her with its dark red eyes. “How do you like the truth? There’s no need for me to tell you who’s behind you parents’ death, right?” Minami looked at it and asked, “Why did you show me all of this? I’m already okay with knowing that they had a car accident. You don’t need to show me the real thing. You’re only making it worse.” The devil went closer to Minami and said, “Minami, Minami, Minami… You’re so naïve. Don’t you get it? I’m giving you some clues here. What do you think you have to do now?”

Minami tried to figure out what was it talking about. Then, everything started to make sense. Up to that moment, she knew that it wasn’t just an accident. Secondly, Hisagi Tsubaki was behind it. She looked at the devil and asked, “What should I do now?” It just smiled and said, “Why don’t I give you another clue? It starts with the letter ‘R’. You’re a smart kid, right? I’m sure you know what I mean.” It only took a second for Minami to figure it out, “You mean ‘Revenge’? No way! I’m not going to do that. Mom always told me not to avenge anyone.” “Even for your own mother?” the devil replied, “Minami, she was killed. They were killed. Both of them; you mother and father were killed. And you’re just going to sit back and relax while the killer walked around the town with your father’s company? Are you just going to watch him enjoying all of this while you’re grieving for your parents? Well, are you?” Listening to it caused Minami to reach her breaking point. Her heart was on fire and her hand grips would even crush a rock.

“Cat, just tell me what I need to do,” she said with gritted teeth. The ‘cat’ smiled and said, “Cat? I prefer you calling me Akuma. You don’t need to ask me what to do. You already know the answers.” She snapped out from her illusion and found herself back in her room. She was still facing the mirror and her eyes were still red. She wasn’t afraid anymore. She looked at her hands. Her nails were turning into claws. “That’s enough. I get it. You’re giving me powers, right? Don’t worry; I’ll definitely let you know whenever I need it.” Then, everything turned back to normal; her eyes were navy blue again; and she got her nails back. Somehow there was still a part of her that didn’t changed back; her emotions.

The next day, she went to school, as usual. Kanae greeted her as she entered the class, “Good morning, my princess! I hope you are having one. Wait, are you wearing the necklace that you bought yesterday?” Minami smiled and answered, “Yes, and it does look good on me.” Kanae smiled back and agreed.

“‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day’, would anyone mind translate and give the meaning of this line in Japanese?” The teacher was teaching the class about William Shakespeare’s sonnet. Ryu was tapping his pen on his head, showing that he thought hard for an answer since he knew it was the only way that the teacher would not choose him. He took out a peek on the class until he laid his eyes on Minami. She looked like there was something bothering her. “Miss Hoshino, would you mind answering me? Miss Hoshino?” Kanae knocked on Minami’s desk and snapped her out of her daydream, “The answer? Yes, the meaning is mainly about…” She was able to answer perfectly. Everybody including the teacher was impressed, “Good. I thought you were already in some other planet.”

Minami sat back down and looked at her book. Ryu felt weird. Was it just him or there was something different with Minami today? He knew that she wasn’t actually paying attention but the answer proved him wrong. He took another look at her and out of the blue, he saw the necklace glowed. He rubbed his eyes and looked at it again but the glow disappeared. “Mr. Hisagi, is there anything about Miss Hoshino that you want to share with us? I noticed that you had been staring at her for quite a while now,” the teacher said. Minami’s eyes widened while the other students laughed. Ryu panicked and answered, “It’s not like that!” He looked at Minami again and she was staring at him with her eyes wide opened. “I’m sorry.” Minami looked down on the floor and said, “Its okay.” The teacher shook his head and continued his lessons.

During lunch, Ryu asked some of his friends, “Did you notice any kind of difference in Minami?” They just laughed about it and one of them by the name Minoru said, “As if. All I can see is the same old Minami. What’s the matter with you today? Suddenly you got all concerned towards her.” Ryu replied, “I’m serious, guys. Didn’t you see her eyes? They were filled with coldness and hatred.” Once again, Minoru said, “Man, you got problems. First, you stared at a girl because she could answer a literature question. Now, you can read her eyes as well? Are you in love with her or something?” Ryu looked away before he answered, “Never mind.”

Back at the school yard, Minami was having lunch with her friends. Kanae started their conversation, “So, what do you think? You seem surprised.” Minami looked rather confused, so she asked back, “About what?” Kanae rolled her eyes and smiled, “About Ryu, of course. When the teacher asked him why he kept staring at you, you were surprised. What’s wrong? Are you embarrassed or what?” Minami looked at her lunch and smiled, “Of course I was. Anyone will.”

One of their friends said, “True but why did he stare at you?” Kanae pricked her finger and answered, “First, maybe he have a crush on Minami. Second, she had something on her face. Third, he was impressed with her answer on that question. And last but definitely not least…” Before she could finish her sentence, Minami interrupted, “Okay, stop it Kanae. That’s absolutely ridiculous.” Kanae frowned and replied, “Well, at least let me finish. As I was saying, last but not least, he also thought that Minami’s necklace suited her very well.” Hearing what Kanae had to say, Minami just smiled and said, “I prefer the last one. Anyhow, I think we should finish our lunch A.S.A.P. because the next class is Math and we don’t want to be late for Math class, do we?” All of them looked at their watch at the same time and quickly chewed on their lunches.

During Math class, once again Ryu stared at Minami but this time, he was even more alert than before. By the time the teacher looked at his direction, he quickly picked up his calculator and pretended to solve the problem. He flipped through his notebook when suddenly; he spotted a piece of paper. Wait for me after school. There’s something that we need to talk about. He folded the paper back and wondered who would leave a note without writing her name. It was normal that girls left note for him since he was very popular and good-looking; but this time it was different. He looked around the class. By the time his eyes spotted Minami, she gazed back at him with the eyes that only he noticed; the eyes of coldness. His guts were telling him that she was the one who left the note.

“Minami, I’m off now. See you tomorrow,” Kanae said as she waved to Minami by the door of the classroom. Everybody picked up their bags and left, except for Minami and Ryu. When everyone’s gone, Minami stood up and faced him, “Hisagi, I need to ask you something. Hisagi Tsubaki is your uncle, right?” Ryu nodded, “Yes, he is. Why?” “Is he living with you?” Ryu felt weird when Minami suddenly asked him about his uncle. He answered, “No, he lives in an apartment near the Central Park. Why are you asking me about him all of a sudden?” Minami picked up her bag and answered, “Nothing serious. Thank you anyway. Bye.” She left him just like that.

Ryu felt as if someone just rejected him. He sighed and said, “What was that all about? Something’s weird is going on here. I better ask her now.” He grabbed his bag, switched off the lamp and walked out of the class. He looked around the corridor but Minami wasn’t there. He thought that she might have gone downstairs already. So, he picked up his pace and ran downstairs. He searched around the school’s ground but Minami was nowhere to be found. He tried to catch his breath and said, “Wow! She’s fast. It was as if she just disappeared the second she got out of class. Maybe I’ll just ask her tomorrow.” He took a deep breath and went home.

While waiting for the train to stop, he looked outside and wondered, “Did anything happen between those two?” Then, he saw Central Park that the train just passed by. He thought, “Maybe I should just ask him myself.” The train stopped and he quickly got off the train even though his stop would be another two stations away.

It was still early, so he thought that he might find his uncle at the company. It was located three blocks away from the train station. Ryu never get to know his uncle that well, so he asked around for direction to the company. Once he reached there, the place was still full with people. “As expected from a high-class company,” he told himself.

He went inside and asked a lady who was sitting at the front desk, “Excuse me, I want to see Mr. Hisagi, can I?” The lady who wore a pink blouse with a pair of black skirt hat barely covered her knees, looked up to see Ryu’s face and asked, “I’m sorry but do you have any appointment?” Ryu scratched the back of his head and smiled, “I’m sorry but I didn’t make any. Do I need to have one? Well, I am his nephew after all.” The lady was a little bit shocked. “You are?” she said, “Then why didn’t you say so? Could you wait for a second while I try to ask his secretary whether he’s available?” She picked up the phone and started dialing a number. Meanwhile, Ryu have a look around the area.

There were some pictures hanging on the wall. He looked at them and saw some pictures of his uncle with his friends. One of the pictures was taken outside, right in front of the company but his uncle wasn’t alone; he was with someone else. Apparently, there were a lot of pictures of that man together with Tsubaki. Suddenly, he heard the receptionist called for him. He went back there. She said, “I’m sorry but I totally forgot that he already went home. He left about an hour ago.” Ryu sighed and replied, “That’s okay. By the way, if I may ask who is the man with my uncle in those pictures?” The lady took a look at the pictures Ryu pointed at and answered with a soft voice, “That’s Mr. Hoshino.”

Hoshino? Am I hearing right? He thought for a while before replied, “Did you say Hoshino? Why is he taking pictures with my uncle? Is he some kind of Board Director or something?” Once again, she answered with a soft tone but this time, her eyes looked a lot gentler, “Well, Mr. Hoshino Shibata was the one who started this company. Your uncle was his partner, but Mr. Hoshino held a bigger share in the company. He died a few weeks ago in a car accident. So, Mr. Hisagi replaced him now. He was a very honest, kind-hearted man, even towards his employees.”

The image of Minami flashed through his mind. Is this Hoshino Shibata really her father? He wondered for awhile before the lady snapped him out of his thoughts, “Are you okay? Is there anything bothering you?” Ryu faked a smile and said, “Don’t worry, I’m okay. I think I’ll just drop by his apartment later. Thank you for all your help, err…Miss Hamae.” He turned around and took another glance of the pictures before he left. The lady stared at his shadow until he was no longer to be seen, “What’s wrong with him? And how did he know my name?” She forgot that she did have her name tag, “The name tag, right. No wonder.”

Ryu used the Central Park’s route as a short cut. He could already see the apartment from there. He still could not get his mind out of the idea that his uncle and Minami’s father were actually business partners and he knew nothing about it. Plus, he wondered what does it have anything to do with Minami? As he was getting nearer to the apartment, he was surprised to see someone that he recognized.

As fast as he could, Ryu took a step back and hid behind a tree. He saw Minami was standing right in front of the apartment, staring blankly at it. He tried to look a little closer and saw Minami’s expression. Minami showed no emotion at all as if she was hypnotized. Suddenly, her head turned to face Ryu. He panicked and quickly froze behind the tree. For a second there, he thought that she noticed him and thought that he followed her. He had that kind of idea since he had been staring at her all day in class. He peeked at her again and she still hadn’t move. She must have known that I’m here, he thought. Then, he heard a meow of a cat. He looked at her again and a cat was walking

towards her from his direction. “Thank God, she was staring at the cat all this long,” he released a sigh of relief.

Minami knelt and patted the cat, yet she still had the stone face. After that, she got up and took a final glance at the apartment before she left. Ryu kept watching her until she was out of his sight and said, “What was that all about? What is she doing here?” He looked at the apartment, wondering if there was anything that caught Minami’s attention but nothing was there. Then, he just forgot about Minami and went inside the apartment.

He rang the bell of Tsubaki’s apartment and there was a man’s voice from the speaker, “Yes, can I help you?” “Of course, uncle. It’s just me, Ryu. Can I come in?” Tsubaki was delighted to hear his nephew’s voice, “Sure. Please come in.” Ryu entered and walked towards the elevator as the main door unlocked. When he reached his destination, his uncle was already waiting for him by the door.

“I didn’t expect you here. How are you doing, Ryu?” Ryu walked towards his uncle and gave him a hug, “I’m fine, uncle. Nice to see you too.” Both of them went inside the apartment and sat at the sofa. Tsubaki brought some tea and snacks. He asked, “So, what brings you here? I know you’re here not just to visit me, right?”

Ryu picked up his cup of tea and took a sip from it. After he placed it back on the saucer, he answered, “You know me quite well, dear uncle.” Tsubaki smiled and drank his tea. He offered some muffins to Ryu who was hesitated in accepting them. He asked, “Why you never told me about your business partner?”

Tsubaki startled a little before putting down his cup. He smirked and said, “You never change, Ryu; still asking me straight to the point. Anyway, I don’t think I have a need to tell you about him, especially since he’s dead now.”

Ryu was taken aback after listening to Tsubaki’s answer. I cannot believe he just said that, he thought. He tried to think of something to say. After a few moments of silence, he asked, “So, does he have any children? I mean, how are they doing now that their father died?” Tsubaki took another sip of his tea before he answered, “I don’t know. He did have a daughter; I met her during the funeral. But it seems that she didn’t want me to be there. We had a little conversation and she asked me about her father. After I answered her, she wasn’t satisfied.”

Once again, Ryu was flabbergasted by his reply. This time, the image of Minami at school and in front of the apartment flashed through his mind. Suddenly, he got a bad feeling about what might happen. He quickly picked up his bag and stood up, “I think I’ll take my leave now.” His uncle was a little surprised, “Leaving already? But you just arrived here.” Ryu bowed his head, “I’m sorry but I still have something else to do. Thank you for your time.” He picked up his pace towards the door. Tsubaki also got up and turned to face Ryu, “Ryu, if you ever meet a girl by the name Hoshino Minami, tell her I say hi.” Ryu nodded to his uncle and left.

On his way home, he kept thinking about Minami and his uncle. There must be something going on between those two, he thought. He tried to think of a way to look up through this problem. Suddenly, an idea came across his mind, “That’s it. She must have the answer.”

Once he got home, he put away his bag and reached for the phone. He searched through the names from his cell phone and dialed one of the contact numbers on the phone. After a few times beeping, someone answered on the other line, “Hello, Takane resident. Kanae’s speaking.”

Ryu breathed in and out and replied, “Kanae, it’s Ryu. There’s something I need to ask you.” Kanae said with a cheery voice, “Ryu? I never expect you to call me. Let me guess. You want to ask me about Minami, right?” Ryu was a little surprised with her guess, “How did you know that?” “Everybody in the class knows that you have a crush on her. So, what did you want to ask me?” Ryu shook his head and said, “It is not like that. I noticed that she had been spacing out in the class lately. Does she have a problem or something?”

Kanae thought for awhile, “Did she? The one I think that was spacing out was you. She’s okay. You did notice her answering that Shakespeare’s question easily, right? Or were you too busy staring at her?” she giggled. Ryu sighed and said, “Whatever, but still, you think she’s okay? I saw her wearing some kind of necklace today, too.” He could hear her pricked her finger before she answered, “You saw it? Well, she just bought it yesterday. But it was quite weird for her to buy something with that colour. I mean, normally she would go for something with blue or purple, but the red necklace did suit her. What do you think?”

“I think something’s odd going on. Forget about that. There’s one more thing that I need to ask you. You’re her best friend, right? You must’ve attended her parents’ funeral, right?” The atmosphere abruptly changed. Kanae knew that the conversation would become serious from that point, “Yes, of course I did. Is something wrong?” “Were you there when the business partner of Minami’s father dropped by?” Kanae closed her eyes and tried to remember everything that happened during the funeral. “You mean the man with the moustache?”

“Yes, that man! You saw him?” Ryu was preparing himself to know what’s going on. Kanae answered, “Of course I did. There’s only one word needed to describe him. Rude! Do you want to know what exactly happened? Well, let me tell you.”

“He was having some conversation with her which until now, she didn’t tell me the details. Anyway, when I arrived there, I overheard that man said that he got a meeting in fifteen minutes before he left Minami behind. Can you believe that? How can he go for a meeting while his partner just passed away?” Kanae tried to catch her breath. Ryu asked, “Then, what happened?” Kanae took another deep breath and answered, “Well, Minami was spacing out at first. After I pricked my finger, she was back. I could not believe the ‘snap out of it’ technique really worked! Anyway, I asked her if she was alright, but suddenly, she was on fire. She gritted her teeth; tightened her fists; and she kept saying something like ‘He lied!’ and ‘I knew what I heard!’ I have no idea what’s she talking about. Even after calming her down, she didn’t know how to tell me what had happened.”

Ryu tried to put all the pieces together. He asked, “Did you try to ask her again of what had happened?” “I did, eventually. I thought it was a bad idea to bring that up but still…” “So, what did she say?” Kanae almost jumped when Ryu asked her, “Would you at least let me finish my sentence? Anyway, I asked her but she said that everything’s fine now. She was just a little bit emotional on that day, that’s all. But there was still something about her that has been bothering me all this while.” Ryu asked curiously, “What?” Kanae’s voice became softer and there was a sad tone from

her voice, “I never saw any single of her tear since she heard the bad news. Not even once. Normally, I would let her cry on my shoulder and she would; even for a small problem like she got a wrong answer in her test. But this time, when I told her it’s okay for her to cry, she just smiled. That really bothers me.”

Hearing that from Kanae made Ryu even more suspicious of what’s going on. Ryu exhaled heavily and said, “Really? That’s odd. Anyway, thank you for letting me know all of this.” “Don’t tell anyone about this, got it? I have to go know. I need to prepare the dinner. See you tomorrow.” Ryu said his goodbyes and hung up the phone. Minami, I know something fishy is going on; and I’ll find out about it pretty soon, he thought.

The next day, Kanae walked into the class in high spirits, as always. She was followed by Minami. As usual, she was her quiet self but still keeping the smile on her face. During that moment, Ryu was already waiting for her at his seat. As she placed her bag at the side of the desk, Ryu got up and said, “Good morning, Hoshino. Do you have a moment?” Minami looked at him and nodded. Both of them went outside and stood by the window at the hallway.

“What’s going on?” Minami asked politely. Ryu, who was looking out the window quickly turned to face her and said, “I should be the one who would ask you that.” Minami was confused, thus she asked, “What do you mean? Is something wrong?” Ryu did not exactly know how to put everything that had been bothering him for awhile into words, “Why did you come to my uncle’s apartment yesterday?” He was afraid that he might have gone straight forward with the question, but he noticed Minami’s eyes widened. She looked away and answered, “What are you…talking about? What do you mean by that?” He could see that her hands were shaking. Finally, he caught her.

As he was about to ask her again, they both heard the bell. Minami swiftly turned around and said, “I think we should be in class now. The teacher will be here in a matter of seconds.” Without turning around, she headed back to class. “Wait, Hoshino!” Ryu let out a sigh and dragged his feet to class.

Minami felt uncomfortable throughout the day in class except during P.E. where the girls were allowed to use the gym while all the guys had their track practice. In the class, she could feel that Ryu was watching her every movements despite the fact that no one else including the teachers noticed him doing so.

After the Literature class has ended, half of the class scurried to the door for their lunch break; and so did Minami. She felt relieved once her feet stepped out of the class. Without warning, someone held unto her left arm and pulled her out from the crowd. It was Ryu. She tried to free herself, “Hey! Let me go! What are you doing?” Ryu glared at her and said, “You’re not going to escape from me anymore. You’re coming with me.” He forced her to follow him until they reached the roof top. After that, he let go of her arm and watched her as she massaged her arm.

She looked at him straight in the eyes and asked, “What is wrong with you? What do you want?” Ryu answered her loud and clear, “I want you to tell me what you are doing in front of my uncle’s apartment yesterday?” Once again, she looked away and said, “I have…no idea what you are…talking about…” This time, Ryu grabbed her shoulders and forced her to face him, “Look at me

when I’m talking to you! You don’t need to lie to me, okay? What did he ever do to you? Or does it have anything to do with your father? Or is it about their company? Just tell me!” Minami was so close to tears; she looked down to her feet. Ryu repeated his words, “Hoshino Minami, are you listening? I told you to look at me and I want the answers from you now!”

“Back off…” Minami mumbled. Her voice was faint, so Ryu asked while hunching his back, “What did you say?” Minami’s hands turned into fists as she said it again, “Back off now,” she raised her head, “This has nothing to do with you.” Ryu was shocked; he wasn’t breathing for awhile. The moment their eyes met, he was in total disbelieved of what he was looking at. Minami’s eyes were blood-red and her gaze was full with killing instinct. The colour drained from his face in a split second. His hands lightly dropped from her shoulders. “What...the...” he mumbled as he was trying to make sure that the one who was standing in front of him was really Hoshino Minami…or at least, a human.

She continued to glare at him as she made her way to the exit. Finally, once she turned the door knob, she turned around, went through the door and closed it. Ryu could hear her footsteps as she walked down the stairs until the sound completely faded away.

His hands were trembling and his legs suddenly became weak. He was down on his knees but his eyes were locked on the door. The image of the red eyes glaring at him was still playing on his mind. After realizing that she was no longer there, he sat down and placed his hands on his head. He tried to calm himself down, “Relax, Ryu. It was only your imagination. Or was it…? That is totally impossible! It can’t be happening!” No matter how hard he tried to convince himself that everything was only some kind of illusion, he still knew that it was absolutely reality. He took a few deep breaths and said, “The feeling I had just now was exactly the same that I had when I saw the necklace she was wearing glowed during class yesterday; and also when she stood in front of uncle’s apartment. This is bad. What’s going on? What should I do now?”

This has nothing to do with you. Those words came out from Minami’s mouth just now, he thought. “Wait,” he said, “if it has nothing to do with me, then she wasn’t really mad at me. But still, since it had nothing to do with me, it must’ve something to do with someone else; but who? Who would she be mad at?” Then, he remembered his meeting with his uncle, the pictures at the company and his conversation with Kanae.

“That’s it. Uncle must’ve hurt her feelings at her parents’ funeral but he didn’t realize it. No wonder she was surprised when I told her my family’s name. Wait a second…Was that really Minami or ‘something’ else?” he said. He tried to remember Minami’s red-eyed-look once again. By then, it made him realized something serious, “This means that that ‘thing’ is hunting for my uncle! I have to find Minami now and stop her!”

He forced his legs to stand up and went back to class. He wasn’t sure what kind of dangerous situation he was about to get himself into; but whatever happened, Tsubaki was still his uncle. He raced himself to the class. He slid the door opened so hard, the whole class could feel the force he put in it. He popped his head in and looked around the pupils in class but there was no sign of Minami. He pushed himself against the door and almost knocked down Kanae who was standing behind him, “Be careful, you idiot! What’s with the rush?” He stared at her and started to peek around in case Minami was still hanging around with her mates.

Kanae noticed his weird behavior and said, “If you’re looking for Minami, she’s not with us.” “What? Then, where is she?” Kanae and the others changed glances at each other before she turned attention back to Ryu, “I thought she was with you. Someone told me that you took her away. What did you do to her?” Ryu looked away and answered, “Well,” he turned and fixed his eyes back to Kanae, “remember about everything we talked about on the phone yesterday?” Kanae nodded.

“I tried to talk to her about it. Then, she told me to back off before she left. I’m not sure but I know something is bothering her right now.” Kanae’s expression abruptly changed to show her seriousness. She said, “I don’t know…She seems pretty happy lately. She even laughs a lot whenever we were together. I thought she was already gotten over with her parents’ death.”

“What’s going on here?” Somebody whispered to Ryu’s ear from behind. “Well,” he replied as he turned around, “we were just wondering where is…Hoshino?” To his greatest surprise, Minami was standing behind him with a huge grin. Kanae placed her right hand on her waist and said, “Look what we have here. The last time I saw that stupid grin was two years ago. Minami, it seems like Mr. I-Love-Looking-At-Minami-During-Class is worried about you after you disappeared about ten minutes. You better tell him where you have been.” Minami searched through her pocket and took out a lollipop, “Well, I was racing to the cafeteria to buy my favourite sandwich before it sold out. Then, I bought some snacks; and this one is for you as a thank for keeping an eye on me during class.”

I don’t understand this, he thought. Minami was still holding out the lollipop, waiting for Ryu to take it. She tilted his head, “Are you going to accept it or not?” Ryu stared at her – navy blue, not red – eyes and slowly held out his hand to accept the lollipop. Then, Minami, Kanae and the rest of their friends giggled and went into the class; leaving Ryu behind.

Was it really just my imagination? But if it wasn’t, then, why did she…how can I imagine something like that? His thoughts were turning him crazy. He shook his head and smiled, “Ryu, something’s definitely wrong with you.” He looked at the lollipop before putting it away inside his pocket. He entered the class and went back to his seat.

There was nothing more boring than the old, prehistoric History Class. Although Ryu was pretty excellent in the subject, it still bored him to death. He was trying as hard as he could to show his interest in the class and tried to stay awake as long as possible. Suddenly, he heard the creek of a chair being moved. That was enough to wake him up. “Can you please excuse me, sir?” a girl’s voice asked the teacher. He heard the teacher answered, “Yes, of course.” Ryu looked to his right and realized it was Minami. He gazed at her as she walked out of the classroom. When she was out of his sight, he laid his eyes on Kanae who was already staring at him. She rolled her eyes while tearing a small piece of paper. Ryu paid his attention back to the teacher.

Suddenly, he felt something hit his head. He looked around and saw Kanae’s finger was pointing to the floor while she locked her eyes on the blackboard. Ryu quickly took a short glance below his desk and noticed a small piece of crunched paper right next to his right foot. He sneakily picked it up and unfolded it below his desk so that the teacher wouldn’t notice it. There’s nothing to be worried of. Minami’s fine. The note said it all. He sighed and turned to face Kanae. She gave him thumbs-up and a cheeky smile. He knew that she must have misunderstood him, again.

Before the teacher exited the class, he called for Kanae and left her a message. When Kanae returned to her seat, she sighed and shook her head. Ryu rested himself against Minami’s desk, facing Kanae and said, “It seems that your friend still hasn’t return.” She looked at the empty seat next to her and said, “The teacher told me to make sure that she meets him later. Ayumi went to the toilet just now; no one was there.” Ryu was taken aback hearing what she had said. That was enough for him to realize that the incident on the roof was no imagination.

I really need to warn uncle about Minami before it’s too late , he thought. Once he heard Kanae, he quickly ran out of class to the back of the school. He jumped over the gate and ran – as fast as his legs would carry him – towards the train station. The second he reached there, he went straight to the ticket counter. “Is there any train heading to the Central Park now?” he gasped heavily. Drops of sweats were trickling down his cheeks. The officer scanned through some schedules and answered, “The next train will arrive in twenty minutes.” His jaw dropped. He didn’t have any twenty minutes, or so he thought.

He turned and started brainstorming of what should he do next. “Okay. The company is about half an hour from here. If I take the short-cuts, it would be less. Yes, maybe that’s where I should start.” He went back to the street and started his race again. Yet, his mind was still wondering where Minami might be right now.

About fifteen minutes later, he was struggling to breathe while standing in front of the same building he visited yesterday. He climbed the stairs and went straight to the front desk. Miss Hamae, the same lady he talked with yesterday, was arranging some documents before he noticed Ryu’s presence. She greeted gleefully, “Hi there! You’re Mr. Hisagi’s nephew, right? How can I help you today?” He took a deep breath, tried to cool himself down and asked, “Is my uncle around? I desperately need to see him! There’s something very important that I have to tell him.” Miss Hamae blinked twice, “You too? I’m sorry but he left about an hour ago.”

You too?, he thought. What did she mean by that? He looked at her curiously and asked, “Is there something wrong?” She ran through her hand across some strands of hair that was covering her eyes. She sighed, “Well, about ten minutes before you arrived, there was this girl – I believe she was from your school considering the same pattern of your uniform – came to me and asked the exact same question. But there was something odd about her…” Ryu leaned forward, his nose barely touched hers. He said, “What did you say???”

His actions did cause her to retreat a little. He knew that he might have scared her, so he got back to his position and asked, “I mean, what’s so odd about her?” She exhaled loudly, took another breath and continued, “Well, I knew I’ve seen her somewhere. She seems familiar. Her face is exactly like our late president, Mr. Hoshino’s daughter. But I thought her face was soft, gentle and heart-warming. Despite the frown, the girl just now seems to carry some kind of eerie feeling with her. I didn’t have the guts to look at her in the eyes.” Listening to the details, Ryu was completely sure that the girl that Miss Hamae referred to was Minami which only meant that she was already catching up with his uncle.

“Do you know where my uncle was heading to?” Ryu asked with high hopes that Miss Hamae would give the information he wanted. She closed her eyes and placed her finger on her forehead. She answered, “As far as I can remember, he did mention of going to the café near the

station to meet up with his client. That’s all.” Ryu grabbed her hands and covered them with his and said, “Thank you for your help. God bless you.’ He let her go and ran toward the exit. She just watched him as he went by. She shook her head and said, “Teenagers sure know how to turn on their charms.”

While trying to increase his speed, Ryu was thinking the worst case scenario that could happen; Minami might confront his uncle and make him beg for forgiveness; or she might asked the police to be involve in whatever matters happened between them. Suddenly, the event on the roof had changed all his thoughts. If Minami wasn’t really a human, she might kill his uncle. He shook his head to take that crazy idea out of his mind. “Whatever it is, I must hurry.”

Tsubaki took a sip of his latte while waiting for a response from his business associate in front of him. He said, “So, what do you think of the proposal?” The man who was sitting on the opposite chair read through the file. Once he finished, he nodded and smiled, “It is perfect. Your company possesses all the criteria as we had requested.” He stood up and held out his right hand. Tsubaki quickly stood up and shook with the man, “Don’t worry, Mr. Kenshin. I will not let you down.”

After signing some documents, the man left for a meeting, leaving Tsubaki alone to finish his latte. As he took his final sip, he had a weird feeling as if someone was watching him. He looked around and saw no one. He put down his glass and paid the bill. He got up, gathered all his belongings and left the café. He walked towards his car which he parked about two blocks away from the café since the parking lot was full. As he walked, he could feel that someone was stalking him. He picked up his pace and quickly hid himself once he reached at one of the corners of the buildings. He saw the shadow of the one who followed him by the corner of his eyes.

As the shadow got nearer, he jumped out to surprise the stalker. “Oh my God, Uncle Tsubaki, it’s me, Ryu. What are you doing?” Tsubaki let out a relief sigh after finding out that it was only his nephew. He said, “I should be the one who is asking you that question. Shouldn’t you be at school right now?” Ryu was still gasping for air after the long run. Finally, he answered, “Well, I’m here to warn you about something. There was this girl who is looking for you right now. You know Hoshino Minami, right?” His uncle slightly nodded, “Of course I know who she is. Is there something wrong?”

“She’s a bad news, uncle. She might come to you any moment now and I’m sure it’s not a good thing.” Tsubaki raised his right brow and said, “Really? Ryu…Ryu…are you sure you’re fine? You shouldn’t be talking about her like that. She’s a good girl…” Suddenly, Ryu grabbed the collar of his uncle’s coat and said, “I’m not joking, uncle. And I want you to tell me what did you do to her that causes her to have such a rage to you???” Tsubaki looked fiercely at Ryu and freed himself from his grips. He fixed his coat and said, “My problem with her is none of your concern. Now, go home or I’ll report you to your principal.”

Ryu didn’t budge even a little. After Tsubaki stared at him intensely, insisting him to leave as if he had no other option, Ryu turned around and said, “Don’t blame if anything happens to you. I already gave you a warning.” Without turning back, he walked off while Tsubaki left towards the opposite direction.

He returned to the office just to find a lot of post-it papers on his table. He called upon his secretary and told her to examine them. After resting himself on his comfy, leather chair, he heard a knock on the door. He sighed, “Yes, come in.” The door knob turned and Miss Hamae entered with a humble face, “Sorry for the interruption, Mr. Hisagi but there were some people dropped by while you were gone.” He looked at her and placed his arms on the table, “Who are they?”

“Well, one of them was your nephew.” Tsubaki closed his eyes and replied, “If it was him, no need to tell me. I already know that. We bumped into each other just now. Who else was it?” Miss Hamae clasped her hands together and answered, “Long before he arrived, there was a girl who was also looking for you. I thought she was Minami, Mr. Hoshino’s daughter, but…” Tsubaki sat up straight and asked, “But?” She took a deep breath and continued, “But the girl looked rather different than Minami. Normally, she would greet with a smile and gave me a kind of wonderful feeling. Just now, the girl came barely looking at me with this eerie force around her.”

Suddenly, Ryu’s words echoed in his mind. She’s a bad news, uncle. She might come to you any moment now and I’m sure it’s not a good thing. He tried to recall his meeting with Ryu again. I’m not joking, uncle. And I want you to tell me what did you do to her that causes her to have such a rage to you??? “Mr. Hisagi, are you okay? Do you want me to get you some water? I think you need it,” Miss Hamae’s voice had brought him back to reality. “I’m fine. I’m sure that girl is Minami and maybe she acted that way because she had some problems. I’ll be sure to check up on her later. Would you please excuse me? I got some work to do.” Miss Hamae bowed her head a little and said, “Once again, sorry for the interruption. Excuse me.”

The time flew by fast as he made himself busy with his works. The sun was setting and only a few of the staff was still working when he was about to leave. He already forgot everything that happened earlier that day and his thoughts were only for his home. As he parked his car at the parking lot, he felt a sudden of hunger. So, he went to a restaurant nearby and had some dinner. By the time he finished eating, it was already dark outside. It was quiet and for the first time of his life, he was afraid to be alone.

As he reached to a corner, he felt as if someone grabbed him by the side of his coat. Someone pulled him briskly into a dark alley, pushing him against the wall of a building. The ambush shocked him to death especially it happened during that time of the evening. He tried as hard as he could to look at the face of the figure in front of him since it was already dark. Fortunately, a car drove by and the headlights flashed through the whole alley. “Minami, it was you. God, I thought you were some kind of kidnapper or something. You don’t need to pull me like that, you know? Come on; let’s have some tea at my place.”

He stood straight and smoothed his crumpled coat. Well, that was what he managed to do right before Minami pushed him back to the wall; this time, she sent him slipped down to the ground. He shut his eyes, tried to handle the pain. Then, he looked up at her and asked in shock, “What the…what are you doing, dear Minami?” Minami flashed a sinister smile and replied, “You don’t need to hide it anymore, Hisagi Tsubaki. I already know everything. Or should I say, I already saw everything??!!”

She’s a bad news, uncle. She might come to you any moment now and I’m sure it’s not a good thing. Those words once again haunted him. He tried to reach for something to help him

getting up. He asked, “What do you mean? What exactly am I hiding from you?” That was the last straw for Minami. She finally reached her breaking point. She lifted her right hand and punched him on the cheek. He was able to take a glance of her eyes suddenly turned red before he found himself being thrown away to the dead end of the alley. His head crashed to the wall. He didn’t even manage to feel the sting on his cheek, yet he already felt the blood flowed down his head.

He tried to cover his head to stop the bleeding when he spotted Minami was walking in his direction. Feeling nervous and scared at the same time, he asked, “Who…I mean, what the hell are you???” It wasn’t just the red eyes that were bothering him, but her strength was something bizarre and absolutely abnormal. For a second there, he thought that she had some kind of hidden talent.

As she walked towards him, her nails slowly sharpened into claws; her fangs started to unveiled themselves; she was turning into a devil. “What are you talking about, Tsubaki? It’s just me – the normal Minami - the daughter of the man and his wife that you killed weeks ago.”

Tsubaki widened his eyes, “How did you…I mean, what’re you talking about, sweetheart? Your parents died because of the accident. I didn’t kill them.” Minami cackled hard, “Accident, you said? Very funny.” She swung her claws across his face. Bloods splattered across the wall nearby. Tsubaki screamed in pain while covering his hands over his face. Letting the blood flowed down her claws, Minami continued, “Stop your stupid act, Tsubaki. I know everything; the dinner, your conversation with the bald man; the car-sabotaging; the nails on the road; even the perfumed gasoline. I even ‘saw’ everything!” She grabbed his shoulder and turned him to face her, “You killed them, Tsubaki!” Minami gave another strike on his chest, “You killed them!”

Everything that happened on that day really bothered him; he could not concentrate while doing the revision; he didn’t feel like eating; he even can’t get himself to fall asleep. While listening to Schumann’s Romance Op.94 No.2 - Einfach, innig, suddenly the phone rang. He quickly got up and answered, “Hello?” “Ryu, is that you? It’s Kanae.” The panicked voice of Kanae alarmed him. He replied, “Is something wrong? You seem panic.” He could even hear the sound of Kanae’s hard-breathing. She answered, “It’s about Minami! I tried to call her millions of time but she didn’t answer. So, I stopped by her house after having dinner with my cousin, but she wasn’t home either. I’m afraid if something happened to her.”

“What??? Damn it. Don’t worry, I’ll look for her now,” Ryu said tensely. Those words calmed Kanae down a little, “Please, Ryu. I don’t know what else I should do. Let me know if you find her.” Both of them hung up the phone. Ryu slammed his hands on the table and quickly got up to his feet. Without wasting even a tick, he rushed towards the front door and went outside to look for Minami.

He took out his cell phone and dialed his uncle’s number, but no one answered it. He tried again; still no answer. While running towards the apartment, he said, “I have to look for Uncle Tsubaki first. Minami might be with him right now…I really hope nothing happen.” After half an hour of non-stop running, Ryu was out of breath. He was two blocks away from Tsubaki’s apartment. All of a sudden, he heard a faint scream, “What was that?” Then, he heard it again. “Please, don’t hurt my uncle. Please,” he quickly continued on running towards the sound that he heard.

He sneaked a quick look at every single corner of the alleys that he passed by in case Minami or his uncle was there. While taking a glance at one of the darkest alley around the block, he thought

he saw something. He stopped and took a step backwards to have a better look. The moon did lent a helping hand for him tonight as it gave a dimmed light throughout the area. By then, he saw something that his eyes could not believe. It was the most terrifying scene that he had ever faced.

There was blood splattered everywhere; on the walls; all over the garbage can; even throughout the alley. He continued on walking until he saw a figure stood before him. There she was, standing numbly in the dark alley. As Ryu studied her, he became even more thunderstruck. As clear as his eyes let him see, she was still wearing her school uniform. The only difference was that it had been covered by red stains which he knew they were blood. The question was that who was the blood belonged to? He dared himself to take a step closer since Minami wasn’t really aware of his presence. Abruptly, he stopped moving as if someone ordered him to do so. He spotted something – or more like someone – that he’d seen before.

By the look of the clothes, he knew that the body laid down in front of Minami was his uncle. He could barely recognize the face with all the scratches and scars. Tsubaki’s coat and the shirt underneath were all torn out. Even the colour of the shirt which used to be sky blue was now bloody red.

Then, his eyes locked on Minami’s hands. They widened when he saw the sharp claws on the end of each fingers which – he believed – was supposed to be her nails. Drops of blood were still dripping down from the tip of the claws. Then, he took his gaze back to his uncle and said, “Oh my God…Uncle…” Paid no attention to Minami, he took a few steps forward and sat next to his uncle. He took Tsubaki’s hand but it was already stiff. Even without searching for the pulse or even tried to listen to the heartbeat, he already knew that Tsubaki was dead.

His body was shaking. If only his uncle listened to him, he would still be breathing that moment. He growled, “You…” he looked up to face Minami, “…what have you done???” He froze.

Those eyes – the big, blood-red eyes – were staring straight at him. But that didn’t bother him anymore since he was already expecting them. He was traumatized with the fangs growing out from her gum. He also noticed the mysterious necklace which was glowing brightly at that moment. He knew somehow the necklace was the real culprit behind all of this. He looked again at Minami and noticed that she wasn’t actually staring at him. As the matter of fact, she looked as if her mind was somewhere else but there.

He opened his mouth slowly and called for her, “Hoshino…Minami…” She didn’t budge even a little. He tried again, “Hey, Minami…” Suddenly, her eyes blinked. She looked straight at Ryu and said, “Ryu…” Everything changed back to normal; her nails and teeth; even her eyes turned back to navy blue. She said, “What are you doing here?” By then, she noticed the corpse that Ryu had in his arms. She took a step back and looked around, only to find the whole alley was covered with blood. She was shaken, “What’s going on here??? What am I doing here any…” She didn’t even manage to finish her sentence before she realized her hands – and the rest of her body in fact – were also coated with blood. She looked at her hands in total disbelief. “You did it, Minami. You finally killed him,” she heard Akuma’s whisper. After she took a glance at Ryu, she turned around and fled.

“Wait, Minami!!!” Ryu put down Tsubaki’s dead body as tenderly as he could. He took off the coat Tsubaki was wearing and covered his face and the upper part of his body with it. Then, he got up and ran after Minami.

“What’s wrong, girl? Why are you running away?” the pendant was still glowing. Minami held onto it and said, “Ryu was there. He is one of my classmates and even worse, Tsubaki’s nephew. I have to get out of this damn place now.” She heard Akuma laughed uncontrollably. It annoyed her but still she knew that what she did was obviously so wrong. However, it was the only thing that she could do for her parents and she had to thank Akuma for everything.

It only took a split second for the fastest runner at school to catch up to Minami. After running for about ten minutes, Minami realized that Ryu was already a few meters away from her. He called for her tons of times but she refused to look back. She kept on running; her face and clothes were soaking with sweat; and she was panting hard. However, she could still hear Akuma’s laugh and insults.

Suddenly, she could feel a touch of hand between the strands of her hair. “Minami, stop now! I just want to ask you something!” Yet, she still ignored his call and continued running. The more she picked up her pace, the faster Ryu tried to catch up until she saw an arm reaching out on her side. Ryu quickly grabbed her and held her tight with both of his arms held on close around her body. She screamed, “LET ME GO!!!” Ryu, who still tried to catch his breath, snatched away the glowing necklace and released her.

“Give it back!!! That’s mine!!!” Minami struggled to take it back but Ryu held onto it tight while examined it. It was still glowing red and managed to give him goose-bumps just by staring at it for a few seconds. He totally ignored Minami’s presence. “Give it back to me or I’ll kill you!!!” Minami’s voice was getting rougher than before. Ryu turned to face her and said, “What’re you talking about? You’re crazy, Minami!” He held her shoulders, “Just snapped out of it!” She pushed his hands away and grabbed his collar, “You’re not going to tell me what I should do! Your uncle killed my parents! He planned it all! It wasn’t just an accident! I saw it! I SAW EVERYTHING!!!”

Ryu was speechless. He tried to input everything in his head. He looked away – forcing Minami to let go of his collar – and stared at the necklace that was still in his hand. Then, he felt her grabbing his shoulder. He looked at her by the corner of his eyes and they’re back – the eyes that were staring at him earlier at school. She whispered, “Give…it...back...” the voice wasn’t sound like Minami at all. He tried to push her away but his body wouldn’t budge even a bit. Was he that frightened? He thought for a while.

Slowly, she opened his grip and took away the necklace. She smiled and licked his cheek, “Thank you.” She gave a kiss and turned around to leave. Although he was paralyzed by her actions, he managed to move his feet and embraced her tightly so that she can’t escape. She tried to resist him but failed. He tried to calm her nerves down and said, “Stop this act now, Minami. Revenge is not the way to solve things. Revenge would never bring your parents back.” Minami was hysteric. Looking at her in that situation, a single tear trickled down his cheek. He continued, “I just can’t let myself see you like this without doing anything. I can’t let you suffer alone.”

A few moments later, Minami started to calm down. Without her even realized it, a stream of tears just came out from those red eyes. She mumbled, “Mom…Dad…” She started to sob. Ryu’s wrap had gotten a lot gentler. “He’s lying, Minami,” a voice suddenly echoed in her ears, “He just wanted to beat you in your own game so that you would be arrested for killing his uncle. He’s just another version of Hisagi Tsubaki. Believe me, Minami. I know better than you do.”

Her eyes widened. Claws started to reform on her nails. “You can release me now, Ryu.” He did just as he was told, since he thought that everything would be alright now. As soon right after he raised his arms, she turned around and clawed him right on his chest. Blood was splattered started from the tip of her claws. Ryu fell on the ground while trying to hold in the pain. Minami yelled, “You think that I would fall for your trick? Well, you’re wrong! And for a second there I thought you were sincere.” She was satisfied looking at what she did to Ryu, until she saw something that took her soul away. The single tear from Ryu’s eye left out some dried trace on his cheek. Did he cry? She thought. Revenge is not the way to solve things. She could hear her mother said the same thing as what Ryu told her.

She shut her ears tight and fell on her knees, “What’s going on? What have I done? He was innocent, Akuma,” she looked at her bloody hands and continued, “I’m a devil, Akuma. A DEVIL!!! What should I do now???” Akuma laughed mockingly and said, “Just run away now. You don’t belong in this place anymore. Don’t worry; I’ll be your guide starting from now on.” She quickly got back up to her feet and broke into a run; but she suddenly stopped. She looked back and saw Ryu was bleeding pretty badly. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

She looked at her feet and there was a black cat staring at her. She looked at it, and looked at Ryu, and back to the cat again. Then, she knelt in front of the cat and said, “I’m sorry, Akuma. I need to help him first. It’s the least that I could do for him.” The cat just stared at her as she got back up and walked towards Ryu.

He was unconscious. She carried him easily with her devil-like strength and rushed towards the nearest hospital, followed by the cat that could run faster and more agile than your average cat. As soon as they reached the entrance of the hospital, she sneakily put him down by the gate. She ran through her hand over his head and pushed away some strands of hair that were covering his eyes. She held his head and kissed him gently by the lips. The cat sat beside her, purring innocently.

“I’m sorry, Ryu. Thank you…for everything…” Minami got up and hid at a tree nearby as soon as she spotted someone was coming. “I thought I heard a noise out here…Oh my God! David, come over here quickly! There’s a boy bleeding out here!” Two attendants rushed towards Ryu and tried searching for a pulse. David said, “He’s still alive. We better take him to the ER now!” One of them ran back inside to get the stretcher while the other stayed with Ryu. Minami just watched them as they placed Ryu on the stretcher and brought him inside. A tear streamed down her face. She stood up and ran away.

Two weeks had gone past. The visiting hours were still on. Kanae, Minoru and their friends entered Ryu’s ward quietly. As they closed the door, they started laughing. Kanae said, “I cannot believe we had to do the same thing again. They keep on hushing every time we pass by. Didn’t they know that if we live up this place, the patient will be cured from whatever diseases they have much

faster? For example, look at Ryu. If we hadn’t make this much of noise, his face would still as white as snow just like two weeks ago.” Everyone laughed listening what Kanae had to say.

Minoru wiped his tears from the laugh and said, “At some points maybe you’re right. Anyway, Ryu looked much better now, isn’t he? I hope he’ll wake up soon. He had been in this stupid comma for two weeks now. The police and the SPCA people still cannot find the creature that had hurt him.”

Everyone sat around Ryu’s bed. Kanae put some fruits on the side table and she noticed something different, “Hey, do any of you have any idea what kind of flower is this? And this one as well?” She pointed towards different exotic flowers that had been arranged neatly in a crystal vase on the side table. Minoru scratched his head and said, “I have no idea. I thought yesterday were some other types of flowers. I still remember last time they were greenish yellow and purplish pink. Now, they’re reddish brown and…some type of colour from the maroon family? Who could’ve brought them here?”

One of their friends, Sakura said, “I don’t know. Impossible if it was his mom since she already went back to Korea. But guess what? I asked one of the nurses yesterday and she said that there was a girl dropped by with some weird-looking flowers. I’m sure she’s the one who brought these flowers here.” Kanae stood up and said, “Could she be Minami???” The whole room went silent. Kanae sat back down and continued, “I’m sorry. It’s just that she suddenly disappeared. She’s my best friend, you know. I really wished that she would come back.” The silence continued for a few minutes until someone broke it, “She did come back.”

Everyone in the room turned to face Ryu. “Ryu, my man! Finally, you’re awake! It’s been like thousands of years since the last time I heard you spoke!” Minoru was the first person to shout. Then, the room filled with cheers and hugs. The doctor came in and said, “My, my... you’re finally awake, Mr. Hisagi. Would everyone please leave the room for a moment while I examine his condition.” Everyone sighed and stomped out of the room. A nurse came in and – before closing the door – she peeked outside and said, “This’ll only take a few minutes.” She smiled and shut the door.

The nurse was right. After about fifteen minutes – still quite a long time for Kanae and the others – the doctor came out with the nurse and said, “You can go and see him now. He’s in a pretty good condition; but he still requires a lot of rest.”

They entered the room and continued their celebrations. Each of them had something to say to Ryu since they thought he missed quite a lot of events regarding the whole entire world. After catching up the stories, Kanae asked, “Ryu, you said that Minami did come back. What do you mean exactly?” Ryu sat up straight, leaning his back against the pillow and turned his sight towards the flowers in the vase. He answered warmly, “Minami came by every single day. I could actually hear everything that she told me while I was unconscious. Before you asked, let me tell you one thing. She’ll never be the same old Minami again. Kanae, it’s hard for me to say it but…your best friend is gone now. So, stop worrying about her.”

Kanae dropped to her knees. Everyone was surprised by her reaction. She stumbled down and cried, “What are you saying? What do you mean by she ‘is gone now’? What are you talking about?” Ryu slowly got out of his bed. He lost his balance for a second there but Minoru helped him

up. He walked towards Kanae and said, “I really wished that I could tell you the truth but she told me not to do so. As the matter of fact, I got a message from her. If I’m not mistaken, it sounds like this,” he shut his eyes, thinking hard, and continued, “‘Tell Kanae no need to worry about me. I’m on my own now. I got a new life now. I’ll definitely tell you the whole truth one day, Kanae; but that day is not today; nor the days nearby. I’m sorry for doing this, love. I love you and I’ll always be by your side. I’ll protect you, Kanae. I promise.’ That’s all she said; and trust me, she’s not joking about the part where she wants to protect you; because she would.” Ryu got closer to her and hugged her warmly, “She told me to give you this on behalf of her.”

Kanae cried and hugged him back, “I love you, too, Minami.” As happy as they were in that single room, someone was watching them from the outside. With a cat stood by her side, she smiled and wiped the last stroll of tear from her eyes. She gripped the devil’s necklace; and every time she did so, she knew that she’s no longer belonged with her friends, forever…