Chapter 3

Let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like a never-failing stream. - Amos 5:24

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KRRRRAAAANNNNGGGG!

The bell which signalled the end of lessons for the day went off, and the students were all out of the classroom faster than one could blink. The majority of the students were shouting goodbyes and what-not to the teacher in charge of the last lesson of the day.

Unlike most of her classmates however, Yuri Kirisawa was not rushing out of the classroom, but was packing her books slowly into her satchel, pondering over the words of the woman from the day before – Alice. She was so engrossed in her own thoughts and packing that she didn’t even notice Miki walking up to her desk, casting Yuri a concerned look.

Though I doubt that I’ll be able to hear your comments on my flower arranging skills which is a pity. After all…you won’t be living long enough to see it…

Yuri frowned to herself as she closed the flap of her bag before latching it shut. ‘What does she mean by that?’

Yuri had been having quite a bad feeling all day, and a nagging sensation had been tugging at the back of her mind. Her eyelid had also been twitching all day, and she heard someone say this was a bad omen.

“…Yuri.”

“Yuri…”

“YURI!”

Yuri literally jumped about a foot in the air as Miki’s annoyed shout shook her out of her thoughts. She turned to see Miki standing behind her with her arms folded across her chest, her satchel slung across her chest, one foot tapping impatiently on the ground, an irritated look on her face.

“Miki.”

“What were you thinking about?” asked Miki, as Yuri slung her bag across her chest before the two girls left the classroom together. “I’ve been calling your name for the past ten minutes!”

Yuri blinked. Had she been engrossed in her own thoughts that long?

“Nothing.”

Miki frowned as the two girls walked out of the front gates, ready to make their way back home. Miki sighed, running one hand through her hair before looking at Yuri.

“Yuri, this may not be my place to say, but I still have to say it,” she said seriously. “You’ve been acting out of sorts for awhile now. Everyone’s worried. Even Michio-niisan is. I won’t ask you what it is that you’ve been so worried about, but if you ever need a listening ear, I’ll always be here.”

Yuri smiled slightly and nodded. “Thanks Miki.”

The ringtone of Canon in D blared out loud and clear just then, and both Miki and Yuri stopped on the pathway that they were on as Yuri rummaged about in her satchel, before pulling out a red cellphone with a keychain of a Himalayan cat and a bell hanging from it.

Yuri’s mother had given her a cellphone for her birthday the previous year, as it would be much easier for Hitomi to contact her if Yuri wasn’t home, and no one knew where she was. Besides, it’ll also prevent Hitomi from overreacting.

Yuri frowned slightly as the name on the screen of her cellphone was flashing ‘Uncle Kenji’ written in the Japanese kanji characters. Her brows furrowed together lightly. What was her uncle calling her all the way from Japan for?

Miki watched curiously as she watched Yuri answered the call, speaking in Japanese.

“Hello?”

“Yuri?” Kenji’s voice sounded rather breathless on the other end of the line.

“Uncle Kenji? Is there something wrong?”

“Yuri, I don’t have time to explain,” said Kenji urgently. “Listen to me. Are you with your mother now?”

“Huh?” Yuri blinked in confusion. “No. Why?”

“Yuri, listen. I don’t care even if you are in school now,” said Kenji in a voice that brooks no arguments. “Go home immediately. Now. Your mother is in danger.”

“Huh?” Yuri muttered, getting more confused by the minute. “Uncle Kenji, what—”

“Yuri, do as I say!” said Kenji harshly, cutting Yuri off. “Please! I don’t have time to explain! Your mother is in danger! Get her out of the house and call the police!”

Yuri frowned, but nodded, despite knowing that her uncle can’t see it. She can’t explain why, but she thought that she’d better do as her uncle says. Her uncle is rarely wrong about such things, and her mother had even told her once a long time ago that even though she disapproves of her brother’s ‘job’, Yuri can trust her uncle.

“Alright. I’ll call you later.”

“I sure hope that you can.” Kenji said mysteriously. Click.

“What’s wrong, Yuri?” asked Miki in concern as Yuri hung up the call, frowning slightly. “Is there something wrong?”

“I’m sorry, Miki. I’m afraid that I can’t go with you to your house today,” said Yuri, turning towards her best friend, her cellphone currently clutched in her hand. “I…have some urgent business to deal with. See you.”

And without even waiting to hear Miki’s reply, Yuri took off towards the direction of her house, leaving Miki behind, blinking owlishly. Yuri then keyed in her mother’s cellphone number – one that Yuri had memorised by heart a long time ago, her satchel bumping against her legs, an action which Yuri ignored.

She knew her uncle well, and knew that he’ll never do or say such a thing if he didn’t believed that her mother is truly in danger. The sudden events of the past few days came rising to the surface of Yuri’s memory just then, and she started to have a really bad feeling…

“The recipient whom you are trying to reach is currently unavailable. Please try again—” Click.

Yuri groaned as she tried calling her mother’s cellphone again for the third time. Her mother was not picking up her phone at all, and all that she received was the damn message that indicated that she’s reached the voice message service of her mother’s cellphone.

‘Come on, kaa-san! Answer the phone!’ Yuri mentally begged, as she keyed in the number of her mother’s cellphone again when she arrived at the lift of the HDB flat where she lived, pressing the button for her floor. She then decided against it, as she was practically racing against time here, and ran up the stairs instead.

“Come on! Come on! Come on!” Yuri muttered as she dashed up the stairs whilst dialling the number of her mother’s cellphone for the umpteenth time, heading to the tenth level of the HDB flat. “Kaa-san, answer the phone!”

Before she knew it, Yuri was already at the tenth level of the building. She simply dashed past two surprised middle-aged women who seemed to be heading back from the market whilst muttering a hurried ‘sorry’ over her shoulder for bumping into them, dashing towards the direction of her apartment, dialling the number of her mother’s cellphone all the while.

As Yuri arrived at the front door of her house, she noticed her mother’s working shoes lying on the top step as she fumbled with her house keys, with her cellphone pressed to her ear all the while, hearing the ongoing ringing tone before Yuri finally managed to get her door opened. And the ringing tone of her mother’s phone, some unfamiliar Japanese song, reached her ears.

But Yuri was not paying attention to that any longer as her cellphone slipped from her grasp and fell to the ground, instantly shattering it in half.

Yuri felt like she was dreaming, and she would have given anything in the world for the scene before her eyes to actually be a bad dream.

The strong stench of blood filled her nostrils as Yuri stared with wide eyes at the sight of the large pool of blood around the body of a woman currently lying in the sitting room of her house, the blood soaking into the carpet.

And the body of Hitomi Kirisawa was lying in that pool of blood.

Unmoving.