On That Day

Chapter 153: S2 - On That Day

Quickly jumping out of the car, Michiko's family rushed into the Kashino Family Hospital after 3 hours of driving. All their belongings were left inside the vehicle as they checked in at the hospital.

Frantic about his daughter's condition, Michiko Kenji was the first to run inside to a lady at the front desk.

"*huff* My name is *puff* Michiko Kenji. My family and I have *huff* come to see Michiko Keiko," Michiko Kenji breathily said as the lady at the front desk gave a grief look on her face. She didn't respond as she looked at Keiko's heart monitor on the computer screen.

The beating was weak, but she was still alive for now. Her condition was only just slightly improving, even after 3 hours had passed.

"Mr. Kenji, as of right now, the doctors are closely monitoring your daughter as she's suffered from cardiac arrest. They will perform some tests to determine the cause of the arrest, so I'm afraid you cannot see your daughter right now—" the woman explained while being interrupted.

"—Are you insane?! My daughter almost lost her f*cking life, but now you're telling me that I can't see her?!" Michiko Kenji spouted angrily as his dark eyebrows furrowed in disapproval.

"I'm sorry but you will have to comply. Her condition is still critical so the doctors will need more time to stabilize her vitals and run some tests," the woman said, trying her best to keep the father in line from throwing a rampage.

"Argh!" Michiko Kenji clenched his fists and gritted his teeth in submission. After all, there was no use trying to get through.

'Dammit! If only I hadn't influenced her to go to that goddamn academy… she would be fine right now!' 

All Michiko Kenji could feel was regret and frustration at himself as he tightened the grip on his fists. Seeing how tight he was clenching his fists, Kaori grabbed his hands to calm him down. After feeling this sense of comfort, he loosened his fists.

"We've been up all day watching the broadcast and driving 3 hours to get here. Let's go rest at a hotel, Kenji," Kaori instructed, trying to diffuse the anger still left in him.

Giving in, Kenji brushed off her hand and approached the hospital exit.

"Fine. Let's go rest. I'll come back tomorrow," Kenji said before leaving Kaori and the two boys that followed them inside the hospital.

"Mom… is Onee-chan going to be okay?" Eiji asked his mother worriedly, to which she had no choice but to smile.

"We'll come back here tomorrow to check up on her, okay?" Kaori knelt to pat Eiji's head, but to her dismay, she looked at her oldest son to see a far-off look in his dark brown eyes.

"You're dodging the question. Tell us… IS. SHE. GOING. TO. BE. OK?" Haruto paused after each word, his face frightening.

Kaori never saw this expression on her son, but even she felt goosebumps down her spine. Just when did her son get this scary?

Having no choice but to cave in, Kaori breathed a deep sigh. There was no use trying to sugarcoat anything, but it wasn't like she could explain the situation perfectly.

"We're not entirely sure. Her condition is still critical and they still have to run some tests on her. We can't go in now so we'll have to come back tomorrow. Come on, let's go find a hotel to sleep in," Kaori explained the situation to the two boys.

After hearing that their sister's condition was still critical, the boys bit their tongues.

"No… she has to be alright!" Haruto raised his voice up in denial, thinking back to the time when his step-sister was doing just fine.

"You're lying! Keiko onee-chan is just fine! All… all she needs is some rest!" Eiji tried to say optimistically, but just because he was an 8-year-old kid, he was no stranger to the word 'death.'

"Boys. Right now, we're all tired. I promise you we'll come back tomorrow to check on her. Let's go," Kaori told them strictly, trying to convey the message.

With no time to refute, Kaori exited the hospital, so the boys had no choice but to follow after their mother.

Right… they'll go back tomorrow…

* * *

Situated in a dark alleyway right outside a large, extravagant building, a strange man had pierced a woman with a knife. Only one lamppost was outside, lighting up the horrifying scene in the dead of night.

"M-Mom… MOMMA!!!" A young girl with brown hair screamed out in pure terror.

Her blue eyes were distraught with fear as if she'd just seen a ghost before her. 

"Come here. I'll get you too!" A deep man's voice said to her as he held a bloodied knife.

His face wasn't visible under the black hat that covered it, but what could be seen was that he had bright blonde hair and was tall.

"KEIKO! RUN!!!" A woman with blonde hair called out to the girl in pure desperation with her hand on her stomach. It could be seen that she suffered a deep stab wound in her lower abdomen and was heavily bleeding out.

Trying to register everything that had happened, the girl stumbled to the ground after trying to run.

'I don't want to leave you, Momma! I need… to get up now!' The girl thought to herself as she tried to raise herself up from the ground.

Her knee was scraped from the concrete, but that didn't matter. What mattered most was getting help.

But before she could get up, the tall man rushed to grab the fallen girl and held her up by the neck. As she suffocated under the man's grip on her neck, her feet continuously moved around in the air as she struggled.

"No! Let her go! Just deal with me!" The blonde woman on the ground shouted out at the man, who looked back at her.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Ella. She's seen too much, but I'll do you a solid and kill the both of you! What a sweet ending! A mother and daughter dying together! HAHAHAHAHA!" The man laughed out maniacally.

Finally, he looked back at the young girl in his hands as he held her up by the neck.

"It's a shame you were ever brought into this world only just to die at a young age… I hope you don't hate me," the man said with a crazy grin. "Instead, you should hate your mother."

But as Keiko looked at the man, she could see his eyes—bright blue eyes that spelled out psychotic. They were as cold as ice, and they didn't hold a hint of emotion.

As the man readied the knife by his side to stab the girl, in the moment of fight or flight, adrenaline kicked in.

All of a sudden, the small girl kicked her feet at the man's groin, but he grazed the side of her stomach with the knife, barely preventing him from stabbing her vital organs.

The cut was deep, and blood was heavily leaking out, but it wasn't going to be fatal if she found help quickly enough.

Kicking the man in the groin again, he finally released the girl, and she quickly escaped the scene.

Running as hard as she could despite her legs aching and blood leaking down her side; each time she ran and breathed, the cut on the side of her stomach grew larger and larger. Ultimately, Keiko would hold out until she found a door at the side and entered.

There was a lively gathering occurring during this time, but right outside was an attempted homicide. How could these people be idly chatting here while something tragic happened outside?

"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!!!" 8-year-old Keiko screamed in the large hall, and the people around her looked at her in confusion.

"PLEASE HELP! PLEASE HELP ME!!!" She cried out desperately as she grabbed onto the deep cut on her side.

Her clothes were dirtied with soil, and even the blood was quickly showing through.

Nearby, her father, Michiko Kenji, wearing a black tuxedo, ran up to her quickly after seeing his daughter's state.

"Keiko! What's going on!?" He desperately asked his daughter, who was breathing heavily.

"Outside… Mom… HELP HER!!!" Keiko said as she began to lose her breath and steadiness.

Alerted at these words, Michiko Kenji acted fast.

His daughter lost consciousness, and now everyone at the grand party was paying attention to this particular scene in the grand hall of this extravagant building.

"Somebody help my daughter! I need a group of doctors to follow me outside!" Michiko Kenji instructed hurriedly as some doctors swarmed his daughter, and some followed him outside.

The extent of this situation was dire… Who knew that a celebration would turn into manslaughter?

The young girl was immediately put into emergency care to try and restore her vitals and stitch up her wounds. She lost blood, but she was going to be just fine, especially with the best emergency surgeon fixing up her wounds—Kashino Asa.

Not too long after Michiko Kenji and the doctors went outside, they found Ella Fournier bleeding out in an alleyway right next to the Kashino Family Hospital, where the celebration was taking place. The culprit who'd stabbed her multiple times was nowhere to be seen, along with the murder weapon.

It was on that day that the once world-renowned patisserie, Ella Fournier, lost her life.