Chapter 3 - Not Today

Aiko and Kasumi are sitting at the table at lunch.

“Why did you choose me of all people to sit by?” Kasumi asks, breaking the silence.

“Because you were sitting alone.” Aiko says with a smile. “I thought you could use some company.”

“Right.” There’s no way this guy is who he says he is.

It’s now after school. Kasumi is walking out of the building and then spots her brother. She glances over her shoulder to see that Aiko is looking. He quickly averts his gaze somewhere else.

“Hey, little sis!” Sato greets warmly. “How was your day?”

“Strange.” Kasumi says, her voice trailing off.

Kasumi glances over her shoulder to find that Aiko is no longer there. She shakes her head and trains her eyes forward.

“What do you mean by that?” Sato questions.

“I met a strange kid. That’s all.”

“What’s their name?” Sato’s voice has a tint of excitement as he waits for her answer.

“His name is Aiko.” Kasumi says with a monotone voice.

“HIS?!” Sato’s voice elevates as he teases his sister. “Oooooooooh!”

“It’s not what you think!” Kasumi defends herself.

“Sure it’s not.” Sato smirks. “Anyway, I have to go to work early tonight because of what I missed last night. Do you think you’ll be alright?”

“Sato, I’ll be fine.”

Sato glances down at his sister’s shoulder to find a bruise peeking out from under her shirt. Sato stops Kasumi and lifts up the hem of her shirt to look at the bruise even closer.

“What the hell is this?” Sato asks, concerned.

“Nothing!” Kasumi covers the bruise with her shirt again.

“Dammit, Kasumi! Don’t lie to me please!” Sato begs. “What did he do to you last night?”

Kasumi glances around to make sure no one is staring because of Sato’s yelling.

“Tone your voice down. Someone might hear.”

Kasumi pulls away from Sato and begins to walk away. Sato grabs her wrist, startling her way too much. She gasps and thinks back to a time when her father grabs her wrist the same way. Sato sees her distress and immediately lets go.

“I’m so sorry, Kasumi. I didn’t mean to. Please just tell me what happened last night.” Sato begs.

Kasumi stares down at the ground. She begins tearing up, but immediately wipes her tears. She continues to stare down at the ground as she explains in a quiet tone what happened.

“He broke into my room real late at night.” Kasumi gently explains. “He was drunk and you were asleep. There was no way you could’ve helped. All he did was hit me a few times.”

Kasumi nervously plays with the neck of her shirt and rubs her collar bone.

“You’re lying. Or you’re not telling me the full truth.” Sato says, concerned. “Do you need to go to the hospital?”

“No! I’m perfectly fine!” Kasumi quickly defends.

“I also couldn’t help but notice that you are walking weird as well.” Sato looks down sadly at the ground. “He didn’t just hit you last night, did he?”

Kasumi keeps herself from rubbing her collar bone. She widens her eyes. “Don’t move! You’ll only make it worse.” Hirata’s voice echoes in her head. Kasumi shuts her eyes to try and shake the memory from her mind.

“All he did was hit me. I provoked him. Please, just leave it alone.” Kasumi begs.

Sato looks down sadly at the ground and follows her silently on the sidewalk all the way home. Ex is walking to his house. He quickly looks at his phone and reads the time: 3:37 p.m. He also reads a missed call from the hospital. Ex opens the door to his house and enters, closing the door and locking it behind him. He walks to the kitchen and makes himself a glass of scotch. He sighs and gets his phone back out to listen to the voicemail that the hospital left behind.

“The following message is for Ex Takahashi. We have some information regarding your mother, Sakura Takahashi. We received-”

Ex wipes the message from his phone and places it face down on the counter-top. He clicks his tongue.

“Fucking assholes. How could they sound so nice but so insensitive at the same time?” Ex mutters harshly to himself.

Ex goes over to the sofa and falls back on it; tired.

“Pfft. I forgot how exhausting school was.” Ex mutters more.

Ex closes his eyes for a quick nap. Kasumi walks into her house. She gazes at the ground to avoid her father’s deadly glare. She looks around to find that her mother isn’t in the house.

“Wh-Where’s mom?” Kasumi trembles.

“She went grocery shopping. She’ll be back in a few hours.” Hirata’s dark tone thunders through Kasumi’s mind.

Kasumi flinches at the thought of having to spend these two hours alone with her father.

“Did Sato go to work?” Hirata harshly asks.

“Yeah he did. If you don’t m-mind, I’m going to go to my room-”

Kasumi begins walking upstairs to her room, but Hirata harshly grabs her wrist.

“Stay down here and talk to me. I have a few things to address.” Hirata adds.

“Why do you let him do that, huh?”

“Because-”

“You’re scared to fight back. Aren’t you? Just say it, you’re a coward, too! Sato said he was a coward, but the real coward here is you. Just admit it. You’re a coward!”

I’m NOT a coward! Kasumi thinks to herself.

“No.” Kasumi says strongly.

“What did you just say to me?” Hirata’s voice elevates in anger.

“I said no.” Kasumi restates.

“Kasumi Yamazaki, do not make me hurt you again.” Hirata threatens.

“You’ve already hurt me so much. I highly doubt you can do any damage now.” Kasumi nervously smirks.

“Young girl, you are mistaken.”

“Am I?” Kasumi scoffs.

“What’s gotten into you? This isn’t how you normally act.”

Kasumi yanks her wrist free from her father’s grip, pissing him off.

“It’s how I’ve always felt.” Kasumi states. “You can do whatever you like, but you’ll never get the satisfaction of seeing me and how I normally act. I’ll make sure of it.”

“You better stop running your mouth.” Hirata threatens.

“Or what?” Kasumi tests.

Kasumi suddenly becomes aware of her situation again and becomes terrified. She begins scrambling up the stairs with Hirata close behind. She trips over one of the stairs, giving Hirata the perfect opportunity to yank her off the steps. He grabs her by the back collar of her shirt and pulls her back, making her fall harshly to the floor.

“Remember-” Hirata unloops his belt just like he did the other night. He steps forward, grabs her chin with his left hand and forces her to look into his eyes while gripping his belt tight in his right hand. “You do this to yourself. Don’t ever forget your place, Kasumi. You’re at the very bottom of the pyramid and I’m at the top. Don’t you EVER speak back to me again. Do you understand that?”

“Ye-yes s-s-sir–yes, sir.” Kasumi fearfully stutters.

Hirata harshly releases his grip on her face and stands up.

“Good.” He sighs. “Now because of the little stunt you decided to pull, you’re in for a night full of pain. Your mother and your brother aren’t here to stop me or watch, so this’ll be fun.”

“P-Please, spare me tonight. I didn’t mean to–I didn’t mean to talk back. I know what I did wrong, so please-” Kasumi begs.

“Shut the hell up. You don’t deserve to talk.”

“I...don’t deserve...to talk.” Kasumi mumbles to herself through tears.

Kasumi curls up on the ground and cries quietly to herself. Back to Ex who wakes up from his nap. He grumbles a little bit before sitting up and going to the countertop with his phone setting on top of it.

“Why the hell was today so exhausting for me? Maybe because of all the mindless idiots that go there. They exhausted me by existing.” Ex mutters to himself. Ex flips his phone right-side up to look at the time which read 6:53 p.m. “I have time for a shower.”

Ex sits his phone back down and goes to his room to choose some clothes. He picks out his normal black suit and chooses a clean pair of underwear. He sets his clothes down neatly on his bed before picking up a towel. He goes to the bathroom and shuts the door behind him. He avoids the mirror and turns the shower water on. Ex is in the shower, leaning on the wall. He stares blankly at the water hitting the floor of the shower.

Kasumi sure is an interesting character. Usually, I’m able to figure a person out just by observing them for a few minutes. I’ve observed Kasumi for an entire day so far and I still haven’t figured her out. Even if there is something bigger going on here, I doubt Kasumi knows anything about it. God, this is such a pain in the ass. Ex thinks to himself.

Ex gets dressed, drying his hair off before looking at his phone to check the time one last time before leaving. He’s walking outside on the sidewalk and it’s dark outside. Ex looks at the sidewalk and feels a few raindrops. He looks up towards the sky and sees rain clouds. He hears thunder off in the distance.

“Great.” Ex states, annoyed.

Ex starts walking a little faster but it’s barely noticeable as it begins to rain harder. Ex appears outside of his mother’s hospital room, soaking wet. When he opens the door, a nurse is recording data on a clipboard.

“Hello, sir! It’s good to see you. I’ll go get the doctor and you two can talk.” The nurse states happily.

“Tch. Whatever.” Ex mutters under his breath.

“Would you like for me to get you a towel while I’m out?”

“No, I’m fine.” Ex answers.

The nurse takes her clipboard and leaves the room. Ex sets his things down on the window seal and carefully glances at his mother.

“You look more dead than usual.” Ex mutters under his breath.

A few moments later, a doctor comes in. The nurse follows behind her holding a towel. She hands it to Ex and smiles.

“Thanks.” Ex states stoically.

“No problem. You look like you needed it.”

“Could you go file these papers while I’m talking to him?” The doctor states to the nurse.

“Sure thing!” The nurse leaves and closes the door behind her. Ex sits on the window seal, waiting for the doctor to say something.

“You know there’s a chair right here, right?” The doctor asks.

“Yeah. I prefer the window seal.” Ex states stoically.

“Very well.” Ex puts the towel on his head and dries his hair a little bit as the doctor pulls up a chair between Ex and his mother. “Before we start talking about options, you need to know the full condition of your mother.”

“I already know. She’s close to dying, has a year left, whatever.” Ex sighs and rolls his eyes.

“I’m afraid that’s not all it is.” The doctor starts. “The state of her condition is irreversible. The tumor in her head has grown in size. The machines that she’s connected to are on full support. She’s already dead, Ex. Your only option is to pull the plug. If she somehow makes it through all this, she won’t be like she was. She’ll be in a vegetative state.”

Ex feels a slight twinge at his heart, but doesn’t know what to do.

“Vegetative state or not, she’s still my mother.” He defends. “What’s the max time you’re willing to give?”

“Based on how long people are in comas, we can give you anywhere between 5 weeks to a year.” The doctor pauses. “What’ll it be, sir?”

“Give her seven weeks. If she doesn’t pull through, you can pull the plug.” Ex sighs.

“Are you sure about this?” The doctor asks.

“Yes.” Ex says without hesitation.

“I’m truly so-”

“Save it. I don’t need any apologies from anyone. It’s not anyone’s fault she’s in this mess. Not even her own.” Ex states rudely. “Are we done here?”

“Yeah we are. If you need anything, feel free to ask.”

Ex remains silent as the doctor gets up, puts the chair back where it was and leaves the room. After the door shuts, Ex pulls his feet up criss-cross and lays the files out neatly on the window seal. He takes out a pen and puts the end of it in between his teeth. He chews on the end of the pen while looking through all the documents. He takes out a small notebook and begins writing notes down. He gets up and looks into a discrete pocket in his satuel and takes out a file that is stamped “CLASSIFIED.” He scattered the papers inside that file around the papers of the case he’s currently working on.

Only five years ago, a laboratory in Russia was caught performing highly illegal experiments. Just after the lab was supposedly shut down, a chain of deaths started here in Japan. Kanai Tokugawa has to be one of them. By why? Why would a laboratory go after someone like her? If they went after Kanai, it’s very likely that they’ll go after Kasumi sometime soon. That is, if I’m right about this. Ex thinks.

Kasumi is curled up on her bed with her clothes obviously disturbed and fresh, new bruises on her arms and legs and crying silently to herself.

“I...don’t deserve to...l-live. I shouldn’t...I shouldn’t be here.” Kasumi mumbles through her sobbing.

“Quit your whining.” A voice clearly states.

Kasumi’s crying slowly dies off. She doesn’t dare move at all.

“I’m not...w-whining.” Kasumi defends.

“You shouldn’t cry. That’s why he does this, you know. He does this to you because you’re too weak to fight back. And when you’re too weak, you give up and let him do what he wants. If you stuck to your attitude, you would’ve definitely had him.” The voice tells her.

“Or I would’ve just made it...made it worse.” Kasumi says sadly.

“Move.” The voice demands.

“I c-can’t.” Kasumi says in distress.

“Dammit, stop whining and move!” The voice demands once more.

“I physically cannot move.” Kasumi continues whining.

“Stop telling yourself that or you never will.”

“I don’t need to move.” Kasumi grunts.

“No. But you know that if you don’t it’ll just get worse, right?”

***

“Leave her alone! She didn’t do anything wrong!” A seven-year-old Kasumi defends her best friend, Kanai.

“Kasumi! Stay out of this! You’ll only get yourself hurt!” Kanai shouts.

“Would you rather take the pain yourself then?” One of the bullies says.

“If that’s what it takes.” Kasumi states.

“Get her!”

The three bullies easily over-take Kasumi and they beat her up so severely that she can’t move afterwards. After the bullies scurry away, Kanai rushes to her side.

“You’re such an idiot! What were you doing?” Kanai says.

“Saving you, you dumbass.” Kasumi says with a pained expression.

“How bad is it?”

“I can’t move.”

“Yeah you can. You have to. Come on, get up.” Kanai smiles at Kasumi, warming her heart. Kanai helps Kasumi up off of the ground and they begin walking off. “You really should stop getting yourself in trouble like that.” Kanai jokes.

***

“I wish you were here to help me.” Kasumi says sadly.

“I am. Now get up.” The voice demands again.

“I can’t get up!” Kasumi fights.

“Quit your goddamn whining and get the fuck UP!”

Kasumi grits her teeth and starts by moving her hand.

“That’s a good start. Now, just continue to do that and you should be able to stand here pretty soon.” The voice states.

Kasumi flinches, grits her teeth and growls at the pain she feels. She moves her right arm and then her left to try and stabilize her enough to stand up. Her arms begin shaking as she tries to push herself to sit up on her bed. After finally being able to sit up, she dangles her feet over the edge.

“Now, it’s time to stand.” The voice says.

“I know.”

Kasumi takes a shaky breath to prepare for standing. Her body severely quivers as she begins to try and stand which immediately results in her falling harshly to the ground. She tightens her hand into a fist and uses the little strength she has to hit the floor as she begins crying again.

“Kasumi?” She hears her brother’s soft voice from the other side of the door.

“Yeah?” Kasumi replies with a pained voice.

“Can I come in?” Sato asks.

“That’s not a good idea.” Kasumi says back.

“Are you dressed?”

“Yeah I am, but-”

Kasumi doesn’t even get to answer before Sato opens the door to find his sister laying down on the floor helplessly. He immediately helps her off the ground and sits on her bed. Kasumi leans her back against the wall and hugs her knees.

“Kasumi, I need to take you to the hospital if you can’t even walk.” Sato says in concern.

“Please, Sato.” Kasumi pleads. “I’m begging you, please don’t do that. I’m fine, I’m just tired.”

“Kasumi, it’s my job to take care of you. Please let me do it.” Sato says semi-sternly.

“Please, let’s just stop talking about it.” Kasumi sighs.

Kasumi begins to cry. Sato leaves her alone about the topic. Sato re-positions himself to where he’s sitting next to her.

“Then please tell me how I can help.” He says.

“I just need your comfort.” Kasumi cries.

Kasumi continues crying. Sato puts one arm around Kasumi to hug her. He hugs her as tight as he can.

“Shhh. Everything’s going to be ok. I’m here for you, Kasumi. All of the time.” Sato comforts. Kasumi eventually gets exhausted and stops crying.

“I don’t need anyone else. Just you.” She mumbles.

“Kasumi, although it’s true that I’ll try my best to protect you, you can’t always rely on me.” Sato pauses. “What if I die before you?”

“Then that would be unfortunate.” Kasumi jokes, not taking him seriously.

“My point is, I’m always here for you if you can’t find anyone else.” Sato says. “I know ever since Kanai died, it’s been hard for you to find another friend, but maybe this Aiko kid can be your friend.”

“He’ll never be able to replace Kanai or you.”

“And I don’t expect him to. What I’m saying is, you’ll be a lot happier after you find a new friend. Trust me.”

“Yeah whatever.” Kasumi’s voice trails off and she falls asleep. Sato looks down at her and takes a deep breath.

“You are truly an amazing person, Kasumi.” Sato says to where Kasumi can’t hear. “Don’t ever forget that.”

Sato carefully leaves his position from next to Kasumi and slides carefully off her bed. He lays Kasumi down in her bed and covers her with her blanket.

“Goodnight, Kasumi.” Sato says.

Ex stands, leaning on the window seal. He stares outside as he thinks about the report he has to complete.

“Even if Kasumi is involved in this mess, how in the hell am I supposed to catch her?” Muttering quietly. “I don’t think she’s involved. Unless she’s just abnormally good at hiding things. In that case, I need to keep a closer eye on her.”

Ex turns his body to face his lifeless mother.

“I wonder what you’re dreaming about in there.” Ex says. “You were always thinking deeply. Maybe that’s where I got it from.”

He sits back down on the window seal just as he was before, except now he’s leaning back against the wall. Ex’s mind trails off as he closes his eyes to try and rest. Both Kasumi and Ex fall asleep at the same time. At the same exact time, both Ex’s and Kasumi’s eyes shoot open. Their eyes are gold and staring blankly, as if in a trance-like state. Kasumi lies on her bed with her eyes open and gold. The background fades away as she lays in a pure white background. Ex’s eyes are open and gold and (like Kasumi) he’s frozen in place as his environment fades to a pure white environment and the beeping coming from his mother’s machine fades into nothing.