Otoya was standing near some random building, leaning against the brick wall. She adjusted her sunglasses and cap, playing low profile, as she pretended to be on her phone to pass time.
"Takechi-san."
Otoya raised her head. A girl wearing a hoodie and sunglasses was standing near her, leaning against the wall too.
"Kuzunoha," Otoya replied, looking away.
Nio took out an envelope from her bag and discretely gave it to Otoya. The serial killer opened it and quickly glanced at its contents. Her eyes widened and she saw it.
"Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?" Otoya asked.
"As if I'd do that. This is your next target. We are in a hurry so if you could kill her as soon as possible, that'd be great. Of course, you'll have a bonus for doing the job in less than 3 days."
Otoya closed back the envelope. For the first time in her life, she was having second thoughts, but she couldn't let Nio know. Especially since she knew it was most likely a trap.
"I'll do my best," Otoya simply replied.
She could swear she saw Nio grin for a split-second before she walked away. Otoya once again checked the picture of her target, wondering how she'd get away with this one.
When she heard someone knock at her door, Shiena's heart skipped a beat. She most likely knew who it was and she didn't particularly want to see this person right now. But the knocking became quite persistent and she was worried that this person would just force the door open- it wouldn't be the first time. Worried, Shiena walked towards the door and opened it.
Her doubts were right.
"Hey, Shiena-chan… sorry for passing by unannounced, but… I really needed to see you. May I come in?"
Shiena never witnessed Otoya with such an expression. Her girlfriend seemed… genuinely tormented. Without thinking much, Shiena stepped out of the way to let her enter and closed the door behind her.
"Otoya… is everything alright?"
Otoya didn't answer right away. She sat down on the couch, looking lost in her thoughts.
"I'd like a coffee. Black, no sugar," Otoya requested, absentmindedly.
Shiena didn't protest and proceeded to make her coffee. Whatever was bothering Otoya might affect her, so better to keep her satisfied for now. She put some water to boil and when it was ready she poured a cup of coffee for her girlfriend and brought it to her.
"Here you go."
"Thanks."
Otoya took a sip of her coffee.
"You may sit too."
"Oh, sure!"
Shiena sat next to Otoya, nervously waiting for her girlfriend to say anything. The latter eventually put her cup down and gently stroked Shiena's hand.
"Shiena, how is… your relationship with your parents," Otoya suddenly asked.
The brunette wasn't expecting this question.
"My parents… I don't really have any contact with them anymore. They were always so busy with their work so they ended up neglecting me… They were absent most of my life. I was an accident, you know. They never wanted me. They never loved each other, and I doubt they ever cared about me…"
Otoya's hand was now caressing her thigh.
"I'm sorry," Otoya said.
She sounded sincere but Shiena knew Otoya was incapable of genuine empathy. Yet part of her desperately wanted to believe that deep down, Otoya cared.
"My parents weren't the best either," Otoya added. "I told you. My father murdered my mom and tried to do the same for me. He was a monster. He abused us both. And I killed him."
Otoya's eyes suddenly looked dreamy and nostalgic.
"I loved my mom. She was a wonderful woman. The most beautiful. And he took her away from me. He stole her beauty… I missed her so much…"
Shiena instinctively grabbed Otoya's hand in hers.
"I'm sorry, Otoya…"
Otoya gently squeezed Shiena's hand and smiled softly.
"I'm fine now," Otoya said. "At least I still have fond memories of my mother… I don't think you can say the same, do you?"
"Yeah… my father was just indifferent towards me, but my mother… she always resented me… for being born. She thinks I ruined her life. And she hates me even more after I was accused of murder. I stained her reputation, you see. She even came to visit me at the asylum, just to add fuel to the fire. I was so drugged and I remember… telling her that I wish I could just kill her."
Shiena wasn't even sure if that encounter even happened. But regardless, those were still her true feelings.
"She sounds like a real cunt. No offence."
"None taken."
"So you hate her?" Otoya asked.
"Well, I can't say I particularly love her. Hate is a strong word, but I do resent her, yes. She had never been a mother to me, so I can't really call her my mom. I just wish she could disappear from my life."
Otoya was getting closer to her. Shiena didn't resist when she suddenly kissed her. Nor when she pushed her on the couch and started to undress her.
She would be lying if she said she didn't want this too anyway.
Shiena didn't feel anything particular. It happened so many times now. Not that she became insensitive, just used to it- jaded, one might say. It wasn't like her personal feelings would change anything about the situation anyway.
The car stopped in front of a luxurious apartment building. Shiena got out and looked up. The sky was starting to get darker with grey clouds. It was going to rain. She could even hear thunder like a bad omen for an imminent tragedy.
"This way," one of the cops told them.
Shiena followed Chitaru and Tokaku inside the building. The crime scene was in an apartment on the third floor. After they took the elevator, the AKA agents headed for the specific apartment. Room 14. Medical analysts were already there, collecting any evidence related to the murder.
"The victim is in the bedroom over there," one of the analysts said.
Without much hesitation, they headed for the bedroom. There was so much blood that they could smell it when they entered. Lying on the bed was a woman, her body awfully mutilated. From where she was, Shiena couldn't see well, but she noticed that the woman had long wavy brown hair. An analyst was taking samples from her corpse.
"Do we have a name for the victim?" Chitaru asked.
"Not yet. We are still looking for an ID," the analyst replied.
Shiena got closer so she could have a better look. The woman's face was covered in blood, but even so, Shiena immediately recognized her and went catatonic.
"... Mom?"
This woman who looked so much like her was standing in front of her, staring at her with an accusatory glare. Shiena remembered her. She was Yamada Yuu, the woman Otoya murdered to send her a message, this poor woman whose only crime has been looking like her. "It's your fault," her eyes seemed to say. "I died because of you."
No matter how many times Shiena apologized, Yamada Yuu was still haunting her. Otoya may be the one who killed her, but Shiena had her blood on her hands.
Shiena could feel the warm liquid dripping from her hands, the crimson liquid staining her hands forever. She looked at them, both red with the blood of the innocents who died because of her.
The brunette looked back at Yamada Yuu, but it wasn't her anymore. Instead, standing in front of her was another brown-haired woman, older, much prettier.
"... Mom…"
"You did this to me. You ruined my life ever since the moment you were born until you finally took it!"
Tears started to roll on Shiena's cheeks.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"
Horrible lacerations started to appear on her mother's body, blood pouring everywhere. She let out a scream of agony as she collapsed to the floor.
"Mom!"
Shiena rushed to her side, but it was too late. She was dead.
"You killed her."
Shiena turned back, only to see her doppelganger- the same she saw at the asylum.
"No… it wasn't me…" Shiena tried to protest.
"Oh yes, it was you. You caused this. Her blood is on your hands- our hands," the other Shiena said with a sinister grin.
Shiena instinctively looked at her hands and noticed that she was holding a pair of bloody scissors- the murder weapon.
"No… it can't be…"
"Yes, it is. Congratulations, Shiena. You finally killed the mother you resented so much. Doesn't it feel great?"
"NO!"
Shiena woke up with a jolt. Her body was sweaty and she was breathing heavily. Another of those awful nightmares that were now constantly haunting her nights.
She had been taken off the case. Obviously, since the victim was her mother. There was a conflict of interest. Shiena didn't even protest and passively accepted a forced vacation, confined to her apartment. She wasn't considered a suspect, but given her recent arrest, it was best for her to keep a low profile.
Shiena looked at the clock. It was already passed noon. She wasn't particularly hungry, but she knew that not eating would certainly not help. And a cup of coffee wouldn't hurt, either.
She left her room. Her apartment was a mess, but she didn't care. She wasn't in the mood to clean anyway.
As she headed for the kitchen, she suddenly froze.
Her front door was wide open.
"Shiena."
The brunette jolted and turned back. Otoya was standing there, looking dangerously emotionless.
"O-Otoya…!?"
"Sorry for the intrusion. I knocked but there was no answer, so I got worried and let myself in."
Shiena didn't know what to say. She just stood there, frozen with fright.
"I tried to call you. I texted you. You didn't reply. Are you ignoring me?"
Otoya started to step towards her and Shiena panicked.
"Don't come any closer!" Shiena exclaimed.
Otoya stopped, seeming surprised and confused.
"What's wrong, Shiena-chan?"
Shiena clenched her fist, fear fading away to let place to anger.
"You… you killed her… You killed my mother!"
Otoya remained quiet at the accusation until she tilted her head.
"Yeah? So?"
Shiena couldn't believe what she had just heard. How could she just stay indifferent when she just murdered her mother? Then she remembered: it was Otoya. Jack the Ripper of the 21st Century. A psychopathic serial killer. She was the one who had been naive and stupid enough to even be surprised.
"'So?' Did you really just fucking say that?! It was my mother! You fucking murdered my mother!"
"But… you hated her! You even told her that you'd kill her!"
"Not literally! As if I'd kill anyone! I never asked you to kill her!"
"Who cares? You hated that bitch and wished she was out of your life, well your wish was granted. You're fucking welcome."
When Otoya stepped dangerously closer to her, Shiena recoiled.
"Don't! Get out! I don't want to see you! Did you even think of how it would make me feel? Of course not. You don't care about others, you only care about yourself!"
"I do care about you! How can you even say I don't!? I did it for you, you ungrateful-"
"I never asked you to! I never wanted this! I'm sick of people dying because of me, I'm sick of you killing people because of me! I don't want any more death on my conscience, don't you get it!?"
"This is so self-righteous… You're the one who only cares about yourself! I took risks for you, and this is how you thank me? By complaining about your 'feelings' being hurt? If you didn't want her dead, then you should have just said so!"
"That doesn't give you the right to take away a human life!"
"Huh, hello? I'm a bloody serial killer and an assassin! Taking human lives is literally my thing. You never cared about all the others I killed so why bitch now just because it was your mother? This is so hypocritical."
"You think I don't care? I loathe myself for being with you! I feel bad whenever you kill someone! I hate myself for that!"
"Feeling bad over things you didn't even do yourself? That's peak stupidity! It's not like you killed your mother yourself-"
"It's as if I did! I have her blood on my hands now because of you!"
"I killed her, not you! Don't credit yourself for my hard work! As if you'd have the guts to kill your own mother like I did…!"
Otoya suddenly stopped talking.
"You… you said your father did…?!"
"He did. He killed her… It was all his fault!"
Otoya tried to grab Shiena who immediately pushed her away.
"Don't fucking touch me! You said your father was a monster? Well, you grew up exactly like him! You're a fucking monster-"
Shiena suddenly felt a violent pain on her face, right near her left eye. She staggered a little, seeing stars, before she finally collapsed to the floor.
It took her a few seconds to realize what had just happened. Otoya had punched her right in the face. There was a pulsating pain in her head and everything looked blurry around her. She was too dizzy to get back on her feet yet.
"Shit," she heard a voice who seemed so distant. "Shiena- Shiena-chan, hey, are you alright? I'm sooo sorry, it was an accident, I swear!"
As if punching someone in the face could ever be just an accident. When Shiena started to regain consciousness, she hardly got back on her feet and, before Otoya could say anything, she ran to her bedroom and closed the door, before locking it.
"Shiena!" Otoya yelled. "Open the fucking the door! Shiena!"
Otoya was violently banging in the door. Shiena dropped to her knees and started shivering and sobbing in fear. Her head hurt but she didn't care. She could feel something dripping from her face but didn't mind. All she could focus on was her terror- the legitimate fear of dying.
The violent knocking eventually stopped.
"Shiena-chan, please open the door," Otoya said with a soft voice. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I went too far. I was wrong. Please open the door so we can talk about it, okay? I swear I'm not mad. I won't hurt you anymore."
Shiena continued to shiver and sob, unable to properly think.
"Shiena. I'm asking you for the last time. Open. The. Door. Don't make me force it open."
Shiena eventually heard something playing with the handle. Following her survival instincts, the brunette got up and grabbed her chair.
Otoya opened the door, but she had barely stepped inside that she was welcomed by a violent hit on the head with the chair. Otoya let out a grunt and collapsed to the ground, inert. Shiena remained paralyzed for a moment, her heart racing like crazy. She eventually came back to her senses and spotted her bag- the one she brought to Otoya's house when she stayed there and hadn't unpacked yet, and grabbed it. She instinctively also grabbed her laptop before leaving the room and ran away from her apartment without a second thought.
I bet you didn't see that coming huh.
Shiena neither.
