Yuu came home late.
"Miki's sleeping," his father said, as if he already knew what Yuu was about to ask. "she wont answer the door, and it's quiet in there. I'm already starting to feel sorry that we had told her that we were the ones who told the principal who was behind Miki's injuries earlier in the year."
"I don't mind that she's angry at us," Miki's mother said. "The fact is, it's better if she'd always be safe."
They were all sitting in a tight circle in the living room. Yuu went past them up the stairs. He felt guilty that he had told them what he had promised Miki he wouldn't tell. He had the feeling that he had done something wrong and something right at the same time.
Yuu bounded up the last stair. As he passed by Miki's room, he suddenly had a strange feeling that the room was sort of. empty. He glanced at the door of the room but went on his way.
It was past midnight when Yuu couldn't help but have a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. It had started with the feeling of emptiness when he had gone past Miki's room, but it slowly grew.
Miki apparently hadn't eaten dinner, and there was missing food from the refrigerator, like apples and oranges were missing. Some bread was gone as well. The Parents had just assumed that Miki had eaten the food while they were away for the day, but Yuu couldn't stop the nagging in the pit of his stomach. Yuu glanced at the clock to his right.
Twelve forty five.
Again tossing over in bed, Yuu tried to fall asleep. Several minutes later, he got up and went to the bathroom that adjoined two of the rooms together. Miki's door to the bathroom was locked tight from the other side.
Yuu rapped on the door. "Miki, are you there?" he asked. He thought he heard a noise, which made him more determined. But there was no other noise except for his knocking and his hushed voice. Yuu went back to his room. He just lay in bed.
Early the next morning, Yuu looked at the clock again. He had dozed off for a moment and had woken up again, the same strange feeling in his stomach, as if there wasn't anyone else in the room next to him.
He was giving himself strange thoughts as he took a shower. It was yet too early to start getting prepared to school, but even then he started to change into his uniform. Then he sat at his desk, looking around the piles of paper on his desk and wondering what to do and what to begin with.
"Yuu?" His mother asked through the door an hour later. "Is Miki coming to school, dear?"
Yuu shouted back: "I don't think so, mom."
"Oh."
She let herself in. Yuu stood up.
"Yuu," she began. "Can you somehow.talk to Miki about what happened? Tell her that we didn't mean to do anything to hurt her, we just wanted to do it for her own good."
She continued a long list of reasons of why he should talk to Miki, but she was only half listening. There was just this nagging sense he couldn't shake off.
The rest of the next half hour went along smoothly, Jin, Miki's father, tried to coax Miki out of her room, but there was no reply. Then Miki's mother, then Yuu's father. There was no result, just a cold silence. Jin tried threatening Miki that he'd open the door if she didn't, but she gave no reply. In dejection, the parents tried to stick a note under Miki's door, and it was left at that.
IN SCHOOL
"Meiko?" Yuu asked after the last period of classes had ended. Meiko looked a bit surprised. She looked around, and when she saw Yuu, she gave a smile.
"Where's Miki? Is she still sulking about Shin?"
Yuu averted his gaze.
"Uh.that's what I wanted to talk to you about."
Meiko looked confused.
"Do you want me to talk to Miki?"
"No, not really. Did she tell you anything?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Like, if she had some.plans or something."
Meiko gave him a suspicious look.
"What is it you're getting at?"
Yuu shifted.
"Oh, nothing. Can you come home with me this afternoon? I figure you can go talk to her or something."
"About Shin?"
"Yeah. About him."
MIKI"S HOUSE
"No one is home yet," Meiko observed.
"Except Miki," Yuu reminded her. Meiko nodded as they went right to business. They went up the short flight of stairs and pretty soon were in front of Miki's door.
"Miki?"
Yuu rapped on the door.
"Miki?"
Meiko rapped on the door.
There wasn't a sound to be heard.
"."
They kept at it a good quarter of an hour more until Yuu started to get impatient. "Miki, I'm coming in!" he said.
He looked for Meiko. In a flash she was at his side holding a knife in her hand.
"Use this," she offered, pointing to the door.
"Nah," Yuu said. "I don't want to break the door. I'll just climb through the window." He remembered that time not too long ago when he had climbed into Miki's room using his window to hers. It had surprised her, and it had given him a thrill at the same time. He took the knife from Meiko, in case the window was locked.
He climbed out his window and ignored the ground below. Instead, he looked at Miki's ledge to her window. He took a large step towards it. When he was there, he tried he window. It was stuck. He took the knife from his pocket and was at the door. In a few moments, it was undone. Yuu climbed into the dark room, stumbling around a bit and searched his memory for some clue on the light switch.
"Miki?" he said in a loud whisper. Nothing.
When he finally found the light switch and flipped it, his heart sunk, the white glare confirming what he already knew. The room was empty.
He saw something on the bed, something a lighter color than the rest of the sheets. It was a note!
Dear Parents and Yuu,
I guess by now I should have arrived in Osaka by train. Don't worry, I'll be fine here. I'm coming back, after I talk with Shin. He didn't ask me to do this, I decided on this myself, so it's not his fault. I love you all and please, please, don't do anything drastic.
Miki
Yuu stared at the letter for the longest time until Meiko's knock from the other side of the door brought him back to reality.
"Yuu, open the door," she called out. Numbly, Yuu stood up and unlocked the door. Meiko was surprised that he was all alone in the room. Yuu wordlessly handed her the letter. In less than a minute she was finished reading, and by some mutual understanding, the both of them started to tear through Miki's room, looking for clues.
It wasn't long before Meiko found a scribbled address on the table beside the phone. It was an address in Osaka.
She called Yuu over, and the two of them stared at it.
"Meiko, how long is the bus ride from Tokyo to Osaka?" Yuu began.
"About nine hours." Meiko said. She looked at Yuu with wide eyes. "Oh.no.you don't."
"she's in enough trouble already," Yuu said in barely concealed anger. "With me. How much more for our parents."
It was three forty five on Miki's Hello Kitty alarm clock. The next bullet train would go in fifteen minutes, which was enough time for him. Yuu went towards the kitchen and started getting random items from the fridge, fruits, cinnamon roll. When he came back up the stairs, Meiko was holding out a back pack towards him, and an extra shirt in one hand. Yuu took it and hurriedly got his jacket and his wallet.
Meiko handed him some yen of her own, 'just in case he needed it.'
"Meiko," Yuu shouted from the door. "If my parents come home, tell them I took Miki to a night party, and we'll be late."
He waved the scrawled address in his right hand and went out the door.
He was acting on pure impulse, but his sense of adventure at the moment was a thrill, and he knew that he might be doing something stupid.
For better or for worse.
"Miki's sleeping," his father said, as if he already knew what Yuu was about to ask. "she wont answer the door, and it's quiet in there. I'm already starting to feel sorry that we had told her that we were the ones who told the principal who was behind Miki's injuries earlier in the year."
"I don't mind that she's angry at us," Miki's mother said. "The fact is, it's better if she'd always be safe."
They were all sitting in a tight circle in the living room. Yuu went past them up the stairs. He felt guilty that he had told them what he had promised Miki he wouldn't tell. He had the feeling that he had done something wrong and something right at the same time.
Yuu bounded up the last stair. As he passed by Miki's room, he suddenly had a strange feeling that the room was sort of. empty. He glanced at the door of the room but went on his way.
It was past midnight when Yuu couldn't help but have a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. It had started with the feeling of emptiness when he had gone past Miki's room, but it slowly grew.
Miki apparently hadn't eaten dinner, and there was missing food from the refrigerator, like apples and oranges were missing. Some bread was gone as well. The Parents had just assumed that Miki had eaten the food while they were away for the day, but Yuu couldn't stop the nagging in the pit of his stomach. Yuu glanced at the clock to his right.
Twelve forty five.
Again tossing over in bed, Yuu tried to fall asleep. Several minutes later, he got up and went to the bathroom that adjoined two of the rooms together. Miki's door to the bathroom was locked tight from the other side.
Yuu rapped on the door. "Miki, are you there?" he asked. He thought he heard a noise, which made him more determined. But there was no other noise except for his knocking and his hushed voice. Yuu went back to his room. He just lay in bed.
Early the next morning, Yuu looked at the clock again. He had dozed off for a moment and had woken up again, the same strange feeling in his stomach, as if there wasn't anyone else in the room next to him.
He was giving himself strange thoughts as he took a shower. It was yet too early to start getting prepared to school, but even then he started to change into his uniform. Then he sat at his desk, looking around the piles of paper on his desk and wondering what to do and what to begin with.
"Yuu?" His mother asked through the door an hour later. "Is Miki coming to school, dear?"
Yuu shouted back: "I don't think so, mom."
"Oh."
She let herself in. Yuu stood up.
"Yuu," she began. "Can you somehow.talk to Miki about what happened? Tell her that we didn't mean to do anything to hurt her, we just wanted to do it for her own good."
She continued a long list of reasons of why he should talk to Miki, but she was only half listening. There was just this nagging sense he couldn't shake off.
The rest of the next half hour went along smoothly, Jin, Miki's father, tried to coax Miki out of her room, but there was no reply. Then Miki's mother, then Yuu's father. There was no result, just a cold silence. Jin tried threatening Miki that he'd open the door if she didn't, but she gave no reply. In dejection, the parents tried to stick a note under Miki's door, and it was left at that.
IN SCHOOL
"Meiko?" Yuu asked after the last period of classes had ended. Meiko looked a bit surprised. She looked around, and when she saw Yuu, she gave a smile.
"Where's Miki? Is she still sulking about Shin?"
Yuu averted his gaze.
"Uh.that's what I wanted to talk to you about."
Meiko looked confused.
"Do you want me to talk to Miki?"
"No, not really. Did she tell you anything?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Like, if she had some.plans or something."
Meiko gave him a suspicious look.
"What is it you're getting at?"
Yuu shifted.
"Oh, nothing. Can you come home with me this afternoon? I figure you can go talk to her or something."
"About Shin?"
"Yeah. About him."
MIKI"S HOUSE
"No one is home yet," Meiko observed.
"Except Miki," Yuu reminded her. Meiko nodded as they went right to business. They went up the short flight of stairs and pretty soon were in front of Miki's door.
"Miki?"
Yuu rapped on the door.
"Miki?"
Meiko rapped on the door.
There wasn't a sound to be heard.
"."
They kept at it a good quarter of an hour more until Yuu started to get impatient. "Miki, I'm coming in!" he said.
He looked for Meiko. In a flash she was at his side holding a knife in her hand.
"Use this," she offered, pointing to the door.
"Nah," Yuu said. "I don't want to break the door. I'll just climb through the window." He remembered that time not too long ago when he had climbed into Miki's room using his window to hers. It had surprised her, and it had given him a thrill at the same time. He took the knife from Meiko, in case the window was locked.
He climbed out his window and ignored the ground below. Instead, he looked at Miki's ledge to her window. He took a large step towards it. When he was there, he tried he window. It was stuck. He took the knife from his pocket and was at the door. In a few moments, it was undone. Yuu climbed into the dark room, stumbling around a bit and searched his memory for some clue on the light switch.
"Miki?" he said in a loud whisper. Nothing.
When he finally found the light switch and flipped it, his heart sunk, the white glare confirming what he already knew. The room was empty.
He saw something on the bed, something a lighter color than the rest of the sheets. It was a note!
Dear Parents and Yuu,
I guess by now I should have arrived in Osaka by train. Don't worry, I'll be fine here. I'm coming back, after I talk with Shin. He didn't ask me to do this, I decided on this myself, so it's not his fault. I love you all and please, please, don't do anything drastic.
Miki
Yuu stared at the letter for the longest time until Meiko's knock from the other side of the door brought him back to reality.
"Yuu, open the door," she called out. Numbly, Yuu stood up and unlocked the door. Meiko was surprised that he was all alone in the room. Yuu wordlessly handed her the letter. In less than a minute she was finished reading, and by some mutual understanding, the both of them started to tear through Miki's room, looking for clues.
It wasn't long before Meiko found a scribbled address on the table beside the phone. It was an address in Osaka.
She called Yuu over, and the two of them stared at it.
"Meiko, how long is the bus ride from Tokyo to Osaka?" Yuu began.
"About nine hours." Meiko said. She looked at Yuu with wide eyes. "Oh.no.you don't."
"she's in enough trouble already," Yuu said in barely concealed anger. "With me. How much more for our parents."
It was three forty five on Miki's Hello Kitty alarm clock. The next bullet train would go in fifteen minutes, which was enough time for him. Yuu went towards the kitchen and started getting random items from the fridge, fruits, cinnamon roll. When he came back up the stairs, Meiko was holding out a back pack towards him, and an extra shirt in one hand. Yuu took it and hurriedly got his jacket and his wallet.
Meiko handed him some yen of her own, 'just in case he needed it.'
"Meiko," Yuu shouted from the door. "If my parents come home, tell them I took Miki to a night party, and we'll be late."
He waved the scrawled address in his right hand and went out the door.
He was acting on pure impulse, but his sense of adventure at the moment was a thrill, and he knew that he might be doing something stupid.
For better or for worse.