Never a day has been better for Sakurako, especially after the shootout. It is rather shocking for herself to actually survived a gunshot for the first time, given her fragile and petite body. But, of course, she cannot disclose how painful it is even with the adrenaline nulling her body. Never been so freaked to see the wound she had and how much blood she lost. It all happened so fast, too fast for her to register every inch memory seeping into her head. And she can't even calm herself and probably worsen the pain she felt.
Looking back into the bathroom, the place is a bit messy, at least at the sink. Bloodied tissues scattered all around the floor and the sink carelessly. The jar of honey and the yogurt is open next to the faucet. Ice bag placed on the edge of the sink, pistol placed on the floor along with magazines and a jacket. The inside bowl of the sink even dirtied with a bit of blood. A hand reached and turned the faucet on and proceeded to wash the tweezers on the other hand, before shutting the faucet off.
Her hands are still shaky and nervous, enough for her to be feeling nauseous. Sakurako attempts to try to calm herself by taking a couple of deep breaths and tight blinks. She holds the tweezers in her shaky right hand and aims down onto the recently cleaned gunshot wound. She didn't have anything to dull the pain, so she opts to bite the chopstick she got from the kitchen after grabbing the stuff in her room. Sakurako winces her eyes hard before eases herself and ready to put the tweezers in.
She then slowly reaches the tweezers down into her wound. Her eyes riddled with horror, but she managed to keep herself from nauseating. She keeps her eyes down to the wound and can't look away. If she wants to get this bullet out, she needs to keep an eye on her procedure to avoid worsening her wound. Especially that she never knew the medical procedure, and it's the first time she does this without prior knowledge.
Once the tweezers entered her wound, the first thing she said is:
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKH!"
The chopstick thankfully helps her from biting her own mouth. She bit it so hard that she's pretty sure she just heard a crack on the chopstick. She tried her best not to look away and watched how she handled the tweezers. She slowly moves the tweezers through her wound, but the pain was too much that she had to shed sweats and cries in anguish. She screamed loud enough to be heard from downstairs. She's lucky that no one's in the house.
Her tweezers halt in its track for the moment to subside the pain away at a minimum. Sakurako staggeringly breathed too hard in doing so and did not even stop biting the chopstick. Despite the tears in her eyes, she then continues to push the tweezers deeper into the wound. She screamed, and her bite is getting stronger the more she pushes the tweezers in. She's reaching the feat that any middle school girls would never reach, and that is being done by a supposed dumb girl.
She keeps pushing the tweezers in. Hoping that she would-
*TIK*
She froze. Did she hear something? She then pushes the tweezers again.
*TIK*
She widens her teary eyes onto the wound. She found the bullet.
She then looses the tweezers open a bit to at least match the size of the bullet. It did increase the pain but should be enough according to the small size of the bullet projectile. She then slowly pressures the tweezers until it is tight enough to hold the projectile. She then slowly pulls the projectile out, which results in a sickly pain that equals to a nail in the flesh. Sakurako screamed with the highest tone she has as she bites the chopstick. She swears that she felt that the chopstick is about to break under her bite.
She slowly pulls it slowly and steady, the sickening sound of her moving flesh never been bothersome so much for her stomach. She could feel every inch of the projectile making its way through the hole. As she cries in agony, she could finally feel the lead nearly reaching its exit. But then halts in its track because it's stuck by the small size hole of the wound. She takes a deep breath for about three times before forcibly pulls the lead out.
*CHAK-*"GYAAAAAAAAHH!"
She can finally gasp in relief but mildly ignores the pain. She takes her moment to look over the projectile she pulled out by herself with such shaky hands. The small caliber metal lead in front of her eyes, bloodied, and fouled of use. She can't take away her disbelieve from such sight. She groggily and carefully puts the tweezers along with the lead down on the left side of the sink.
Before she patches her wound, she takes notice of her bloodied shirt. She proceeds to undress her bloody shirt and carelessly drops it on the floor. She cleans her wound with water before applying herbal liquid medicine and honey. With a groan, she then carefully re-applies the bandage along with occlusive dressing onto the wound. After taping down all of the dressing's sides, is the part she could breathe out with a relieving sigh. She closes her eyes gently for five seconds before looking back up to the mirror.
From how she looks right now, she's... pretty much in a chaotic day. Her face looks already so tired and lost all the cheerfulness inside her. She's still crying a lot and feels her watery nose blocked by her snivel that she had to get a lot of deep breaths. Her tears pour off her cheeks as the sweats fall from her forehead and her chin. And yet, she hasn't made a single word or sound except for her breaths.
She hoped that all this chaos she's feeling right now would be temporary. For now, her eyes dart around the bathroom. She knew it's her time to clean up the bloody mess. Not only will it leave a lot of questions, but her family would be horrified by the discovery.
She has a lot of time to clean up. It's a good thing she brought plastic bags and a used rag.
2 hours later.
Sakurako is now already in her room, sitting in her chair at the study table. Her head bows down as her arms rest on the table. Her body leans forward as she tries to accommodate the pain in her shoulder, and thankfully the pain wasn't as unbearable as before, thanks to self-effort medication. But, she could say that she barely feels the pain. She was just… stuck in her chair and never move any single part of her body.
Her eyes gawp onto the loaded pistol on the table, and fortunately pointing at the desk's rack in front of her. A couple of the pistol's magazines lie aside the gun, and she doesn't dare to pull out a single bullet from it. Right next to the gun was the fouled lead that wounded her. The lead is already clean of blood except for small dry stain blood. She wanted just to dump that lead away, but she can't tell why she hasn't. As if it would annoy her if she dumps that lead away.
Her eyes scan over the pistol in detail. She can barely describe what the gun looks like. The pistol is all black in color, but the darker color tint on the barrel gives it away. The grip of the gun has a lot of small dots and some noticeable slits on the curvy front grip. The trigger guard is a parallelogram in shape. There are rows of tilted slits on the back of the barrel, she can't tell what's that for. She notices the trademark of the gun at the gun's butt, it was named as Walther.
The first thing she does is carefully grab the pistol with her right hand and make sure that her fingers are off the trigger. It was a bit heavy for her. She points the pistol to the ceiling as she tries to find the button to release the magazine inside. She wasn't able to find the mag release until she narrowed an eyebrow to the nearly obvious small lever on the bottom of the trigger guard.
"What's this?"
Sakurako proceeded to push the lever down with her single thumb.
*CLAK*
That nearly caught her off-guard when the mag drops to the table. She lets out a deep breath to eases herself. She looked over to the barrel and see that the gun is not empty yet, she thought. If she remembered correctly, people would usually pull the slide of the gun like in the movies. She then tries to pull the slider back, and she didn't expect the small dense of resistance on the pull. She is then able to pull the slider back.
*CAK* *TING-TING*
And the bullet jumps out through the ejection port unscathed.
Satisfied that the pistol is empty, she puts it down and grabs the intact bullet. The metal bullet is smooth than she thought. The round end of the bullet is the same size as the lead she pulled out from herself, exclude the cartridge. The cartridge is in yellow, but the bullet projectile is orange.
She didn't think something small like this is easily painful and dangerous.
She lifts her head, and blankly stares forward. The next thing she had in mind is to find a container to store her gun and hide it somewhere inconspicuous. Her eyes quickly dart over her desk for a moment. There's a red rectangular box, which is an empty cookie box. And thankfully, the size is bigger than the pistol.
She opens the cover of the box and carefully places the gun inside. Then she stores the magazine in until she halts at the last mag. She looks on the backside of the mag; there are holes and number indicators to let her know how many bullets it can fit. Sakurako widens her eyes to see that the mag can fit about 20 bullets, more than what she expects. The mag is currently filled with 12 bullets, which she then turns her head to the intact bullet and grabs it. She then inserts the bullet into the mag, the bullet's butt facing to the number indicators.
She finally puts the last mag into it before shutting the box up. She stands up from her chair with the box in her hands and begins to look around her room. Like an idiot, she looks around her room and sometimes halts to think where she should hide this. Next to her desk is the two high open shelves where she puts her books, figurines, and miniature buildings. And next to the shelf is the small cupboard where she stored her clothes. And there're the nine-box colorful lockers across the cupboard.
She doesn't think putting the box on the shelves or in the cupboard is a good idea since they are easily accessible. The locker is the best option for her since the locker requires separate keys to open. She picks one locker box on the top left that has the key in it. She opens upward and stores the box in. She then closes it and eventually locks it with haste and fears that her sisters might find out what she's hiding.
She takes the key off the locker and quickly hides it in her favorite pencil case. And just to make sure, she then puts the pencil case on top of the shelf. She just steps back from the shelf as her eyes still gaze at the pencil case she put away. It was a momentary 5 seconds of gazing before she closed her eyes and bowed down. Then lets out a sigh of relief, albeit heavy from the bottom of her lungs as if she just smoked.
Her secret is safe for now.
She turns her head towards the door with such frown and winced eyes. She was then exited her room and decided to go downstairs. The bathroom is totally cleaned, evidence of her self-medication has trashed and cleaned away, and she thoroughly washed the bloody yellow T-shirt and put it at the hanger to dry it. It's only a matter of time to think of something when her sisters ask why there is a hole in her bright shirt.
For the replacement of her previous shirt, she wore a clean orange T-shirt while her short green jeans were replaced with purple shorts. She doesn't have to worry much about her wound, the color of her shirt conceals it. The short jeans are clean of any visible blood, but she puts it away in the bin of dirty clothes just in case. She left the jacket on the hanging clothes at her room's door. Which she didn't take into account that might have some blood on it, but remembered that she zipped it up to the neck.
With nothing to worry about, she continues down the hall before heading down the stairs. Her pace was at best calm but sloppy. She's already tired from the frustration of healing herself and cleaning up evidence that she nearly slipped on the last third steps of the stairs. She managed to save herself by leaning against the wall to her right. Once she reached the bottom, she sighed. She may be tired, but she's having a bit of a problem controlling her fast-paced heartbeat.
She's about to enter the door to her right to the living room when she heard the front door opened.
"Tadaima!"
Sakurako simply turns her head to the door but did not turn her body. Her sisters have made it home. Nadeshiko was the last to close the front door as Hanako undid her shoes. Sakurako then turns her whole body towards the sisters. Sakurako raised an eyebrow as she noticed the shopping bag of wares in Nadeshiko's left hands. From the looks of it, the sisters got all the wares that Sakurako destroyed.
Sakurako only watches in silence as Hanako glances back to her. Hanako looks pretty hopeful that Sakurako did not turn the whole house to be the next horrible circus. Nadeshiko looks composed, on the other hand, but noticed the frowning eyebrows when she blinks. Sakurako can tell how irritated she is to cover the wares of more than 70000 yens. Sakurako might feel irritated herself if they bother to send her to do the wares shopping, which might take more than three hours for her.
Nadeshiko releases her shoes off before stepping onto the wooden floor. Nadeshiko gives a sigh before she wipes the sweat on her forehead. She then lifts her head to look at Sakurako, expecting that she either commented with a snicker or became cheerful after yesterday's aftermath. But, of course, Sakurako noticed Nadeshiko raised an eyebrow to Sakurako's current unexpressive emotion. Sakurako blinks twice as she looks at her sisters, probably her eyes are tired from all that mess her sisters didn't know.
"Welcome home, Onee-chan, Hanako-chan," Sakurako greeted with a straight face, but she sounded so genuine about it.
"Hello, Saku Onee-chan," Hanako greeted back, looking away from her sister with her eyebrows frowned. "Please tell me you didn't do something stupid while we're away."
Sakurako only shrugs, shakes her head to gesture a no. "Why would I want to do that?"
Nadeshiko only blinks once and sighs before looking back to her sister. "Are you really angry with us right now?"
Sakurako visibly and awkwardly leans her head back slightly, raising a right eyebrow in the process. "No, not really, Onee-chan."
"I see…" Nadeshiko replied with a suspicious glare before she reached the shopping bags towards Sakurako. "We want to change clothes first. Put these bags in the living room, and begin sorting out the wares. So don't try to break anything, alright?"
Sakurako only looks and takes the bags off her hand, before looking down into the contents with an oddly sincere look. "Yes, Onee-chan."
Hanako glares at her face, but concern shows in her gleaming eyes. "Are you okay, Sakurako-chan?"
Sakurako looks back at her, and she only shrugs, accompanied by her shrugging arms. "I'm pretty much fine right now. Is there something wrong?"
"Hanako just making sure," Hanako replied in third person as her head shook. "I know you're angry about being grounded to do all the house chores."
"Hmm…" Sakurako raised both eyebrows and tilted her head to the statement with such a poker face. "Is that so?"
Hanako was a bit surprised to Sakurako's neutral response, but she could only narrow her eyebrows. "Y-yes, Saku Onee-chan."
"Hm…" Sakurako momentarily stayed silent, before looking down the bags one more time. "Alright, heading off to the living room now."
Sakurako then leaves as her sisters watch her. Nadeshiko and Hanako had a curious look on their faces when they looked through the doorway to the living room. They see Sakurako emits the contents out of the shopping bags and carefully puts them on the table one by one. She didn't look like in a hurry to pull the contents out. Sakurako even took her time to examine some of the wares her sisters bought.
What was off was that Sakurako, for once, actually took caution of the wares and didn't even mutter a single word. Sakurako should've groaned even to do trivial tasks since she was lazy. Sakurako didn't even look angry. But her cheerfulness was replaced with such a bore and empty face.
Satisfied that Sakurako is actually doing what she had been told, the sisters went upstairs to change their clothes.
When they're halfway on the stairs, Hanako asked her eldest sister. "Did you notice something off?"
Nadeshiko did pause for the moment. She only answered when they reached the top. "Yes, Hanako. But I think Sakurako might've learned her lesson."
Hanako seems to disagree. "Hanako still can't believe about that. But, if you say so, Onee-chan."
Back to Sakurako, she continues on to work her duty that Nadeshiko told her. Sakurako stores and puts the jars, glasses, and plates in their respective places in the kitchen. She also brings some of the wares into the other part of the house to be replaced as accurately as possible, or that's what she had thought. There were pretty many wares that need to be placed at their exact places. It was… astonishing that Sakurako actually remembered where most of those wares should be placed or stored.
That job alone took her for about at least full five minutes. The last ware was the vase, and she places it on the shelves next to the couch in the living room. She carefully puts it on the third row of the open shelves, on the very right of that row, along with water and a flower. Her eyes briefly glued onto the vase before she closed her eyes and sighed. Sakurako steps away from the shelves and proceeds to sit down on the floor at the table. Facing at the sight of their large TV while she folds the plastic bags into small triangle folds.
As Sakurako finishes her last folding, her sisters enter into the living room. Nadeshiko is in her blue shirt and sand-colored briefs, whereas Hanako is in her yellow shirt and a short brown skirt. Nadeshiko has a phone in her hand, but Hanako has a drawing book in her hand. They proceed to sit down at the table next to Sakurako. Their faces looked pretty displeased with Sakurako's presence, but inside they're glad that Sakurako did her chore by sweeping the house off from dust and didn't tornado the house.
Sakurako finished her folding, and before she could inspect her own folding, Nadeshiko began to converse. "You finished yet?"
"Already," Sakurako simply replied, holding up one of the triangle foldings. "Is there another chore that I should do?"
The two sisters give a glance at her, they narrow their eyebrows, but Sakurako can tell that they're surprised. "Not yet, for now," Nadeshiko replied, nearly in a calm but suspicious tone.
"Did you…?" Hanako paused, unsure of how to ask. "Did you clean the bathroom?"
Sakurako didn't give an evident expression, aside from raising one of her eyebrows. "I did. Why?"
Nadeshiko seems to be caught off-guard by the answer, her darting eyes and a slightly open mouth give it away. "Wait, you actually cleaned the bathroom?"
"Yeah, I did clean the bathroom," Sakurako calmly replied with a nod, but she's panicking a bit inside her heart. "Is there something wrong about it?"
Sakurako did actually clean the whole bathroom than just cleaning all of the evidence of her self-surgery. Even with the wound, Sakurako can't help but to remember of her punishment on doing chores. Sakurako guessed it wouldn't hurt to clean the whole bathroom. At least, someone doesn't have to clean the bathroom for today.
"Oh… that's unusual," Nadeshiko had to admit on that, lazily planting her chin on her fist. "I didn't know you can clean the bathroom."
Sakurako only shrugs back at her. "I didn't even know I can do that either."
Honestly, this is the point where Nadeshiko and Hanako are dumbfounded and stared at her with perplex. "What?!"
Sakurako looked back at the sisters, giving a wondered look with a flat smile. "What?"
"Please don't tell me you emptied a detergent to clean the bathroom," Hanako seemed pretty worried as she has visibly frowned her eyes.
Sakurako glances at her eyes as she huddles the folded plastic bags together. "No, I didn't. Only a handful but not too much. I even use other detergents to clean the grimes and mop the floor."
If there's one thing about Sakurako, she's pretty smart than she should even to clean the bathroom with different detergents. Nadeshiko really wants to say she's lying, but the looks and odd demeanor Sakurako currently possessed makes her say the otherwise. Hell, Nadeshiko did see some evidence on the bottled detergents recently used by Sakurako, and all of them are still nearly full. Hanako even did come to the bathroom first, and to actually see Sakurako, the clumsy, had cleaned the bathroom to be so pristine is baffling at best.
"I see…" Hanako is speechless for the moment. "Hanako didn't expect to smell a nice aroma when I entered the bathroom."
Nadeshiko glances at Sakurako with widened eyes, raised eyebrows, and she rests her fist on the table. "Anyway, what were you doing while we were away?"
"Nothing much to be honest," Sakurako replied, she proceeded to play her fingers on the table. "I stored the groceries I bought, swept the house, cleaned the bathroom, tidied my room, and… I think that's it. I spend the rest of the hour relaxing."
It's pretty ironic that the lazy girl would even do those tiring chores, and voluntarily nonetheless. The sisters are already impressed by Sakurako's actions. But they can't help but to pay attention to how Sakurako delivers her sentence. They were pretty sure Sakurako never talk this decent yet so simple as an energetic and cheerful girl. However, they noted that Sakurako's tone is a bit vague.
Nadeshiko minds her business on her phone but then lifts her head when she remembered something. "Sakurako?"
"Yes?"
"Did you buy those groceries at the Bakimura store as I told you hours ago?"
Sakurako raised an eyebrow, but she managed to hide her surprise to her sisters. "Uh, no. I bought those groceries at Sakagawa Store."
Nadeshiko and Hanako can't help but to show disbelieves through widened eyes and slightly opened mouth. Sakurako knew that a particular store, the distance from the house, is only fewer than 15 minutes. But the distance between that store and Bakimura... thankfully shorter than heading off from her house. Although the store was actually a convenience store, all of the items according to the list were available and by luck with lower prices than in the previous store.
"Are you serious?" Nadeshiko narrowed her eyebrows, clearly angry in her calm composure. "Did you suddenly got lost on your way there and end up at Sakagawa Store?"
"I got distracted because I goofed around until I realized I was at the wrong store," Sakurako replied, she then patiently leans her back against the bottom of the sofa with her eyes closed. "But then, I thought that I should check that store first."
Hanako frowns at Sakurako. "And then…?"
"I didn't really have to bother to go to Bakimura store," Sakurako shook her head. "The store has everything that is on the list. Most of the groceries were cheaper, I think."
Sakurako pulls out a price receipt from her shorts' pocket and hands them over to Nadeshiko. "What do you think?"
Nadeshiko inspects the price receipt, but she leans her head closer just to make sure she didn't read it wrong. "Tissues, syrup, detergent, powdered milk? Not only most of these groceries were cheaper, but you stick with the same brand as well?"
The sisters dumbfound back at her, Sakurako could only shrug. "Yeah, basically."
Nadeshiko slowly gives back the price receipt on the table as she glances at her. "Looks like I don't have to scold you for underestimating your job, but… I think you got lucky as well."
Sakurako raised an eyebrow to her. "What do you mean?"
"Apparently…" Nadeshiko paused before she landed her cheek on her fist. "There was a deadly shootout at Bakimura Store."
Sakurako widens her eyes, looking so surprised, but she actually fell nervous. "Are you serious?"
"I'm serious," Nadeshiko replied, but with a concerning look.
Only to hear about that nearly break Sakurako's calm composure, even though it didn't surprise her. "So, that's why I heard loud noises from outside the store."
Nadeshiko proceeds to turn on the TV as Hanako looks at Sakurako. "How loud was it?"
"Loud enough," Sakurako replied, bowed her head down to the table. "I can barely say it sounds like someone's hitting a metal sheet with a hammer."
Nadeshiko changes the channel for about six channels before getting to the news channel. "Hmm… that news should be up by now."
The news channel is currently expositioning about a theft down at a certain car sales building. It held no value for Sakurako and the sisters since they have no interest in cars. But it takes for about 10 seconds for the news to finally change the topic. That made Sakurako to feel so uneasy, but she didn't make it too apparent to her sisters by slightly straightened her back. Her eyes glued to the TV without a word, and without a single breath even heard.
The first image that comes up on the TV is the image of the store's front building, with evidence of holed windows and interior damage from outside the building, along with the yellow police line sealed around the premises. Her hands froze on the table with her left slightly twitching by itself. She didn't think of anything. She's just too focused on listening to the news.
"… A horrific shootout occurs at Bakimura Store because of what seems to be the result of a fight between five thugs and the store owner himself. Witnesses claim that the store owner rented out one of his storage to store illegal drugs owned by the gangsters. The witnesses have stated that the store owner refused to let the criminals to ship the drugs out of the storage due to not paying the rent for the whole year. The fight had been escalated when the store owner raised the price for paying the rent. At which point, the criminals pull out their firearms and begin to put the owner at gunpoint."
Sakurako became uneasy, but she didn't make it too obvious as she leans back a bit with a straight face.
"Only when an employee came in and shot the criminals with his shotgun, the shootout starts. This has left much damage to the store and cause the casualty of three people injured, one of them which is an employee and the other is a middle-school teenager found hiding in the warehouse, and ten more killed, including two defending employees, two criminals..."
Sakurako narrowed her eyebrows on the last statement-
"and a child amongst them…"
Sakurako fell deaf for the moment as her eyes glued to the news with an unreadable expression. Did the newscaster say that… a child was killed? Sakurako straightened her head a little with shock. Her twitching hand stopped, and her jaw left open slightly. She could feel her beating heart being stab from the inside. Her ears regained hearing and listened to the rest of the news.
Her mind was paralyzed at that moment.
"When the police investigate the crime scene, investigators are baffled to see that one of the supposed dead criminals is missing a weapon which indicates whether either employees, criminals or witnesses stole the weapon. Furthermore, the police have inspected the surveillance cameras and have stated that they were activated after maintenance, two minutes before the criminals enter the store.
Unfortunately, the record taken from the surveillance cameras were in low quality and blurry even after maintenance. Adding the fact that the store lacks surveillance, which cameras were only located at the entrance and the middle of the aisles, and the record has been tampered with. This gave a setback for the investigators to identify who might have stolen the weapon and the criminals who have fled the scene. However, the police managed to get the description of the criminals from the accounting witnesses and are looking for them."
Sakurako nearly lets out a relieved sigh. That means that neither the police nor the criminals knew she was even there and stole the gun. Except for two people, the employee she saved from getting killed and the wounded girl she hid at the warehouse. Sakurako was thankful that she wasn't recorded at the entrance until she realized she did run pass the middle aisle.
But Sakurako raised an eyebrow about someone that tampered with the CCTV record. She somehow finds that very odd.
"The store owner in question has been arrested for possible illegal drug operations while the employees are being testified whether they should be released or not for their defense of the store they were working in. As of now, Bakimura Store has been sealed off from the public for an indefinite amount of time…"
Nadeshiko and Hanako turn their heads to Sakurako. It concerned them that Sakurako has been so eerily quiet to hear the whole news, let alone not to make stupid and annoying remarks about it. They had known long that Sakurako wasn't interested much in the news and would carelessly change channel no matter who watched it. But to see Sakurako seriously watching this one particular news was… staggeringly unbelievable. However, the sisters didn't make any comment to her while she's wearing a straight face.
Sakurako didn't move much, except for her hand to slowly reach for the remote and change it to Hanako's favorite channel. Sakurako drops the remote close to the table to produce a small thump, which is a rare sight for her sisters, and it caught them off guard. Nadeshiko and Hanako increase their concerns, even the eldest sister tilts her head with her eyebrows raised and narrowed.
"Sakurako?" Nadeshiko called, watching Sakurako is pacing her normal breath. "Are you alright?"
Sakurako didn't give an immediate reply. Her head only bowed for a moment. She sits there for ten seconds before she decidedly stands limply and heads for the room's exit.
"I'll be in my room," Sakurako calmly said in her foreboding tone, halfway to the exit.
Nadeshiko and Hanako only quietly watched as she left the room. They knew for long about Sakurako's attitude. But this is the first time to see her so upset, so quiet, and she left without a single annoying remark like how she usually does. They never thought to hear this one particular news upset her that much.
Nadeshiko only left wondering in her mind. "What is wrong with you, Sakurako?"
The day turned to night. The curtains closed, but the lights were left on for this one occasion. It wasn't because she's afraid of the dark, but something tells her she won't be able to sleep with the lights off. Like she had said previously, her room is clean and neat, not a single book or trash were left on the floor or her study table. This silence of boredom was replaced with the sound of shuffling ion the bed.
Sakurako relentlessly shuffles her body left and right in an effort to get a comfortable position to sleep. Her eyes are closed and tired, but she couldn't sleep somehow. She slightly opens her eyes before turning her body towards the night table next to her bed. The digital alarm clock on the table shows the time is already five minutes past twelve in the dead of night. She should be sleeping right now.
Sakurako already knows by now for the fact that she can't sleep either with the lights on and off. She turns her head forward to look at the ceilings while her hands lie above her blanket. She takes her time to think of something that might help her to sleep. She can only express her exhaustion when one thing comes into mind. She should drink the milk from the fridge, which might help her to sleep.
Gradually, she rises up and sits at the edge of her bed. She sits there for a moment to rub her sore eyes and regain awareness of her surroundings. With a coarse sigh, she immediately stood up and made her steady walk for the door. She then follows down the rather dim hallways before she reached the stairs. She walked downstairs carefully and steadily with her hand is holding onto the guarding rail.
As she rubs her eyes one more time, she walks down the hall towards the direction of the kitchen. Per usual, she enters the living room first before heading for to the next room towards the kitchen. Her head was bowed, and she finally lifts her head when she's halfway through the living room. But she immediately stopped in her tracks with widening eyes. There was something… very wrong in front of her eyes.
A person is sitting at the dining table, looks like a woman. She has her back facing to Sakurako and has relatively long black hair down to her waist. Sakurako didn't notice something else aside from her red-pinkish dress. As far as Sakurako knew, no one had told her that they'd have a guess coming in the middle of the night. Unless…
Sakurako swallowed her spit as she called the person from the living room. "K-konnichiwa. M-miss?"
Sakurako only waited for her response, but the lady didn't even move an inch.
A few seconds have passed, and Sakurako slowly becomes unnerved by her presence. She didn't want to call out to the unknown lady again. If there's one thing taught her about idiocy in horror movies was not to continue shouting when no one answers her call. It was upsetting her even more when the lady hasn't made a single noise as well, not even a greeting or a whisper. Something wasn't right.
Sakurako really wanted to go upstairs and warn her sisters, but curiosity overpowered her. Even though she didn't expect much that this woman is even real, but she needs to make sure. She slowly and steadily walks towards the unknown woman, not even making a single noise from her feet. Her eyes never looked away in order to keep the woman in her sight. The only last thing she wanted is for that woman to do something obnoxious when Sakurako looked away.
She got closer and closer, and her heart can't stop from beating too fast. This is the first time she deals with an unknown person in the house by herself. She's being dumb by now, but she knew she might be asking for a death sentence. She halts for about a half meter away from the woman. She tried to look over her face by leaning slightly to her right, but she couldn't because of the woman's straight hair.
She didn't dare to call her. But then, she decided to try to put a hand on her shoulder. With silent swallowing, she deliberately reaches her open palm to her shoulder. She is very tensed at this moment, with the proof that sweats are pouring off her forehead. Then her hand trembles as she reaches for the woman's shoulder. Sakurako's just too scared even to touch the woman, but she wanted to make sure that she's real. Her eyes still even glued onto the woman for God's sake.
With great effort to brave herself, she finally able to land a hand on the woman's shoulder. Sakurako froze for a moment as she observed the woman. That woman didn't flinch or even respond to her grip. Somehow, she noticed the odd sensation through her shoulder.
It was cold.
Sakurako takes a step closer to the woman and eventually pulls her shoulder a bit.
Only to have the woman's head to fall backward and shows her face to Sakurako. Sakurako's terror has been realized.
With an extremely dreadful look and her jaw dropped, she recognized the woman she just touched. It's the same woman she saw during the shootout of the store, the exact same dead woman. Blood is streaming down the dead woman's mouth, and three gunshot wounds present on her torso, which bloodied her whole dress. The dead woman's eyes are open and stare back through Sakurako's eyes, staring her down into her soul. That dead look was enough to send shivers down to Sakurako's spine, retracting her hand off her and steps away to the right.
Sakurako could only keep staring at the corpse in shock, nearly reaching a state to become paralyzed. She also took a step backward away from the woman's corpse, only to feel something touched her heel. She's frozen for a moment before turning her head slowly to behind her. Hoping it wasn't something worse than this.
She shouldn't have hoped that.
What lies behind her was the corpse of about five people that bloodied the portion of the dining area's floor. Four of those corpses were men, with one of them being an employee of Bakimura store. The last one was… Misaka? Every each of those dead people is all bloodied alongside their apparel, evidence of gunshots scattered around their bodies. Sakurako just can't believe it, and it appalls her more to see some of their eyes, including Misaka's, are left open and stare back at her. Sakurako saved her, how did Misaka die? Sakurako began to wish that she could scream if it weren't for her current fatigue.
Sakurako didn't have many options but to warn her sisters. She proceeded to run back out of the kitchen into the living room. But then She halts halfway through. To her surprise, there was a person who is alive standing in front of her. And that person was none other than her youngest sister, Hanako.
"H-Hanako?!" Sakurako agitatedly whispered, looking her through the eyes. "What are you doing down here?"
"I wanted to drink milk before I'm going to sleep," Hanako sleepily replied before she rubbed her eyes. "Is something wrong?"
"H-Hanako," Sakurako called, visibly stepping to the side to block her sight on the dead woman. "Go upstairs and warn Nadeshiko Onee-chan."
"Wha- why?" Hanako could wince her eyes to her agitating reply.
"I think the house is not safe," Sakurako replied as she approached her quickly and crouched down to hold Hanako's shoulders. "I need you to wake Nade Onee-chan up."
"S-Saku-chan, what's going on?" Hanako asked, her concern is visible through her gleaming eyes.
"I don't know what's going on," Sakurako admitted, she shook her head and looked to behind Hanako. "Go upstairs and wake-"
She halts mid-sentence because she saw the hall before the living room's doorway became dark. Sakurako swore there should be lights illuminated the hall. But her eyes caught something coming out from that doorway. It was something grey and metallic, and there was a hand emerged from the dark. Sakurako widens her eyes, drops her jaw slightly, and leans her head back in shock.
It was a loaded pistol, aiming straight for Hanako.
Sakurako immediately looked back to her youngest sister and quickly embraced her. "HANAKO!"
*DOR*
"Heeeeekh!"
Sakurako woke up from her dark slumber and jumped her back up straight. Sakurako took for about 10 seconds to get some deep breaths to calm her nerves. Sakurako then takes her time to scan her surroundings despite that her whole body is still shaking. She was finally able to place a hand on her flat chest when realizing that she's still inside her bedroom. It was all just a dream. She also noticed that she was able to sleep with the lights on.
She then turns her head to the night table next to her. The digital alarm clock shows that the time is currently at four o'clock in the morning. Sakurako raises her eyebrow to the clock, that is the first time she woke up too early in the morning. Of course, she didn't make much comment about it and gently placed her hand on the clock. She didn't do much except to watch the seconds of the alarm clock changes gradually.
Sakurako then looked away from the clock and bowed her head. Sakurako didn't think that she would receive a horrifying nightmare after yesterday's shootout. The incident came back to haunt her, and it made her restless to remember about it. She really wanted to forget what happened, but she just can't. She only ponders about what is wrong with herself.
For now, it would be best for her not to sleep again. She didn't care if she's still sleepy
07:00 AM.
Nadeshiko and Hanako had been awake thirty minutes earlier. Both Nadeshiko and Hanako spent their fifteen minutes for a shower, and that's about seven and a half minutes for each of them to get a shower. They both then spend for the next rough fifteen minutes to dress up in their school uniforms. Of course, they didn't bother to check on Sakurako if she's awake or not. For all they knew is that Sakurako is still sleeping this morning. It would be her fault anyway if both of them were coming to school late.
Nadeshiko is in her room, nearly finished to dress up. She wears on her skirt above the shirt before wearing on her usual blue vest for school. Once she looked in front of her mirror, she lets out a sigh. Nadeshiko remembered about Sakurako's punishment, and it means that one of Sakurako's duty is to cook for the sisters. Nadeshiko didn't expect much from the girl except to be served with charcoaled pancakes.
Nadeshiko grabs her school handbag and exits her room. She walked down the halls and met up with Hanako on the way. Hanako is already in her elementary school uniform, along with her school bag in her hand. They both then head out for the stairs.
"Shouldn't we wake Sakurako first, Onee-chan?" Hanako asked, looking up to her eldest sister.
Nadeshiko gave out an irritated sigh about that. "Why even bother?"
"Isn't it supposed to be Sakurako to make the breakfast for today?" Hanako asked her as they reached the stairs.
"I'm starting to wish you didn't remind me of that," Nadeshiko frowned just to think about it. "She can't cook that good."
"Oh…" Hanako paused, reminded herself about the burnt hotpot Sakurako made days ago. "Looks like we're going to eat cereals then."
They make their way to the dining room once they reached the ground floor. They didn't say much when they entered the living room. But they immediately noticed the pleasant scent that's coming from the kitchen. Looks like their mother cooked something for them. Hanako and Nadeshiko put their bags on the couch before heading for the dining table in the next room.
They then turn their heads toward the kitchen, only for them to be surprised.
Their mother wasn't cooking them breakfast. It's Sakurako who's cooking breakfast for them.
Sakurako is still busy with the cooking pan, while there are plates already prepared on the counter. The two sisters could only stand still and deadpan at the sight in front of them. They convinced themselves that they're not dreaming about it, even Nadeshiko had to shook her head to make sure she's not hallucinating. Hanako procured a dreadful look to the sight, whereas Nadeshiko raised both of her eyebrows to the interesting sight.
What's more baffling is that Sakurako is not burning the food up, yet.
"Sakurako," Nadeshiko called, even though Sakurako didn't turn her head. "Where's Okaa-san?"
"She's still upstairs," Sakurako replied as she cooked, visibly lifting her head to answer. "She had to take care of things in her room."
"I see…" Hanako slowly replied with an awkward look to Nadeshiko. "What is Saku nee-chan cooking, by the way?"
"Something simple," Sakurako replied flatly. "French Toast for today."
"Eh?" the sisters simultaneously asked with their heads leaned back. "French Toast?"
"Yes," Sakurako turned to look at them, only to notice the strange look they have. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"That's so unusual," Nadeshiko stated, wincing her left eyebrow and raising her right eyebrow. "How did you even learn to cook that?"
Sakurako halted on her cooking as she looked at them with a dull look. "Internet."
Their faces filled with amazement, speechless just doesn't sit well to their reaction. Nadeshiko and Hanako awkwardly looked at each other for a moment before looking back at Sakurako. Sakurako looks back at them after she flips the bread on the pan. Sakurako raised an eyebrow to their stare.
"What?"
"O-oh, nothing," Nadeshiko awkwardly replied, before they finally sat down on the table. "When did you wake up anyway?"
"Four AM," Sakurako flatly replied, but that caught her sisters off-guard.
"Wait, seriously?" Hanako asked in disbelieve. "How did you wake up?"
Sakurako stays silent for the next seconds as she blankly stares forward. "I had a nightmare."
Hanako's face seems surprised by the answer. But Nadeshiko gave a concerned look.
"What kind of nightmare?" Nadeshiko asked, tilting her head to the side.
Sakurako paused on her cooking, her eyes noticeably looking down to her left. "I can't tell."
Both of the sisters are now perplexed at the answer. "What do you mean by that?" Nadeshiko asked, folding her arms together on the table.
"I can't really remember the nightmare I had," Sakurako replied as she flipped the other bread. "Everything happened… so fast."
It indeed was a lie. Sakurako doesn't feel like to bother her sisters with her dark nightmare, even if she remembered every single part of her dream.
"I see…" Nadeshiko sighed, yet, she has her concern on the supposed naughty girl even when she's grounded. "When the food's ready?"
"Right now," Sakurako replied, turning the stove off and picked the slices of bread off the pan.
Sakurako places the last slices of bread on the last plate. Putting the cooking pan away, she then grabs the maple syrup and pours it on top of the loaves of bread. She then decorates the top of the toasts with a small rectangular slice of butter. She then also decorates the toasts with the blueberries she found in the fridge, the ones she cleaned, of course. She didn't forget to add a fork and a knife to each plate. And voila, four plates of French Toasts are ready to serve.
She brings two plates of French Toasts to the table, serving her sisters first to eat. It is somewhat relieving to see that Sakurako didn't burn the food. But they really can't deny how well she actually cooked the toasts. It would be funny to tell someone that she can cook this good when in truth, she can't really cook.
Sakurako returns to the counter to grab her plate before she sits down next to Hanako. "Shall we?"
They then clasped their hands together to praying hands. "Itadakimasu!"
The three then grab their forks and knives and begin to eat the toasts. Hanako cuts a small piece of the toast, sticks it to her fork, and eats it. It only takes but a blink of an eye for Hanako to taste the toast, and by Jove how sweet and crunchy the toast is. Hanako couldn't help but to look back at her middle sister's cooking with her mouth slightly open. Before she turns her head towards Sakurako, who is currently enjoying the breakfast that she cooked for themselves with a refined look.
Nadeshiko is also surprised by the great taste of Sakurako's toast. For all she knew, this is the first time Sakurako cooked something good. No, not good, it was fantastic. How Sakurako's cooking skill turned from suck to that damn good, she didn't know, but she knew Sakurako was actually voluntary about it. Now Nadeshiko is starting to wish she had come down much earlier to see how did Sakurako make it.
"Sakurako, did you make these all by yourself?" Nadeshiko asked before taking another bite.
"Why yes," Sakurako replied after a bite. "What do you think?"
"It's incredible!" Hanako replied, before taking another bite and swallowed it. "How did you even cook this good?"
"Yeah, I'm… very surprised," Nadeshiko deadpanned at Sakurako. "We were hoping that you didn't cook for this morning."
"Why I shouldn't?" Sakurako asked with a raised brow. "Isn't cooking also a part of my punishment to do the chores?"
"Well, that's true, at least," Nadeshiko tilted her head to the acknowledgment. "I just didn't think you'll cook this good."
"Well, I followed the instructions on making it," Sakurako replied flatly before taking another bite. "But, I did add a little of something in the ingredients."
"I see…" Nadeshiko paused, felt so impressed this far. "Maybe one day, I'll ask you to make this same breakfast for us."
"I agree," Hanako added with a nod and her gleaming eyes. "I like this so much."
Sakurako only stares at both of her sisters for their positive reactions. Sakurako didn't react much, only to keep a cool-headed face towards her sisters. Sakurako then stares at Hanako as the sisters stare back with silent content. Sakurako only watched as Hanako gradually gave out a confused look with her head tilted. Sakurako didn't say much, but she lets out a happy sigh and a genuine smile before gently rubbing over Hanako's head.
"Alright, I'll make this same recipe again for another day if you like," Sakurako replied sincerely, before putting her hands away off her little sister. "Just let me know, and I'll make it."
"Okay, Onee-chan," Hanako nodded before they continue to eat again.
They are halfway to finish up their breakfast when Nadeshiko asks Sakurako. "Say, what were you doing from four AM?"
"Reading," Sakurako simply replied, eating the blueberries at the edge of her plate.
"Reading what?" Hanako asked curiously, before downing the last bite on the first toast.
"A manga," Sakurako paused her eating for a moment. "And then… made sure that I have packed my bag for school."
"Hmm?" Nadeshiko gave a curious look to her. "You didn't forget your homework, right?"
"I double-checked that first before I read manga," Sakurako replied with a shrug. "I didn't forget anything."
"Ah, glad to hear that then," Nadeshiko replied with a nod before they continue to eat.
As Sakurako eats, Hanako and Nadeshiko look at each other. They both seem to agree that there are noticeable changes in Sakurako's behavior. Sakurako had never behaved this way for once. Not even for Sakurako to suppress her urge to complain. It is rather compelling for them to have this kind of Sakurako. But they can't tell if it's because of her punishment for her stupid stunt.
They are finally able to finish up their breakfast and stack them down in the sink. Their mother eventually comes down to the dining table, and of course, displays the same disbelieve the sisters had. Their mother said that she would handle the dishes, stating that the sisters should go to school. The sisters exit the dining room and grab their bags; Sakurako's bag was hiding between the table and the couch. They then headed for the front door and wore on their shoes.
Once they wore on their shoes, they looked back to the house interior and said aloud. "Itte kimasu!"
"Itte rashai!" their mother responded before the sisters finally exit their house.
Nadeshiko and Hanako were the first to exit and have a head-start than Sakurako. Sakurako was the last and the one to shut the front door. It was then Nadeshiko, and Hanako saw Himawari is waiting for Sakurako at the front. It's a usual thing for Sakurako to walk together with Himawari to school. But for today, it might not be the typical day for Himawari due to Sakurako's lack of antic.
"Oh, Himako," Nadeshiko greeted, stopping right in front of her. "Ohayou."
"Ohayou, Nade Onee-chan," Himawari greeted with a smile. "Hanako-chan. How are you doing?"
"We're doing fine, Himawari nee-chan," Hanako replied to Himawari with a bow. "What about you?"
"I'm doing fine as well, Hanako-chan," Himawari happily replied, and then let out a sincere sigh. "Where's Sakurako?"
"I'm right here," Sakurako flatly answered, with her sisters giving way for her. "Ohayou gozaimasu."
"Ohayou," Himawari nodded with her eyes closed. "I hope you didn't forget anything else about homework."
"I didn't forget anything," Sakurako positively replied, raising her bag in her hands up to her waist. "I have double-checked my books before leaving the house."
Himawari leaned her head back slightly, having a curious look on her face. "Oh, really?"
Sakurako didn't say much except to nod for a reply.
Himawari caught her reply, but she winced her eyes to Sakurako's current behavior. "Well, aren't you going to say anything?"
Sakurako glances at her; her eyes make contact with Himawari's. "Whatever do you mean by that?"
Now it was Himawari's turn to be confused by her response but then gave a glare. "You're still angry about me, aren't you?"
Sakurako only stares at her for a few seconds, until she realized what Himawari meant. "Oh, the time you're angry at me for the stunt I pulled?"
"Yes, along with Hanako and Nadeshiko-chan," Himawari sternly replied with her eyes closed. She expected that Sakurako would reply with silly remarks.
Sakurako only stares at her, with her sisters watch for Sakurako's response.
"I don't know why I should be angry about that."
Himawari unconsciously opens her eyes, then glances at her with mild surprise. "Eh?"
Himawari then looks up to Nadeshiko, who only gave a shrug to Sakurako's current behavior.
Himawari glances back to Sakurako with her eyebrows raised, decidedly to forget the current topic. "Come on then, Sakurako."
Himawari turns her body towards the road, but her head is still facing towards Sakurako's sisters. "We're heading out."
"Be careful out there, Himawari nee-chan," Hanako said with a slight bow before they parted ways.
"You too, Sakurako," Nadeshiko added, the left hand is on her hip.
"Of course, Onee-chan," Sakurako nodded, still keeping her current poker face.
Sakurako and Himawari walk together down the road. Himawari should be irritated by now that she's still walking with Sakurako, knowing the stupid antics Sakurako had in her mind. Himawari expected much from this idiotic, bright, and noisy girl to scream and bother her. Especially the part when she starts to complain and scream about that time when Himawari and her sisters criticized her two days ago. Himawari mentally prepared herself to Sakurako's loudmouth.
It wasn't long for them to reach their usual route toward the school. The same rail guard on their left, alongside the water-filled rice field that never stops to amaze people. They pretty much enjoy their walk as they met up with other schoolmates who are either their classmates or not. Sedan cars occasionally pass through the empty road. A couple of noticeable doves are flying in the sky.
It was… rather odd for Himawari, especially their current walk to the school. Himawari had noticed that the walk has been silent, too silent if she had to admit. Sakurako didn't say a single word while she's following Himawari from behind. She occasionally glances at Sakurako to see how she's doing. It struck her to see that there was not a single hint of cheerfulness on her face, aside from the straight and tired look. Sakurako didn't look sleepy, but to see her tired posture gave it away.
"Sakurako," Himawari called, looking concerned as she slowed down and walked next to her. "Are you alright?"
"I'm pretty much fine, Hima-chan," Sakurako replied, holding her bag on her left hand as she rubs her left shoulder with her other hand. "Why did you ask?"
"Well, you have been so silent, Sakurako," Himawari admitted, frowning her forehead and raising her eyebrows. "Is there something wrong?"
"No, not really," Sakurako then proceeds to rub her right eye. "I'm just feeling a little tired."
Himawari sighed and blinked her eyes in annoyance. "You overslept again, didn't you?"
"Does it count if I slept at eleven PM?" Sakurako asked with a raised eyebrow.
Himawari had a mild surprise in her eyes, but she answers her anyway. "A little, I guess."
"I see. I did sleep at eleven," Sakurako paused as she shrugged. "But somehow I woke up at four in the morning."
"I'm sorry?" Himawari was caught off-guard of her reply. "You woke up at four?"
"Yes, I did," Sakurako politely replied.
"But, you did sleep again, right?" Himawari asked curiously.
"No, I did not," Sakurako slowly replied. "I spend the next hour to read manga and make sure that I have packed my bag."
Himawari gives a questioning look to Sakurako, tilting her head away from her. "Why did you wake up at four, anyway?"
Sakurako gazes her eyes down, doesn't mind if there's any obstruction ahead of her. "I had a nightmare."
Himawari has gotten used to hearing Sakurako's weird dreams, but rarely a nightmare. "What kind of nightmare?"
"I… can't really remember," Sakurako reluctantly replied. "Everything just happened so fast in my dream."
Himawari seems a bit disappointed to hear that. "Not even a single part of your dream?"
Sakurako winces her eyes, pretending to struggle to remember what the nightmare was all about. She looked so convincing in Himawari's eyes, especially with her tired posture.
"Now that you said it," Sakurako paused for a moment. "I remembered a glimpse of my nightmare."
Himawari seems pretty interested to hear that. "And that is?"
Sakurako finally stops wincing her eyes and lifts her head straight. "Something… bad happened to Hanako. I just can't remember what it was."
Honestly, this is the part where Himawari widens her eyes in surprise. That's the first time for Himawari to hear Sakurako's nightmare involved one of her sisters. Somehow, it was relieving for her that Sakurako can't remember what happened to Hanako in her nightmare. What she didn't know is that some of Sakurako's answers pretty much lie.
They continue onward to their beloved Nanamori Middle School. And for once again, in silence.
