Chapter 11
My eyes flew open.
I was in bed. My velvet blanket covered my body neck-to-toe. My head stuck out as if the blanket was twice as big as it needed to be.
I laid my head on its side. Noticing I stirred, my guardian met my eyes from his perch on a chair next to my bed.
"Are you alright?"
"Y-yes," I nodded, turning my eyes away from him. "But I feel raw inside."
"That's no surprise," He shook his head solemnly. "When I found you, you were sobbing so hard, I was worried you might vomit. I couldn't get you to stop coughing until I picked you up, laid you against my shoulder, and took you home. By the time I returned, you were asleep."
Sniffing, I rotated my gaze to the ceiling. "How did you find me?"
"I was on my way back from work at the lab when I heard you crying," He put his hand to his chin. "And it's a good thing I investigated; who knows how long you might have been there."
I bit into my lower lip.
"Kotomi . . . I understand that you want closure on your parents' death. I would like to know the full story myself,"
Interested, I sat up from my bed.
"But, it's clear personally investigating such matters is having a bad effect on your emotional state. Right now, you only need to be concerned with living life as you always have; not attempting to reveal some villainous conspiracy."
I blinked for a few moments to stall. Something inside me argued I should listen to him. On the other hand, I felt like
I knew too much to stop everything now.
"What if my hunch is right?" I stare straight into his heart. "If someone's responsible for their deaths, then I need to find them."
"There's not enough evidence to come to that conclusion," my guardian sighed. "I'd know; I've reviewed much of the information you've uncovered."
"But . . . " I hopped off my bed. "What about the letter? They wrote it as if they knew they were going to . . ."
"They were probably addressing the housekeeper," my guardian theorized casually. "Or even me or one of his other co-workers."
As I frown, he grasps my shoulders tightly.
"I'm around the organization daily, Kotomi. If there was anything I found that suggested someone could've done this, I would let you know."
I gasped. "What about Dr. Hirmou rallying scientists to grant him executive control over the facility?"
My guardian flinched. For a moment, he'd forgotten I'd been continuing my research endeavors. "That may be so. I won't argue that Dr. Hiromu is particularly perturbed by your parents' passing, but I'd know if he was capable of murder. His actions are nothing more than a power grab."
I was losing. Badly. In the course of a minute, he'd shot down my most compelling piece of evidence. If all my hard work had gained nothing substantial, then what was the point of continuing? I could have reminded him of the internet page that jet-started my investigation, but there was no guarantee anyone from the facility had written that post.
Ultimately, I was out of ideas.
I gave up.
"Alright," I clenched my teeth. "I'll stop,"
A warm smile crossed his face. I had seen him act emotionally in the past couple days, but I'd never seen him so happy. There couldn't have been better evidence that he cared about me.
"But, please . . . Don't let the possibility leave your mind. If anyone at the facility acts suspicious-"
"I'll let you know," He cut me off, standing from his seat.
"What time is it?"
He checked the time on his watch. "7:35. I'm nearly done with dinner, so whenever you're ready, come downstairs."
With the slightest skip in his step, he walked out the door. Once I was sure he was beyond earshot, I snuck back into my covers and cried.
I don't want it to be this simple . . . Why can't I be right about this?
Why are the just dead . . . And nothing more?
Friday
"You look oddly motivated,"
Takeshi reacted to the fierce look in my eyes as soon as I sat down. I couldn't tell whether he was impressed or the tiniest bit frightened.
"What's got you so worked up?"
"I have a lot to do today," I stretched out my arms. "I need to make sure my mind stays active so I don't forget,"
"Is that something 'Kotomi-chan' told you?" His lips curled up.
"Nah," I waved my hand, digging through my backpack for my science textbook. "She'd word it with much more eloquent prose."
Once class began, I ran over my plans for the day once more in my head: I would apologize to Chitanda once class ended, head to Kotomi's house to make things up with her, and then I'd . . .
I tore into my lip.
Go home to apologize to Dad.
Conviction won out over my comfort zone; I didn't care how angry I was at him, I'm no better than him if I react to his behavior with anger.
But the beatings . . . the shouting . . . the screaming.
I dug my fingers into my scalp. Okay, Tomoya. Breathe . . Breathe . . . Breathe . . . .
Finally, I wagged my head side to side at a speed that could rival a dog's tail.
I can do this.
Class normally would have bored me, but I was too busy rehearsing what I would say to Chitanda to take much notice. While I picked up a fact every so often from the lecture, I'm pretty sure info not related to my future apologies fell to the wayside. On the plus side, the teacher had no reason to scold me; I appeared to be quite attentive.
When class ended, I strode quietly to Sakura's seat. When she caught my eye, her features creased.
I addressed her as politely as I knew how. "Chitanda-san, I am really, really sorry about acting like such a jerk yesterday. "
Scoffing, she shifted to the front of her seat.
"There was no reason for me to act the way I did, and, I don't want my stupidness to stop us from being friends."
She didn't react at all. I knew it was gonna come to this.
"Please," I pulled my knees back and touched the ground with my nose. "I don't want you to hate me,"
That caught her attention. She twirled her legs back in my direction and tapped her chin thoughtfully. After a few minutes of consideration, she patted me on the head.
"You can get up now,"
"Oh," As I leaped up from the ground, red passed across my face. "So, is that a yes?"
"Out of the mercy of my unfailingly kind heart," She poked me on the nose. "Yes, I forgive you. How could anyone say 'no' to a grovel like that."
So that was her motivation. I rolled my eyes. "Can I head back to my seat?"
"Sure, why not?" She shrugged as I returned to my seat. Takeshi's jaw nearly touched the top of his desk. Why not savor that moment?
Once I sat down, he started to close his mouth. "Stop,"
I ordered, holding up my right hand. He listened for about a second but promptly started again.
"Nope," Smugly, I crossed my arms. "Just . . . Let it all sink in."
When classes finished, I packed up my school supplies as fast as I could. Before I got a chance to bolt out the door, a familiar face stopped me.
"Where are you going in such a rush, delinquent?"
I pivoted on my back foot to meet Chitanda's face. She's a bit too close for comfort . . .
"Off to a friend's house," I scooted away from her. She scooted towards me. I scooted back. She followed. Etc. etc., etc-
"Wait, we're gonna hit the wall if we keep doing this."
"Good point," We stopped where we were. She's still too close.
"What's up?"
"Just thinking about something . . ." To my relief, she finally straightened her posture. "You're cute; I feel bad for the girl who gets caught in your net."
"H-hey, I'm not interested in anything like that," I snapped flustered.
"Yeesh, you boys," She sniped. "So squeamish around girls." She batted her eyes at me. "It's not a crime to be pretty, is it?"
"I've . . . Gotta go!" I zoom across the hallway. The sound of a vicious giggle leaked into the back of my ear.
I think I liked her more when she was just mean! What if all the girls start teasing me like this?
I tried not to give the matter any more thought as I sprinted to Kotomi's house. While I was much more comfortable around her then my scarlet-haired nemesis, I needed to keep in mind how mean I was the last we met. She might well be upset or reluctant to forgive. If that was the case, I had a speech sort of in mind.
Once I reached her front door, I knocked in the same way I always had. Sure enough, Kotomi's guardian opened the door.
There was a glint in his eye that was positively . . . jolly? I'd never seen him in such a good mood before. Hopefully, this meant Kotomi would be willing to talk.
"Tomoya-san," He greeted me. "How do you do?"
"Very well, sir," I bowed. "Is Kotomi-chan inside?"
"Yes," He let me inside and closed the door behind me. My gaze wandered the housekeeper, grumbling as she dusted a grandfather clock in the living room.
"Kotomi,"
The guardian called upstairs.
"Yes, Ojii-san?" Kotomi walked to the top of the steps. Her eyes twinkled with excitement when she saw me. In an instant, she was down the stairs.
"I guess explaining my reason for calling you would be redundant at this point," The guardian remarked as he walked to the kitchen.
"How have you been, Tomoya-kun?" She was totally cheerful. I would've been surprised if she even remembered my outburst.
"'Pretty good," I twiddled my fingers. "'Wanna head out to the garden?"
"Sure," She beamed.
While everything about the Ichinose's house looked elegant from the neatly-trimmed grass to reverent manse, the garden to the side of the house was what truly made it shine. Roses, marigolds, and tiger lilies shimmered with the wet dew drops of spring. A shining white chair and a table were set up nearby.
"The garden looks as pretty as ever,"
"It wasn't easy," Kotomi giggled. "My guardian's not exactly the best at gardening; I've had to help him a lot. I'm glad I did, though,"
She sat down next to the soil. "This yard wouldn't be the same without the garden,"
I nodded, sitting next to her. "'Listen, I need to apologize."
"'About what?"
"About getting so angry about you continuing your research," I stared at the ground. "It wasn't right of me to tell you what to do,"
"I wasn't really angry about that," Kotomi confessed, bring her legs up to her body. "Besides, my guardian convinced me to stop the research anyhow."
"What?" My head snapped to the side.
"After talking to him, I realized I didn't have nearly enough evidence to confirm one of them was a killer. If my parents were murdered, wouldn't I have found a more concrete piece of evidence after so much work?"
She looked up at the sky. "Besides, even if something is going on, I can get right back at my research anytime. My guardian told me if he finds out anything suspicious during the organization's research, he'd let me know."
"I see," I gazed into her eyes surprised. "You aren't upset about that?"
"Why would I be?" Her gaze wandered to her feet. "To be honest, it was a bit hard keeping up with all that research. I think I'm just looking forward to enjoying life;"
She barely restrained a tear. "It's what my parents would've wanted."
I turned away from her. I've tried my best to be comforting, but sometimes, it's so hard to comfort someone when you don't know exactly what they need to hear. Finally, I shake my head.
"That's great, Kotomi,"
She smiled. "I'm glad things turned out this way, too."
5:15 PM
Spending a little more than an hour of my time with Kotomi had been great. No discussions about her research, no arguments about possible conspiracies; everything seemed to be returning to the way it was.
As I stepped up to the front door of my house, I knew this was going to be difficult.
It doesn't matter . . . I have to try.
I pushed open the door. My dad stood next to the countertop, an unopened bottle of beer in his hand. Surprised, he quirked an eyebrow.
"'Back from Ichinose-san's house, I presume?"
He was tense; I had to say sorry fast."
"Yeah," I tried my best to face him in the eye. "'Look, I'm sorry about acting so mean earlier. I just lost my temper, I didn't really mean what I said,"
He stared at me with weary eyes. The stubble coating his face was ever more present. "You don't have to apologize,"
He offered a weak smile. "I was too harsh,"
"See ya," I did my best to walk up the stairs as slow as I could. I took one last look at my father.
He yanked the bottle from the countertop and stuffed it back into the fridge.