Well here we are with another chapter! Now this doesn't move the story too far ahead, but this chapter is needed. After this chapter things are going to start moving much faster. On a side note, I've noticed that with my writing (after doing a spelling and grammar check) that I like using fragments. They seem to capture certain aspects of the story just right. So if you wonder about them, they're there on purpose. Now, enough from me. Enjoy this chapter and please review if you are able. I'd love to hear what you think of this chapter and/or the story so far. Enjoy.

Chapter 10

I flipped through the article. Work had become pointless as it was obvious Chief wasn't going to put me back on the streets. So, in-between filing papers and whatnot, I worked on Kagura's case (whether or not it was my break). I'd remember hearing one of my coworkers mentioning that once Chief's trust was lost, it was almost impossible to regain. I attributed that to the sore butt I had from sitting all the time.

Opening the next article in my search results section, I read the title, "Mysterious Weeping Girl Spotted." Recently, I'd discovered a whole trove of newspaper clippings recording various sightings of a "weeping girl" whom multiple people have seen in several different locations. Originally I'd ignored them as mere gossip. But two of the articles had dates which coincided with the death of Osaka's parents and the disappearance of Kagura. Now maybe these articles were just a wild goose chase, but I couldn't help but connect the two as both described an eerie high school aged girl who wept (within blocks of either the murder/suicide or the disappearance) to herself and upon noticing the onlooker, she would vanish. And both had taken place only days after the Osaka related events. I printed both articles to study and bringing them back to my desk, I was about to read when l heard my name.

"Takino-san," Chief yelled, "In my office now!"

Shoving the two pages under some books, I walked into his office and closed the door upon his request. Grabbing a seat, I watched him fling a manila folder at me and he said, "Takino-san, do you know what that is?"

I wanted to say, "It's a brown folder," but Chief's expression quickly informed me that it wouldn't pay to be a smartass. So, I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head. "No idea."

Chief leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms and said, "It's your file; well part of it. Takino-san, I'm worried about you. That folder details all the work you have done that relates to the Kagura case, and any other cases you've been independently working on; spare time or otherwise. There are copies of everything that you've looked up on our archives, along with multiple phone transcripts from concerned citizens about your "visits." Do you understand?"

This wasn't the first meeting I've had with Chief regarding this topic. He'd said his spiel, and now he'd hear mine; again. "Listen Chief. It's 2015. Almost three years have passed since Kagura disappeared and no one is any closer to finding her than the day she vanished. Now I . . ."

"You have been working on a case that's not yours. You wanna help, fine. But when I see you out there, messing around on your computer, it worries me. Takino-san, when I give you a job, I expect you to do it. Whether it's filling out overtime sheets or picking up my mail, I don't care what you think of the job. I expect you to get it done. Now, if you wanna go chase ghosts during your break time, fine by me. But I will not have an officer conducting unauthorized investigations because one of her high school buddies disappeared! Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly."

"Then get out. And I don't want to hear about anymore of this. I'm sorry Takino-san but you'll have to be written up for it. I've given you far too many warnings."

I should've punched him. While the dumbass is worrying about me and a few small interviews, Kagura's family constantly calls the station, checking for updates. They worry about her and still hope that their daughter can somehow be found alive. I had my doubts. Nearly three years and no word; after that much time I think people around here have begun to think she's not going to turn up at all. The rest of the day passed without event. I filed papers and stowed away a few more articles for later.

When I got home, I unpacked my things and pulled out the articles that I'd found today. Sitting at my desk, I stared up at the bulletin board with other articles, pictures, and police report copies stuck randomly across it. I think I need more thumbtacks. Glancing over the clippings, they told me little. Someone saw a high school aged girl crying somewhere and she vanished when she noticed them. Both articles used words like "faded red," "dark pink," and "sailor outfit" to describe the uniform she wore. Out of curiosity, I pulled open my wardrobe and checked my high school uniforms which my parents made me keep for "sentimental reasons." Really they just got in the way. But when I pulled out the fall/winter uniform, I'd found my match. Sailor type of faded red/dark pink uniform with long sleeves and was most definitely too small for me now. Setting it aside I returned to my desk and flipped through a few other clippings. More of the same tabloid ghost sightings, but none stuck out. Scratching my head, I muttered, "Osaka, what'd you do to Kagura?"

"Tomo."

My head bolted up from the desk and I whirled around to find Yomi. The startle she'd caused me had actually made her jump as well. She looked tired and ragged. But nowadays, she always did. Turning back to my desk, I looked over the mess of papers and sighed. "Sorry Yomi. If it's about supper, I'll be over in a few minutes. Just wanted to look over a few more things."

"Tomo, it's after eight."

"What!" I shot an eye to the clock and sure enough, almost quarter after. I hadn't even realized I'd spent so much time brooding over this. "Sorry Yomi, I didn't mean to . . ."

"It's alright," Yomi squeaked out. I heard her shuffle over to my desk and placing a hand on the edge of the desk, she peered over my head. Her hand wore a couple pieces of jewelry, nothing fabulous or expensive. Heck I think one of the rings was one I'd bought her for Christmas last year. Her knuckles though were red, irritated by something. As of late they'd been getting redder and redder and Yomi claims it's due to work. And what could I say to argue? "What's all of this about Tomo? You're not still going on about Kagura are you?"

"I don't know. I'm trying." Yomi knew quite well that I'd been attempting to crack the case, but with no more to go on then the rest of the investigators, I was stuck. "The closest thing to a lead I got is all this ghost crap with Osaka. But she's dead. There's the article." I pointed to the copy of the clipping regarding the Kiyohiko High fire from when we graduated. Yomi glanced at it with only mild interest. "There's gotta be something I'm missing."

Yomi sighed. I could tell she didn't know what to think of this. But since I'd started really working on this case, I've felt compelled to solve it. It'd keep me up at night so I wouldn't be able to sleep. Whenever the investigators discovered something, I was always the first one to ask them questions. Yet they scoffed at me whenever I'd try to help. "Why don't you have something to eat," Yomi suggested.

Because Yomi I . . ." and all my frustration left me when I turned to see her face. She wasn't trying to be polite; she was almost begging me to come with her. She was depressed again. I could see it breaking her face and leaving her exhausted. I suddenly felt horrible for not being more aware of the time. So I agreed and followed Yomi out and into her apartment. The table had probably been set for hours so it was to no surprise that when I sat down and started eating, everything was cold.

Yomi paid no attention to the food's temperature as she hardly ate a thing. I wonder if she was getting sick again. Tired of the awkward silence that had followed us into her apartment, I attempted to spark up conversation. "So, how was work?"

Yomi mumbled something that I didn't catch and figured it'd be best not to ask her to repeat. Unable to stand it any longer, I asked, "Alright Yomi, what's wrong? Is it Yuuko again? I know you guys haven't been on the best of terms lately." Which was definitely true. I think Yuuko has been trying to end the relationship for a while. But Yomi hasn't made it easy for him. For quite some time, she's been grasping at straws, searching for ways to revive their long dead relationship.

And I think this is why she dropped by my apartment. She wanted to talk about it. "Well," Yomi began, "I talked to him today."

"About what?"

". . . Marriage . . ."

I cringed at the word. Yomi was visibly taken aback by my reaction, but nothing I could say would soften the blow. "Yomi, I don't think he wants to . . ."

"I know we've had our fights. It's been really rough on the both of us, but we've hung in there."

"That's a very one-sided evaluation of the situation Yomi," is what I wanted to say but couldn't bring myself to. "What'd he say?"

"He got real nervous. He said he wasn't interested, said he didn't want to commit to me like that." Though she wasn't crying a few tears streamed down her face. "How can he say that? After how many years of going out? After I took him back when he cheated on me? I mean, what else could he possibly want?"

I set down a cold meatball stuffed with peppers. Downing the soda in my cup, the dreadful taste refused to leave my mouth. "Yomi," I said, as I got up and walked over to her. "The guy Yuuko is now is not the guy you fell in love with. I wonder how much he even cares about you anymore. Seriously, when was the last time he gave you something? Flowers, a ring, or even the last time he bought you dinner? Or forget that kind of crap, when's the last time he kissed you? Don't you understand?" Yomi's eyes widened as I said all this. I'd never made her cry before but I think I had pretty good chances of doing it tonight. "He doesn't love you anymore. Admit it. It's over." She glared angrily at me and when I tried to comfort her, Yomi tensed at my touch.

"Get out."

I didn't argue. I just grabbed my things and walked over to the door. Before leaving though, I said, "I'm sorry Yomi. I really am. But I just wanna help. I don't want to lose you." And with that I left her apartment.

Back in my room, I shuffled through the rooms until I reached my desk. Yomi could be so difficult sometimes; made me want to scream! How could things turn out like this? Why isn't Yomi talking sense into me anymore? I know everything can't stay the same but . . . My thoughts trailed off as I glanced up at the bulletin board stuffed with all sorts of clippings. Grabbing a copy of the Kiyohiko High Fire, I briefly read over it and sighed. "We all changed that day." I rarely thought about the fire, but I remember Chiyo being lucky. The funeral stuck in my mind more so than the fire itself . . .

I felt cheated. Standing here out in the cold. Everyone in black. How could she? How could she do this to me; to all of us? Leave it to Osaka. Everyone else made it out, but not her. And to make matters worse, she didn't even leave us her body. So why the hell did we have to come out to this damn graveyard when there was nothing to bury? I looked over to Yomi, to Sakaki who cradled Chiyo in her arms; and to Kagura who couldn't so much as look at the tombstone that had been picked out. No one spoke, only the person conducting the burial spoke. I had no idea what his title was, never paid any attention to that. Should I call him a priest, a shaman? Oh well, I didn't care.

". . . and in the abyss of death, let our daughter Kasuga Ayumu find peace and eternal rest . . ." His dry words rambled on and on with the same religious crap that somehow was supposed to make me feel better. How could anyone be at peace when all we were burying was a box full of ashes that were only assumed to be Osaka's remains? What a joke.

The old man's ramblings came to a halt and one by one, black uniform after black uniform approached the coffin for their final goodbyes. Even though I hated this, hated this whole funeral and hated that priest for what he said, I couldn't restrain my chest from heaving and suddenly there were tears rolling down my cheeks. God it felt like forever for us to get our turn. Osaka's parents must've stood up there for hours, and then her relatives took equally long. I half expected the sun to set before we'd even get close.

But then Chiyo and Sakaki were up. Sakaki stood tall and stiff like a tree. She had wrapped an arm around Chiyo who barely touched the coffin. Sakaki wouldn't or maybe couldn't bring herself to touch it. They stood awkwardly, eventually being lead away by the priest. I watched Chiyo leave and noticed how she just stared off into space, right through everyone, including me. Like she didn't see us at all.

My chest tightened as Kagura stepped up to the plate. I'd be next. Suddenly, I wanted to throw up; wanted to run away and never face the box that stood before me. Kagura cried. No one touched her, but she stood there and cried, both hands on the coffin for support. I'd never heard her cry before. She sounded so lost, so out of reach. I half expected her to pass out right there. But she didn't. Kagura being Kagura, she stood her ground. My chest heaved again as Kagura joined Chiyo and Sakaki. My turn.

I approached the coffin, afraid to touch it. Ridiculous really. We didn't even know what kind of ashes were piled in there; could've been a chalkboard for all we knew. But I couldn't believe that. My head swirled with emotions. "Why," I whispered, as if she'd hear me. "Why'd you do this to us? Are you really that big of an airhead?" I felt Yomi's hand rubbing my shoulder. She said something to me that I didn't catch. "We were going to college. We were gonna be roommates. Stupid," my anger returned. I couldn't believe Osaka would just ditch us like that. "What's wrong with you," I said, louder than a whisper.

"Tomo, calm down."

Yomi's voice came from behind but it was like I couldn't hear her, or wouldn't. "Bonklers are supposed to stick together and you do something like this and . . ." My fists were practically beating on the coffin, trying to wake that pile of black shit up. Tears blurred my eyes and I suddenly felt arms smothering me, pulling me away from the coffin. "You stupid, stupid, stupid . . ." I could've screamed at that coffin if it wasn't for whoever was pulling me away. And maybe I did. I couldn't think straight. I just struggled, trying to get out of the grip that was firmly pulling me away. I wanted to run back, and give that coffin a piece of my mind.

"Tomo get a grip. Control yourself damnit!" I wouldn't listen to Yomi's protests but we were far away from the gravesite. I slumped in her grip and fell to the ground; almost cracking my head on someone else's grave; sobbing. "She's gone Tomo."

I bolted up in my desk and glanced around. The Kiyohiko High Fire article sitting under my arms like a pillow. Must've dozed off. I glanced around for a clock. "After midnight already," I said yawning. I rubbed my forehead, remembering the dream. That was the last time we had really seen each other as a group. Thinking back to supper, "I wonder how Yomi's . . ." But I stopped as a strange noise caught my attention. Almost as if someone was shuffling their feet out in the hallway. Was it Yomi?

Maybe she wanted to apologize for what she said. It wouldn't be the first time anyway. But the shuffling couldn't be her. If it was Yomi, I would've found her in my room. She always let herself in when she needed me for something. So it couldn't be her. I considered going back to the desk for my gun but decided against it. Reaching the door, the shuffling outside stopped. Did they hear me? I glanced out the peep hole and into the hallway; empty. My imagination? Opening the door, I stepped out and looked around. At the end of the hallway, a flutter of hair caught my eye as someone rushed round the corner and out of sight. "Wait!"

Chasing after them, I hurried to the corner and stumbled down the stairs, two at a time. As I reached the bottom, I caught sight again along with a bit of red as she rounded another corner towards the lobby. I felt my heart racing as I pumped my legs to run faster, knowing that whoever she was, she wanted out. Fortunately, I knew a shortcut to the lobby so I'd be able to cut off my mystery guest. One of the perks for living here so long I guess.

Round a corner and past some old closets, through the Laundromat and past the kitchen. The lobby was right there. I shoved through the doors and focused on the entrance where my little friend would be coming. I briefly thought that maybe I should've grabbed something to defend myself with as I didn't even know what this girl wanted. But from the glances I got of her, I wasn't worried. "Come on where are you? I know you're coming this way."

The door to my right slammed shut, catching my immediate attention. That couldn't have been her. I would've seen her. I know it. My thoughts raced as I stepped closer to the exit. How'd she get out without me seeing her? I stepped outside into the dark cool air but no one was there. One step off the sidewalk and I fell flat on my face. "Damn step," I cursed as I picked myself off the grass.

Clutching my forehead, I stood up and looked around. The apartment building was gone. Hell, it wasn't even dark anymore; more like mid-afternoon. Gray, dreary sky and somehow I was standing on the side of a road overlooking the bank of some river. "How'd I get here?" The bump on my head still hurt, but only just. I managed to ignore it while I searched for an explanation. And there at the bottom of the river bank stood the girl I'd been chasing from my apartment. She wore the faded reddish pink high school uniform that I'd worn. Her brown hair flowed straight down to her shoulders; she faced the water. It only took me a second to realize who that was. "O-Osaka?"

For a time, the girl said nothing but only stood there. Then she turned to me and suddenly she was wearing our school's swimsuit. Just like that, like the snap of a finger. Her piercing gaze met mine and I had to look away. "Tomo," Osaka said, in a flat cold voice, "It's not too late Tomo. You can still save her."

"Save? Save who," but Osaka didn't respond. She just turned back to the river and dove into the water. I started to chase after her but a loud ringing noise buzzed in my ears. It seemed to be coming from everywhere; the sky, the ground, and even the water . . .

I awoke on the floor. My head throbbed as the buzzing of my alarm clock chirped wildly in the next room. Apparently some time during my nap at the desk, I'd managed to kick the chair out from under me. God my head hurt. I picked myself off the floor and quickly slapped off the alarm.

Checking the clock, I considered calling in sick. But something tugged me toward the door. Maybe it was the dream I'd had. Osaka's words stuck in my head through the whole drive. Save her? It didn't make any sense. I wasn't trying to save anyone. The only case I'd been working on was the Kagura case, and that's not technically mine. Besides, what were the chances I'd even find her alive; if at all? "Wait, that river," I said, almost running a stop sign. "Osaka was trying to tell me something." Green light and l floored it. Fortunately none of my coworkers happened to be on traffic patrol within my vicinity. So I managed to arrive at the station with more than enough time to do a little "independent research."

I pulled out a reference map of Tokyo and sat down at my desk. "Let's see," I whispered as I scanned the map, trying to visualize the river from my dream. I'm sure that scene wasn't random. If there was any credit due to Osaka for everything I've learned about her, then . . .

"Takino-san, what are you doing here so early," Chief roared when he spotted me.

I paid him no attention as I noted out one or two possible bodies of water where Kagura might be. Certainly wasn't the ocean. I'd picked at least that much out of the dream. But where?

"Takino! I'm talking to you."

Damn, he sounds pissed. "What's wrong?"

"Look I don't know what you're doing but I'm gonna stop it before . . ."

"Kagura. She's in a river."

"What!"

I didn't wait for him to ramble on about God knows what. "Listen. Kagura's at the bottom of some river. Don't ask me how I know I just . . ." And I stopped. A piece of paper had caught my attention. It was lying right on the map of Tokyo. But I didn't put anything on the map. Ignoring Chief's ranting; I picked up the paper and found it blank except for a telephone number. Tossing aside the map, I grabbed the phone from my desk and dialed. Chief had shouted something about this "being the last straw" and stormed off into his office. Screw him, he'd thank me later.

"Hello?"

"Yes this is Officer Takino from the . . ."

"Yes yes I know who you are," the man on the other end said. "I'm sorry I didn't come forward about this sooner but . . . well that doesn't matter now." He sounded frantic, as if he didn't have the time to breathe let alone speak to me. "Anyways, I'll be right there to pick you up."

The man was about to hang up as I quickly asked, "Wait, who are you? What is this about?"

Confused he forgot his hurry and said, "She said you knew. Well, doesn't matter, I'll be there in a minute." He hung up before I got a chance to ask who he was talking about.

Snatching the map and my radio from the desk, I hurried out of the office before Chief could come after me. It wasn't long before a cab pulled up to the station and an old, middle aged man stepped out of the car. Slender build, his face was wrought with worry. He didn't wait for me to say or do anything. "Please get in. I'll explain on the way."

Nodding, I stepped down into the cab and we peeled out of the parking lot. "I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner. But I didn't hear about the disappearance and then I was afraid to say anything and . . ."

"What are you talking about?" I felt overwhelmed. The guy must've had the idea I was going to arrest him with his apologetic voice rambling on and on.

"The missing Olympic girl. Kagura. The day she disappeared. I saw her."

"You saw her?"

Fumbling with his words, the caddie stammered out, "Well, actually I drove her somewhere."

"Where," I shouted, scaring the cab driver, almost sending us into oncoming traffic.

"The Shinano River!"

Peeking at the map, I noticed the Shinano was a little ways north of Tokyo. So why'd you go there? I wondered. Putting away the thought, I instead asked, "What about this person who told you to call me. Who was she?"

"I-I don't know. But she told me she knew what I did." He spoke as if he broke the law, his voice shaking and his hands shivering on the wheel. "She said . . . she said I needed to call Officer Takino and she would take care of things. That's what the girl said."

I was about to ask him what that meant when the cab came to a sudden halt. "We're here," I heard him say and I silently stepped out of the cab. For a moment, I didn't move. I couldn't move. It was exactly the same river out of my dream. The river bank, the water, the road, everything. Even the dreary day matched my dream's atmosphere.

"Can I go now?" I glanced back at the cabbie who anxiously awaited his freedom. I nodded to him and as he pulled away the car stopped and he hollered at me, "She said one other thing. Something I'm supposed to say . . . Don't get distracted Tomo." And with that, he was gone.

I'd barely heard what he said and at the moment, I couldn't have cared less. I focused my attention back to the river. Just glancing around, I instantly found the spot where Osaka had dived into the water. So caught up in the shock of everything, I'd almost forgotten why I was even here. Pulling out my radio, I called through to the switchboard and immediately asked for Chief. He answered, very upset but I cut him off. "Chief. I know where Kagura is. Get down to the Shinano River now."

"What are you talking about Takino?"

"Just do it. I'm already here." I checked the nearest road sign for a more precise location and relayed it to him. He wasn't thrilled by my call but agreed. Setting the radio on the grass, I pulled off my jacket, pulled off my shoes and socks, and approached the spot Osaka had dived off. "Here goes nothing," I said as I took off into the cold water. It took me several seconds to adjust as I hadn't practiced any kind of swimming for years, so at first, I flailed around like an idiot. But soon enough, I was able to swim through the water gracefully enough.

It wasn't too difficult to reach the bottom, but it took some time for my eyes to get used to being open under the murky water. Everything stung. Back to the surface, I gasped for air. Nothing. But I wasn't about to give up. Taking a deep breath I dived back under towards the bottom and searched for as long as my breath could hold. Resurfaced, and nothing found. I dove again. Nothing. A few more repeats and I was sure my mind had sent me on a wild goose chase when after going down for the eighth or ninth time, something caught my eye. It looked like an arm, but discolored and pale. A knot formed in my chest when finally, I managed to connect the arm to body. Kagura. I wrapped her arm around my shoulder and grabbing her by the waist, we both headed straight for the surface.

My chest heaved when I finally hit top. With the extra weight on me, I slowly swam to shore; keeping my eyes off the body for fear of breaking down right there. Throwing Kagura onto land, I climbed up onto shore and concentrated on steadying my breathing. A screeching sound from above informed me backup was here.

"Takino-san! This is . . ." And he stopped in mid scream when he saw me. His eyes widened and his expression dropped. "Is that – is that her?"

I nodded, and finally took one good look at Kagura's body. Goose skin was the best way to describe it. It felt rough. Her hair was mangled with dirt, grass, bugs, and too many other things to describe. She had a swimsuit on, much like the one from high school. Her tanned skin was pale and patches of green and blue could be seen in various places. I could hardly look at her face. That's where I had to turn away. Couldn't look at her anymore.

Chief got off the radio and handed me a towel. "Listen Takino-san. I'm so sorry." He sighed and shook his head. "Any idea what caused it?"

Collecting myself, I thought for a moment and said, "I guess she still thought she could swim. She had a bad leg. I forget what it's called but she must have done something to it while swimming. I don't know."

"Well, we'll wait for the autopsy. Listen Takino-san, I know I've been a bit of a . . ." but his radio interrupted his apology and Chief had to turn for a brief conversation. It didn't bother me. I didn't really want to hear what he had to say. I just felt gross. The texture of Kagura's skin still sent chills down my back. It'd had an almost pimply texture to it and she was so cold. All I wanted to do was go home and shower and not think about anything.

"Takino-san," Chief said, finishing the call on his radio. "Why don't we talk about this later? Take the day off will ya?" I was about to comment when he said, "It's not about this, not entirely anyway. The office got a call about your friend Yomi-san. Something about her being in the hospital?" Noticing my worry, he quickly added, "It doesn't sound serious. But she does need a ride home." I nodded and we moved in silence as we covered Kagura's body up, gathered my things, and waited for the coroner.