Two small children sat in a living area with their legs under their bottoms. Being kids, said legs went numb after a few minutes. The one with a pixie cut held a kendama while the sibling with long, straight hair watched in boredom. Little movement happened in her body language other than an occasional scratch on her skin.
A man with little hair and a stubble entered.
"Are you girls having fun?" He asked, holding a small smile.
Whirling her head to face him, Mika exclaimed, "How can we be having fun if there's nothing to do here?! We wanna go outside to play!"
Despite flinching at her tone, the man replied, aforementioned smile cracking, "But aren't you having fun with your toy?"
"I've played this for an hour…" Mika grumbled.
"Same when I played it with it," Michiru said, shifting her figure to have her legs in front.
"Michiru, Mika," A woman with back-length hair stepped in the area, arms folded. "We've discussed this before. You can't go outside, only to endanger yourselves."
"Mommy, we're not gonna talk to strangers," Michiru told her, frowning.
"You two are six. Your dad and I can't have the risk of you being exposed to untrustworthy people."
"Then we want more toys to play with!"
"We do not have a lot of money, Michiru. They've become more expensive these days."
Mika whined, tossing her toy to the floor, "Didn't you say you'd teach us to be independent soon enough?! How can we do that when you make us stay inside all the time?!"
"You can be independent while staying inside," Their mother said while starting towards the twins. By the time an ample amount of space was between them, the adult knelt on the floor.
"Listen, girls," She began, "there's so much in the world you're unaware of. We simply want to make sure you're safe."
"That's right!" Their father agreed, rushing to stand next to his wife. "This town's full of weird if not dubious people."
Both siblings pouted, "It's not fair."
As serious as their mother tried, she could barely stifle an upcoming laugh. A muffled noise slipped out from the corner of her lips as she patted both their heads.
Mika and Michiru glanced at one another as if expecting each other to say anything. Instead, the woman ruffled their hairs, giggling, "You really are twins."
Neither sister laughed along. Rather, they stared at each other once again, except the frowns remained plastered on their features, along with furrowed eyebrows. Even their father blinked in confusion for her sudden mood change.
An abrupt but clamorous knock pounded on the front door. All four individuals darted their vision towards said door. If the knock itself wasn't enough, it visibly trembled when it got hit again by, presumably, a fist.
"I know someone's in there! I heard voices!" The words were clear, but it had been spoken in a hoarse, masculine tone.
Intense shivers went up the adult woman's spine. Pulling the girls towards her, their mother ordered in a shaky whisper, "Mika, Michiru. Hide in our bedroom closet."
"But mommy—" Mika tried to reject her command, but the mother pushed a finger on her small lips.
"Don't say anything. You and your sister must hide, now," She grimly repeated, causing the children to wince at her tone.
"Do as your mom says, girls!" The dad told them in a whisper, though not as quiet as intended.
Another forceful knock came about.
"I know you fuckers can hear me! What, are you scared of opening the door for a visitor?" The voice on the other side of the sliding door released a cackling laugh. Even being a simple laugh brought goosebumps on the children's skin.
While glueing her eyes on the doors, the mother promised, "We'll make sure he won't find either of you."
"What do you me—" Mika got interjected by Michiru wrapping her fingers around her wrist. Having no time to let her sister give out a proper reaction, Michiru sprinted towards the direction behind them. Because of the speed and sudden movement, Mika accidentally tripped on her own feet while the two rushed away from the adults.
Less than a minute went by; the twins entered the bedroom belonging to their parents. Without much thought into it, Michiru hastily tugged on the edge of the door, pulling to the side. The force brought it to bounce off the frame, leaving it to still be cracked open. Neither girl heeded this, though. They went straight for the closet in front.
Michiru loosened her grip on Mika's wrist to reach for the closet. After opening a tad, both children stomped in, landing their knees on the folded pile of futons.
Sweat drops trailed down their foreheads as Mika shut the sliding door. Both didn't dare to make a sound, much less form a complete sentence. Instead, the two breathed in heavy pants, but halted the moment a bang like sound emerged from the living room.
"Don't you know how rude it is to not open the door for a visitor? I thought you didn't do it because it was jammed, so I opened it for you," The man who pounded the front door said, and though it wasn't in a yell, his tone got loud enough for Michiru and Mika to listen in. The latter inadvertently wheezed from her throat drying up, leading the other child to have her hand make contact with her mouth.
Michiru raised a finger until pressing it against her own lips while creating a brief and sharp, but near silent noise. Although the sight of the girl in front became nonexistent due to lack of light, Mika gave her a nod.
While attempting to keep their voices as quiet as they could consciously manage, their mother demanded, "What is it you want from us?"
"It ain't anything I specifically want from you," The stranger made his reply. "Where're your children?"
The sisters froze at his inquiry.
Their father asked back, his voice shaking at the start, "Why do you need to know where they're at?"
"Because you two are so overprotective of your kids, that I wouldn't be surprised if they were in this house right this second."
"How do you even know we're protective of them?" The man spoke again, but didn't let the stranger respond, for another thought popped in his head. "Hold on…have you stalked us?!"
He snorted at his question. "Obviously. How else would I know when you've never met me prior to this? Anyway..." He paused for a moment before finishing, "you never answered my question. Where are your kids at?"
"They're at school!" Their mother lied a split second after the unfamiliar person inquired.
"School?" He repeated the word in a burst of laughter. "Why are their sandals here, then, if they're at school?"
Mika let out an unintentional gasp, noise muffling from Michiru's hand. The latter's teeth clenched as one thought ran through her mind.
Don't let him find us.
The individual added, not bothering to let either parent make another falsified answer, "Not like that matters to me."
"Who are you, anyway?!" The mother made yet another demand.
"You don't know who I am? Guess I'm not surprised as I try being discreet." The second laugh he released was low, to the point where the twins only heard a small portion of it.
"I am The Body Part Killer."
Michiru dug her teeth into her own fist to prevent a gasp from leaving. Mika, on the other hand, placed a hand on her arm before shoving it away from her mouth.
"Michiru, I'm scared..." She whispered, digging her fingernails into her skin. Michiru furrowed her brows at the sight of her hands trembling. Ignoring the scratches on her flesh, she rested a hand on said hands.
Michiru brought a finger to both Mika's lips and her own. "I know, but we need to be quiet."
A sudden scream came from their father.
"Is that why you have a sword with you?!"
"A sword?!" The mother repeated in a shout.
"That's right," The stranger replied, chortling for the nth time. "What other weapon did you expect on a person with a title such as mine?"
No response came from either parent. The shakiness of Mika's body grew more intense as the seconds passed. It became increasingly difficult for Michiru to refrain herself from quivering as well.
The man said, "Since I'm assuming you don't have weapons of your own, this'll make my trip quick and easy."
"Hold on a minu—" The father started, but had gotten cut off. The kids didn't know how until a sudden holler filled their eardrums.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Although the doors should've muffled the sounds a tad, the volume of the scream pierced their ears as though they were directly in front of the scene. Mika flinched at the uproar, but the jerk of her body caused her head to hit the shelf above the duo.
Michiru darted her focus towards Mika, who rubbed her palms on her scalp. Eyes broadening, she whispered, "I thought I told you to be quiet!"
Mika made her reply but her voice cracked, nearly speaking in her normal tone, "I didn't do it on purpose! That scream scared me!"
"You don't think he heard it...did he?" Michiru faltered, paying no mind to the drop of sweat trailing down the bridge of her nose.
More screams came from the same area as the first one.
Their father shouted, "My arm! Why did you—?!" He never finished what he nearly asked. Following the abrupt cut came a thud on the floor.
"DEAR!" The other parent shrieked. Further desperate noises were heard but unlike the previous sounds, neither sister could make out what it specifically was. At this point, everything—be it sound or overall comprehension to anything—became a blur.
Eventually, the screaming ceased.
With her shakiness decreasing, Mika asked in a soft tone, "Is it over?"
Michiru's mouth ajar, but the voice originating from The Body Part Killer released another cackling laugh before she had an answer. Without thinking, Mika wrapped her arms around the other girl's shoulders, face burying in her yukata.
"I know you brats are in this house!" He bellowed, bringing the children to wince.
Both of them had their eyes widened at his call.
Michiru cried in her head, Whoever you are, just go away!
"Heh, not like it matters anymore. You won't be able to fend for yourselves thanks to your dead parents!"
Mika's heart pounded against her ribcage.
"Dead…?" She muttered the word as if it were a sin.
"No…" Michiru barely attempted keeping her voice down.
His footsteps reverberated, sounds lessening by each second. Soon, they completely diminished. Although steps were nowhere to be heard anymore, Michiru and Mika had their bodies glued onto the futons beneath.
"I think he left," Michiru guessed.
"How do you know?" Mika asked, using the back of her hand to wipe some sweat from her forehead.
"I don't," She admitted. "But we can't stay here. We need to get out."
Digging teeth into her lower lip, Mika faltered.
"But what about mommy and daddy?"
"I don't think we can all go out." Instantly after unwillingly admitting, a knot formed in Michiru's gut.
Furrowing her brows at her answer, the child tugged her fingers into Michiru's sleeve.
"Michiru...where will we go?"
"Edo." The response slipped from her mouth before she could come up with any other options.
"But isn't that far?"
"A tiny bit, but that's the closest."
Mika dithered once more, bringing Michiru to sigh.
Resting a hand on her arm, she pointed out, "Mika, we can't stay in this closet forever."
A subconscious gulp went down Mika's throat. "You're right. We need to go, but…"
"Mika?"
"I don't want to see mommy and daddy."
Michiru questioned after blinking once, "Why?"
Pressing the side of her finger on her eye to wipe an upcoming drop of water, she answered, "I don't wanna see their lifeless eyes."
It was her turn to pause. After a cursory thought, Michiru said, "You can close your eyes while we leave our house. Just hold onto me."
With her head tilted downwards, Mika queried, "Are you sure? You might see bad stuff when we get out of here."
Despite tensing up, Michiru indicated, "Yeah, but one of us has to see."
The other sibling turned to face the closet door. As much as she stated on not wanting to witness the corpses of their mother and father, simultaneously, the idea of having Michiru see them unsettled her. But...staying here was out of the question. It was either to move now or remain in place while wondering whether the criminal would come back, potentially dealing with starvation.
Upon taking a deep breath, Mika made her decision at last.
"Okay. Let's get outta here."
"All right."
In a deliberate motion, Michiru reached for the handle while Mika gripped onto her shoulders. At least once, if not twice, her hand stopped moving, along with sweat forming in her palms.
When she did nothing, Mika rested a hand on Michiru's frozen one. The two glanced at one another and though neither said a word, Michiru's breathing and stiffened body steadied a little.
Bracing herself, she finally tugged her small fingers into the handle before yanking it to the side. As soon as the closet door fully opened, Mika tightened her grip on Michiru's shoulders. Though it made her clench her teeth, she ignored the squeeze for the time being.
Tensing their bodies in caution, the twins slid over the futons, ultimately exiting the closet. So far, complete quietness surrounded them. Still, they needed to keep their guards up.
A ball of saliva clogged in the back of Michiru's throat the closer she and Mika got to the second pair of doors.
She scolded herself, Hurry!
Taking as deep of a breath as her lungs could tolerate, she wrapped her fingers over the side of the fusuma door, pushing it in a split second.
Immediately, Michiru's figure stilled again. This time, a pool of sanguine fluid became visible in her perspective. Another deep breath went in her nostrils, one being far more sharp. Her body heated, along with perspiration forming in her armpits, soaking part of her clothing. As for Mika, she pressed her face into the top of her back while involuntarily trembling, in spite of her eyelids being peeled shut.
When it became evident Michiru wouldn't move an inch, much less a footstep forward, Mika pressed her hands.
"Michiru," She started, her voice nearly impossible for the sibling to hear. "...you have to move."
"I know," Michiru stammered. "I just need to be ready."
Flaring her nostrils in preparation, the little girl took a hesitant step. Then another. And then another.
After a grueling moment or two of taking slow, tense steps on the hardwood floor, the two reached the edge of the living area. There, Michiru caught sight of a hand, resting motionless in the blood trailing across the floor.
Forcing a gulp down her esophagus, Michiru braced herself by cautiously pacing straight ahead. While attempting to avoid dipping their feet in the pool of blood by going around it, reddened bodies caught Michiru's peripheral vision.
Without a second thought, she whirled her head to the area the aforementioned bodies were. Regret filled in an instant when her focus glued to the sight.
Nearly everything in the living room had been painted in blood. It turned out the hand Michiru spotted prior belonged to their mother.
The adult woman's front side lied on the floor, her entire figure not moving an inch, instead laying still in the bloody puddle. Michiru didn't need to guess or question the general blood.
I know that bad man did this.
The thought alone made her body freeze and her skin glistened with sweat. Another sight caught her attention, which only made her eyes widen.
Her mother's left leg had been disconnected from the rest of her, a foot away.
Michiru was certain any and all color on her face drained, the sight of their father not any better.
Like their mother, his front torso laid on the ground. Unlike the woman, however, his head lost connection, being at the wall from the other side of the room. Furthermore, his right forearm could be seen from a foot beside the rest of him.
Bile nearly went up Michiru's esophagus, but—as much as she didn't want to do it—the girl strained herself to swallow it.
"Michiru, you have to move," Mika repeated in an utter, gripping tighter.
Forcing a gulp down her throat, she resumed, steps quicker than she noticed. Despite averting her eyes away from the corpses, the visuals of her parents remained evocative in her mind.
By the time the twins stopped beside the front entrance, Michiru spared a glance at the now detached door, a visible crack in the middle of it.
With her nostrils sucking in as much oxygen as she could handle, she hurried her feet. Soon enough, after shakily slipping into their sandals, both her and Mika finally stepped out of the entire house.
"You...you can open your eyes now, Mika."
Slowly, her eyelids peeled open, fully doing so when their surroundings came in sight.
Mika hesitated, "Did you see mommy and daddy?"
Taking in a breath for the umpteenth time, Michiru made her reply.
"Yeah."
Mika subconsciously took a long stare at the amount of sweat on Michiru's features. Beads of perspiration shone from the bright sun. Although the weather hadn't been recently hot, the lighting caused the sweat to stand out more so than earlier. It wasn't to say Mika had no sweat on her, but for a split second, she believed to be clear compared to her sister.
"So," Mika started, only for there to be a pregnant pause. "...do we run for it?"
Michiru repeated the one syllable word in response, followed by her reaching for the other child's wrist. With no other words exchanged, the children darted away from their house as the image of the cadavers stuck in Michiru's memory.
Lips quivered, along with droplets of water falling from the corners of her eyes.
.
.
.
.
.
Snapping her eyes wide, Michiru bolted her upper body up from her futon. While breathing heavily, a drip of sweat fell from the tip of her nose to the edge of the blanket resting on her lap.
Another one of those dreams…
The woman raked her fingers through her long locks, at the same time processing her memory from long ago.
I wish I never saw their bodies. Maybe then I wouldn't have as many breakdowns as I currently do.
Hours later…
Due to the persistent nightmares throughout the night, Michiru unluckily didn't get a sufficient amount of sleep. Though Mika was aware tiredness still consumed her sibling, she never got the explanation for it. By the time she went out to run some errands, Michiru didn't have enough consciousness to speak out her reason. She wouldn't have been coherent enough for Mika to understand, anyhow.
Early afternoon already came when Michiru officially decided to get out of bed. Most of the time, Mika would reproach her for sleeping close to or—god forbid—past noon, but for once, she didn't do that. Rather, she left her be, especially after witnessing dark half circles under Michiru's eyes. She understood. She'd sometimes have this issue after an exhausting day of work, so how could she blame the tired woman?
Having her back rest against the living room wall, Michiru heaved a noisy sigh.
I feel terrible for not telling Mika before she left. Since I dunno when she'll be back, I should text her. I'm still a bit too groggy to call.
With that being thought of, she used her thumb to flip her phone open before instantly heading to the "Text" icon on the screen. In the midst of it, Michiru's vision blurred a little, leading her to brush the side of her fist over a heavy eyelid.
After a single mental curse from the fuzziness, she pressed a button, opening a message. Said message devoid of any speech bubbles, bringing her to squint her eyes as though her clarity would return sooner.
Have I deleted messages I've exchanged with Mika? Oh well, that's not important.
Shrugging her shoulders, Michiru pushed her thumbs into multiple buttons on her phone. Attempting to disregard her temporary poor sight, she pressed them at a languid pace, making a scant few grammatical mistakes throughout.
The corners of her lips curved an inch up as soon as she finished.
She read the text in her head, 'Say, I need to talk to you; forgot to do it beforehand. You think we can do that when you're back?'
Michiru ultimately pressed "send".
Not long after sending the message, her sight completely cleared at last. However, the second she read the name she sent the text to, her jaw dropped.
Instead of the message heading to Mika, it turned out it went to someone else.
I accidentally messaged Tsunpo! No, Bansai! Gah, why does it matter when I still made a mistake?!
Bad enough when making the error of texting towards someone she didn't intend to speak to them about. The fact she couldn't reverse what she just did…
How did I misread 'Tsunpo' with 'Mika'?! The writing is different! Either way, I've already sent the text! What the hell is he gonna say?!
As if on cue, a ding from the phone emerged. Due to how quick it was since she started, Michiru's body jerked up slightly off the floor, a yelp parting her lips.
Didn't expect a response this quickly!
Before she headed for the reply, Michiru clenched her fingers around the cellphone but not enough to accidentally damage in some way.
"Okay, Michiru, you need to calm down. Maybe he'll say he's too busy...doing criminal stuff."
Holding a small smile, she shifted her gaze to the screen.
Turned out the receiving response was the opposite of what she expected.
'All right. I have no missions for the time being. Why don't we meet with one another this evening?'
Michiru didn't make an immediate move.
With her smile cracking and sweat trickling down her cheek, she pondered, What am I supposed to do? I can't say, "Oh, I made a mistake, so forget I asked," because I don't wanna feel like an asshole, plus it'd be awkward as shit!
Bansai added a second text.
'We weren't able to make conversation last time we saw each other, so I believe this is a great opportunity.'
"Well, that is true…" Michiru mumbled, but shook her head with great speed before adding in her regular tone, "...but he agreed to have a chat with me, so there's no way I can back out now!"
But wouldn't it be unfair for me to reject? I mean, it's not like we're gonna see each other too often, anyhow. Maybe I should see him after all, but…
The woman messaged, 'When and where should we meet?'
'We can meet at a boat. As for the time, I considered us meeting when it's completely dark out, I daresay.'
Michiru thought aloud, "I could do that…" But her mind soon went to her sister, bringing her to frown.
She replied, 'That's fine, but I don't want my sister to know I'm doing this, so if I take a bit long, that's why.'
'As long as you arrive at all tonight, you won't need to worry about taking long.'
"He's saying that as if I'm gonna be in deep shit if I don't arrive at wherever this boat is…" Michiru grumbled. "Speaking of the boat, I need to ask him where it's at."
With that being said, she typed her question. Like the other messages Bansai sent her, this one arrived within a couple seconds.
So it's at a different dock.
Michiru made one more text.
'I'll see you then.'
She instantly shut her phone in silence as she screamed in her head, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU THINKING, MICHIRU?! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO TEXT MIKA, AND YOU ENDED UP AGREEING TO MEET BANSAI TONIGHT!
Michiru buried her face in her hands, subsequently muffling in them, "I really don't understand myself sometimes."
Meanwhile, somewhere else in Kabuki District…
Between two houses stood Bansai, holding his phone open while staring at the latest message through his sunglasses.
I daresay this was coincidental. I thought of messaging Michiru, since I have quite a few questions. Though...what did she mean by "when you're back"?
No other valid answer other than a possible mistake came to mind.
Perhaps I shall ask her about that as well.
To be continued...
*There's one difference (Albeit a pretty small one) between this and the explicit version of this chapter; the explicit version is a bit more descriptive when Michiru witnesses the corpses of her parents.*