At the Edo bathhouse…

Mika had another two hours before she'd be allowed to head for home. No doubt she had little patience to wait that long when having to scrub the tiles for the next visitors, even being far cautious to avoid slipping. However, she couldn't let it get over her head when supposed to be on the job.

The sound of doors from the changing room caught her attention, halting her scrubbing. She muttered, "I'm gonna need to hurry." While the women at the other side made conversation, Mika took a longing glance at the tile upon taking a bucket filled with water. Said water splashed, soon quickly draining the suds.

As she gave a brief nod and grin at the glistening tiles, the doors opened, revealing two people. Mika recognized one as Shimura Tae and the other she vaguely remembered.

I think her name was Tsukuyo…?

With each holding a hand towel in front, the women went towards the shower seats.

Tae was the first to speak up, "I've seen you before, but are you Michiru-chan's sister?"

"Yes," She confirmed.

Giggling seeped out. "I knew it. You indeed look a lot like her besides the hair length."

A hint of a smile crept on her features, a tinge of pink spreading across them.

"Isn't Michiru the one who puked on me?" Tsukuyo inquired, being the first to sit on the stool.

"And the one you kicked out of my workplace," Tae added. "I never got a chance to say this, but thank you for doing it. Otherwise I would've been the one kicking her out."

A droplet of sweat trickled down Mika's cheek as her smile cracked. She's encouraging this type of behavior...even though the worst Michiru did was cause a nasty mess.

The blonde grumbled while scrubbing the shampoo in her scalp, "The puking part from that night is one I'm gonna hate remembering."

Stepping across the bathing area, Mika asked, "That bad, huh?"

Tsukuyo went silent, more focused on thoroughly running fingers through her hair with the shampoo.

"By the way," When pausing, Tae turned to Tsukuyo, "there's apparently been a certain criminal roaming somewhere in Yoshiwara and Edo. I believe he's known as…The Body Killer or Body Part Killer."

In an instant, Mika's hand froze as she released the stick against the wall near the doors. A cackling masculine voice repeating Tae's words echoed in her head. Despite the muscles in her arms and legs growing taut, she took deep but silent breaths in an effort to ease the tension in her body.

"Is that true?" Words already left Mika's mouth before she had time to ponder as her head turned towards the duo.

"I caught sight of him a couple days ago, though not intentionally," Tsukuyo said. "He came out of nowhere and suddenly started attackin' me. After he ran off, I ended up losin' him but discovered a few corpses with some of their body parts sliced off."

Mika's throat clogged at the short but gruesome description.

While using the shower head to rinse the suds off her blonde locks, Tsukuyo went on, "Based on what little I heard after that, he's been known in the past for stalking and murdering the more vulnerable people."

A thick ball of saliva went down her esophagus as a near black image forced its way in her cranium. The closest to anything was resembling a silhouette of Michiru as a small child.

Once more, Mika insisted on taking long breaths while her heart thumped in her eardrums. As much as she wanted to heave out loud at the memory of the criminal's laughter, his bragging of her parents' murder…it wouldn't help her mental state. Worse when the strong urge to make such a reaction in front of the others' grew.

"How old is he?" Her mind went blank in the midst of inquiring his age.

"He ain't young, that's for sure." Tsukuyo stood after cleansing the remainder of her hair and the rest of her figure. Tae, on the other hand, spent more time on the stool to make sure no filth was on herself.

Tsukuyo added while passing beside the worker, "He's apparently been doin' such crimes for decades."

"Do you think he's in the Kabuki District right now?" The volume in Mika's voice raised along with a crack near the end of her question.

Blinking once at the redhead, Tae asked, "Is something wrong?"

She choked on a little of her own saliva, a cough forcing its way up and out. "I…I'm kinda familiar with this person, though it was a long time ago and I just heard his voice."

The brunette's eyelids broadened. "Oh? Do you remember what he sounded like?"

"The best way I can describe his voice is rough."

Another part of her recollection revolved around the fact that she last heard it from childhood; even then, she remembered the tone in his voice being a tad raspy. Chances of her coming to a conclusion on who had been the killer of her parents' seemed slim. The thought alone brought shivers to crawl over her legs and spine.

Tsukuyo finally responded, "I dunno whether or not he's in the area. I only saw him once."

"Oh." Mika shifted her gaze towards the tile, straining the corners of her lips to curl up to form a feeble smile.

"Regardless," Tae said, going for the bath at last, "we'll need to watch out for him and make sure he doesn't take any more lives. What he's done for who knows how long is nothing short of disturbing."

A fragment of Michiru breaking down in the shower at home played in her mind. Using the tips of her fingers to tug into her yukata, Mika further subconsciously scraped her teeth in her lower lip. She tried conveying internal words on the whereabouts of this man wandering through Edo and Yoshiwara, going as far as attempting to picture his face.

It ended to no avail. Nothing but black scribbled over his appearance. Could she really be surprised at the lack of physical attributes to someone such as him, though?

A few more past memories of Michiru having the same irrational and extreme reaction flowed throughout her mental process, her twins' earsplitting screams roaring on repeat. It didn't happen frequently, but every one of Michiru's previous meltdowns brought a wave—no, a surge of uneasiness through Mika's veins, to the point of becoming nigh impossible to hold back.

Bowing at the duo, Mika announced, "I should leave. I apologize for not doing so in time as you deserve your peace and relaxation." She whirled around and dashed out before she could let Tsukuyo or Tae make any reply, also leaving the floor brush behind. The most she perceived was one of them—she didn't decipher who specifically spoke—calling out half her name.

Mika sped her walk out of the changing area, subsequently roaming through the hallways at the same pace. She paid little mind to her coworkers giving wide glances, solely gluing her focus in front aside from turning around a corner now and then.

Spotting less people, the woman's feet slowed before eventually entering the fourth hall, this time void of anyone else. Releasing a dense breath, Mika stepped beside the bamboo plant to rest her back against the wall.

As soon as she pondered on Tsukuyo's description of her encounter with the criminal, heat flowed throughout her chest and face. The sensation grew worse when her brain clicked.

I didn't get to ask if she got his name.

Her hand trembled below her mouth in an instant, eyes snapping wide in addition. Multiple of the same unwelcomed split second pictures of Michiru flashed in the back of her mind, not helped alongside ones of her sister going out in the dark.

Swiping the same hand over her forehead, Mika sensed dampness both skin and in her bangs.

Whimpers came out with no thoughts prior.

"How am I supposed to bring this up to Michiru?"

To be continued…