She looked at the food in her hand. There were bite marks where she chewed. Man-made meat made to look like dead animal flesh. It said on the packaging that this was what the real thing tasted and felt like, but Hazuki didn't know the real thing. Of course she also didn't know what it was made of. This unknown material was going to turn into her own blood, her own flesh.
I'm made of things I know nothing about
, Hazuki thought.
“After you eat you should get some sleep. Sitting won't help you relieve fatigue.”
“But⦔
“You shouldn't go home yet. I don't think you'll get killed, but they'll ask you too many questions. And it's possible they won't believe a thing you say. They already have a script.”
“You mean even if I tell them the truth, they won't believe it?”
“Probably not.”
“But they suspect Rey Mao.”
“Not suspect. They're positive it's her. No one looks more like a criminal right now than her.”
“That's wrong. The killer is that big man. The guy with the head art andâ”
“Makino.”
Ayumi put her hand out. Hazuki grasped it.
“Listen. The more you say Rey Mao isn't the killer, the greater the disadvantage you put her at.”
Hazuki stood up and sat on the chair.
“Why?”
“Why would an undocumented minor rescue you?”
“Because⦔
“No matter how sincere she was in rescuing you, she still attacked an area patrol. There's already a bulletin out about it. The story's been written.”
“But it's a lie.”
“There are a lot of things you have to do to change a finished story. You can't explain without explaining everything that happened. If you explain everything that happened, they'll know she was also in a fight with Nakamura and Kawabata. Both of them are dead. She may not be the killer, but the police sure think so.”
“There's nothing we can do.”
“
That's not true.
”
Ayumi opened the door to the bedroom.
“Get your rest first. When you get up, go to your father.”
“What?”
“It's okay. He's your father, isn't he?”
“Foster father,” Hazuki said.
“Blood relation doesn't matter. At all. At the very least, your father won't kill you. And we can't trust the area patrol or police right now.”
Ayumi looked straight at Hazuki. Until recently, they hadn't ever made eye contact.
Hazuki stood up.
“What are you going to do, Ayumi?”
“I'm okay.”
“No you're not. Where are you going?”
Ayumi wordlessly walked toward the doves.
“Don't go.”
“Are you going to worry about me?”
“It's not that. I'm scared. Please don't leave,” Hazuki said.
She grasped Ayumi's arm. She felt like a child.
“Don't go. I don't want to be alone.”
“I won't. It's okay,” Ayumi said. She led Hazuki to the bedroom and sat her down.
“I'll be here till you wake up. Just get some sleep.”
“Really?”
“I told you already, it's not safe here either.”
“So?”
“I have to be on the lookout till morning,” Ayumi said.
As she listened to these last words Hazuki slipped off her shoes and slept in the same bed Yuko Yabe had slept on.
She stretched her arms. Her joints were aching. She stretched as far as she could, and the back of her head started to feel fuzzy.
Ayumi left the room.
There was a round monitor gleaming on the rooftop window. That wasâ¦
No. It was just reflecting light.
“Good night.” Hazuki heard a voice, and before the doors closed she had fallen into slumber.
She dreamt that Yuko Yabe was sleeping next to her.
In the room next door were Ayumi, Mio, Rey Mao, andâ¦
Herself.
Who was she, then?
wondered Hazuki in her dream.
They're talking about something she can't quite hear.
They're eating. So they're alive.
Yuko wasâ¦
Something rustled. An unfamiliar sound. Had her helper come?
She rubbed her red eyelids and opened weary eyes to see a light coming through the ceiling window.
That's weird. A window in the ceiling.
Morning.
Hazuki opened her eyes and sat up.
It was bright.
Where am I?
Ayumi.
Don't leave me alone
.
Hazuki flew to the door. Her body hurt. It was slow. It wouldn't move. But to leave her behind?
I'm here now. I'm alive. Don't leave me.
When she opened the door she saw Ayumi standing in front of the cage of doves.
“Ayumi.”
“Did I wake you?”
It wasn't such a tremendous amount of light, but it blinded her.
“Have you been up this whole time?”
“Well, âthis whole time' is just four hours. It's only four.”
“Four in the morning?”
Ayumi was holding one of the doves.
“What is that dove?”
“It's the dove Rey Mao took from here. It just came back.”
I promise the dove will be back.
Don't go anywhere till then.
“Something happened to her.”
Ayumi said nothing and simply extended her arm.
At her fingertips was a small object.
It was a pink neo-ceramic stone.
“That's⦔
“It was tied to this dove's foot. Yabe's piercing.”
The pink piercing belonging to pink Yuko.
“Where didâ¦I mean, where was the dove?”
“That⦔ Ayumi pointed at a cloth on the table. “This was attached to its leg. A piece of natural silk fabric. Rey Mao's. It had writing.”
“Writing? On the cloth?”
“Writing in blood,” Ayumi said simply.
“Blood? I don't understand. Blood on the cloth?”
“She didn't have anything else to write with. No paper. She's used to bleeding, so she used some of her blood to write with. She wrote Area 119 SVC Memorial Building.”
“What was this piercing doing there?”
“Rey Maoâ¦she went after the guys who attacked you. This is where it led her.”
“I still don't understand.”
It was the piercing Yuko'd been wearing in her ear.
It'd gotten stuck on Ayumi's bag.
It'd fallen in Mio's house.
Because of this piercing, because they'd found this small pink stoneâ¦
“This is probably where Yuko was
murdered
,” Ayumi said.
Murderedâ¦
Now, Hazuki finally understood. Everything.
“Ayumiâ¦you don't think⦔
Ayumi released the dove inside the cage. It flapped its wings and flew to the edge of the window.
“I guess there's no convincing you to go back to sleep now. You should go downstairs and shower or something. When you're ready, I'll be leaving here. You go to your father's. It'd be best if you contacted him from the main terminal downstairs.”
“If I do that they'll know I sent it from here.”
That would cause a nuisance.
“Don't worry about me anymore. I'm fine.”
Ayumi faced the door. Hazuki stepped in front of her.
“No you're not. What do you think you're going to do?”
“It's none of your business.”
“It is. Ayumi, are you going to that address?”
“I am,” Ayumi said.
“Why?”
“You saying I shouldn't go?”
“Why are you going?” Hazuki asked. “It's just dangerous. You said you hate dealing with people. That it's not for kids. You said if it's none of your business, not to interfere.”
Ayumi looked up at Hazuki with sad eyes.
“I have a
responsibility
to undertake.”
“Responsibility?”
“Because it's
wrong
.” Ayumi hesitated. “To kill people.”
“But
you're not
a superhero do-gooder, remember?”
“Right. I am no superhero. But I'm not going to let Rey Mao continue to be put in these screwed-up situations. She didn't do anything wrong. Now hurry up and shower so I can leave.” Ayumi took out her ID card and handed it to Hazuki.
“If we go in there together the main terminal will identify two people, but if you go in with my card the sensor won't know who it is. I didn't lock it and there's no security PIN code. Just use the card and leave it by the door or something.”
“No!” Hazuki stood up and blocked the entrance.
“Move, Makino.”
“N-no. I don't like being alone.”
“Like I said, contact your dad from the terminal downstairs.”
“I don't want to!” Hazuki was throwing a tantrum. “What if I can't get ahold of my dad? And if I did, I don't know if he'll be able to come home. He's always traveling. It'll take time for us to meet. And by then my dad's sure to contact the police. He won't think that the police or area patrol are untrustworthy, that they might be killers. He's not a child. He couldn't possibly believe something that fantastic. He'll just laugh at everything I say.”
Ayumi looked at Hazuki, amazed.
She was probably surprised. Hazuki surprised even herself. Hazuki had never yelled at anyone before. Never stood up for anything. She wasn't going to let up now.
If I don't do this, Ayumi will leave. And then she will die.
“Anyway, go shower. You're dirty.”
“Stay here. Till I come back. Promise me you'll stay, or Iâ”
“I get it,” Ayumi said. Hazuki looked into her eyes. She was trying to stare out the truth.
She wasn't lying.
Hazuki didn't have any reason to believe it, but she did. But she didn't really know. No, it wasn't just that Hazuki didn't know, but she had to believe Ayumi wouldn't leave her behind.
“I'll be quick. Just wait.”
Hazuki hurriedly put on her shoes and ran out to the rooftop.
It was white, red, bright.
There were clouds. It was bright. Shining.
It was enormous.
The sky was so big her eyes spun and threw her off a little. She went past the side of the house and through the foyer. She ran the card, opened the door, and went into the unfamiliar house. She wanted to take a shower, this was true, but she became anxious.
She scanned the room.
For now she would pass the monitor and go to the bathroom.
She looked at the monitor on her way back.
A turtle icon.
There was a message from Mio when she clicked on the icon, just as Ayumi had said.
I have to tell her
.
I have to tell Mio, at all costs.
YABE'S PIERCING FOUND AT 119--SVC MEMORIAL BUILDING RECORDING CENTER. CAT FOUND IT.
--HAZUKI
Just as she depressed the last key the window closed.
Dad. To think I was going to contact you.
But maybe I should.
She hesitated a moment.
Ayumi had said she wouldn't mind, but Hazuki knew a message sent from this terminal would cause Ayumi problems later. But she knew they couldn't do anything alone. Honestly, calling her foster father in might help. At the very least, to protect Ayumi.
She went into communication mode on the monitor. And just as she didâ¦
“What's happening?”
Access denied? No.
The screen looked funny. Hazuki immediately quit the communication program.
This is not right. Is it broken?
Oh no.
Hazuki cut the electricity and force-quit the monitor.
Shit
.
Hazuki flew off the chair and out through the foyer, grabbing her shoes and running out the door, leaving it open as she ran to the back of the house.
“Ayumi! Ayumi!”
She hurried up the spiral staircase. The way it wound up she felt like she was climbing to heaven. The sound of her kicking up the stairs was loud, and then there was Ayumi in front of her. Practically running into her, Hazuki came to a dead stop.
“What's wrong?” Ayumi asked. She was holding a backpack and had a waist pack snapped around her hips.
She was even wearing boots.
“It's not working. The communication line.”
“Locked?”
“Probably.”
“You can't gain access?”
“It looks like I can, but when I tried, suddenly⦔
“I see. Let's go.”
“Together?”
“Yes, together. You'll be safer that way.”
Ayumi stood at the topmost step of the staircase and looked straight out as far as she could. In the direction she was staring the first time Hazuki came here.
“We're going to take that traffic route.”
“What? You mean the overhead speedway?”
Where Yuko was attacked. The road above it.
“Are we even allowed to walk on that?”
“It's for freight drivers only, but there's a tunnel that runs underneath the entire length of it, and it connects to the commercial zone of the next section at one point. No one's allowed on it from six in the morning to six at night. It's the fastest way to 119. We'd get there by evening.” Ayumi peered at Hazuki.
“Are you going to be okay?”
“I can walk it.”
“Let's go.”
I don't want to die. I don't want to die crying, in a dark lonely place.
I don't want to die anymore.
“Another kid's been kidnapped. Ms. Fuwa might be arrested too. I don't know if Cat or Mio are still alive. You and I are in danger too. You still want to go?”
“I do,” Hazuki answered. Sitting here and doing nothing would be at least as dangerous. She knew if she stayed there and started crying, with her arms wrapped around her knees, she would feel like dying again.
“All right then. Grab that water. Let's go, quickly. They're probably already on their way here.”