“I heard he’s been physically abusing his little sister Akari.”
If this was in any way true, it would totally destroy any respect I ever had for Akito…but at the end of the day, it was only a rumor. I couldn’t imagine the same guy who’d stood up for me to those bullies way back when beating his own sister, no matter how far he might have fallen. I didn’t even want to consider that possibility. For the time being, though, my objective hadn’t changed; I needed to focus on preventing Akito’s death. I could look into the veracity of those rumors after that.
I ran through the empty, abandoned streets toward the Asuka Tavern. I was aware he wouldn’t arrive at the bar until nine o’clock, which was three hours from now, yet I still felt the need to rush over there for some reason. It only took me about twenty minutes to reach my destination. I found myself an inconspicuous stakeout spot a little further down on the other side of the street, where I could keep an eye on the entrance to the bar without alerting or arousing suspicion from the other customers. Now all I needed to do was wait for him to arrive…but as it was only about 6:30 now, I’d be stuck waiting for another two and half hours. I leaned my back up against a nearby telephone pole and settled in for the long haul. Right then, I felt my cell phone vibrating in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw that it was my grandmother calling me, so I answered the phone.
“Hello?”
“Sweetheart, where have you run off to? It’s almost dinnertime. Please come home.”
Right—this was the day I’d stormed out of the house to cool my head.
“Sorry, Grandma. I’m a little busy right now… Might not be home until pretty late.”
“Busy doing what? And how late are we talking?”
I wasn’t sure what to tell her. I obviously didn’t want to go home now and risk not being able to come back here later, but I also had no idea when I would be finished with my business here. So I decided to just be honest with her.
“Sorry, I don’t know yet. I promise I’ll call you as soon as I have a better idea of when I’ll be home. Like I said, though, it’ll probably be pretty late.”
“You’re not still upset at Eri, are you?” she asked reproachfully.
“No, Grandma. It has nothing to do with that.”
“…Well, all right.”
“And don’t worry about saving leftovers for me, either. I’ll figure something else out.”
“Okay. But do try to be home as soon as possible, dear. I can tell that Eri’s quite worried about you, even if she’d never admit to it.”
“…Heh. You don’t say.”
“Anyway, don’t keep us waiting too long. Talk to you soon,” my grandmother said, then hung up the phone. I randomly recalled that she had been the one who originally told me I’d stayed at a friend’s house on the night of April 1st. Yet here I was, decidedly not at a friend’s house, and I didn’t see that changing unless something very bizarre and drastic happened. It was one of the few things that still puzzled me…but no matter. As of right now, the plan was to get this over with so I could sleep in my own bed tonight. It didn’t matter where I might have stayed last time, because this time I was going to change the future.
Time passed. The skies overhead slowly turned from hot scarlet to a deep, cold navy blue. Man, it’s freezing out here, I thought to myself as I rubbed my shoulders for warmth. It was already a little past nine, but Akito was still nowhere to be seen. I even went up and took a look inside the bar a minute ago, just in case I somehow missed him, but he wasn’t there. The owner of the bar had said he only remembered that it was “around” nine o’clock, so it wasn’t that strange to think Akito hadn’t arrived yet, but it made me feel anxious all the same. Where could he be right now, and what was he doing? It would be a lot easier if I just knew his phone number and could give him a call…
“…Hang on.”
I could get his number from Akari, couldn’t I? I felt extremely dumb. Why hadn’t I thought of this sooner? I immediately whipped out my phone and dialed her number. Three rings later, she picked up.
“Hey, Akari? Listen, um…”
“Kanae-kun, you’ve gotta help me!”
“Hey! Who said you could answer that?! Give it here!”
The call was disconnected from the other side.
“…The hell was that?”
All of a sudden, I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was Akari that answered the phone, that much I knew for sure. But who was that other person yelling at her? They sounded further away, so I couldn’t quite make out their voice. A cold sweat ran down my temples. Something bad was about to happen. She wouldn’t have answered the phone begging for my help otherwise. I tried redialing, just in case…but to no avail.
I have to go. Akari needs my help.
I took off running. My destination: Akari’s apartment complex. I didn’t know for sure if that was where she would be, but it seemed the most likely place. If she wasn’t there, I’d have to go try somewhere else. I sprinted as fast as I could down the roadway, tripping due to the lack of streetlights on more than one occasion, and reached the apartment complex in record time. I heaved and huffed as I scurried up the stairs and rang the doorbell. No answer. I knocked loudly on the door. Still nothing. Finally, I tried twisting the knob as a last resort, and the door shocked me by swinging right open. I called inside to ask if anyone was home, then let myself in regardless. This was a potential emergency situation; I didn’t have time for proper etiquette. I walked down the main hallway and through an open door into the living room. There, in the middle of the floor, was a young girl curled up in the fetal position.
“Akari! Are you all right?!” I asked, rushing to her side. I knelt down beside her and put my hand gently on her back to try to help her sit up. The moment my fingers touched her, she shot upright and slapped my hand away.
“Stop it!” she cried “Don’t you dare touch m—”
Our eyes locked, and she froze in place, her jaw hanging wide open. Then, slowly, her expression began to twist into one of grief and despair. Her eyes began to water, and then tears came flooding out like tiny waterfalls.
“Waaaaaah!” she wailed loudly, slamming her face into my chest.
This time, I was the one who froze in place, but I only missed a beat before realizing what I had to do. I reached my arms around her and gently rubbed her back, just as my grandmother always did to comfort me when I was little. After cradling her there like that for a time, her sobbing eventually subsided, and she pulled her face away from my chest. Long threads of snot stretched like spiderwebs from her nostrils to my shirt. I reached around and grabbed a tissue box from the coffee table and held it out to her. She took one without a word and blew her nose.
“Feeling a little better now?” I asked.
“…Mmn,” she mumbled in a nasally voice. It was hard to take that as a yes or a no. She was still sitting with her shoulders slouched, looking dejectedly down at the floor. What in the world happened to her? I couldn’t imagine her breaking down and straight-up bawling like that unless it was something pretty damn terrible. I briefly looked her over, but didn’t see any signs of a major struggle or anything. No ripped clothes or visible injuries, at least.
“You’re not hurt at all, are you?” I asked, and she just shook her head. So I asked my next question: “What happened here?”
The moment I asked that question, the tears started welling up again. Her face scrunched up, and they started streaming down from the corners of her eyes.
“My mo—he… He took my…my…” she said, sniffling inconsolably between every other word. She was rapidly becoming harder and harder to understand. I decided the explanation could wait for now.
“All right, we can talk about it later,” I said, rubbing her back to comfort her again. “You’re okay. You’re okay now…”
As I continued trying to console her, I glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was 10 p.m., which meant Akito had been out drinking for nearly an hour now. And something told me that demanding he stop drinking over the phone wouldn’t cut it at this point, now that he was already intoxicated. I’d need to go back over there and stop him in person. I still had plenty of time, of course, so I could theoretically stay here with Akari a little longer, but Akito’s life was on the line. I didn’t want to take any chances.
“Hey, Akari, um… Not to be a jerk, but…there’s somewhere I’ve gotta be in a little bit,” I confessed. She shot her head up to look at me. Then she grabbed my right arm and squeezed it tight.
“W-wait, don’t go…” she pleaded.
“It’s okay. I’ll come right back, I promise.”
“No… I don’t want you to leave…”
Having her beg me not to go with a teary-eyed plea tied my heart in knots. On second thought, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t just leave her here.
“All right. Then you can come with me,” I said, standing up. Akari gradually rose to her feet as well, still grabbing me by the arm as we began to make our way across the living room.
“Wait… Where are you taking me?” she asked.
“To the bar,” I replied, stepping out into the hall. “That’s where Akito is.”
Akari stopped dead in her tracks, still tugging firmly on my coat sleeve.
“Why…do we have to go there?” she asked with bleary eyes.
“Because otherwise, Akito might die tonight. If I don’t go over there and get him to stop drinking, that is.”
“…How could you even know that?”
“I’ll explain on the way there. C’mon, let’s go.”
“No. I want you to tell me right here.”
“But we’re running out of time…”
“Please, Kanae-kun.”
Akari stubbornly refused to move from that spot. Based on the glint of steadfast determination I could see in her unclouded eyes, it was safe to say she wouldn’t budge until she got her answers. I understood wanting an explanation after I just told her that her brother was going to die, but did she need to be this adamant…? There was no time to think about it any longer, though. The only way I’d get her to come with me was by explaining myself.
“…All right, but I’m warning you in advance, this is gonna get pretty convoluted,” I prefaced.