*
‘No – wait. Stop.’ Miyako said weakly, holding her head. She stopped to lean on a wall.
‘C’mon Miyako, the faster we can find the bullet the better.’ Kouji explained.
‘I know – I know.’ Miyako looked to her side at the open boiler room. ‘Something bad has happened. In there. Someone is in trouble, a girl. Hido... She’s dying.’
‘How do you know know?’
‘Her heart, I can feel it suffering.’ She placed a hand to her forehead, feeling her brain pulsate.
‘What are we waiting for then?’ Hido attempted to rush into the room but Miyako held onto his sleeve. ‘What are you doing, Miyako? Let go.’
Miyako had broken out into a sweat and her breathing had slowed significantly ‘There’s a boy down there... He’s... He’s...’ Blood then began to slide out of her nose as she fought to get the rest of the words out.
‘Holy!... Kouji! What do I do!?’
‘I don’t know!’ Kouji began to panic. ‘Maybe... Maybe it’s her power? To read people – I don’t know!’
‘What!? The power to give headaches and make you bleed!? Miyako! Miyako!’
But Miyako had already passed out.
‘Damn it...’
‘Listen Hido, take her to the nurse and I’ll go down there and recover the bullet. Or rather, try to recover the bullet.’
‘Kouji I–’
Kouji stopped him. ‘I know finding who killed Mr Tetsu means something to you but don’t lie and say that it means to you more than Miyako does.’ He smiled. ‘Go.’
‘Kouji... Thank you.’ Hido lifted Miyako like a man cradling his newly-wedded wife. ‘You’ll be alright Miyako, I promise.’ He exchanged a soft look with Kouji whose mouth locked together as he became increasingly unsure of himself. Then swiftly he was gone, heading back down the staircase.
Nervously Kouji exhaled but wasted no time in traversing a set of old, wooden stairs into the the boiler room. The room was poorly kept with black bags tossed haphazardly to the side. He doubted that they were thrown out as often as people suspected and he also suspected that the room was rarely used and when it was it more for storage than anything else.
The boiler room was moderately sized, enough to lose sight of a person if that person were at the other end of the room. The boy whom Miyako had warned him about was nowhere to be seen. Kouji took several steps into the dimly lit room and while the light was under-powered the smell more than over-compensated in giving the room a unique atmosphere. The circular, caged, industrial lights flickered and inside the plastic casing Kouji could see dead wasps that has somehow found their way inside but died, the heat and light cooking them alive.
It wasn’t too soon did Kouji find the plethora of spare computer parts and a school bag. Reaching inside he found a few books; a novel, a text book and a notebook filled with writing and drawings. An inventory was included. Kouji’s attention quickly moved to the blood pooled on the ground ahead. Crouching down he could see the ground more clearly, seeing that the person crawled away, leaving only a thin trail of blood. ‘Miyako was right...’ He said to himself.
Further down the room the sound of tearing metal and the breaking of glass filled the room with sharp sounds, startling Kouji who then made his way to the source with caution, keeping his eyes out for anyone else; the boy or the girl. Crunching under his feet made him stop. Stepping back and lowing herself he found what looked like a glass box filled with yellow pills that had been knocked over, splashing with a great radius. No...
Kouji picked up a pill, examining it closely.
It wasn’t a glass box at all. The worn, iron cage housing the light had rusted away and the old light that had long since dropped off the ceiling finally fell when the cage did. What Kouji stepped on weren’t pills he realised but an unfathomable number of dead wasps. It must have been the collective weight that had caused the light to fall off in the first place. The flicked the wasp between his fingers away.
That wasp hit a boy in the chest. ‘Who are you?’ He announced, bringing Kouji out of his thoughts.
Kouji looked up to see a boy in school uniform; a black, long-sleeved jacket buttoned up to his neck, the white from his shirt poking out of the bottom, black school trousers piling slightly at his feet and polished, black shoes. On his collar was a pin, the symbol of the school which was a star surrounded by a ring of ivy. His hair was brown and long enough that his eyes were nearly invisible.
‘Who are you?’ Kouji asked.
‘This is even better, I can kick your ass instead of that girl’s.’ Masaru smirked. ‘Make me feel real good.’ He raised his fists.
‘So it’s you.’ Kouji’s eyes narrowed. ‘You beat up girls? Are you that pathetic?’
‘You don’t want to get me mad.’ Masaru got into a fighting pose, spacing out his legs apart for more stability, raising a hand to his face while keeping another levelled at his chest. ‘You don’t know what I’m capable of.’
‘You beat up girls, we’ve already established that, stupid.’ Kouji pointed at Masaru accusingly.
‘Don’t call be stupid!’ Masaru warned venomously.
‘Or else what? You’ll beat up more girls who can’t defend themselves?’ He folded his arms, raising his head to look down on Masaru. ‘She must have been what? Looking at all those parts over there? And then you come over and attack her?’
‘That’s the gist of it.’
‘Why?’
‘Because, when you have a chance to vent, you do it. And trust me, I never felt more alive than when I smashed that glass over her fragile head. Twice.’
‘You bastard...’ Kouji gritted his teeth. He didn’t know what to do, he wasn’t much of a fighter and all that came to him when forced into a situation like this was trash-talk. This boy before him however was the opposite; though seemingly docile, he lived to fight. There was no point in angering him as the angrier he got the more brutal he’d fight.
Kouji raised his fists.
‘This is going to be fun.’ Masaru declared, then charged.
A right hook to the face, dazing Kouji, a jab to the stomach winding him. His head was grabbed then thrown into Masaru’s raised knee, almost breaking his nose then his hair was grabbed and was forced to straighten up as blow after blow was struck on his chest. He was then thrown to the floor, spitting out blood.
Before Kouji could even think about recovering he was kicked in the head, forced to see stars and didn’t see the stomping coming. Kouji rolled out of the way and the force of Masaru’s own attack damaged his ankle when he hit ground instead of flesh.
Kouji stood, making his way for the exit but was dragged back by his own long hair. There would be no escaping.
Round three.
Masaru found a stray monitor that hadn’t been dismantled, striking it against Kouji’s head to send him to the ground. He wanted to move, but his body felt heavy and underneath him he could feel his sweat and blood make the dead insects stick to him.
In a frenzy, Masaru attacked the rubbish bags, ripping them open like a predator commencing feasting on its prey, looking for something to hurt Kouji with. But Kouji used the time to think; he was a thinker not a fighter and it was only by chance did he realize that he had the endurance to take a beating. Kouji sluggishly raised himself, breathing shallowly through the pain so that he wouldn’t make a sound loud enough to disturb the hunter. Now sitting, he wiped away the wasps – some who he could hear still buzzing in his ear, looking around for anything. And then he found it. He truly is an idiot, isn’t he? Kouji smirked then as quietly as he could he moved to the rusted iron cage, picking up one of the shaped bars that had come loose when it dropped. The texture was incredibly rough and crumbled in his hands but it would do.
Bar in-hand, Kouji lowered himself to reduce the sound of his footsteps, breathing slowly and ignoring the blood flowing into his eyes. Before him was the predator thrashing around the trash as he continued for
something he could use to inflict pain, ignoring the filth that was coating him.
Kouji continued to steadily advance, coming within two feet of Masaru but it wasn’t enough, he would have to get in closer. The distance slowly closed between them, each step reducing the space by inches. Masaru began to slow himself, an instinct telling him that something wasn’t right; he gradually straightened himself, believing that it would be him who would have the upper hand.
Close enough now, Kouji slowly elevated himself to his full height, tiptoeing now. The nine inch, iron bar in his hand held so that most of the length was behind him.
With surprising speed Masaru wheeled around pouncing on Kouji, knocking him off his feet, landing heavily on the concrete floor sprinkled with glass and deceased wasps that crunched under their weight. Even with the iron bar thrust into his shoulder, tangled in his collar bone, Masaru tried his best to attack Kouji who twisted his head as far away as he could, breathing quickly as his heart raced.
Masaru dragged himself up Kouji’s body, fingers digging into his face and pulling down thoughtlessly, getting Kouji’s flesh caught under his nails – his final attempt to maim before his heart gave out, his head dropping suddenly onto Kouji’s chest.
And then the boiler room was quite once more.
‘Argh!’ Kouji wailed as he tried to push Masaru off of him. ‘Arrrrrgh!’ He looked up at the ceiling, desperate, breathing continuing to be shallow. He looked down at the corpse one more time then pushed. ‘ARGH!’ He screamed, flipping him off.
As fast as his body let him he stood, the desire to get out of hell of the boiler room fuelling him. ‘Hey!’ He cried out, letting the echo carry his voice. ‘HEY!’
Nothing.
‘Shit...’ He breathed, venturing further inside. The boiler room was larger than it looked and where he thought it ended it actually turned out to be a corner where he turned to find another equally large section. The room must have ran under the entirety of the the school. Lethargically, Kouji continued search and in time he had covered the entire room without a trace of the girl.
Kouji headed back to the door where he restarted his search, incorporating the focus he had before he was attacked. This time he noticed a trail of blood, copious droplets heading further into the room. Rounding the corner again, Kouji found that the trail instead lead to behind a tall heap of black bags that looked like it could topple at any moment.
However, there behind the stack was Katou, barely conscious. Kouji crouched in awe, horror clear on his face when he saw the glass sticking out of her face that almost entirely red with blood.
Katou looked up at the Kouji.
‘I’ll call for help.’ Kouji offered, reaching into his pocket for his mobile phone but Katou made a sound. ‘What is it?’ He lowered himself so that he too was lying down, curling up opposite her as Katou fought to talk.
‘N-No...’
‘You want to die?’
‘N-No...’ She repeated. ‘But, I don’t have the strength to go on.
‘I got him... I got the boy who did this to you. He won’t be hurting anyone else.’
Katou smiled.
‘Listen, I need your help. Do you think you can try?’
‘Y-Yes.’
Kouji thought it commendable that despite all she had gone through, Katou had the courage to show kindness and keep her faith in humanity. ‘I don’t know if you’ve seen anything like this.’ He began slowly, not wanting to confuse her. ‘Maybe you saw a special bag or something. I’m looking for a bullet. I know it’s not much to go by but, have you seen it?’
Katou was quick to respond, her hand curled up and weakly beckoned Kouji closer. ‘At the furnace. White bag... too big... Body. The teacher who was... shot.’ Her hand dropped and she fell silent.
‘No...’ Kouji breathed, slowly standing but as he did he saw her hand slowly crawled over the floor, arching across to extend and point back in the direction he came from.
‘Bag... Bag...’ Katou uttered. ‘Bag... Bag... Bag...’ She continued to utter the word over and over again until she gradually became quiet.
Bag? There are plenty of bags in here... He stood and left the girl, not wanting to look at her for fear of dying more inside than he already had. Wandering back at the foot of the stairs he was at a loss. Did she hide it in one of these bags? I’ve already checked her school bag...
Footsteps echoed as Miyako and Hido made their way down, Miyako looking better than she did before.
‘Kouji... Damn, are you alright?’ Hido asked.
Kouji looked away. ‘You’re always so sensitive Hido... It’s nothing. How are you feeling Miyako?’
Miyako looked at Kouji even though he was looking at the floor. ‘My headache is gone, the nurse gave me some medicine and some water.’
‘I didn’t know they were allowed to.’ He said bluntly.
‘Kouji... What happened here?’ Miyako’s hands drew to her ample bust.
‘That guy, he tried to kill me but I killed him instead.’ He bit his lip, frowning.
‘You had to kill a guy?’ The light overhead shone onto Miyako’s glasses hiding whatever feeling she held in her eyes. ‘And the girl?’
Kouji crossed her, ignoring her question and rummaging through her bag once again. Perhaps he missed something.
‘I see...’ Was all Miyako said.
‘Five deaths in one week...’ Hido said to himself.
Kouji withdrew the books and the notepad but again but he was left with an empty bag. He shook the sack and heard nothing, checking afterwards for extra pockets. Nothing. He dropped it, baffled.
‘Did you hear that?’ Hido asked.
‘Hear what?’ Kouji replied.
‘I didn’t hear anything either.’ Said Miyako.
‘Do that again – drop the bag.’ Hido closed his eyes so that all of his effort went into his hearing.
Kouji lifted the bag then dropped it again, enough to make Hido’s eyes snap open. ‘There it is again.’
‘What?’
That clanging sound, metal hitting the ground.
‘You mean the buckle?’ Kouji pointed out patronisingly.
‘No. I mean...’ Hido too crossed Miyako, crouching at the bag. ‘I heard something inside the bad, metal wedged between fabric, dampening the sound. You won’t see it because it’s too dark here...’
‘How could you hear it but not us?’
‘I don’t know Miyako. Maybe...’ He fingered the inside of the bag, looking for a loose seam. ‘Maybe I have an ability too.’ He found it. ‘There.’ Digging a finger from his other hand in, he tore the bag open, dipping a hand in fully and excitedly pulled out a long piece of gold, rounded metal.
The bullet.
FAMILY