Chapter Fifteen
“I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. - Amos 5:21
* * * *
She was there again.
Always with a smile on her face which almost looks like the sun coming out, and emanating warmth and a comfort that Yuri couldn’t remember ever calling her own. Had she ever felt that warmth before?
She can’t remember.
But she badly wanted it back, if it had been hers at some point in her life.
“Yuri, those were mine!”
The voice held nothing but idle words.
It was a lot like the dreams that she sometimes had at different points of her life when she dreamt about her life before all this. When death and the things that have came with it were some things that were so far off.
Just words…no voice. But the words were so familiar. It was so full of meaning.
“Let’s go outside.”
“Let’s have a race, Yuri!”
“C’mon! Don’t think that you can win?”
“That’s cheating, Yuri!”
“All is fair in life and war.”
“Where did that come from?”
“Hahaha!”
“What’s wrong, Yuri…?”
“Are you hurt?”
“Yuri, what’s wrong?”
“Yuri…?”
“Yuri?”
“Yuri!”
“YURI!”
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
The loud and incessant beeping of the alarm clock echoed throughout the room. And Yuri Yagami lay on her bed in her room, breathing heavily as if she’d just ran a marathon. And when she ran her hand over her forehead, it was clammy; like she had just suffered from a nightmare of some sort.
Finally, Yuri sat up in her bed and shut off her alarm, glancing at the clock only to see that it read 09:00am. And even as she watched, another minute ticked on. Sighing, Yuri dragged herself out of bed before walking towards her windows and drawing the curtains back, inviting the sunlight to stream into her room.
Yuri watched the people go about with their busy everyday lives below her on the road as she looked out of the window, the palm of her left hand pressing against the glass window. She sighed again as she pressed her right hand against her forehead, pushing her hair out of her eyes.
‘Another dream again,’ she thought.
Yuri then glanced at her desk before walking towards it, and pulled out a peach-coloured photo album from the pile of books stacked neatly on her desk. She then opened it and started flipping through the pages until she’d found the photograph that she had been searching for.
A photograph which was that of a younger Yuri as well as another girl. They were both standing outside a school building, and both were smiling at the camera like they have no worries at all.
Yuri couldn’t bring herself to smile as she studied the photograph. There is such a difference between then and now. No matter how much Yuri wanted to, she can’t go back to those days. She made her choice back then: she chose this path. She knew what her choice would bring her, but she had never once looked back. She had never once regretted her choice.
Yuri stared at the picture of the girl in the photograph, tracing her image.
‘Miki…’ she thought, tracing the face of the smiling figure of her best friend from years ago. ‘How is she doing? As well as Michiru-nii and Michio-nii? It has been nine years since then. Are they doing well?’
Yuri closed her photo album with a light clap before placing it back in its original place on her desk. She had been having a lot of dreams like this lately. Dreams of the past.
Since coming to Japan, Yuri had not kept in touch with Miki. And for good reason too.
In the end, the members of Hati aren’t supposed to exist, and it is far better for Miki if she just forgot about her. When Yuri had first come to Japan nine years ago, she had already made her choice. And her choice isn’t one that Miki should partake in.
Yuri scowled to herself as she slapped one hand to her forehead. ‘What the hell am I doing?’ she thought, frustrated. ‘I’ve not thought about Miki once these past nine years. Why am I doing it now? It is for the best if I just forget about her. If she just forgot about me. And it has been nine years since then. She should have already moved on with her life.’
Sighing, Yuri walked towards her wardrobe before taking out the clothes that she had decided to wear for that day. She then made sure that her room door is locked and secure before making her way towards the bathroom on the dormitory level of the Phantoms that they all shared.
It was her day-off, and she wanted to make the best of it, maybe taking a walk in the streets of Shibuya would help to take her mind off some things.
* * * *
Yuri walked through the streets of Shibuya which were crowded with people of all ages. Her hands were stuffed into her pockets as she tried her hardest to focus on the babble that she was hearing, instead of her best friend from a long time ago.
It just wasn’t working.
Sighing, Yuri came to a stop outside some clothing boutique which had a display of mannequins attired in clothing for the summer season. Selina was talking about going shopping or something during one of their day-offs, stating that just having some girl company for once instead of always being surrounded by boys would be a pleasant change.
Yuri managed a small smile at the thought of Selina.
She is unlike any of the others that she knew in Hati, particularly the Phantoms. And so is Sunny. The two siblings are so sunny and cheerful that it is a little difficult to imagine them as members of the Hati organisation, particularly members of the elites, the Phantoms.
And Selina is the ‘girly’ type of girl.
She goes shopping, takes care of her appearance, and reads fashion magazines during her day-offs from Hati. Yuri is lucky so far that Selina hadn’t asked her to be her ‘Barbie Doll’ for the day, as she guessed that that’s what high school girls her age often do with their friends.
Yuri sighed to herself as she stared at her reflection in the shop window of the clothing boutique. A serious looking teen with cold eyes stared back at her. When Yuri compared it to the photograph that she was just looking at earlier, she can see a major difference here.
She looks as if she doesn’t know how to crack a smile to save her life.
Yuri froze as she spotted the reflection of a teenage girl walking through the streets of Shibuya reflected behind her. She immediately turned around so quickly that she almost cricked her neck.
But the girl that she had seen earlier was gone, having disappeared somewhere in the crowd.
Yuri’s mind was in a whirl as she kept playing and replaying the image of the girl that she had seen in a reflection several moments earlier. That girl is exactly like what she’d imagined Miki’s grown-up version to be.
‘It can’t be…Miki, can it?’ Yuri thought to herself.
* * * *
It was late afternoon by the time Yuri returned to the dormitory building of Hati. Tohya had met her at the entrance of the dormitory with quite a serious look on his face that looks as if someone had died.
The missions that Yuri, Ren and Tohya took on were usually team missions, though they are sometimes dispatched on solo missions if the need arises. And thus, the day-off assigned to them tended to fall on the same day.
“Tohya?” Yuri raised a brow.
Tohya beckoned Yuri to follow him, and she took it as ‘I can’t talk about it out here’. As Phantoms, there are some matters that they handle which can’t be spoken about in the open, and this is probably one of them.
“What is it?” Yuri asked in a low voice as Tohya led her to the lift lobby of the dormitory building, pressing the button.
Tohya sighed as there was a sound of a light ‘ding!’, and the lift doors opened. Yuri and Tohya stepped into the lift and Yuri pressed the button for the dormitory level of the Phantoms, and the lift doors closed.
“I went to Starlight’s Hall earlier,” said Tohya at last, turning to face Yuri, looking solemn. Yuri raised a brow. Visiting Starlight’s Hall isn’t anything strange for them, even if it is in the middle of the day. “Mizuki-san told me some things.”
That got Yuri’s attention immediately.
“What did he say?” she asked sharply.
There was the sound of a light ‘ding!’, and the lift doors opened, allowing Yuri and Tohya to step out. Like always, the hallway of the dormitory level of the Phantoms was extremely silent.
“He said that someone had been looking for you,” said Tohya seriously. “It doesn’t seem to be anyone wishing you ill will, but still, you can’t be too careful. Especially since we’re currently right in the middle of a fight with Raven’s Gate.”
Yuri frowned slightly. “Who?” she asked.
Tohya looked at her in the eye before answering.
“Miki Ishigawa.”
* * * *
The sun was nearly setting and Yuri Yagami was in her room.
She was was sitting on her bed, reading a novel of some sort. Yet her eyes never seemed to wander past the first line; her mind was so preoccupied with what Tohya had said to her hours earlier. Could it really be Miki? If it really is her, what the hell is she doing in Japan? And why is she even looking for her after nine years? And how the hell did Miki even knew that she’s currently living in the Shinjuku district?
Yuri gave a start as her cellphone rang, a Japanese pop song as the ringtone of her phone. Yuri immediately picked up her phone, and raised an eyebrow as the words ‘Unknown Caller’ flashed on the LCD screen.
Who could be calling her?
Finally, after contemplating for several moments, Yuri decided to answer the call, and pressed the phone to her ear. “Hello?” she spoke warily.
The caller on the other end of the line didn’t speak for several moments. Yet Yuri knew that whoever the caller was, he or she is still on the other end of the line as Yuri could hear the distinct sounds of cars in the background.
Yuri frowned to herself. “Hello?” she said again. “Who is this speaking? Hello?”
After what seemed like a long while, and when Yuri had half a mind to hang up the phone, the caller on the other end of the line spoke in a small and timid voice.
“…Yuri? It’s me.”
Yuri froze as she sat upright on her bed, her novel falling out of her hand and landing lightly onto her bed. But she didn’t even realise it as her mind kept playing and replaying the voice that she’d heard. It might sound different now, but she will know that voice anywhere.
That same voice which had accompanied her during much of her childhood. It was also the same voice that had haunted her dreams earlier that day.
After several moments, Yuri finally found her voice and the courage to speak, her own voice trembling with emotion. “…Miki? Is that you?” she asked, her voice shaking.
On one hand, she wanted the answer to be yes as she truly missed her best friend, but on the other hand, she wanted the answer to be no, as she knew that she shouldn’t see Miki right now.
There was a slight pause before the caller on the other end of the line spoke once more. “Yeah,” she said in a soft and small voice, almost like she was afraid that Yuri would disappear if she spoke too loudly. And then again, Miki Ishigawa has never been the outspoken type. Her voice then took on a more confident tinge. “I want to see you. I’ll be at the Hachiko statue at the Shibuya station. Can you come?”
Yuri didn’t hesitate as she answered. “Of course,” she said. “I’ll be there.” Click.
* * * *
The statue of the Hachiko concerns one of the most well-known stories of Shibuya, as it is a story about a dog named Hachiko who had waited for his late master at the Shibuya station every evening from the year 1923 to 1935, eventually becoming a national celebrity for his loyalty to his late master. Thus, a statue of Hachiko was built adjacent to the Shibuya station itself, and it is also an extremely popular meeting area in the Shibuya area.
It is also that same place where Yuri Yagami and Miki Ishigawa met again after nine long years.
Like always, Shibuya is extremely crowded during night-time. But it didn’t stop Yuri from walking in the direction of the Hachiko statue where she could see a girl in her late teens leaning against it, her arms crossed over her chest, and tapping her right foot in a steady rhythm on the ground. A disposal juice cup was also clenched in her right hand.
Miki Ishigawa had changed a lot from the last time that Yuri had seen her, but she wlil know her best friend anywhere, even if she’d changed her face. Miki had blossomed into a pretty young woman, with her hair reaching just below her shoulders. She was also wearing a simple white blouse and jeans with black track shoes. But that same kind and gentle look that Miki always had when they were kids had not changed a bit.
Miki’s face broke into a warm smile as she caught sight of Yuri, and Yuri couldn’t help smiling back as she approached her best friend from a long time ago. For several moments, both girls just leaned against the Hachiko statue without saying anything, just watching the commuters walking past them.
Miki was the first one to break the silence. “It’s been a while,” she said. “It has been nine years, hasn’t it? Nine years since you left.” Yuri said nothing. “How have you been doing all these years?”
“Just fine.” Yuri answered. Silence fell between them both once more, and Yuri wondered silently to herself just when things have gotten so awkward between them both. And then again, who is she to make judgment on that when she hasn’t seen or contacted Miki for nine long years? “How did you know where to find me?”
“It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure.” Miki admitted, looking at Yuri in the eye for the first time. “But I have a tendency to not give up.” Miki smiled. “You know me. I’m stubborn. Just like my brothers.”
Yuri can’t help cracking a smile at that.
Miki then sighed, and focused on looking at the many commuters walking past them. She spoke in a low voice so that only Yuri could hear her. Though Yuri seriously doubted whether it would make much of a difference anyway, since no one was paying the slightest bit of attention to them.
“I’ve been hearing things, Yuri,” said Miki seriously. “When you…left Singapore, you had hinted that you would never let that girl and her mother off.” Yuri growled low in her throat at the mention of that wretch and her daughter. “During the past nine years, not a day has gone by without me thinking of you, and what you’d hinted at before you had left for Japan.”
Miki paused, glancing at Yuri. “And then, when I was searching for you, I’ve heard rumours around underground Shinjuku about a mysterious organisation that has been killing people who can’t be touched by the law.” Yuri was too stunned to learn that Miki had actually walked into underground Shinjuku of all places to even feel shock at what she’d said. Miki sighed. “That’s you, isn’t it, Yuri?”
There was silence for several moments before Yuri chuckled, crossing her arms over her chest, looking ahead of her, and not at Miki. “What gives you that idea, Miki?” she asked.
Inwardly, Yuri was praying to every deity in existence that Miki does not know of Hati’s existence. She is fairly sure that if the Elder or the captain learns of it, they would likely give the order for Miki’s ‘erasure’.
“Those who know will know.”
Yuri said nothing for several moments. “How are your brothers?” she asked at last, trying to steer the direction of the conversation into less dangerous waters. “Are they doing well?”
Miki stiffened at that, and Yuri wondered the reason for it. Finally, Miki turned towards Yuri with a sad expression on her face. “You mean…you haven’t heard?” she asked slowly, and Yuri raised an eyebrow, asking Miki in silent terms to elaborate. “They’re both dead, Yuri.”
Yuri froze.
Michiru-nii and Michio-nii dead?
“It happened a few years ago.” Miki suddenly found her shoes very interesting as she looked at her feet, sipping from the straw of her cup occasionally. “Michiru-niisan died in the line of duty six years after you left. At least, that is the official report. But Michio-niisan and I refused to believe it.”
Miki chewed on her bottom lip nervously. “The circumstances surrounding his death are a little…strange. Thus, Michio-niisan launched his own investigation into his death.” Miki laughed bitterly. “You know my brother. He’s stubborn. Just like me. I don’t know what he had found out, but he did mention to me that he suspect Michiru-niisan’s death has something to do with an organisation of some sort.”
Yuri raised an eyebrow. “An organisation?” she asked, intrigued. For some reason, this is giving her a really bad feeling.
Miki nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “Michiru-niisan had said nothing to either one of us before he died. But Michio-niisan found out from Michiru-niisan’s friend that he has been secretly investigating Hitomi-obaa-san’s death.”
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“My mother?” Yuri gasped. It had been years since anyone had last mentioned her mother. “And is that what had caused his death? Because he had been investigating my mother’s death?”
Miki shrugged. “Michio-niisan thinks so,” she said. “And before you say anything, we have never blamed you for it. Not me. And not Michio-niisan. It wasn’t your fault.” Yuri can only stare. How can Miki know that that is what she is thinking? “And do you still remember that Jessica and her mother?” Yuri growled low in her throat. How can she not remember those two? “You said they were the ones who had murdered Hitomi-obaa-san back then?”
“Yeah?” Yuri nearly growled.
Miki eyed Yuri warily. “Her mother died five years after you left for Japan,” she said, and Yuri turned towards Miki, stunned. “It was classified as a murder, but the murderer was never found. That Jessica girl disappeared not long after that. And then less than a year later…” Miki sighed as she ran the fingers of her left hand through her hair. “…my brother turned up dead.”
“It could be a coincidence, Miki,” said Yuri with a light one-shoulder shrug.
But in her heart, she knew that it probably wasn’t the case. She had been too long in this line of work to still believe in coincidences. There is probably more here than meets the eye, and she had a feeling that Miki knows more than this. And she is probably going to hear everything that had happened for the past nine years ever since she left Singapore.
“I thought so too initially,” said Miki, still looking at the ground instead of at Yuri. “And then, Michio-niisan stumbled across some information that Michiru-niisan has been gathering for the past few years when he had been secretly investigating Hitomi-obaa-san’s death.”
Miki paused, almost like she was remembering some unpleasant memories before she continued her tale. “Two weeks before Michio-niisan died, he briefly told me about his findings. He didn’t go into much detail, but he did tell me that if anything were to happen to him, I should leave Singapore and go to Japan immediately to find you. He even left me his ATM card and pin number and everything. And then…”
Miki chewed on her bottom lip, almost like she was trying to stop herself from crying. “And then he turned up dead two weeks later. My brother was very insistent that I should go to Japan. He even put that in his will as his last wish. And even if he had not done that, I would have come here anyway.”
“Why?” Yuri wanted to know. Why would Miki come to Japan, a country that might be her birth country by law, but one that she had never seen nor stepped foot in, not even once?
Miki was silent for several moments before turning to meet Yuri’s eyes. “I wanted to see you,” she said simply. “That is enough reason for me, don’t you think?” Yuri’s eyes widened a slight fraction, and Miki turned back to staring at her shoes. “So I came to Japan and enrolled myself into a middle high school. I have papers that says I’m an emancipated minor, so it is no problem enrolling myself into school. That was three years ago. I was fifteen then.”
Miki sighed. “For these past three years, I kept searching for you. I kept asking around. I even rang up every school in Japan to ask if there is a student in their school by the name of Yuri Yagami. And each time, I was sorely disappointed. But I didn’t give up looking for you.” Miki glanced at Yuri’s rather shocked form. “I missed you. I wanted my best friend back. I wanted my sister back. Or is it just wishful thinking on my part, and that perhaps you’ve already moved on?” Miki managed a small and sad smile. “And then, about a year ago, I received a package.”
Yuri blinked. “What?”
“It was from Michio-niisan,” said Miki. “The package contained a disc which had information that he had found out about Hitomi-obaa-san’s death, as well as the truth behind Michiru-niisan’s death. In that disc, Michio-niisan told me that he had found out that a mysterious organisation was behind both their deaths. Michio-niisan said that it is otherwise known as ‘Raven’s Gate’, and that they are based in Japan.”
Yuri’s brain had officially shut down by that point in time. In fact, she had already stopped listening after the words ‘Raven’s Gate’ had escaped Miki’s lips. Shock could not even begin to describe what she was currently feeling.
‘Raven’s…Gate…!’ Both shock and fear were circulating around Yuri’s system as she looked at Miki with fear in her eyes.
‘I’m not dreaming, am I? Miki did just say ‘Raven’s Gate’, didn’t she?’ Yuri tried to stop herself from panicking. ‘Oh god. Miki, just what have you gotten yourself into?’
Not realising what Yuri was thinking and feeling in that moment, Miki continued with her tale. “I started investigating this organisation after that,” she said, and Yuri barely suppressed a groan. “And it was only recently that I found out where you are.” She glanced at Yuri as she said this. “Do you remember the incident several months back with that kid who had died when she fell off the building of Shibuya 109?”
Yuri fought to prevent herself from flinching visibly in front of Miki. ‘Yuuki…’
“I thought that I saw you in Shibuya on that day,” said Miki, not realising Yuri’s current state of mind. “I then started asking around. A classmate told me to go to the Starlight’s Hall in Kabukicho. He said that the bartender can help me find anyone.”
Miki sighed. “It took some major convincing on my part, but Mizuki-san told me in the end that he knew you personally. And it took me another round of convincing to get him to tell me your cellphone number. And that is all that he would tell me, no matter how much I begged. He also told me that even he doesn’t know where you actually live. And it was also around that point in time when I found out some things about Raven’s Gate by acting on the leads that Michio-niisan had supplied to me in the disc.”
Miki paused before turning towards Yuri. “You’re after them too, aren’t you? I did hear rumours during my investigations lately that an organisation is after Raven’s Gate as well.”
Yuri said nothing for several moments. “And…what have you found out?” she asked carefully.
“The true identity of their leader for one,” said Miki, and that caught Yuri’s attention immediately. “It took me three years, but I found out the identity of their leader. The one that is otherwise known as ‘Kami’.”
“And who is he?” asked Yuri slowly.
“Their leader is—” Miki stopped speaking at that point in time, her eyes wide with shock.
Yuri raised an eyebrow. “Miki?” she voiced out. “What’s wrong? Who is Kami?”
Yuri’s eyes widened a slight fraction as the juice cup that Miki is clutching fell out of her right hand and onto the ground, spilling the contents of the cup everywhere.
“Miki?” Yuri asked with concern. Something isn’t right here.
Her eyes widened in shock when she saw a trail of blood flowing from the edges of Miki’s lips, and the girl herself looked down at her chest. Yuri’s eyes followed Miki’s vision of sight, and her eyes widened in horror when she saw a large pool of blood slowly forming on Miki’s white blouse.
“Miki?”
Miki fell forwards at this point in time, and Yuri managed to catch her before she hit the ground, all the time shaking Miki and calling her name. “Miki! Oi! Miki! Wake up! If this is a joke, it is not funny!” Yuri called out, panicked. “Miki!”
The fingertips of her left hand searched Miki’s body, touching something wet, and Yuri withdrew her left hand only to see blood on her fingertips. Her eyes widened in horror as she turned back towards Miki.
“Miki!”
Yuri’s panicked shouting had created quite a scene, and had attracted the attention of a number of people who were all looking on curiously, not knowing what it was that had happened.
“You never had much luck in things like this, do you, Yagami?” said a taunting voice, and Yuri glanced up only to see a girl a few years her senior standing before her with a sneer on her face.
The girl is beautiful in a way, with her shoulder length hair dyed golden-brown. Her eyelashes were long and curled back a little, and she was also dressed in a way that seemed as if she was going clubbing, with a black tube top and a black mini-skirt with boots that reached all the way to her calves. A black leather jacket finished her look off.
Her entire appearance just screams ‘danger’.
Yuri narrowed her eyes at this girl, with Miki still in her arms. There is something familiar about this girl… It is like Yuri had seen her somewhere before. But for the life of her, she simply couldn’t remember where.
“Who are you?” Yuri asked.
The girl raised an eyebrow. “You don’t remember me?” she said in an incredulous tone. “Well, I guess I really shouldn’t be surprised. It has been years since we’ve last met after all. But surely you still remember the name of your arch nemesis, Yagami?”
That rang a bell in Yuri’s memory just then. She quickly scanned the girl’s face, and her eyes narrowed dangerously as she soon put a name to that face before her.
“I remember.” Yuri muttered, her voice having a dangerous edge to it. The crowd watching this scene grew nervous at the obvious anger in her voice, not that Yuri cared. “I saw your ugly mug a long time ago.”
Yuri placed Miki’s head gently back on the ground before standing upright and glaring at the girl, not caring about the blood that had stained her coat and shirt. “I never thought that I will ever see you again. It’s been a long time.” Yuri snarled, clenching both her hands into fists by her sides, fighting the urge to use her gun in a public place like this. “Jessica Kwok!”
Jessica smirked. “It’s been a long time indeed,” she said with a sneer in her voice. “You and your little group have sure been giving us some major trouble these past months. It’s only common courtesy to give greetings to the supposed strongest of your little group.”
Yuri narrowed her eyes. Giving them some major trouble? And judging by Jessica’s words, she knew of Hati’s existence. But the only group or organisation out there that Hati has been interfering with lately was…
Yuri’s eyes widened a slight fraction. Oh Good Lord! It can’t be!
Jessica smirked. “I see that you’ve realised it at last,” she said.
“You’re a member of Raven’s Gate?” Yuri nearly hissed, sounding rather like an angry snake. “Just how low have you fallen?”
“You’re one to talk, Yagami,” said Jessica. “Since you knew very well the things you’ve actually done.” She smirked. “Tell me. Just how much blood has covered those hands? How many people have you killed?”
“Isn’t this the pot calling the kettle black?” Yuri hissed. “You’re no different. No.” She shook her head. “What you and your organisation are doing is nothing but senseless killing! As least I have a reason for the things that I’ve done up to now!”
That was it. The smile on Jessica’s face disappeared in an instant, and a scowl replaced it. “The ideals of Kami will save this world,” she hissed. “Kami will rule the world as its dominant ruler!”
Yuri snorted. “Yeah right. He will only do it over my dead body!” she snapped. “Just how many people have you killed? You’re just like your mother! That fucking bitch killed my mother!”
Jessica snarled. “Don’t you dare insult my mother!” she hissed. “And I see no reason for you to be angry. After all, what my mother did back then was nothing more than throwing out the trash.”
Yuri snapped. She clenched her hands so tightly into fists that they almost drew blood. “You and that bitch that you call your mother destroyed everything! You drove me from Singapore! You killed my mother! You killed Yuuki! Now you’re going to pay for it! DI—”
Yuri was cut off when she felt someone grab her right ankle weakly. Snapping her head around quickly, she looked down to see that it was Miki, covered in her own blood and looking extremely pale, yet she could still find the strength to grab hold of Yuri’s ankle.
“Please Yuri…this isn’t you…” Miki managed to speak despite her declining strength as she’d lost a great amount of blood by this time. “You aren’t…the type to do something like this! You would never…involve innocent parties even if you’re seeking revenge! Please… She will get her just deserts one day…but come back to us…!”
Yuri froze as she looked at Miki’s pleading face, and then to the smirking Jessica before looking at the curious crowd that surrounded them. She was surprised that none of the crowd had heard what they had been yelling about all this time.
Yuri then tore her eyes away from Jessica, and was immediately at Miki’s side, cradling her weakened and bloodied body in her arms.
“You are a fool, Yagami. Just like your mother. You had your shot at revenge, and you chose to leave it. And for what? For your poor and pathetic excuse of a best friend there? You truly are pathetic. You’re an idiot, just like your mother and uncle before you.” Jessica mocked.
“You’re the fool, Jessica,” said Yuri without turning to look at her. “I am Hekate. My name represents vengeance and hatred. I can exact my revenge on you anytime that I wish to. But Miki doesn’t have that much time left. I swear that I will find you someday, even if it will take me ten years! And when I find you, you’re going to wish that you’re dead by the time that I’m done with you!”
Jessica smirked. “Do as you wish,” she said. “I’ve done what I was assigned to do here anyway. Besides, that girl doesn’t have much time left anyway.” She smirked as she removed a green dart from within her jacket, holding it between the index and middle fingers of her right hand. “It is amazing what a simple dart can do, isn’t it?” She chuckled with amusement, turning around and waving at Yuri. “I’ll look forward to our next encounter, Phantom XIII Hekate.”
Then she had disappeared somewhere within the crowd.
But Yuri didn’t have the time to deal with that wretch as she turned towards Miki. The girl was extremely pale, and Yuri clutched at Miki’s right hand, as if that one act could help Miki to cling to life.
“Miki…! Just hang on! I’ll get some help!”
Miki smiled weakly at Yuri. “What…is that look on your face?” she said weakly. “It…doesn’t suit you…”
“Miki…”
Miki coughed harshly. “Carry on…for me,” she said weakly. “Destroy…Raven’s Gate. If it’s Yuri…I believe that you can do it. If it’s Yuri…”
“Miki. Tell me!” said Yuri quickly. “Who is Kami?!”
“Kami is—”
But before she could complete her sentence, Miki’s eyes rolled to the back of her head as her eyelids slid shut, having lost consciousness due to the severe loss of blood.
“Miki!”
Yuri looked around frantically.
Even in this situation, she still kept her wits about her; she was trained to.
All Phantoms are.
She definitely can’t bring Miki to Hati headquarters as civilians are not supposed to know about Hati in the first place. The hospital is also definitely out, as it will just invite all kinds of awkward questions that she will find difficult to answer.
If that is so, then there is only one place that she can bring Miki to.
“Miki, just hang on!” Yuri said as she draped one of Miki’s arms around her shoulders, and pulled her up, heading towards where she had parked her motorbike. “I swear that I will save you! I won’t let you die! We still have so much to talk about!”
* * * *
Yuri ran three red lights and nearly caused a car collision as she raced through the streets of underground Shinjuku as fast as she could on her bike.
Yuri had Miki’s arms wrapped around her waist to ensure that she did not fall off as Yuri raced through the streets of underground Shinjuku as fast as she could go. Yuri pressed down on her brakes as she rounded around a corner, and headed towards a certain street in the underground Shinjuku district that she tends to avoid like the plague. But it was also the only place that she knew of that would help Miki without any awkward questions coming her way.
Yuri turned down the street, and with another right, she arrived at her destination. With a loud screech, Yuri pressed onto the brakes, and came to a stop neatly outside a place which had the signboard that read, ‘Sarugaki Family Clinic’ on it.
On the surface, it is a small and respectable clinic, but Yuri knew better.
There are certain clinics in the underground Shinjuku district that treat the injuries of people secretly – injuries that couldn’t be seen at a hospital. And the doctor of the Sarugaki Family Clinic is one of them.
Yuri had met the doctor, a man in his late twenties by the name of Akira Sarugaki about two years ago when Ren had made a grave error on a mission, and he had gotten messed up quite badly. And as luck would have it, she ran into Akira when she was dragging a nearly dead Ren through the streets of underground Shinjuku. The man had introduced himself as a doctor, and had offered to help. Having had no other choice, Yuri had accepted the man’s help.
And it was only later that Yuri found out that Akira Sarugaki treats the injuries of people who couldn’t be seen at a hospital. And some of the patients that he sees are usually people of the underworld society. Yuri, Ren, and later Tohya all befriended Akira later on, and when they’ve suffered injuries on missions that they don’t feel like explaining to the doctor of Hati, they usually go to Akira to have their injuries seen to. It also helps that Akira is a good listener, and he usually just lets them rant.
And naturally, Akira had no idea that Yuri, Ren and Tohya were members of Hati. He had just assumed that they’re members of some syndicate who kills for a living. The man might be a doctor, but even he understood that there are times when one might have to take a life in order to continue living.
This is their way of life.
And in the streets of underground Shinjuku, he often sees things like that.
And now, it is Akira and his clinic that Yuri needs so badly.
Yuri inhaled deeply, taking in deep breaths to catch her breath back before she got off her bike, half-carrying and half-dragging Miki off her bike. She then turned off the engine and slipped her motorcycle keys into her pocket.
Boy, Akira is going to be surprised to see her.
Miki looked dangerously pale and was very still by this point in time, and Yuri prayed to every deity in existence that Akira would be able to save Miki. She half-dragged and half-carried Miki to the front steps of the clinic, and banged on the front door.
“Akira!” Yuri called out, panic in her tone as she banged on his front door repeatedly, not caring if she woke up every single person in a five mile radius with all the din that she’s making. “It’s me!” She banged onto the door again. “Akira! I swear, open the damn door!”
Moments later, but to Yuri, it almost seemed like an eternity, the door that she was about to break down swung open, and Akira Sarugaki appeared at the doorway. He was dressed in a simple white T-shirt and jeans, and his hair was untidy – almost like he’d just rolled out of bed. And he looked startled to see Yuri.
Yuri can just imagine what she must look like right at this moment. Blood stained most of her clothes, she was also lugging a half-dead person with her. Yeah. She can just imagine what was running through Akira’s head right now.
“Yuri?” Akira looked startled. His eyes then narrowed as he took in the sight of Miki.
Yuri breathed a sigh of relief when Akira had answered the door. “Please, Akira!” she nearly pleaded. “I need your help. Please save Miki!”
“Come in,” said Akira immediately, standing aside to allow Yuri to enter his clinic, and he closed the door behind them, turning on the light switches of his clinic so that Yuri could see where she was going. “Bring her to the bed!”
Yuri brought Miki to the hospital bed in the room where Akira always tends to his patients. Akira immediately pulled on his doctor’s coat and called up the stairs to the attached apartment that he lives in with his sister who is also his assistant and nurse of sorts.
“Kanae! Get down here now! I need your help!”
His sister was down in the clinic even before Akira had finished shouting for her. Apparently, she had heard all the commotion, and had gotten ready for an emergency surgery, just in case. You don’t live in a place like the underground Shinjuku district without knowing just what kind of things actually happen here.
Kanae looks a lot like her brother, only with longer hair which she had put up into a long ponytail at the top of her head. Kanae nodded to her brother as Akira entered the room where Yuri had brought Miki into immediately.
“Come on, Yuri,” said Kanae, leading Yuri by the arm to the waiting hall outside the surgery room. “You shouldn’t see this. Let us do our job.”
“Kanae, please!” Yuri has no idea when she had actually started begging the older girl. “Please save Miki!”
“We’ll do our best.” Kanae assured her before she left Yuri standing in the hallway, and entered the room where her brother is in, closing the door behind her as she did so.
And then, there was silence.
Yuri has no idea just how much time had passed after that. One hour? Two hours? Maybe three hours? Time seemed to freeze as she sat in one of the chairs in the waiting hall, her fingers curled together in front of her mouth as she prayed hard for Miki.
And that is quite a feat in itself, as Yuri had since her mother’s death, stopped believing in the existence of gods. The steady and slow ticking of the clock hanging on the wall was Yuri’s only companion, and she glanced up every now and then to check the time. It was now 03:15am, and that meant that Akira and Kanae have been in surgery with Miki for almost five hours.
Just then, the door of the surgery room swung open, and Yuri immediately sprang up. Akira walked out of the room, looking extremely dejected, and there were several blood stains on his doctor’s coat as well as on his T-shirt. He also looked very tired, and he had difficulty meeting her gaze.
Yuri felt her breath catch in her throat. It cannot be…
“Akira, how’s Miki?” Yuri demanded, approaching Akira. She can vaguely see Kanae’s form behind some privacy curtains in the room that Akira had just came out of, doing who-knows-what.
Akira chewed on his lower lip nervously before looking at Yuri, and he shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he said apologetically. “I…tried my best. She had lost too much blood, and the injuries that she had suffered were too serious. I’m really sorry.”
Yuri’s heart plummeted down to her feet at this, and her eyes were wide with shock. She nearly stopped breathing as well. “No…” Yuri shook her head slowly from side-to-side, her eyes not leaving Akira’s face. “It can’t be…! Miki can’t be dead!” Her voice echoed throughout the entire clinic. “You’re a doctor, aren’t you? She is not dead yet! Do something to save her!”
Yuri grabbed the front of Akira’s coat, nearly lifting him a few inches off of the ground which is quite a feat in itself, considering the fact that Akira is nearly two heads taller than Yuri. “Do something! Do something…” Yuri’s voice was shaking and growing softer by the minute as the realisation of Miki’s death hit her. “Do something to save her…” Her head was bowed down to prevent Akira from seeing the tears that escaped her eyes. “Please…Akira…”
“I’m sorry, Yuri,” said Akira apologetically, one hand on Yuri’s shoulder. “You can go in to see her if you like. I’ll…take care of the proceedings for the burial so that the authorities won’t ask too many questions.” He patted Yuri’s shoulder. “I’ll leave you alone.”
And he left Yuri standing in the hallway.
Several moments passed before Yuri made her way hesitantly into the room where Miki lay. She paused at the doorway, not daring to enter, not wanting to see the truth with her own eyes. She didn’t want to accept the fact that Miki was dead.
That her best friend was dead.
From where Yuri stood, she could see the white cloth covering the bottom half of Miki’s body. Finally, Yuri forced herself to walk towards the bed that Miki was lying on, trembling slightly. And with each step that she took, it was like something had just stabbed her through the heart.
Finally, Yuri was standing by Miki’s side.
A white cloth was covering the bottom half of her body, and her hands were resting on her chest with her eyes closed. Her face looked so peaceful, as if she was only sleeping, except she wasn’t breathing, and there were blood stains on her clothes.
Yuri clenched her hands into fists as she grabbed the sides of the bed, causing the bedclothes to crumple. Tears fell from her eyes and onto the bedclothes, but Yuri didn’t even realise it.
“Miki…”
Yuri raised a shaking hand as she cupped Miki’s cheek. Her skin is so cold now. As far as she could remember, Miki had always been warm. Just like her personality. She was always cheerful and sunny. Yuri simply can’t remember a time when Miki had been sad or angry.
And once again…once more, she is too late. First her mother. Then Tatsuya. And now Miki. How many more people must she see die before her? Sure, she’s a Phantom, one of Hati’s best. But what use is that power if she can’t even use it to save the people who mattered most to her?
Yuri now understood what Ren must have felt back when Tatsuya had died in his arms. How helpless he must have felt when his first and only friend had died before him, and he couldn’t do anything to save him.
What is that saying again? ‘You’ll never know what you’ve got until you’ve lost it’.
Unbearable pain seared through Yuri’s body, but not of the physical kind.
Forgiveness is the greatest virtue.
Miki had always been there for her. They had been best friends ever since they were kids. Miki was always the one helping her and defending her whenever the other children picked on her.
I believe…that a strong heart and a strong belief…can be a strong weapon even against the most powerful foe.
She always had such a sunny outlook on life. Miki had been the only one to stand by her side all those years ago when her mother was murdered. She is the only one who had truly believed in her. She is the only one who had helped her.
I like to think of life after death as a paradise where no injustice of any sort occurs, and where everyone can just live in peace.
Yuri’s vision blurred as the tears clouded her vision. She can’t stop them from coming. Why was she so stupid? Why had she never stayed in touch with Miki all these years? Why did she even agree to meet Miki earlier? If she had never done that…if she had never agreed to meet Miki…then maybe she wouldn’t have died!
If Miki had never met her…
If it’s Yuri…I believe that you can do it. If it’s Yuri…
Raven’s Gate…
In the end, it all comes down to them. How many people have they killed? How many lives have been ruined at their hands?
It is Miki’s last wish to see the end of Raven’s Gate. And even if it half kills her, Yuri is going to see it through to the end.
* * * *
Yuri stepped out of the apartment that Miki had rented, a white envelope and a CD jewel case clutched in her right hand. It is nearly five in the morning, and she had found out where Miki was living thanks to her identity card that Akira had found on her.
If Jessica knew what Miki had been doing and where to find her, then Raven’s Gate must have been keeping tabs on her for some time now. And the only reason why they would do that must be because Miki had found out something about them. Thus the reason why Yuri is currently in Miki’s apartment.
And the letter and the CD jewel case that Yuri had found in Miki’s apartment seemed to be of some importance.
She wouldn’t put it past Raven’s Gate to torch Miki’s apartment or do something just to hide all evidence that might give away a clue to their true identities.
Yuri sighed as she stepped out into the cool air, and looked up at the sky which was dotted with millions of glittery stars shining like diamonds in the black velvety sky. Miki had told her once a long time ago when they were kids that each star in the sky represents a departed soul. If that is so, then maybe one of the stars in the sky belonged to her.
Yuri sighed.
‘I’m sorry, Miki.’
Don’t be. Everything will be alright in the end.