Coming back to the land where he died is already challenging. Facing his murderer right after he has set foot on the land is...
Yuta freezes in his mother"s arms when he sees the woman"s face. He hasn"t expected to see her like this.
"Thank you." The woman smiles brightly and bows to them. "My car stopped working in the middle of the road. My cellphone wasn"t working either. If you hadn"t stopped the car, I would have been spending all night on the road."
Yuta releases his breath. The voice is different. He starts to notice the differences. She looks just like her, but she"s not her. Her jaw is narrower. Her nose is a little pointy. Her skin is a few shades darker.
That woman... The corners of her eyes crinkled whenever she smiled. Her smiles would always meet her eyes. She could easily make people believe in her.
Besides, this woman is too old to be her.
"It"s quite late." Takes.h.i.+ looks at the woman in her late twenties. She"s wearing a black trench coat and dark trousers. Her shoes are muddy. Her honey-blonde hair is dripping with water. Her light grey eyes are filled with distress and fear. She"s small and lithe. "Where are you going? We will drop you if it"s on the way."
"I am going to M village. If you can drop me at the next bus station..." The woman speaks in a trembling voice. "My son is waiting for me at home."
"We are going to M Village too. We will take you there with us. It"s too late for the bus," Kiyohira smiles at her. "You look quite familiar. By any chance, do you know Kiris.h.i.+ma Heiji?"
The woman becomes pale when she hears that name. "How do you know him?"
"He was my cla.s.smate when I attended M Middle School." Kiyohira has noticed the resemblance between the woman and that boy. The boy stood out because of his appearance -- honey-blonde hair, gray eyes, and porcelain skin.
"He was my older brother." The woman is starting to regret getting into this car. Most people have forgotten Kiris.h.i.+ma Heiji. Why does this man remember him? "He committed suicide on his sixteenth birthday."
She crosses her arms and looks toward the window, hinting that she doesn"t want to talk anymore. Rie elbows her husband and glares at him. Kiyohira gets the hint and becomes quiet.
Yuta has been staring at the woman since she entered the car. She"s fumbling with her clothes, looking anxiously out of the window. There"s a flicker of guilt. She"s trying to hide something. It"s strange that she was standing alone on a deserted road in the middle of the night.
His murderer wanted to come to O Island to celebrate his birthday. He brought her here and she killed him. Looking at the woman who resembles his murderer a lot, he"s sure that his death wasn"t a random decision. She must have planned it for a long time. She brought him to this island because this place was meaningful to her. Then, this woman is connected to his murderer in some way.
If he finds her, what will he do to her? She must be a child now. Will he choke her to death?
"Yuta?" Rie touches her son"s forehead. "Your body is turning cold."
He keeps his eyes on the woman in front of him. His heart is colder. He wants to kill someone. If he finds her, he won"t care whether she"s a child or an adult. He will do the same thing that she did to her.
Rie covers him with her jacket, worried. He is too quiet. The dead look in his eyes alarms her. Kiyohira flicks his fingers in front of Yuta, waking him up from his dangerous thoughts. Yuta looks up at his mother and smiles innocently. "Mother, what"s wrong?"
His smile doesn"t work on her. She frowns at him. "What were you thinking?"
Ah... He"s almost caught. Yuta"s smile grows wider. "I dreamt of an evil witch. She cursed me in the dream. I was thinking about how to break the curse."
"Your son is quite imaginative." The woman smiles at them. "How old is he?"
"He"s four," Kiyohira answers her. "Yes, he is quite imaginative. It must be the effect of the story I told him during the flight."
Rie"s heart becomes easy when she hears that. So, it"s the fairytale. Her son is often talking about monsters and witches these days. "Kiyohira, don"t tell him weird stories. You are scaring him."
"I am not scared, Mother. I have you and Father to guard me." Yuta grins at his mother. "All the monsters will run away when they see my mother and father."
"You are right." She pokes his nose. "Who dares to put a curse on you? I will destroy that witch. You don"t have to think about how to break the curse. Her curse cannot be effective since I am here."
The woman watches them quietly, thinking about her son at home. Has she ever spoken to him like this? He has always been independent. He"s always formal with her.
He"s just like him.
She"s afraid of her son. Why isn"t he like this boy who can act cute? Her son is only two years older than this boy. Why can"t he act more like a kid? He barely talks to her. Is she that scary?
"We have reached M village." Takes.h.i.+ says to her, "Where"s your home, Lady?"
The light returns in the woman"s eyes. "Take the next right turn. Then..."
The boy in white clothes watches the black SUV coming. He stands up when it stops two meters away from him. The woman steps out of the car. She exclaims when she sees him standing bare feet, "Yuki, what are you doing outside in this weather?"
"Where is Father?" The boy asks her with a monotonous tone. She freezes on the spot. Her hands tremble violently. The boy pushes her away and looks into the SUV. He looks at Kiyohira. That"s not his father. He turns to the driver. That"s not his father either. Losing hope with each pa.s.sing moment, he gazes at Rie. His eyes become misty. He lowers his head. Did his father leave him behind? His mother chased his father away. Why didn"t his father keep the promise? His father was going to take him along.
"You..."
He blinks and looks up at the boy with confusion. Grey eyes meet dark cold eyes. The boy suddenly reaches for his hair and pulls it hard.
"Aaaaaaaaaaa!" Yuki grips the boy"s wrist. "Let go of me."
Kiyohira and Rie are shocked. Yuta jumps off his mother"s lap and grabs onto that boy"s silky honey blonder hair harder, trying to pull it away from his scalp. The adults gather their wits. Yuki"s mother runs to him and tries to remove Yuta"s hand off her son"s hair. Rie is calling Yuta"s name.
"Yuta, let go of his hair now."
Yuta isn"t listening. Tonight, he will tear off all the hair from that scalp.