The Flower of Heaven.

A novel by Ulziisukh S.
 Chapter One. The Beginning.

Matthew 10:28 – Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the
one who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Six full months have passed since the terror that faced the Ohito residents.
The Ohito’s Violent Crimes Department has finally caught the murderer of 47,
going by the name of “Night Shadow”. Perfect crimes were committed by this
individual, who was in for it for seven terrible weeks. Night Shadow finally
turned himself in, closing the case by committing his final murder on a fellow
police officer. Just as the police thought they could rest for some time, something
enormous was storming their way to them.
Chilly night it was, with soft wind breezing its way through a young police
officer, Takeshi Yazumata. She was already in her thirties, and was wondering
how time flies by. Stargazing and drinking some hot coffee on a bench, she
looked depressed and lonely. Her expression was full of pain, as she was
hopeless, because Night Shadow killed her best friend a couple days ago, and
turned himself in. And just as he turned himself in, Takeshi received a note,
saying “It’s just the beginning.”
She was craving to solve what they meant by that note, but at the same
time, she was lacking energy to do that. With her best friend now gone, she felt
like a lonely soldier – the only warrior walking through gates of miserable pain.
She was alone when she joined the academy, she was alone when she decided to
step into Violent Crimes, but then, just as she thought she had a friend by her
side – she was all alone in matter of weeks. The battle was a harsh one, and she
even considered resigning, but right then, she imagined her only friend gasping
for air in the Night Shadow’s hands. She wanted revenge, but as of now, she
felt… defeated.
Dull footsteps of a man surrounded her head, as she was snapping out of
reality. Fukashi, her colleague, ran up to her to spread the news. “Takeshi… You
have to hear this recording, Takeshi,” he said, gasping for some air. Takeshi
finally looked up to him, and was surprised to see the fear and terror in his eyes.
Fukashi rarely gets scared, so this was something else. With a small sense of fear
in her chest, she decided to listen to the recording.
 The splashes of rainwater as they ran across the field to the emergency call
room were truly glorious. However, they had no time to care to absorb their
surroundings, because they heard some horrible things as they pressed “play”.
“110, What’s your emergency?”, said the operator, and waited for a reply.
Someone replied – but without words. Their screams were truly terrifying. As if
somebody ripped their chest open while they were alive. Every second of the
recording was loud and terrifying. Every scream that someone replied with
reached the highest pitch a human can produce, indicating that they were craving
for someone to help. Unwanted screams continued for a bit, as it got quitter and
quitter, to the point that the caller started to growl, desperately reaching for help.
Suddenly, they started to hear what seemed like giggles of a girl.
Someone’s footsteps grew nearer to the phone, as she said, “Good job, now make
the flower.” After series of loud chimes of what seemed like iron chains, the
attacker seemed to pick up the hidden phone from the victim. “Your voice
might’ve been revealed, mistress,” a male voice spoke. The girl picked up the
phone, and said “Police, huh… This is getting more and more interesting!” and
hung up the phone.
Silence overwhelmed the emergency center. Officers were speechless, and
some of them seemed like they were shaking. “Could this be a prank call,
Takeshi?” asked Fukashi, and some trembling was heard in his voice. Takeshi
was shaken, but she managed to reply with “The screams are definitely real, so
we should check on this. Send me the information about the phone owner, and
try to track the location of this call.” Few minutes later, a file containing the
owner information appeared in Takeshi’s hands.
“Sako Izuma,” Takeshi read the file out loud. “8-time sex offender, 5 of
them being committed on women and 3 of them, young kids. This guy must be a
monster.” “But… the attacker had a female voice. It doesn’t fit the physique of
this man,” suggested Fukashi. “Apparently, the victim is Sako Izuma,” suggested
Takeshi. As they exchanged suggestions about the case, an operator from the
emergency call center screamed “Chief, we found the address!”. Without losing a
second, Takeshi ordered all of the teams to dispatch to the scene immediately.
A quiet, soft, but somehow dark atmosphere was interrupted by the loud
sirens of police cars. People have stopped living here a long time ago, due to a
reconstruction notice. The reconstruction never happened, but the citizens were
moved to a better and safer region, so that nobody complained. It was a dead
place when they arrived, but Takeshi didn’t care. She ordered the team to scout
every single area of the region, not missing a single building. And so, they began
scouting. Rushing footsteps of police officers could be heard from anywhere. The
team worked tirelessly for thirty minutes, but they couldn’t find a thing. Just as
Takeshi was about to give up after a long walk up and down the deserted stairs,
she heard something. They all heard something…
Red fireworks sparked above a deserted asylum. The police froze on their
spots, gazing at the distant building as it shot out a death mark. Just as Takeshi’s
team rushed to the building, a team of 7 policemen rushed out of it, all of them
looking pale. A middle-aged policemen stuttered, “D… Don’t- H… Hollow h…
head,” and vomited on the place. Droplets of cold sweat started forming and
running down Takeshi’s spine as she gazed into the dark hallway of the asylum.
A strong smell of rotten salmon greeted Takeshi’s team with open hands as
they stepped into the first floor. Since the asylum has been deserted, the only
source of light into the hallway was their flashlights. The team slowly walked
across the hallway, cracking over rocks and dust on the floor. Fukashi noticed a
blood path on the floor, and the team proceeded to follow, realizing it led to an
underground basement. A long dark corridor with dimly lit light at the end of it
led their way into a room. As they got closer and closer, they could smell the raw
salmon smell more and more.
As the team stepped into the room, Takeshi noticed a trail of flickering
candles that seem to lead deeper into the darkened walls. The air is heavy and
still, with an eerie silence broken only by the soft hiss of wax melting and
dripping onto the floor. The candles themselves were strange, almost
otherworldly, their flames burning with a sickly blue hue which casted eerie
shadows across the walls. As Takeshi followed the path deeper into the walls, she
couldn’t shake the feeling that something sinister was watching her from the
destination.
Sure enough, she froze as she got to the body, and gave out a little sob,
because what she saw was a truly horrifying scenery. Takeshi wanted to vomit on
the place, but she quickly remembered that the forensics need to check the body,
so she forced it in herself. She dropped down on the floor, kneeling down in front
of a disassembled human body in a shape of what looked like a flower. A head…
A hollow human head was lying in the center of the flower. Droplets of tear
started running through Takeshi’s eyes, but she couldn’t dare to make a noise as
she absorbed the horrible flower more and more. The head was surrounded with
heart-shaped human flesh. She saw a white envelope in one of the heart-shaped
fleshes, and reached for it carefully.
“I am the new angel. I decide who lives and who stays. Eye for eye, tooth
for tooth. Sinners of this city, beware,” it said. Slowly stepping away from the
body, she saw a sign written in blood above it. Takeshi gasped for air.

“The Flower of Heaven”

Murdering the sinners is an angel’s work to do.
Anyone who tries to stop me, dies.

Feeling forceless, weak and pathetic, Takeshi left the body behind and
rushed to the exit. She felt bad… even for jerks like Sako Izuma.
Not realizing how she got home, Takeshi started putting her uniforms into
the washing machine, but she quickly noticed how tired she was. A hot shower
followed by a long sleep would cure her from the sight she saw today… At least
she thought so. Her uniform was severely covered in blood and some human
flesh got on her boots. The star award she received for battling Night Shadow
still shone in the light, despite the blood. Takeshi stared at the star. Was it the
only reason she ever wanted to join the police force? Was this award the only
reason for risking her and her loved ones’ lives to save and protect many others?
For the second time in a while, she wanted to quit. She wanted to quit so bad that
she almost ripped her star off her uniform. But she managed to contain herself.
No… Of course not! Takeshi loved saving people. Hopefully, she does.
Tears ran down her face, again, merging with the shower droplets. And after her
shower, she went to sleep, hoping she’d wake up the next day.
 Chapter Two. The Visit.

I wanted to be a cicada. I wanted to pull my skin off and leave it in the bushes and nobody would recognize
me, not even my own mother. I would be a completely different person and I wouldn’t remember a thing. –
Camilla DeAngelis

Although the scenery Takeshi saw on the crime scene was terrifying, she
decided to go back one more time to try and find some clues. As the sun shone
on tall skyscrapers, the spark of it reflected through the driveways. Her and
Fukashi speeded through the roads, eager to solve the case. Fukashi tried to break
the ice by discussing about Night Shadow. “If only he knew about this
murderer,” he said full of hopes, “I mean… The guy knows all about creepy
shit!”
Takeshi hit the brake right after Fukashi’s statement. “Takeshi, I’m sorry if
I offe…” “You’re right! Let’s go to Night Shadow and plainly ask him. H… He
should know about this. Remember the black market he had before he ended up
in jail?” said Takeshi, interrupting him. Night Shadow, the murderer of almost 50
people, used to host a website called “ZokiShop”, in which he would be the
leader of an online forum for killers, and an auction site for human body parts.
Takeshi found her friend’s brain stored in a jar in the website.
Are you sure you’re okay with that?” asked Fukashi, “After all, Night
Shadow killed-” “I’m sure,” said Takeshi. She was determined to pull out some
information from Night Shadow, so she made a U-turn and smashed the gas
pedal.
2 hours have passed in the silent car, finally arriving at the prison. The
edges of the building have been wasted, indicating signs of damage over the
years. The place was eerily quiet, considering the usual noise, caused by the
prisoners. Only Takeshi’s footsteps could be heard in the prison hallway. She
was speeding through the corridor until she found the cell in which they held
Night Shadow in.
Akemi Masayuki, a guy with big round glasses and grey-silver hair, was
being held captive in the cell. He had cold eyes, and he smiled creepily as he saw
Takeshi coming angrily at him. She barged into Akemi’s cell, asking herself if
she should really do it.
 - So, you’ve heard the news, huh – asked Takeshi, seeing him smile.
- Of course, I have, that’s why I’m so happy. It’s nice seeing you suffer
through your long-lost friend’s funeral.
Takeshi stood there, shook. How did Akemi find out she was cutting herself
at her friend’s funeral?
- I still see some scars there, officer. If you want, I can end your suffering
once and for all, right here, right now.
- That… – Takeshi was traumatized of Akemi’s words. Needless of it, she
needed to find out some information about the Flower of Heaven, so she
continued to speak in her trembling voice – That’s not why I’m here,
bastard. I need some information.
- How sad… Well, what brings you to your worst nightmare, officer? –
asked Akemi in a cold voice.
- A something particular going by the name of “The Flower of Heaven”. I
figured you’d know something about it.
- T… the what? – Akemi’s voice suddenly dropped. Fear took over his
eyes, and Takeshi could see some tears forming in his eyelids.
- A week ago, something horrible happened. Someone was murdered in a
very brutal way. His body parts were cut off, and laid in the shape of a
flower. The killer left a note, saying that the method was called “The
Flower of Heaven”. I thought you heard the news, and came here to ask
you about it.
- N… no. T… that can’t be p… possible – trembled Akemi. It was clear
he knew something about this particular flower – If you came here to
scare me, it isn’t going to work.
- Tell me everything you know about it, and we can negotiate about your
time in prison – said Fukashi, stepping into the conversation.
- S… she promised me she wouldn’t do it. S… she promised. I
THOUGHT SHE PROMISED – yelled Akemi, now losing complete
control.
- WHO IN THE EVER-LIVING FUCK IS SHE? – asked Takeshi,
completely forgetting the fear she had from Akemi.
- SHE LOVED ME! SHE WOULD NEVER DO IT. SHE PROMISED!
SHE PROMISED! – Akemi proceeded to scream and back up to the
grey, dusty corner of his cell.
The prison was shining in the dim-blue light, and the pair was already
leaving the gates. Figuring they wouldn’t pull out any useful information from
Akemi, they hurried to the office to check the user data of ZokiShop. Lines of
police officers sat behind their desks, tied to their phones, trying to calm the
citizens from the flower incident. Some were prank calls, claiming that they
know the murderer behind the flower, and some people were generally concerned
about their safety. Takeshi ran past the desks, trying to find the man she was
looking for.
Daniel, whose real name is Mayuki, is the IT specialist of the Violent
Crimes Team. Being one of the best hackers Ohito has ever seen, they hired him
immediately for him to track down criminals. Daniel had helped the team track
down ZokiShop and steal their user data, even though they couldn’t shut down
the entire site, so he was a friend whom can be trusted. Thus, Daniel received
Takeshi’s request to search for “The Flower of Heaven” across the website
database.
After Akemi turned himself down, he had transferred his admin privileges
to an anonymous site user, with the user name “Datenshi”, which also translates
to “The Fallen Angel”. Datenshi was one of the most active members of the
ZokiShop forum during Night Shadow’s peek. They used to post all kinds of
torture/execution methods, and a few videos of them actually committing it on
real people. Some would say Datenshi is Night Shadow’s exact clone, if not
worse.
After a quick nap, Takeshi was feeling a bit more relaxed and confident
about herself. She drank a cup of coffee. This is one of Takeshi’s classic choices
to refresh herself. She took a breather on the rooftop of the building, and went
back in to check on Daniel’s progress. When she went in, though, she noticed a
great change in Daniel’s face. She thought, “of course, everyone would throw up
after reading an entire fucking forum about killing and torturing people, and
making bizarre stuff with their organs.” Daniel, although, had a piece of crucial
information to tell Takeshi.

“The Flower of Heaven, Captain. The Flower of Heaven… It was

mentioned on Datenshi’s account,” said Daniel. “Of course! They’re organ
traffickers, of course Datenshi will be a fan of the new method of murdering,”
Takeshi insisted. “No, you don’t understand. It was mentioned 2 years ago.
Multiple times in few posts. These posts didn’t take off as much as Datenshi’s
other posts. In fact, it has 2 views only, Night Shadow’s and Datenshi’s account.
Why would the leader of the site read a post with no views? Why would there be
a real-life Flower of Heaven, even though the only other reader, Night Shadow,
is in prison? Doesn’t this mean there is something suspicions with Datenshi?”
2 views. Flower of Heaven. Only Datenshi and Night Shadow. Night
Shadow, who’s in prison. Datenshi… So, Datenshi must be the one behind the
Flower of Heaven, right? Takeshi processed the information and generated her
next and possibly only topic she would talk to Akemi. With this, she went to her
car, and made her way to the Ohito’s prison.
After requesting for a visit with Akemi, she had heard several comments
from the prison guard. Apparently, Akemi has been behaving a little ‘differently’
from his usual days. He kept shouting he wasn’t the killer, and tried to escape
from the cell several times. He is usually very quiet and does not communicate
with his inmates, as the inmates fear him very much, because he’s the Night
Shadow. When the guard brought him food, he picked up the cup, threw it into
the wall, got on his knees and begged the guard to let him go.
Considering him ‘risky’ because he might escape, the prison guard let them
meet in the highly-guarded meeting room. While Takeshi had an energy drink
and sat on the comfy sofa, Akemi came in. It was not the same Akemi as before.
His face was pale, his eyes, while craving for freedom, showed sadness and guilt.
Takeshi invited him to the sofa, and as soon as the prison guard left the room, he
started examining the room for ways to escape. He walked around the room,
fiercely, looking for objects that might help him. After a while, he gained a bit of
consciousness, and noticed Takeshi sitting in the room. Akemi froze.
For a few seconds, Takeshi also froze due to Akemi’s fast movement. He
ran right in front of Takeshi and kneeled down. “Please,” he said, “let me go. I
didn’t do anything wrong. I was framed, I didn’t kill anyone, I’m innocent!”
“Well, Akemi,” she said, “if you’re so ‘innocent’, then why are you taking blame
for the Night Shadow Murders? Most importantly, who the FUCK is Datenshi?”
Akemi replied with “You went through the user data? Of course, you would…
Please, don’t mess with her. She’s… She’s dangerous, she could do anything.”
“WHO THE FUCK IS SHE?”
Akemi looked down with a guilty face, and accepted the fact that he could
never say anything to Takeshi. Knowing this, Takeshi said, “Fine. If it means
taking the full blame on yourself for tens of murders and letting the entire city get
killed by the whoever fuck this “Datenshi” is, then so be it. However, you will
never see the day of light ever again. If you’re really fucking determined for that
‘freedom’ you want, there’s no way to achieve that unless you tell us about that
‘Datenshi’.”
Hoping her ‘trick’ would work, she looked down at Akemi’s face. It was
very clear that Akemi was feeling guilty towards her. Awkward silence ruled
their conversation for a few minutes. Takeshi, knowing that Akemi would never
tell her despite how much she tormented him, prepared to leave. As she was
leaving, she said, “If you ever change your mind, tell the cell guard immediately.
I’m available at any moment.” Refreshed by the cold water of the prison
bathroom, she decided to go back to the station and see if Daniel had found any
additional information that might help her. On the way to the department, she
decided to tell everything to Fukashi.
Right when they entered the gates of the department, Takeshi’s phone
started ringing. “Hello? Is this Ms. Takeshi? I’m Ohito’s prison guard. Akemi…
his body has been found in the prison playground, and it’s fucking horrifying!”
A grey Ford car appeared in the parking lot of the prison. Two unidentified
figures leave the car and rush to the entrance as Hanako-Chan stared at them in
disgust. “They’re nothing but nuisance. They should just die instead of meddling
in the way of my artwork,” she mumbled quietly in her mouth. With annoyed
look in her eyes, she inspected the bloodstains on her school uniform. “I have to
wash it off now,” she says, and turns back slowly and walks calmly out of the
prison backsite.
 Chapter Three. Datenshi.
“The ultimate possession was, in fact, the taking of life. And then… the physical possession of the remains.”
– Ted Bundy.

Hanako-Chan opened her apartment and went in. As usual, her home smelt
of a coffee-flavored mint. Since her dad’s passing 7 years ago, she lived alone for
7 years from her age of 10. While Hanako-Chan is 17, she fakes her ID so that
she can access some stuff normal teens couldn’t. Hanako-Chan is kind of grateful
for her dad. While he always starved Hanako-Chan and locked her in the
bathroom with no water and food for weeks, she learnt necessary surviving skills
from the 10-year hell. From the age of 4, she was raped and tortured by her
father, and in the end, she killed him.
While putting her uniform in the washing machine, she thought of the ‘jerk’
that betrayed her. “Well, he was some sort of use…” she thought, “but he
could’ve faked it a little longer. I could’ve made that Fukashi cop’s flower by
then. Well, too bad it wasn’t Fukashi, but Akemi. But I guess it’s fine, because
Fukashi is going to die anyway. That’ll bring Takeshi into her senses.” She
smiled, excited at the thought of her hand slashing through a cop’s throat.
“Okay, then, let’s see what you’re doing,” she said, and logged into her
ZokiShop account. The text “Welcome, Datenshi” popped up at the center of the
screen. A menu popped up after she opened the website. “Forums, Auctions,
Archives… Administration panel” Hanako-Chan spent a millennium in the panel.
Searching “Fukashi” in the navigation bar, Hanako-Chan observed the spying
app she installed on Fukashi’s phone.
* * * *
“T…this is fucking unbelievable. In a fucking prison? What a fucking
ghost…” said Fukashi after seeing Akemi’s corpse. “I know… I have a suspicion
that Datenshi’s behind all of this. Look at the fingers… They’re taped together
and burnt with acid. There are fractures of his bones around his nails…”
observed Takeshi, looking at the wrapped corpse, and continued, “No
fingerprints to be found… And on top of that, Datenshi did all of this in 30
minutes, so they must be experienced.”
“Takeshi… This is fucking unreal. They’re messing with you… Do you
really have to investigate this? You’re basically digging your own grave. They’re
powerful, Takeshi, very powerful. You can’t be dealing with this alone, you
might die! Please… let’s just leave them to another detective.”
 Hanako-Chan giggled, listening to the conversation from behind the
computer screen. If she had just a little bit more time, she would have turned
Akemi into the Flower of Heaven.
“If you really want, I’ll go to Kyoto’s Archive Department right now. I’ll
be in contact. Goodbye for now, Takeshi,” said Fukashi. This was what Hanako-
Chan wanted – to separate them and know the exact location of Fukashi. She
called one of her supporters, and requested to set a trap near The Federal, an old
abandoned building at the border of Ohito city. “Make sure to get a bottle of the
acid I was telling you to get. It’ll teach him well. And… you know what happens
if you don’t bring them, Masayuki.” Masayuki, an active ZokiShop supporter,
feels excited to work with his leader, but gulps his throat at the thought of what
Datenshi might do to him if he doesn’t set the trap properly.
Fukashi started driving to the Archive Department to get the Datenshi’s
user data, as Takeshi requested. Just when he got close to the border of Ohito, he
noticed a small girl waving to him on the road. He pulls over to notice the girl is
around the age of 16-18, and wearing the uniform of the Ohito Extended High
School. He remembered that the Extended High is for the top 10% of students in
Ohito. Curious what the genius was doing here, he got out of his car.
He noticed the golden frames of her glasses shining in the street lantern.
With almost careless eyes, he asks Fukashi for a help. “Help… my puppy is
stuck in that building… we were going for a walk, and… and…” Fukashi noticed
that her voice was trembling a lot, and realized that she needed genuine help.
While heading to the building, the girl introduced herself as Hanako Fujikawa, an
11th grade student of Ohito Extended High.
Walking into the room the girl pointed, however, Fukashi felt a sudden grab
from his back. His arms were twisted, and he was kneeled down by a strong man.
He watched Hanako-Chan’s arms grabbing a small syringe from the table. “This
should do it. I’m sorry in advance, but your partner is just too annoying,” she
said. “Who are you?” asked Fukashi. “Me?” giggled Hanako, “I’m the Datenshi
you guys were catching after.” Fukashi tried to resist, but it was too late. The
syringe was inserted into his neck, and soon after, he passed out.
Looking at his sweaty red face, Hanako-Chan thought that Fukashi had
served enough years as a loyal dog to the society. Enough years in the universe
full of sins, to the point most people think that these sins are done on the daily
basis. Disgust is what Hanako felt as she stared right at Fukashi’s sleepy eyes. He
has woken up by an ice-cold water, and he was about to witness his last few
moments alive.
Opening a white bottle she received from the middle-aged masked guy in
her right, Hanako-Chan spoke her notions. “Legacy,” she begins, “is what
everyone leaves behind. However,” she takes a long break as if she’s waiting for
the perfect moment to hunt for a prey, “not everyone needs a legacy. Same goes
for you, Mr. Fukashi. You’ve done enough. However, I believe if you were to
leave a legacy, you shouldn’t have helped Takeshi from the beginning.”
Fukashi’s eyes started to roll in disbelief as he slowly gained
consciousness. Hanako-Chan noticed it, and ordered the man next to her to
strengthen the rope. Fukashi couldn’t scream, and his arms were tied too tightly
to the chair, he had lost all hope trying to escape. His energy was wasted, and he
had no choice but to calm down and accept his pathetic death to a 17-year-old.
Dull footsteps approached Fukashi’s ears, and he felt soft fingers grabbing his
cheeks.
Hanako-Chan gently grabbed Fukashi’s cheeks with her black gloves. A
big sign, that read “Hydrofluoric acid” was shining on the side of the bottle, as
she tenderly dripped it into Fukashi’s throat. While resisting the acid with his
tongue, Fukashi felt a hot burn in his mouth. With biggest desire to scream and
throw up the acid, Fukashi’s head shook in Hanako-Chan’s small arms, holding
his cheeks strongly. “Shh… just accept it, make it easier for me!” said Hanako-
Chan in a calm voice. Fukashi’s tongue started to melt and small droplets of the
acid forcibly slid down his throat. This made him shake more violently, and
Hanako-Chan untied Fukashi for her entertainment.
Fukashi fell out the chair and fell right on top of Hanako-Chan’s feet. She
pulled them, and put one of them on top of Fukashi’s head, making him unable to
move. The shaking violently stopped on the cold ground, and Hanako-Chan
started to cut Fukashi’s body parts. Arranging them into her Flower of Heaven,
she attached a note, addressed to Takeshi, which read “He tried to leave a legacy.
That’s a deadly sin to me.”
Shiny lights of several police cars arrived in front of The Federal. Takeshi
jumped out of one of the cars, screaming and crying for her late partner, and most
importantly, a friend. She lost another friend. Will she lose more? Should she
drop the case now?
Hanako-Chan watched calmly from the distance as Takeshi grieved over
the flower. She felt relieved, as the bloodstreams made their way through the
ground, growing white flowers. “You deserved it,” she thought, and waved to
Fukashi, who was already in the heaven.
Takeshi felt miserable for everything she said to Fukashi. It felt like
dragging him into this case did him wrong. Takeshi… was guilty. She was guilty
from the very beginning. From the very beginning, she shouldn’t have made him
her shoulder to cry on, from the beginning – she was not supposed to create
emotional attachment towards Fukashi.
And how dare Datenshi even kill him… Takeshi was angry. Not knowing
to do next, she hugged Fukashi’s hollow head and cried, destroying the might’ve-
left-evidence. The Special Force team decided to slip it off, knowing what
Fukashi meant to her. However, behind the red curtains, Hanako-Chan smiled as
the number of her enemies was reduced by one.
To Hanako-Chan’s surprise and annoyance, the incident motivated Takeshi
even more. For some reason, it excited Hanako-Chan a little bit more. She liked
to play these little wicked mind games with Takeshi, her expressions and
reactions meant a lot to her.
Opening a notebook she wrapped with red rope, she wrote down the date
and some notes. It read, “…Tears. They’re beautiful things, aren’t they?
However, sometimes, there are moments that tears differ from each other.
Sometimes, we cry of joy, and sometimes, we cry of sadness. Somehow, and I
can’t figure out why, tears of joy… They do not interest me anymore.”
“Somehow… I like the sad tears. Tears that are made of blood and
torture. Tears that hurt your eyes the most and make a sinking feeling in your
heart.”
Just a few hours earlier, Takeshi saw a flower of heaven. A flower made of
human flesh with a hollow head in the center. A flower… of her dear friend. She
lost one of her friends, again. She thought she cut emotional ties with everyone,
and there was nothing she could lose, but she was wrong. She lost Fukashi.
Droplets of her tears shone in the moonlight. Silver grey liquid were racing
towards her neck. As she sat down in the starry night sipping whiskey, she
squeezed the note she found in Fukashi’s flesh, as if she was trying to drain her
dear friend’s blood from the evil note.
It worked. Droplets of Fukashi’s red blood dropped on the ground, instantly
blooming colorful flowers, indicating he’s in a calm place as of now. Takeshi
sighed and wondered when would the next flower appear, and if she could get
any clue out of it. A day passed, and no clue of any flower was found. Another
one passed. Takeshi couldn’t even sleep, she just stayed awake, passing through
papers. Another day passed, marking the eve of Fukashi’s funeral. Takeshi
wondered if she would go to the funeral. She was guilty in his death, and yet, she
was his best friend. She knew how Fukashi depended on her when he felt lonely.
Takeshi didn’t even talk to Fukashi’s parents. Something about him held her off
from talking to them. Something about the flower. However, she couldn’t go like
this forever. She decided to go to his funeral.
Putting on a black suit and tie, she looked in the mirror. The depressing
image didn’t fit Takeshi’s round beautiful face. Anyhow, she still managed to
look great. She got her keys from the cupboard, locked the noisy door and went
to her car. The water droplets storming her door sounded louder than it actually
was. Takeshi arrived at Fukashi’s door. She was terrified to open it, scared to see
the parents’ reaction if she showed up. She imagined the disgust at their face. Not
wanting to imagine anymore, she pulled the door open. There they were –
Fukashi’s mom and dad.
Takeshi took a deep breath and bowed to Fukashi’s ashes. She heard his
father whispering “How dare she…” and she cried on the spot. Her pretty face
was ruined by her makeup, but she had no time to care. She wanted to scream for
Fukashi’s help… Yet she didn’t. She just froze there in her bowing position, tears
racing down her glossy face.
“H- How dare you CRY AT MY SON’S FUNERAL, YOU MURDERER,”
screamed Fukashi’s father, longing for a strong punch in her face, but his mother
held him back. Takeshi wished she got hit by that punch. She’d rather get beaten
up than getting shamed by Fukashi’s dad at his son’s funeral. The mother,
however, whispered “Leave” under her breath. Quickly gasping for air, Takeshi
left the door and cried outside.
An hour passed… or two. Takeshi had lost track of time. She had only
gained consciousness when she realized someone was hugging her tightly. She
woke up only to realize it was Fukashi’s mother. “I understand your emotions,”
she said, “I can imagine how it is to lose your best friend only to realize it’s your
fault. Even in these hard times, you must not give up. It’s not your fault. My son
himself chose to follow you, and it only shows that you can be trusted. You were
the only person my son trusted, Takeshi, please do not let him down. Make sure
to catch that killer with your bare hands and give them the taste of their own
medicine. Good luck,” she said, and went back to the room.
 Takeshi’s face went bright red after she met Fukashi’s mother. “She’s
right,” she thought, “it’s not my fault. I must stay awake and avenge Fukashi.”
Takeshi went back to the station, met Daniel and began working with him on the
ZokiShop database. However, they couldn’t find anything. Some time passed.
Daniel’s round eyes started to hurt, forcing him to taking a break. It was past
midnight and Takeshi let him rest for a bit. She was craving for a call, or, she
was craving for Datenshi to just disappear.