Beautiful Blood

Murders in Osaka

The phone rang several times. I stood in the kitchen, tapping my fingers against the counter, impatiently waiting for someone to pick up.

Countless number of rings later, mom picked up –Hello?-

-Hey, mom. It’s me.-

-MyAnna? Is everything okay? - Of course she instantly became worried.

-Yes, it’s fine. I was wondering...If I could come to visit you this weekend.- I looked at the Hello Kitty calendar Hisako had hung on the kitchen wall. This weekend Eihi and Ryuuji will go to Okinawa; since I was not allowed to go with them, I had to find something else to do so that I do not spend time thinking about it. Hence, I decided to visit my ‘parents’ in Osaka. I had never been in Osaka anyways so I figured it would be a nice little trip with some sight-seeing included.

-Visit?!- Mom asked cheerfully –Well, of course! Your father and I were going to see Mount Koya on Saturday. Maybe you can come Friday night, get some rest then we all go there?-

Mount Koya was the centre of a Buddhist sect named Shingon Buddhism, I remembered. I had never been there or actually seen photos of that place but I figured it would be fun to go there and see for ourselves how the monks lived there.

-Sure, why not. I’ll catch an afternoon train or something.- I nodded looking around the kitchen.

The dining table was all clean and shining with the white tablecloth that had small strawberries embroidered on the edges over it; four chairs on each side of the table that also seemed to be wiped. The window was opened, letting in some fresh air; the white curtain was dancing softly to the melody of the breeze. The counters were shining clean, dishes placed on their respective places and the sink smelled like lemon. I wondered what had got into Hisako; she did like cleaning but she never made things look like an obsessive-compulsive person came and cleaned our kitchen. And to add to everything, the whole room smelled like lemon. She must have bought some air freshener with the lemon-scent.

-Alright. I’ll tell your dad you’re coming. Oh would you like some sushi for dinner? Or maybe nigiris? Or both?-

-Both would be fine. - I replied, peeking into the bedroom. Hisako was lying on her bed. She did not get out of it since she woke up and when we had free time all she would do was that – lie around. She seemed overly sad and disinterested in everything. She even wore less make-up and whenever she opened her closet, she would put on whatever came to her hands first.

-Okay. I’ll make both. Oh, I miss you so much, honey. I can’t wait to see you.- Mom said happily.

-I miss you too, mom.- And I really did –See you on Friday evening.-

-Okay. See you, honey.-

-Bye.-

-I love you.-

-I love you too.- I said and hanged the phone.

I walked back into the bedroom and leaned against the wall, watching Hisako for a whole minute. She did not move. She just stared at the ceiling; I knew she felt my staring but she did not react to it in any way. Usually, she would ask me why I had been staring at her.

I sighed softly and sat on the edge of her bed –Want me to order some pizza for us? Some spicy one, we both like that.-

She shook her head.

-You’ve eaten barely anything lately. Come, I’ll order some pizza and we also have beer in the fridge.-

She shrugged.

I sighed –Hisako, what’s the matter with you? Is it...Daiki?-

Her face expression saddened.