My Modern Kaidan: Meibatsu

Chapter 9

Hideo

When I woke up the next morning, the car was gone and I knew my sister had taken it. It was raining that day, but the sinking feeling in my stomach wouldn't go ignored. I jumped on my bike to see if I could find her.

By the time I made it onto the main road, the conditions became that of a monsoon. I couldn't see more than five feet in front of me, but that only made me pedal harder in a frantic search to find my sister and the car. That's when I slid out of control.

When I woke up, I was at the hospital. My head ached, but not as bad as my arm, which was now in a cast and sling.

I was alone and filled with dread, and after what seemed like hours, a nurse finally entered my room.

"You are finally awake," she told me.

I was annoyed, as it felt like I had been awake for days. "May I call my parents?"

"Your parents are in the next room."

I regretted shaking my head as soon as I did it. "I—I don't understand."

"Your sister has been in an accident," the nurse said, coming over to me. "What are the odds, both children in the same day?" She mused. "She's fine, in spite of driving off the bridge. She was the lucky one, ne?"

For a moment my brain refused to draw the conclusion brought forth by the nurse, that my sister was lucky in comparison to someone else. But somehow I believe my heart had known it as soon as I jumped on my bike that day.

My sister and I were released together the next day. I couldn't bring myself to look at her, but out of the corner of my eye I could see one side of her face was bandaged. As we sat in the backseat of our parent's car on the way home, she reached over and grasped my hand. I sat there with limp fingers. I couldn't bring myself to speak to her either, and no one asked me why I had decided to ride my bike that day.

In the weeks following Sachi's funeral, I went into a deep depression. This is when I began to draw more than I ever had before. I knew I would never see Sachi again, so I began to draw her until I had pages and pages of her face. I had just finished inking a drawing of her when the side of my cast hit a glass of water resting on my desk. Before I could help it, the water had seeped out onto the page, causing the ink to bleed.

One by one, Sachi's features became gaping black holes. Her mouth was last, bleeding open into a wide, silent scream.