Itsuki woke up in a sweat, as he rolled over and felt the bed, searching for Yoko and Juno. He remembered he was sick and he laid back. Yoko was at work and Juno was at school. He had stayed home, his fever high and his stomach churning. He looked at is clock. It was roughly sixteen twenty-three on a Wednesday. Any minute his wife and child should be home, safe and sound to hug him set his mind at ease, right? Of course, no different than any other day, so he flicked on the television and groaned as the light pierced his skull in the dark room Of course it was the news, a special report flashing on the screen and the Japanese woman dressed in all pink with a button up jacket and a small pin that resembles a rabbit reading off a report. A woman and child were shot, their car taken and the killer not found. His mind was so foggy, nothing registered.
Then their faces came on screen. Yoko and Juno. He sat upright and paused the screen, staring into the eyes of his family, then the report, then he read the bar scrolling across the bottom. His family had been killed in a carjacking. Murdered in cold blood by a man who didn't even know them. He was in shock; he didn't believe it. He called her phone, he tried texting her. He stood, getting hysterical, laughing it off as some sick dream. Some stupid joke. But it wasn't, he dropped to the floor crying. After twenty minutes, curled in a ball on the floor there was a knock on his door.
"Mr. Miyoto? It's Yuki from the 84th wards police department, I need you to open the door for me."
He didn't hear any of this. He just softly wept and tried to hide himself. This wasn't reality, it just couldn't be. He wouldn't accept it. But he had to know, so as a weak knock floated into his buzzing ears, he stumbled his way to the door and opened it, sobbing.
"Your wife, Yoko, and your daughter Juno, passed away in a carjacking. We didn't find the killer. Gomen'nasai." He bowed and turned away from the doorway, shuffling down the hall.
He just dropped to his knees, sobbing in his apartment hallway. He didn't care if anyone heard. There was a faint knock on the door. A small whisper, the voice of his daughter. Just a small "Daddy." He was hearing things. He knew he was, but his body was possessed. His legs started slowly raising. But wasn't his door open? Down the hall. Just a small flash of the pink dress he'd put on her that morning, more knocking on doors down the hall. Even more whispering, all jumbled letters and sounds, he was halfway down the hall now, chasing that dress, chasing his life and all he'd ever worked to protect.
"Juno! Juno it's me!" He was screaming to an empty hallway, a void. His world was slowly turning black as he tripped, falling but determined to keep crawling towards her. "Daddy." His world went black.
He woke up in bed, his body covered with dried tears, snot and maybe a bit of vomit all over his clothes. The room smelled stale, but maybe it was his body. He shifted and stared at a small basket, filled with flowers and various treats. He found a small note and picked it up. It read, "Itsuki. It's Yata. I'm so sorry for your loss, I put you back in bed. See me when you can." Of course it was Yata. His best friend, his drinking buddy.
"Yata! Get over here and meet Juno! You're her uncle now!" He smiled warmly at Yata, pulling him by the collar of his shirt and thrusting him towards his baby.
Yata did it have to be now? All the letters on the note got scrambled, the tears freely flowing from his eyes. He got up and went to the kitchen, his body slowly giving out on him. He fell on the counter and leaned on it for support. He looked around, his eyes blurry. Why should he even live? He looked at the mirror over the sink staring at his long brown nails, his pale face and his dark eyes. He'd already made his decision, as he grabbed the long razor sharp knife from the cabinet with small locks. To protect Juno, oh the irony. All he did to protect them and now they're gone. He pressed the knife to his throat, a small trickle of crimson red blood seeping from his throat and down the knife, covering his hand.
A knock came from his door, faint but distinct. It was his wife's knock, I love you in Morse and a small kiss on the metal. He ran to the door and flung it open, scanning the hall with the blade still in hand. A body, covered in flowers. Over the eyes and down her shoulders. She turned down the hallway and he ran after her. He followed her out to the alley and into the snow. The white blanket came down over the city, the small lights in the dark, the sheltered people who knew no pain. He kept running down the alley, the cold snow stinging his feet as he sped up his pace.
"I love you. Trust me."
Those five words set him to tears, pushing his way onto the busy street and through the people. Yoko, Juno, he saw them all in everyone else's face. Every child and every woman, but they weren't. A drop of blood dripped onto the snow, seeping into every fiber. He looked down and his legs gave out. He fell forward, sobbing in the snow. People whispered their accusing words, staring at him with their judging eyes. Watching, they were all watching him with no understanding. If only they could know the pain he felt.
The couple stood over him, the man bent down with a small hint of cigarette smoke on his breath. "Hey man, are you okay? You need some money or something? Jesus how long have you been out here in this cold? Your toes are blue." The woman stood back, hugging her cat shaped bag to her chest and watching cautiously. The man pulled his jacket off, a black sweater with white stripes underneath as he covered Itsukis body. "There you go. Just keep it, I don't mind." He tilted his head at the un responding body, the veins on his eyes twitching about like the eyes beneath the lids were moving rapidly.
Itsukis mind was blank. He heard the man and felt the small amount of warmth spread over him, but he couldn't move. His body wasn't responding and he couldn't open his mouth to speak. All he could do was shake as tears rolled out, the blood and tears mixing on the snow beside him. The man must've noticed the blood by now.
"Lina, call for an ambulance. I think he's bleeding." The girl jumped up, pulling her phone from the bag and pressing in one nine nine, the phone shaking in her hands.
Itsuki groaned softly, strong hands picking him up. Paramedics he thinks, maybe the man? He couldn't be too sure but he was lifted onto a long bed, a warm blanket pulled over his body as someone prodded his toes, another person forcing his eyes open and a light shining into them.
"If you can hear me, follow this light."
A woman's voice, but not soft. It was strong, demanding but kind underneath. His eyes tracked the light, right to left and he opened his mouth to speak. Only a small squeak came out, as his throat was extremely dry.
"Relax, don't speak. Your dehydrated. Reserve your energy for the stitches and questions." She drew a needle and pulled some blood, the large red and white ambulance bumping down the street. The woman pushed a needle into his veins, supplying him with water and a small amount of food to sustain him until they arrived at the hospital. His stretcher was hauled off the ambulance onto a dark, empty street.
"I don't want this... I want them back..." He said in a whisper, that was swept up in the wind. A tiny, shimmering tear came from his eye as he was pulled into the hospital. He closed his eyes softly, and fell into a dark void that held him, caged.
A soft rap came on the door. The moonlight spilled into the room as Itsuki rolled over and groaned. The pale moonlight from the open window illuminated the figure standing in his doorway. His wife was right beside him, his daughter holding his hand as the monitor started beeping wildly. A soft breeze blew his wife's beautiful, long, black hair behind her head as she kneeled down. His daughter simply teared up and squeezed his hand harder. There was yelling in the hall and nurses started scrambling about, flinging open his door and cabinets wildly. All order was lost as his room became a disheveled mess and a doctor was called.
"Code blue, code blue in room four dash nine." This was repeated over and over as he felt his heart stop pumping blood, his eyes staring straight at his wife and daughter. His wife leaned down and whispered, a small whisper of words he'd never forget in his entire life.
"Itsuki, I love you."
People started pressing his chest, pulling his gown off. He heard a defibrillator charge. Once, twice, three times it hit his chest. But after that he didn't feel it. His body started shutting down and that was left was his brain. He closed his eyes slowly, and let the sweet release of death, wash over him.
