Mei POV
*Splat* *Splat* *Splat* *Splat*
In a world riddled with nothing but the sound of cold rain splattering against the fabric of Hoshino's umbrella, the soft slap of my footsteps echoed in my ears—carrying me forward.
Before this, countless thoughts had swirled through my mind. Why did Father want me back? What happened to Mom? What happened to Uncle? What was going to happen to me? But the closer I got to my house, the more those thoughts drifted into irrelevancy.
Even so—I never stopped walking. The choice to run never even occurred to me. As long as I wore Hoshino's shoes, I would keep moving forward.
In the distance, flashing blue and red lights shone off the puddles, illuminating the darkness ahead. It didn't take much to guess that those lights most likely stood in front of my house.
Seeing those lights was supposed to be a sign of hope—that everything would be alright—but my heart only grew colder.
Everything slowed for a moment.
The flashing lights, the rain, and even my own movements—all of it went to nothing but grey.
…
*Splat*
Just like that, the world spun back to life, and I walked toward the direction of the lights with a cheery smile.
Just as my home came into view, I noticed a few shadowy figures standing in the distance. They all seemed to be talking to each other when—as if somehow noticing my presence—one of them turned in my direction.
Even from this far, the half-detached, half-crazed glint in his eyes pierced my nerves.
The figure broke away from the group and ran toward me in a frantic motion. "Mei! There you are! I was so worried about you!" It was the loudest I'd ever heard him speak.
As he got closer to me, the darkness around his figure parted, revealing my Father. Even though we were only a handful of steps away from one another, he didn't stop running.
If anything, his pace only quickened until we collided, and he wrapped his arms around me tightly.
Some may call it a hug. It wasn't.
The moment he touched me, my whole body erupted in a sharp, ghostly, indescribable pain—one that felt fake, yet all too real. Every place where we touched hurt.
"Mei!" he said, still speaking in that uncharacteristically loud tone. "Are you okay?! Did something happen to you?!"
As he voiced his concerns, his hands shifted upward from my back, inching closer to my neck. I knew exactly what he was trying to say.
A heavy weight hung on my arms, but even so, I slowly lifted my hands and wrapped them around him in return.
"I'm fine, Father," I said, using the same volume he was. "Thank you for worrying about me."
Once our brief exchange finished, we continued staying as we were for a few measured seconds. After 5.00 seconds, Father hesitantly let go of me and grabbed my hand, slowly pulling me to the house—and to the other four figures.
The first two were Mom and Uncle. Only about an hour or two had passed, yet Uncle looked like a completely different person. His face was bruised and swollen all over, making it difficult for him to even keep his eyes open; his shirt was ripped; and his lip was cut open, blood seeping out.
Mom didn't look as bad, but she was far messier than I remembered. Her hair was disheveled to the point that even the rain couldn't wash the mess away, and her right eye was bruised black. But the darkness permeating around the skin couldn't compare to the light that had vanished from her eyes.
She simply stood there, absently keeping her gaze at her feet, unmoving.
Seeing her like that… the chill of the rain disappeared, replaced by something far more vast—a vastness that swallowed me whole.
It's… all my fault.
It's my fault she's like that.
If only I hadn't done anything.
If only…
The vastness swelled further, growing endless, clouding my mind with its presence as the nausea rose and fell under it both at once.
If only I were better.
I'm... a failure.
Mom lifted her head, her blank eyes scanning her surroundings—until they landed on me.
A flicker of light returned to them instantly. Her leg twitched, and her body leaned slightly forward, as if she were about to throw herself at me—but Father's head snapped toward her.
She froze under his gaze, then slowly pulled herself back.
Still, she continued to stare at me, faint tears forming in her eyes. Luckily for her, the other two people—the cops—didn't seem to notice with the rain acting as a cover.
One of them stepped toward me. "Sorry, but would you happen to be their Daughter, Mei?"
From the corner of my eye, I saw Father give me a small smile. He let go of my hand and gave me a light nudge forward. Then, he gave the cops a deep bow and walked over to where the rest of my family stood.
After making sure all the adults were away, the cop leaned closer to me and whispered, "Would you mind if we went somewhere where we can be alone?"
"Sure. That's fine by me."
The cop gave me a firm nod.
He stepped away from me for a moment and told his partner to watch over my family while he talked to me. Once they agreed, the cop returned and brought me a little further away from my family—only a couple of steps. But from this distance, no one could hear our conversation through the curtain of rain.
The cop took a deep breath, then spoke in a soft, careful, but authoritative tone. "Do you know why we are here?"
He looked me dead in the eye. I looked at him right back, careful not to break eye contact for even a single moment.
Although my back was turned to him, I could still feel my Father's piercing gaze, and with it, a command.
'Don't do anything stupid. And watch your words.'
My smile grew even easier.
I know.
I took a deep, slow breath, hiding the fact that I was studying the cop's face and choosing my words carefully.
For starters, it didn't take much to guess that his question was meant to draw out some sort of self-confession. And if he was asking that, that meant he'd figured out that I was somehow involved in—or the cause of this—despite the fact I wasn't at home when they showed up.
But why did the cops get here in the first place? And how did they figure out that I was there? If I had to guess, it was because when I left the house, I left the door wide open, letting the shouts of the fight leak outside. If Mom and Uncle were busy fighting, and Father was at work, that meant only one other person could have opened that door—me.
Knowing my family, it was safe to assume that they either lied or said nothing. Assuming they didn't say anything, anything I said right now would be taken as the truth. But if they lied, and my account didn't match theirs, it'd look bad.
Therefore, there was only one way I could go about this.
"Sorry, but I don't know why you're here," I answered, apologetic, even though I did nothing wrong.
The cop shook his head sternly.
"There's nothing to feel bad about," he assured me in an easy tone, the earlier authority softening. "But the reason we are here is because your Mom and Uncle were fighting. Do you know why?"
That much was obvious just by looking at them, so it was no surprise the cop managed to figure that out.
"I don't know. One second, I was ready to head to bed, then screams erupted in the house. I got scared and didn't want to get caught up in it, so I ran." It was a reasonable excuse that didn't tell them much.
The cop let out a soft, slightly disappointed sigh. "I see. Then, you are free to go."
It may have seemed abrupt, but the cops had probably already questioned Mom, Uncle, and even Father by this point. With the fourth and only witness left, questioned with no new information on why the fight started, they had no choice but to give up.
I thought I'd be led back to my family, but the cop instructed me to wait inside while he talked with the adults. It made sense, I was only a minor. Furthermore, while they had no answers, it was apparent that a serious fight had happened between Mom and Uncle. Which meant there'd be repercussions, whatever they might be.
I walked past Mom, Uncle, and Father, keeping my gaze fixed forward, and stepped into my familiar dark home.
It was even colder and darker in here than it was outside—which was ironic, since one of the reasons the cop sent me in was to get comfortable.
I slid off Hoshino's shoes, set them in an especially dark corner, and delved even deeper inside. Instead of retreating to my room, I navigated toward the couch.
I knew that once this all passed, Father would want to have a word with us, so I sat on the rough leather of my couch, folded my hands neatly against my lap… and waited.