Passage 11

Reality snaps back.

                Takeshi began to come to. He was in a hospital bed. In the room, there were police and his parents. He feared this wouldn’t end well. One of the cops quickly noticed he was awake.
                “Hello son. We have a few questions for you.”
                “Alright,” said Takeshi, knowing the first thing would be about Hanako.
                “I’m Detective Hiro Niigata. I’ve investigating the death of Susumu Hanako.”
                The detective paused, noticing Takeshi’s nervousness. Niigata was a pretty experienced detective at thirty-eight. He could tell guilt in a second.
                “Let’s start with this. Do you know why she’s dead or how she died?”
                “Yes. We were walking through an alley as a short cut for our date. Two guys happened to be there. One was on the fire escape holding a rope. He threw it down and caught Hanako in it, pulling her up. The other guy pulled a knife on me. He demanded all our money for her life. I gave him the money, but as soon as I did, she fell…” explained Takeshi.
                “That can’t be all of it. Her blood was on your pants.”
                “Yeah. I clutched her… for a moment. The other guy had come down and the two were ready to run. I turned and chased them. The one with the knife got me in the stomach. I wondered looking for any help before I collapsed.”
                Niigata looked at him sternly, not fully convinced.
                “Do you remember their faces?”
                “Not really.”
                “Mm. Alright. I’ll look into this. But know. You’re not off the hook for anything.”
                “I understand,” said Takeshi as Niigata left the room with another cop.
                Takeshi’s parents then came around Takeshi.
                “You didn’t do it, did you?” asked his father.
                “Of course I didn’t!”
                “I told the police the truth.”
                Takeshi’s mother was in tears the whole time. His father decided they should step out for a few minutes. Takeshi was alone, but not for long. The detective came back in.
                “I looked you up. A top student. No crimes in  the past.”
                “And none in the future,” said Takeshi, starting to get angry.
                “However,” said Niigata, feeling as though he had the upper hand, “You recently lost someone. That can play on your emotions.”
                “That’s in the past.”
                “Well, from wherever you took the knife, there’s no blood trail which doesn’t make any sense.”
                “He slashed me pretty good. The wound didn’t open until I started moving a lot, in which I started feeling faint and collapsed.”
                “And you just happen to collapse near where another dead body was? There was a knife on the dead body. Perhaps you attacked him and he cut you. One kill for tonight wasn’t good enough.”
                “No! I didn’t kill anyone,” shouted Takeshi.
                “You’re just lucky no blood matches have been made. We can’t make an arrest, but you remain a suspect nonetheless in both cases.”
                The door suddenly opened and the doctor came in.
                “Excuse me fellas, but I have to check some things.”
                “It’s okay. We’re done here,” said Niigata, heading out the door, “I imagine I’ll see you again.”
Niigata left.
                The doctor looked at Takeshi’s chart and checked his vitals.
                “So,” said Takeshi, “Am I alright.”
                “Oh yes. You’re doing remarkably well. I’ll be back in an hour to check on you again.”
                The doctor then left. Takeshi was alone again. He was alone in body, mind, spirit, any way you can picture. All he wanted was revenge, but he knew he was not strong enough and that things in his normal life were not going to get better. All that’s left are questions.
                If Rath was so powerful, why didn’t he just attack when Rayfe did to beat him. Or why didn’t he just kill Takeshi when he had the chance. So many questions flooded Takeshi’s mind, but eventually he grew tired and fell asleep.