1 Prologue P1
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Nishioka High School
Standing near a Sakura tree in the school's courtyard, she stared at the beautiful tree before her, the breeze flowing through her face. It was just a little past noon, and she was waiting for her sister to come up with her bento in hand. Sure enough, the door behind her creaks, and she looks up to see the most annoying person she knew: Naomi Haruka.
"Well, look who's waiting this time, hmm? Here to confess your love to your darling, my dear sis Amai~?" Naomi mocked.
"Huh?! W-What the- where did you- w-w-why are you- Oh, shut up! Why are you even thinking about that?!" Amai Haruka screamed with her face beet red.
"Oh? Is that a yes?" Naomi innocently asked, lifting Amai's chin with her finger. Amai huffed, jerking her head to the side. "Pervert. Is that all you think?"
"Says the girl who asked me about my bust size. I wonder, what would Aya think of-"
Amai slammed her hand into Naomi's mouth, earning an alarmed response from Naomi. Amai glared at her elder sister with eyes that could kill on sight. "Don't. You. Dare."
Naomi waved her off, shoving her younger sister's hand away. "Aright, alright, sheesh, I was kidding, no need to be so insecure about your size..."
Amai huffed, crossing her arms. "W-Whatever. So, you got that bento?"
Naomi raised her hand, carrying a plastic with two boxes. "Let's dig in!"
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Despite being the most annoying person in the world, Amai liked having Naomi around. She was the only person that looked out for her and their youngest brother during their parent's business trips. The three of them lived happily without any disruption of their lives.
Amai then noticed that the area was surprisingly quiet, which was weird since Aya, her cousin, and her friends were usually among the loudest to be heard even from several feet away.
"H-Hey, Naomi..."
"Hmm?"
"I don't know if you've noticed, but...isn't it awfully quiet today?"
"...not really. Isn't it like this all the time?"
"Huh? What do you..." No. It wasn't always like that. She would always hear her friends from afar. Amai then realized that she can't remember why she was even here in the first place. She quickly stood up. "Wait, why am I even here? It's Saturday, right? Shouldn't it be a holiday?"
Naomi sighed. "Relax, sis, nothing is wrong-"
"No, something is wrong, I know it," Amai declared. She looked at Naomi, who, for some reason, was slowly growing transparent. Amai took a deep breath and swallowed. She slowly concluded.
"...you're not here, are you?"
Naomi sadly smiled. "You really should stop dreaming about me. I'm dead, after all."
Then, all of a sudden, her entire body transformed into dust and she separated into a million particles. Amai's breathing quickly grew uncontrollable, and she grabbed her chest as it started beating too fast to the point of hurting. "No. No, you're not dead. Please come back. Please. Please. Nonononononononononono-"
Wait, was that the sound of a jet engine?
She looked up and the last thing she saw was a plane crashing down on her.
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September 13, 2014, 3:42 A.M.
Haruka Residence, District N1
Amai Haruka gasped as she jerked up from her bed, her forehead sweating, breathing heavily. Her hands were shaking as she was taking deep breaths, before grabbing her head and flopping back in bed, groaning. (Ugh, god...alright, that would be... how many times did I have that nightmare...?)
Truth be told, she lost count of how many times she had the same nightmare...well, not really the same, but it was still the same setting: her elder sister somehow dies, a plane appears out of nowhere, said plane crashes, Amai cries out, wakes up, sleep, repeat. Amai was worried that she was having insomnia, but there were moments when she would sleep peacefully without any disturbance. Amai pleaded to have that respite again, even if it's just for a minute.
She grabbed her phone to see the time. It was Saturday, 3:42 A.M. (Oh, yeah...weekends. I forgot that.) But since she didn't felt like sleeping, she decided to get up early, maybe grab something from the nearest convenience store.
Slipping into a simple outdoor dress, she grabbed her keys, stepped outside her house with her slippers, and locked the door before she began to follow her route towards the store she knew. It was starting to feel normal for her to do this, ever since her elder sister's disappearance. She didn't know whether or not that was a bad thing, but her older cousin, Aya Hayakawa, frequently visited her whenever she started having nightmares, along with Saki Fujimoto, the cheery friend that was always by her side during her toughest times. Amai made a mental note not to tell them again unless she really needed help.
She envied her cousin. Aya, who lost her parents to that flight, understandably wanted time to herself. After a week or so, she would recover as good as new. Amai wanted to be like her. Strong and tough. Though Aya would occasionally joke about how she ran out of tears to cry and resorted to going back to school instead. She often told Amai that she wasn't that strong.
Still, her humor being back meaning she was strong, and she wanted to be like that. Despite life going smoothly with her little brother, Hachirou, she still felt like she couldn't move on. She refused to accept it, hoping that one day her elder sister would return.
She finally reached the store. It was open. Not that it was surprising, however; she was open 24/7, as the sign in front of the store suggests. Taking a deep breath, Amai went in and the automatic door opened with a beep.
The young blonde woman behind the counter awoke from her slumber and groggily stared at the customer before recognizing her. "O-Oh! Amai! Up again this early in the morning?"
"Yep."
The young woman quickly understood that Amai wasn't in the mood to talk. "Alright. Same old?"
"Yep, same noodles. Never change."
"Well, you did start liking those chips I gave you..."
"...never mind."
Despite the tired response, the blonde woman could see the slight smile on Amai's face. As she handed over the cups of noodles, Amai began to open up. "...I miss her."
The blonde looked up at her as she spoke. "Hmm?"
"Izuma, I...I miss my sister. It...doesn't feel right without her."
The blonde named Izuma smiled playfully. "Well, that's not what you said when she played a prank on you."
"Pfft, that was different, I knew she was messing with me." Amai slightly chuckled before the smile faded. "But that was it. No one to bug me, to annoy the hell out of me..." She shook her head. "God, I can't believe I'm saying this."
Izuma nodded as she placed the cups in the plastic. "You were making memories at that time. It may seem stupid at first, but later on, you'll look back and say, 'Wow, that was such a fun time we had.'"
Amai sighed. "I guess. But I didn't even know we were making one. I just...knew we were having fun."
Izuma hummed in acknowledgment. "We never realize it until later on. I think you should be happy that you had spent so much time with her."
Amai nodded. That made her miss her sister more than ever.
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Returning to her residence, Amai unlocked the door and swung it open to see her little brother, Hachirou, in his pajamas, sitting on one of the chairs at the dining table, deep in thought to the point that he didn't hear his sister strolling to his side. "Hachi?"
Hachirou jerked his head to the source of the voice, and, upon seeing it was his older sister, relaxed his posture. "O-Oh. Hello, big sis. And don't call me by that name..."
"Aw, lil'Hachi, that's not nice, you hurt me," Amai exaggerated her reaction by pretending to be hurt, holding her chest.
"D-Did I hurt big sis? I'm sorry..." Hachirou apologized. "Can I hug you?"
"Oh, come here, you sweet muffin head."
Embracing her brother, Amai felt a pleasant warmth resonating within Hachirou. However, her sisterly instincts said otherwise. "Is there something wrong, Hachirou?"
Hachirou, hearing his name being said properly, opened up. "I miss big sis...big sis Naomi."
Amai sighed as she pulled away. She hadn't considered her brother's emotions ever since the responsibility fell upon her. "Yeah, I miss her too. Oh, and...I'm sorry we couldn't visit her grave a few days ago."
"It's okay...you were busy. I was too..."
Amai shook her head. "Still, it was unfair of me to not think of you and what you were feeling." Amai tried to smile. "Tell you what, let's visit her grave. How about that?"
Hachirou's eyes brightened at the idea. "Yeah!"
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5:02 A.M.
It was about 5 A.M. when they finally reached the graveyard. It was relatively silent, apart from the birds chirping and the breeze's rustling, the sun about to peak from the horizon.
Their neighborhood was situated on a hill, just a few hundred feet above ground level, meaning the graveyard had a sight to behold, despite its depressing aura. It was kind of symbolic to Amai. It reminded her that the dead had something to look at, at least. Memories they had made together will be long remembered. A view that would never grow old even as the dead pass on to the afterlife.
The other thing the dead had to look at was the tree planted in the middle of the graveyard. It had stood there even before the graveyard was built. History had often said that this was, in actuality, a grave, but instead of stone, the mark was a tree.
And on the bark etched a name. A historical name, to be precise:
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RIP
ERI HIROSHIMA
1796 - 1887
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It was the name of the woman who, according to historians, was the first Japanese to marry a Korean. It was a tragic story that was, quite frankly, too long for Amai to remember. She never understood her mother's obsession with Korean drama series or films.
Strolling past the tree grave, she found the grave she was looking for - the grave of her sister.
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RIP
NAOMI HARUKA
1996 - 2011
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Hachi following closely behind, Amai slowly trudged towards the grave and kneeled in front of it. She stared at it as if trying to absorb the fact that she really is gone. She couldn't find the words to say, so instead, she simply stared. Nothing else. Hachirou stood beside her, kneeling beside Amai, who in turn wrapped an arm around him. She, too, like Aya, had run out of tears to cry. There was a numb pain in her chest that never went away whether she visited the grave.
Unlike Aya, she couldn't move on.
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5:38 A.M.
After walking around for a bit, Amai told Hachi to return home and gave him the keys. The two had learned to be independent, but that didn't stop them from needing each other when the time arose. Their parents were very busy people, after all. They own a farming business, a testament to their hard work and humbleness. Amai was technically rich, but she preferred to live normally, living in a village-like her parents.
No one was awake as of yet, so she took the time to walk around while the area was still dark, though the sky showed signs of dawn breaking.
She felt nervous, rightfully so. There were certainly people still hanging around in this time that would take advantage of women walking around in the dead of night. Still, Amai assured herself that there was no one there, being aware of her surroundings, and found nobody trying to sneak behind her.
Then she heard footsteps, not of her own.
Her heart started racing. Turning the next corner, she hoped that the footsteps would die down.
It didn't.
She picked up the pace, and the footsteps, too, did the same.
Now she was panicking. Breaking into a run she raced back for her homestead, trying to lose the stalker behind her. She was so terrified, she didn't notice the lamp posts shattering behind her as she ran breathlessly.
The sidewalk pavement was flat, which Amai was grateful for since it used to be lumpy. They finally fixed that issue, she thought amidst the chaos.
Which completely baffled her a second later as she suddenly tripped, slamming her face into the pavement, rolling over and over until she rolled to a stop facedown onto the pavement.
"O-Ow..." Amai groaned as she felt her face. No scratches, but that fall was really painful.
A hand grabbed her shoulder, inciting a yelp from Amai as she jerked her shoulder away, crawling on the pavement as fast she could.
"Why are you running? That's rude, you know."
She froze. The stalker spoke, and she didn't make sense. But that was not what she was focused on.
That voice sounded too similar to someone she knew. Someone that was deemed dead.
Slowly and shakily, Amai turned her head around. She desperately fought back tears as she did, and when she did face her stalker, her eyes widened as a shaky gasp escaped her.
Standing in front of her was a girl with short brown hair and green eyes, genes of a Haruka. Her knee-length skirt fluttered with the light wind as her hands were stuffed in the pockets of her coat. Her stockings looked worn and dirty as if they had not been changed for quite some time. The bow on her head, red but faded, was small, but Amai recognized it.
She recognized her stalker all too well.
She stammered.
"S-S-Sister?"
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11:56 A.M.
Akihito Sato was having a good time.
After several hundred wins in Couch Warfare, a server of a game called MineWork, he was satisfied with his 2,196th win streak and decided to end his streak there with the first loss he had in a year.
"Alright, guys, ready to end this?"
"Yeah!"
"Let's go!"
"Hell yeah!"
Akihito's smile widened, cheek to cheek, and declared loudly on his microphone. "Alright, goodbye everyone!"
"Bye!"
"Yeah!"
"See ya!"
And with that, his character in-game and his three other friends jumped into the void, officially ending their win streak at 2,196. Pressing the button to end his live stream, he leaned back onto his gaming chair and sighed with relief. That was the biggest accomplishment any gamer could have.
"Aki! Lunch is ready!"
"Alright, mom, I'm coming!"
Placing his gaming headphones onto his desk, he stood up, stretching his muscles before opening the door, and headed downstairs. He could already smell the ramen waiting for him in the kitchen as he arrived at the bottom floor. Akihito's mother, Eri Sato, and his father, Tohru Sato, were seemingly discussing before Akihito entered, and the two greeted him.
"Wow, dad, you're actually here to eat with us. How rare," Akihito joked.
"Haha, lucky for me, there's nothing much going on here. And I cannot just miss my son's grand ending, can't I?"
"...wait, you were watching that-"
"Oho, yes, I do. Don't underestimate me, son - I may be a detective, but I sure as well have a passion for games."
Akihito sighed in embarrassment, but his smile gave it away, earning a giggle from his mother. "Oh, don't worry, dear. We are all gamers - we understand."
"That doesn't make me feel any better."
The three shared a laugh before saying their thanks for the meal and dug in, a happy gamer family chatting with each other. That was until a phone call from the police station interrupted their moment, and Akihito's father regretfully took the call. However, Akihito noticed something as his father took the call, notably when his face shifted into one of fear and worry.
"Yes, I understand. I'll be there."
"Another case, dad?"
Tohru sighed. "Yes. Another one."
Akihito wasn't the only one that noticed his father's serious tone. Eri spoke up. "Is something the matter, honey?"
Tohru's serious gaze leaving no room for any doubt. "Akihito, I think it is only fair that you know about this," He said, placing his hands on his son's shoulder.
Akihito tensed. "Um...know about what?"
Tohru stared at him squarely in the eye. "Your friend, Amai Haruka, has disappeared."
