Say But Not as Crow Flies - Part 2

Germon had been trying to reach Ashya for a while now, so he was relieved when she finally picked up the phone. "Ah! You finally picked up," he said, breathing a sigh of relief.

Ashya responded excitedly, "Germon! I just spoke to Kyora-sis. What about you? What kind of room are you in? Tell me something about it."

Without thinking, Germon blurted out, "Living room." He immediately realized his mistake as Ashya scolded him,

"Huh! Stupid! You broke the rules, you did it on purpose."

Germon tried to reassure her, "Don't worry about it. It's only the second time, we can take that much risk. You tell me about yours too."

Ashya hesitated for a moment before giving in, "Arghh! The bedroom." She too had broken the rules.

"So I was right, I mean," Germon chuckled, but their conversation was cut short as the two-minute time limit was up, and the line went dead. Just as Germon was putting the phone back in its place, it rang again.

He picked it up, and a familiar voice spoke, "Don't say anything, just listen."

Germon replied in a hushed tone, "Okay."

"Even if you've got the gist of it, it's still not what you're thinking. Even if you catch it, it's not where it should be. In the end, all you have to do is see who the black sheep is," Jon spoke in riddles before quickly disconnecting the call.

Germon was left confused, "Huh! What did you say? Say it again!" But Jon was already gone.

Meanwhile, Jon was trying to come up with a way to communicate with Kyora about her Morse code skills before their time was up. "I have riddles with the help of that, I will tell Germon about how to get code numbers and about Ashya, she did well in Morse code. But saying all that sound in Morse code won't work, so I will tell her by riddle too, but I don't know how I will tell Kyora before this one hour has passed because I don't know anything about her," he thought to himself.

As Kyora searched the kitchen for the code number, her mind drifted back to a painful memory from her childhood. She remembered her cruel stepmother, Inari Nakamura, who mistreated her on a regular basis. Kyora recalled a particular incident during summer vacation when Inari had punished her for not keeping the kitchen clean. She was lost in thought when she heard a noise and turned to see something on the dining table. A pang of nostalgia hit her. Suddenly, she remembered a similar incident from her childhood when she was playing outside her house.

Inari had come out of the house and grabbed her ears tightly, pulling her into the kitchen. Kyora winced at the memory. "What happened, Mom?"

Kyora had asked.

"Look around you," Inari had said. The entire kitchen was in disarray.

"I see, Mom. The kitchen needs to be clean," Kyora replied innocently.

"Just don't say that! It's you who's going to clean up here," Inari shouted in anger.

Kyora had pleaded with her, "But Mom, I was playing. I'll do it later."

"What did you say? Just remember, if your father and I keep working hard so that we don't live like beggars, but lead a normal life, you'll also have to pay somehow. Without saying anything, get to work. And this is what your father told me to tell you," Inari had threatened.

"You're lying! Dad would never say that," Kyora had yelled back. Inari's eyes had narrowed dangerously before she bent over and squeezed the skin on Kyora's right hand, causing it to bleed. Kyora had wanted to cry, but Inari had covered her mouth with her hand.

"Don't cry. It won't hurt that much. If you clean up without saying anything, then I will give you a bandage," Inari had said coldly.

Kyora nodded in silence, despite the pain in her hand, and started cleaning the kitchen. It had taken her more than an hour to finish, but she had done it without uttering a single word. Just as she finished cleaning, a soccer ball came flying through the window and landed on the kitchen floor. Kyora was startled and looked up to see a boy with mud all over his shirt and hair covering his left eye.

"I'm sorry about the window," the boy said as he picked up the ball. Kyora stared at him, unsure what to say.

"Are you hurt?" the boy asked, noticing her bleeding hand. "Don't you know you're bleeding?"

Kyora remained silent as Inari had forbidden her to speak. The Hinro boy searched every room for a first aid kit and eventually found one. He returned to the kitchen and began to dress Kyora's wound. She winced in pain, but did not cry out, as Inari's warning echoed in her mind. The boy finished bandaging her wound and Kyora stuttered out, "W-Who are y-you? And W-why are you doing this?"

The boy smiled, "My name is Hinro, I'm from the neighborhood. I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do."

Kyora hesitated before asking, "But why?"

Hinro shrugged, "I don't know. I just saw you were hurt and I couldn't leave you like that."

Kyora tried to ask him more questions, but her stutter made it difficult to form words. Hinro noticed her struggle and said, "It's okay, take your time."

Finally, Kyora managed to express herself, "I don't know where my attention was. Everything happened so fast."

Hinro frowned, "That's not a helpful answer."

Kyora looked away, "I'm sorry, I just don't know."

Hinro placed his hand on her neck and said, "Listen, if you want to live, I'll be your friend. But if you want to die, I'm leaving, goodbye."

Kyora's eyes widened, "No, please don't go."

Hinro smiled, "Then we're friends. Now, put your hand on your heart and repeat after me: 'I am always with you, we will face together whatever is in front of us so don't worry.'"

Kyora followed his instructions, and she felt a sense of warmth spread through her body. Hinro helped Kyora clean up, and before he left, he reminded her to put the first aid kit back in its proper place. Kyora nodded and said, "Thank you for everything."

Hinro grinned, "No problem. By the way, you're right. I do stink."

Kyora laughed, "Yeah, go take a shower."

Hinro made a face, "Really? Why didn't I notice?"

Kyora walked him to the door and said, "See you tomorrow, friend."

Hinro replied, "Goodbye, Kyora. Take care of yourself."

Back to the present, kyora gazed at seven identical first aid kits in confusion. "What are these doing here?" she muttered to herself. After a moment, she decided to take a gamble and typed in the number seven on a nearby screen. To her relief, a green light appeared, indicating success. Just then, Kyora's phone rang, and she eagerly answered it. "I cleared it!" she exclaimed.

"Really? You figured out the code number?" Jon's voice sounded skeptical.

Kyora hesitated. "Well, not exactly. Someone helped me."

Jon quickly brushed off her confession. "No matter. Here's what you need to do next."

As Kyora took notes, Ashya answered the phone in the bedroom. "Hello?" she said tentatively.

Jon's voice on the other end sounded cryptic. "What you need to find is what shouldn't be there."

"What does that mean?" Ashya asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.

Jon repeated the message. "What you need to find is what shouldn't be there." With that, he abruptly hung up.

Ashya sat there, still perplexed. Meanwhile, Germon picked up the other phone line. "Kyora told me everything. What's the riddle?" he inquired.

Jon sighed. "It's the last time I'm telling you this. Even if you get the gist of it, it's still not what you're thinking. Even if you get a hold of it, it's not where it should be. In the end, all you have to do is see who the black sheep is."

Germon listened carefully, committing the riddle to memory. "Okay, got it. You can hang up now," he said before disconnecting the call. Kyora gave Ashya some helpful hints before ending their conversation.

Meanwhile, Germon began searching the living room, trying to decipher Jon's riddle. "Even if you get the gist of it, it's still not what you're thinking," he muttered to himself as he peered under the couch. "It means I'm thinking about something wrong, something odd, or something we don't have to search for." Moving on to the walls, he noticed a couple of vases on the table filled with dried flowers.

"Even if you hold it, it's not where it should be," he muttered, his eyes scanning the room.

"Which means I have to find something unusual, something that shouldn't be here. Because it's a black sheep...it must be the code number!"

Germon approached the screen and typed in the number two, and within seconds the green light illuminated.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief, knowing that they were one step closer to completing their mission.

With only Ashya left to find the code number, she lay in bed, going over the puzzle in her head. "If you're there, it shouldn't be there. If it is, it's not needed in that place," she repeated to herself.

Suddenly, her eyes fell upon the back door where she saw three wet clothes hanging. It didn't make sense for them to be there, and she realized that they must be the key to the puzzle. She rushed to the screen and typed in number three, and the door unlocked with a click.

Everyone emerged from the room, feeling victorious.

Meanwhile, in Shimbashi station, a boy wearing a leather jacket with hair covering his left eye spoke to himself, "I hope you're okay, Kyora. Looking forward to seeing you soon. Just remember the words that I taught you to say and you will never feel alone."

Meanwhile, Yura turned to Yuma and said, "I think our love is defeated, Honey. That faded-haired guy was right."

"Don't say that, darling. Our love will only grow stronger after this," she reassured Yura.

The group of friends gathered in a circle, celebrating their victory before moving on to the next stage of their mission.