28 - Clean-Up

A few days after Yuuto left the hospital...

'Well, that was something,' Yuuto thought, standing over Saki's father. His baseball bat, stained with blood, hung loosely in his hand, a dark facemask concealing his expression.

"So? What are we going to do now?" he called out, his tone mocking as if addressing a child.

"I'm... going to come clean... and sob... turn myself in to the police," the father whimpered, kneeling in the abandoned alleyway.

"Goood... GOOOOD... There you go, you can do it when you try...!" Yuuto purred, clapping mockingly at the bleeding old man.

Yuuto knelt beside him, whispering in his ear. "And... what else?"

"I... sob... won't ever touch my daughter again..." the father murmured. Yuuto then powerfully slammed his baseball bat against the man's temple, knocking him to the side.

"Say that again," Yuuto growled.

"I... I SAID... I WON'T TOUCH MY DAUGHTER EVER AGA—" he cried, but Yuuto slammed the bat against his temple again.

"No, this is just too precious. Say that... again..."

"I... sob... I don't understand... Why...?" the father whined.

"She is not your daughter," Yuuto growled. "You gave up that right the moment you laid your pig-like hands on her. Now call your wife, and break up with her."

'...I promised not to let my emotions get the better of me. He is not worth my anger,'

"Okay... I'll... do it..." the father whispered, his face disfigured with blood and bruises. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and called his wife.

'Still, it was almost too easy, catching this pig. Follow him to the red light district and then lure him somewhere no one can see. Piece of cake. I didn't even need an arc to finish him off,' Yuuto thought almost triumphantly.

"Honey... I raped our daughter behind your back. The moans you heard were because of that. I can no longer live with myself... So I'm turning myself in."

[WHAT!!?] The wife yelled as the father hung up.

'Good. His wife is so delusional, she actually believed Saki initiated contact with this pig and then tossed her out of the house, even though she knew her daughter and her husband her entire life. Frankly, both her parents are terrible... But this is about getting rid of the lesser evil. Her mother's still somewhat caring as long as she's not being fed lies and manipulated. In that sense, Hiroki's family's the same.' Yuuto mused.

"T-there... I-... I did it..." the father mumbled, gradually relaxing.

'Now, for this,' Yuuto thought as he gripped a needle in his pocket.

Yuuto swiftly stabbed the needle filled to the brim with a liquid into the man's forearm, injecting all of it.

"What...?" the father stuttered, hurriedly pulling the empty needle out. "What did you just...!!?" He stuttered, feeling a wave of warmth wash over him, his muscles beginning to loosen.

'Ah... Goddamnit. I wasn't going to use the whole dose... Just a little bit so that he wouldn't get away while I phone the cops... While also tying him to drugs. That way, if they find drugs in Saki's body, they'll put the blame on him afterwards, and he'll suffer for it in prison; considering what they do to child abusers there,' Yuuto thought as he looked at the man stumbling about, a twisted smile creeping on the man's euphoric face as Yuuto stood and watched.

'...But every time I look at his face, I can only see that moment.' Yuuto looked down, frowning.

For there to be evidence that Saki was raped, and for that evidence to not be dismissed, she... well, needed to get raped again.

[There exists a room called a Sexual Assault Forensic Exam (SAFE) room or a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) room. These rooms are typically located in hospitals or specialized clinics and are designed to provide a private, safe, and supportive environment where forensic evidence can be collected, and medical and psychological support can be provided. The examinations are conducted by trained professionals, often nurses with specialized training in handling sexual assault cases.]

But to identify the rapist, Saki had to have been raped and admitted to said room within 96 hours after she was violated, so that there would be residue DNA inside of her; through which, they could identify the perpetrator.

Now, he had it. Yuuto had purposely waited until the day this pig decided to lay his hands on his daughter again; and he did - and soon, Yuuto or Saki's mother would admit her to said safe room after being taken to a hospital; where they would find evidence of what that vile man did.

That means it wouldn't matter what this old man would say or do. She would be examined, and it would be found out. This guy would bear the consequences without a doubt, double the case, considering it is her father.

But as Yuuto looked at the man's face, he started to regret things.

He started to regret not taking her out of the house, and depriving the father of the possibility again.

And then he saw Benson, Satoshi, and Tommy's faces. Regretting not picking up those guns from the officers much earlier to end them sooner.

Just one bullet. Just one simple action to make it all go away.

In that moment where Yuuto had picked up the needle and injected the man's forearm...

Killing someone again beckoned him, and urged the muscle in his thumb to contract all the way as he injected the drug.

'It's so much easier after the first time, isn't it...?' Yuuto mused to himself.

Yuuto then gently picked up the discarded needle, inserting it back into his forearm.

"This needs to stay there. How else will the cops believe you overdosed yourself?" Yuuto said, his actions almost mechanical.

'Ah... Is this... How she felt...? It's so... Good... It's so nice...' the father thought, feeling his body getting warm and drowsy, as his breathing grew labored. Eventually, his lungs no longer had the strength to expand to take in air, and he choked on his own vomit several minutes later.

Yuuto stood silently, looking at the soon-to-be corpse.

'I bet I could still save his life if I turned him over and let his vomit out of his mouth,' Yuuto thought, watching the last signs of life from Saki's father fade away.

Yet that thought soon lost its meaning, as Saki's father passed away. Yuuto saw the light in his eyes darken until it was gone entirely.

'...At least I get to keep my eardrums this time,' Yuuto thought, recalling the loud boom from the pistols he had used at the school.

'Now then, time to go to the owners of that needle,' Yuuto mused, giving his baseball bat a twirl as he pulled out Saki's phone from his pocket.

Yuuto walked into a dilapidated motel room where Hayato was kept. His hands were nailed to the wall, his eyes darkening as he trailed Yuuto's movements.

His figure was bruised and beaten, much like the old man.

'...I kept him like this because I didn't want to kill him,' Yuuto thought, looking at Hayato, whose face was devoid of all signs of the will to live, bleeding on the floor.

'But right now, I feel like I can do it,' Yuuto thought, lowering the baseball bat onto Hayato's head, bashing it. He killed him after several direct hits to his temple, his gaze empty and blank as he delivered the fatal blows.

'...Considering this universe... I should probably go to where I stole that needle from. And end it,' he thought as he looked down at the body.

'I'll figure out a way to clean him up from here after that,' Yuuto thought as he walked out of the room, into the blinding neon of the city lights outside.

Hayato had told Yuuto the location where Obata was running his business.

Yuuto stood right outside of the location, his baseball bat at the ready.

He clenched his palm around the baseball bat as he eyed the place down.

'....'

But then, the grip on the baseball bat loosened, and the grip on Saki's phone grew stronger.

He dialed the police station and gave an anonymous tip about a drug location.

'....I'm too tired for today. I'll let the cops handle this one,' he thought as he returned to the rundown motel room where he had left Hayato, and cleaned up the scene. He then took out the body and began to dig in the dirt, deep in the forest behind the motel.

'Good place I picked... Did I know, after all, that I'd end up killing him?' Yuuto thought as he buried Hayato in the dirt, disposing of his phone and SIM card.

It was now 1 AM.

After he was done, he entered Hayato's apartment to clean up. Afterwards, he returned to the burial site, dumping his old clothes, plenty of wood branches, and alcohol. He then dropped a match into the pit, setting it all on fire.

Yuuto merely stood and watched the flames blaze and then die out in absolute silence.

3 AM. The flames had burnt everything.

Yuuto covered the hole with dirt... And from there, he seemed to have lost all sense of time and mindfulness.

Blacking out, he wandered the streets, eventually ending up at Hiroki's home, where Kanoko and Kaede were still asleep.

The logical thing to do now was to go to his room and sleep as well.

But, driven by pure primal instinct, he walked up the stairs and knocked forcefully on Kanoko's door.

"Hey... Who's..!!?" Kanoko called out as she opened the door, only to see Yuuto standing there, his gaze empty, yet his eyes wide.

"Hiro...Ki...?" Kanoko muttered, as suddenly, Yuuto barged in, shoving and pushing her violently until he pinned her against the bed.

"Hiroki!!?" she called out in worry as Yuuto now lay atop her, pinning her arms in place.

The only thought going through Yuuto's head in that moment was, 'They are not my family... They are not my family... So, this is fine...' He thought, breathing heavily upon her as he looked over her, driven by pure instinct.

'How did I end up here?' he wondered, but no thought seemed to relax him, as his breathing intensified and his grip tightened with every passing moment.

Kanoko looked at his face. Her anxiety slowly started to wane as she felt the turmoil within him.

She then clutched her legs around his waist, pulling him into an embrace.

"Ah..." Yuuto gasped as his head was pressed against her chest. His grip softened. Kanoko raised her arms, wrapping them around his neck, and petting his head soothingly.

"Shhh... It's oka!&^%($!TG

!%*(&^%y... It's okay... Big sis has you now, little guy."

"..." Yuuto cried into her chest as she held him tightly.

"Did you have a bad dream again...?" she asked.

Yuuto could only nod in his intense sobbing.

"Haah... You disappoint me, To-chan." She softly scolded as she held him in her arms.

He merely raised his head in confusion, his eyes still wet and soaked with tears.

"Didn't I tell you? If you have bad dreams, you should just call me, and I'll beat up any monster that dares hurt you?" she scolded.

"But... But... What if the monster's too strong for you...!? I have to be the one who... who saves you..." he wept.

"Dumbass. You're too weak to do anything yet. So just don't be scared, and rely on your strong older sister!" She said with a confident smile@(&T^%(!@$%@3

!^#&*%(!$

'...Another unwanted memory...' Yuuto thought as he remained in Kanoko's embrace, his expression still blank as she petted his head, yet she could feel his breathing getting more relaxed. He then caught the sound of Kanoko's heartbeat as he was pressed against her chest. Soft, yet powerful and steady.

The warmth radiated from her, and Yuuto was caught between her body and the furred blanket above the two of them.

'I just don't get it.'

'Why... Why did you do this to him?' Yuuto thought to himself, feeling his eyelids slowly closing.

'It just... doesn't make sense for these crazed whores... to be so... attentive...'

'Something doesn't add up...' Yuuto's last coherent thought before nodding off.