After looking around where Miuco and I were heading toward the bus stop, I noticed my mother standing at the police station door
She was anxious
Her eyes searched for me like I was a lost child
She rushed toward me
"Ginso!
Where have you been?
What are you doing in all this trouble?
They said you were at the bank before the explosion…
Like… like the old train incident"
Her words stabbed me more than the explosion itself
She was trembling, scared, and blaming herself before me
I said, exhausted,
"Mom… let's go home. Everything's fine"
Nothing was fine
Nothing was fine at all
But I couldn't increase her fear
I went home with her, and I was so tired that the moment I touched the pillow, I fell asleep instantly
I woke up the next day to the sound of the TV
The news anchor spoke rapidly
"The government is working to repair the damage
We expect the banking system to be restored within two days,
but experts warn that the repercussions of the bank explosion may affect citizens' trust
and could reduce their dealings with governmental institutions,
which may cause a severe liquidity shortage"
I froze at that moment
One sentence only,
like a second explosion
"…which could lead to the bankruptcy of the bank"
The Bank of Japan… the largest bank in the country…
would face an unbelievable nightmare
I remembered Miuco's words
"The organization creates small chaos to hide greater chaos"
Was this their goal?
To destroy people's trust?
Strike the economy?
Create a fissure in the state?
My mother called me, snapping me out of my thoughts
"Ginso! Don't forget, the university holiday ends tomorrow
You need to get ready, and maybe contact Riko"
I froze
Riko… where is he now?
Is he okay?
I wanted to call him, but…
I didn't have the courage
Suddenly, the phone rang
A known number: Dr. Hayashi
I picked up
"Ginso, can you come to my office at 2 PM?"
"Of course. I'll be there"
I hung up
The moment I did, my head felt heavy,
my ears buzzed,
the air tightened around me
A vision
Not long, but sharp and frightening,
as if someone had pushed the images into my head
A small clinic
An office
Blood covering the floor
A clock on the wall showing 10 AM
The vision vanished suddenly
Followed by pain, a strong headache,
and a feeling like the ground was pulling me down
My mother rushed:
"Ginso!"
and I collapsed
Everything disappeared
I woke up in my bed
My mother sat in front of me, eyes full of worry
Before I could ask, I remembered
The blood
The clock
The vision
"Mom… what time is it now?"
She said, anxious,
"One PM"
Not 10
Three full hours had passed
I thought to myself
Was it just a possibility?
Would nothing happen?
Then I remembered Dr. Hayashi's appointment
I jumped out of bed, dressed quickly,
and rushed to the bus station
My body still trembling
Suddenly, I overheard a conversation behind me between two elderly men
"Did you hear about the incident?
A doctor… killed… in a brutal way"
The second laughed lightly
"Surely that's an old case
Crimes on the news never end"
The first corrected him
"No, man
It happened only three hours ago"
My soul froze
My heart froze
The world froze
Three hours
The exact time of my vision
I put my hand to my mouth, as if all the air had left my lungs,
and plunged into a spiral of guilt, fear, and the truth I had been afraid to hear
I got off the bus
Step by step
Each step felt like a piece of me was falling to the ground
I approached the clinic street
At the first corner, I saw something
Yellow tape
Tape that appears in only one place
a crime scene
I thought,
"No. Impossible. This cannot be"
But the closer I got, the more impossible became reality
A clear nightmare in front of me
I reached the clinic door
The air disappeared
The walls bent
The ground spun
The tape surrounded the place
Police stood at the entrance
People whispered
I understood the truth without anyone telling me
Dr. Hayashi…
the one who called me, who asked to see me, who had been waiting for me…
He was the one I had seen in the vision
I fell to my knees,
as if my body could no longer hold me
My mind couldn't comprehend anything
Dr. Hayashi… gone?
I whispered in a broken voice,
"Why?
How?
What…
what is happening?"
No one answered
Only that heavy emptiness,
waiting for me from the very beginning