Aya
The engine emits a low, steady hum, like the heartbeat of someone in a deep sleep.
I sit in the passenger seat of Kaito's Lexus, trying to breathe normally. The problem is that "normal" has become a distant concept to me. My hands are placed rigidly over my bag, which cradles the knife at its bottom, and my back is so stiff I feel like my vertebrae might snap at any moment.
Outside the window, the neon forests of Tokyo have begun to fade, replaced by the dark green expanses of the suburbs. The sky is grey, heavy with clouds that threaten more rain.
"You're very quiet this morning, Aya," Kaito says without taking his eyes off the road. "Do you regret coming with me?"
I look at him. He is wearing a black turtleneck, looking like he stepped out of a high-fashion ad, not like someone going to visit a family shrine... or to commit a crime. His features are terrifyingly calm. How could someone Detective Ishii told me was "dead" drive a car with such smoothness?
"No, I don't regret it," I say, trying hard to sound natural. "I just... didn't sleep well. I was thinking about Mitso. It's been ten years since the last time I was there."
"Ten years changes a lot," he says slowly, as if weighing every letter. "Forests grow, wounds heal, and people... people learn how to wear new faces."
I feel a grip tightening around my heart. Was that a hint? Is he Haruki Sato pretending to be Kaito? Or is he Kaito who survived death and returned to settle scores?
I watch him shift gears. His fingers are long, precise, and his nails are groomed with extreme care. I can't stop thinking about those fingers holding a scalpel... or wrapping around Sakura's neck.
"Why did you ask me to come, Kaito?" I ask suddenly. "I mean, we only met a few days ago. Visiting a family shrine is a very personal thing."
He smiles, and that smile makes the blood freeze in my veins. "Sometimes, we feel a connection with someone that transcends the logic of time. When I saw you, I felt you were part of a story that hasn't ended yet. And Mitso is the place where the ending must be written."
The ending. The word rings in my ears like a funeral bell.
I turn to the backseat. The cooler box is there, strapped in with a seatbelt like a precious passenger. I can't help but ask: "What's in the box today? More medical specimens?"
Kaito laughs, and this time his laugh is short and dry. "Today, the box contains something special. Something that needs the cold to maintain its essence. I'll show it to you when we arrive."
Paranoia begins to eat at my mind. Is Detective Ishii right? Is this man a "ghost"? And if so, who sent me the warning message? "Kaito Mori is not who you think he is, but he is also not the killer you are looking for."
If he isn't the killer, then who is?
I start recalling the details of the night Sakura was killed. It was raining heavily, just like today. Sakura had gone out to meet someone, someone she called "The Gentleman." We all thought it was an older man, but what if it was a boy pretending to be a man?
"Aya, could you open the glove compartment?" Kaito says suddenly. "There are some sterile wipes in there; my hands feel a bit dry."
I reach out and open the compartment. At first, I see nothing but the wipes and the car manual. But in the corner, something metallic gleams.
It is a necklace.
A small gold necklace in the shape of a broken heart.
My breath hitches. This necklace... I know it. It belonged to Sakura. The other half of the heart is in my keepsake box at home. Sakura lost it a week before she disappeared.
"Did you find the wipes?" Kaito asks, his voice suddenly very close.
I shut the compartment quickly before he sees my terrified face. "Yes... I found them."
I give him the wipe, and my hand is shaking so much he notices. He holds my hand for a second as he takes the wipe. His hand is ice-cold.
"Your hand is so cold, Aya. Are you afraid of Mitso? Or are you afraid of me?"
I look into his eyes. I see no mercy. I see only scientific curiosity, as if he is observing a rat's reaction in a lab.
"I'm not afraid," I lie. "I'm just... cold."
He turns up the heat in the car, but the cold I feel is coming from inside.
We are now climbing the winding mountain roads leading to Mitso. The trees here have become dense, their branches intertwined as if trying to keep the light out. I remember the forest where they found Sakura. It wasn't far from here.
Suddenly, my phone vibrates in my bag. Another message from the same unknown number.
I try to read it without Kaito noticing. "He is watching your reaction. The necklace is bait. Don't show him that you recognize it. Look at the seat under your feet."
I move slowly, pretending to adjust my position. I reach under the seat and feel something hard taped there. I pull it off gently.
It is a tiny recording device.
Who put it here? Is it the police? Is Ishii watching us?
"We've arrived," Kaito says as he hits the brakes.
The car stops in front of the entrance to the Mitso forest. There is a narrow dirt path leading to the old shrine. The place is completely deserted, and silence wraps around everything except for the sound of raindrops falling on the leaves.
Kaito gets out of the car and heads to the backseat to carry the cooler box.
"Come on, Aya," he says as he opens the door for me. "The real journey begins now."
I get out of the car, feeling the weight of the knife in my bag and the recorder in my pocket. I look toward the dark forest. I feel as if the trees are whispering Sakura's name.
I walk behind Kaito as he heads into the narrow path. He walks with confident strides, as if he knows every tree in this forest. He doesn't look back to see if I am following; he knows I will. Curiosity and revenge are the strongest chains in the world.
"Do you know, Aya," he begins to talk without stopping, "in surgery, sometimes we have to excise healthy tissue to reach the tumor. Mitso is the tumor in your life. And today, we are going to perform the excision."
"You talk a lot about surgery, Kaito," I say as I try to stay close to him. "But Detective Ishii says Kaito Mori is dead."
Kaito stops suddenly. An absolute silence falls. He turns slowly, his face shadowed by the branches.
"Ishii?" he repeats the name with mockery. "Ishii is an old man living on the illusions of the past. He sees corpses everywhere because his conscience is heavy with blood. But tell me, Aya... if I am dead, then who is standing in front of you now?"
He approaches me until his face is inches from mine. "Can a ghost feel heat? Can he feel the desire for perfection?"
He reaches out and touches my necklace (the other half of the heart) which I was hiding under my shirt. "You have the other half, don't you? I've been waiting a long time for the two hearts to meet in Mitso."
In that moment, I realize the ugly truth. Kaito isn't an impostor, and he didn't die. Kaito is the person who made all this mess from the beginning. And Ishii was lying to me to prevent me from coming, or maybe to protect himself.
I reach for my bag, ready to pull out the knife.
But Kaito is faster. He grabs my wrist with incredible strength. "Not yet, Aya. The shrine is still far. And there... I will open the box for you, and I will show you what really happened to Sakura."
He pushes me gently to walk in front of him.
Now, I am walking in the forest, with the killer behind me carrying a mysterious box and my sister's necklace. I don't know who is a friend and who is an enemy, but I know one thing: Freida McFadden always said that the victim who smiles is the most dangerous kind of victim.
So, I smile.
"Fine, Kaito. Let's go to the shrine."
As we walk, I feel the recorder in my pocket. If I don't get out of this forest alive, at least I will leave behind his voice confessing.
But suddenly, I hear other footsteps behind us. Heavy, irregular footsteps.
Kaito stops and looks behind him, narrowing his eyes. "It seems we aren't alone in Mitso today."
The sound of a gunshot explodes in the air, tearing through the silence of the forest.