One Year Ago
Yuriko was walking by herself, heading back home after a long day at school. Rain fell down on her black umbrella, her school outfit sopping wet despite it – the rain was blowing sideways. She continued on with her head down, shoes clicking against the sidewalk quietly. Her grey eyes were dull and filled with nothingness, as they always were.
It wasn't until she passed by an alley between buildings that she stopped, hearing a kitten mewl. She turned her head to look down the pathway, seeing a soggy paper box by the trash can. Full body swivelling to face the alley, she started walking down silently towards the box. Looking inside, she crouched down – only to see a black speaker inside, emitting the meows.
I got her.
Yuriko turned as a shadow overtook her, looking back when the thought invaded her mind. Strong hands grabbed her shoulders, pulling her back. She yelped, dropping her umbrella as the figure stood above her for a moment, then pinned her to the ground. Trying to cry out, she only managed a muffled yell when a hand clamped over her mouth.
Scenes flashed in her head wildly. Staring at those eyes, it was as if she could see his mind playing out the morbid fantasy that caused him to take these actions. He wanted to take her – to rip her, pull her, tear her apart. It was all to please himself; his horrible, wretched self. The worst part about these scenes she saw, was that she was already dead in them.
Widening her eyes in terror, realising what was about to happen, she saw his thoughts of his next action. Yuriko grabbed the blade as it cut into her hands, tears flowing out of her eyes as she screamed through his fingers. He was strong – too strong for her. The knife cut into her neck, and she swallowed, pulling her head to the side as it slammed into the stone below her. She saw his eyes glower, brown and enraged.
Raising the knife again, he brought it down against her, but she slammed into his wrist and pressed a known pressure point. His hand spasmed, and he dropped the blade. There was an awkward struggle between them of who got to it first, and she felt her heart leap in hope as she grasped it. Pulling it down to his chest, she tried to kick him off her, only to have him drop down on top of her when she hit his knee.
The warm feeling of liquid covered her hands, travelling down across her arms and her chest. She stared into his eyes, watching him grunt in pain, gasp, and go limp. His face smacked against the concrete with a heavy thunk next to her head, his hand slipping off her mouth. She panted, the blood flowing through her shirt as she pushed him off.
Sitting up, she looked at him – at the knife in his chest. Yuriko looked down at her hands, her chest, covered in red. The rain splattered against it, making it worse. That was not her plan. She looked around, tears still staining her face as she grabbed her bag across the alley. Scrambling to find her phone, she pulled it out, struggling to tap the screen with the rain. As soon as she dialled 110, she shakily brought it up to her ear, staring at the man as if he might sit up and grab her again.
"This is the police, what is your emergency?" The person on the other line said.
"I…" Yuriko swallowed. "I need help."
"Alright, ma'am, what has happened?" They spoke politely.
"Someone attacked me…" She said shakily. "He had a knife… I had to… he was going to kill me."
"When did this occur?" The man questioned.
"J-Just now," Yuriko continued to stare at the body.
"Where are you, ma'am?" She rattled off the street name and place. "And who attacked you?"
"Um…" Yuriko scanned the man's face. "I-I don't know. He's… I think I… I think I killed him."
"Ma'am, is he breathing?" He asked.
"I don't know…" She started crying a bit harder. "I don't think so, I… Oh my gods, I killed…"
Her voice broke, and she looked down at her hand again. The man told her to stay on the line, but she couldn't stop sobbing to answer any more questions. In what felt like moments, cars were at the alleyway entrance and police officers were standing around, while medics were checking the condition of the stabbed individual. Soon enough, she was put in the back of a police car, a blanket draped around her.
A little while later, a long limousine pulled up. Yuriko saw her grandfather exit it, hobbling quickly towards the car she was in. A police officer stopped him, and her jiichan pointed at her and yelled angrily. His words flashed through her ears wildly, nothing making sense. Finally, after a long argument, the door opened.
"Miss," An officer said, holding up an umbrella. "Miss, your grandfather is here. I need you to change out of your shirt – wear this." He handed her a plain white T-shirt.
She looked down at it, then back up. "Wh-Why?"
"We need it for investigation purposes," He smiled warmly. "I'll put up the covers."
With that, he put a screen over the window that blacked out the sight inside, and she changed. She had stopped crying by now, but it was only because she felt numb again. Still staring at her hands, she proceeded to knock on the door to let him know she was done. When the man opened the door again, he was still smiling.
"Thank you, miss," He said kindly. "You can go home now. We will come by later for questioning."
"...Okay," She nodded, stepping out. "Who will be coming?"
"Me and another officer," He explained. "You can call me Tanaka."
"Okay," She nodded. "Thank you, Tanaka."
He nodded, and Yuriko started over to her grandfather. She was hugging herself, the rain washing the blood off her hands, but they were still stained red. Her grandfather took her hand, saying something, but she didn't hear quite what he said. Her eyes were on the ground, the rain running across her face.
Looking over to the alley, she saw a white blanket being placed over the body. A sudden reality checked in, but not from the realisation she had killed someone. That was not the first time the man did something so brutal. In fact, he was not the only man who had done this. So many girls were killed, traumatised, and afraid – she saw them all in his mind. She stared at the form until her grandfather led her away to the cab, letting her in before him. Her mind ran in circles, gazing at her hands as she came to a conclusion.
I won't let this happen to anyone else ever again.