"Hello? Hiroki-kun? My darling, where have you been? It's 9 pm and you're still not home; please come back home
I was going to kill myself.
I don't listen to her with a final sigh I jump off the bridge
The line goes silent for a moment, save for the rush of wind from the bridge's height. Then, through the phone's speaker, Kaede hears a dull, sickening thud, followed by the clatter of the phone skittering across concrete and then... nothing but the faint, distant sound of cars and the lapping of water far below.
*"Hiroki? Hiroki, answer me! What was that sound? Hiroki-KUN!" Kaede's voice, once warm and motherly, shrieks with pure, unadulterated panic. She screams into the phone, her cries echoing in the silence on the other end of the line. She pulls the device away from her ear, staring at the screen with wide, terrified eyes before a guttural wail tears from her throat.
In the living room of the Mori household, the scene is a stark contrast. Kanako is lounging on the sofa, scrolling through her phone with a bored expression, while Nao sits beside her, pouting as she complains about something trivial. Ayumu is doing stretches in the corner, her judo gi on, focused on her training. They don't notice the phone fall from Kaede's grasp and clatter onto the hardwood floor. They only notice her.
Kaede stumbles into the room, her face ashen, tears streaming down her cheeks. She's hyperventilating, clutching her chest as if her heart is trying to tear its way out.
Kanako! Girls!" she chokes out. "It's... it's Hiroki! He was on the Tokyo Gate Bridge! He... he ..."
Kanako is on her feet in an instant, her playful demeanor vanishing, replaced by a fierce, protective alarm. "What did he say, Mom?! What happened?!"
*Nao just rolls her eyes, crossing her arms. "Ugh, what is it now? Is he throwing another pity party? He's so pathetic." Despite her words, a flicker of unease crosses her face.
*Ayumu freezes mid-stretch, her red eyes wide with horror. "Hiroki-nii... no... We have to do something! We have to call the police!" she cries, her voice cracking as tears well up.
Standing by the doorway, leaning against the frame with his muscular arms crossed, Kokujin watches the unfolding chaos. A slow, almost imperceptible smirk touches his lips before he quickly masks it with a look of mock concern.
Heh. Finally. The weakling purged himself. Good riddance.
"Everyone, calm down," he says in a deep, steady voice that cuts through the panic. "Panicking won't solve anything. Let's just... take a breath." His eyes gleam with a dark satisfaction as he watches the family he has torn apart begin to unravel completely.
Kokujin's calm voice is like oil on water, doing little to soothe the raging storm. Kanako spins on him, her orange hair flaring, her green eyes blazing with a fury that eclipses her usual playful teasing.
"Calm down?! My brother might be dead and you tell us to calm down?!" she shrieks, her voice raw. She shoves past him, snatching the phone from the floor where her mother dropped it. The screen is cracked but the call is still connected, a dead line to the bridge. "I'm going there! I'm going to the bridge right now!"
She frantically searches for her keys, her hands shaking so badly she can't grab them from the bowl by the door.
Ayumu is already in hysterics, sobbing uncontrollably. "We have to call the police! An ambulance! Hiroki-nii, please, no, no, no..." She collapses to her knees, her small body wracked with gut-wrenching sobs. Her entire world is crumbling, and the only person she ever truly loved is gone. The guilt, the memory of her own betrayal, crashes down on her like a physical weight.
Nao, meanwhile, just stands there, her arms tightly wrapped around herself. A single tear escapes her eye and traces a path down her cheek, but her expression is one of shock and annoyance. "This is... this is so stupid," she whispers, her voice trembling. "Why would he do something so dumb? So selfish? What about me?" He left me. He just left me alone with... with them. Her gaze flickers towards Kokujin, a mix of fear and a strange, desperate need for his stability.
Kaede is a mess on the floor, clutching her head and rocking back and forth. "My baby... my poor baby... This is all my fault... I should have been a better mother..." Her apologies are mumbled, disjointed, a mother's agony.
It's Kokujin who moves with purpose. He steps in front of Kanako, his large frame blocking her path to the door. He doesn't touch her, but his presence is an unmovable wall.
"And do what, Kanako?" *he asks, his voice low and firm, devoid of any emotion. "Drive there and find what? A crowd? Police tape? It's too late. Panicking and running around like a chicken with its head cut off won't change anything." He looks down at Ayumu, then at Kaede. His gaze is cold, calculating. "What's done is done. We need to be smart now."
Heh. That's right. Cry for the little shit. It doesn't matter. He's gone, and you're all mine. This just makes it official.
He looks at Nao, who stares back at him like a frightened deer. He gives her a slight, almost imperceptible nod, a gesture of ownership that she unconsciously acknowledges by shrinking back, making herself smaller.