Youth Unsupervised

Chapter 28-To Slay a Dragon

I received a call from Saki's mother one day early in February. Saki and I were asleep at the time, so I didn't answer, but I heard the phone chime. She left a voicemail, which I decided to listen to secretly in the bathroom. It's not that I wasn't planning to tell Saki, but I needed to see what her mother said first. I couldn't risk Saki crumbling and returning home. I connected to my voicemail and held the phone tightly to my ear.

"Hello. This is Ms. Katayama." Her words dripped with honey. She sounded like an entirely different person. "This message is for Saki's friend. I very much appreciate you taking care of her for so long. Can you ask her if she'll be coming home soon? I'd really love to see my little girl. I miss her so much. Can you please call me back as soon as possible? Thank you."

I deleted the message. Her words sounded sweet and sincere, but there was something dark hidden in them. It made my skin crawl.

I went back to my room. Saki was still lying in bed, which wasn't unusual. She usually slept in. About the only time I could remember her ever waking up ahead of me is when she'd snuck out in the past.

"Hey, Saki." I nudged her shoulder gently.

"Hmm?" she answered groggily.

"I need to go out for a little bit," I said. "Will you be alright?"

"I'm not a child," she said sleepily.

I pushed the hair out of her face and kissed her forehead before heading out.

It was pretty cold outside. A little bit of early morning frost still clung to the grass. I yawned and stuffed my hands in my coat pockets. I guess it was pretty early for me to be up as well.

I waited until I was several blocks from the house before pulling out my phone and dialing Saki's mother. She picked up after the second ring.

"Hello?" she said.

"Hello. This is Nagase Kaito, Saki's friend."

She paused a moment. Maybe she was expecting a girl. Had the school not been able to reach her after all? Maybe she was just too out of it at the time to remember.

"Thank you for returning my call," she said. "Is Saki with you?"

"She is. We're actually headed over right now. Is that alright?"

"Yes," she said excitedly. "I'll be home. I look forward to meeting you."

"Likewise," I said. "See you soon. Bye."

I hung up the phone before she had a chance to pry into the reason it was me calling and not her daughter.

When I finally arrived at Saki's apartment, I took a deep breath before boldly knocking on the door. Her mother answered quickly, but her face fell when she realized I was the only one standing there.

"Come in," she said, swinging the door open and gesturing inside.

I stepped into the entryway and took my shoes off while she shut the door. The room looked completely different from last time. Everything was clean and tidy. There wasn't a dirty plate or take out container in sight. It was like night and day.

"I'm Nagase Kaito." I bowed. "Nice to meet you."

She returned my bow. "Katayama Miyu. Please sit."

She crossed the living room towards the small kitchen that was only separated by a bar attached to the wall. I took a seat on the floor in front of the coffee table with my legs folded under me. She returned from the kitchen with two cups of hot tea and set one on the table in front of me.