Onihunter Yuna 2

129 At the End (Present)

"I just want to help you, child."

She stumbled a few more steps before she turned around and started running. In the corner of her eye, she noticed a container on which she jumped. From there, she torpedoed with another huge leap to a fire escape at which the high-school student climbed up.

"Come back, girl!" it echoed from below as she climbed up the ladder.

On the roof, she interrupted her escape to figure out where she was. "Girl..." she whispered. "Child." She dropped to her knees with her hands on her temples. "Hikari was a girl... Ruriko's child..." The realization took her breath away and she cringed. "I killed her child." If it had been possible, she would probably have cried even more.

She scrambled to her feet and stumbled a few steps. "Someone has to tell her." With trembling hands, Yuna stroked her hair. "I have to tell her. She needs to know." She ran again and jumped to the next house roof, and from there on.

After some time she came near the house where the Wada family lived. Abruptly, she stopped in the same alleyway from which she had closed in after her failed hunt in the amusement park, as she discovered a police car in front of the property parked on the roadside. Heart pounding, she stared at the vehicle as her senses began to explore the situation.

She heard a restless heartbeat that belonged to a person sitting in the car. She pricked her ears even more when she heard a voice.

"Okay. You can do this. You have completed several courses to deal with such a situation." It was Kyo Watanabe, the police chief. "Be polite, courteous and above all factual. Take time to tell her the situation and prepare her for it." She heard the rustle of cloth as he put on his cap. He breathed again, then got out of the car.

Silently, the blue-haired girl watched the man as he walked through the front gate and approached the front door. Stunned, she stood there peering over, hearing both her fast heartbeat and his.

Kyo cleared his throat for a moment, then pressed the bell. To calm himself, he stood upright and pressed his hands flat against the sides of his thighs. Slightly trembling and swaying, he waited a full minute before ringing again.

Yuna took a step forward, when the light turned on inside the house. She backed away and fumbled with her T-shirt.

The police chief stiffened and his heartbeat became restless again. He breathed in deep when Ruriko Wada opened the door for him. In her morning gown she peered through the crack of the door. "Yes?"

Nervously, the young man licked his lips, then bowed. She did the same. "Please excuse the interruption. My name is Kyo Watanabe. I am the police chief. Are you Ruriko Wada?"

From her hiding place, the high-school student heard the pulse of the woman accelerate. "Yes," she confirmed.

"You are the mother of Hikari Wada. Is that correct?"

She dropped her gaze and nodded. "What happened?" She looked into his eyes, but he couldn't look into hers.

"I am very sorry. There was an accident."

Slowly, Ruriko nodded. "Is she dead?"

A thick lump formed in Yuna's throat, and tears welled up in her eyes, just like in the police chief's. "I'm so sorry, Wada-san," he insisted in a quavering voice. The image of Hikari on the post pushed into his mind.

The black-haired woman looked past him to his car, then she looked into his wet eyes. "She is really dead?"

Kyo sobbed and then nodded. "Yes. I'm so sorry, Wada-san." The tears began to flow again at the distant observer, and she sniffed.

The mother's lips clenched, while she was ringing for her composure. "My daughter is no longer alive?"

The young man's tears rolled down his cheeks as well. "I'm so sorry, Wada-san."

Nodding, Ruriko said, "Thank you for your work, Watanabe-san. And thank you for informing me personally."

"If I can do anything for you..."

The woman raised her hand. "It's all right. That's not your job, Mr. Police Chief." She felt sorry for her interlocutor, because obviously it was much harder for him to pull himself together than for her. "Thank you. Drive carefully." She stepped back and closed the front door.

Stunned, Kyo stood at the door and stared at it, then turned and hurried to his car. As soon as he was back behind the wheel, he lost control and let his tears run wild.

Now, Yuna turned away and stepped back into the alley. Through her keen ear, she not only heard the policeman crying, but also the woman who had just received the devastating message and sank down behind her front door. Stunned tapped the girl into the alley until she collapsed. Again and again, she slapped her hands in front of her face and cringed as her cramps shook her.

"I bring only death and suffering into this world. I don't want to live anymore. I want to die at last. I just can't bear being here any longer."

Her oni sighed. "I can take over for you, Yuna-chan."

"What?"

"You do not need to stay in this world any longer, if you do not want that. I will take control, and take care of us."

She sobbed. "What do you have from that?"

"I will be free, and you will watch and be forgotten."

"I want to die."

"I can not let you do that and you know that, but you can withdraw and leave me this body. You can step aside and forget all the pain and suffering that has befallen you. You can be with your family again."

"Yes, please."

"I will take care of everything, Yuna-chan. You can rest."

"Yes, I want that."

"Well. That is how it should be."

A jolt went through the young body. Slowly, the girl straightened up and sniffed a few more times. Then she rubbed her nose on the hem of her top. She looked at her hands and clenched her fists, whereupon she relaxed her hands.

A big smile appeared on her face. "Now it really starts."