Silent Angel

Chapter 14

The blood-curdling scream echoed in my ears. I turned around, to see a masked figure crouching next to Rin, a knife six inches deep inside her. The person twisted the knife, and pulled it out. Rin screamed loudly.

Rin's eyes widened, and she coughed up blood on the floor. She began to hyperventilate, and tears rolled out her eyes.

"Mako-kun..."

"The letters..."

"I was right."

It was there that I realised.

Rin didn't murder Saki.

She coughed up more blood. Her skin was going pale, and her eyes were losing colour quickly. I quickly rushed over to her, pushing the masked man to the ground. I pulled out my phone and hurriedly typed in the emergency number. I heard a door slam shut; it was most likely the masked person.

Rin coughed again. Her blood was pouring out on to the floor. I quickly pulled off my jacket and tied it tightly around the wound.

"Hello, what is the emergency?" Someone had picked up.

"My friend was just stabbed."

A few hours passed. I hadn't slept one bit. School was starting, and I was sitting in a hospital ward, anxiously waiting for any news about Rin. Hana was also in the hospital, in a stable condition. My clothes were covered in blood drops, my knuckles hurt.

But worst of all...

I almost allowed Rin to die over a misconception.

But who was the masked person?

And what was Rin talking about?

The letters...?

I suddenly started sweating. The letters had a meaning. I had to find out what it was.

"Are you Makoto Akiyasu?"

I looked up. A nurse was standing in front of me. I couldn't tell what she looked like due to a mask that she was wearing.

"Yes, that's me. Is Rin-san okay?"

"She wanted to talk to you. She's in that ward, third bed to the left." The nurse pointed at a ward opposite me.

"Thank you." I stood up, and walked in, trembling.

Rin was sitting up on her bed. She had a nurses coat on, which was hiding her wound. Her arms were covered in scars and scabs, and she had a bandage around her head. She looked over to me, and tears began to roll down her cheek.

"Mako-kun... I am so sorry..."

I sat down slowly next to her.

If I hadn't jumped to conclusions, this never would have happened.

"Mako-kun... I lied to you."

"When...?"

"I was made to confess to you. I love you, but as a friend."

"I don't understand..."

"Mako-kun, I am in love with a woman."

That line completely shattered my thoughts.

Rin definitely did not kill Saki.

But that means...

"Seeing Saki-chan's love for you made me long for something like that. And I just so happened to meet a woman. A beautiful one, one that was always so kind and sweet."

"And I was desperate. She told me that she would do what I wanted with her for a day if I followed her plan. She asked me to confess to you first. Then, she asked me to give you the cake."

"I had no idea that Saki-chan would die the next day. I could not imagine her committing suicide. The evening after you walked home with her, she messaged me with one line. Saki-chan said 'I love Mako-chan'. She was always so happy with you... I just.."

Rin began to break down. She wiped her tears gently.

I didn't know what to make of this. It surprised me when Rin said she liked a woman.

But that meant that whoever she was in love with...

Was the one who killed Saki.

Rin took a deep breath before continuing. "Last night, before I called you, I was outside your home. Ishida-san was after me because she thought I killed Saki-chan, and your home was the only place I could think of going to."

"But she somehow found me. When I called you, I was running from Ishida-san. I did not understand why she was so intent on catching me. I thought I lost her, but when I went home, she was inside. She hit me over the head with a vase, and tortured me, which I only realised when I woke up. But when I did, I only saw you beating Ishida."

I finally began to understand what really happened over the past few months with Rin.

She was just a lonely girl who was roped into and framed for a terrible, terrible crime.

My heart shattered. I almost let her die...

Because I was too busy judging a book by it's cover.

Now I was the one crying. Tears gently flowed down my cheek.

"Rin-san... I should be the one apologising. I almost let you die because of a stupid misconception."

"... what made you save me..?"

"I had doubts. I knew you were a kind girl on the inside. You would never betray Saki-chan like that."

A girl who wanted to be with me...

A girl who was happy Saki died...

An insane psycho almost made me kill one of my best friends.

Rin smiled gently. "Thank you for believing me."

I smiled gently back, but I remembered something she said.

"Rin-san, what was it you were trying to tell me?"

"The letters. They had a code in them."

"A code?"

The nurse came back into the ward. "Excuse me, but Takahashi-san needs to rest now. You can come back in a few hours."

Rin sighed gently. "Mako-kun, go to my bedroom. The top draw on the left of my desk contains the letters."

I stood up. "I'll come back tomorrow. Take care."

Rin waved at me gently as I exited the ward.

It was another cold January morning, yet I didn't have a coat. The icy air stung my already bruised fists as I walked towards Rin's house.

I had to do this.

Those letters were one of the final pieces to the equation.

If only I had enough time to ask Rin who it was.

I quickly walked over to her house. The image of Rin's tortured body flashed in my mind. I took a deep breath, but continued on.

I opened the door to her bedroom. It was neatly designed, with soft pastel blue walls. Her desk was covered in paper. I opened the draw, and saw a large pile of letters. I quickly counted how many there were.

Thirty nine letters were stored in the draw. I opened the first one.

"Saki.

I know that this shouldn't be known, but I'm deeply in love with you. Your eyez sparkle every time I see you. Your smile is as bright as the sun. Your beauty leaves no boundaries untouched."

Eyez?

I read through the next letter. And the next one. Until I had read all 39 letters.

And every single one had exactly one spelling mistake.