Yuzuko had no idea where she was or how she ended up in darkness. Her backpack weighed her down on the floor. Panting and sweating, her palms stretched out against the wall. Her hair clung against her face as she tried to have a feel for a light switch. Why was it so silent?
"Hello?" Yuzuko said. "Sakura? Are you here?"
The lights came on revealing a Victorian-style chamber. The room was overly feminine with butterfly-shaped lamps, floral wallpapers and table with two chairs by the corner of the room. On the table was an afternoon tea for two. Yuzuko walked closer to the table, licking her lips at the assorted cakes. She lifted the teapot lid to see what tea it was - matcha latte.
Matcha lattes had been revitalised many times, but she had never seen it in a British teapot before.
"Hello, Sweetie!" Sia jumped out from behind the curtain in a red dress. Her purple curls looked almost grey under the lights. Yuzuko imagined the gaunt face and wrinkles underneath all those layers of make-up. "I've just had a bath."
"Really?" The scent of lavender overpowered the room.
"And to think just a few days ago I knew nothing about you. I knew Harumi had you, but I wasn't even sure what your name was."
"I need to go." Yuzuko stood up. "You don't know me."
"Sit down!" Sia demanded, pointing a gun at her. "I know everything about you. How the country you loved forced schoolkids to get married and have kids. You and Hiroki were childhood sweethearts, so it worked. Then you got too cosy with Sakura. Hiroki found out and he went into the forest and killed himself. At least you got Kai out of it."
"Don't say it like that!" Yuzuko sobbed. "My country was trying to increase it's youth. There weren't enough young people to look after the elderly."
"And you know everyone makes mistakes, there's no need to beat yourself up over Hiroki's death." Sia pointed at the teapot, lifting its lid. "I even got your favourite drink."
"What's the meaning of all of this?" Yuzuko asked. She would happily chomp away at the cakes and guzzle the tea, but she was in the room with the woman she hated the most. The last person she wanted to have tea with. "Where is everyone?"
Yuzuko shook with every step Sia took. "Oh darling, there's no need to be scared." She was in a room alone with the woman she hated the most. Sia cackled with laughter and grabbed Yuzuko's wrists. "I don't want to hurt you. I just want to want to bond with you."
"You're sick!"
"Didn't your mother and grandfather teach you to respect your elders?" Sia said. Yuzuko felt a sharp whack across her face. Before she had a chance to react, Sia had pushed her onto the chair. "Now be a good little girl and drink your tea."
"Don't bring my grandfather into this."
Sia snuggled Yuzuko, with her arms around her neck. For a moment, Yuzuko felt like a cat being squashed by its owner. "Oh, but your grandfather is the reason why you're here. If he hadn't have cheated on me with one of his robots, this game would never have existed."
Yuzuko gasped a sigh of relief from Sia released her and sat down. "You talk stupid."
"You are so adorable," Sia admitted, pouring tea the tea. "You want to know where my favourite place in the world is?"
"Hell?"
"I'll give you a clue." Sia gave Yuzuko a generous serving of tea followed by three cakes. "You live there."
Yuzuko took a sip of her tea. "Kyoto? Why is that?"
"Because of you of course!" Sia smirked.
"You want to kill me to get back at Professor Denki!"
Sia howled like a banshee, rocking up and down in her chair. "Honey! Why would I want to kill you? You're my world!"
Yuzuko remembered something that Mariangela had said to her before she died. I knew your grandmother well. We used to travel the world together. "No...it can't be!"
"So, you remember what Mariangela said?" Sia began to pig out on the cakes. "Help yourself, darling. I promise you there's nothing gross in those cakes if you're scared about that. They're just cakes from Tesco."
"I'll just drink the tea," Yuzuko said, pushing her plate of cakes back in the middle. "I'm not very hungry."
"In an ideal world, we could eat as many cakes as we like without having to worry about our figure," Sia said. Yuzuko's rejected cakes didn't go to waste. "Mariangela would still be alive. Fanny Bru wouldn't have needed to kill herself. But you're alive, and that's all that matters to me."
"Where is everyone?"
"They're still out on the island."
"I need to go," Yuzuko snapped. "Sakura is looking for me."
Sia shrugged her shoulders. "I don't think so, honey!" She got her phone out of her bra and rammed the phone in Yuzuko's face. "Have a look and see what your precious girlfriend is up to?"
Eyes fixated at the screen, she felt her world crumble. It was definitely Sakura's body with the rose tattoo on her back. She couldn't tell who the person underneath her was, but from the way Sakura screamed, she seemed to be enjoying herself. Yuzuko gulped, with her eyes welling up. "She's just playing the game. She loves me!"
"Your mother hates her anyway. She still misses Hiroki."
"YOU DON'T KNOW MY MOTHER."
"Of course I know your mother," Sia said, nibbling on the last piece of cake. "I did give birth to her."
"LIAR!" Yuzuko pushed the table onto Sia's lap. Crockery and hot green liquid crashed onto Sia. Fists pumped up and aimed at Sia, Yuzuko didn't feel like herself anymore. Sia didn't appear the slightest fazed by the punches.
"If you don't believe I have all the documents to prove it." Sia smiled and covered Yuzuko's palms with her hands. "You see we may have different colour skin, but we have a lot in common. It's only natural; my blood runs through your veins."
"I have nothing in common in with you."
Sia brought Yuzuko's attention to her locket. "We both have the same locket! This is a picture of your mother. I never saw her again after I caught my husband cheat on me with Takako. I wasn't allowed to enter the country again. He was in the wrong, yet I'm the villain! Isn't that ironic?"
"Grandfather's human. He's allowed to make mistakes."
"We both have loved ones, but we are very much alone."
"My grandfather doesn't go around orchestrating massacres. He left you because he saw your true colours. He did what he had to do to protect my mother and protect me. And I'm not letting anyone else die on your hands. Bobby Fishman is going to be the last casualty on this show!"
"Bobby's not dead." Sia paused, leaving Yuzuko time to think. She never forgave herself for not being able to stop Bobby falling off the cliff. Hearing that Bobby was still alive, took a lot of weight off her shoulders.
"Thank goodness. He's a good man."
Sia bit her lip. "He's not alive either. The Bobby you know is gone, but he's still there."
"He's either dead or alive! There's no in-between."
"Come with me!" Sia stood up and opened the door beside her. "I'll show you where he is!"
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