III

Akiko stayed with Yuri for the week, and the two women had fallen deep into each other.
  In no way was their connection sexual, nor was it the close connection between best friends, but more like an older woman guiding a young daughter into maturity.
  Akiko, with wide eyes and a broken, yet open, heart, poured her grief into Yuri with unfiltered, unrestrained lashings. Sometimes the girl would say nothing about her upset, simply moving around in a mechanical cycle of mundane domestic life. Other times she would lay, head in Yuri’s lap, sobbing away, talking about the crushing feeling of loss. Yuri would hum melodically in agreement to everything she said. Akiko, would continually end everything with ‘You know, right?’, or, ‘You understand me, right?’
  Yuri did, and her agreeing hum made Akiko warm with gratitude for being understood. The sort of warmth that made her feel human again. Yuri knew, Yuri had let life’s agony’s roll past her. Her way was cold, but understanding. Akiko knew this, and that gave her even greater satisfaction. She felt great comfort being in Yuri’s hands. Akiko’s instincts were normally right. Indeed, before Akira had ever left the country, she had felt some odd premonition, a sense of danger in his future. It would not be safe. He said she was a fool. She could not tell if he was right or wrong, at the time.
  Yuri, on the other hand, found a lot of herself in Akiko. And, that was what she both loved and detested about the girl. Maybe it was because of her growing up with a weak male role-model, but she had a distain for close relationships with men. She was not overly keen on women either, they just seemed to be weak playthings for the world to take away when needed. That, or to leave in a bitter and twisted wreck on the rocks of grief stricken isolation and celibacy. Yuri felt she was the latter. She was strong, in her head. She had fought to get here, and now, she had an opportunity to ensure this would never happen to Akiko again.
  “Akiko, why don’t you move in with me? My landlord is an agreeable man, and I’m sure he’ll be happy for someone else to stay. I’ll vouch for you.”
  Akiko was stunned. She did not really know what to reply. In her heart, she felt like saying no. She raised her head from Yuri’s lap, kneeling on the sofa, meeting Yuri’s gaze.
  “I, I don’t know. I don’t want to intrude.”
  “I wouldn’t offer if I thought you were going to.”
  Akiko was stunned.
  The whirlwind of events seemed to whip up stronger. She tucked her hair behind her ear, a feeling of awkwardness overcoming her.
  “Well, only if you insist. I’ve got my own place thought Yuri?”
  “Where?”
  “The other part of the city, near that café I work at.”
  “Right, we’ll order a van, bring your stuff over.”
  Akiko looked confused for a moment.
  “Where will I sleep?”
  “We’ll make room. Trust me, I think at this point in time it’ll be the best thing for you.” Yuri placed her hands on Akiko’s shoulders reassuringly. “Trust me.” A smile.
  Akiko could see a neediness in Yuri’s eyes, a sort of desperation. Was this girl doing this in an earnest attempt to help? Or, could Akiko see a cruelness, in with desperation? An invitation to hurt together. Akiko, unsure of where to go with anything. It made her head begin to swirl.
  “I, I want to go home, and see my parents for a few days at least. I’ll have an answer soon.”
  She stood up hastily as she spoke, leaving Yuri’s grip. Yuri’s eyes lowered.
  “Of course. I understand. You going now?”
  Akiko nodded. Yuri got up. “I’ll let you clean up your stuff, if you don’t intend to stay with me.”
  Akiko trembled at the sudden shift in Yuri’s demeanour. Hastily, she begun to gather her overnight bag and all the things she had brought. Rushing around she picked up her toothbrush, her spare clothes, all of her little items she had brought with her since that reunion in the shopping-district. As she did this, Yuri watched her from the kitchen, boiling her kettle and making herself a noodle pot. After Akiko had finished packing, she placed her bag by the door, slipping on her trainers.
  “I’m ready.” She said, unsure whether to sound happy or sad. In fact, she was not sure about anything anymore.
  “Right. I’ll let this cook while I take you to the gate.”
  Yuri let slip a reassuring smile, and Akiko felt a little at ease.
  The two girls left the apartment, and Yuri waved of Akiko as she made her way down the street. As Akiko turned off to the bust stop around the corner, Yuri walked back up to her room. She shut the door gently, leaning against it.
  Her stomach bubbled.
  She was certain that the girl would be back. She smiled in satisfaction. Akiko would be back, and she would be able to influence her more and more. Soon, Akiko would realise the value of agony, of her grief, and put it into action to save others like her.
  To Yuri, life only had offered pain and complication. To her, she had ended up a messiah for the grief stricken, and under her wing now was a new disciple.  
  As her feet splayed out, a feeling of weightlessness overcoming her, her body sliding down the door, she heard something crinkle, like paper from under her foot. Bolting her head down to look at the source, she gasped.
  Another red envelope.
  She furiously picked it up, holding it in her trembling hands. She did not know whether to tear it apart there and then, or wait till she burned the other letter. Curiosity however, had other ideas.
  She went over to the counter, her pulse racing as she placed the envelope face down, the sealed flap face up. Peeling it away, her heart thumped violently in her chest as she revealed the crisp white paper within, a slight wrinkle in the top where her foot had crushed it. She unfurled the halved paper.
  Once again, the harsh red symbols, scarred deep into the fabric of the paper, glared at her. They read another ominous phrase.
  ‘Do you hurt?’
  Yuri trembled. Who was sending these?
 

As Yuri predicted, Akiko came back.
  In that period of time, Yuri had destroyed both of the letters, feeling it was better to erase them from sight and mind. She had to keep going forward, and she would bury herself into Akiko like she promised. She would become the stability in her friend’s life, get her ready for the realities of loss. In her mind, whoever was sending these letters was someone far removed from any reality that Yuri lived in. Yuri did not really hurt, not really if others were around. She had done it online, now she could do it in person.
  Akiko was surprisingly breezy, her overnight bag packed for the week. They exchanged pleasantries, and small talked. Akiko’s family where as shocked as she was, but really happy to hear of Yuri’s return to Tokyo. They even welcomed the idea of Akiko moving in with Yuri. They had apparently offered Akiko an opportunity to move back with them, but saw – and quite rightly in Yuri’s eyes – the independence and benefits of living with an old friend. Overall, Akiko seemed happy.
  But, Yuri could tell there was something deep inside Akiko, something the girl was trying to hide. She decided she would press on with it that night. The poor girl knew no better, she had to let out everything.
  As the two finished dinner, Yuri turned on the fireplace lights, setting a calming ambience in a Blue/Green/White glow.
  “It’s like being on a pale white beach, next to the sea.” Akiko said vacantly, staring deep into the LED display.
  “Indeed it is. It’s so peaceful. I find the red, oranges, purples and stuff really violent. These are the calmest colours I can think of.”
  Akiko nodded.
  “I’m done with violence.”
  Yuri nodded.
  “Akiko?” Her tone changed. “How was it on your own, in the apartment?”
  Akiko’s head turned, looking off to the wall.
  “It was large, and lonely.” Her head lowered. “I felt like he would come back, then remember he never would. I couldn’t sleep. I only slept well at my parents.”
  “And here, too.” Yuri butted in.
  Akiko, puzzled, turned to face Yuri, her eyes slightly puffy and wet.
  “Well, yes.”
  Yuri smiled, the sly grin wrung out across her face.
  “So that means you will be moving in?”
  Akiko stopped a moment, her mouth open, ready to say something else. Her eyes, stinging with hurt, dripping with agony, were saying ‘No’.
  “Yes.” She forced out.
  “Great!” Yuri jumped up. “We’ll get your stuff together! Oh, god! I’m so happy you’re deciding to stay. Wait, I need to talk to the landlord first! We can start tomorrow.”
  “Yes. I just need to explain to my friends however, and work I’m moving over town. You know?”
  Yuri stopped, looking seriously at Akiko.
  “Of course. I understand. I’m just so looking forward to having close company again!”
  Akiko gave an awkward smile.
  “I think it’ll be good. We’ve lost so much time since we were kids! Maybe it was destiny, or fate that we move in together.”
  The words ‘fate’ and ‘destiny’ gave Yuri a surge, a crackle of excitement. Once again, she was the God out of the machine, the guiding force, controlling the fates and lives. But this would be on her doorstep. Any lack of control in her life would now be balanced and centred solely into Akiko. Akiko was her follower, while she led the way. They could do so much together, and Akiko would learn things Yuri had wished she had known when she was a child. Things about how cruel the world was, how unforgiving people were, how nasty people were. The thought of nasty people drew her thoughts to Yukio. The thought of him stinging with grief as he lusted after her, but realised that he could not have her. She wondered if he had done something drastic, like kill himself. She never went up to check. For a brief moment, she wondered if it was him sending the letters. But, he knew so little about Yuri, except that she had a strong left-hook and lived alone. She hoped he had killed himself. He was a waste of space. Now, she was not alone. She had Akiko.

It was a year after they first moved in together that the phone calls started.
  Yuri, on Akiko’s advice, had brought a mobile phone.
  In the first few months, they had tried to organise things, but found with Yuri being unable to be contacted while on-the-go. Their plans relied upon a lot of guess work and waiting around in areas for the other to show up.
  “I said I’ll bring you into the 21st century, so here we are!” Akiko had said, standing outside the phone shop.
  It was a little ways away from the shop where Yuri had ordered her computer from. A chill of familiarity ran up her spine. It had been a long time ago since she had ordered it, and the way that the street looked differed greatly from her memory. She remembered everything being so much larger than before. Maybe it was the difference in moving from the countryside of Hokkaido, back to the big city. Now, everything seemed fairly normal sized. The familiar area gave her a creepy feeling of unfamiliarity.
  The two girls stood outside the shop, the chilly air of autumn whipping its way down the narrow street. The sun beat down, bathing everything in a pale light. Yuri herself glowed in the light, luminescent in her pale skin. Akiko too had begun to pale, spending nights in with Yuri. Akiko had no reason to stay in, but she found herself inexplicably pulled into Yuri’s self, curious at how someone could spend so much time inside. Still, that was not for her to ask, and she honestly enjoyed the company. They talked for hours on end, stories from their pasts, about what happened when Yuri left. It was good to catch up.
  As they entered, the clerk smiled at them, a greasy look to him. He knew girls like this. Young airheads with little knowledge of phones, but all in the know about style and what was cute and popular. Normally they were the ones with a lot of money. He slicked back his already slicked back hair, ensuring there was not a hair out of place. Leaving his stool at the counter, he hobbled up to them, his heavy weight causing his whole body to jiggle.
  “Well, afternoon ladies. Welcome, welcome. What we looking for?”
  Yuri stepped up to the man.
  “I want a phone please. No whistles and bells, just a standard phone. Prepaid sim for 60 days.”
  Both the clerk and Akiko were stunned at the preparedness of it.
  But indeed, Yuri had been planning this moment meticulously. She had seen, before turning off her computer forever, the deals, and the constant flow of advertisements selling her the best deal. She had absorbed it all in, like a sponge. The moment she walked through the doors of the shop, the clerk approaching them, he had squeezed it all free. The clerk stammered.
  “Are you sure? Sure you don’t want the…”
  “No. I want a simple phone, pre-paid sim please.”
  The clerk nodded, his mouth agape.
  “Any particular style?”
  “Just keep it simple and cheap.”
  The clerk nodded, looking over to the budget section.
  “There is your best bet, would you like to follow me?”
  Yuri smirked. She loved how everything was remaining in control. Akiko was there with her, the clerk was under her spell. It made her feel powerful.
 The clerk had placed the three brick-like phones on the counter, and Yuri picked the one in the middle. The centre. The core of the row. It felt strong like her. She picked it up, feeling its weight in her hand. It was nice to type on, the largish buttons just a little bit larger than her fingers. She typed a few things into the demo screen.
  Akiko had been standing to the side, looking over the newest models. To her, she felt she needed to have the next model, and was rather taken aback by Yuri’s brash, demanding nature. But, then again, she respected the girl massively. She knew greasy salesmen like this clerk were ones to try and swindle girls like her into buying more expensive phones. Indeed, admiration swelled up for Yuri in Akiko as she watched the girl trying out the phone, the clerk looking eagerly at her, as if want her to leave as soon as possible. He must not have liked being made to look a fool.
  Yuri pulled out the wad of cash she had stuffed into the pocket of her jeans.
  Yuri, for the first time in a while, had started wearing newish, or more stylish clothes. Gone were the days of jogging bottoms and sweaters. Akiko had styled Yuri to look a bit more outgoing. In fact, Akiko was beginning to wonder about Yuri’s job. The rent was fairly expensive, but Yuri did not have any form of income. Indeed, Akiko wondered if the girl even had a bank account. But still, it was something that did not concern her.
  The clerk gave her the sim, snatching the money from Yuri’s hand and placing the cheap phones under the counter in the put backs. He could not be bothered to put them back now. He needed to make more money. As the two girls left, he called out to the shorter one, with the shorter hair who had stood at the front, gazing at the phone.
  “Say? You going to buy anything missy, or just look at the merch?” He called out.
  Yuri stopped at the door, and blocking Akiko from leaving, she turned to the clerk, who was suddenly shrinking back to the stool he had been perched on before. She grinned.
  “We don’t need anything from you, you waste of space.”
  Akiko gasped, shocked at her friends brazen approach. Even the clerk was taken aback.
  Yuri carried on as Akiko hurriedly followed her friend out the store. The clerk cursed back.
  “I bet you’re fucking dykes! Only good for porn you whores! Never come back here again, being so rude!”
  But he was taking to the shut door.

Akiko grabbed Yuri by the shoulder.
  “What the hell was that, where did that come from?”
  Yuri shrugged.
  “I hate it when men try and control things. You didn’t have to buy anything, and he had no right to try and make either of us buy anything we didn’t want to. We need more control in our lives, otherwise the chaos can ruin you, or leave you to be made a fool.”
  Akiko was stunned. The philosophical nature of what Yuri just said made her heart beat tremble. She was glowing with confidence, a girl beyond her years. Akiko smiled.
  “I understand you.” She nodded furiously.
  Yuri gave a modest smile back, and the two girls carried on in a warm silence back to the apartment. As they did, Yuri caught Akiko looking to the apartment above hers.
  “You’re looking at Yukio’s flat, aren’t you?” Yuri said.
  Caught off guard, Akiko gasped.
  “No. Not really.”
  “I’m sure something’s happened to the creep. And the sooner the better.”
  Akiko felt a shudder up her spine. Was Yuri that cold, or that brazen with rage against that creep that she wished death upon him? Snapping out of her stunned trance, she followed Yuri as she was enveloped in the darkness of the apartment. As she looked in, she almost did not follow. Something called her back. She felt a wrongness about all this, like something was not in her power. She looked back over the city that sprawled out before her. She suddenly felt very lonely again, and for a brief moment, thought about Akira. What would life have been like if he had not died? She got lost in that moment, watching the city become rows of pale, soulless monoliths. Her stomach knotted. She held onto the banister. Was this what grief was? Brief moments of clarity, seeming peace, then overturned by sudden and jarring shifts of vertigo inducing pain?
  “You coming in?”
  Akiko turned. Yuri was in doorway, leaning against the doorframe.
  Akiko suddenly felt her grief slip away. The way Yuri was smiling at her made her feel welcome, the dark interior now warmed up.
  As Akiko entered the flat, Yuri’s grin turned from warm to sinister as the girl walked past her. While Akiko felt like a friend being let in from the cold, Yuri felt like the cat toying with the bird before it pounced. Her predatory need for control, over herself, over others, was about to come to a head. They would soon be sisters in agony, and they would pass on this to the next tragic individual they met. Overcome with an overwhelming sense of control, she shut the door, watching Akiko settle on the sofa.
  “Tea?” She asked.  

The first call came in not a week after Yuri had begun using the phone.
  Yuri and Akiko had been planning a meal out together. Akiko was sitting on some funds, and there was still a cool ¥5,000,000 in the envelope Yuri now hid under her bed. She had thought of how yellow the once crisp and white envelope was beginning to look, how crinkled its corners were and how wrinkled its surface was. She had thought about buying a lock box, but she trusted that Akiko would have no ideas to look for money. She had begun to suspect Akiko was curious, but Yuri kept her in her house and under her roof, so did it matter how Yuri paid for her half? Akiko seemed to always let gratitude come before her wondering.
  As Akiko finalised the details over the phone for the restaurant, she left for work, leaving Yuri alone once more. Yuri spent most of the day lounging around the house. She napped occasionally, letting her body drift between sleep and waking. She felt a little lost. With no Akiko to work with, and no computer – that had remained permanently unplugged for months now – she did not have much to do without her project here. She played the few basic games that were on her phone, but other than that, she did little else. While she was playing, there was a knock at the door.
  Raising herself off the sofa, she shook her head, clearing the lethargic haze that clouded her head. Walking over to the door, she peered through the fish-eyed lens to spy the rounded face of the landlord.
  “Hello? Yuri? You in?”
  She nodded to the door, unlocking it without saying a word.
  “Hello Mr Inaba.” Yuri bowed slightly, a pleased grin on her face.
  The fat landlord obliged.
  “Hello Yuri, I take it you and your friend are enjoying it here? I’m surprised you two can fit in together. It was only intended as a one person bedroom place!” He said, his jowls wobbling.
  “We have managed very well in fact. I just felt that it was feeling a little lonely here. I’m just so grateful you agreed to let her stay with me.” She bowed.
  She knew that she was appeasing the man’s suspicions. But, something else felt as if he was here for another reason.
  “Oh hell, I’ll just come out and say it.” He said, to no one in particular. He turned to Yuri. "I’ll be honest Yuri, I have to raise rent now.”
  Yuri stopped bowing.
  “Why.”
  The landlord put a hand on the back of his neck.
  “Now there are two people living in his property I’m going to have to start charging for double the people. Really, what’s going on isn’t above board. I’ve let you keep a friend over on conditions that she is a visitor, not a tenant. If the property licensors got wind, I’d lose my rights as a landlord!”
  Yuri’s face screwed up. How could the fat bastard do this?
  She stormed off into her bedroom, leaving the awkward man alone by the door. In a flustered hurry she pulled out the envelope of money out. She came out with it, slamming it into the fat man’s belly.
  “There! ¥5,000,000! I’m buying the apartment off you.”
  The landlord gasped, running the wad of money over his thumb.
  “I can’t! Surely I can’t! I brought this place as a long term investment! It’d be against the laws of the contract I’m bound up in!”
  “Then, it’s insurance, that you don’t tell them. I need to stay here, Akiko needs to stay here. We need this apartment.” Yuri looked at the fat man with such a furious fire in her eyes, she thought the man would have a heart attack in fear.
  “I, urm…” His hands trembled, holding the wad of money. “Alright. It’s yours. I’ll take this a, a few years rent, and say that the property is pre-paid. I’ll roll it over every few months and not tell them about Akiko, I’ll…”
  Yuri sighed.
  “I don’t care. Do what you need to.”
  The fat landlord nodded furiously.
  There was a pause between them, a moment of silence so dense the whole apartment seemed to bend around them, the emotion twisting the room into a vortex.
  A gentle buzz-buzz-buzz suddenly broke through.
  Yuri looked at her phone. She thought it might have been Akiko.
  The number was ‘Unknown.’
  “Go.” She ordered the fat landlord.
  Mr Inaba bowed and left in a hurry, slamming the door shut behind him, stuffing the wad of money into his pocket. Yuri ignored this as she approached the phone. Picking it up, she felt the phone throbbing in her hand. She pressed the green ‘Answer’ button on the keyboard, placing it to her ear.
  “Hello? Who is this?” 
  She wanted to be annoyed, to flow her anger at the fat landlord to the mysterious person on the phone. But, she found herself sounded more fearful, cautious and nervy than annoyed.
  There was silence for a while, but then.
  “Burying your roots deep, Yuri?”
  She gasped at the voice on the other end. It sounded, familiar, or so she thought. But, when? The way it resonated in her mind, it sounded alien. Not woman, not male, she could not decide what it was. Maybe it was a prankster using a voice changer. She found her rage.
  “I bet this is the same bastard that sent those notes! Fuck you! Yukio? Is this you? Playing sick games?”
  “You destroyed those letters. They were your warning.”
  The line went dead.
  How did they know? She had destroyed them when Akiko was out and away, burned them when no-one was around. She could not believe anyone knew that she had done anything, not even Akiko. She trembled, placing the phone on the coffee table. She walked away from it, looking at it in stand-by mode. She stood in the doorway of her bedroom, then turned to the computer. She felt it linger in her vision for too long. Did someone absorb her information? Find out her address when she was using it? Did someone hack her? She turned back to phone on the table.
  Its screen was glowing. It buzzed rhythmically. Yuri gasped, placing a hand over her mouth. She looked back to the computer, then made her cautious way over to her phone. Her muscles, tight like coils, made her legs near stiff. She could feel a clamminess as her pours dripped in fear. She wrapped her arms around her body as she eked closer, her neck craning to view the screen. As she reached her chair, she managed to catch the name ‘Akiko’ on the display. Then, it went place, a message reading ‘One Missed Call’ on her screen. She suddenly felt all the coiled muscles relax. She leant against the chair. It was Akiko. She grabbed her phone, the time display saying 5:05pm. They were scheduled to meet at 7pm. Maybe something had changed. She picked it up and re-called Akiko.
  She picked up almost instantly.
  “Hey! You didn’t pick up first time.”
  Yuri stopped herself a moment. She could not tell Akiko about her stalker calling her. She had not told her about the letters. Any hint of danger and it might ruin Akiko’s staying there. She finally found something to say.
  “Yes. The landlord came over, just to check in on us. He’s making our contract permanent.” Yuri said, not exactly lying.
  Akiko gasped down the phone.
  “Oh wow! What did you have to do to get us that?”
  Yuri let a laugh slip.
  “Money talks better than lips.”
  Akiko laughed.
  “I don’t want to know what you do with your lips. Wow! So, we’ve got the place for good?”
  “Yeah. It’s all just kind of happened. It’s great isn’t it?”
  “It sure is!” Akiko sounded so warmly happy. Yuri felt pride in providing such a stable place for her. “We still good for later? We’ve got a cause for celebration!”
  Yuri agreed, and confirmed she would be there later.
  The weird anonymous phone call still lingered in her mind, but the idea of a few drinks, a sense of control in her life again, ownership of her own place, felt good. No one would take the control away from her, nor would they take Akiko away. Sisters in agony, Gods living in and out of the machine.

The apartment dispute was settled easily.
  The landlord kept his word and ensured that the rent was paid monthly still, while not needing to hound Yuri or Akiko anymore. Akiko lived in total gratification of what Yuri had done, and Yuri felt a great pleasure in it. She soon realised that she had spent all of her money, but that mattered little with Akiko being so willing to pay for everything.
  “No! I insist!” She had said, “You’ve brought this place! I’m buying our food and everything! It’s the only way I’ll be able to contribute. Tell me! How did you do it?”
  Yuri just gave a knowing smile, sly at the right angle.
  “I worked hard while I was alone. You’re learning that too.”
  Akiko was confused, her head tilting slightly. Did this mean that Yuri had been a whore? No, she did not seem to carry that aura around her. Still, to Akiko, her counterpart seemed more amazing in the effortless way she went about her daily routine.
  Yuri on the other hand was beginning to sink even deeper into her despair.
  She had, for some time, decided that she would blog online again.
  The messages she received when turning on her computer again were overwhelming, and frightening.
  Lists and lists of hopeless advice seekers messaged her, others questioned where she was, others who had taken her advice left their follow ups – positive and negative – and the massive wave of comments had left her fried. She simply looked into the monitor, the words and symbols, the emoticons and emoji’s turning into a whirling vortex of information searing into her eyes. It did not make sense anymore. In her long absence, Auntie Suzi had become even more popular, and the hysteria over her long absence was even more terrifying than she imagined. 
  People threatening to kill her, people saying their lives were ruined, others saying that they were at the very end of their tether, suicidal teens planning to end their lives. The whole collective weight of human agony and grief beamed at her through the forms of internet comments.
  She placed her head in her hands, and thought back to the notes and phone call she received. She had no doubt. Someone was preying on her, and it had to be someone jilted online. All suspicion had fallen out of her mind that Yukio was component enough to be a stalker, let alone articulate himself in such an evil and calculating way. Akiko was far too appreciative to torture her guardian like this, too.
  But then, how had the stalker got her mobile phone number?
  Buzz-buzz-buzz.
  Her phone.
  ‘Unknown.’   
  She flinched, holding her hands up to her face. Was this bastard psychic? Or, was it just a coincidence. She fumbled for some paper and a pen. Poised, she lifted the still vibrating phone to her ear, pressing the green button.
  “Hello?”
  “Pick up sooner next time.”
  The voice was sharp, but slightly muffled. There was a rush of traffic. A few horns.
  “How did you get my number? This is a new phone?”
  “The consequences of your actions will cause you to wilt, lily.”
  The line went dead again.
  Yuri placed her phone back onto the table, looking at the scrawl of notes she had made. She noted the way the background noise sounded, how oddly warped the sound was. She presumed it was her stalker talking to her over a public phone, or on their mobile. Yuri felt foolish writing down all this background noise business. It did not help her identify any features or commonality in the calls, especially if the caller was using public phone services and boxes, or a mobile phone. And, the individual was obviously not going to answer any of her questions. They were doing it to taunt her, to make her scared.
  She was beginning to hate ever coming back to Tokyo.
  As she sat back in her office chair, she heard the front door open.
  “Yuri!”
  It was Akiko.
  Yuri rushed out to greet the girl, who was hefting in two stuffed bags of shopping. Yuri grabbed on off the girl, who seemed grateful.
  “You okay?” Akiko asked.
  Yuri looked at Akiko for a moment, swallowing deep.
  “Fine. Sorry, I didn’t sleep well at all last night.”
  Akiko nodded.
  “You look fried.”
  “Thanks for reminding me!” Yuri teased the comment off. “I guess I’m just going through something I don’t understand yet.”
  Akiko was sorting out a bag of shopping, placing some meats in the freezer. Yuri was stood nearest the door when the clattering of metal and sounds of shouts and heavy footsteps came echoing across the walkways. Yuri spun around, standing in the doorway as the footsteps got closer. Suddenly, in a rush, a pair of blue bodies rushed by, a long stretcher between them. Accompanying them in tow was a police officer. The officer gave a glance over to Yuri, but did not say anything. He was in too much of a rush to get to wherever it was they were going. His eyes however, looked haunted. Yuri looked back to Akiko.
  “Police and men carrying a stretcher?”
  Akiko’s eyes widened.
  “Where were they going? Do you think someone’s sick?”
  Yuri looked back outside, hearing the footsteps clattering above her head, then the footsteps coming to a stop.
  They were at Yukio’s door.
  She suddenly felt a sudden urge to slam the door shut, ignore where the footsteps had gone, to just overhear the gossip later.
  But, no.
  It would not be right unless she way it in person.
  “I’m going up to check.” Yuri said, leaving before Akiko could protest the idea of interfering with professionals.
  She bounded up the stairs, the sudden excursion causing her to become breathless. She realised how little she had actually done over the past year. In fact, she had become more and more plump. While not obvious through her clothes, the belly could be felt jiggling, and the strain of movement made her feel pained. She made it up the corner of the stairs, to the top onto the next level. She looked at the scene. The walkway was empty, but she could smell something sour, like off meat. It had a pungent vinegary scent to it, causing a reflect action of bile to rise up into her throat. She clutched a hand to her mouth and swallowed hard. Slowing her approach, her chest heaving, she leant on the rail, positioning herself so she could see the door to Yukio’s apartment. As it came into view, she could see it was open, and inside was dimly lit. A few bodies shuffled around in there, a few grunts and strains. Just as she reached close to the door, she could see Yukio.
  However, he was doubled over, holding his hands to his stomach. He was naked, except for his socks on his feet at the end of kneeling legs. Just as she registered in her mind what all of this meant, the officer popped up into view, lurching behind Yukio, staring down Yuri. It was like he was accusing her of doing this.
  “Hey!” He cried out “The hell are you doing here miss?”
  Yuri jumped back, holding herself against the rail. She looked on, trembling, the weird sense of shock overcoming her. Just then, another voice cried out from the stairwell.
  “Hey, Yuri! What’s happening up here?”
  She turned to the source of the voice, to find Akiko at the top of the stairs. Her eyes shimmering with tears, all she could do was stare at her, a feeling of powerlessness overcoming her.
  The reality was setting in.
  Yukio was dead.
  He had committed suicide.    

Next Chapter: Part 5 - Wilt: I