"The CEO of the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan, Hane Inc. , has just filed bankruptcy after being accused of causing the deaths of ninety-eight individuals who participated in the clinical trial of a new drug that was supposedly able to stop aging. Mr.Isobe has compensated the victims' families for a total of 10 billion Yen and will be facing life time in jail..." The anchor of Japan-1 news reported calmly while pedestrians walked pass the electronic store that had the flat screen tv displayed on the showcase window, next to it stated "20% off during American Christmas!".
A well-worn man in his late thirty's trudged past the window, averting his gaze away from other people. His eyes were devoid of any emotion and his hair unkempt with bits of white threads. The breezy fall wind sharply cut through his expensive suit, deep into his skin and bone as he continued walking towards the direction of the retiring sun.
Suddenly, an older man who wore a beanie appeared in front of him. Without saying anything, the older man punched him in the face. After the punch, the older man stared at the other man with outrage and sadness for a second before shouting out:
"Hiro Isobe! You murderer, you know.. My daughter, my daughter, she was such a great student aspiring to become a doctor. She was.. She was my everything, and you took her away from me, you bastard" The man named Hiro Isobe fell backwards for a few steps before regaining his balance.
"It wasn't me...I swear..." Hiro slowly gasped out those words that he had been repeating over and over again, in the interview, in the court and in his head.
"It wasn't you?? The evidence all pointed towards you, you devil, give me back my daughter!" The man lunged himself again towards Hiro before a security guard nearby rushed by and stopped him. Pedestrians walking by were all shocked and surprised as they assessed the situation. Some displayed disgust, while others displayed empathy. Due to the unwritten rule of courtesy and mannerism, no one confronted either the father of the daughter who died from the clinical trial test or Hiro Isobe.
Wiping blood from his nose, Hiro continued his walk to his final destination. He wanted all of this to be just a bad dream that he couldn't wake up from. Whenever he had bad dreams, he would just jump from a high place. Maybe this time it will work as well, he thought to himself.
...
The Rainbow Bridge is one of the most beautiful bridges in Tokyo. Its arches are like a colorful rainbow amid dusk. A little girl around the age of six held up by her mother smiled brightly into the camera. The breezy wind brushed through her pinwheel toy, causing it to spin.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew by, causing the pinwheel to be sent flying away from the girl's tiny little hand. The girl instinctively grabbed onto the toy with both hands while leaning over her mother's shoulder. Before the mother could react, the girl's head fell over the guard rail of the bridge.
Her mother screamed as she tried to grab onto her daughter's tiny little leg, but it was too late. The father frantically rushed towards the guard rail and both of them looked down at the Odaiba waterfront lake, only to see the pinwheel being the sole entity floating on the lake.
The mother broke down into tears as she yelled for help and assistance while the father took off his shoe and sock, planning to dive into the lake from a thirty feet tall bridge. Then, he noticed a man swimming towards his daughter's location from the shore. Upon reaching the destination, the man plunged deep into the lake.
For a moment that felt like eternity, everything else became silent. Suddenly, the mother cried out as two heads emerged from the lake, with one being the unconscious little girl and the other being the unknown diver.
The diver carried the little girl around his arms and kept her afloat while strenuously swam to the shore. Both parents ran towards the bridge's stairs, trying to get to the shore. After few minutes, the diver brought the girl back to the shore. He panted for few seconds, gasping for air, before looking at the little girl, making sure that she was alright.
Before he could reflect on what just happened, a gold-colored light that shaped like a whip emerged from the lake. It revolved and locked around his left foot heel, then harshly pulled him down into the lake.
Out of shock, he tried to resist, but there was nothing for him to hold on to except grainy sands that went through the gaps of his fingers, like an hourglass.
When the parents got to the shore, only the unconscious little girl and the pinwheel shaped toy were present. The diver was nowhere to be found.