Chapter 3 - Sorrows of the past

After finishing skating, he remembered his sister and ran back to the school, but he couldn't find Anna at the place where they usually met after class. It was normal for him to be late since he had been gone for a full two hours. He asked the school staff, and they informed him that her private teacher had taken her home after finding her frightened because he hadn't shown up on time.

Relieved to hear this, Dekim continued on his way home, which was about a 10-minute walk from the school. However, when he arrived at the house, he was shocked to find his parents in a state of panic due to his absence. They had even filed a missing person report at the police station.

After exchanging words and Dekim recounting the day's events to his parents, it became clear that Anna was still missing, and the claim that her teacher had taken her home was false. The teacher was then listed as a suspect by the police. Leading the investigation was Takashi, Izumi's father, who was a detective in the police force.

After 12 hours, they found the teacher in the Musashino area at a shopping center with his wife. They took him to the police station and after interrogating him about Anna's whereabouts, but to no avail, he kept denying that he had taken her in his car to bring her home. The teacher was not released in order to continue the investigation, but after 24 hours in custody, they found him hanging with a copper wire inside the cell he was in... with a paper message in his pocket saying, 'I'm sorry.' How did this happen? Where did he get the copper wire and use it as a means to end his life? The matter remained mysterious.

Twelve hours after the teacher's death or suicide, Dekim's sister was found in a perfume-making warehouse in a city located fifty kilometers away from Musashino, following a call from an unknown person. When the police arrived at the location, they found Anna...

What a tragedy! They found Anna on a concrete table in a horrifying scene, her eyes and lips torn out, her head shaved, her liver, kidneys, and heart removed, surrounded by perfume bottles with a message written in Anna's blood on the opposite wall that read, 'Where? For what purpose? Fate.'

After over a year of investigation, the case was closed and the teacher was deemed the perpetrator of that heinous crime. However, the Dekim family remained unconvinced and accused the Japanese police of failing to uncover the truth of what happened, suggesting that they simply wanted to absolve themselves of responsibility by placing all the blame on the teacher, who might himself be a victim of the events.

Five years after the tragedy, Deekim still considers himself the main culprit for what happened to Anna, something that the family has not overcome, especially the mystery surrounding the murder of their daughter Anna.

"No, there is no new information regarding your sister's murder case, but I'm just saying that if there were a time machine inside the bag, or any superpower to help us solve the mystery of Anna's murder and make things clear for you." Izumi said, realizing that he was closer than ever to reaching his goal.

A profound silence enveloped the place, as Dekim, deeply affected, gazed intently at the bag, filled with hope at what Izumi had said about his ability to uncover the truth of what happened. On the other hand, Izumi felt a rush of victory, having led his friend to a point of no return, no matter the cost. Even if he himself were to reconsider, Dekim would not back down after awakening that buried anger regarding his sister's murder, especially given the brutal way she had been tortured.

Dekim gathered his strength and clenched his fists, saying sharply, "No matter what it costs me, I will take revenge on my sister's killer and anyone who conspired with him."

Dekim took the bag and placed it on an old desk while trying to figure out how to open the bag, keeping an eye on Izumi. After a moment, he noticed a side slot on the bag for an identification chip. Dekim recalled the chip his father kept in the steel safe in his private office, related to his work, after he had once asked his father about the contents of the safe, to which his father had replied, "It's matters related to my work.".

"I'll go get the chip. Wait for me here," Dekim said.

Dekim quietly ascended the basement stairs toward his father's office in the house, walking on his tiptoes to avoid making noise that might wake anyone inside. He reached the steel safe and began entering codes related to significant dates in the family, finally settling on his sister Anna's birthday. The safe opened, and he took the chip, heading back down to the basement. However, on his way, DeeKim ran into Takashi, who was coming out of the bathroom!

"Oh, are you still awake, my boy?" Takashi said. 

"No, I just felt thirsty and headed to the kitchen," Dekim replied with a smile.

Dekim continued his way back to the basement, where he found Izumi waiting for him, looking at what he had. He took an old blanket from the closet, covered the bag with it, and held it in his arms.

"Let's go," said Dekim. 

"Uh, where?" replied Izumi, surprised.

"We won't open the bag here to avoid any problems. Don't forget that we don't know for sure what's inside the bag," said Dekim. 

"Alright, then where are we going at this late hour?" replied Izumi.

"We'll leave the house through the garage and head south toward the river, which is 300 meters away," said Dekim.

Izumi yielded to Dekim's request and they stealthily made their way to the riverbank without being noticed by anyone, carrying the bag, each with their own purpose. They arrived at the location and scanned the area until they confirmed that no one was present. They sat under a large tree, and Dekim began taking the bag out from the blanket and the slice from his pocket...

"What do you feel?" Dekim asked. 

"Oh, what?" responded Izumi, distracted.

After Isumi's cunning and his navigating all paths to reach this point, he now appeared pale, anxious, and emotionally unsettled during these critical moments. In contrast, Dekim, who initially didn't care about the contents of the bag, now found himself unable to grasp the concept of retreat, having placed great hopes in the bag and linked it to what had happened to his sister.