Author's Preface
Pmm... Pmm... Pmm...
Everything was dark until Hanabi started slowly to gain consciousness. She slowly opened her eyes faintly, seeing a white roof above her, and then glanced forward as her eyes finally widened. She fully gained consciousness.
*P...* she said in her subconscious, while feeling a bit dizzy. "Where am I?" said Hanabi faintly to herself.
She was on a hospital bed, covered with a blanket. A nurse then opened the door into the room but stopped with her right hand on the door handle immediately when she spotted Hanabi had already woken up. She leaned her body back outside, looking to her left as if she wanted to say something to someone.
"She's woken up," said the nurse.
Hanabi noticed this while staring at the door as the nurse made way back outside and two strangers entered the room. Hanabi quickly recognized them—it was Hanabi's parents.
"Mom!" said Hanabi with her eyes widened.
"Hanabi...!" said Hanabi's Mom tearfully, hurrying up to Hanabi on the bed as they both hugged. "My sweet daughter, I was so worried about you. Thank God you are safe!"
"Me too, Mom," said Hanabi.
Hanabi's Dad slowly walked towards the chair beside the bed then sat down. "Thank God you are safe and doing well. We were so worried about you," said Hanabi's Dad.
"I know, Dad," said Hanabi. Hanabi's Mom stopped hugging her and went to sit in the chair beside her husband.
"You were badly injured, how are you feeling?" said Hanabi's Dad.
"I'm kind of fine, but I still think I need rest," said Hanabi.
"I was so shocked and had a heart attack when I heard you were missing, and then it was reported that you had been kidnapped along with some passengers on a bus," said Hanabi's Mom, calm and worried. "I was so worried... what could have happened to my daughter?" she said sadly.
"It has been a day since you went missing, but luckily the police found you. You were unconscious and on the brink of death. You have been asleep for two days now," said Hanabi's Dad calmly and seriously.
"What about him?" she turned to them and asked.
Her parents looked at her. "Who?" they both said.
"A man. He helped me escape, he was beside me before I passed out," said Hanabi, curious.
"A man helped you and was beside you...?" said Hanabi's Dad. "Well, we weren't told about any details except that they just found you in the snow injured. It appears you were shot when trying to escape or you got caught up in something," said Hanabi's Dad with his arms folded.
"Really?" said Hanabi, confused.
"Yes, those were the only details we were told. If you are looking for more details, you might ask the police when they come by," said Hanabi's Dad.
"Okay," said Hanabi as she breathed out.
"So, you must have heard about my spa," said Hanabi, resting on the bed and looking up at the ceiling.
"Yes, we heard, but don't worry—we already fixed back your store and it's up and running!" said Hanabi's Mom.
"Ohh... thank you. You guys are always doing your best to help me, thank you," said Hanabi as she smiled, her eyes filling with gratitude as tears gathered.
"You are our daughter, we will always do our best to support you," said Hanabi's Mom calmly with a beautiful smile. Then, her mood suddenly changed to an angry one. "But this world seems to be so cruel to you because the gods, who are just so wicked and evil, cursed you! How dare they, shameless!" said Hanabi's Mom angrily, squeezing her hand and gritting her teeth as she looked up at the ceiling. It was like she could pull it down.
Hanabi's Dad looked at her on his right, then sighed.
"Mom, calm down, there is no need for you to overreact," said Hanabi.
"So, Hanabi, we are taking our leave so you can rest," said Hanabi's Dad, getting up.
"Okay, daughter, take care. Sleep well," said Hanabi's Mom, holding Hanabi's right hand while getting up.
"Ok, mom," said Hanabi.
"Oh, before I forget—" Hanabi's Mom dipped her hand into her purse and brought out a phone. "Your phone. The police found it on the bus you were kidnapped on." She stretched the phone forward as Hanabi took it.
"Thanks," said Hanabi.
"Okay, bye, take care," said Hanabi's Mom as she and her husband left the room.
Hanabi sighed with the phone dropped at her side on the bed with her left hand. Then she remained silent for some moments, looking at the ceiling. *P...* she said, having a flashback of P breathing right before her. *Could he be okay? I don't know, but I will have to ask the police,* she said as she closed her eyes to go back to sleep.
"Knock, knock," said an unknown man's voice, knocking at the room door.
Hanabi suddenly opened her eyes. "Who is there?" she said.
"It's the police, can we come in?" said the unknown man's voice.
"Yes, come in please," Hanabi said, moving her body to sit up and relax on the bed.
A male and a female police officer opened the door and walked into the room.
"Good evening, Madam," said the male officer.
"Evening," said the female officer.
"Good evening, how may I help you?" said Hanabi as they both sat down.
"I am Inspector Ren Takahashi and this is my partner, Officer Misaki Kobayashi. We actually came to ask some questions regarding the incident of you being kidnapped," said Inspector Takahashi. Hanabi looked at him quietly.
"When we found you in the snow, you were badly injured and bleeding, but there was something else intriguing. It seemed like you tried to escape but you got caught up in a bad situation that got you wounded. When we found you, it seemed you were not alone. There were bodies of multiple armed men scattered around the snow, dead, and it seemed they had brutally killed themselves. It was a horrible scene, it made no sense, and it seemed the boss in charge—who is nowhere to be seen—might have a connection to it. We think they might have had a huge fight among themselves and killed each other. Although there were survivors, we couldn't make anything out of them. It seemed it affected them mentally and psychologically," said Inspector Takahashi.
Hanabi's face turned into a mixture of curiosity and confusion.
"Madam, could you please tell us if possible, or maybe if you remember any detail of what could have caused this?" said Inspector Takahashi.
"I don't remember too much of anything, but there was a man who was beside me when I passed out. Did you also see him?" said Hanabi, curious.
"No, there was no man beside you when we spotted you," said Officer Misaki.
"No, he was a black man. He helped me escape, he has a huge body," she gestured with her hands. "He was bleeding very badly," said Hanabi, looking at them curiously.
"No, there was no black man. We checked footages in the bus about the hijack—there was no black man. And when we found you in the snow, it was just you and the dead criminals around. We didn't spot any black man, neither any trace of blood and footprints beside you. It was just you," said Inspector Takahashi.
"But—I—" she said, remaining quiet in sheer confusion.
"We're so sorry, madam, for overstressing you. Please take a rest for a while," said Inspector Takahashi as he and the female officer stood up. "If you ever remember anything or any detail, please..." he stretched out his card, "...feel free to call us," said Inspector Takahashi.
Hanabi took the card while holding her head with her right hand. "Okay, I will," said Hanabi.
The officers left the room, leaving Hanabi utterly in confusion. "What is happening?" said Hanabi, her hands on her head. "Am I going crazy?" she said, feeling a sharp headache. "Calm down, Hanabi, that must be a lie. I shouldn't even strain myself right now. I should turn on the TV and watch something."
Hanabi luckily spotted the remote on the chair beside her, picked it up, and turned on the TV before her.
**TV:** *Breaking News*
"Really..." she said, disappointed. She immediately changed the channel, but it was static. She changed it again, but it was the same thing, and she continued to until it automatically returned back to the news channel.
She then sighed. "Haarrrrh, I really have no option then," she said, frustrated, holding the remote up with her left hand while leaning her elbow on the bed.
**TV:** *A man who is a foreigner was found dead in his room, and it appears he had taken his own life by hanging himself, committing suicide. The police confirmed that this was related to the recent kidnapping incident. Here is a video footage that was posted on social media about the foreigner.*
The video played. As the camera moved from the sitting room into the bedroom of the dead foreigner, Hanabi's eyes widened in absolute shock. The remote dropped right from her hand.
The foreigner on the video was the man who shot her. The Boss had hanged himself, committing suicide. And when the camera showed his face... his face was filled with pure terror and despair, like he had seen hell itself. His eyes were so widened that it appeared he had tried to cry but couldn't.
Then, from his blank eyes, the scene suddenly flashed back.
His eyes were wide open in the snow, kneeling down and looking up. All around him, the bodies of his guards lay dead on the ground. They had been brutally slaughtered—some heads were completely separated from their bodies, some lost limbs, some were on the brink of life and death in a horrible state, while others were hanging directly from the trees.
"Wh—who... who are you? It can't be!" said the Boss, shocked and frightened to his absolute core.
The scene then pans up to a man's face while the freezing wind blows his hair, his skin completely covered in blood. It was P's face as he stood before the Boss. He didn't look happy; he looked terrifying, possessing an empty, deadly bloodlust look in his eyes while glancing down at the Boss. He was bleeding heavily from behind his head, but it appeared that it didn't matter to him at all.
"What I am doesn't matter," said P, cold and deadly.
"Wa—wait..." said the Boss, as his mind flashed back to when P had fallen to the snow and Hanabi turned, shouting, *"P!"*
The Boss's eyes shrank even more as he looked up at P's face in absolute fear. He began to tremble heavily, and it seemed he was on the verge of tears. "P-... n— P!" said the Boss, horrified.
"You know my name," said P coldly. "You see, I'm a good person, but you are a bad person. And bad people don't deserve to be in this world. Aren't I right, Johnson?" said P, deadly.
The Boss's eyes shrank instantly. *H-How... Name...* the Boss thought in his subconscious, frozen in pure horror.
"Bad people should not be in this world. Remember that, and keep saying that," said P as he turned and walked away into the heavy snow, vanishing completely into the white storm.
"Bad people shouldn't be in this world... Bad people shouldn't be in this world... Bad people shouldn't be in this world... Bad people shouldn't be in this world," the Boss continued to mutter horrifyingly to himself, grabbing and
scratching his head while his eyes widened, shaking in absolute terror.
Then, the scene snaps violently back to his blank, terrified eyes wide open in the present—hanging from the ceiling.
*Bad people shouldn't be in this world.*
That was the last thought that remained his mind.