6

The voice from the phone was still speaking.

“Hello? Aiko?”

Naoki stared at the device lying beside her hand. The caller sounded distant and concerned at the same time.

“Hello?”

Naoki knelt slowly and picked up the phone with trembling fingers. He pressed the screen with difficulty. When the call finally ended, silence returned to the house.

Naoki looked down.

Aiko lay on the floor where she had fallen. Her hair had spread across the wooden boards like dark water. One arm was bent awkwardly beneath her body. The silver necklace still rested against her collarbone.

Naoki’s eyes filled with tears.

Still, he did not touch her.

She just needs to rest.

The thought arrived gently. Like a kind voice speaking inside his head.

She’s tired. That’s all.

Naoki wiped his face with the back of his sleeve.

“You’ll wake up soon,” he whispered.

“And then everything will go back to normal.”

He stood up.

The lounge looked messy and disordered. Her handbag was still open. Some toiletries were scattered on the sofa.

Naoki moved quickly.

He sorted through everything carefully. Shirts. Socks. The cardigan she wore on cold mornings. Each item placed back exactly where it belonged. All until the empty bag closed with a soft zip.

“There. Much better.” He whispered.

He glanced down again.

Aiko had not moved, but, something in Naoki’s chest twisted faintly.

Just a twinge of pain for a second. He ignored it.

Naoki noticed the turkey on the counter. The butcher paper had torn slightly. A dark stain was spreading across it.

Blood?

Naoki stared at it for a long moment.

He nodded to himself.

“That’s alright,” he murmured. “Must be the turkey’s.”

He walked to the kitchen sink and grabbed a clean plastic bag. The turkey went inside. The bloodied paper too.

He turned back toward Aiko.

“You’re just tired,” he told her gently.

He knelt beside her and touched her cheek.

It felt strangely warm. Even feverish.

“See?” he whispered.

“You’re fine.”

He bent forward and kissed her softly, the way he always did when leaving the house.

Then he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and gently adjusted her position, laying her more comfortably on the floor. His hands slid down her back. He held her a moment longer than usual.

“It’s okay,” he murmured.

“I’ll fix everything.” He stood up.

The house looked quiet again. Peaceful. Just like before, he thought.

Naoki picked up the turkey and walked out the door.

Naoki made sure he didn’t trigger the butcher shop bell as he stepped inside.

Cold air rushed over him again. Naoki shivered. His hands were still shaking. From the cold, from the crime… who knew.

He walked straight to the freezer. The turkey slid neatly back onto the shelf. The plastic bag disappeared into a large bin already filled with bloody butcher scraps. Dozens of red-stained wrappings. Fat trimmings. Bone fragments. It vanished instantly among them.

Naoki closed the freezer door.

A voice came from the back room. “What took you so long?”

Takeshi appeared briefly through the swinging door. His apron was now heavily stained with marinade and meat juices.

“I was—”

Takeshi waved his hand impatiently.

“You stare at frozen meat too long.”

He turned back toward the prep room.

“Pick one and go.”

Naoki nodded slowly. Relief flooded his face. Takeshi didn’t realize Naoki had left. Takeshi simplythought Naoki had been there the whole time.

“Take Hana with you. She’s sleeping already.”

Naoki stepped into the back room where Hana lay peacefully in a small basket beside the cutting table, chewing on her blanket in her sleep.

Takeshi worked furiously beside her, salvaging some of Genki’s ruined marinade batch.

Naoki lifted his daughter gently.

“Come on.”

She blinked up at him sleepily.

Naoki grabbed a random tray from the counter. Some of the ruined pork from Genki’s earlier mistake.

“Good enough,” he murmured.

Takeshi didn’t even look up.

“Go.”

Naoki left the shop quietly. 

The walk home felt longer this time. He intentionally took smaller steps, hoping Aiko would come around by the time he and Hana arrived. They’d be a complete loving family again.

As if picking up on Naoki’s mind, Hana made small happy noises against his shoulder. Naoki hummed softly to her.

Everything is fine. Everything will be fine. He kept thinking on and on.

After circling the farthest route, which took 3 minutes or so, they eventually arrived. Naoki slid the door open with hope in his heart.

“I’m home,” he said automatically.

The house was dark. Naoki reached for the switch. The lights came on.

The blood had spread much further than before. It had crawled across the floor while he was gone.

A dark red pool now surrounded Aiko’s whole body.

Naoki stared at it. He stopped breathingaltogether.

That hadn’t been there earlier.

He stepped forward slowly. “Aiko?”

No answer.

“That wasn’t there earlier…”

The blood looked wrong.

“It’s too much…”

Naoki’s chest tightened until a raw, terrified sound tore from his throat.

Naoki screamed. Over and over.

Neighbors rushed toward the house immediately.

Genki, returning from his delivery route, heard the scream halfway down the street. He dropped his bike and ran.

Naoki stood in the doorway shaking, covered in tears. Hana cried in his arms.

Genki stepped inside. The scene hit him like a wall. He almost fainted.

“Aiko…?”

Genki backed away immediately.

“What happ — “

Genki tried prying Hana from Naoki first, to no avail.

“I—I need Takeshi!” He sprinted back toward the butcher shop.

Neighbors were already crowding the doorway. Someone shouted for an ambulance. Someone else called the police.

Inside the house, Naoki sank to his knees.

Still holding Hana. Still staring at the spreading blood.

He whispered the same words over and over.

“I’ll fix it.”

“It’s okay.”

“She just needs to rest.”