Yurika came outside the supermarket at a slow pace. She had lots of foodstuffs she brought for Irie to surprise him. With a small satisfied grin, she was heading back...

(Phone ringing)

She looked at the screen and it was Mrs. Taka, her neighbor.

"Hello, ma'am?" She answered the call very gently.

"Hello? Yurika?" The voice over the phone seemed extremely terrified. It was broken yet hoarse.

"Hello? Yes, ma'am?" Yurika was startled to hear such a response.

"Yurika, where are you? Irie... Irie has been hit by a car! He has been taken to City Hospital!" The voice was huffing in exhaustion while replying to her.

All of a sudden Yurika's small world shattered into pieces. Her voice choked in fear and for a moment she lost the ability to speak! All the stuff she was holding fell down on the road.

"You there? Hello?" She was deliberately asking for her.

"Wh-What happened to...My Irie...." Yurika couldn't complete her words as she was too stunned.

"Yurika go to him! He needs you! Go to your son now!" The woman sounded too disturbed on the phone as she was trying to regain her senses.

Immediately Yurika started running to the hospital while sobbing bitterly. It was a nightmare for her to lose Irie after losing her husband. "Irie! Ir--ie..." All she could mumble was his name while running crazily on the road...

.

Luckily, the hospital was nearby. After 15 mins of an intense period, she reached the hospital while huffing breathlessly. Desperately she ran to the reception.

.

"My son! My son was brought here! Where is he? Where is my Irie?" Yurika burst out in tears crazily at the reception of the hospital.

"Please calm down ma'am, a young kid has been brought here a few moments ago. He had been hit by a car.  Due to his head injury, currently, he has been taken to OT!" The nurse tried to answer her questions anxiously.

"Wh-What? Operation? My Irie is afraid of syringes." Her voice strangled with fear while hearing about the operation theatre while she was murmuring.

"Please calm down ma'am. You can wait outside the OT and the doctors will guide you properly after that. And please complete the billing procedures after you talk with the doctor." The nurse pointed her to take a seat on a bench while speaking outside the OT.

With staggering legs, Yurika walked slowly up to the OT as she was looking at the door tearfully. "Irie... I am so sorry... I shouldn't have been late..." She was mumbling while sobbing bitterly.

.

Half an hour passed by, soon the door of the OT opened and a doctor approached Yurika. She leaped from the seat and rushed to him.

"Do-Doctor, how's my Irie? What happened to him?" She was too impatient.

"Are you his mother? Well, It feels that your son was being attacked on his head with some hard metal and after getting hit by the car, his left hand is fractured! Luckily, his head didn't get further injured by the accident." The doctor was speaking in a dense voice while looking straight at her.

"Me-Metal? Who will hit him with metal?" Her eyes were rolled on with surprise as she was asking him.

"That's the job of the police. Well, you can fill-up the form and proceed for the payment soon. Your son will be gaining his senses within 30 mins I guess. And one more thing, we found this picture from his clothes." The doctor frowned his eyebrows and handed her a picture.

Yurika was terrified to see it! It was the picture Myobi used to carry in his wallet! The picture was crooked badly as if Irie desperately tried to protect it from getting lost... Yurika took the picture from him with her wobbly hands.

.

"Mrs. Onodera?"

A sharp voice startled them.

They turned back and saw 3 police officers were standing behind them. All of them had a disgruntled expression on their face.

"Ohh glad you have arrived. You can talk with them for now!" The doctor spoke abruptly to her and left that area.

"Yes, I am Yurika Onodera." Her voice was stuttering as she spoke while holding the picture on her hand.

One of the officers came towards her. "Hello, I am detective Ken." He introduced himself formally and she nodded her head slowly.

"The 10 years old missing case of your husband has been solved. But sadly, it costed the lives of many people. Your husband has been probably murdered by Mr. Hirotaka Takeshi who apparently murdered my senior detective Wan too!" Detective Ken's voice seemed dense while he was informing Yurika with a fretful face.

Her soul was shaken up from the confrontation of Ken. With a frozen gaze and a broken voice, she was mumbling frantically, "wh-what? Mu-Murder? By Hiro-san? Ho-How is this possible?" Tears of resentment were rolling down her cheeks as her heart was aching exhaustedly.

"Not only that, he is the one who targeted your son too! He went after your son in the cafe but luckily he escaped somehow. Otherwise, I don't even know what would have been happened!" He was speaking very cryptically.

"How is this possible? He... He was a kind person I knew... How can he destroy everything? And... Did he kill Myobi-san? Why?" Yurika was getting seizures from the harsh truth spoken by Ken as she grasped the bench for preventing herself from fainting.

"I... I can understand your situation, Mrs. Onodera. It must be very tough for you to bear everything alone. For the unforgivable sins he has committed, the law can't forgive him. The criminal has left his phone behind in your cafe and flew away somewhere. So we are gonna search for him thoroughly. We even have the CCTV footage in which he killed my senior brutally! Detective Wan was the only person who treated me like his own brother... As soon as I catch that Hirotaka, I am gonna beat him up brutally first!" Ken sounded extremely infuriated as he grumbled in a hoarse voice while clenching his fist.

Yurika couldn't utter a single word. Her heart was throbbing in despair after learning about the unbearable truth.

"Mrs. Onodera, your son has woken up!" A nurse soon came and while interrupting their conversation, informed Yurika about Irie.

She rushed out inside the room and saw Irie was lying on the bed with his eyes half-closed.

"Honey! Mom's here. How are you feeling now?" Yurika gently patted Irie's head while trying hard to resist her tears. Her heart was breaking apart to see him in such a miserable condition.

"Mo-Mom," Irie mumbled slowly while looking at Yurika with a blank gaze. "I thought, I will see never see you again..."

"Don't say like this Irie. Nothing will happen to you anymore. I was late... I shouldn't have left you alone." With a broken yet cold voice, Yurika expressed her grief as she was guilty stricken.

"Mom... He...He killed my dad! He murdered him, mom! He even wanted to kill me today... He is very scary, mom! I won't forgive that monster! Never ever." Irie's eyes were teary as he conveyed his pain to her.

Sobbing in agony Yurika was quiet for a moment. "Don't think about anything, Irie. Police will do their job now, you just rest now. I will fill-up the form outside." She gave a small peck on Irie's forehead and left the room slowly.

She stood outside all heartbroken while shedding her tears. She wanted to grieve loudly but there people around, so she put a hand to cover the mouth so that it won't make any sound.

"I...I at least deserved an explanation, Hiro-san! Why did you do it? Why did you become a monster? Why?" She sobbed silently while thinking.

.

.

3 months passed by.

Hirotaka has been still missing and desperately investigated by the police. Irie has been recovered from his arm-fracture and living a peaceful life by looking after the cafe along with his mom.

Yurika's life has been quite peaceful now, as the debt of the cafe has been taken care of by the single mother trustee. She has deposited all her savings in the bank for admission of Irie to police university.

Even though within the quiet life, her heart has been tormented every day with the thoughts of Hirotaka and his deeds. She still couldn't believe it was her Hiro-san who cruelly destroyed her family... With utmost grieve, she mourned everyday for not even getting an explanation from him. She just wanted to know the reason behind... Why?

.

It was around afternoon. Yurika was dealing with the customers while Irie was helping her at the counter. 

(Phone ringing)

She took out her phone and some unknown number flashed up on the screen. Confusedly, she picked up.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Yurika?" 

An extremely familiar cold voice called out her name. Her heart stopped for a moment.

"Yurika, can you hear me?" The voice called out again.

"Hi-Hiro san?" She uttered in surprise.

"Did you miss me?" He asked her abruptly in a cold voice.

Yurika immediately turned around and saw Irie was busy at the counter. She walked outside the cafe hastily holding the phone.

"Where are you? How could you find my number? I tho-thought that--"

"You thought that I might have died, right? But I can't disappear without confessing everything to you... Yurika, can you come to Mt. Baek today? I promise this will be the last time. I will never bother you again!" Hirotaka interrupted her while speaking in a cryptic tone.

"Mt. Baek? Why should I trust you? Do you want to make me your next target? You are not the Hiro-san I ever loved! I... I am scared of you now!" Yurika grumbled in a low voice while looking all around her.

"I can't even think of hurting you Yurika... Afterall everything I did was only for you! Can you please meet me one last time? I don't have much time left now, I will wait for you today near the temple at Mt. Baek. You will find me waiting for you..." He replied to her nonchalantly before disconnecting the call.

"Mom?"

Yurika flinched with the voice and saw Irie was standing behind her.

"What are you doing here, mom? Who had called you?" He sounded very curious while staring at her intensely.

"Ahh, nothing. Just...No one!" She seemed quite flustered as she tried to avoid eye contact desperately.

"Mom? Has anything happened? Why do you look so anxious?" Irie slowly walked towards her as she seemed distracted.

"Should I inform the police? But... He told me it will be the last time... Should I go?" She was thinking desperately with a frown face.

"Mom?" Irie called her out quite loudly.

"Yes?"

"Why aren't you responding? Is there anything?" He sounded too impatient while grabbing her arms.

"Irie... Actually, I just remembered something! I need to visit Charity today. I want their help with some documents. I will go alone but will be back early." She tried to lie with a stuttered gesture.

Irie appeared to be slightly frightened. "Wh-What if that murderer shows up again?" He asked her with a fretful voice.

"He won't approach you again because this time, I will guard you." She sounded very firm while patting his head.

"But mom?"

"It won't take much time, Irie. I will be back soon. Wait for me okay?" She caressed his hair while answering in a consoling tone.

Irie reluctantly nodded his head. "Okay, come soon." He replied gently.