‘So the story is that Fujimura’s off because she was in a traffic accident,’ Yukiho told her in a quiet voice.
‘Really?’
‘Nobody suspects anything yet. I don’t know how long that will last, though.’
When she had finished lunch, Yukiho took out her patchwork and looked out of the window. ‘Doesn’t seem like any of those boys are here today.’
Eriko looked up. ‘Which boys?’
‘The ones that are always on the fence.’
Eriko looked outside. It was true. During lunch break, the boys could usually be seen out there, hanging on the fence like geckos, but today the fence was clear. ‘Maybe they heard about what happened and their teachers told them not to come.’
‘Could be.’
‘I wonder if one of them did it?’ Eriko said quietly. ‘I don’t hear anything good about that school. I’m glad I don’t go there.’
‘I don’t know,’ Yukiho said. ‘I’m sure some of the kids there aren’t bad. They just don’t have any other choice if their families can’t afford to send them anywhere else.’
‘Well, sure, but…’ Eriko’s voice trailed off. She looked down at Yukiho’s hands and smiled. She was almost done sewing the purse she’d shown her the other day at her house. ‘You’re almost finished.’
‘Yep. Just the final touches left.’
‘But why do the initials say RK?’ Eriko asked. ‘Shouldn’t it be YK for Yukiho?’
‘This is for my mother. Her name’s Reiko.’
‘Oh, that’s nice,’ Eriko said, watching Yukiho’s fingers deftly work the needle.
It was clear that the police suspected Kikuchi. He was questioned in the school office by detectives on Thursday morning, though he never told anyone what they asked, or what he told them and he was called out of class again on Friday morning. He made his way to the door, weaving through the desks, making eye contact with no one.
‘I heard someone attacked one of the girls at Seika,’ one of the kids said after Kikuchi had left the room. ‘And they think it’s him. They found something of his at the scene.’
‘Who told you that crap?’ Yuichi asked.
‘Somebody heard the teachers talking about it. It sounds like it was real bad.’
‘What do they mean, “attack”? Did he rape her?’ another boy asked, his face alight with curiosity.
‘Yeah, probably. And took her money too,’ the first boy added meaningfully.
Yuichi sensed the other kids listening, nodding, understanding. They all knew that Kikuchi’s family wasn’t rich.
‘But Kikuchi says he didn’t do it, right?’ Yuichi said. ‘Wasn’t he at the movies when it happened or something?’
They weren’t listening to him. ‘He totally did it,’ said another student, and several of the kids agreed. A circle had formed and Yuichi was surprised to see Ryo joining in. He usually avoided gossip, though Yuichi wondered if his interest wasn’t more about the photo Kikuchi had shown him the other day.
Yuichi watched them for a while, until his eyes met Ryo’s. Ryo returned his gaze for just one or two seconds before he slipped out of the circle and returned to his desk.
On the Saturday, four days after the assault, Eriko and Yukiho went to visit Miyako Fujimura at home. It had been Yukiho’s suggestion that they go.
They waited in the living room, but Miyako didn’t appear. Instead her mother came down and told them that Miyako still wasn’t receiving any visitors. She sounded genuinely sorry.
‘Was she badly hurt?’ Eriko asked.
‘No, not too bad…’ Miyako’s mother gave a short sigh.
‘Do they know who did it?’ Yukiho asked. ‘The police have been asking us a lot of questions.’
The mother shook her head. ‘No, not yet. I’m sorry they’ve been after you so much.’
‘No, it’s fine. I was just wondering if Miyako might have seen who it was,’ Yukiho said, her voice barely more than a whisper.
‘No.’ The mother shook her head. ‘Whoever it was put a bag over her head from behind, so she couldn’t see a thing. Then they hit her, and she blacked out.’ Miyako’s mother’s eyes were red and she put her hands to her face. ‘I was worried because she was coming home late every day, staying after class to get ready for the school festival. I think she felt responsible because she was in charge of the band, so she stayed even later than the other kids —’
Eriko truly hoped the woman didn’t cry. She wanted to leave. Yukiho must have felt the same way, because she looked at her and said, ‘Maybe we should go home.’
‘Yeah,’ Eriko said, gathering her things.
‘I’m really sorry she couldn’t see you,’ the mother said. ‘After you came out all this way.’
‘It’s no problem. We just hope she gets better soon,’ Yukiho said.
‘Thank you. Oh, and…’ Miyako’s mother looked up at both of them. ‘I know what you saw, and that her clothes were taken off, but they didn’t touch her, you know. Her body, I mean.’
Eriko understood what she was trying to say. She exchanged surprised looks with Yukiho. Neither of them had used the word, but they had both assumed Miyako had been raped.
‘Of course,’ Yukiho said, in a voice that made it sound like they had never even suspected such a thing could happen.
‘Also, I know you’ve both done a really good job keeping this to yourselves and I was hoping you could continue to do so. I’m afraid if people start talking they might say things that could hurt her… hurt her future.’
‘We understand,’ Yukiho said crisply. ‘We won’t tell anyone, I promise. And if we hear any rumours, we’ll deny them right away. Please let Miyako know her secret is safe with us.’
‘Thank you. I’m glad she has such good friends. We won’t forget this,’ the mother said, tears in her eyes.
Suspicion over Kikuchi had lifted by Saturday – at least that was what Yuichi heard when he came in to school on Monday morning. Word was that Muta had been called in to talk to the detectives that morning.
Yuichi went to Kikuchi to get the whole story, but his friend just stared at him before looking back at the blackboard and saying, his voice rough, ‘Yeah, I’m off the hook. It’s done. Over.’
‘Well, that’s good, right?’ Yuichi said brightly. ‘How’d you get them off your back?’
‘I proved I went to the movies that night.’
‘How?’
‘See…’ He folded his arms across his chest and gave a deep sigh. ‘I don’t see how that’s any of your business. Unless you wanted me to get arrested?’
‘What are you talking about? Of course I didn’t want you to get arrested.’
‘Then maybe you could just drop it, OK? I don’t even want to think about it. Makes me sick to my stomach.’ Kikuchi kept his eyes on the blackboard the whole time, without a single glance at Yuichi. It was obvious he was upset with him. Maybe he had an inkling of who had told them the keychain was his.
Yuichi racked his brain trying to come up with a way to mend relations. Then he got an idea. ‘Hey, Kikuchi, remember that photo? If you wanted to look into that some more, I’ll go with you.’
‘What’re you talking about?’
‘That photo with Ryo’s mom and the guy. I thought that whole thing sounded pretty cool.’
‘Oh, that.’ Kikuchi frowned. ‘I’ve given up on that. I mean, it’s got nothing to do with me. It was a long time ago, too. No one even remembers any of that any more.’
‘But didn’t you say —’
‘Besides,’ Kikuchi cut him off, ‘I lost the photo. Maybe I threw it out by accident when I was cleaning my room the other day.’
‘No way —’
When Yuichi saw the stony look on Kikuchi’s face his words left him. He didn’t look sorry he had lost the photograph one bit.
‘It’s not like you cared about that picture anyway, right?’ Kikuchi said, looking at him. Actually, it was more of a glare than a look.