Shinrei Tantei Yakumo:Volume 3Prologue
It was a quiet night.
Ozawa Keiko was hurrying to her car.
Turning and twisting, surrounded by many trees on both sides, without any outside light, it was a pitch-dark woodland path.
It was the shortest route to go home by, but it always had that kind of abominable feeling that made it seem impassable.
However, today was different. By all means, she had a reason to return early.
Keiko casually placed her hand on her abdomen. Right now, she can't feel it swelling yet, but certainly a new life is dwelling inside of this abdomen.
Tasting that joy for the first time, it had a more uplifting sensation than she imagined it would.
Surely, her husband Kazuhiro will cry.
Keiko suddenly pointed her glance ahead, the trees on the road’s edge swayed ‘rustle, rustle;’ a black shadow jumped out onto the road.
A person…
Keiko reflexively stepped on the brake.
With an ear-tearing brake’s sound, with the white fumes rising above, the car came to a sudden stop.
There must have been a reaction as there wasn’t any impact of colliding with something.
-- Surely, they’re all right.
Said Keiko to herself and with shivering hands opened the door and got out of the car. In the nook of the headlights’ light she saw that something had collapsed.
About five meters ahead of the car a woman with long hair was lying face-down collapsed.
“Are you all right?”
Keiko in haste rushed over to that woman.
“Please get hold of yourself.”
Keiko embracing-like held the face-down lying woman in her arms to help her up.
Pure white skin. Straight bridge of nose. It was an astonishingly beautiful woman.
The skirt she wore had a torn hem and her shirt was covered with mud too.
Not only that. The woman wasn’t wearing any shoes. Mud was sticking to her bare feet, and there were scratches here and there.
She ran down the mountain trail, barefooted?
Why…
“Are you all right?”
Keiko, while feeling doubt too, asked the woman one more time.
The woman, while raising her voice to groan “Uh,” painfully twisted her body.
She’s alive.
“Please get hold of yourself. I’ll take you to the hospital right away.”
As if reacting to Keiko’s voice, the woman slowly opened her eyes. They were beautiful, but as if they didn’t feel life. Doll-like eyes.
“……Help me……that guy, is coming……”
The woman moved her lips.
-- That guy?
“What happened?”
The woman gaped open both her eyes; the expression on her face warping, she clung to Keiko who had asked the question.
“He is……”
The woman, clasping her nails, answered in cracking voice.
“He?”
“I have to get away. I have to get away. I have to get away……”
The woman, as if being frightened by something, her body shivering from fear, repeated the same words many times over and over.
“Calm down. Please calm down.”
Keiko, putting power into it, embraced the woman tightly.
“I have to get away…… He is……”
