Hori sat in the solarium with perfect stillness. Her clean body enveloped in Pristine white silk, trimmed in thin gold. Her jet-black hair was wrapped in a white towel, still damp. Her body relaxed in a Western leather chair, a few feet from a fireplace that burned low and steady.
Her bare fingers traced the page. No polish. No grime. She turned it with a slow, deliberate grace, enjoying the best from such a quiet moment.
"Is it to your liking?" A voice asked from her left. Unmistakably male. Coated with a unique calm that vibrated through the warm air. Hori responded with a childlike smile.
"Yes it is Father! The prose is so beautiful, I'm compelled to read each sentence twice." She giggled while leaning towards the unseen figure. A low chuckle escaped his lips while reading his own book, clearly amused by his daughters excitement.
Hori's tone suddenly took on a softer garment, her cheeks flushed with a humble red as she raised the book to her face. "But....is it really alright to be home this early?" She asked while fiddling with her fingers.
The man paused for a bit before giving a response. "I made sure to clear my schedule for the next 3 days. You're turning 14 my dear. It's quite a big deal."
Hori squealed in excitement, 'Three whole days of father-daughter time~!'
She couldn't help but grin.
Hori playfully asked, trying to keep the conversation flowing.
"I'm honestly curious on what you got me, could I maybe get a clue?" Her smile grew more intrigued.
The man finished the last line, thumbs resting on the worn book cover. With a slow tilt of his head, he met Hori's eyes. "It's a surprise, I'm sure you'll love it...."
Hori dragged in air like she'd been drowning. Her fingers bunched the front of her gown, knuckles as white as chalk. A tremor ran through her, fast and involuntary, like a current.
"Y-your'e awake!" A nurse called out, carefully sprinting to her side while maneuvering past multiple beds.
Memory hit the poor girl all at once. The heat of Arson's presence too close for comfort. The wet, gruesome feel of human blood, slathered on her urinated body like butter. The deep, empty dark of a sins mouth.
Her throat tore open. The scream that came out made nurses freeze in the hallway.
It wasn't over.
Her unconscious nights were just intermission...
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The ceiling fan above her bed turned and turned. White blades blurring into a pale, endless circle against the blank ceiling. It ventilated nothing. The air it moved was thick, antiseptic, and it slid over her damp skin without relief.
Beeping drilled behind her eyes. Bleach coated her tongue.
The room was dim, yet light still drove needles into her skull.
Hori rose her head, still on the bed. Wearing clean but strange clothes. A white hospital gown.
A breath hitched somewhere to her left. Not hers. The nurse was already there, staring intensely with a white nose mask hung below.
She sat in the plastic chair by the bed. Chart on her lap. Pen capped. The top sheet was blank except the bold writing "UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE - ADMIT 09/30."
Their Eyes met.
The nurse didn't smile. She leaned forward one inch.
"Thank God you're awake... your case was really severe, you were out cold for 2 days straight. Luckily the operation on your leg and ribs went smoothly."
The nurse had already performed basic assessment on awakened patients. It was time to extract information.
Hori's throat locked. She tried to swallow, but It was paper. Dry. Her tongue stuck to her teeth. With both eyes fixed on the blanket that enveloped her torso below.
The nurse's hand was already moving. Cold fingers found Hori's wrist before she could pull away. Thumb on her pulse. Counting.
The penlight was in her other hand. She clicked it. Quickly flashing her sour face. Hori flinched. Her head tried to turn. It wouldn't. The light swept her left eye, then her right. It burned.
"Pupils reactive." The nurse wrote without looking down. "Can you hear me?" Her voice more warm, as if noticing Hori's unresponsiveness.
The girl blinked. Then slowly nodded.
The nurse's eyes stayed on her face, studying her further.
"We're short on staff and space so I'll cut to the chase, we need you out of here as soon as possible." Her thumb pressed once against Hori's pulse, then let go.
"First things first, what's your name sweetie?"
Hori's hand twitched from the question. She looked down. Bruises she didn't remember getting. No hospital band with a name. Just "F-17".
When she looked back up, the nurse was watching her mouth. Awaiting a response. Her lips gave way for a whisper.
"Ma'am, What.... what is today's date?" Hori asked squinting both eyes, her senses were still buffering.
The nurse heard it. She un-capped her pen, and jotted while responding.
"Today's date is Friday, September 30th, 2022. Now tell me your name."
The woman insisted. Hori's eyes scanned her location instead.
Other patients were laid on the beds at her left and right, heavily bruised and bandaged. Designated nurses attended to each. She answered whilst looking around.
"I'm meant to be Tabata Inori, but apparently she's 'dead' what was the name I gave that boy again?" she asked herself, eyes towards the ceiling.
"Ah, yes, 'Hori' that was my alias. It's what I told.... Haruki-san... and Matsumoto-san, the old lady who ran the hot springs. About that, are they still alive?" Hori spoke with an odd calm. However, the response for her name made no sense.
"I'll need your full name, please." Sweat beaded from her brow.
"Just write down Hori Inori, it doesn't matter honestly. Pardon but could I call my father?" The request came from nowhere. Her face blank and empty.
The nurse complied. Excused herself, and headed to the telephone hung on the wards' wall. She retrieved it, only 2 steps from the girls' bed and requested the number she would dial.
Hori gave the number right away. Her expression, though - odd.
Not exactly hopeful, not waiting for the line to connect. It looked like she was running a test...
The hospital worker entered each digit, worried about the absent minded patient who spoke while yawning.
After 3 seconds, the phone said bluntly.
[The number you have dialed, does not exist.]
Beep.
"Y-you must have missed a number. Call it out again. And concentrate this time." She suggested, only for an unexpected response.
"No, it's okay. That's the number."
Hori pressed a fist to her chin, eyes distant.
The nurse's worry deepened. 'Is shock from the Arson incident affecting her brain function? Patient doesn't really appear lethargic.... she's more....'
Hori's eyes were clear. Too clear. Like she was somewhere else, turning a lock the nurse couldn't see.
The word for her state slipped through the nurse's mind, just out of reach, as she watched Hori and wondered what she was really calculating.
"I'll....go get the doctor. If he says it's okay you could get discharged today."
The ward door closed gently as she exited. Hori on the other hand was still preoccupied.
To her left, a man in his late 40s lay propped in bed, his leg suspended in a sling above him.
He glanced at her small frame, at the way she sat still. 'Poor kid...' he thought. To be seated at that establishment as a victim, to have witnessed terrorism from an actual sin.
it shouldn't happen to someone so young.
Hori caught him staring, then finally returned both hands to her lap. She spoke directly to him, addressing the old man like a friend of sorts.
Index finger pointed up.
"I had a dream. No, that's not right. I remembered something very very important....!"
The man looked left then right, to confirm if she were truly speaking to him. She was.
Hori continued after catching his attention.
"The night before my birthday... f-father said he had a 'surprise' for me...."
She gulped, sweat slowly fell as her pitch rose.
"Could all this be what he spoke of?!"
The man in the sling didn't respond. His mouth opened, then closed. What do you say to that?
Hori didn't wait for him. He couldn't have answered if he tried.
But something behind Hori's ribs had just clicked open.
Her breath came shallow. Fast. Panic.
"It all makes bloody sense now. His private phone number suddenly being 'non existent'? Nonsense!"
Her fingers dug into the thin hospital blanket. The knuckles went white again.
"But what kind of birthday present is this supposed to be?" she whispered.
The man in the bed shifted, his leg sling creaking. "Kid, you—"
"Is it punishment? I-I don't remember being bad before then." Hori said, louder. Honestly not talking to him anymore. Tears stung her eyes, not from sadness but betrayal.
The ward was loud, ignoring her sobbing — a TV somewhere playing a game show. None of it reached her.
She laughed once. A dry, brittle sound that made the man flinch. "It doesn't make any sense, why would he do this to me?"
The blood. The sin's mouth. Haruki-san. Matsumoto-san. Her own urine. All of it, a wrapped box with a bow.
The man finally found his voice, and hauled the attention of a nurse feet away. But Her body already started to tremble. Not a sob. Not a breakdown. It was deeper than that. Her spine locked straight against the bedframe. Hands clawing her scalp and face.
'Is father.... truly behind this?' Hori asked herself, the attention of the ward fixed partially on her. Just what exactly would one do after coming to such conclusion....