“Good morning and welcome to NHK World! I’m your host, Au Go and we have a special show for you today!” Au said happily. She wanted to tell everyone the good news! With a frown, she recapped what happened.
“A couple of weeks ago, we got to meet a beautiful mute. This mute then sang for us and showed us her voice.” She was having a hard time not crying. “That same day, someone attacked her.” Au had to take a sec to compose herself. “After getting hurt bu this person, she fell into a coma.” She started to cry as she happily said the next part. “Two days ago, she woke up!” She proclaimed.
The audience cheered! Au was in tears with them. “The thing that makes this special is that we get to let everyone know! They wanted me to announce the good news!” She was so happy to be the one to do this.
In a cafeteria in Tokyo, a glass shattered on the ground. Everyone looked over at Yumi. She noticed she was making a scene. “Thank the gods! My niece just woke up!” She said happily. Everyone there cheered and congratulated her. She watched in horror as Sakura’s interview started.
“Watanabe-chan, how are you doing?” Au asked.
“I’m doing much better now. I’m just a little sore.” She signed with Rini translating it.
Au gave her a hug. “Can you tell us what happened?” She asked.
Sakura had a sad look while she began, “I was walking to the store when someone grabbed my shoulder. I was then pushed into a wall really hard. They then hit me in the face and knocked me over.” She paused as tears started to come out. She took a deep breath and continued. “I remember barely picking myself off the ground. I then limped to the store. Then everything going black. I then woke up here.” She looked the other way thinking.
“Do you know who it was?” Au asked.
Sakura had a scared look and crossed her arms to give herself a hug. “Yes I do.”
Yumi nearly fainted. “Takamoto-san!” People rushed over to help her.
“I’m fine. I guess the pressure is getting to me.” She said trying to not raise any suspicion.
They helped her to her office. She thanked them and set down. She then turned the TV on to watch more of the interview.
“We’re back! It’s sad Watanabe-chan can’t tell us who it was.” Au said sadly. “Now, back to the interview!”
“Watanabe-chan, how’s your injuries doing?” She asked.
“They are healing fine, but the doctor says they are going to scar.” She smiled. “At least I can make something up for fun about how I get them.” She laughed.
“Can we see them?” Au asked. She hadn’t seen them yet.
Sakura boded. She first pulled down her collar over her shoulder. There was still a little bruising there. The nail marks were still there. “This is the least painful one.” She commented. She then asked the nurse to remove the badge from her cheek. The nurse did. Her cheek had four deep cuts on it. They were from the nails that hit her. “this hurts a lot. It’s really hard to sing right now. The doctor said this will scar.” She couldn’t help a tear from rolling down.
She then turned her back to the camera and took off her shirt. Au covered her mouth with her hand and started to cry. “No..” She let out. It was soft and horrified. Her back was covered with deep scratches and dark bruises! The only spot that wasn’t bruised was a circle. It was obvious that was part of the wall’s pattern.
“This hurts the worst. Especially where the circle is.” She was right. There was a black ring around it.
Yumi looked in horror at what she had done. She only wanted to scare her, but… She didn’t think she had done this to her. “What have I done!?” She thought. She bit her thumb. “No! She made me do this to her! She got everything she deserved!” She tried to convince herself. She turned back to the TV.
“Do you know when you’re going home yet?” Au asked.
“They said I have to stay here for at least another week or two. They want to make sure I can walk before I can go home.” She smiled.
Au smiled. “Then here’s a gift from mo to help!” She gave her a present.
Sakura was surprised by this. She opened it and started to cry. “Thank you so much!” She gave her a hug. Au had given her a box full of manga to read.
“You’re welcome.”
Yumi turned off the TV and leaned back in her chair. She jumped and almost fell out off of her chair when her phone rang.
“Moshi, Moshi?” She said.
“Hello, this is Shinichi. How are you doing Takamoto-san?” He asked.
There was a short pause. Why was he calling? “Ono-san, good morning! What can I do for you?” She said trying to keep her voice calm.
“Did you see Sakura-chan’s interview?” He asked happily.
“Yes, I did. I’m happy she’s awake.” She lied.
“Thank you! I hope this interview will keep her safe. We still haven’t arrested anyone yet.” He paused for a moment. “Go-san is ready at a moment’s notice when we do.” He left it at that.
She was scared. “I see.” She know he was fishing fro something again.
“Well, I got to go. I really hope this interview helps. Best of luck with your reelection campaign!” He said merrily.
“Thank you.” She said slowly. He hug up. She got the message loud and clear. She wasn’t going to do anything else to Sakura for now. “I’ll get you back… somehow!” She was thinking to herself.