I let my board lead me down the street to Mai’s house. My heart racing with anticipation as I drew closer. What was I going to say to her? Did she know about the cheating? Had she seen her phone? What was I going to do?

I turned the corner unto her street, when the siren lights came flashing into view. My heart sank.

Siren lights? Don’t be at Mai’s. Don’t be at Mai’s.

They were.

On the steps stood her brother and mother, distraught written on their faces. A police detective stood talking to them. I rushed over, wanting to know if Mai was okay.

Mrs. Kyoto saw me closing the distance and shouted,

“Akira, Akira! I am sorry,” tears streaming down her face, ” Mai..she…..is gone.” The words were fleeting, as if speaking them into existence made it feel all the more real.

“What? It can’t be. What happened?”

Mrs. Kyoto drew me into a big hug, hysterically crying on my shoulder, not yet ready to tell me.

Uto, her brother put his head down, not wanting me to see the tears streaming down his face.

All I could do was to hold Mrs. Kyoto and wait to know what had happened to Mai. My heart in disbelief to the words I just heard.

Just then, a man came walking out of Mai’s house. A look of dispare on his face. He walked towards me and Mrs. Kyoto, stopping and putting his hand on her back.

“Mrs. Kyoto, I am truly sorry for your loss. She was truly a beautiful girl. We will be taking her back to the morgue with us soon, but I wanted to give you a few moments with her before we transport her. Take your time and we will be right outside.”

Mrs. Kyoto’s tear stained face gave a solemn nod and she turned to face me.

“Akira, I knew how much you loved Mai. She always spoke about you with so much admiration. Do you want to come with me? I don’t think I can face her again by myself.”

“Of course Mrs. Kyoto. I grabbed her hand. leading her up the stairs to their home. Her brother knelt down, crying into the sleeve of his hoodie.

“She’s in the bedroom. She didn’t mean to do it. She couldn’t have?” I could hear Mrs. Kyoto softly murmuring.

I led her down the hallway to the last room, Mai’s room. It was a path I had walked many times. But today, I could barely move my feet. What was I to expect? What had happened?

The hallway was dark, with the only light radiating from Mai’s open door. We made it to the door, and I saw my first glimpse on my new reality.

She lay on the bed, eyes closed, as if she was still sleeping. I gently made my way to the bedside with Mrs. Kyoto.

“She took a whole bottle of my seizure medication,” Mrs. Kyoto spoke. “I had no idea she was suffering so much. I didn’t know? What am I going to do now? I lost my baby girl.” Mrs. Kyoto fell to her knees, unable to take the weight of grief that fell upon her.

I gently placed my hand on her shoulder. Not really knowing what to say or do, just that I needed to comfort her. I decided to close the rest of the gap to Mai. I slid my hand across the bed, finally touching her hand. It was cold.

There was no warmth. It had disappeared from her. How long had she been dead?

Suddenly my mind went wild with thoughts. When did she do this? What exactly made her take the pills? When was she found? What were her last moments like?

The tears welled into my eyes forcing a stream to flow down my face. I brought her hand to my lips as if to see if my lips could feel warmth that my hands could not.

We stayed there in silent muffled tears for what seemed hours but I knew very well was only a few minutes. I stared longingly at Mai, as if I expected her to open her eyes any minute. She didn’t.

A growing thought started flaring its ugly head in my mind. Mai wouldn’t kill herself. She wasn’t the type of person. Someone did this. Someone wanted to get rid of her.

Mrs. Kyoto, still on her knees, with her hands over her face, cried silently. I couldn’t speak my thoughts, it would send her into hysterics. Something wasn’t right. I needed answers. I was going to get to the bottom of this.

Tokuda was the last person to talk to Mai. Could he have? I shook my head. Trying to shake the image of Tokuda forcing pills down Mai’s throat.

Out of the corner of my eye, the sun glimmered on a journal, it was one she had brought to school so many times before. Her whole school life was in that journal. She was always writing. What if she had some answers in there. Do I take it? Had the police already investigated?

“Why?” I heard Mrs. Kyoto finally say.

“Why would someone do this?”

My eyes widened. Was Mrs. Kyoto thinking the same thing as me?

“Mrs. Kyoto, You don’t think she was murdered do you?”