Chapter Thirty-Seven: All My
Love:
-March 25th, 2011-
Hitomi’s last will was found under a cherry tree buried underground in a box.
Kato took out a small shovel and dug up the spot.
The little box was made of soft wood. Kato lifted the lid. A faint perfume
teased his nose. Folded up pieces of paper sat at the bottom.
Kato pulled them out and started reading.
To All That I Love:
I have made my decision. It wasn’t easy to come to this. In the end, I am at
peace with it.
I want to thank Kato-san for freeing me. You had your own motives behind it, but
I am happy you came along when you did. Looking back, I feel he’s trying to set
things right. I hope when this is all over he can rest in peace and see his
family again.
I will miss my students. They always be dear to me. Seeing their little faces
every day brought meaning in my life. Their smiles made me feel normal. I wish
that I could go on teaching forever. But, it was only a dream. It was a nice
one, though. I will never forget it.
I am grateful to Furukawa-san for letting me teach at that school. She showed me
a life outside of killing. She even gave me a place to live. I don’t know if she
knew about my true nature or my past, but she didn’t care. She saw me as her
equal. That made me feel so happy.
Again, I would like to apologize to Kato-san for killing him. I acted on orders,
but it was no excuse. I did wrong, but nothing I can do can make up for it.
However, I can give you this. Inside this box contains more members of the
Eda-Kimoto clan. Attack the kitsune directly. If you kill them, the tsukai will
die. This is the only way to secure victory. Please end this. Even they know the
end is coming.
Lastly, I want to thank and apologize to Haruka-sama. She was my first real
friend. She’s not a bad person. Haruka-sama just wants to live. I don’t blame
her. But I know how she is doing it is wrong. Haruka-sama must be stopped.
I won’t here to see how this war ends. I hope this nightmare will be over. For
me, my part is finished. It ended the moment I agreed to betray my Haruka-sama.
But it had to be done. I can’t stress enough times how this has gone on long
enough. But we all know that it has to end. I’m tired. Haruka-sama is desperate.
The clan is dying. We are all tired. It’s time to end. Only Anna-san and
Tsuzuki-san can do it.
I wish everyone luck.
All of My Love,
Hitomi
Kato folded up the letter and put it in his coat. He found the list in the box.
He closed up everything and recovered the hole. The old man smiled to himself.
“You did good, Hitomi-san,” he said. Kato vanished into thin air.
-------
Meanwhile, Hitomi lay alone in an abandoned field, staring up at the dark
morning sky. The chain of her locket lay inches away. A little smile spread on
her face.
It’s down. I am finally
free.
The kitsune drew her eyes closed for the last time.