233 The play had been over for a long time

daniel comes out of the bedroom. he halts on his tracks when he sees mira. the child is looking at the kirishima family's portrait in silence. she must have finished reading the diary. what kind of questions does she have? her questions will decide whether she can handle the future or not. but she is a smart child. if the violin chose her, she must have it inside her. the only problem is that she might be like her mother more than he wants her to be.

"mira." 

she turns her head toward him. "yes?"

"do you have any questions?" daniel puts his hands on his knees and bends down to her eye level. the child must be shocked after reading the diary. he should clarify things to her slowly. 

"i don't have any questions." mira stares at the portrait again. 

"you don't have any questions?" daniel frowns at her. how could she not have any question? does she not want to know about the consortium or christopher ash? is she not curious at all?

"i already know everything there's to know." the child turns her back to him. her voice is low and commanding when she tells him, "bring mother and grandfather downstairs. she had enough rest."

he pinches his brows together and watches her climb downstairs with an indifferent air around her. just for an instant, he sees the back of a grown-up woman instead of a child. he rubs his eyes. what did he just see? he glances in her direction again. she is looking over her shoulder with eyes devoid of any warmth that she showed him before. "how long do i have to wait, mr nagasawa?"

she knows. droplets of cold sweat forms on his forehead. how? the diary doesn't mention anything about that. mira gives him a chilling smile. "how do i know? i guess you will never find out."

mira doesn't wait for him to question her. she goes to the dinner table and sits on the main seat where the head of the house always sat. she closes her eyes and taps her fingers on the table, playing the melody that is a part of her soul now. 

after five minutes, daniel carries ayaka to the dinner table and settles her on a seat close to mira. he glances at mira once. her back is straight. her chin is high. the sound that she's making with her fingers is a tune that all the members of the consortium have heard of. it's something that christopher ash played a long time ago and took the entire consortium by surprise. 

is she affected by the diary? daniel has been prepared to answer the questions of a curious child, but he hasn't been prepared to face something like this. his calculations have been wrong. the child might go further than her predecessors. he walks toward kirishima naoki's room. he must observe the child first. 

"yuki?" mira's fingers freeze on the table when she hears her mother's voice. ayaka's lips tremble. her eyes well up. "i am sorry."

"for what?" mira raises her brow. the tranquillity and gravity in her voice are eerie and hair-raising.

"for hurting you earlier." ayaka bursts into sobs. "i am sorry, my son. i am sorry. i lost control. i thought that you were just like--"

she closes her mouth, unable to say more.

"if you want to apologize for trying to kill me, you should at least get the name right." mira picks up the fork and looks at her tiny distorted reflection on the surface. "for someone who has a medical degree, you are quite dumb, mother."

the child seems different. ayaka lowers her head. is it because of what she did? why did she lose control? she has been taking the medicines regularly. if her father hadn't come at the right time, she might have killed her only son, just like she had killed her daughter a long time ago. it's better if she sends yuki away from her. he might turn into a monster like her and everyone else in her family.

kirishima naoki walks beside daniel. he wrinkles his forehead. his son is sitting where his wife used to sit once. after her death, he took the seat of the head of the house. but it's his only son who is also his only hope. christopher can sit anywhere he wants. for some reason, that place suits the child. he sits opposite ayaka, glaring at her. the girl dares to show her face after what she did to christopher. 

"some family." mira smiles at daniel. "isn't, daniel?"

"yuki, how could you call your father by his name?" ayaka shouts. "pay some respect to your father."

"what are you saying, ayaka?" kirishima naoki hollers at his daughter. he stands up and climbs the table with a mad glint in his eyes. "you don't even know your brother's name, you useless girl. it was better if you were never born. why are you still breathing?"

"father, i am sorry." ayaka squeezes her eyes in reflex when kirishima naoki raises his arm. mira picks up the glass and throws it on kirishima naoki's face before his hand could land on her mother. kirishima naoki touches the blood dripping from his nose with his shaking hand. did his son just throw the plate at him? his christopher? 

"christopher, why?" he croaks. 

"i don't have the energy to explain why." sighing, the child stands up on the chair, holding a fork in her hand. "the play had been over for a long time, kirishima naoki. i guess nobody bothered to tell you that."

"mira, don't!" daniel jumps on his feet, yelling for her to stop. ayaka widens her eyes as the blood splatter on her face. kirishima naoki drops on the table with a fork in his throat. mira takes the fork out of his throat. a trail of blood goes toward the edge of the table, drizzles on the floor. mira steps over the old man's body and walks toward daniel nagasawa whose mouth is still wide open in shock.

"yuki, what have you done?" ayaka screams. "why did you do it? you are also a monster."