It's the most wonderful time of the year!!! Its Christmas! So here's some bonus chapters for the holidays as I'll be busy for Christmas. Now we get to see what's going on after Emily's murder and what's happening next. Enjoy and have a safe holiday!

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I don't think anyone was able to go back to sleep after waking up to the crime scene near the apartment complex. Those traumatic images of Emily were engraved into my mind. I couldn't think of anything else all night. I went to sleep for a little while then woke up when the sun was barely rising.

Maiko's question kept my mind running at 100 miles per hour. Who would do that? Who would kill Emily or anyone for that matter?

Growing up, there were hardly any big murder crimes on the news. Crysolia rarely ever had any crimes like this from what I knew. That's why this puzzled me, possibly even the police who I could hear were still doing an investigation.

Why would anyone at all want to kill brutally like that? Only a mentally sick person would even think of going as far as cutting off someone's arm and slashing their chest open. The thought sickened me but also made me think. It was scary to think that one of the cursed ones could’ve done it, but they were the most likely people that I would think of.

Oh, what are you thinking, Ritsuko? I scolded myself, You know these people well enough to know that none of them could be guilty of this!! But the thought stayed with me, for some reason, and I couldn't shake it.  

Later, I got ready for school, not even bothering to make myself any food. I went out the door expecting to see Maiko or Akito around, but didn't. I then went to their apartment to see if they already left.

“Hello?” Maiko yawned, looking a little tired herself and cracking the door open. She was still in her pajamas. “Aren't you guys going to school?”

Maiko rubbed her eyes, with a slightly puzzled face. “What?” I gestured at my uniform. “Oh!” She said as if remembering. “School is cancelled.” She yawned.

I raised my eyebrows, “Cancelled?” Maiko nodded and opened the door, letting me come in. “Yeah. The police are doing an investigation at the school. The principal called us a few hours ago and told us about it.”

“Oh…” I mumbled, “Did they find anything new yet on what happened?” Maiko nodded, “On the radio, an officer announced that they discovered four stab wounds on her back and on her arm. They also described that she was dragged into the house, hence the blood on the door, but they're trying to see what caused her death and who did it.”

“That question has been driving me crazy. I couldn't sleep so much last night.” She took a teapot and poured some in a cup, “Want some?” Tea sounded nice at the moment, “Yes, please. Anyways, for some reason I think that someone close to her age murdered her.”

Maiko poured me a cup of green tea and handed it to me. “You're not saying that you think one of us did it, are you?” I felt a little hot, “No, no. Not you or Akito, of course. You two wouldn't be capable of doing something like that. I’m talking about the other people. Like A teacher or a student.” I might have seemed ridiculous, but I just didn't want to tell them who I thought did it.

She took up a seat next to me and looked down at her tea. “Even if one of them did it, why would they do it? Most of the teachers are nice. Maybe only two or three of them are kind of mean.” I shook my head, “I don't know. I’m not even sure my theory is correct, I mean, Emily was in my class and she didn't seem to have any trouble with anyone. She was a shy girl.”

“So then, what do you think was the motive?” I bit my lip and inhaled, “I don't know. I’m not a detective. It's just a feeling I have in my gut.”

Maiko sighed, “I couldn't sleep either. I’m scared that someone, maybe the same person that killed Emily, will go after another kid in our class.” My stomach churned at the possibility of that.

“Yeah, but who knows. I’m sure the police would find out and stop it before it got out of hand.” I wasn't sure I even believed myself, but I had to try. I took a drink of my tea and looked down. “You're right, Ritsuko. I think the police will stop it soon.” She gave me a small grin.

I returned the smile then looked up, thinking. “Hey, where’s Akito?” Maiko pointed at the hall, “Asleep...or something. I don't know if he’s getting as much sleep either.”

“I would expect any less. Murders aren't that common in Crysolia, right?” Maiko shook her head, “Not really.” she glanced back. “I ought to wake Akito soon. He has to do his chores before he gets to anything else.”

Chuckling, I drank my tea, “You stay on top of him, don't you?” Maiko playfully pouted, “What's so wrong with that?” “You act like you're his mom.” I laughed.

Maiko grabbed at her pajama top and played with it, tugging on it and pinching it. “Well, I’m definitely not. I just-....I don't know, it’s just…..” she dragged off. I put my tea cup down and looked at her, “What is it? It's not bad that you like to take care of your family.”

“Let's just not talk about that, okay?” She gave me an offering smile. I was tempted to read her mind but pushed the idea away. I nodded, “Alright. Well, thank you for the tea. I think I'm going to go to my apartment.” I finished the rest of my tea and stood up.

“Sounds good. Hey, later, do you want to meet with me in the kitchen? I want to try this new recipe for a cheesecake.” I joked, “Wow, you ought to start baking something other than sweets. Soon, I'll be full of sugar.” Maiko got up and opened the door for me, “Hey, I didn't bake at all this past week.”

I laughed, “Okay, okay. I’ll be there.” Maiko winked at me and shut the door.

Around noon, I went into the village to investigate some things. It turned out I was gonna turn into a detective. I stopped by Rin's job and asked her as much as I could without getting too suspicious.

“It's a tragedy what happened there.” Rin clicked her tongue, writing down my order on her notebook. “I just hope the police can put a stop to this or at least find the monster that killed her. This isn't safe for us, and Hiroshi likes to wander off alone. If anything happened to him…” she squinted her eyes, trying her best not to think of the worse.

I opened my mouth to say something but Rin cut me off. “Um...anyways, yeah. All I know is what the police have announced publicly.” She looked at me and used a big smile to cover up her hidden stress.

“Thanks, Rin.” I handed her my menu. “Mm hmm.” Rin took the menu and walked into the kitchen. I sat there alone, thinking to myself, when a set of hands slammed on the table. “Ritsuko!”

I looked up quickly. Alexandra smiled at me when I met eyes with her. Rosalina walked behind Alexandra. “Oh! Hi, guys.” I chuckled nervously. They were both in another fancy getup. Alexandra wore a dark purple velvet fabric dress while Rosalina wore a black and red lace dress.

“What are you doing here all alone?” Alexandra asked. I shrugged, “I don't know. Since school is cancelled, I don't really know what to do with myself. It's just really horrible what happened last night.”

“Oh, we heard about that.” Rosalina looked to the side. “Yes, that's really a mystery of who did such a thing. But they got that clue with that blood covered piece of fabric, right? It could be Emily's killer’s piece of clothing or something.” I perked up and looked up at both of them. “What??”

“Yeah, a piece of lace or print or something like that.” Alexandra explained. “I didn't hear anything about that.” I slowly said, looking at them with narrowed eyes.

Rosalina swiftly turned to me with a slightly confused expression. Alexandra chuckled, “Oh really? The police just found it and are taking it out of town to have forensics look at it.”

“Well that's interesting.” I mused, examining them. Don't tell me one of them did it.

I decided to change the subject. “Anyway, what are you two up to? You're dressed pretty formally today.” Alexandra nodded, “Most weekends, our aunt and uncle have us over. They like to take us at their fancy parties and events.”

“Really?”

Rosalina walked up next to Alexandra. “Yes. We're going back since today school is cancelled. Speaking of which,” she looked to her sister and took her a step back. “We ought to get going.”

Alexandra looked at Rosalina and nodded, as if complying to her. “Right. We’ll see you around, Ritsuko. Bye.” Rosalina smiled at me and quietly said “Bye.” I waved at them as they left the restaurant and took their luggage with them to the train station.

“Man, those Koizumi twins really are something.” I gasped, realizing that wasn't my voice. Rin sat at my table as she put down a plate and two waters in front of us. “I hope you don't mind, but I have a break now. My boss called me in early this morning and he told me I could use a break.”

I sighed, slightly relieved, “Oh, that's fine. I was actually thinking the same thing.” I took my water and sipped on it. “Well, at least they're not trying to act like anyone else. They're their own persons.”

“Yeah, they're different all right. Do you know anything about their aunt and uncle? They say that on weekends, they go to their aunt and uncle's house and have fancy parties and meetings.” Rin shook her head, “Their relatives are very wealthy. That's how they could afford to keep the girls in another town, in another house, and pay for what they need. I have no idea what they want them to go with them to parties or anything for, but that's not really any of my business.”

I asked, “Did they ever tell you that their aunt and uncle don't even like them?” Rin drank some of her water and brushed her hair off her shoulder. “That must be the strangest part that I don't get.” I agreed, “Yeah, I don't understand it either.” I took my fork and scooped a piece of my omelette rice as she went on.

“The truth is… people like us will never understand people like them. We don't understand what a curse can do or change about a person. No matter how much you get to know them, there will always be something different about them.” Rin looked up at me, “Ritsuko?”

I looked up at Rin, swallowing my food. “I think you're doing a great job trying to befriend those twins. Just don't press them too hard. You already gained more trust from them than what I got in my high school years.” I smiled. This is exactly what I wanted and needed to hear. I was starting to lose hope that I wouldn't get close enough to heal them, but I just got the most encouraging word I heard in my time there so far.

“Thank you Rin.” Rin patted my head. “Of course.”

When I had left the restaurant, I just happened to spot a very playful young boy hanging around the trees again. Maiko wasn't with me, so I decided to try and give it a shot to follow him.

Surprisingly, Michael was great at staying hidden and moving from place to place quickly. I could barely keep up with him and I was about to call it quits and just call his name.

I was sitting on top of a tree trunk behind some leaves, spying on Michael. He was letting a ladybug crawl on his hand when I heard the leaves in the ground rustle. I held on to the tree as I looked back and around the area.

Nothing could be spotted, so I checked on Michael, who disappeared again. “Again?” I groaned to myself, not wanting to go find him again. It still puzzled me how he could go from place to place in 3 seconds.

“Hi, kitten!” Michael cried from behind me. I screamed, jumping and almost falling back off of the tree. Luckily, Michael kept me from falling off by grabbing my wrists. I leaned against the tree, breathing quickly. “Michael, don't do that!”

He ignored what I said and climbed up the tree, sitting next to me. “Wow, more like startled kitten.” I blushed at his nickname for me and brushed the little pieces of bark caught on my hair. “Why would you do that?” I asked.

Michael looked at me, “I should ask you why you were stalking me.” “I-I wasn't stalking! I was just walking around.” I could tell he didn't believe me but he just smiled. “Okay then. So then what are you doing here in the forest all alone, little girl?”

“I’m two years older than you.” I corrected. He chuckled, “You also didn't notice my trick question. You're not alone here because I’m with you now.” I felt like he just liked to joke around and speak in riddles. “That’s true.” I admitted, playing along. Michael held out his hand with the ladybug and showed it to me.

“That's pretty.” I said, still playing along with whatever he was doing. “I found it right now on a leaf. I thought it would get hurt since it was going into a spider’s web, so I saved it.” He still didn't bring up anything about the murder last night. Why would he, though?

“Well that's nice of you.” I said. Michael grabbed my hand and put the bug on it without even asking me. “Here, you can hold it.”

Thank goodness it was just a ladybug, otherwise I would have freaked out. I hated insects. “Thanks.” I looked at him. “Did you hear about what happened last night?” Michael nodded, “My mom saw what happened and she told me. Hey, at least school is cancelled for the day.”

“Aren't you scared by it?” He furrowed his eyebrows, “Not exactly. I’m sad, because Emily was a good girl, but I just don't like to focus on things like that. They make me sad. Don't they do that to you?” I looked around at the forest, enjoying the view. “I’m not sure what to think of it. It's frightening to think of that happening here. I just hope the police can catch the person who did this.”

Michael slowly gave me a nod and pointed ahead. “That bird always sits at that tree, looking out for it’s nest.” There was a small black bird that sat, perched on a small tree branch, looking around. I couldn't spot a nest, but it must've been somewhere near. “I wish there were people who did that for each other. Looked out for each other and protected everyone. Maybe then, I wouldn't feel so lonely.”

I answered, not thinking of my choice of words, “You have your friends.” Suddenly, Michael turned to me and I noticed the look on his face. I don't have any friends, what is she talking about? He thought to himself. It's different for me. I can only be alone.

My eyes widened as I remembered, “Michael, I’m sorry.” Michael leaned back on the tree and looked up. “That's alright. There could be better things in life.”

Deep down, I knew he was lying to me and himself just to make himself feel better. From the moment I met him, I knew he was a social person at heart that could barely stand solitude. That's probably why this curse was so big in his life. He didn't even try making friends anymore. He just went on, by himself, looking for something to fill the void in his heart.

“Hey, Michael.” He turned his head to me. “Are you okay? You seemed a little different these days.” He shrugged, “Your talk helped me. I think if I try to look at things positively, it might help. Who knows, maybe your thought about a Despair Healer will come true.”

I grinned, happy because I actually helped him. Soon, I’d be able to heal him. “Good.” Michael stood up in the tree trunk, balancing on it. “Well, I’m off to see what other things I can do. See you around, little kitten.” He winked at me and hopped off the tree. He took a lollipop out of his pocket and unwrapped it.

“Bye, Michael.” I chuckled at his childish behavior and stepped down from the tree, going back into the village. That boy was probably the hardest to understand, like Rin said earlier.

Now I was going to go to my apartment to try and do a meditation, but my cake making with Maiko came back to my memory. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy the baking, but I just wasn't exactly in the mood for it. I expected a letter from my Master and my parents, and I received it that day and I was a little anxious to see that too.

Maiko was an expert with mixing the ingredients, and probably would have finished the cheesecake earlier if it weren't for my slow skill. Once we were done and put the cake in the oven, she dismissed me.

I was so excited to go home and read the letter. I closed the door behind me and ran to my desk to read it. Turned out, there were two separate letters in the envelope. I opened the first one I spotted.

Dear Ritsuko, It began, Your mother and I miss you more than we thought we would. We're hoping your following through with your job. You know how important this is to us, but mostly to the cursed ones themselves. Your descriptions of them sound like they’re a handful. Like I told you when you were little, I wouldn't expect less from them. Their curses must be driving them to extreme points. You mentioned some of them didn't like to talk a lot, don't push them too far. You wrote that some of them tend to snap or act strangely. Just be tolerable with that for now. Remember what I taught you to do and what your Master advised. It will help. Your mother also said friendship or even acquaintanceship takes time. Be safe, Ritsuko. We hope to have you visit us soon after you finish your mission. We love you.

Sincerely, your parents.

The letter was great advice, but it was just nice to hear from my parents again. I was a little homesick once in a while. The next letter was a bit shorter. It was from my master.

Ritsuko, you seem to be doing well in your mission. I hope you do not take any longer. You cannot always dawdle in your work. I understand since this is your first time, but I expect only the best from you. There is something I should have told you before. Once you get in more contact with the cursed ones, the more they may act up. Your power, though controlled, still works through you. It will affect the cursed ones around you either positively or negatively. Don't waste your time on useless things, because you never know when those curses will go beyond healing control. Other than that, you are doing everything correctly. Just don't let anyone down.

Sincerely, your master.

Oh, how that letter made me stress. It suddenly felt as if everything I did so far meant nothing. I needed to get things done faster. My Master always warned me of a dark secret about these curses, but never told me what the tragic result was. I believed he thought I was smart enough to understand with only that. My master knew what was best, so I took his advice seriously. The only thing was actually doing what I was told without letting my heart lead me astray.

Please don't let it get too late on me. I pleaded to myself while I sat in my bath. I can't have any people getting hurt because of me. The warm water soothed me, but I thought too much and let my head pound me. I couldn't relax now. I was doing nothing for myself and the others.

I needed to heal those cursed ones before it was too late. Even if it meant saying goodbye to those I grew close to. Even if it meant not keeping promises. Even if it meant leaving Akito.

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Ooohhhhh no cliffhanger this time! Can I just say in my years of experience with writing, Michael is one of my favorite characters to write. Besides that, what is Ritsuko gonna do now? Is she gonna fall into a pit of hopeless depression or is she gonna go through this alone while trying to solve this mystery? Thanks for reading! 💜🎄🎁