I spent the night on my back. I just lay there on the cold ground, beaten and torn. I was scratched and bleeding; afraid of what was going to become of me. I tried to scream, but no one was going to be able to hear the faint screams of my choked voice. I could still feel the hands around my neck: so cold… so unforgiving. I mustered up the strength to move enough to make it into the blinding glare of the street light.

The hospital seemed so cold to me. The building that saves so many lives takes so many more. I remember the paramedic saying, “We found her on the sidewalk unconscious. She must have been raped.” They didn’t understand. I was beaten in a fight, not raped. I began to try and tell them the story of what happened, but all they did was look at me. Why weren’t they listening? Do they not want to know what happened to me? Did they even know who I was? I tried to tell them that I am Sakura Tanaka, and Akane Masami beat me up, but it’s like the words I spoke were different from the ones I thought. “Mmma framm ka muh…” “What is she saying?” one of the doctors interjected. The nurse told him, “Her entire face is a mess. Her jaw and nose along with both cheek bones are broken.”
They made me write on a notepad what happened with my left hand. It was so hard. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t write with my right hand. I tried to switch, but the nurse came in and took the pen and pad from me. “No, no. Your right arm is broken. You need to rest it.” She wouldn’t let me do anything. I really wanted to hit her, but then they would just give me more drugs to take the pain away. I wanted to tell them who did this to me, but I couldn’t write it legibly with my left hand. All I wanted was revenge. I want to find a way to get back at Akane once and for all.
Akane Masami caused my damage, and now I have to live with it. I have a constant reminder of what happened by the scars on my face and body. It ended up being fuel to my already burning hatred for her. She stole my man… my Haruke… and now she must pay for what she has done. I will take revenge on Akane Masami just as soon as I can walk again.

I spent a week in the hospital. I was so relieved to get out, but where would I go? My parents hated me, and my grandmother was so disappointed that I snuck out that I didn’t think that she wanted to see me. So I went to the place that originally got me into this mess: Haruke Hikaru’s house. I hobbled over to his house over two miles away and knocked on the door. Once he sees me I am sure that he will be enraged at that evil girl Akane… no answer. Why wouldn’t he answer? I knew he was there; he always has been there for me. Maybe he didn’t want to see me… surely not. How could he not want to see me after our past?

We were the perfect couple. People envied us; that is… until she came into the picture. Akane Masami corrupted Haruke. He was into all the things I hated the most: drugs, alcohol, and partying. Nobody understood how I felt the day he told me what he did when he was drunk. I wasn’t sad, nor was I depressed or crushed or any of that. I was livid. I wanted to get revenge with Akane from that moment on. People laughed when I told them this since I am 5’2 and 90 pounds soaking wet and she is about 5’10 and pushing 150, but I had a plan. I will repay her for all the sorrow and hurt she put me through: taking away the love of my life, making me walk out on my parents, and making me do things to myself that I shouldn’t. She will reap what she has sewn.

I have been saving my allowance from my grandmother and wages from my waitress job since the breakup. Granted, that was a week ago, but you get the point. I had something very special in mind to buy once I had the money. It would help me take care of Akane once and for all. I don’t plan on having to use it, but I would like to have an alibi just in case. I know what you are thinking: “How is a little girl going to get a gun?” In Japan there is a large black market where almost anything is sold to anyone if the price is right. A gun would not be hard to come by in such a situation.

A month went by without me seeing her. I thought maybe she had done the world a favor and overdosed, killing herself. I became a pretty happy person thinking that she was never to return to my life. I had moved back in with my parents, gone back to school, and even stopped hurting myself. Life was fine until Wednesday, June tenth. I was reading the paper when I saw the article for the couple getting married. Surely that was not my Haruke in that article. It was some other man… I dropped the paper in disbelief. How could he do something like this to me?

My mind was made up right then and there. I took my savings and went down to the market. I quickly found the perfect “tool” to help eliminate Akane: a Colt 2000. I got it and the ammo for only 54,876.34 yen or $565 dollars in American money. The rage must have shown in my eyes, because when I got home my parents didn’t even ask what was in the bag. I had a plan to tell them that it was just some bananas from the market, but it wouldn’t make sense to take them up to my room. I am glad that for once they did not ask where I had been or what I had. They wouldn’t have understood anyway.

That night I planned it all out. The wedding was in a week… that’s when I would do it. I had it planned on how it would go and everything. I would have a nice dress, act like everything was fine and that I was happy for them, and right when she says “I do,” I will blow her brains out. She deserves it. I couldn’t wait for that day. I knew I would get caught, but it would be worth it. Then Haruke would come back to me… hold me in his arms again like he did before, tell me that he loves me again… that’s all I want. She took the one thing that meant anything to me, and on Wednesday she will pay.

I got my pretty dress with the rest of my savings. It wasn’t much, but it was wedding worthy. I got all dressed up and did my hair, then tried to go over what I had to do. The hardest thing was finding a place for the colt. The dress was long, so I couldn’t strap it to my leg, it had no pockets, and was not very concealing. That is when I hatched a plan. I went over to my dresser and rummaged around for my old weave that I used to wear. I found it after a moment of searching and teased it so that it puffed out so much that it almost looked stupid. I hid the gun up under the weave. I would act like I was scratching my head and bang!... there goes Akane.

I arrived at the wedding ceremony right before it began. Not too many people were at the wedding itself, so I wouldn’t have to worry with people getting in my line of sight. I sat near the front. Everyone sat as the two started reciting the vows… I could feel my heart beating in my throat. Chills ran down my spine and I thought I was going to pass out. Every second felt like an hour and slowly crept by with each passing word that they said. Could I really go through with this? The time came. He said “I do,” and I started itching. She said “I do,” and I pulled the trigger.

After that, I blacked out. I didn’t know what had happened, but I could hear screams. I looked up, and let out a shriek. There was so much blood… all over her white dress, the church, the pastor… I couldn’t believe what I had just done. I remember my hands shaking as I held the pistol. There is no way I could make a clean getaway for this…
“The Asahi Shimbun: Young Girl Murders Groom At Wedding, Then Commits Suicide.”
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