Read A blazing disappearance :: Chapter 1- Fumiko's pov

TW: Mentions of paternal abandonment near the end

It was the day of the memorial. Ten days since the fire. I sat at the front, clutching Bella's hands, listening to the celebrant... but I didn't really hear them. My eyes darted around the space. I recognised some faces but I was barely registering them. Finally, I settled on the photograph of Adrienne at the front, framed in gold. She was wearing her uncanny grin, the one she wore when she'd said or done something witty. It was such a morbid feeling knowing that no one would see her grin again. I could practically hear her laughing when I looked at the photo.

In the picture, she was wearing a white shirt and headband, surrounded by greenery. There was a yellow rose braided into the purple strand in her hair. It was such an innocent picture. I was there when Arabella had taken it. We had gone to Renne's favourite park that day, a few months ago, a day before Bella and I had to return to uni for the half-term before Christmas. It was a 5 minute walk away from their house and Mrs. Viggó had let us go after Renne had finished her homework, not before stuffing us to our bursting points with her new recipes. She had insisted we take snacks for the park too, which Bella kindly declined on all of our behalfs. We had walked around for a bit until Adrienne sat down next to her favourite willow tree and pulled out a book. It was then when Bella had braided a rose into her hair and taken the picture.

"Aww, how cute..." Renne had teased, "You must have missed me a lot at uni if you're being nice to me."

I remember laughing.

I was abruptly dragged back into reality when Bella gently pulled her hands away from mine to say a few words up on stage. I looked at her and tried at a comforting smile, but it showed up hollow and small. She nodded at me and stepped up to the microphone.

Her voice was shaky at first but she managed to pull through.

"I had originally planned to just read the words I prepared earlier... but it just doesn't feel right anymore. Nothing has really felt right since the fire. Renne has been one of the best things to ever have happened to me. I had helped take care of her when the going got tough and others abandoned ship. I helped her with things ranging from homework to boy trouble. She was a fighter to the end. She'd had so much promise in her, so much hope for the future. We'd had our ups and downs, as siblings do, but she was taken from us... from me... so soon..."

Her voice slightly cracked here, but she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and continued.

"There are so many things I wish I could've told her. So many things I wish I had done better. But there isn't much to do about that now. I just hope I can remember her in the best light possible. And I hope you all do so too. I'm sure she wouldn't want any of us to feel bad about her... passing. So I would like to thank you all for coming to celebrate her memory, and hopefully you'll remember her with love..."

Her voice faltered at the end. She smiled but her eyes were starting to turn a bit red. She blinked away the tears and stepped down, retaking her seat beside me.

I couldn't imagine what it was like for her. She had practically raised Renne when their father had left them. And now her sister had been so cruelly snatched away from her. Just like that. No warning. No goodbye's. No time.

Just... gone.

Bella pulled me from my thoughts again, tugging on my sleeve and signalling that she had to talk to me.

I didn't know what it could have be but it seemed important... so we waited until the memorial was over, she pulled me aside, and said only 6 words.

"I think she might be alive..."