"You bastard! Dojima-san's in the hospital because of you! Nanako-chan could be dead because of you!" Tohru Adachi practically screamed over the phone to Namatame. Ironically, that one passion-filled statement in which he placed concern for others higher than concern for himself would be the undoing of him.
§ § §
To put it simply, Adachi was a coward. A smart coward, but a coward nonetheless. He hated to take blame for things; he wanted anything but to have to face up to his own terrible actions. Because truth be told, he wanted to believe as much as anyone else that his shadow wasn't him. So when Mayumi Yamano's body was found, rather than admit to an accident happening - and a bizarre accident that no one would likely believe, anyway - he decided he had to cover his tracks.
Besides which, he'd gotten a bit of a rush out of it and wasn't entirely remorseful for his actions. He'd been watching Yamano for a long time now - on TV, of course, he hadn't yet transcended stalker boundaries back then - and developed a thing for her. A thing that grew and grew until he was bubbling over with excitement when he heard she was coming to Inaba. What were the odds of his favorite TV journalist being from the boring little town he'd been shipped to? The odds of her actually visiting said little town?
Then the news of the affair came out. Her affair with Taro Namatame, a creepy little city council secretary and a married man. Jealousy started brewing in Adachi then. Of course she didn't know him, but why would anyone ever want to have an affair with that guy? Of all the people in the world she had to choose him. It hurt.
What hurt more was what she said to him at the Amagi Inn, later, though...
§ § §
"... Who're you? And what's this 'something important' you called me out here for?"
"What they say on the news isn't true, is it?" He didn't really believe it wasn't, but he was hoping she would deny it because it would at least mean her feelings weren't strong enough to defend, "All that talk about you having an affair and whatnot... it's all a lie, right?"
"Why do I have to explain myself to you...?" There was anger in her voice that made his heart sink
"I see... So you don't deny it." He might've originally planned to just leave it at that, but something inside of him wouldn't let him and the next words came out, "You caught my eye, but it turns out you're another worthless bitch..."
"What's wrong with you...? D-don't make me call for help!" It was ironic. Laughable, even. To want to call for help from the person who'd been designated to help you. From a police officer, and one who really had wanted nothing more than to keep her safe - with him, of course, he didn't deny having ulterior motives, but safe nonetheless.
"Ugh, shut up, shut up, shut up!" He was half talking to her - upset that she didn't seem to understand him, that she looked at him with such disgust like that - and half at himself, the part that was insisting he do what he was about to do.
"I think you need to see what it's like to fear for your life... It'll get your head straight." And sure enough, she was afraid. And at the moment that was all he really wanted. His intentions then were not honorable, but they might not have been murderous.
"Wh-What're you going to do...?" she whimpered at him but his head was in a different place. He grabbed her and with the intention of forcing himself on her - or at least scaring her into thinking he was going to - pushed her back against the TV. He hadn't realized people other than himself could go through it, though, so he was shocked when the screen turned out not to be a solid surface and she tumbled backwards into it.
"Sh-she fell in..." His shock was so great that he didn't try to save her - he probably wouldn't even have wanted to - but the rush that simple accident had given him was the first break - the bad one.
"Ha...hahaha... Wow... So people can go completely inside..." The thrill of the kill or what have you, gave him an exhilarating feeling he hadn't gotten in a long time. It was almost better than sex, which was largely why he didn't care to try and help her out again.
§ § §
By the time the body was found he'd started to feel a bit of remorse for his actions, remorse that he expressed by vomiting at the sight of her cold, lifeless body. At that point he knew it was too late to give himself up, so his only choice was to cover his tracks. The one witness hadn't seen anything, she'd iterated that over and over, but paranoia and lust won over the detective's sensibilities and within a week she was gone, too.
Now Adachi had two murders on his hands, he couldn't afford to let himself get into any more trouble or he'd go away for life - it was times like these he thanked God for Japan's legal system, knowing even if he was caught he could get off with an easy sentence like 3 years hard labor. The time had come for him to find a good cover-up plan, and opportunity fell right into his lap in the form of the man he most hated.
When Taro Namatame called Adachi was sure he had to be joking. He knew about the TV, too? But how could that be? Still, the pathetic man sounded all too serious so Adachi told a few quick lies and the sucker was doing the dirty work for him. He really didn't care whether or not they died, and a band of teenagers seemed to be coming to the rescue all the time anyway, one of whom was the nephew of his partner.
So with Namatame doing the kidnapping and throwing in and the kids playing rescue heroes, Adachi was pretty much set for life. He'd occasionally accidentally-on-purpose let information slip about the case. A part of him sincerely hoped they found everyone in time, a part of him was having fun just being voyeuristic, and one tiny part of him he didn't want to admit existed hoped that someone else would die.
Things continued like this- with every kid who was rescued adding to the band of merry teenage heroes - until mid-October. That is when shit hit the fan and Tohru Adachi realized that there were things more important to him than his own safety.
§ § §
On November 5th he found out. He'd seen the midnight channel the night before, he didn't have to guess who was next. He honestly wanted to say more, but he couldn't give himself away. The letter wasn't a threat, it was a warning. The wording sounded threatening, but he knew the kid would have some idea what it meant. Dojima reading it, though, that was something he hadn't counted on. Oh how he wished he could understand, too...
That night at the station he was tempted so many times to just barge into the backroom and tell him, at least tell him that Nanako was in danger. But that was a stupid move, and there was no guarantee anything was going to happen so he just decided to play it cool and act like an adult. He even gave them information, told them about Namatame. He would've overlooked letting them go after the bastard, anyway, but right now Nanako needed saving.
§ § §
"Dojima-san! A-Are you alright!" Adachi crouched over his injured partner, eyes wide and his mind racing. Why? Why did this happen? Damn you, Namatame! Even now he had to put the blame on the man he so hated. He struggled with the thoughts, but in his mind he'd decided: he may have lied to Namatame, told him what to do, but in the end Namatame was still the one who'd been throwing people in, and carelessly. No matter how much blame was on his shoulders, he had convinced himself that Namatame was even more at fault.
"Wh-Where's Nanako?" Dojima's words burned like a searing knife and Adachi wanted to scream that she was in the TV, that he should've believed his nephew, but here they were running up now and he couldn't give himself away like that.
Shirogane made a call for an ambulance and he snapped to his senses. This single event was the second break, and all the feelings it had brought welling up inside him were distracting him from what he needed to do, so he pushed them down and tried to compose himself as best he could.
"That's right, I should call backup, too! We gotta find Namatame!" he pulled out his phone but froze when Dojima looked up at him. It was as if he knew that Adachi knew something.
"Nanako... Where's Nanako...?" His eyes weren't accusing, but pleading. He looked to the others, too, apologizing with his eyes for not believing them earlier. As more of the teenagers arrived, Dojima pleaded with them, explaining what had happened, "Where's Nanako...? And Namatame...? Find them... Please...!"
Adachi bit down hard on his lip to stop himself from tearing up from guilt, anger, fear, any number of emotions. As he sat with Dojima, waiting for the medics to come, the teenagers behind him discussed amongst themselves. He was too out of it to pay much attention, too fixated on thinking about poor Nanako for their words to really register with him. Then the ambulance came, and Adachi rode with his senior officer to the hospital.
§ § §
"You bastard! Dojima-san's in the hospital because of you! Nanako-chan could be dead because of you!" he yelled from the hallway of the hospital, not even bothering to check and make sure he was alone. He didn't care anymore, the lives of perhaps the only two people he really cared about were in danger. But there was no answer as he shouted at the voicemail. Namatame was inside the TV now and his fate was linked to the little girl he had kidnapped.
He slammed his phone shut and raised it above his head, about to throw it down, teeth gritted and eyes prickling with tears, when he heard an ever-calm, androgynous voice from behind him. "I'm curious as to how you know Nanako-chan could be dead, Adachi-san." Naoto Shirogane walked slowly over to him and he froze, caught.
"Well, if he's the one who killed the other two then isn't it a valid concern?" He looked at her wildly. She really was a good detective to be able to focus on the case at a time like this. Not necessarily any smarter or more observant than he was, but definitely more focused.
"A good point, but I would also like to know how you have Namatame's phone number." Her expression did not change except for possibly growing more stern as she gazed up at him. For her to be bringing up something so trivial, she must've suspected him earlier. Had he really slipped up that much before? Still, right now he didn't have the energy or the will to defend himself or come up with another lie for that.
"That..." He swallowed hard as his gaze fell, and in that moment he knew that she knew something more, "So you really are an ace detective, huh..." he mumbled. He didn't want to answer, so he'd put it to her as a challenge. Let her answer for him and he'd fill in the details. She couldn't possibly know everything, especially his motive - which to most detectives was the most important thing.
"Now why would a police detective have the phone number of an ex-council secretary?" she paused, looking him over as if waiting for him to give himself away, which he readily did by wincing. "I surmise that you and Namatame are accomplices. You have his phone number, you know about the TV and about what happens to people who are put into it without being rescued."
Now she was making him angry. If she knew all of this, knew that he was aware of what was going to happen, why wasn't she more concerned with Nanako? Wasn't that why Dojima was here in the hospital in the first place? How could she be so calm about this?
"Alright! Alright, dammit, so you're right! So what? The fact remains that right now Nanako's out there in real danger!" his shoulders heaved up and down as he breathed heavily, fuming. On Nanako's name his voice broke, and he notices Naoto giving him a surprised and piteous look. Then, after a split second, she exploded in a way he never thought he would see from the young detective.
"If you cared so much then why didn't you do something sooner? Why did things even get to this point? You're a grown man and a detective, how could you ignore your duty like that?" Her biting words stung him, and now he noticed the rest of the teenagers had poked around the corner at their raised voices. A nurse had also come out of a patient's room down the hall to shush them.
Naoto was right, his excuses couldn't argue with her logic and he hated that. He wanted so badly to snap back at her and he was about to, but there was a more pressing need right now. He groaned in frustration, "Whatever. We can discuss this later, I don't think I'll have a choice."
Most of the others stared in bewilderment, only having a vague idea of what was going on, but Naoto seemed to accept his response and nodded, "Then it's decided. We need to rescue Nanako-chan. Adachi-san, you will be coming with us."
"What?" Yosuke Hanamura whiningly objected, but Naoto stared at him.
"He may be able to help us and we need to keep an eye on him." Despite all the anger he'd felt for the blue-haired youth just minutes earlier, Adachi was grateful for the vague tactfulness she was exercising right now. The others might have been catching on, but no one said anything to denote that they knew anything.
"But we can't get into the TV from here. We could end up anywhere and who would save Nanako-chan then?" Chie Satonaka pointed out, but Naoto seemed to be a step or two ahead.
"No. And the mall is closed now. We'll have to enter from the food court tomorrow." she stated it so simply, calm as ever once again. Dojima's nephew nodded in agreement, but a few of the younger teens stared nervously at Adachi, as if worried that a grown-up was intruding on their secret club.
§ § §
Adachi spent that night at the police station. He'd wanted to go home and get some food and a change of clothes, but Naoto had refused to let him out of her sight and he felt obligated to not bring a 16-year-old girl home with him.
He attempted to sleep, but it was difficult. Lying on the bed in the back room of the station, his mind raced. Nanako was out there, why weren't they working around the clock to bring her home? He didn't know too much about the TV business other than people could go inside and there was a dangerous world on the other side, so he didn't understand why they couldn't have gone in right then and there at the hospital.
Not only that, but trying to sleep in this room was unsettling - his own guilt continued to remind him that this was the very room where he'd pushed Saki Konishi into the TV. On top of that, Naoto was watching him like a hawk. They hadn't spoken much the entire night, and he could feel her contempt for him, mixed with something like pity, as if it was oozing out of her pores. A few times he thought about just getting it all out there, knowing she would probably handle the truth better than the others, but he just didn't have the energy and eventually he drifted - however briefly - off into sleep.
When he woke up the next morning, it was obvious Naoto hadn't slept. He could see dark circles under her eyes and her head was starting to nod off. He sat up and stretched before walking over to her and ruffling her hair - a gesture she most definitely did not appreciate, so he quickly backed off.
As he drove them over to Junes he noticed her repeatedly staring at his hands on the wheel, as if she was afraid he was going to deliberately run them off the road. He visibly scowled at this. This whole mistrust thing, understandable as it may be, seemed a little extreme and was getting old quickly. Neither had eaten that morning, and their clothes were wrinkled from sleeping with them on.
When they arrived at the food court together he noticed everyone giving them looks, but Naoto either refused to acknowledge them or didn't notice. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously and avoided eye all eye contact with the teenagers. As an adult, he felt he should take control of this situation, but as an outsider and a guilty party he felt it wasn't his place to say anything.
Dojima's nephew, apparently the group's appointed leader, eventually spoke up, "We need to move quickly this time. Don't fight shadows if you can avoid them, and focus on getting to Nanako. We should split into groups." he looked at everyone for approval and everyone seemed to agree it was a good idea.
"I'd like Adachi-san to stay with my group." Naoto commented, raising her hand as though it were a classroom. Adachi merely looked out at the others awkwardly and nodded silently.
"I'll go with Naoto!" Kanji Tatsumi, the bleached-haired delinquent, quickly added and Adachi thought he saw a hint of pink to his cheeks.
"Then I'll take the other group." Dojima's nephew nodded, "Yosuke, you with me?" He barely even needed to finish his sentence before the headphone clad brunette happily consented to that arrangement.
"Senpai, I want to come with you, too!" piped in Rise Kujikawa, the teen idol, and Adachi's heart sank a little at not being able to see more of her and at the fact that he was currently partnered with an androgynous junior detective and her thuggish, sexually confused fanboy.
"Alright, Rise's with us. The rest of you can decide for yourselves, right?" the silver-haired boy gazed at the three remaining teens as they nodded, looking from one group to the other.
Chie was the next to speak up, and only after looking back and forth between the groups a couple of times. Adachi thought he felt her eyes stop on him for a moment in the process, and it made him squirm slightly. "I'll go with Naoto's group." she chirped happily, walking over to them.
"Oh, I'll go with you!" Yukiko Amagi, daughter of the owner of the Amagi Inn where Adachi had committed his first murder, hopped up after Chie and the detective smiled as their group grew by two cute girls.
Almost simultaneously, the blonde boy known as Teddie clung to Dojima's nephew's arm and cried "I'm coming with you, Sensei!" to which his "sensei" shook his head with a smile.
"Teddie, Naoto's going to need your nose if we want to stay together. We've got Rise to help us, but I need you to go with them, alright?" he patted the blonde younger boy's head and the latter looked as though his eyes were going to well up with tears, but nodded obediently nevertheless. "Sorry, Yukiko, that means we'll need you with us." he offered an apologetic look to Yukiko, who let go of her best friend, whom she had been hugging, and walked over to switch places with Teddie.
After a quick briefing of how exactly things were going to go down once they were inside and many words of encouragement, the band of heroes were finally ready to dive into the TV and Adachi couldn't have been more ready. Every second that they spent comforting each other was another second that Nanako's life was at stake, and it only served to annoy him. As Tohru Adachi was hurled into the TV for the first time ever, he felt as though he were going to be sick.
§ § §
The dungeon was grueling, and Adachi wasn't even doing any fighting. Countless hallways and stairs, running to stay out of the way of attacking shadows - some were almost laughable to Adachi, but others were scarier than he could imagine - and getting lost and having to turn around. Between being concerned about poor little Nanako-chan, the detective wondered about other things - such as why the teenagers all wore glasses in here, why the boy named Teddie ran around in the mascot suit from Junes, and (guiltily) whether or not he could see up Chie's skirt when she was fighting. He tested this theory out only to find that she wore shorts underneath so there was no point.
The other thing he marveled at were these personas that everyone seemed to have. Floating entities would periodically appear out of nowhere during the fights and it was definitely something to behold. He was beginning more and more to understand why Dojima might not have believed his nephew when he'd tried to explain this before. Still, he felt more and more out of place, just awkwardly standing around watching them fight, occasionally getting glares from Naoto to make sure he wasn't trying to run off - not that he would have, it was certain suicide!
When it felt like they'd been running around for hours - as they probably had - Adachi finally couldn't take it anymore. The next shadow he saw he charged at, throwing a punch. He hit it, but it seemed to bounce him back and as he fell onto the ground he heard Kanji yelling "WHAT THE HELL, MAN?" After that, he may have passed out.
§ § §
But when he came to the whole of his group was staring down at him, mouths gaping and he wondered whether he was severely injured or if there was something on his face. He made a groggy noise that sounded something like "mmnghrr...?" before his ears were assaulted from all sides by the chattering teenagers.
"Ohmigod, did you guys see that?" Chie gasped, looking down at Adachi with a look that was halfway between awe and admiration.
"The hell's up with that? I thought you had to face your shadow or something to get a persona?" Kanji grumbled, looking at the others for confirmation.
Naoto was next to respond, with a low murmur, "But didn't senpai get his persona without facing his shadow? When he stuck his hand into the TV?" She held her hand to her chin as if in thought, but Adachi couldn't have been more confused.
"Wha...? What's going on?" he raised an eyebrow and pulled himself into a sitting position as Teddie bounced up and down next to him.
"Adachy-baby, you did it! You summoned a bear-sona!" his voice could not have been more excited, and Adachi was surprised at how much respect they all seemed to have for him considering how wary they'd been around him not long ago.
"I did... what? Really?" As it registered with him, a smile spread onto his face. So he had one of those, too? The first dumb idea to come to his head formed into words in his mouth, "So what did it look like?" Oddly, the others were speechless at this, just looking at each other, communicating telepathically it seemed.
"It looked..." Chie began, but Naoto finished for her.
"Like Senpai's persona, but gray. The bottom of his coat and his sword were stained with blood, though." That was food for thought. From what he'd already heard and seen they reflected a person's psychological state... He supposed it could've been worse. At least the whole thing wasn't bloody, it just showed the signs. Maybe his persona was trying to atone, too...
"You know what this means, though, guys..." Teddie looked at the others, but they seemed just as confused as Adachi on this and stared blankly back. He frowned and continued in an annoyed voice, "Adachy-baby needs the glasses! Otherwise he might pass out again and who knows how long it'll take us to find Nana-chan!"
Her name snapped Adachi straight up and his expression turned serious again, "Forget your stupid glasses, we should be looking for Nanako-chan!" He made to start walking again but he felt a hand on his elbow and looked back to see Chie looking seriously at him.
"Of course we need to find Nanako, but if you're going to help us it's important for you to have the glasses. If this happens to you again it'll only slow us down more." She looked up at him with her brown eyes as if willing him to understand, and he nodded.
"Alright, but let's make this quick."
"No problem, I have a pair right here!" From seemingly nowhere the bear mascot produced a pair of glasses with dark gray frames. "These'll clear up the fog for ya!" And as Adachi put them on he immediately noticed that the bear was right. His head felt significantly less pressured, his stomach's queasiness had died down, and the yellow fog seemed to vanish.
Once everyone else had gotten up and was ready to go, Naoto pulled Adachi aside and looked up at him sternly, "Just because you've awakened to your persona doesn't mean I trust you. But we need all the help we can get, so..." she looked down, ashamed of her next words, "Do you still have your gun? I admit it was foolish of me not to have checked you for it earlier..."
She was right about that. He never would've trusted someone he knew to be dangerous with a gun. It was also true that he still had his, though, so he nodded and pulled his jacket aside to reveal the holster. Naoto grimaced, but nodded as he pulled the gun out.
"But so help me, Adachi-san, if you double cross us I'll make sure that you never see the light of day again." Her expression was dead serious and sent a chill down Adachi's spine. Not that he'd been planning to anyway, but any inclinations he might have had to betray them would have instantly disappeared under that gaze.
"Hey, Naoto, you coming or what?" came the call from an obviously anxious - and possibly jealous - Kanji, and the two returned to the group and continued their search for Nanako.
§ § §
After enough grueling battles to earn a new respect for the kids he'd thought were playing hero, Adachi's group finally reached what looked to be the end of the castle. They saw Dojima's nephew and his group standing just ahead of them and when they looked forward, everyone - surprised or not - let out a gasp.
There stood Namatame, his arm wrapped around Nanako's neck holding her hostage. It would have been one thing for him to have pushed her in, but the sight of him up there holding her against her will made Adachi seethe with anger and disgust. No man should ever handle a little girl like that, especially one as kind and innocent as Nanako.
She grunted and struggled against him, choking out a desperate "Big bro!" but Namatame held her back, shaking his head.
"Y-You mustn't go!" he took a step back as everyone else took a step forward.
"Let go of Nanako!" roared her cousin, but once again Namatame refused.
"I'm going to save this girl..." he murmured, looking as though he was in a trance, and Adachi's heart ached with guilt. He was the one who'd told Namatame that that was what he was doing... Which meant that he had to be the one to set things right.
"It's not..." This was as good as a confession now, he had to suck it up and go through with it, "It's not saving people! That's a lie... Namatame, people die in here!" Everyone looked at him, but Naoto specifically seemed to have a look of pride.
"You... you're...the police detective, the one who told me..." Namatame seemed to be coming to his senses, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Listen, forget everything I told you. What I'm telling you now is true. If you don't let Nanako-chan go right now things could get very bad." He hoped that would do it, but it didn't seem to register with Namatame. Was he too far gone?
"Save them... I'm going to save all of them!" he yelled, and some of the others looked to Adachi inquisitively.
"What's he talking about?" Yosuke yelled, but before Adachi could answer - not that he really wanted to right now - Namatame had let go of Nanako and a strange blue aura had appeared around him.
"What a wonderful world..." laughed a distorted voice that only half sounded like Namatame. The others didn't seem as fazed by this as Adachi, so he wondered if this was what a "shadow self" was. This weird, other Namatame continued, though "An unknown, unreachable place... filled with pleasant fog... I'm a Savior. It's filthy over there... so many evildoers... That's why I'm going to save them... I'm a Savior... A righteous hero..." Just listening to him speak was nauseating and Adachi's trigger finger quivered, he wanted so bad to shoot the bastard right now, but he needed Nanako to be safely out of the way...
The others prepared for battle, so Adachi took a fighting stance, waiting for his moment to strike. Nanako coughed and stumbled away from the man, and Rise and Teddie quickly ran to her side, helping her get to a safe place and not letting go. But as rage fueled everyone else and they charged at Namatame shouting profanities, his body began to convulse and float into the air until it burst into a bizarre winged and haloed figure with a giant head and red skin. It was grotesque, like some kind of twisted angel that at one point represented peace and now only represented a distorted view of it.
§ § §
After a fight that was both long and difficult, with comrades being brainwashed into attacking each other and attacks reflecting off of the distorted figure at all angles, he finally fell, and everyone else fell to their knees in exhaustion. The regular Taro Namatame sat where his shadowy counterpart had been, breathing heavily. Adachi's eyes, like most everyone's were torn between Nanako and Namatame. The little girl thankfully seemed alright, and Adachi was able to smile for the first time in a while.
"Rise, Teddie, Yukiko... make sure that Nanako gets back safely, ok? Everyone else... we need to make sure Namatame can't escape." Naoto once again took hold of the situation and Adachi couldn't help but thing that she might make a better leader than Dojima's strong but silent nephew.
As he made his way over to help the others with Namatame, he couldn't help but glance back over his shoulder to make sure Nanako really was alright, and when he turned back he noticed Naoto staring at him. She pulled him aside again, and he felt awkward as he looked over at the man he hated, but Chie and the three boys seemed to be doing a fine job of apprehending him so he turned his attention back to the young detective.
"You really do care..." she said, and he followed her gaze back to where Nanako had been seconds ago before looking back at her, "I can't understand you, Adachi-san, but you've done a lot to help us and attempt to redeem yourself."
"Save your judgments, good or bad, until you've heard the whole story." Adachi looked away from her, and for a moment he thought she was going to yell because the building silence seemed to demand it.
"Regardless of what you've done in the past, I think what you've done now is enough atonement to lessen your sentence, whatever it may be." He hadn't expected words like that from her, she had struck him as the type to demand justice without forgiveness, but he supposed that maybe the scales of justice could measure good against bad, too.
He couldn't even find the words to thank her as they went to join the others and bring Namatame back out. But as his conscience weighed heavy, he took comfort in knowing that once the truth had been revealed he could rest without that burden.
§ § §
Swallowing hard, Adachi stepped through the doors to the hospital, Naoto and the other teenagers flanking him on every side. He had been the one who requested to make his confession at the hospital. It may have been an unorthodox location, but he had wanted to be the one who told Dojima the truth, and Naoto agreed to give him that much. Namatame had already confessed and was being held in police custody.
The walk down the halls seemed even more like marching to his death than ever, and the lump in his throat grew with every step. He was doubting himself now: could he really face Dojima after all that he had done? Had he really resigned himself to being caught? But he managed to force his mind to answer yes to both these questions as they all stopped in front of Dojima's door.
Not far away, he knew, Nanako lay recovering in the hospital as well. She was in bad shape, and thinking about it hurt, but knowing that she was alive - and that he had helped to save her, to really save her - made all the difference in the world. That was probably why his expression was so serene when Naoto interrupted his thoughts.
"Adachi-san... Dojima-san's ready to see you." she spoke softly as she held the door open for him. A single empty chair sat next to the bed where Dojima was managing to sit up, and Adachi hesitantly walked in and took a seat. Rather than treating his partner as one typically would a hospital patient, he smiled weakly and addressed his superior as an old friend.
"Hey, Dojima-san... You look better." He said sheepishly, hoping to prolong his imminent confession as long as possible, but Dojima wouldn't stand for that.
"Don't give me that Adachi. You're here to tell me something, so tell me." His eyes were stern, but not without some glint of compassion. Adachi lowered his head and rubbed it nervously. This was a lot easier thought than said...
Still, he managed it. A full confession, he left nothing out - not even the parts he'd hoped to keep to himself - his motive, his methods, everything was made clear. At times Dojima looked so enraged that he might leap out of the bed to strangle him, at other times he seemed more contemplative, and these were the times when Adachi began to worry. When all was said, though, he sat there scanning his partner's face for a reaction.
"Adachi... the things you've done are despicable, inexcusable, and must be punished by law..." And Adachi sensed the 'but' coming even as Dojima was finishing the first half, "But nevertheless, you helped to rescue my daughter, and I can never forget that." There were tears in his eyes, and Adachi stood up, leaning over the bed as Dojima slowly raised his arms to pull him into a hug. It lasted a few brief seconds, but the amount of forgiveness in that hug was enough to make Adachi tear up, as well. Then, suddenly, Dojima released him and pulled his right fist back, punching him square in the jaw. "Crime doesn't go unpunished." he said.
Adachi was sentenced to eight years for one count of manslaughter, one count of murder, and four counts of accomplice to attempted murder - Nanako was excluded from these, as was Mitsuo Kubo since he himself was a murderer. The sentence was generously reduced to five years thanks to Naoto and Dojima's requests, and Adachi was complacent, if not a little unhappy.