Chapter one: Welcome to homicide.
Whether you are in the government, a small town police department, or a multi-trillion dollar conglomerate, there's always one thing that's always the same. Orders, they are absolute and they are not meant to be defied, yet sometimes if you do defy them, you can hit the jackpot. Toru was one of those guys who would defy orders in his relentless quests for justice, and it seemingly turned out very well for him. So we now know the man's mentality, but, did it get him far in life? Well, I won't talk about it now, just listen to this little story about his first murder case.
The streets of residential Buraza; Thursday, September 15th of 2016; 1:32 P.M
Akiyama and his partner were on the way to Akademi High in dead silence, Toru, uncomfortable with the amount of silence he was dealing with, decided to emit a couple of words in order to start a conversation.
"I wonder whose childhood friend was" Akiyama said out loud
"Huh? What?" Ichiro piped up
"I'm talking about the victim, I wonder who it was childhood friends with"
"And what does that have to do with the case?"
"Nothing, it has more to do with her name actually" Akiyama answered
"In which way? Enlighten me" Suzuki said in a deadpan
"Well, her name is 'Osana Najimi' right? Well, it turns out that her name; if written without spaces, converts into the name of an anime and manga genre where the protagonist falls in love with their childhood friend, also that means childhood friend per-se by the way"
"Wait, are you an otaku Akiyama?"
"We're dealing with high schoolers Ichiro, we've got to understand their references during an interrogation" Toru answered sternly
"That doesn't change the fact that you watched otaku trash" Suzuki said with venom
"First: I didn't watch anything, just a quick Wikipedia investigation throughout the anime portal was enough for me to find out about that. Secondly: Let's change the subject shall we?"
"Whatever you say, 'Otayama'… I have a little information for you"
"What now…? And call me by that nickname again and you'll be rolling on the pavement" Akiyama warned threateningly
"Message NOT received. Anyway, I was about to tell you about the fact that once we are in Akademi, we'll have to move as quickly as possible, we can't hang around there for long" Suzuki explained
"Why is that?"
"I certainly don't know, but from what I've heard, the headmaster's really scooched up with the police chief, and the headmaster doesn't take very kindly any sort of police presence on school grounds"
"Even during a murder investigation? Knowing that there may be a killer on the loose that could murder his students without mercy?!" Akiyama asked worryingly
"Even if there's a murder investigation ongoing. They've been behaving like that since the Aishi incident in the eighties, they want to preserve the school's 'high and mighty' reputation, even if it means putting the students' security in the line for that, I think he also pushed the chief in giving us that absurd time limit" Ichiro explained in detail
"Son of a bitch… And to think I wanted my children to study at Akademi. Heck! I almost ended up in Akademi myself!"
"Now I've made you not regret your decision of fleeing to America and to ponder more about your non-existent child's safety, you're welcome"
Akademi High School, residential Buraza; 1:38 P.M
"Here we are, Akademi High… Weird, there's no news vans around here" Akiyama pondered
"When something happens at Akademi High, people remain tight-lipped about the whole ordeal, the gods may know why though… Follow me, the corpse should be close to a fountain" Suzuki explained and commanded, since it was Toru's first time around the Akademi school grounds, he simply complied
"This is a restricted area misters" An officer that was guarding the entrance told to the pair of detectives, to which Akiyama and Suzuki responded with flashing their badges. "Oh, come through detectives, the coroner's on the west outer fountain along with the corpse" The officer said as he let the detectives through the security detail.
As they walked towards the corpse, Akiyama couldn't help but notice how beautiful Akademi was. The long corridor adorned by green bushes and cherry trees that let its petals gracefully fall to the ground along with the imposing figure of the school in the background, all of this complimented by a sunny day... And to think there is a corpse rotting by the outer west fountain.
Before getting to the main doors they turned right to head for the east wing on the school through a passageway, as they got closer to the corner, things started to look more like a crime scene; there were several police officers, 'Do not cross' and 'Crime scene' yellow tape, and of course, a coroner seemingly struggling with a gadget. Our pair of detectives flashed their badges to the officers guarding the crime scene, to which they responding with a nod and raising the yellow tape so they walk inside, the coroner greeted them.
"Ichiro Suzuki! Long time no see, finally got a case where we could meet huh?" The coroner greeted, surprisingly in a chipper attitude
"For a person who makes a living off being surrounded by corpses, you sure are cheery Hideo" Ichiro said in a deadpan
"Hey, you know better than anyone that I'm dead inside, I just try to not gloom the people around me"
"Wow, what an uncomfortable conversation" Akiyama butted in
"And who's this guy Ichiro? Don't tell me that's your partner" Hideo, the coroner asked in surprise
"Well, I guess an introduction's in order. Hideo, this is the Detective Toru Akiyama. Toru, this is Hideo Yamamoto, one of the many coroners that serves this fine town" Suzuki introduced each one in a gloomy tone
"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Yamamoto" Toru said before placing two of his fingers in his forehead to make a salute
"I was about to wonder why we didn't shake hands, I then remembered the mess I have in my hands… Also, don't call me Mr. Yamamoto, I'm not a fan of formalities. Call me by my first name"
"I'll bear that in mind. What do you have for us?"
"Not much detective, as per usual I'm struggling with this Saikou piece of crap, I'm sure Saikou Corp. keeps sending us devices in clear alpha for testing, I haven't been able to get any forensics out of this, and I'm not surprised considering no other police department in the world has these things, but, you guys have to see this… Akiyama, I can sense you're new to homicide, so I recommend you to hold your nose" Hideo explained as they walked towards the corpse
"Don't worry, I've dealt with hit and run cases in traffic, this shouldn't be any different" Toru bragged
"Toru, this is Akademi High, I'm sure that this will definitely be a surprise for you" Ichiro warned
"Why is that?"
"You'll see now" Hideo said as he uncovered a corpse that was covered in a bloodstained white cover
"… Holy mother of shit" Akiyama said in surprise
Underneath the drapes, there was the corpse of a schoolgirl dressed in a white-and-blue seifuku; the standard Akademi uniform, with orange hair tied in long pigtails… She also had her neck snapped in a way that some of the skin around it was ripped apart, allowing them to see the inside of the girl's neck. She was lying in a pool of her own blood and the uniform was stained beyond relief, she was also lacking any sort of footwear, the only thing covering her feet was her orange stockings with polka dots.
"What a way to die…"
"I doesn't matter how you go, once you're gone" Ichiro deadpanned
"Well, here's what I'm able to tell without any forensics: She fell from the roof vertically, with her head pointing to the ground and looking up, she severed her jugular and her neck got snapped upon impact, rendering her dead as soon as she touched the ground"
"Wait, the dive doesn't make sense" Toru interjected
"What do you mean?" Ichiro inquired
"Jumpers usually take a belly dive or fall in their backs when falling from buildings of this height. This can mean one of two things: She either wanted to make sure that she would be dead upon impact, judging from the lack of footwear, or…" Akiyama elaborated as he raised his head towards the school rooftop, precisely at the spot where Najimi could have jumped
"… She got pushed off the roof… You're thinking what I'm thinking?" Suzuki said whilst taking his eyesight to the same spot where Toru was looking
"Likely… Officer, we have any witnesses in the rooftop?" Akiyama asked a nearby police officer
"Sure detective, three girls in the rooftop. Names are: Saki Miyu, Kokona Haruka, and Ayano Aishi. They're being held in place by the first responders, Haruka made the emergency call" The guarding officer explained
"Roger, tell the officers on the rooftop that my partner and I are on the way… Hideo, bag the corpse and take it to the morgue in Tokyo if you can, be sure to run the necessary inquiries; including running the whole body for fingerprints, and leave the results as a message for Ichiro and me with the dispatcher when you're done… Wait a second, officer, can you repeat the name of the last witness?"
"Ayano Aishi…" The officer said in a surprised tone
"I've definitely heard that surname before. And… It feels really familiar, like if it has followed me my whole life" Akiyama determined
"I'm sure it has Akiyama, if I recall correctly, your father was the lead prosecutor on the case against her mother Ryoba" Suzuki interjected whilst putting a hand in Toru's shoulder
"The case that ruined his career…" Toru muttered
As he finished saying that, I'm one hundred percent sure that Toru's childhood passed in front of his eyes, every moment that his father cursed the existence of Ryoba Aishi. All of the times he relentlessly searched for evidence to reopen the case, and even his last words… 'Fucking Aishi, you ruined me'.
"Hey, stay cool, and don't let a family grudge cloud your judgment. Don't even dare to pin a charge against Aishi without evidence, otherwise you'll end up wearing a uniform again before you know it" Ichiro warned threateningly as he pulled Toru away
"Sure… I'll bear that in mind…" Akiyama muttered as he walked behind Suzuki, following him to the rooftop
Akademi High's rooftop; 1:45 P.M
As Ichiro and Toru entered Akademi High's rooftop via the west entrance, the only thing noticeable was two officers that were trying to talk down two girls; one with purple hair tied in twin drills and another one with blue hair tied in two long pigtails, in refraining to try to walk away from the area. In the distance, however, there was a black-haired girl with her hair tied in a single ponytail on the back of her head sitting in a bench, guarded by a police officer. The detectives first approached the two girls discussing with the officers.
"Officers, go take a break, we'll handle these two ladies" Ichiro signaled as both him and Toru flashed their badges
"Finally, I was getting tired of them, they're all yours detectives" The officer said as he patted his partner to walk away
"I'll handle the interrogation, you serve as my back-up" Akiyama said as he drew a notebook and a pencil from his blazer
"Huh, this'll be interesting"
"Okay… Saki Miyu and Kokona Haruka I assume?" Toru asked the pair of ladies
"I'm Saki" Said the blue-haired one
"And I'm Kokona" Said the purple-haired one
"Okay… I'm the Detective Akiyama and he's the Detective Suzuki… I was wondering if you two could answer a couple of questions" Akiyama said whilst writing their names and making quick sketches of them in his notebook
"Sure, ask away" Both of them answered at the same time before giggling
"What is your relationship with the victim?"
"Acquaintances, Osana and I weren't that close… I feel ashamed of that, I could've helped her" Saki said whilst looking down and grabbing her left arm
"And you Kokona?" Akiyama said as he finished writing Saki's statement and pointed at Kokona with his pencil
"Same as Saki, although I was a bit closer to her, I used to see her hang around the Cooking Club room, we usually discussed about our ways to cook and shared tips until Osana got really defensive when asked if she found motivation to cook on a person she was close to, she went really tsun-tsun and I was always like 'Chill out partner!'" Haruka said as she made a gesture to describe how she acted out when Osana got defensive
"Uh-huh. How did the events in the roof transpire?"
"Well, actually we couldn't see much. Saki and I were talking behind the A/C unit and before we knew it we heard Osana scream" Kokona explained
"And when we popped our heads, we saw Ayano-chan taking a peek from the guardrail and shouting… I know it is a dumb question to ask, but can I swear in front of you? It's relevant" Saki completed and asked for permission to swear
"Miyu, as long as it is relevant to the case, and even much more when it's part of a quote said by a… Suspect" Akiyama explained as he wrote and hesitated to call Ayano a suspect, but with Saki Miyu's statement, he had all the reason to do it
"Good, Ayano-chan said: 'Oh crap she took the jump', and Miss Responsible here took the responsibility to call you all" Miyu said the quote in an emotionless tone and then pointed to Kokona, who was blushing
"Okay… What do you girls know about Ayano?"
"Ehhh… Not much, she's pretty weird to be honest… I've heard she spends all day staring at some upperclassman" Kokona said and she whispered the rumor to the Detectives
"Well, that's a tasty nugget of unnecessary information" Ichiro deadpanned
"No information is useless when talking about a suspect Ichiro… Is that it?" Akiyama sternly berated Suzuki and then turned to the girls
"I don't know anything else, what about you Saki?" Haruka asked her companion
"I only know as much as you do" Saki said as she shrugged
"In that case, we're done here, Toru wrote down your statements so you girls are allowed to leave the rooftop, wait patiently until we are able to let you all go home" Ichiro instructed
"Understood" Both girls said at the same time as they walked away
"Time to face the elephant in the room" Akiyama said with a determined look in his face
"Don't go overboard, lawyers love that shit" Suzuki warned
"Trust me, I'll treat her like any other suspect"
With that exchange, Suzuki and Akiyama walked towards the bench where Ayano was sitting, they once again flashed their badges to the officer guarding her and signaled him to stand down. She complied and now the detectives were all alone with Ayano Aishi.
"Ayano Aishi?" Toru asked
"Yes?" She responded in the same tone
"Detectives Akiyama and Suzuki. We're here to ask you some questions about what transpired in this rooftop" Suzuki continued
"Go ahead" Aishi responded blandly
Akiyama coughed slightly to get his throat ready and began his interrogation.
"Ms. Aishi, what happened in the rooftop with Osana Najimi?"
"Well, I was enjoying the view, then I saw Osana taking her shoes off, leaving a note in them and taking a jump towards a certain death. She looked very downcast, you could say depressed" Aishi stated coldly as she pointed at Osana's shoes that were close to the guardrail
"Why didn't you stop her?" Akiyama asked intrigued
"I wasn't 'friends' with Osana, I considered her… a rival"
"A rival in what?"
"In… Everything…" Ayano said basically under her breath, yet the Detective Akiyama caught it
"Okay… Kokona and Saki told us you took a peek at Osana's corpse, what was your reaction?"
"'Oh crap, she took the jump'" Aishi quoted her own words in her emotionless voice, it sounded very eerie
"You didn't sound very shocked at the fact she took the jump didn't you?" Akiyama pushed
"Yes, I wasn't, I was hoping that one of these days Osana would go away, I didn't expect it to be like this. But it will do" Ayano nonchalantly said before shrugging
"Geez… Toru, let's leave her alone, she's giving me the creeps and we got what we needed, we should go take a look at the shoes" Ichiro said as he pulled Toru's sleeve from behind
Toru hesitated for a second before answering, he didn't have a reason nor evidence to accuse Ayano of murder, but his gut feelings told him to do it by only using the way she replied to them, but since that wasn't enough evidence, he had to let Ryoba Aishi's daughter go. He sighed and then addressed Aishi.
"You're allowed to leave the rooftop Aishi, stay alert so you know when to leave the school" Akiyama said sternly
"Gladly" She emotionlessly said as she picked herself up and walked away
Toru and Ichiro stayed there for a second, pondering with their own ideas. Akiyama was the first to snap.
"Ichiro, if Hideo's still around, tell him to give me some latex gloves, if there's evidence on the shoes themselves I don't want to contaminate it, I'll read the note" Akiyama commanded
"I'll go check that out right now" Suzuki said as he headed to the stairwell
As Ichiro walked away, Toru approached Osana's shoes and carefully took the note that was neatly tucked in the left shoe to read it, and it went like this:
I never thought I'd be doing this.
But what has happened in the last week doesn't leave me any other choice.
I poured my heart to one special person only to have it stomped and shattered in a million pieces.
So I'm done.
I'm done with love.
I'm done with life.
I've already made up my mind.
Don't try to convince me otherwise.
Hoping that you all rot in hell; Osana.
"Well, that's a nice farewell letter" Toru said sarcastically as he read the note left by Osana
"Hey Toru! What did you find? I have those gloves you asked for!" Hideo said from the top of the stairwell case
"You two get over here! Come read this!" Toru commanded to both the coroner and his partner
"What do you have there?" Ichiro asked
"The most heartwarming farewell letter you'll ever see!" Akiyama said jokingly
The trio gathered to read Osana's farewell letter, and well, they drew their conclusions.
"So, if this is actually a suicide then we have a reason why Najimi plunged from the roof" Suzuki pointed out
"Yes, it looks like somebody broke her heart, poor girl" Toru concluded
"Something feels odd about this considering your original conclusions folks, you should compare the handwriting in this letter with one of Najimi's notebooks" Hideo suggested
"Since when are you a detective, Hideo?" Ichiro sarcastically remarked
"Ever since I realized that I was smarter than most of you folks on homicide"
"Wow, so this is when the dead inside persona shows its true colors" Toru deadpanned
"Trust me, it gets only worse when Ichiro tries to be smart!" The coroner returned to his chipper demeanor as he patted Akiyama in the back
"He he… You have a point though, we should requisition Najimi's book bag right away"
"Wait, what am I here for then? Tips and hints? Because I'm glad to help but I have to conduct the autopsy on Osana Najimi's corpse" Hideo asked
"Nah, you're here to bag some evidence for us, see those shoes there? They're supposedly Najimi's" Ichiro indicated as he turned Hideo in the direction of the shoes
"Oh, I'll get on it right away, I'll also be sending you two whatever I find on these shoes with the dispatcher, give me the note too, I'll send you a scanned copy by email so you can compare them on the go" The coroner said as he put the gloves on, picked the shoes up and placed them in an evidence bag
"Okay, that's a wrap-up with the evidence… What now?" Toru asked to himself as he handed the note to the coroner
"We can either go acquire Najimi's bag or talk with the guidance counselor. Take a pick" Ichiro answered
Toru stood there for some good seconds pondering about where to go, as quickly as he could, Akiyama took his decision.
"Counselor's office, lead the way" Toru commanded
Ichiro nodded and headed for the stairwell case, Toru followed suit, as they went down the stairs, Toru asked Ichiro a question.
"Ichiro, I was wondering, why are we heading to guidance counselor's office? Shouldn't we be speaking with the headmaster?" Toru asked out of curiosity as they walked
"Let me explain why, first: Remember what I told you about the headmaster? Well, he doesn't even like police officers or detectives asking for information from him even when there's a fresh corpse in school grounds, and the last detective that did it got demoted back to patrol the following week. Second: The asshole is about to retire so he delegated most; if not all, of his duties to the counselor, he doesn't do anything other than filling tax returns, taking money away from parents and wondering what will be the school's next PR stunt. And finally: The counselor is way more cooperative and friendly towards us, she gets the importance of our job. Is that enough?" Ichiro carefully elaborated
"At least you're able to make coherent answers"
"Fuck you Akiyama"
Toru simply scoffed at that.
Student Counselor's office, Akademi High School; 1:58 P.M
Both men were standing in front of the counselor's office. The Detective Suzuki took the task of filling Toru in.
"Well, here we are. The broad's name is Genka Kunahito, real nice person. She'll provide you with everything student-related for the case. Well, except for permission to requisition bags that aren't our victim's. But she'll be more of a help than the headmaster" Suzuki explained
"Thanks for the heads-up. Despite your usual attitude, you're a good partner" Akiyama complimented
"Save it Toru"
"And we're back to square one"
After the exchange of words. The detectives opened the door and stepped in the office, the guidance counselor jerked her head up from the computer and proceeded to greet the detectives.
"Oh, Detective Suzuki, it's a pleasure meeting you again" The counselor said in a professional tone
"What's with all the formality Genka? Aren't you happy to see me?" Ichiro said without a care in the world as he took a seat in one of the couches in the room
"Of course I am…! It's just that…" She said; flustered by the way, before gently pointing with her head at Toru
"Am I sensing something… Kinky here?" Toru said smugly
"Very funny Toru, you're making things worse… Anyway Genka, that's the Detective Toru Akiyama there, my new partner and a real piece of work. He'll be asking you some questions about what happened here" Ichiro complained at Toru and then addressed the counselor
"A pleasure meeting you Ms. Kunahito" Akiyama said whilst taking a bow
"The pleasure is mutual Detective Akiyama, what can I help you with?" Kunahito said as she also took a bow before taking a seat again
"Can I get a student overview of Osana Najimi? It's very pertinent to the case as she's the victim" Toru said as he took a seat
"Sure, give me a second… Here you go" Genka muttered as she searched for something in her computer and then turned the laptop to Toru
Najimi's profile seemed very clean, resident of class 2-1, clubless since her first year in Akademi, good qualifications, associated with a 'Taro Yamada' (At the moment Toru thought that Osana's friend wasn't identified for some reason due to the name) and… Two recent citations to the counselor's office?
"Ms. Kunahito, can you explain why Osana Najimi was called here in two occasions recently?" Akiyama said as he drew his notebook and proceeded to draw a quick sketch of Genka along with her name
"Well, the first citation occurred on last week's Tuesday, when an anonymous student gave me the information that Najimi was taking… Panty shots of other students, she tried to deny it, but I found the evidence on her phone and gave her a warning. The other one was on last week's Friday, where… Another, anonymous student made a report of her smuggling cigarettes into the school grounds, she once again tried to deny it, but I found an untouched pack in her bag and got her suspended for three school days" Kunahito explained
Kunahito hesitated when she mentioned the 'anonymous student' who made the second report, this piqued Akiyama's curiosity, because he could sense she was hiding the truth.
"Ms. Kunahito, are you aware that you hesitated when naming the second 'anonymous student' right? You're hiding something Genka, don't deny it" Following this, Genka gulped audibly "And for the record, withholding information from the police during a criminal investigation is a serious offense! Do you seriously want to lose your career over an ungrateful brat who wouldn't hesitate to stab you in the back it had the chance Ms. Kunahito? Why don't you drop this?" Akiyama pushed his luck with every word, each one stronger in delivery and meaning through the sentence
"Alright! The student who made the reports was Ayano Aishi, she came to my office in both days. But considering what I found in Najimi's phone and bag, everything that was done is justified detective!" Genka defended herself
"I know, you were doing the right thing for the school. But remember. Counselor-Student confidentiality ends the moment a detective steps in this office during a criminal investigation. Do you receive?" Toru asked commandingly as he wrote down Kunahito's confession
Kunahito simply sighed in resignation.
"I understand detective, are we done?" Genka said, demotivated
"Just one more thing… Where did you meet this jackass?" Toru said with a goofy grin whilst pointing at the Detective Suzuki with his pencil
"Oh you…" Kunahito muttered before giggling a bit
"Alright you asshole, we're outta here" Ichiro said as he locked Toru's left arm in his and dragged him away
"Well! It looks like it's a question for another day! It's been a pleasure meeting you Ms. Kunahito!" Toru said as he was dragged outside
"He he… If I didn't knew better, I could say that those two could grow to be more than partners" Genka muttered under her breath as the door was closed
As the two detectives got outside, Suzuki released his grip on Akiyama's arm.
"What was that for?!" Suzuki asked whilst practically gritting his teeth
"It was a perfectly legitimate question Casanova! I can't believe you have a thing for women in business suits" Akiyama joked to get in his nerves
"Not. Another. WORD. Understand?" Ichiro threatened
"Whatever you say… Playboy"
"I swear that if you weren't my partner…"
"Anyway, guide us to the central plaza, we need to speak to a Taro Yamada" Toru gave an advice
"What? How are we going to talk with someone we don't even know their real name?" Ichiro asked perplexed
"Easy Suzuki. We look for a person crying their souls out over Osana" Toru nonchalantly explained
Akademi High's central plaza; 2:03 P.M
As soon as the two detectives entered the central plaza of Akademi they stuck out like a sore thumb, they were two grown-up men in suits in the middle of a yard filled with high schoolers and that sure attracted undesired sights, Ichiro seemed slightly uncomfortable with the unwanted attention, but Toru was more focused on the task at hand, which was finding a grieving student. Carefully scanning the plaza, he found what he was looking for in the less inconspicuous of places, a black-haired boy was crying his guts out while he was being comforted by several of his friends at the fountain, Akiyama promptly advised his partner.
"Look over there, by the fountain, there's our grieving widow" Toru noted
"Alright, you know how to deal with grieving people right?" Ichiro asked
"I don't do it too often. You don't deal with many widows on burglary or traffic, although I've done it sometimes"
"And how it went?"
"I've gotten… Slapped…" Toru awkwardly said
With that, Ichiro did his best efforts to contain his laughter to not be insensitive, Toru had to give him a push so Ichiro could knock it off, so he drew his concealed pistol and nudged Suzuki in the back of his head with it, an action that obviously hurt.
"SONOFABITCH!" Was all that Ichiro said as he gave a step forwards and winced in pain
"So, are you going to be productive or you're going to stand there all day laughing at my mistakes? Get a grip on reality and move on, there's a killer on the loose" Akiyama smugly said as he holstered his weapon and moved towards the fountain, leaving Suzuki behind
"I swear, that kid sometimes gets on my nerves…" Ichiro muttered as he followed his partner
Both detectives carefully approached the central fountain, where the grieving boy was at, Ichiro and Toru had a glance exchange over who would talk to the grieving teenager, after a shrug from the older detective, he took a step forwards and kneeled in front of the kid.
"What's wrong son? Why are you shedding all these tears for?" The Detective Suzuki asked with concern as he placed a hand on the grieving teenager's knee
The teenager didn't respond, instead, his friend did. In this instance, a similar boy with black hair as well, albeit with a more muscular build and a martial arts bandana wrapped around his forehead.
"His best friend since childhood jumped from the roof today, he was the first to see the body from up close, and he's surely traumatized"
"I see… Son, look at me. Tell me, what's wrong? Do you think you did anything bad to her?" Ichiro asked, with a ton of care on his speech
The crying boy finally regained some of his composure and began to address the detective that was attempting to console him.
"I… I… I… I pissed her off rather frequently… *Sob* S-s-she was pretty much bad at me for little things… I-I-I… I never thought she would go this far over our petty arguments… *Sob* WHY?! WHY ME?!" The boy said before bursting back into tears
"Wow, at least you got him to talk a bit" A red-headed boy sitting opposite the more muscular kid said nonchalantly
"Why don't you show some care and scram kid? You're surely aren't doing any favors to him" Ichiro said, swiftly changing to his usual non-caring attitude
"And who are you to boss me around?"
"First kid: I'm older than you, so show me some respect. Secondly: I'm a police detective, so I can boss you around as much as I please. Understood? Or do you want me to sap you?" Suzuki said threateningly as he drew a tactical nightstick and put the badge on his belt on display
"O-oh… I got it. I'll be gone" The boy said, scared as all heck, any hint of a snarky attitude seemingly gone at the sight of the badge and the stick
"Yeah, you do as you do young punk… Now, kid, what if I told you that she didn't WANT to make the jump? Would it make you feel better?" Ichiro said as he holstered his melee weapon and took a seat besides the crying boy
"W-w-what?! Seriously?!" The bland-looking boy said, with a glint of hope in his eyes
"We have reasons to believe Osana… Got pushed off the rooftop in a cold-blooded murder, but hold your horses, we cannot confirm this, and to rule out the possibility of a suicide we need to ask you a couple of questions son… Are you feeling well to answer?"
After some pondering and sobbing, the boy finally answers.
"S-sure… I want to see how much guilt… I bear in this…"
"Okay then, Akiyama, get over here. The kid's ready" Suzuki said whilst gesturing to his partner to which he complied
Toru drew his notebook once again and made a quick sketch of the boy, then the interrogation began.
"Okay son, what's your name?"
"Taro… Taro Yamada" The boy said in his depressed state
"Seriously? There's actually people named like that?" Suzuki asked without a care in the world
"What about my name sir?" Taro asked dumbfounded
"Umm… Well, you see… In our job, your name is normally used to name an unidentified corpse. It's our variant of the American term 'John Doe', which has the same meaning" Akiyama explained
"Oh… I guess you learn something new every day…"
"Anyhow, Mr. Yamada, how close were you to the victim?" Toru asked
"Well, we are best friends since we were little kids, we saw each other grow, each other laugh, each other cry… It was a nice life…" Yamada explained, drifting off as he went down memory lane
"Okay, did Osana have any enemies on the school? A rival classmate who wanted to see her fall?"
"That was a bit insensitive on your side Akiyama" Ichiro piped up as Taro began to sob once again
"Sorry, I-I… I don't know what came across my mind to use that expression" Toru apologized
"It's not your fault detective… *Sob* Back to the subject, I never knew if she had enemies of any sort, she's friendly to everyone, not so much to me but, she is okay in my opinion"
"What do you mean with 'Not so much to me'? Did she get aggressive when in your company?"
"Yeah… A bit, she got defensive when we got to things like… High school romance and stuff" Taro explained as he fidgeted with his fingers
"Wow, a typical case of tsundere-ism right there" Ichiro said out of the blue
"What do you mean with that detective?" Yamada asked
"Son, are you a bit-too-much dense by chance? She was obviously in love with you! Question: Did she blush a lot when you two got to the high school romance thing?" Ichiro inquired
"She did get red when talking to me, but she said that it was due to the heat, that it wasn't blushing… Actually, your theory starts to make sense sir"
"Taro, did she confess to you?" Akiyama asked
"Osana?! Confessing to me?! Where did you get that idea?" Taro jumped in surprise
"Well, it's because we found a note allegedly written by Osana that said that she got heartbroken, possibly due to rejection. And considering you were her crush, we pinpointed you as a catalyst for the suicide, IF it was actually a suicide" Ichiro explained
"I do hope it isn't…" Yamada said in a downcast attitude
"You and me both kid, I need an arrest… Anyhow, answer my question please, it's pertinent to discard the suicide" Akiyama nonchalantly said
"Well, no, she didn't confess to me… Although, she was one of those people who believed in the myth of the cherry tree behind the school"
"Oh, I've heard about that one, the myth says that if you confess on a Friday evening underneath the tree your confession is guaranteed to be accepted. A load of childish bullshit if you ask me but, each one to its own" Suzuki explained only to add his nonchalant opinion at the end
"Okay… I think this is it, thank you very much for your cooperation Mr. Yamada, we'll make sure to get to the bottom of this, by the way. Have my phone number, just give me a call and I'll make sure to keep you updated on the latest about this unfortunate event, maybe you'll even get some peace of mind this way" Toru said as he gave Taro a business card with his name and phone number
"Thanks, detective… I-I I'll make sure to call you!" Yamada said nervously
"My pleasure kid… Let's get a move on shall we? We still have to requisition Najimi's bag" Toru said to the grieving boy and then to his partner
"Yeah, but after we requisition the bag we're outta here, we can check out its contents at central, otherwise the cap isn't gonna be very happy if we hang around here for longer" Ichiro said as he stood up, once again foreshadowing the fact that their careers are at risk the longer they stay at Akademi
"No, first we're checking out the contents of the bag, if we find more leads, we investigate some more, now, class 2-1, lead the way" Akiyama commanded
"Listen up here kid, I'm not gonna lose the job I've worked so hard to get for over twenty years over some rookie detective with grandeur delusions that has only been in the force for four years or so. I don't care if you've made a lot of progress in the case in such a short period of time, you're pushing our luck every second we stay in this damned school, if you want to keep wearing that suit you're gonna listen to what I have to say: WE. ARE. GOING. AWAY. WHEN. WE. PICK. THAT. BAG. Got it? Now move it" Ichiro refuted as he grabbed Toru by his shirt, before brusquely releasing him and walking off to their destination
"Fuck you… When I get a couple of months more in this desk, I'm working solo" Toru complained under his breath
And with that, the pair of detectives headed towards the classroom 2-1, to pick Osana Najimi's with a grudge they would need to bury before advancing further in the case.
No author's note this time… I'm drained…