Wednesday
It was the early morning and Soichiro and Akagi had to arrive early because the police wanted people to be as up to date on the case as possible. They were at least getting Satoru's pattern now. He would usually attack before the expected time, but this time he didn't give the time to attack. Akagi felt anxious as he knew now that Satoru escalated very quickly. Soichiro was more calm and confident as he was finding patterns in this killer.
"An entire mall was massacred yesterday" Akagi said hesitantly at the meeting. "There were only a few survivors."
"There was also a massacre of an entire family" Soichiro informed to the people there. "That wasn't on the schedule."
"It is clear that Satoru Kurosawa is trying to make us go off track" the chief stated. "It might signal that he is doing more than one incident a day. We have Tokyo on a manhunt for him and it is reported that seven others were killed last night from poisoning."
"He must have caused the poisoning" Soichiro answered back. Soichiro was catching on quickly
"It is likely" the chief stated calmly. "But until we find him we must take every non natural death in Japan as a work by him."
"What does he want?" Akagi asked in a thinking tone.
"We might know now" said a police officer coming in. "I just got a tape that was sent to the mail of this police station. I heard that other stations throughout Japan are getting the same tape. There is no address but according to the handwriting, it is said that we must see this."
"When was it recorded?" Soichiro asked surprised. He wasn't expecting Satoru to announce himself. "This is certainly different from most criminals." Soichiro thought.
"I don't know" the police officer said scratching his head. "Maybe last night."
"Put it on" the chief stated. "There is no point not listening to it."
They put the tape into a video player for all of them to see. Satoru was sitting in the dark, his face obscured but the date and time showed it was made a few days ago. He had a sinister attitude and only really spoke sadistically. The tape was for all to see.
"Hello" Satoru said sadistically. "If you are wondering, I am responsible for the Mall incident and the hospital incident which will happen later today. I am happy for you to play this tape because it can't be used as evidence. Once it is done playing, it will be permanently erased. If you do want to convict me, you will have to catch me first. Humans are suffering and what do we do? We don't end their suffering. As long as there is still potential for the person to suffer they will always suffer. I am killing people who had suffered before, who live imperfect lives. So what does that make me?"
"Murderer" Soichiro and Akagi yelled at the screen angered by Satoru's words.
"A symbol of hope for people on this planet" Satoru said in a more human tone. "I will not stop until people are cleansed of their suffering. If you are trying to find me, you can be ensure that I have moved out of my house. There is no evidence I am there anymore. I will however give my location when the time has come. You think that you guys can bring happiness to the world. You know that you guys have caused suffering as well, with all your police brutality. Crime is caused by suffering so you can call me a symbol of justice as well but I am not focused on the crime. You guys can execute all the criminals you want. You are doing my job for me as they are suffering as well. I am killing people to end their suffering that is my purpose. Flaws drive humanity to insanity so who am I to get rid of those flaws. A flawed life is the worst of them all. Oh if you want to know about the survivors of the mall massacre. I will find them and kill them in due time. Just because they could escape doesn't mean they will escape me. I am ending their suffering and setting them free. If you want to talk to me, how about Saturday where I will tear your system apart limb by limb."
The tape was over at that moment. "Limb by limb" the chief said startled.
"He is going to target the police headquarters that day" Soichiro said scared. "We must catch him beforehand"
"You seem so sure" Akagi said worriedly.
"It it not worth the risk thinking he could attack any other places." Soichiro said in a slightly stressed tone. "He is probably researching all the police profiles right now about whether we are suffering as well."
"We are not suffering" Akagi yelled back to Soichiro.
"His point of view of suffering seems different" Soichiro said calming down. "From people we examined he seems to target people who have had flawed lives. He takes suffering as the smallest thing. In one instance he would kill a dog that is old, wounded, and begging to die, but in another instant he would kill a kid who is upset he didn't get his ice cream for the day."
"Talk about deluded beliefs" Akagi declared. "Are you sure about him?"
"I won't be absolutely sure until I meet him" Soichiro stated. "There is no point in not starting a nationwide manhunt today and if we don't catch him we still have Saturday when he said he would finally reveal himself." By this point Soichiro really wanted to meet Satoru face to face. He was begging to.
"Well", the chief said, "I am not one for taking risks but I feel like we should trust Soichiro for now. If the past few days are anything to go by then it is the fact that he wants attention but is not ready to reveal himself until he thinks he is safe. There is no way to get out of this safely without more deaths but we must take everything at face value. I would recommend a curfew time as well as shutting places down early. The more people who are at home, the less likely they are to be killed by him."
After getting done with the meeting Soichiro and Akagi sat down to have donuts for breakfast when Akagi started to cry. Akagi had been getting more stressed as he learned more and more about Satoru. He knew his duty and his life were on the line but he wasn't afraid of dying. He was afraid of what damage Satoru would cause if he got away. Akagi didn't know how Soichiro would feel when he was gone and he was worried about that.
"What is it?" Soichiro asked. He looked concerned for his friend.
"You could be in danger" Akagi said in a worried tone. "For all the time I have known you I feel that it could happen any day now and I could lose you."
"You won't lose me" Soichiro said with a smile. "We can't lose ourselve, Akagi" Soichiro thought.
"But I could" Akagi said with a few tears. "I know the point of upholding justice but I am sick and tired of people dying all the time. There is no point in killing people if it achieves nothing. You can't bring the victim back and there is nothing just about killing people without permission."
"I understand" Soichiro said. Soichiro smiled at that moment
"It is not just that" Akagi said getting a bit happier. "I am afraid that the conditions in the environment could turn any member of my family into a murderer. Parents, children, grandchildren, aren't you afraid that this will happen one day."
"No" Soichiro proclaimed "It is highly unlikely if the family is secure?"
"But it could happen" Akagi answered back. "Which leads me to ask, what do Satoru's parents think of him right now. It can't be positive and I don't know why they haven't reported on him either."
"I heard he has a sister" Soichiro said in a curious tone. "But where is she now? I just don't know."
"We won't find out until we capture him" Akagi stated. "And that is the sad truth."
Akagi knew he was underestimating himself at this point but he never thought he would have a first case this big. He knew deep down he would go down as a great cop and hopefully a great detective but in his heart he knew at this moment he was a novice and he shouldn't overestimate himself.
Sachiko was back at her apartment which she was currently staying at. She had heard nothing about what had happened to her friends but right now she was just happy that she was safe. She spent the night calming herself down from the incident and stayed optimistic the whole time. She decided to get carry out for dinner because she wasn't in the mood to cook anything. Last night and today were simply stay at home days. She already made breakfast and was almost done with it.
"Akane, Ryuko", Sachiko thought, "I hope you guys are safe. I don't know who did those things yesterday but it couldn't be the same person I keep hearing that has been killing people for the past few weeks. I could have made a great dinner last night as I am a great chef but I was just so traumatized that I felt it was better to get something from a restaurant this time. You should have come with me Akane thought. I am still worried about you."
"Well", Sachiko said calmly, "there is nothing to bother me right now, so I guess I should do my early day work out."
After Sachiko worked out in her room she was able to get a rest when suddenly gas was pouring through her room. She began to cough.
"What is this?" Sachiko cried. "Who are you and what do you want with me?"
Sachiko tried to hold her breath but felt it hard to do even that. About a minute later she was passed out and the mastermind behind it just opened the door.
Satoru was wearing a gas mask. He began to drag Sachiko. "There you are" Satoru thought "I will cure you. My methods have not failed. Only the people who have tried them have. You are the perfect candidate and the death of your friends is the perfect thing to prove that you are suffering now. I can help you recover but if you don't you will be joining them very soon. Huh isn't it ironic that you didn't notice all the people I killed in this apartment to make sure I could capture you. They were all suffering but I did it quietly so you wouldn't notice. Sachiko Yagami you will be proud of me in the end and this time I will make sure you are proud in this life and not the afterlife."
Sachiko woke up about an hour later in a basement. It was cold and dark as she noticed she was chained to a chair. She was stripped naked of everything except underwear and a bra. She didn't know where she was. Her stress was going up at the site of the place, cold and barren. She knew something was messed up here.
"Where am I?" Sachiko thought, "What happened back there?"
"Oh your finally awake" Satoru said sadistically.
"Who are you?" Sachiko answered back weakly.
"I am your savior and the person who will cure you." Satoru said in a charming tone. "My dear you are suffering. You were suffering before, but now you are suffering more than ever."
"Then why did you strip me naked" Sachiko uttered in a scared tone. "Out of love or lust? If you are trying to cure me than why are you giving me a bad first impression?"
"Doesn't matter right now" Satoru said smiling. "You just survived a mall massacre. You should be thankful to me."
"A mall massacre you started" Sachiko said. She knew not to trust this guy.
"You can't say that" Satoru said sarcastically. "You are drawing conclusions so quickly."
"Okay then", Sachiko shouted, "how did you find me?"
"I tracked you" Satoru stated. "I searched through phone books and year books to find you. You think I am dumb?"
"No" Sachiko said starting to cry. "If you were able to orchestrate an entire massacre."
"So then", Satoru proclaimed, "Let me be your savior."
"You think" Sachiko said angrily. "I suppose you are the one because of how you act, all sadistic and stuff, if you are trying to end people's suffering than why don't you act benevolent about it because right now you are just a typical serial killer."
"I am not a serial killer" Satoru yelled. "I justly put people down when they are suffering."
"Yeah" Sachiko welped. "What did you do with Akane and Ryuko? TELL ME" she yelled.
"They were suffering" Satoru smirked. "I had to put them down."
Sachiko started to cry. "Bastard, Bastard" she yelled "What gives you the right to kill people? You killed my friends. We weren't suffering, we were fine. If there is anybody who is causing suffering than it is you. Death may be the end of all suffering but it is suffering towards the family around them. You think you can just cut peoples lives short because you think we are suffering. We just want to live long happy lives and you would probably want the same thing as well."
Satoru slapped Sachiko in the face "Who gives you the right to criticize? Today I will set several people at the hospital free from their suffering."
"You really think people are suffering in a hospital" Sachiko stated. "People in a hospital are recovering from suffering. They should never be put down unless they say so."
"Oh they are suffering" Satoru reassured "I will bring my henchmen to kill them and I am going to bring you along for the ride as well. After that you will make the deal for me to cure you."
"You think you can cure me?" Sachiko questioned.
"I know I can cure you" Satoru said confidently.
"Well", Sachiko said back to Satoru, "you are not doing a very good job of it."
"I need her dressed and ready by the time we arrive" Satoru demanded in a monotone.
"What time do you want us to attack?" the henchman inquired.
"Soon" Satoru told the henchman.
Before their departure, Satoru ordered one of his henchmen to get Sachiko dressed in a full set of clothes. The guy was actually friendly to Sachiko and comforted her a bit. They arrived at the hospital at about 1:30. Satoru was more than ready to head in there right now but they had to wait for the security to be down. They were loaded with guns and poison gas. Sachiko was complaining as always.
"They are not suffering" Sachiko said while being held by two of Satoru's henchmen "If you have any regard for human life, you can see that they are enjoying their time right now. They are not suffering. You seem to have some sort of idea that everybody is suffering. Are you going to kill everybody on this planet for the slightest chance of a flawed life?"
"Life is flawed yes" Satoru stated. "But we must get rid of those with the flaws before we can restart and have perfect people. People are suffering everyday and they don't get the opportunity to be put down. Dogs get put down all the time. We just have to assume that everybody is the dog."
"But if somebody doesn't want to die then what is the point of your methods" Sachiko sniffled. "You really think everybody is secretly thinking "I want to die" everyday. Is that how you think people are? I wonder why people even follow you in the first place."
"Well", Satoru said triumphantly, "It is time to end their suffering"
"Don't do it" Sachiko whispered.
Satoru duck taped Sachiko's mouth and put gas masks on all of them. It was then that they stormed the hospital killing everybody they could find, young, old, sick, healthy. They killed all the workers. Each moment was full of devastation as the place got bloodier and bloodier. The corpses had brutal wounds on their head and chests and those who were still alive were victims of the poison gas. The atmosphere was filled with screams from the victims. After it was all over, Satoru looked in satisfaction at the people he purified. He took the duck tape off of Sachiko's mouth. Sachiko was outside the hospital crying.
Satoru turned around. "Okay it is time to leave" he said. He knew he underestimated Sachiko's resistance toward his idea for curing her.
"Come on" Satoru yelled angrily grabbing onto Sachiko.
"You know if there was any dignity in you", Sachiko cried, "It is gone now. You have disregarded human life for some twisted belief that you can't seem to let go. Do you think people will think you as a savior in the future? You son of a bitch, only the sickest and most inhuman would follow you. Your points mean nothing now. You think you are ending suffering, but you are causing more suffering in the process. In the end, you are just a hypocrite."
"A hypocrite would kill both people who were and weren't suffering" Satoru answered back sternly "I only kill people who are suffering."
"Then something is wrong with your definition of suffering" Sachiko screamed "I will never abide by you. Take my life if you will, but I won't follow you if it means disregarding my friends and family."
"Your friends and family will be happy about me" Satoru claimed. "I have a special place in heaven when I die."
"More like a special place in hell" Sachiko said crying.
That night the chief, Soichiro and Akagi were still at the police station when they heard the news. They were shocked, they had prepared for this and the police of Japan failed to stop it.
"It has been recently reported that an entire hospital has a been massacred" the news lady said "The only survivors reported currently are of the people outside there, but there is no information on whether any of the patents or staff have survived yet."
"Bastard" Soichiro yelled at the screen "He has gone too far now."
"The hospital was secure when this was done." the chief stated. "The only reason it could happen is because of all the poison gas that was discovered."
"Apparently you guys didn't buff up the security enough" Akagi answered back sternly.
"We didn't know what hospital it would be" the chief said. "So we assumed it was all hospitals and apparently he chose the one that was of the closest distance to us."
"We have to get the major regions of Japan on lock down by tomorrow" Soichiro said concerned"There is no point in keeping places open for now."
"What do we do about food and electricity though?" the chief asked.
"We need people who are good enough in the outside area to deliver them and be as safe as possible." Soichiro said with a lot of energy. "If even one person dies because they went outside and it wasn't a nature death, we have to assume it is him. We can't have a madman like this on the run and assume that keeping the system with simply curfews will work."
"If it gets too out of hand", Akagi proclaimed to the chief, "it could cause riots."
"That is the least of our concerns as of right now" the chief said back. "We should keep people secure for now. The places should be on lock down by tomorrow."
That night Akagi and Soichiro had dinner at a Chinese restaurant knowing it would be their last night to do so before the lock down. Akagi was looking outside wondering about many stuff. Soichiro knew his friend was curious but he was surprised to see his friend have dull looking eyes.
"Soichiro", Akagi stated, "ever have the feeling of absolute paranoia, like something could kill you at any moment."
"Like what" Soichiro asked both curiously and in a happy tone "A heart attack? Those are actually survivable."
"No" Akagi proclaimed with more emotion. "I mean anything."
"We can't always fear death" Soichiro answered back in a meaningful tone. "Many brave people have died to get us to this point and now I feel that we need to step up our advantage if we are going to win. By tomorrow, police are going to be roaming the streets like crime was happening every second."
"Like in the comics" Akagi said in a happier tone. "We can't just be judge, jury and executioner. We need a proper standard for all laws."
"Which is why I think just killing criminals solves nothing" Soichiro uttered. "Heck, killing all criminals solves nothing. You really think you would make a better world by killing all criminals?"
"I wouldn't" Akagi reassured to Soichiro "There is no point to it. I bet your children will think about you to get guidance."
"And I think your children will find out just how gray the system really is" Soichiro said.
"Justice" Akagi argued. "Is it justice or just winning and losing?"
"Well history is written by the winners" Soichiro said. "If we win, Satoru is evil but if he wins then he is justice. I guess that is just how life goes."
Soichiro knew what he was saying couldn't be right but he was wondering about this idea just because Akagi was wondering about it. "Win or lose, Satoru is evil" Soichiro thought "It is stupid to proclaim a mass murderer is a good guy just because he won.
That night Satoru was meeting with the gang of shooters from the past week. He had just finished his ice cream sandwich and there were no guns in the room. He packed himself with every weapon he was used to using, a knife, a needle, a gas grenade and a handgun.
"Hey Satoru" said one of his henchmen "How are you do..."
It was at that moment that Satoru stabbed the henchman in the stomach with a knife. The henchman dropped dead instantly. "Such an imperfect life" Satoru proclaimed almost inhuamanly.
"What... What" a henchman yelled "What did you just do?"
"I hoped for the perfect henchmen and they are no different from the people I kill everyday" Satoru said in an upset tone "You think you could hide your secrets from me. I knew you guys were suffering but didn't have enough evidence to prove it."
"What do you mean?" asked a henchman.
"Takashi", Satoru said as he pointed his finger to the henchman, "why didn't you tell me you and your family were crippled in a car accident?"
"Or Kei", Satoru said, "why didn't you tell me you threw a tantrum at your mother because she didn't allow you to go to your favorite amusement park that often."
"I can't believe I am seeing this" Kei yelled. "Who are you to judge us."
"You are all suffering so now you must die" Satoru yelled back. He threw his grenade that contained poison gas on the ground and put his gas mask on.
"You will be thanking me in the afterlife" Satoru said and within a minute all his henchmen in that room were dead. Satoru just threw away his henchmen like garbage.
