Ok, I lied. I said that this would be the last chapter, but it would have been really long if it was, so I decided to split it into two. The next one will be the last; I mean it this time. And I just want to take a moment to thank all my lovely reviewers. You guys rock!
Disclaimer: I do not own Tennis no Ouji-sama or Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.
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"You call us out here to make us believe this gossip? Aren't you taking our business a bit too lightly?
Inui was seated in the Sonozaki household, two other policemen with him. Opposite them sat Sonozaki Sumire, the head of the family, Tezuka, and a sort of bodyguard.
"In short, since this is a personal problem between Echizen Ryoma and your son," one of the other policemen said, "you're telling the police not to interfere?"
"Yes," Sumire replied.
"We will not allow that. Echizen Ryoma will be put under the protection of the police."
"Then tell us the reason Ryoma needs to be put under your protection," Tezuka demanded.
"Isn't it obvious?" Inui said, taking a sip of his sake. "It's because you guys are after him."
"Why do you think we're after Echizen Ryoma?" Sumire asked.
"Just ask yourselves that."
Sumire sighed. "Oshitari." The bodyguard nodded and took out a briefcase, which he laid on the table in front of them; inside were quite a few notebooks. Oshitari turned the briefcase around and shoved it toward the police.
"These are…?" Inui asked, taking one out.
"Tachibana Ann's scrapbooks," Sumire said. "Unfortunately, the ones that she's given to Echizen Ryoma are not included with them."
"Do you mind if we take a look?"
"Go ahead."
The police flipped through all the scrapbooks. "There's no doubt these are Tachibana Ann's scrapbooks, correct?" Inui asked, holding one up. Sumire nodded.
"Are all of them like this?" Asked one of the police officers as he continued to look through one.
"Yes, they are. Please take a look at them until you are satisfied."
"Inui-san, this one claims that a dark realm and reality clashed, and there was an invasion of spirits," one of the officers said. "This is nothing but a low class occult novel. Are you suggesting we take this in as evidence?"
Inui sighed, holding up the one he had been reading. "This one claims everything was caused by underground earth people." He threw it on the table and took out a packet of cigarettes. "There are several things I want to ask. Why did Tachibana Ann– "
"The Family has nothing to do with the deaths of Tachibana Ann and Momoshiro Takeshi," Sumire cut in.
"What?"
"If we did dispose of them, do you really think their bodies would have been found?" Tezuka said, wearing the same stoic expression he always did.
"Then why are you after Echizen Ryoma?" Inui asked, choosing to ignore Tezuka's comment.
"That's our mistake if it looked that way to you," Sumire said, giving a slight bow. "I offer my apologies. As a symbol of our friendship, we will hand over these scrapbooks to you."
Inui sighed once again as he stood up. "I'm going to leave the rest to you, Shinji-chan," he said to one of his subordinates. "It seems that I drank a bit too much, so I'll go get some fresh air." He gave a small wave as he left the house. Everyone watched him leave before Shinji took up the conversation again. "I would like you to promise us two things."
"I will hear your request," Sumire said.
"The first is, if the Sonozaki family were to receive any more scrapbooks, beyond what is present here, you will hand them over to the police. The second is that if you were to secure Echizen Ryoma, you will hand him over to the police without fail."
"Understood. I will acknowledge those conditions. However, to protect Echizen Ryoma's rights, we will assign a lawyer from the Estate to him. All interrogations with Ryoma must be in the presence of this lawyer."
"Understood."
"I hope you will not throw our kind gesture away," Sumire said, bowing once again. Outside, Inui looked angry as he threw his cigarette into a nearby vase.
On the outskirts of town, Ryoma walked, his eyes blank and lifeless, his neck still bright red; the ax, which he held in his hand, dangled at his side.
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"Eh? Echizen-san?"
Tezuka stopped outside the front office, listening as his teacher talked on the phone. "Where are you right now?" There was a pause. "Understood. I'll be there right away!" She ran out of the office and right past Tezuka. Looking back over her shoulder, she asked him to look after things while she was away.
"Eh? She got a call from Ryoma?" Fuji asked once Tezuka had told them what he had overheard. "Yeah. Chie-sensei went to the place he asked to meet up." As they were talking, two of the smaller children, excited about not having the teacher around, ran out into the hall, where they bumped into someone. A moment later, they screamed, and everyone turned to look towards the door as someone stepped into the room.
"Attention everyone!" One of the little girls who had run into the hallway had an ax pressed to her throat; the owner of the weapon was none other than Ryoma. "Gather at the center of the classroom."
"Ryoma!" Fuji exclaimed, jumping up from his seat.
"Can't hear me?" Ryoma asked as he walked farther into the room, until he was standing behind the teacher's desk. "Tezuka, you're the class president, right? Make them do it."
"Ryoma, what are you-?" Tezuka was cut off as Ryoma slammed the ax into the desk, causing the wood to shatter. The children screamed.
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"At approximately one o'clock p.m., a classroom in the Hinamizawa Branch School was taken hostage. All personnel, please head to the school at once. I repeat…"
The message was broadcast to every police car in the immediate area, including the ones that gathered outside the school. Inui was among the officers observing the school.
"We don't know if there are any perpetrators other than Echizen Ryoma," an officer told him. "The curtains have been pulled down, so we can't confirm the situation." Behind them, Chie, the teacher, was crying softly. "The staff was not present, so only the fifteen students are inside." Inui nodded, and seemed about to reply when another officer called him; the officer was standing near one of the cars. "Inui-san! We have a call from the suspect!"
Inui went over to the car and took the phone from the officer. "Hello? This is Inui."
"Is this Inui-san? Greetings. Echizen speaking," Ryoma said from inside the building. In the classroom, the students were all on the floor, their arms tied behind them with jump ropes; aside from Fuji, who was sitting near the window with his hands behind his head. "Inui-san, you are my ally, correct?"
"Of course. You and I will expose the Sonozaki conspiracy together."
"Fuji also didn't believe me for a little while," Ryoma said, pushing the curtains apart slightly and peeking through them. "But he's my ally right now. Right?"
"Yes," Fuji said.
"I understand," Inui said. "Please allow me to give my greetings to our new ally, Fuji. Can he come to the phone?" At first, he thought Ryoma would refuse, but after a moment he agreed, and gave Fuji the phone. "Hello. This is Fuji."
"Well, hello! This is Inui from the Okinomiya Police." Inui paused for a moment. Inside the classroom, Ryoma walked over to where the students were lying on the floor. "What's Echizen-san doing right now?"
"He's over with the hostages…with everyone."
"Fuji-san, play along with me and answer 'yes' if the answer is yes, and 'yeah' if the answer is no. Do you know what demands Echizen Ryoma intends to make?"
"Yeah."
"Are you being threatened by Echizen-san and only pretending to assist her?"
"Yes." From the other side of the room, Ryoma looked at Fuji suspiciously.
"Is Echizen Ryoma the only perpetrator?"
"Yes." Inui motioned to one of the officers, who nodded and went to one of the cars.
"You see? Fuji is our ally, right?" Ryoma said into the phone. Inui agreed. "Now it's your turn to answer some questions, Inui-san. Has anything happened regarding my request for an investigation of the Sonozaki family?" He looked out the window again. "Were you able to locate the laboratory researching the parasites?"
"It's being handled by the Prefecture Police Organized Crime Investigation Unit and Public Security Intelligence Agency in preparation for a large-scale investigation," Inui replied. "It is, after all–"
"That's too slow!" Ryoma yelled. "What are you taking your time for? Inui-san, are you really my ally? Answer me."
"Of course I am!" Inui said. "It's just that…without any evidence, things won't move that easily."
"Evidence?" Ryoma asked, scratching at his neck; blood soon began to drip down again. "I understand. I'll give you Tachibana-san's scrapbooks. Please hurry and convince the other police departments with them."
"Thank you," Inui said. "Please allow me to come inside and pick them up."
"No…I'll send Fuji out with them."
A moment later, Fuji was outside, holding the scrapbooks in one hand. "I'm sorry. Ryoma told me, you know…I shouldn't say anything unnecessary." He held out the scrapbooks.
"I understand," Inui said as he took them. He then held out his hand and dropped something into Fuji's. "Don't worry, Echizen-san can't see us from here."
"This is…?" Fuji wondered, looking at what was in his hand.
"Read it on your way back to the classroom," Inui replied, and Fuji began to head back. Once inside, he took a closer look at the items he now possessed: there was an earphone, a note, and a small bottle of pepper spray. The note read: 'If you place the earphone in your ear, we'll be able to talk. The spray is for self-defense, and has a range of one meter. Aim for the face.' Fuji looked at the spray and clenched his fist.
He arrived at the classroom to find Ryoma splashing some kind of liquid around the classroom. The students looked extremely frightened. "Ryoma! What are you doing?"
"I'm spreading gasoline across the floor," Ryoma said casually. "It's insurance. Just in case." Outside, the police officers messed with the radio for a moment until they could hear what was going on inside.
"But…gasoline? What are you…?"
"Gasoline?!" Inui exclaimed. "If gasoline vapors were to ignite, they'd cause a titanic explosion! I would blow up the whole school!" As he thought over just how serious the situation was, another officer ran up to him.
"Excuse me! In the scrapbooks the suspect gave us, there's a letter that seems to have been written by him." He held it up and gave it to Inui. It said: Tonight, I will probably claw my throat out and die. That's why I'm setting seven o'clock p.m. the time limit for our negotiations. If an investigation hasn't started by then, I will ignite the gasoline and burn with the hostages.
"It's almost six o'clock right now," the officer said, glancing at his watch. "That gives us about an hour."
I have also prepared another method of blowing up the school, the letter continued. It's a simple time bomb, made from gasoline and a kitchen timer. Of course, I have also set it to go off at seven. I am counting on a speedy compliance with my request. To my ally, Inui-san.
Author's notes:
Now that I think about it, Chie-sensei is the only character that's not from Tennis no Ouji-sama. I suppose that's because Sakuno and Tomoka are the only girls I haven't used yet, and I can't imagine either of them as being a teacher. Can you?
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Well, it's a bit short, but that seems like a good place to leave off. As I said before, the next chapter will be the last. Seriously. Will Ryoma succeed in blowing up the school, or will Fuji and the police be able to stop him? Review and you just may find out sooner! -hint hint-