It was late. Again.
I raced through the darkened streets of the Shopping District, eager to get home quickly and avoid Dojima's anger. Once again, the time had gotten away from me. How I managed to spend an entire day trying to turn a simple crank was beyond my understanding.
My lungs were beginning to burn from the effort of running, forcing me to stop and catch my breath. Aside from my panting, the area was eerily quiet. Suddenly, my ears picked up a distant sound. Straining to hear, I could make out a voice.
"...It's...all my fault..."
It sounded like the voice of a human male. My curiosity began to override my fear of punishment, and I found myself following the noise.
"...They're gone..."
The words he was saying were beginning to disturb me. What did they mean?
"...It was me..."
I was afraid, but my body forced me to continue onward.
"I did it..."
What did he do?
"...I killed him..."
Finally, I reached the source of the noise.
I went cold.
Mitsuo was standing there, muttering to himself. To say that he looked a wreck would be quite an understatement. It was as if he had just witnessed somebody explode right in front of him. Despite the volume of my heavy breathing against the silence, he didn't seem to notice my presence. Concerned and confused, I walked up to him. I was now right next to him, but still he did not see me. I reached out and tapped him on the arm. The sudden contact made him jump, and he jerked around in my direction.
"What are you doing here?" I asked. It was the first of a long list of questions I had for him.
He didn't answer me. He just looked at me for a second before turning away and resuming his muttering.
"Hey!" I raised my voice. He continued to ignore me. Frustrated, I made repeated attempts to get his attention, but to no avail. I was at the end of my rope. Letting my frustration take over, I grabbed him and spun him around.
"Why do I keep finding you out here by yourself? Are you asking to be beaten around?" I quite nearly shouted at him, pulling him toward me by his shirt collar. I held him there for a while until I heard his barely audible reply.
"I'm here because...it's my fault..."
This confused me. Having calmed down a little, I let go of his shirt. "What do you mean?"
"...I killed him..."
I didn't understand. What was he talking about?
"...I killed him..."
Wait a minute...Did he mean...Morooka?
He had already established that he hated Morooka. He always talked about how much he loathed the man, how much he...wanted him dead. Was it possible...that he felt responsible for Morooka's death?
I stared dumbly at him as he repeated that single phrase over and over again. Then, the all-too-familiar feeling of guilt washed over me. I was supposed to be helping people, and yet I kept letting my anger get the better of me.
"Mitsuo...It's not your fault..." I said weakly. He looked at me.
"But I did it..." he replied. "I killed him..."
"It's not your fault," I repeated.
"Yes it is..."
"It isn't," I said firmly. "There was nothing you could have done."
Suddenly, he broke down.
I watched helplessly as he stood there, crying. I had no idea that the death of the man he hated would affect him so much. I cursed myself for being so useless. There were lives at stake here, and I kept letting more of them slip away. I wanted it to stop.
I grabbed Mitsuo roughly. He let out a cry of surprise before I pulled him close to me, hugging him tightly. He continued to cry into my shoulder. I repeated that it wasn't his fault, but that only seemed to make him cry harder, so I stopped talking.
After a while, his crying subsided, and he seemed to have regained his composure. Seeing this, I slowly let go of him.
"Would you like me to walk home with you?" I asked gently. There were still so many questions I wanted answered, but it would do neither of us any good to ask them now.
He shook his head vigorously. I watched him as he turned and walked away, disappearing into the night. I started to make my way home as well, no longer worried about facing an angry Dojima.
I was more determined than ever to get to the bottom of this case, so that no one would have to suffer anymore.
