When They Cry ~ Dual Remembrance Chapter
Part 4- Interrogation
Ryuzaki, Keiichi, Mion, and Rena finally arrived at their school without any more obstacles. There was a strange silence as the group moved towards the class.
"It's quiet… too quiet," Keiichi said.
As Keiichi opened the door to the classroom, a bunch of firecrackers started to explode in front of it.
"Now suddenly it's too loud," Keiichi said as he slammed the door shut.
"Looks like Satoko hasn't been abducted by her uncle yet," Ryuzaki pointed out.
"What?" Keiichi asked.
"Teppei Houjo tried to attack me this morning. But I'm pretty sure that he was taken to jail, so we shouldn't have to worry about him now," Ryuzaki explained.
"So that's why you guys were late," Mion said.
"Um… yeah, something like that," Ryuzaki agreed.
Ryuzaki opened the door again to check for any other traps that may have been set up.
"It looks clear, but just in case, let's shove Keiichi in," Ryuzaki said as he grabbed Keiichi.
"Wait a minute…!" Keiichi began to struggle, but to no avail. Ryuzaki tossed him right on top of a button on the floor and a giant pan came falling from the ceiling on top of Keiichi.
"I really wonder how someone as short as Satoko sets up these traps," Ryuzaki mumbled to himself.
"Hey! Did you just call me short!?" Satoko yelled.
"I believe he did," Rena said with a smile.
"That is no way to talk to a lady! One day when I'm finally grown, you'll see me and my body and you would wish that you would've never offended me in such a way!" Satoko continued to complain.
"I have no interest in a woman's body," Ryuzaki said. "However, it is interesting to watch someone perform various actions that can be considered romantic events."
"Voyeur!" Satoko yelled.
"I'm surprised you know such a word," Ryuzaki said impressed.
"I saw it off a "Death Note" parody by the SilentReaper," Satoko said.
"What?" Ryuzaki asked.
"Never mind, it's not important," Satoko answered.
"Of course it is! You have to cite your sources!" Ryuzaki replied.
"But you didn't in the last chapter!" Satoko countered.
"Touché," Ryuzaki said.
"Can we please get back to the story? I think the readers are getting annoyed!" Rena whispered to the two.
"What the heck are those three talking about?" Keiichi asked Mion.
"I have no clue," Mion answered. "What about you, Rika?"
"Uh… I think they are reciting a skit or something," Rika attempted to answer.
"Anyways, shouldn't we be talking about this morning's events with everyone?" Ryuzaki asked.
"What happened?" Rika asked.
"Teppei came to our house and got arrested due to Ryuzaki-kun's heroic efforts," Rena explained.
"Oji-san?" Satoko said.
"Hey, guys! That is not a subject that we should bring up around Satoko!" Rika whispered to everyone.
"Good morning, everyone!" Chie said as she walked into the classroom. "Get to your seats. Now, stand! Bow!"
"Good morning!" the students said in unison and then returned to their seats.
The rest of the morning passed with not much activity. Rika helped Satoko with her work as usual, and Ryuzaki taught Keiichi about advanced math and forensic science while they both helped Rena and Mion get done with their work.
"So DNA profiling can pick up evidence that used to be thought useless," Keiichi asked Ryuzaki.
"That's what it basically is. But there are still many tests that need to be run before it is accepted as a method of gathering evidence," Ryuzaki explained.
"Um… you two mind helping Rena and I with our work? We can't follow this complicated subject matter you two are talking about," Mion complained.
"Okay, let's see… you two are doing this? It's simple! First you must eliminate one of the variables to get two to be alone by combining the first and second variable and by combining the second and third variable. After that, you combine those variables and try to eliminate another variable to be able to solve for the third variable. Then you only need to plug in the variable to one of the equations with two variables, and then when you get the other variable, you plug in both of the variables whose numbers you know and solve one of the given equations," Ryuzaki explained.
"I… didn't understand the last part of that… and the beginning… hell, I didn't understand any of it! What's it mean in English… Japanese… agh! Never mind!" Mion said in frustration.
"I believe I understand now!" Rena said in joy as she solved each problem without making a single error.
"So when in life will we actually ever use something like this?" Mion asked.
"Most likely never. But if you happen to have something that requires a three variable equation, you'll know that you learned it in high school… not that this is actually a high school. Anyways, you probably won't use it anytime soon, so don't worry about and just forget it," Ryuzaki answered.
"Ryuzaki-san, I'd advise you to never be a teacher. A teacher should never tell a student that they can forget something they learned in class," Chie said as she was walking by.
"Okay, I'm a detective, not a teacher. Also, you were the one that told Keiichi and I to help these two, so don't complain about how we do it," Ryuzaki said.
Suddenly Chie had an extremely evil look on her face. The air became ice cold; everyone in the room gasped as she approached Ryuzaki.
"Are you saying I am unfit to teach, Ryuzaki-san?" Chie asked menacingly.
"Um… all I can say is… Look! A bowl of curry flew passed the window towards the town! Hurry and go chase it!" Ryuzaki yelled as he pointed outside.
"Curry? IT'S MINE!" Chie yelled as she burst through the window and ran towards town.
"That is one stupid teacher… or maybe she's just obsessed with curry so much that she looses all common sense," Ryuzaki said.
"How did you know she liked curry so much, Ryuzaki-san?" Mion asked.
"I didn't. I just randomly said that just to get her distracted for a few seconds or so. It worked better than I expected which kind of sucks. Now we have to teach the younger kids about what they're supposed to be learning," Ryuzaki explained.
"You didn't think that through, did you Ryuzaki-san?" Satoko asked.
"Of course I thought it through! I just said that I didn't know she likes curry that much. If I did, then I wouldn't have said that. The probability that a normal person would jump out a window just for curry isn't that high, so I thought that if I said that, then I may be able to buy myself some time," Ryuzaki explained.
"Well, Hinamizawa isn't your ordinary village, Ryuzaki-san, ~mi," Rika said with a smile.
"I noticed the last time I was here," Ryuzaki said.
"Last time? When was that?" the whole class asked.
"Oh, um… that was just a way of saying that I've noticed that for a long time, which I suppose that long time has barely been over a day or two," Ryuzaki lied.
"Since Chie-sensei is gone right now, do we still need to stay in school?" One of the kids asked.
"He does have a point. Rika, didn't you say you had some business with the manager?" Satoko asked.
"I do, ~Mi!" Rika answered.
"Manager? Who's he? And manager of what?" Keiichi asked.
"The manager is the head of the clinic, Irie Kyosuke. He's the manager of our baseball team," Mion explained.
"Hinamizawa has a baseball team? Wow, that's pretty amazing for such a small village," Keiichi said.
"Do you and Ryuzaki-kun want to join?" Rena asked.
"I think I will. What about you, Ryuzaki-kun?" Keiichi asked.
"I think I'd rather stick with tennis. But I can cheer you guys on from the sidelines," Ryuzaki declined.
"You're starting to sound a lot like Shion, now," Mion muttered.
"Shion? Who is that?" Satoko, Keiichi, and Rena asked.
"What…? Oh! She's my twin sister. She hasn't come to any of the game recently so that's why you three wouldn't know about her. Now that I think about it, it's been about a year since she has shown up at a game," Mion answered.
"Why is that?" Ryuzaki asked.
"Ryuzaki! I think we should go ahead and leave for the clinic," Rika said in an urgent tone of voice.
"Understood," Ryuzaki said as he realized that Rika was trying to prevent his question from being answered while the others were around.
"Wait, is Ryuzaki-san going with you, Rika?" Satoko asked.
"Of course! He probably has missed a lot of his vaccinations when he was a baby, so Irie-sensei will take a look at him. Have fun with the club activities without us!" Rika answered.
As Rika and Ryuzaki exited the school, Rika suddenly tugged at Ryuzaki's back.
"What is it?" Ryuzaki asked.
"Try not to bring up Shion. She was obsessed with Satoshi, and Satoko and Rena are sensitive to the subject as well. If those two find out that Shion and Satoshi had a link together, they may go insane. And if you ever meet Shion, under no circumstances do you bring up Satoshi. A simple mention of his name will make her go on a killing spree and then the world will end up like several from the past Hinamizawas," Rika answered.
"Okay. I'm sorry that I brought it up," Ryuzaki apologized.
"It's alright. Now let's hurry to the clinic," Rika said.
The two finally arrived at the clinic and hurried through the doors, passing by Takano and Tomitake.
"What's the rush, you two?" Takano asked.
"There is no rush. It just helps getting to places quicker than need to so that you can prepare for whatever may happen," Ryuzaki answered.
Takano had a light smile on her face and said, "That is very true, indeed."
"Takano-sama! Where is Irie-sensei?" Rika asked.
"He should be in the second room on the left. Do you need to speak with him?" Takano asked.
"Yes, it's an emergency," Rika said.
"What? Is someone that you know succumbing to the symptoms?" Takano asked.
Takano then realized that Ryuzaki was still listening in on their conversation.
"Oh! You need to forget what you've heard, Ryuzaki-san," Takano warned Ryuzaki.
"It's alright. I know of the disease and about the carrier queen. That's actually what we need to speak to Irie-sensei about," Ryuzaki answered.
"You know a little too much Ryuzaki," Takano said mischievously.
"I don't think knowledge is something you can have too much of. I guess it would depend on how you use your knowledge," Ryuzaki replied.
"Indeed," Takano agreed.
"Well, then, we'll see you later," Ryuzaki said to Takano and Tomitake.
Ryuzaki and Rika barged the room Irie was in. Irie was busy placing chemicals on a shelf, but the sudden swinging of the door surprised him and caused him to swiftly turn towards the door.
"Whoa! Oh, it's just you Rika… and I believe this is our first meeting," Irie said as he greeted Ryuzaki.
"I'm pleased to meet you, but Rika and I came here to ask you some questions. We'd be even more ecstatic if you answered them truthfully," Ryuzaki said.
"Okay. What would you like to know about?" Irie asked.
"Okay, first things first, I'm not planning on killing Rika or anything, but what would happen if she were to die? I know she's the Queen Carrier for the Hinamizawa Syndrome, so I need to know what happens if she dies and the pheromone dies off along with her," Ryuzaki stated.
"Wow. You sure did get straight to the point, didn't you? I thought you agreed not to ask anything that seemed like you wanted me dead," Rika asked.
Irie stared at both Rika and Ryuzaki for a few seconds before speaking.
"How much do you know, Ryuzaki-san?" Irie asked.
"I know enough to realize that this is not just a clinic. I also sense that you are trying to avoid speaking to Rika and I about these matters," Ryuzaki answered.
Irie sighed.
"Irie-sensei, please answer our questions. I'll even wear a maid's uniform of your choice for the rest of the day if you give us satisfactory answers," Rika promised.
Immediately Irie's face lit up and he said, "Well, now. I think I've decided to answer your questions. If Rika is ever killed, then our group will have to eliminate the villagers here. However, I must wonder, why exactly do you want to know?"
"I had a few issues regarding someone a few months ago. I heard that he was in Hinamizawa and I'm afraid that he learned of Rika's condition and is trying to kill her," Ryuzaki answered.
"Wait, the whole village will be annihilated? Why have I not heard of this, Irie-sensei?" Rika asked.
"We didn't want to scare you, Rika-chan," Irie answered.
"So if Rika died, and then the villagers were wiped out, then what would happen to this clinic and the soldiers here?" Ryuzaki asked.
"I believe it would be disbanded, or at least the clinic. The Yamainu would still work for our organization," Irie said.
"Organization? I think we're getting somewhere, now. What is this organization?" Ryuzaki asked.
"I'm not too sure myself, to be honest. Takano knows more than I do, and she won't say things that will get her killed just because someone promises to wear a maid's costume if she did," Irie answered.
"So your organization can kill people without getting blamed for it? That's interesting. Would that immunity work for the people that are part of this clinic as well?" Ryuzaki asked.
"I don't think so. We aren't really as important as the higher ups. As a matter of fact, they are forcing us to quit our research on the Hinamizawa Syndrome soon. They say that they no longer need a use for the weapons and that they will begin a mass production of manga, anime, and videos games and conquer the world that way," Irie informed Rika and Ryuzaki.
"What? Such a plan is fool-proof! How can we put a stop to this!?" Ryuzaki asked.
"What the…? You guys are talking nonsense again," Rika said.
"Do not fear, Rika-chama. Even if it becomes some famous company, I will stay here and research the syndrome in order to obtain a cure for it," Irie said.
"Okay. But we need to first make sure that we all live long enough to reach that day," Rika said.
"What do you mean, Rika-chan?" Irie asked.
"We have reason to believe that someone is trying to kill Rika," Ryuzaki answered.
"What!? Why do you think that?" Irie asked in shock.
"Because… a rogue detective was tracked to this village and the only reason we can think that he would be here is so that he can kill Rika. If killing Rika will get the rest of the village destroyed, then the blame could be put on a political faction so that another faction rises in power. I think the rogue detective was hired by such a faction," Ryuzaki guessed.
"That does sound like it's possible, but our protection is the best we can have. I don't think we have anything to worry about," Irie said.
"Well, Rika's house isn't in Hinamizawa. It's near it, but it's still in the forest surrounding the village. It wouldn't be that hard for someone to slip through your bodyguards to her house. If it is at all possible, do you think you could find a new place for her to stay until the rogue detective is caught?" Ryuzaki asked.
"I'm not really the leader of the village, so I can't answer that question," Irie said.
"What if you increase the amount of guards in Hinamizawa and have some stationed near my house?" Rika asked.
"I'd have to get it approved first. But I think that if we had reason to feel threatened, then they would send more soldiers just in case," Irie thought aloud.
"Okay, then. There's one last thing that I… we… wanted to ask. Is there by any chance any sort of corruption in the clinic? For example, you work for a powerful political faction, but what if another faction had a person here that was actually a spy? Then it would be easier for him to attack Rika and blame it on your faction," Ryuzaki explained.
"The whole Yamainu has been together for years. Whatever loyalty they had before they came together has changed to be loyal to their leaders," Irie replied.
"Then, tell me this… where do your loyalties lie?" Ryuzaki asked.
"Well, I don't necessarily like the faction I work for because they're just using us. But I will work to find a cure for this disease. I guess my loyalties lie with this village," Irie answered in complete honesty.
"What about Takano?" Ryuzaki asked.
"Takano's adoptive father died trying to find the cause of the disease. I'm almost positive that the only reason she came here was to research the Syndrome," Irie answered.
"What about Tomitake?" Ryuzaki continued to ask.
Rika looked at Ryuzaki with an annoyed look.
"Tomitake is a really great person. And he's in love with Takano, so I doubt that he would be working against her," Irie answered.
"Thank you for your time. I believe that we will leave the questioning here," Rika said.
Rika tried to pull Ryuzaki towards the door.
"Before we do go, what do you know of the murder cases, Irie?" Ryuzaki asked.
"Absolutely nothing," Irie said in a straightforward way.
Ryuzaki smiled as he new that Irie had just lied.
"Okay, then. If any new information comes up about what we talked about today or the murder cases, please tell us," Ryuzaki said as he walked out of the room.
"Irie? You look kind of pale. Didn't you want me to wear a maid's uniform after we were done talking with you?" Rika asked.
"Sorry, Rika, but I feel feverish now. I just had this cold feeling envelop me. Maybe later I'll give you one of my collections of costumes," Irie said.
Rika followed Ryuzaki out of the room.
"Why did you ask him about Tomitake-sama and Takano-sama? They both die on the night of Watanagashi! There was no point in asking those questions," Rika yelled at Ryuzaki when they left the clinic.
"It's important to know as much as you can about everyone, just in case. For all we know, the reason why those two die is because they were found out to be spies of another faction and were wiped out. If that happened, then their faction may send some more people to finish their job. The possibility of that being true is low, but it's still possible," Ryuzaki replied in a calm manner.
"And why did you smile as Irie-sama told you he knew nothing of the murder cases?" Rika asked, still frustrated.
"Because I knew he was lying. His tone changed and he normally is happy when he speaks. I mentioned the cases and his face became void of emotion. It was obvious that he was lying," Ryuzaki answered.
"What do you think he was lying about?" Rika asked.
"Well, I'm not sure on that part. I was about to ask him about your parents, but I decided not to. I think they were killed rather than how it appeared to everyone. And Satoshi is most likely still alive because his body never turned up. And the person from the first murder that is still on the run most likely got caught by some group because it's not everyday that someone is randomly walking around with an arm. Someone is bound to see him. My guess is that he got captured by someone or something before he got anywhere. Or maybe the Syndrome caused him to kill himself in a way in which his body was never identified," Ryuzaki answered.
"You think too much," Rika said.
"You think too little," Ryuzaki countered.
"Well then, I'll see you tomorrow I suppose. Good night," Rika said as she walked towards her home.
"Good night, indeed," Ryuzaki replied.
A little off into the forest, a pair of eye followed both of them as they walked home.
"That was unexpected," the figure said. "I wonder if they know…"
