Requirements not met.

ERROR. ERROR. System load not met.

Your route has been rewritten.

Sequence Commencing...

I spend another 2 days in the hospital. Ryuji lived in the room next door. He comes by every few hours, often with Ann in tow. Minato doesn't come by again but our one meeting gave me enough to think about. Dr. Takemi is...odd. She likes to make morbid jokes about my health but I am glad when she signs off on my discharge paperwork. Ryuji is discharged the same day but my bandages stay on. Unfortunately. My mom comes to drive us back to the apartments, much to my surprise. Igor was letting us stay despite all the trouble we caused.

My return to the apartments is met with mixed reactions. A fair amount of the third floor are not happy to see me. While many of them avoided me like usual, Akihiko is the exception. He isn't there when I get home but he drags me aside over dinner to thank me. "It's been big news all over the department. You and your friends uncovered a huge scandal. There are dozens of victims. You're a hero to those people."

His praise embarrasses me more than anything, but I am proud of what Ann has accomplished. "Thanks. Ann did most of the work. I just tagged along for the ride."

Akihiko shakes his head, smiling lightly. "You know, you remind me of Minato a bit. When we were younger, he was like this too. Never liked taking credit for anything. It was always Mitsuru's leadership, or Fuuka's brains."

At the mention of our stoic friend, I looked around the room for him. Minato doesn't follow me around anymore. After the Kamoshida incident, I see much less of him than before. It is nice to be given my solitude again, but it's odd losing something of a constant. His mass of blue hair is conspicuously absent, as is his sister. "I heard what happened between you and Mina. Will you be okay?"

He laughs, surprisingly lighthearted. "You heard, huh? I honestly haven't seen her that angry in years. It's a good thing." He looks down for a minute, studying his dinner before looking back up with a smile. "It's better than having her pretend I don't exist. I'll get her back. I'm pretty hardheaded when I want to be." There's a light blush on his cheeks when he smiles. The shy type? I never would have guessed.

My friends on the fourth floor offer me hugs. Chie, Kanji, and Yukiko in particular seem very relieved. There is a lot of smacking, shaking, and Kanji might've cried a bit while Rise laughed at him. Naoto offers me her congratulations as well. She has more information than Akihiko. "It's a bit premature but the case is more or less closed. I had a few people in Internal Affairs inform me Suguru Kamoshida will be going to jail for a very long time. His testimony didn't do him any favors. Pass the message onto Ryuji if you'd like."

I don't waste any time in giving the good news to Ann and Ryuji. Right after dinner I pull them aside to let them know. It's not hard to find them. They're practically conjoined by the hip at this point. Their faces are a bit empty, impassive in their relief. Ann falls to her knees, crying into her hands. Ryuji pulls her into a hug but I can see him crying too. Retribution and justice. This moment is completely their own. Other people walk by but no one dares to disturb them. There is no space left for anything or anyone else.

I return to my room. More than anything, I wanted to get back to my own bed. It felt like an eternity since I had the chance to sleep in it. Unfortunately, when I open the door, another man is already occupying the thing. I throw my keys at him, slightly annoyed.

He catches the projectile without opening his eyes. An impressive feat though I'd never tell him out loud. "Missed you at dinner. Are you ever really sleeping or is this just a façade that you put up?"

"Closing my eyes helps me concentrate."

I'd suspected it for weeks. Regardless of how often I seemed to find him sleeping, no one was ever able to catch him by surprise. He played the part exceedingly well. His breathing was always slow and controlled. His lazy expression drew to mind a very long nap. Even now, I could almost pretend he was sleep talking. "Was he there?"

I shake my head in response to his question. Despite seeing all his friends quite frequently, he was always suspiciously missing, and now I knew why. "I've never seen him at any meals. Have you?"

Minato shakes his head. When I told him my suspicions, he didn't seem the least bit surprised. Then again, he didn't know the Butcher the same way I did. Apparently, the two of them have never even spoken to each other.

"Have you decided what you're going to do?"

I shake my head again. Clearly I was spending too much time with Minato, picking up all his bad habits.

My time in the hospital was mostly spent contemplating my options. There weren't many of them. I couldn't leave the cannibal to his own devices. Doing that the first time had gotten me and Ryuji almost killed. "I think…I think I want to talk to him." It seemed like the best option. The safest.

Minato quirks an eyebrow at me. "Do you think you can convince him to turn himself in?"

No. Not by a longshot. We weren't friends. It'd be an exaggeration to even call us acquaintances. He was little more than a familiar face in the crowd. I'd spoken to the man maybe two or three times in the month that I lived at this apartment. Everything I knew about him was through mutual friends.

"I just want to talk to him. Maybe if I talk to him I'll know what I should do."

Minto scoffs. Good luck.

I resist the urge to punch him and instead drag my placid companion with me out the door. Yusuke and the blue-haired girl from the third floor are watching tv in our common room. The two of them turn to look at us as we walk by. Minato shoots her a silent call for help but she only smiles and waves him off.

The fourth floor is quiet. For whatever reason, the entire floor seems to be empty. There's quite a bit of noise coming from the floor beneath us but there's no sign of life where we stand. "You're being rash. You should think about this some more..."

I ignore him. This plan wouldn't affect him in any way. He had no reason to be so against it, but he's complete dead weight as I half-drag him to the hallway that houses all the rooms of the fourth floor's occupants. I was aware which rooms belonged to Kanji and Rise, but the rest of them were a mystery. I have the insufferable man read me each of the nameplates until I find the one I'm looking for.

The door is painted white with a yellow star in the middle. It's reminiscent of something you'd see in a TV studio for actors. "Come with me…"

"Pftt." You'd need to drag my dead body through that door. He sticks his hands into his pockets and strides in his lazy way back to the common room, plopping his skinny body onto the couch. He wasn't leaving at least. The guy was rude but he was a good friend.

I give the hallway one last look before proceeding to knock on the door. I didn't think he'd be in his room. He was a very social person. There was a fair chance he would be at the party downstairs with everyone else. So when he opens the door, I'm momentarily stunned.

"What a surprise! Why are you here?" There's a huge grin on his face, but it looks a touch sad. Did I imagine that or was he just a really good actor?

"Hey Teddie. Can I come in?" He moves out of the way, gesturing with his arm to sweep me into the room. It's a bit eccentric. The walls are painted a mellow yellow, like a lemon. His closet is about the same size as Minato's, but it's very fashionable. The clothes look like something from a magazine.

What catches my attention though is a fridge. It's the standard size, with a locked welded in to keep it shut. A child's drawings decorate it like something from a melodramatic family drama. On the opposite side of the room, there's a large glass shelf against one wall where a bunch of yarn bears are sitting in a variety of colors. Each one holds a framed photograph. I recognize one because it's identical to the one in Rise's room. Another shows the gang at the beach. Yosuke is in the center, imitating a pose from Dragon Ball. I can see Souji eating a bowl of noodles in another. The most prominent however, is of a little girl hugging the bear mascot of Junes. That same bear costume is propped up on a stand in the corner of the room.

I walk over to it, rubbing a hand over the fur. "Do you wear this for work?"

He laughs, sitting down on his bed. "Yeah! I'm the first, you know! Kanji made the costume based off of one of Nanako's drawings. She loved cute things like me!" He gestures to a beanbag chair in the corner. "Sit down if you want!"

I opt to stand so I can point at the picture of all his friends. The little girl in the picture stands out a lot more now. There was no one like her here at the apartment. I have no memory of this girl in my dreams. No mention of the name or the face. "Is this Nanako?"

He nods, his smile solemn. "She was 7 years old when she died. Isn't that sad?"

"How many times did you jump trying to save her?" I watch his face, trying to catch surprise, anger, any change in expression that tells me I should be wary. There is nothing. He is as calm and as earnest as before.

"I don't remember." He walks past me to grab the picture adjacent to the one I was pointing at: The one of just him and Nanako. Her smiling face is innocent and sweet. So very sweet. "She was beary kind to me."

"How did she die?"

"It started with a serial killer. He'd thrown her from the roof of Junes. Then he left her in a truck to die of dehydration. Then suffocation. Every time I went back, she'd die in a different way. In a different place. It drove me crazy. How could someone kill a little girl like her, over and over again? What kind of monster...

Teddie abruptly starts laughing as giant tears start rolling down his face. Madness. His entire being screamed of insanity. "It didn't make any sense, you know? So I gave up. Sensei was the one to learn about Adachi. He was always there. Every time. We were supposed to be friends so we told him everything." His grip on the picture tightens to the point that I'm almost afraid he might break the frame, but I do nothing to stop him. As heartless as it was, maybe this was what he needed. After all this time, did he talk to anyone about this? "I went back and we saved her from him. He went to jail... I thought it was over, but she died anyway. One week after we saved her, she fell asleep and just didn't wake up. Dead. After all that..."

He puts the photograph back in its original spot on the shelf and turns to me. "Her papa wouldn't eat. Wouldn't talk. He just broke down. He couldn't bear losing Nanako. None of us did. He died in his sleep, just like Nanako. Sensei hasn't been the same since."

I look back at the picture. There's a mature looking man in the back. He has a hand on Souji's shoulder while Nanako holds his hands. A picturesque happy family. "They were cousins but Sensei treated her like his little sister. She'd follow him everywhere calling him Big bro. Cute, right?"

"Yeah... Kids are like that." I honestly didn't know. My uncle Sojiro had a daughter a few years younger than me named Futaba but she was a recluse. I'd only ever seen her once at New Years despite all the family dinners we had.

"Yeah…I took this picture on Christmas. It was their last." The longing in his face is unmistakable. He sighs, and something in his demeanor changes. "But you're not here to listen to me talk about them, right?"

"I am."

He laughs, and it's bitter. Even scornful. "What do you really want?"

I grab him by the lapels of his fancy shirt. It's very chic. Even a little feminine. It's so unfitting with the monster I know. "I'm telling you the truth. I wanted to hear about Nanako. I wanted to understand the reason someone would willingly turn themselves into a cannibal!"

The tears continue to rain down his face. He makes no move to counter me. No move to even try and hurt me. He's the exact opposite of the cannibal I met on the roof. How?! How could they be the same person? How could this sorrowful man in front of me be a cold-blooded serial killer?

"I didn't know..." His tears grow ever more pathetic and I don't know if I should be sympathetic or disgusted. I drop him to the floor and he sinks, bowing his head to the ground as he cries. "I didn't want to kill anyone… I didn't have a choice…"

"Then go dig up a corpse or something! Why are you going after people who want to live?!"

Teddie recoils from me, crawling away like an insect. He curls into himself on the floor, chanting a hymn of lunacy "I don't... Everyone I've killed was suicidal... They were all going to die anyway... People don't eat food that's rotten... That's normal... Everyone's like that...Everyone eats animals. It's just a little different. He understands. Everything is okay..."

"She said I was a good bear... I'm not a bad bear...I'm not...Forgive me. Please forgive me." I understand none of it, nor do I want to. All of a sudden, he bolts onto his feet, pointing an accusatory finger at me. "It's your fault! You ruined everything! If you didn't come in when I was killing Sojiro-san, none of this would have happened!"

I kick him in the stomach, fury overriding all my senses. Teddie cowers, curling back into a ball to shield himself from my rage. I slam my foot into his side. Once. Twice. "Shut up! Uncle Sojiro would never do something like that!"

He laughs, a light chuckle that finally sounds like the murderer I'd grown so familiar with. He grabs my foot in midair, pushing me back so I fall against the wall. He's on me like an animal. He grabs my head and smashes it against the wall behind me. There's a loud crack and I'm not sure if it's the plaster or my skull. I see stars, dazed. He takes the opportunity to knee me in the stomach. My gut feels like it's about to rupture.

In between 48 seconds he's got me in an arm lock on my stomach while I struggle underneath him. "I sat in his café for weeks, watching him... He was going to lose his store. Some guy kept extorting him for money. His daughter kept herself locked in her room and never listened to him. You know he sent her away so she wouldn't be home when he hung himself. He'd been planning it for months."

"You have no idea what you're talking about..." I grunt, but somewhere in the pit of my stomach I can hear some truth in his words. How else would he have known about Futaba?

"I know everything! I know everyone's sadness! When Yukiko cried for her family, I was there! When Kanji died on the stairs, I saved him! When Sensei tried to kill himself, I saved him! I will keep saving them! No one else matters!"

For a minute I am stunned. It had been him. Teddie was the one who went back in time to save Kanji? What did he lose when he jumped? What more did a man like him have to give? "You eat people...How can you say no one else matters. You're a murderer." I know it's cold, even cruel to say something like this, but he couldn't be allowed to live. His humanity was disappearing in waves. Every time he jumped, he clearly slipped farther and farther into madness. Fear is riding through my system. If I couldn't kill him here, I'd find some other way. "You can try to kill me here, but I have someone who will report you to the police the moment you do."

He lets go of me, and it takes all my self-control not to attack him again. "I'm not going to kill you. I don't want my friends to be sad... When Eriko died, Yukiko and Rise cried for so long. They will definitely cry again if you die. I'm a good bear. A beary, beary good bear." His eyes seem to glaze over as he laughs. "I won't hurt you Akira... So don't hurt me anymore, please?"

I scramble to my feet, backing myself into the wall as a way of support. Could I kill him here? Was there anything in his room I could use as a weapon? Kanji's stuffed animals. Pictures of his friends. Kungfu movies from Chie. His room was a testament to the people he cared about. For someone as demented as him, it was surprisingly sweet. There were mementos from all his friends in nearly every corner. I scramble out and try not to think about the misery I would cause them.

Minato is waiting for me when I collapse onto the couch. Didn't go well?

"What do we do?" Yukiko is sobbing uncontrollably in front of me. I have not known her long, but she is nice and pretty. She is different from the girls I've met in class. Mature but childish. Fun. Why was a girl like her crying? She shouldn't cry.

"I can help!" I'm bouncing up and down in front of her. A child.

She turns to give me a sad, tear-filled smile. There is so much heartache on her face that it seeps into her very being. I do not understand it as a child. I do not understand it at all. "Akira... When people die, they don't come back. They're gone no matter how much we miss them."

"I can bring them back! I can turn back time!" I cling to her in a way that only children who have a crush on someone much older than them do. I tell her my secrets in the hopes that it will get her to smile. What is five years to an eleven-year old? It is a lifetime. A bridge that can never be crossed.

Her smiles continue to drip with unhappiness and it causes an ache in my chest. Her hands pet my curly hair in a slow rhythm, like someone who is petting a comfort dog. I push her hand off in an act of ironic defiance. I would show her that I was capable. An adult. A man worthy of her time. But first, I needed to bleed.

I jolt awake. The dream fills in more pieces of my broken memories and I'm hasty when I make the recording. How long was I in Inaba? Yukiko was undoubtedly pretty, but had I actually been that idiotic once? A stupid naive child who would go back in time and save someone I didn't know, all to impress a woman who I clearly had no chance with.

My brain is still groggy with sleep but there is no more rest to be had. The curtains cover any glimpse of the sun but my clock tells me that it's nearing 6am. Early. Much earlier than usual but I had things to do. School was starting up again. It helped that the nightmares no longer came. There is no desire to sink further into my bed for protection. Learning the truth has given me the key to bravery. My mind is now my own.

School is a distracting affair. I give the simple and customary introduction at the beginning of class. Ryuji is not here, but I do get Ann. She isn't what some would call popular, but many people watch her admiringly. It is the final year of school but I pay little to no attention. Every waking moment is spent thinking about Teddie. How could I kill him? How could I rid the world of this monster?

He's out and about most days. In the morning he leaves for work with Yosuke, while I leave with Kanji and the other students for school. We all come home around the same time but Teddie disappears before dinner. There is no sign of the Butcher at the apartment. No inkling at all that he could be the cannibal. I see now how he's laid the foundation of his disguise. He is a "playboy". No one questions his nightly escapades. They think he's chasing skirts or making new friends.

The monster comes out once he leaves the apartment. Always. Always, he's looking for his next target. He takes the train into Tokyo. He walks for hours as if he doesn't need sleep. He walks the same path everyday and I begin to see what he sees. A haggard girl walking home after a long day of work. The drunkard going through a divorce. I follow him as he follows them. Who will it be? Who will it be?

He doesn't make his move. Days turn into weeks. I wonder if he knows I'm following him. He makes no move to show me that he's aware. He doesn't spend these outings alone. He does talk to people. A girl with a heavy backpack and deep bags under her eyes. A man trying to stay awake on the train after a long day at work. The teenager smoking cigarette after cigarette huddled in an alley. I see the calculation in his eyes. Who is the easiest? Which one of them would make me feel the least guilty? How many people will cry at their funeral?

I don't have the energy to follow Teddie while simultaneously going to school. It's exhausting. My mind breaks down with lack of sleep. My own calculations get cloudy. Minato refuses to help me. "I don't do murder."

His conviction is more obstinate than I expected. No amount of persuasion moves him.

So I plan by myself. Every night while everyone is at work or sleeping I follow Teddie and run scenarios with my phone on record. The moment he starts bleeding, Teddie will jump back in time. There was no chance of killing him with a knife. That left strangulation, electrocution, drowning and poison. Teddie didn't look particularly strong, but he was. Our battle on the roof proved he was much stronger than me. I couldn't beat him in a fight-head on.

That left poison. Poisoning someone who didn't eat normal food was hard. He drank water. That was normal enough. He doesn't leave the apartment without a water bottle. Plastic bottles cause unnecessary waste and pollution. Was there a chance I could poison his drink when he carried it around at all times? I had plenty of drugs from my stay in the hospital. Pain killers and sedatives.

I could knock him out, and then strangle him after. Death. Murder. I needed to kill him. Was there any other way? Was there enough evidence to get him convicted?

There was the fridge in his room. Did it house leftover body parts? How quickly did something like that spoil? A monster. He was a monster. He didn't kill people that often. 12 victims in 3 years. That was exactly 1 person every four months. No one could survive on that little sustenance, so what? He kept his victims refrigerated?

Night after night.

Day after day.

I check his room for a day he might not lock it. I try to break in. It never works. I learn nothing. All my thoughts are consumed with finding a way. There was no point in jailing him. He could always turn back time to escape.

"Aren't you Teddie Kumada?" It is now early June. After a night of walking through town, we're on our way back to the apartment. 12am. An older woman is sitting next to him on the half-full train. I can't see her face. The only indication of her age is a cane in her right hand.

"Oh?! What do we have here?! Are you a fan?!"

"Oh, no! Goodness, no." There's a sweet chuckle here, and fear courses through my system. "I have a granddaughter who loves your Bearytime Bear commercial. I was wondering if you could sign something for her?"

"Of course!" There is some shuffling but I keep my head down for the sake of anonymity. There is nothing of substance at all in their conversation. Mostly it is the old woman rambling about her grandchildren while Teddie keeps up the flow with seemingly, carefree questions. "I didn't know you lived in the Chofu area. We're neighbors then. My granddaughter will be so excited when I tell her. It's so very hard to get around in this town. Do you live in the commercial district?"

"No way. I couldn't bear to live over there. The beary place for me is the Velvet Apartments." His voice is polite, even friendly, but something about it sounds fake.

"Oh. You are very lucky. It is hard to get an apartment there. My children tried but the application was rejected. I live by myself near the airport. It's so loud. Makes it hard to sleep sometimes. Hard to get around when you live by yourself. Do you get enough to eat?"

There's no verbal response, but I assume Teddie nodded. "You're so skinny. I worry about my children too. They're a lot like you. Working all day and never coming home. I don't even see my Chisato anymore. " They get off the train together, and Teddie walks a short distance with the old woman before they reach his car. "Well, take care, young man."

"Wait! I'll give you a ride." The old woman seems a bit surprised but takes him on the offer. They disappear off into the distance and I have no doubt that this woman will disappear from the face of the earth. A victim of Teddie's choices. She would be leaving behind children, grandchildren. All with no meaning in the face of death. It only reaffirms my decision. Who knew when his next victim would be someone I knew? Someone I loved. He couldn't be allowed to live. I had to kill him. Death was the only escape from his rampage.

I finally get a chance in July.

It's sweltering outside. The heat has risen to catastrophic levels. The apartment does have AC but it is used conservatively which is to say never. The students have summer break but Ryuji is stuck in supplementary classes. I'm given the freedom to do my planning and espionage work at home. I'm on my way to the kitchen for a snack when I spot Kanji and Shinjiro fourth floor kitchenette marveling over a cookbook. "What are you guys doing?"

Kanji brightens at the sight of me and waves me over. "It's Chie's birthday tomorrow, and I'm baking her a cake."

This catches me off guard though I'm not sure why. Chie was a person. People had birthdays, "Does Teddie... eat with you guys?"

Kanji stares at me as if I'm crazy. "...Of course he does. Why wouldn't he?"

So they never noticed. How? "Do you guys do this every year?

"Yup."

Once a year. No. Kanji probably made cakes for all of his friends. At least seven cakes a year. Teddie ate them, but then what happened? Ideas weave together in my mind like a noose. "Can I help?"

Kanji and Shinjiro are both very good cooks. They command the kitchen in a way I don't expect. They supervise every step from start to finish. I'd crushed all my sedatives into a fine powder weeks ago but there is no chance to pour it onto the cake. The cake, once complete does look marvelous. It's made almost entirely of ice cream layered with fruit. There's a thin layer of blueberries and whipped creme on top.

However, Shinjiro doesn't look satisfied with his creation. A large frown creases his forehead. "It's missing something...Got any powdered sugar?"

Kanji digs through their cupboards but finds nothing. An idea springs to me. "I think we have some upstairs. Wait a second."

I sprint upstairs, pour the smallest amount of sugar into the sedative bottle, mix it with a toothpick, and run back down with my concoction. "I think this is it."

Kanji takes a quick whiff but smells nothing out of the ordinary. He dumps half the bottle over the cake and plate. With a final Chef's flourish, my masterpiece is complete.

My body is trembling in anticipation of the party. The fourth floor does not come to dinner. Margaret helps Souji and Kanji prepare for their little party. I walk up and down the stairs a few times to get a glimpse and work off some nervous energy.

Slow hours roll by as the men work. Kanji offers to let me join them, which I happily accept. The sedatives should knock them out quickly, but I wanted to be awake for the aftermath. There is some alcohol and the food looks delicious. Naoto is the first to return. Followed by Rise. Chie and Yukiko. Then Yosuke and Teddie.

Their party is a surprisingly loud affair. A few occupants from the other floors join us. Some people play cards. There's an older movie showing on the TV in the background. A lot of people sit on the ground and talk. One of the girls offers up to play Truth or Dare.

I join in to the best of my ability but I'm watching Teddie the entire time. He doesn't touch any of the food but there is a drink in his hands. He is as flamboyant as usual. In Truth or Dare he always chooses Dare. There's a lot of kissing and stripping which he seems to have no qualms with, male or female. All of it should be fun but I'm in no mood to enjoy it. Teddie is my only concern.

After an eternity, Kanji calls everyone over to cut the cake. He argues for singing the song in birthday tradition. We dim the lights, leaving the one candle placed in the middle to cast everyone's faces aglow. I see Chie roll her eyes but she claps her hands together to make a wish. It takes less than 2 minutes and the light is back on again. Kanji cuts everyone a piece of the cake.

Teddie gets his piece pretty late. I can see he's talking to Yukiko with the plate in his hand, untouched. I walk over to join them. "How's the cake, Teddie? Kanji made it yesterday afternoon. It good, isn't it?"

Shock. Anger. And then a touch of panic. All the emotions flit across face and I know I've got him trapped. Yukiko doesn't notice the tension. She's oblivious as she devours her own piece of cake. "It's so gooood. Did you get one, Akira?"

"I ate mine already." The lie comes easily. I'd prepared for this scenario beforehand. "The blueberries were a nice touch. Why don't you take a bite Teddie?"

"I'm...allergic." He forces a smile back onto his face, getting back into character. "I can't bear the chocolate!"

"No, you're not!" Yukiko laughs and I wonder how much she's had to drink tonight. "Remember in high school when you begged all the girls to make you chocolate."

"Nope. Never happened." He seems to relax. Maybe he'd made the same conclusion I did about Yukiko's drunken state. "I wouldn't need to ask girls for chocolate. They just hand them over."

He was diverting her attention. A good plan, but I wouldn't be fooled. I turn around looking for my back up. "Hey! Kanji! Teddie doesn't want to eat your cake!"

Teddie grabs my arm, pulling me to him, hissing. "What are you doing?!"

I push him off as Kanji storms over. "Ted! What's with that? You got something against my cake?!"

"No! No!" I can see him swallow nervously. "I'm just not hungry."

"Not hungry? You know, I haven't really seen you eat anything all night. Are you sick? Should I call a doctor?" Yukiko continues to giggle, but there's some sobriety to her words. Everything was going perfectly. This was working. I was close. So close.

"No! No..." He looks at me again, and now I can see rage as well. There's a sick sense of joy in trapping an animal and watching as it struggles only to be further entangled in the mesh. He was losing it. Trapped in my web. "I'll give it a taste."

He takes one bite out of the top. Then another. He chews for longer than absolutely necessary but I do see his throat move when he swallows. "It's good! Bearriffic Kanji!" Kanji slaps him on the arm.

"Why are you surprised?! I've been making you guys snacks for years!"

Yukiko laughs uncontrollably. Teddie makes no move to take another bite but I egg him on. "Shouldn't waste your food Teddie. Yukiko's already finished hers."

He takes another bite, not even bothering to chew this time. A bear trap. Closing on the foot of its prey.

Yukiko laughs and spins her empty plate a bit before it joins the others in the sink. She wobbles as she walks, an effect of the drugs or the alcohol, I'll never know. I can see the same effect on the others. People all around us are yawning, saying goodbye and heading back to their floor. Chie and Yosuke are already asleep. Huddled on the floor. Rise seems about to keel over as well, and Kanji rushes over to catch her. "I'm going to take her back to her room! Party's over guys!"

Yukiko yawns, wobbling as she walks back to her room. Souji lifts her up in a princely sweep and carries her out. Teddie rushes to throw the remnants of his cake in the trash. I don't stop him. Three bites? Would that be enough? He showed no signs of exhaustion. He is breathing heavily, clearly in pain. "I told you to leave me to my bearsome. I was going to be a good bear. You..."

"Let's talk about this in my room. No need to make a scene in front of your friends." I point to Chie and Yosuke's immobile bodies huddled a few feet away.

There's a low growl from the base of his throat as his face twists from an innocent man into the Butcher. It only strengthens my convictions. He needed to die.

Teddie turns away from me, running for the end of the hall. I think he's heading for his room but he runs into the men's bathroom, throwing up the cake into the nearest toilet. The bile bears no resemblance to its original form. It comes up as a bubbling gooey mess like the potion of a witch. Mixed in is what looks like blood. His own or his victim's, I'll never know.

He retches again and this time, it's purely blood and saliva. He collapses onto the floor next to the toilet, his breathing shallow. Blood dribbles down his chin. His eyes, when he looks at me, hold no conscious thought. He's slipping. Within the next five seconds his head thunks on the floor as foam bubbles in his mouth.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. I count the seconds in my head. Nothing moves. Nothing sounds. No pain in my chest. My memories are intact. No one jumped then. I bend down to check his breathing. Nothing. No pulse. Dead? How? From eating the cake? Impossible. Was this how his body naturally reacted to food?

I walk back outside and a wave of noise hits me. Souji has his phone to his ear as he runs from door to door kicking them open. "VELVET APARTMENTS! YES! I SAID YES! I DON'T KNOW. Yukiko! Shit! Yukiko! Wake up!"

The girl looks like she's having a seizure as she convulses on the floor of her room. I rush in to join him. "What happened?!"

"I don't know! I was about to put her in bed when she started thrashing around! Chie is throwing up in the living room!" Souji puts the phone back to his ear. "I don't know how many ambulances! Just get me as many as you can!"

I run back into the living room where I can see Chie is crawling her way to the trashcan. I pull her up, practically carrying her over to the sink so she can empty her bowels.

Yosuke and Naoto are still asleep. No adverse effects yet. What was going on? There's no way my sedatives did all this. I took them before and they were fine. I just fell asleep. There was nothing like this.

I pat Chie's back and she sinks to the floor, looking ill, but alive. In the next minute, Kanji is storming into the room carrying Teddie over one shoulder and Rise over the other, the same panicked look as Souji on his face. "Did you call an ambulance?!"

"Souji did!"

"Help me carry everyone downstairs!

It's a little difficult, but Chie can walk against the railing. I grab Naoto while Souji hauls Yukiko and Yosuke. When we pass the third floor I wonder about Akihiko and Ryuji. They were also at the party but there is no movement now. No sign of trouble at all. They was probably fine. Hopefully.

A few ambulances are waiting for us when we get outside. The light is shinning brightly but there's no siren. We load everyone in while we each get into one ourselves. I'm in the same car as Teddie. A paramedic checks his pulse and his vitals but I already know the result even without the flatline. Teddie is long gone.

We're the last to arrive at the hospital. A quick check in the ambulance shows that I'm completely fine. Souji and Kanji are the same. They're in the waiting room. Kanji is pacing while Souji sits on the floor. "How's Teddie?"

I shake my head, hiding my face. I try to keep my face blank, impassive. Souji shows no reaction but Kanji breaks down, crying and slamming his fists against the wall until a nurse forces him to stop. "This is a hospital!"

Chie comes out with a nurse. She's wobbly, but relatively okay. They've put her in a hospital gown. She'll need to stay the night. Naoto is still asleep but she's fine as well. Rise had her intestines pumped, but she would be released tomorrow. The three of us sit in the lobby, waiting for news of Yukiko and Yosuke. We lose our sense of time. There is a clock but I don't look at it.

Kanji loses his patience first, grabbing the first unfortunate nurse who walks by for answers. "How are our friends?!"

She tries to flee like a cornered animal, but Kanji's death grip is unforgiving. "I-I-I-I'm sorry, sir. Our doctors are trying their best."

"How the fuck did this happen?! One minute we were having a party, and the next, everything goes crazy!"

The nurse feverishly checks a few notes on her clipboard, ripping some sheets in her haste. "Eep! Al-al-Alcohol sir. It looks like your group mix-mixed alcohol and some very strong medications and their bodies reacted badly. There's always a danger in mixing substances. We put it on every label!"

White noise fills my ears. I don't hear Kanji as he continues to yell at the nurse. I don't hear the doctors when they come out of the ER to give us the news. I don't hear Chie as she breaks down behind me, her despair throwing her into a frenzy that requires she be sedated and carted back to her hospital bed. I don't hear Souji as he collapses onto the floor, a man broken by the loss of everything he loves. I don't hear the sound of the bed as they roll Yukiko's lifeless body away.

No. I don't hear anything at all. Teddie was dead. That's all that mattered. I'd saved countless lives tonight. What were two or three people for the price of all those lives? They were nothing. A soundless drop in the ocean. Their skulls were pennies for gold. I was Justice.

Justice made right.

BAD END

You have reached your second ending. Thank you for following Akira's journey through the Velvet Apartments. MVP this playthrough: Lilli

Achievements Acquired:

Lovers Quest Line Complete!

Cannibal Caught!

Completion: 7%

Congratulations on completing your first playthrough of the Velvet Apartments. Through your diligent work and logical reasoning, you have completed Akira's story. However, the secrets of the Velvet Apartments do not end here. You may start the journey again in New Game+ using characters you've unlocked. {Requirements: Motivation x10}

[Replay?]

[Change Characters] {Minato Arisato} , {Teddie} , or {Soji Seta. His name will be changed to Yu Narukami for his playthrough}