ID:Invaded: Detective Narihisago vs John Walker

by steamroco

What if Akihito Narihisago saved his daughter Muku in time? What if Narihisago dealt with John Walker as an officer instead of as a criminal? A Series Spinoff of the Season 1 Anime

10. John Walker

File 10: John Walker

-Flashback—

"Chief Hayaseura, why was Narihisago-san chosen to be the Mizuhanome Pilot?"

Momoki was standing in front of the desk inside the Chief's office, which was on the 6th floor. The office was spacious and had a large couch and a table in the middle of the room. After their initial job announcement, Momoki and Akihito had gotten separated to get more personal briefings on their jobs.

But Momoki had become worried about his friend and on why he was chosen. Did Akihito have something that the other candidates didn't have?

"No need to worry, Momoki-san. You and Narihisago-san still have time to make your decision on accepting your roles…. or not. It would be a shame if I lost two perfectly capable men so quickly. Everything has been accounted for, however. So, make your decisions before I finalize everything."

"Thank you for your consideration, Chief Hayaseura."

Momoki quickly bowed back before leaving his office. Akihito was standing near the front door, waiting for his friend's response in the matter. He had gotten briefed on more information on the Mizuhanome and was unsure of himself.

"You're back, Momoki," Akihito muttered back, trying to smile, "How did the questioning go?"

Momoki scratched his head in dismay. It hadn't gone as planned.

"Nothing, Narihisago. Seems like the Chief won't budge on why he had chosen you. But you still need to make a decision soon…"

Akihito sighed back. The two of them had been thrown into a spectacle of new technology and were even given the chance to see the machine firsthand. But for some reason, he felt an urge to accept the role, as if someone wanted him there…

Now the two of them were stuck with a choice:

Join Kura and accept their new roles or reject it and go back to Fukui.

The two men then went their separate ways and went back to their Tokyo homes, hoping their family and companions could help them in making their decision.

Akihito came back home to find Muku at the dining table and Ayako greeting him near the front door.

"I'm home."

"Welcome home, Aki-kun. How did the job briefing go?"

"It went okay, Aya-chan."

A few hours later, the Narihisago family were sitting at a table eating dinner. Muku was looking at her phone while Akihito was sulking with his dinner, making Ayako a bit annoyed.

"Muku, stop playing with your phone and eat."

She then turned to face Akihito, who was then slowly munching on his food.

"What's wrong, Aki-kun? Did something happen at the briefing?"

"I-I don't know what I should do, Aya-chan. Should I take the job or not? It's about testing new technology to capture killers…"

Ayako seemed a bit surprised and in awe at the information. Usually, Akihito didn't tell them much about his cases and his police work at home, due to not wanting to frighten Muku.

But this time it was different.

Ayako touched Akihito's shoulder softly.

"Do you believe it's what you want to do? This is a new job opportunity for you, and I don't want us to ruin your chances because of it."

"I-It's not that. It's something more personal…"

Muku stopped eating to look back at her father. She seemed a bit curious about what her parents were talking about.

"Didn't you go through all the trouble just to move us to Tokyo? You wanted me to go to a Tokyo high school after all…"

"Well, Muku. I- "

"No buts, Dad! Just take the job! How bad can it be? It's probably better than being upfront on the police cases in the front lines like before."

After Muku gave her reason, she quickly finished her plate and left the table, leaving Akihito and Ayako surprised at their daughter's response.

"Want to discuss it later, Aki-kun?"

"Sure, Aya-chan…"

Later that night, Akihito and Ayako had a private conversation near their balcony. The moon from the sky glimmered through their windows. Ayako made them both some tea to drink while they spoke with each other.

Akihito took a sip and looked outside from the balcony.

"Should I accept the job position, Aya-chan?"

"Is there something wrong with it?"

"Well, there is a security risk. And I could end up…not being myself anymore."

Ayako softly touched Akihito's hands, which were shaking. He calmed down a bit afterward.

"If I do end up like that, would you still love me, Aya-chan?"

Ayako giggled and hugged Akihito. She knew that he meant well, but just had trouble with words sometimes. She then touched his face.

"Aki-kun, you always do what is best for our family. Of course, I would still love you, and take care of you. There is no reason to worry about something like that."

After discussing with Ayako about his job implications and new tasks, Akihito became more confident in accepting the job. But first, he had to call Momoki.

"Wait a moment, Aya-chan. I should talk to Momoki about it again."

"Go ahead. I'll wait."

Akihito quickly took his phone out and called Momoki. Fortunately, he happened to be awake as well, pondering and waiting for his friend's response to the job.

"Narihisago, you said you will accept the job?"

"Yes. Think I can accept it now."

"What was the reason for it?"

Akihito snickered through the phone line. It had been a while since he had felt happy.

"It's like what the Chief said, I want to protect my family. So, I'll accept the job, Momoki. Don't risk losing your position because of me."

"Alright, Narihisago. But I'll also accept my position so I can protect you as well. There still isn't much information on the machine after all. I don't want you to get severely impacted by the cockpit."

"Roger that, Momoki."

"Also, I called Togo-san and she said that she didn't forget about me. Her phone broke so she had no way to contact me. It's all good now."

"That's great, Momoki! Let's hope she doesn't do that to you again…"

The next day, the two of them accepted their job positions from the Chief. They had officially joined Kura.

"Momoki-san, is something wrong?"

Momoki had been fixated at the dead little girl inside the Mizuhanome testing well for some time before Togo quickly tapped his shoulder to get him to snap out of it. He looked back in shock before he regained his composure.

"Ah, it's nothing, Togo-san. I'll get back to observing Narihisago…"

.

..

…

….

Sakaido walked closer towards Kaeru, trying to examine her. He looked all around the environment that he was in. The place was full of water. All around him, there were pools of water all over the place. With just one object to decorate the bleak, blueish tint of the well.

Kaeru. With her body covered in blood, her head laid face down on the cold ground of the well.

But as he got closer, he suddenly felt a strong sense of déjà vu. Sakaido felt confused about this feeling, scratching his head.

I don't know who I am, but I feel as if I have seen her before…

He kneeled and slowly grabbed her body, making sure that her blood didn't touch his clothes. He slowly turned her head so that he could see her face.

A blank expression. No emotion. Her dead green eyes stared blankly at him. Her long black hair fell on her face again, creating a grisly appearance of a ghost. Her white dress hung low, covered in blood.

"There are no signs of stab wounds around her body, yet she is covered in blood."

Sakaido looked around again, but the well had nothing sharp or poisonous that could cause her death. He would have to look around the well more. He then checked her lips and found them to be blue, which was a sign of lack of oxygen.

The only closest thing to die from lack of oxygen was drowning inside the well.

"Wait, then that means it's not her blood. Who put her here? Is this a trap?"

Suddenly, the pools of water surrounding him started pouring in. It started to get into the bare room that he was in, leaking into all four corners of the walls. Holding onto Kaeru, Sakaido tried to swim out of the room to no avail.

He was trapped here.

Struggling to breathe, the water slowly went into his lungs. Bit by bit, the cold water surrounding him felt warmer and warmer as his eyes started to cloud. Everything started fading to black.

Is this what death feels like?

Sakaido was floating in darkness, feeling all alone. He felt himself fall apart and break into pieces. He felt as if he was alone. His body felt like glass as if he were being pulled apart.

My body feels numb. Is anyone there…

Then, something warm started to wrap around his body. He opened his eyes and saw a floating figure of a girl holding onto him. She seemed like an angel in front of him.

An extreme sense of déjà vu overwhelmed him again.

The girl looked familiar, but he couldn't pinpoint who she was.

"Everything will be okay, Sakaido. I will always be with you every time you die."

….

…

..

.

"NARIHISAGO!"

Akihito opened his eyes to find himself inside the Kura Infirmary. Momoki and the rest of the Kura staff were beside him, making sure that his vitals were stable. Matsuoka and Hondomachi were near the entrance of the Infirmary doorway, to make sure that no one was coming to inspect them.

"Where am I?"

"Narihisago, you collapsed from the cockpit. You're in the Kura Infirmary on the 3rd floor. Are you okay?"

Akihito rubbed his eyes to see what was going on. Everybody seemed worried about him, but for some strange reason, it felt as if the death was more of a dream than a nightmare. He had just died inside the well as Sakaido, yet he didn't get any painful memories from it.

It felt almost natural. It was as if he was being protected by something.

"I'm fine, Momoki," Akihito muttered back, "I came back fine, okay? There's nothing wrong with me."

A doctor was double-checking Akihito's vitals and heart rate. They took him to have a full body checkup to make sure he was stable and could go back to testing. Everybody was led outside of the infirmary so that Akihito could get his testing done quickly.

While Momoki was waiting for Akihito, the Chief walked by to ask about his condition.

"Momoki-san, how did you think of the testing?"

Momoki looked back at the Chief and let out a sigh. He was worried about Akihito all this time, but it could have all been for nothing. The Chief probably knew more than he did about his decision.

"It went fine, but Narihisago-san died fairly quickly. What kind of testing well is this, Chief Hayaseura?

The Chief put his hand on his beard before responding.

"Momoki-san, these testing wells were made from part of an older system, so they were already there before the Mizuhanome got updated to its current state. Fear not, these are just the wells of forgotten criminals. There is nothing to worry about except for testing purposes."

Momoki put his hands in his pockets and leaned against the building wall corridor. The noise inside the infirmary seemed to indicate that Akihito's testing was almost over. He would come out soon.

"Momoki! I'm back. The doctors said that I'm stable now and there's nothing wrong with me," Akihito said as he came out of the door. He felt a bit shaken up himself as he saw Momoki next to the Chief.

"Narihisago-san, did the first testing well go well? Seems like you experienced your first death. How was it?"

Akihito nervously smiled. He didn't want to explain too much about what had happened.

"It felt…different. But it's okay. I can handle it. This well was extremely dangerous…"

"This was just your first well, Narihisago-san. Are you brave enough to go into more of them?"

Akihito hesitantly nodded. The Chief left Momoki and Akihito alone as he walked out of the way back towards his office. After the Chief was gone, Momoki quickly grabbed Akihito's hand and took him into a quieter hallway down a building corridor.

"Are you seriously fine with doing this, Narihisago? This isn't a game. I don't want you to get mentally damaged by this machine. We just barely started testing."

Akihito felt overwhelmed by Momoki's constant worrying, but he knew he had to say something to let him off his track and let him make his own decision for once.

"I'll be fine, okay? I accepted this position and the Chief trusted me with it," Akihito said, removing his hands from Momoki's grasp, "I know that it's hard for you to see me like this, but I want to make my own choices too."

Momoki let out a sigh but accepted Akihito's response. He just wanted the best for his friend but didn't want this machine to wreak havoc on Akihito's mind. After all, the Mizuhanome machine lets the pilot dive into somebody's subconscious, with extremely dangerous risks involved.

"There could be more deaths like this, Momoki," Akihito muttered, trying to sound confident, "There's got to be a first time for everything."

"You're right, Narihisago. But at least tell me when something's wrong, please."

And the two men chuckled a bit before walking back to meet up with the others. There was still more testing to do before Akihito could get the hang of being a Mizuhanome Pilot.

After a month of testing, Akihito had managed to get the hang of diving into wells and not collapsing from dying inside them. Momoki on the other hand, kept observing Kaeru with his suspicions of it being Kiki. But he lacked the proof and evidence to support his theory. For now, he would have to focus on Akihito's testing and make sure everything went well.

One day, the Kura staff had gotten word about getting an official well for testing. While everybody was trying to set up everything and make sure that the procedure was in order, Wakashika had some confusion over some information he had discovered while trying to clean some of the dirtier rooms inside the building.

"What is it, Wakashika-san?" Habutae said, "What are you confused about?"

"Well, um…these documents seem strange. Some of the information mentioned well storms, well inside a well, and dogma. I have never heard of them."

From a distance, Akihito and Momoki were getting ready to go to the cockpit room. Based on Wakashika's statement, he found some hidden documents in some parts of the rooms and were curious about what was inside them.

"Wakashika-san, let me look at them after the testing," Momoki said, "That could help us understand the Mizuhanome system much better."

"Sure thing, Momoki-san," Wakashika replied, while double-checking his settings for the observation decks, "Thought it would be more interesting to see Narihisago-san's response to it too. He is the Pilot after all. Must be nice being chosen."

Momoki clenched his fists in frustration by Wakashika's remark but stopped himself. They had just joined the main Kura staff along with everyone else, and most people were new to the technology as they were. After all, it would be bad to create tensions now, especially in a new environment.

"Are you ready to go, Narihisago?"

Akihito looked back at Momoki and nodded. Everything was prepared and ready for the Mizuhanome dive. Momoki walked with Akihito towards the cockpit room before returning to the Wellside Room, where the rest of the main Kura staff were.

Above them, Matsuoka and Hondomachi were observing from the Wellside Room's 2nd floor as they had done since the first testing.

"Matsuoka-san, you haven't talked to Narihisago-san in ages," Hondomachi said, looking over the window panels of the Kura staff on the bottom floor, "Ever since the field analysts joined Kura, you've only been talking to Momoki-san about Narihisago-san instead. Do you still hate him?"

"Hondomachi-san, you should stay out of this. I know you're curious about my relationships with those two men, but it's in your interest to not get involved."

"Why? Aren't you happy about giving Narihisago-san a chance? You did congratulate Momoki-san on his promotion but not his."

"Forget about it. Do you want another scolding like last time?"

Hondomachi looked dumbfounded before regaining her composure. They looked back through the window panels where the main Kura staff were starting their operations.

"F-Fine. But I still think Narihisago-san is an interesting fellow."

Meanwhile, inside the Wellside Room, Momoki was discussing with Akihito through another speaker again. This time, the new well would be presented from a more recent serial killer that got caught months ago. But it would still be a testing well, so it could still provide them clues on the serial killer's psyche and his motives.

"Everybody ready?" Momoki said.

All the Kura main staff gave him a nod. They were ready for the well.

"INJECTING SAKAIDO."

.

..

…

….

Sakaido opened his eyes inside a new environment. The well seemed eerie and silent, with gooey and monstrous shapes surrounding him. Looking around him, he spotted a figure lying on the ground near him. Slowly getting closer to her, he suddenly remembered himself and his name.

"My name is Sakaido and I'm here to solve the mystery of this girl, Kaeru-chan's death…"

Another sensation of déjà vu…what is this feeling?

But before he could closely examine her, he saw some creatures staring at him from a distance. They had weird distorted faces as if they looked vaguely human. Sakaido felt a sense of fear and horror from them, but he had to look over Kaeru first.

But if they came over to attack him, he would have to carry Kaeru, princess style, out of the way, and find a safer location inside the well.

He slowly turned Kaeru around to see her face. There was no face. Just empty bones and meat left off from the face. It was as if a meaty skull was staring right back at him.

Someone or something had peeled off her face, leading to her death.

Suddenly, he heard the ground tremble. Something was moving. And moving fast.

Looking up, he saw a herd of the monstrous faced creatures heading towards him. It looked like they were going kill him with a stampede. The loud noise of the creatures coming after him was still far away, but they were approaching him fast.

"What's going on? I need to get to a safe place on higher ground," Sakaido said under his breath, "I can't just leave Kaeru-chan here either."

He slowly picked up her faceless body and looked around for a nearby structure to hide in. There were towers of purplish goo all over the place. Up above him, there was a small opening that he could go to.

It was now or never. The stampede could reach him at any time.

After Sakaido took a couple of breaths, he started to climb towards the cave opening. The human-shaped creatures watched him as he went up towards the purple towers, which had steps that could lead up to safety. Carrying Kaeru on his back made the task harder, but he continued persisting.

"I think I made it up in time," Sakaido muttered as he heaved Kaeru up at the same time, "I wonder why those things suddenly wanted to attack me…"

Sakaido looked below him, with the stampede rushing through. The loud noises that the creatures produced made the ground tremble again, so he held on to Kaeru for safety as he looked outside from the cave opening.

Momoki looked back at the 3-D virtual well model. Sakaido had suddenly disappeared from their monitors, so they had to search for him. But the purplish human-faced creatures inside the well were distorting their view.

"Momoki-san, seems like the environment that Sakaido is in looks like a distorted room that got clogged with purple goo," Shiratake said, "There are also many holes all over the well, so it's possible that he could have hidden in one of them."

"Good information, Shiratake-san. Is there any information on those vaguely human-shaped creatures inside the well?"

"I got it, Momoki-san," Habutae answered, "After collecting information on their facial expressions, they seem to look like victims from a particular case."

"What case was it, Habutae-san?"

"Sonoda Hitoshi, but he was also called the Face Lifter before his capture."

Momoki suddenly felt dread. It was a case that had immediately stopped its investigations after the Face Lifter was captured from the seaside warehouses a couple of months back. There was always something suspicious about the case, but they were forced out of it despite saving the last potential victim, Muku Narihisago, from getting killed.

"Something doesn't seem right about this well."

He looked closely at the stampede from the monitors. The way they moved seemed almost mechanical as if they were being led by something.

Or someone.

Sakaido looked out from the cave opening that he was in, to make sure that the stampede had ended. After breathing a sigh of relief, he looked around the cave opening that he had hidden in. The cave seemed a bit sticky and gross due to the purplish ting and goo surrounding him.

He would have to get out of the cave eventually. He still had to investigate the environment.

Looking back at Kaeru, who was inside the cave with him, Sakaido didn't know where he should put her. Maybe it was best to leave here so that no strange creatures could come inside easily and mess with her body.

"I'm sorry that I'll have to leave you here, Kaeru-chan," Sakaido said softly, "But I have to know what's going on with this place."

Holding her hand gently one more time, he put Kaeru near the edge of the cave opening. Her faceless body stared meekly in the dark, lonely, and quiet. Sakaido stuck his head from the cave opening to see what was going on outside.

The well seemed eerie and silent now, with only a breeze coming from one direction of the purple-tinted gooey environment. Sakaido looked around and spotted something hopping around the purple towers inside the well.

"What is that? Is it a person?"

But the way it moved seemed creepy. It moved more like a scarecrow than a human being. This well truly was strange and horrifying. Its limbs moved upward and downward, like a horizontal hop as it jumped across each tower.

It looked like it was approaching Sakaido.

"Momoki-san! There is a strange figure spotted inside the well!" Wakashika cried out from the corner, "It doesn't look like a human that you typically see from the other wells we had before."

"Bring it up, Wakashika-san. There is really something strange about this well."

Momoki went to check the monitors that Wakashika had put up for the main Kura staff to look at. From a close-up monitor, they saw what looked like a horrifying scarecrow, but wasn't one.

The gentleman looked like it was wearing early 19th-century attire, with a top hat and a very crimson-colored coat. He wore a collarless white shirt along with a large black bowtie in front of his suit. His white trousers and brown boots shone from a distance as he continued hopping from tower to tower. The man was also carrying a cane as he balanced himself to keep from falling off the towers inside the well.

Momoki immediately remembered the blurred footage from the Face Lifter case.

He looked vaguely familiar for a reason.

"Eject Narihisago! This could be dangerous! Something is fishy here," Momoki cried out, unsure of how Akihito would react.

But before Momoki could eject him, Togo quickly held his hands and told him to calm down. The other Kura staff were still observing the well, and it seemed like Sakaido was safe for now. They could always eject him if things turned sour, but they needed to see how Sakaido would react to the strange figure inside the well.

"Not now, Momoki-san. Sakaido barely started the well and he isn't in harm's way right now," Togo muttered, "We need to observe more to see who this strange figure is. It could be just part of the Mizuhanome system as well."

Momoki sighed and scratched his head. Togo could be right. But they had never seen it before in the past wells that Akihito was tested in. This could be a new discovery for Kura in working with the Mizuhanome machine.

"F-Fine. But I'll rush towards the cockpit room if Sakaido dies inside the well again…"

And so, the Kura main staff continued watching from the monitors the activity of the strange top hat gentleman inside the well.

Sakaido looked around and spotted nothing close that was endangering him. He was curious about the hopping scarecrow looking figure that was coming towards him, so he decided to check it out for himself on who this mysterious person was. The human-shaped creatures surrounding the well had started popping all over the towers that the figure was jumping from.

"Maybe I should try talking to that gentleman. Kaeru-chan, please remain safe here."

After making sure that Kaeru looked comfortable inside the cave, he double-checked his surroundings again to make sure that the coast was clear before jumping off from the cave opening. He then landed on one of the purple towers nearby as his sneakers hit the surface.

"There we go. Let's see what's going on," Sakaido said as he used his hands to squint at the incoming figure, "Maybe he has answers to this place."

The figure hopped closer and closer towards him as he stood on one of the towers surrounding the well. Sakaido saw a glimpse of a top hat and a cane that it was carrying from the distance. But he couldn't see its face due to the top hat covering it.

"Hello! My name is Sakaido. I would like to ask you a few que- "

But before Sakaido could respond, he felt an intense pain hitting his stomach. The gentleman had whacked him with his cane as if taunting him for a fight. He felt dizzy for a few moments before regaining his posture. He looked down from one of the towers. He could have easily fallen to his death if he had lost his balance.

"What was that for? I just wanted to ask who you were!"

The figure remained silent towards Sakaido. Holding onto its cane, it hopped all over the nearby towers near Sakaido. It was as if it was ignoring him to go towards somewhere else.

The cave opening.

That was where Kaeru's body was being held.

"Hey! Don't go in there! Kaeru-chan is inside the cave…unless you want her?! I can't let you do that!"

Sakaido quickly positioned himself to climb back up to the cave opening, but the hopping gentleman was too fast. With no time to lose, he decided to hop towards each tower as well, based on the figure's hopping patterns. Miraculously, copying the gentleman's method of moving between the towers using hopping had made him faster in jumping between towers to get back to the cave opening.

The hopping man was about to reach towards grabbing Kaeru when Sakaido jumped on him, grabbing his legs to pull him off the cave opening.

"What are you going to do to her? What do you want?"

The two then fell inside the cave opening, with Kaeru's body unfazed by the conflict between them. They began to fight each other inside the cave.

"Looks like Sakaido is facing the hopping gentleman inside the cave now," Togo said, "He seemed to be targeting Kaeru for some reason. Should we change the monitor towards the cave opening now?"

"Do it, Togo-san. Let's see if Sakaido can see its face. We can't see it from our side so far due to the top hat obscuring everything."

After switching up the monitors, the Kura main staff were able to position themselves to observe the fight that was going on between Sakaido and the gentleman. Momoki was getting ready to eject Sakaido as soon as possible if he got killed by that thing.

Sakaido continued wrestling with the gentleman. The cane had kept smacking him to the gooey cave ground, getting pieces of purple goo all over his clothes. The man had tried to grab Kaeru a few times before he kept jumping at him to prevent him from getting her.

"Who are you? Why do you want Kaeru-chan so badly?!"

The gentleman paused for a moment as Sakaido tried to grab his leg again, but this time was pinned down by his legs and arms. He then started to beat Sakaido with his cane, which bloodied his face. Sakaido felt himself getting dizzy from the constant beatings, as the cane man believed that he had won the fight.

The gentleman then started to approach Kaeru's body, while Sakaido was on the cave floor, beaten up and bruised from the fight. Through his bruised eyes, he saw the cane man approaching Kaeru again.

"N-No…Not like this…There has to be a way to get that man out of this cave…"

Sakaido continued lying on the ground while the gentleman started to take Kaeru's body with him and started to walk out towards the cave opening. He thought long and hard on what he should do to at least get Kaeru out of the man's grasp.

Then he had an idea. It was risky but it was better than nothing.

Sakaido crawled for a bit before jumping on the gentleman again. It caused him to let go of Kaeru as she fell on the cave ground, lifeless like a doll. Sakaido then grabbed the man's cane and tried to trip him over towards the cave opening's edge, where many purple towers and human-faced creatures looked above to stare at them.

"Take this, cane man! I'll take you with me if I have to!"

The gentleman then tried to prevent Sakaido from holding onto his cane and poke him of his grasp, but he held on. They were near the cave opening edge, so it could be a dangerous fall below them. Sakaido held on, so the cane man then started to stomp his hands with his feet, trying to cause him pain so that he would let go.

"Smart, aren't you? But I won't let go unless you get out of the cave where Kaeru-chan is."

Sakaido looked up and tried to see the man's face. It seemed like the top hat he was wearing was obscuring his facial features. It would be worth a try to get his hat off as well. It would be nice to know who this man was and why he was aiming for Kaeru in this strange place.

After avoiding the gentleman's cane attacks, Sakaido then jumped a bit to grab one of his legs, sending them both falling downwards. Sakaido looked up to see Kaeru still relatively safe inside the cave before wrestling with the cane man as the two of them fell.

This is my only chance. I must see what this man looks like…

And in full force, Sakaido took off the man's top hat.

SPLAT.

….

…

..

.

"Sakaido has died," Togo said as she checked the monitors, "Should we go- "

But before Togo could finish her sentence, Momoki had already rushed outside the Wellside Room towards the cockpit room. The rest of the Kura main staff seemed a bit quiet from his actions.

He did seem worried about Akihito ever since the two of them started their jobs at Kura.

Momoki rushed towards the cockpit room. He burst open the door to find Akihito sulking in the cockpit seat, deep in thought. It seemed like he was also sweating as if recovering from the fall from his death inside the well.

"Narihisago! Are you okay?" Momoki said as he came towards the cockpit seat, "Do you need anything?"

But Akihito quickly flicked his hand away from Momoki. He looked down on the cockpit room floor before answering back.

"Momoki, was this the Face Lifter's id well?"

"…"

"Why didn't you tell me earlier, Momoki. No wonder everything seemed vaguely familiar in there…"

"Narihisago, I can explain. We weren't told whose well it was by the Chief."

"What?!"

"I'm sorry about that, Narihisago. There was something fishy about this well after all."

After a moment of silence, Akihito let out a sigh before getting off the cockpit seat. He scratched his head in dismay. Momoki was shaking his head on the things that had happened inside the well that day. Later, he got the documents that Wakashika had found to investigate for later.

The Chief wasn't telling them anything. They would have to figure things out on their own.

Later that week, Momoki set up a group meeting for the main Kura staff and the field analysts. They were going to decide on naming the gentleman and whether he was part of the Mizuhanome feature or not. Everyone was near a close meeting room that was on the same floor as the Wellside Room.

"Is everybody here?" Momoki asked from the front row. He was trying to make sure most of the Kura staff and field analysts were here for their meeting.

"Are we allowed to eat, Momoki-san?" Wakashika asked from the corner of a table, "It coincides with our break time."

"Wakashika-san, is all you think about is food?" Habutae muttered back, with his head on the table, "We just dealt with some crazy thing inside the Mizuhanome id well…"

"No need to worry too much, guys," Wakashika said, "Momoki-san will help us investigate this anomaly. We just need to name the thing first."

"He is right," Shiratake said, tilting his glasses, "Maybe Narihisago-san could help describe this strange man inside the well as well. Momoki-san and Narihisago-san seem like close friends."

Meanwhile, Matsuoka and Hondomachi were sitting near the front of the meeting room, where Momoki and Akihito stood nearby. Togo was by the corner double-checking everything. She went over to ask Momoki something.

"Momoki-san, are you okay with Kokufu-san joining the meeting?"

"Well, isn't Kokufu-san your assistant helper? It would probably be a good chance for him to see the other members of Kura around here anyway…"

"Alright, Momoki-san. I'll be right back."

Togo then left the room to get Kokufu so that their meeting could start. A couple of minutes later, she brought him into the room. He had a typical bowl-shaped haircut and seemed a bit passive when he came in with Togo. He was carrying some documents and papers for their meeting as well.

"Time to start the meeting."

Momoki cleared up his throat while Akihito was leaning next to the wall, with his arms crossed. He seemed a bit dozy and tired from the hurdle inside the well a few days ago. Momoki began to put up some images on the presentation screen.

"It appears we found something similar in our hands," Momoki said, "The man looks like someone from the blurred-out footage of another case."

On the screen, he showed the footage from the Face Lifter case and the recent imagery of the gentleman from inside the well. Both wore relatively similar attire, except both their faces weren't visible.

"I have taken some evidence from the Face Lifter case due to discovering that the official well that we were being tested on was his. It seems like the same man could be involved here."

"Like the frog corpses, Momoki-san?" Matsuoka muttered, "I was with you in investigating the cram school building not long ago."

"Yes, Matsuoka-san," Momoki answered, "A part of the frog confusion is solved at least. Because Kaeru means frog, as well as being dead inside all the id wells so far. The Face Lifter case could be connected to the Mizuhanome."

"What does the Face Lifter case have to do with naming the strange man, Momoki-san?" Wakashika said, raising his hand, "Would using the context clues help us in naming him?"

"Probably," Habutae said, elbowing Wakashika a bit, "If we had no references beforehand, it would have made the naming for the gentleman have no meaning. Or more like lesser meaning."

"And the gentleman had already appeared before being inside this well," Shiratake said, "So we do have some references. This sounds interesting."

"The most prominent features of this man is his top hat and cane," Momoki said aloud, pointing towards the images shown, "He dresses a bit old fashioned compared to our time though."

"Maybe the guy just likes old European things," Wakashika said, shaking his head, "Maybe a name like Jack the Ripper would fit him. He did attempt to kill Sakaido after all…"

"Wakashika-san," Habutae muttered, looking back at him awkwardly, "You make sense yet don't make sense."

"Well, I'm trying to help to name him too," Wakashika replied, "Why don't you give your naming suggestion then?"

Meanwhile, in the corner, Hondomachi and Matsuoka were coming up with their own ways of naming the figure. There were many names for an unknown person, such as Jane and John Does in the US, as well as using common names such as Jack used in older European countries. Togo was also helping Kokufu with his notes and ideas on their current meeting and on how it could be related to the Face Lifter case, as well as his id well.

"What did you call him before, Momoki-san?" Kokufu asked while opening his notes, "Since it was related to a case, was there any name given before this?"

"Good question, Kokufu-san," Momoki answered back, putting his hand to his chin, "Narihisago and I had called him the Sevens Man or Cane Man before. But I'm not sure that name should stick given our current situation."

"I don't see anything wrong with calling him Cane Man, Momoki," Akihito said, trying to sound serious, "He is carrying a cane after all. Although Sevens Man would sound too strange for others to get."

Then Hondomachi raised her hand for her suggestion on the name.

"Momoki-san, how about a name based on alcohol?" she asked, "Sakaido's name is based on alcohol as well, so I thought it could fit better."

"Alcohol?" Momoki said, thinking back towards their naming suggestion, "Sakaido does have the word sake in it, which is a word for alcohol after all…"

"And Matsuoka-san here is great with alcohol!" Hondomachi exclaimed, trying to point towards Matsuoka on his naming suggestion, "He drinks all kinds of liquor from all over the world."

"I think we're going a bit off-topic here," Togo muttered, "What does alcohol have to do with the Face Lifter case and the suspicious gentleman inside the well and footage?"

"It could help us with naming the man, Togo-san," Wakashika said, "Many alcoholic brands do use generic-sounding names for their liquor."

"Are you fine with this, Momoki-san?" Matsuoka asked, "Going from a case study to alcoholic naming probably sounds strange to you towards naming."

Momoki let out a sigh. He looked back to find Akihito remaining silent during the rest of the conversations going on about names and the past Face Lifter case. Maybe he didn't want to say anything right now. There were other pressing things to worry about after all.

Especially the Chief.

The Chief had allowed them to do their meeting after all. But there were more pressing matters at hand. One step at a time.

"Sure, Matsuoka-san," Momoki said, nudging Akihito to keep him focused, "Alcoholic naming for this gentleman might be a good idea. Are you fine with it, Narihisago?"

"Just name him already, Momoki," Akihito said back, a bit annoyed, "We don't have all day."

"Guess I'll check my phone really quick," Wakashika muttered, "There are plenty of names based on liquors."

"It would be best if it could fit the description of the man, Wakashika-san," Habutae said, pointing towards the images on the presentation screen, "That way, it could be easier to tell based on imagery alone."

"An alcoholic brand based on liquors that have a similar uniform to the mysterious man," Shiratake muttered back, "We can pinpoint the options from there."

Meanwhile, Matsuoka was thinking of a liquor brand that looks the closest to the man from the well and Face Lifter case. Hondomachi was checking her phone for any similarities as well.

"The closest we have gotten is a brand called Johnnie Walker," Hondomachi said, "His looks resembles the mysterious man the most."

"But due to copyright, we would have to change the name to make it more palatable and easier to remember," Matsuoka replied, looking at her phone, "Maybe something shortened to John Walker?"

"John Walker?" Hondomachi questioned, thinking to herself, "John is also a common name used for unknown persons that have not been identified."

"That can work!" Wakashika exclaimed, "It also sounds a bit old fashioned and European too. He even has a cane like the one from the brand!"

"John Walker," Momoki said, looking over the imagery and the name connotations, "It does fit his old-fashioned European style clothes that he is wearing, and the name is generic-sounding enough to be implied as unidentifiable. It could work."

"So, the man should be called John Walker then?" Kokufu asked, raising his hand, "If everyone accepts the name, we just need to get the Chief's approval to let it become official."

"Does everyone here approve of this name?" Momoki asked.

Everyone nodded.

"So, the name for this mysterious person will be John Walker."

After setting up his documents and papers to present to the Chief, Momoki noticed Akihito trying to sneak out of the meeting room. People were slowly leaving the room to prepare for a lunch break, while part of the Kura main staff was in the corner talking about various things. Akihito had been mostly quiet throughout the meeting, so Momoki didn't know what happened over the past few days in between the Face Lifter well testing and the meeting.

Later that day, Momoki went to the Chief's office to discuss the naming. He had also wanted to talk about the suspicious documents that Wakashika had found as well but was unsure if he should mention it yet.

"John Walker?" the Chief chuckled, looking over the documents that Momoki had sent, "That's a clever name. If I had been him, I would have approved of this name."

"Is the naming acceptable, Chief Hayaseura?" Momoki asked.

"Yes, I'll allow it, Momoki-san. Good job."

After filing up the paperwork, Momoki continued to stand in front of the Chief. There was an awkward silence.

"Is there anything else, Momoki-san?"

Momoki cleared his throat.

"Why didn't you tell us whose well it was for the official testing, Chief Hayaseura?"

"Oh, you don't like a surprise once in a while, Momoki-san? That's too bad. Is there anything else you want to know?"

"Well…"

"Go on, I'm willing to lend an ear."

"Chief Hayaseura, I was wondering about the dead girl inside the well. Why does she look like Kiki Asukai?"

"Asukai-san? Momoki-san, you must be mistaken. I'm sure there are plenty of girls that look similar. If there are any more questions, I'll answer them for you in a couple of weeks."

But before Momoki could answer, the Chief got up from his desk chair and patted him on the shoulder.

Meet me on the second floor of the Wellside Room in a few weeks.

Akihito was talking with Wakashika and Hondomachi inside a break room while he waited for Momoki to come back from the Chief's Office. They were asking Akihito about his experiences inside the wells and what they were like.

"Narihisago-san, how does it feel like to be inside the id wells? You said you don't remember who you are inside them, so does that make you an amnesiac?" Wakashika asked as he was munching on a chocolate bar, "It feels weird going against an amnesiac detective once we do get a new case."

"What is it like inside the cockpit room, Narihisago-san?" Hondomachi asked, "We were always shown images of it but never allowed into the room. Is it as bare as it looks?"

"But Momoki has seen it," Akihito answered back, trying to sound informative without saying too much, "He always comes with me to the room to make sure I'm fine."

"Isn't he the Director?" Wakashika said, finishing his bar, "He probably has more power than all of us to just go into the cockpit room without needing permission."

"Yeah, maybe you can show us the cockpit room sometime, Narihisago-san," Hondomachi muttered, curious about what the other rooms inside the buildings looked like.

Akihito figured out the information from the other Kura main staff members. Togo had treated him relatively nicely, while the others seemed more distant towards him. Matsuoka had already ignored him most of the time in Kura so far and was only there during testing and other occasions with Hondomachi. Only Wakashika and Hondomachi directly interacted with him apart from Momoki.

After all, not everyone was allowed into the Mizuhanome cockpit room.

Yet the Chief had shown them one of the most important rooms of the Kura building at the very beginning of their tour.

After a while, Momoki walked into the break room. His paperwork from the official testing well had been sent in and their naming had been officially approved. Akihito looked up at Momoki and waved.

"Momoki, how did everything go?"

Momoki smiled back at Akihito and saw him talking with Wakashika and Hondomachi. They had kept him company and been nicer to him compared to the other members so far.

"We got the name approved, but he hasn't clarified anything yet. We would have to wait to get more information later."

He turned his back to face Wakashika and Hondomachi. He gestured to them that it was time to leave the Kura building. The work was done for tonight.

"Wakashika-san and Hondomachi-san, thank you for taking care of Narihisago. We will be walking home together again so please don't mind us…"

He quickly grabbed Akihito by the arm and dragged him outside the break room. Wakashika and Hondomachi looked at them, a bit dumbfounded as they left the room.

"What was that for, Momoki?" Akihito muttered, questioning his motives, "I know that we were going to leave together already but you didn't need to do that."

But Momoki had another idea. He seemed a bit worried since he came back from the Chief's Office.

"Narihisago, please go get your things and get ready to leave. I don't think I should tell you anything inside the building. There are security cameras all over the place."

After Akihito got his suitcase and everything organized again, the two of them left the building. He had waved goodbye to Hondomachi and Wakashika as well, who were also in the break room preparing to leave too. The other Kura members either were in different parts of the building, studying on some cases while the others had already left earlier due to the Chief giving everyone an early leave from the Face Lifter id well testing issue with the mysterious man.

Momoki dragged Akihito towards a ramen shop that wasn't too close to the Kura building.

"It's been a while since we had eaten together," Momoki muttered under his breath, "It would also be easier to disguise our conversation as well."

After they had ordered and received their ramen, they began talking about their suspicions of Kura and Chief Hayaseura.

"Narihisago, are you having nightmares again?"

Akihito stopped eating for a moment and looked back at him.

"What do you mean? Did you ask my wife about me again?"

Momoki scratched his head, trying to not sound intrusive.

"Well, I did ask, but there's another reason. Asukai-san may be related to Kura."

The two of them continued eating while they continued discussing possible connections between Kiki and Kura. Especially the dead girl inside the well.

"Since you were always inside the wells, Narihisago, have you recognized her face as Asukai-san or something different?"

Akihito closed his eyes. He'd had extreme feelings of déjà vu while he was Sakaido but didn't know if it would be related to Momoki's relation to Kiki. But it was better safe to tell it to him, otherwise, he would keep pestering him about his dreams again.

"I did have feelings of déjà vu while I was Sakaido but I'm not sure if that has anything to do with Asukai-san, Momoki."

"What do you recall she looks like after you came back from the well?"

"I don't know. It seems as if something is blocking my vision. I can't seem to tell the difference between Kaeru-chan and Asukai-san as the same person."

"Interesting. But it seems like we might have a lead-in for Asukai-san compared to the last couple months now. Guess it is possible that fate had led us here to Kura."

"Fate, huh."

Is fate related to his constant dreams and nightmares as well?

But they had just started working at Kura for a few months. Is he cursed after all?

Akihito and Momoki then quickly finished their ramen and left the shop. They walked outside into the night sky, where many crowds of people were still walking all over. They went towards a nearby resting area near a few vending machines to discuss the rest of their plan.

"Narihisago, I'm also looking into the past records of possible candidates before you. I don't think the Chief is telling you everything and I'm still wary about the cockpit. Do you want to help me with this investigation?"

Akihito sighed. Ever since Momoki got into Kura, he had been suspicious of the Chief for a few months already. Maybe it was better to go along with his plans and hopefully everything would work out.

"We'll see, Momoki. I know that you care about my wellbeing being inside the cockpit, but I have come out unscathed and been fine. I kind of don't want more misfortune to fall upon us again, like in Fukui."

"I guess you have been wary about me obsessing over Asukai-san since the failed investigation a few months back? I understand. You probably don't need to get involved right now…"

"Momoki, I just don't want to get my family involved again. I don't want any more serial killers to exist. I'll still help you in your investigation, I just want to protect my family. I don't want any more bad things to happen to them."

After a moment of silence, they walked home together. One was suspicious of Kura and suspected a possible connection to Kiki while the other just wanted a normal life with his family, with no more serial killers.

But things had only just begun.