Distance; it was one of the things Yuri was well acquainted with. Right now she was keeping a certain distance away from Shujinkou. She knew the only reason he hasn't noticed her yet was because he was too absorbed in his own thoughts.

It was similar to when they first met, back when he was a constant daydreamer. She could empathize with the desire to escape into a world of fiction; a world where no one would judge and ridicule you.

Even when she was too nervous to initiate a conversation with him, it was comforting that there was another member in the club that was similar to her in that regard.

Thinking back, even when he constantly escaped into his head and it took a great deal of effort to bring him back, he never felt as distant as he had these past few days.

It felt like the distance he was putting between himself and everyone was both intentional and unintentional. She couldn't understand how it could be unintentional and at first she couldn't understand why Shujinkou would intentionally distant himself now of all times.

Anyone who had been in his shoes lately would want some space lately, but that didn't seem to be the reason why.

From the brief interactions they've had since he fell on his head, it felt like a part of him was afraid to be around others for too long. With his sudden and erratic behavior, Yuri could see why Shujinkou would spend the bare minimum around known associates; he didn't want to worry anyone anymore than he already did nor did he want to suddenly do something that would hurt someone in any way.

Knowing that was one of two reasons Yuri wasn't any more concerned than she was. But-

Like Monika had said, Shujinkou is clearly withholding information. Information that could be vital. He's usually vey open. Even when he doesn't want to say something, he would at least be upfront about it.

Still…Even though I respect his desire to keep something to himself or keep a secret for a friend, if he knows more concerning something that involves all of us in this situation…

With her resolved hardened, Yuri closed the gap between the two of them and gently tapped his shoulder. Shujinkou turned around, clearly surprised by her presence.

"Yuri?" he said, perplexed.

Though his response seemed normal, there was still something noticeably off. She thought it was just her mind playing tricks on her at first but whatever it was even worse than before.

Whatever the unexplainable phenomenon that made the usually approachable Shujinkou a little unnerving to talk to now was frightening.

"…What are you planning on doing now?" Yuri queriered.

"Well, I'm drawing a blank on realistic plans," he sighed. "If we had some sci-fi or fantastical stuff or mastery of stealth, a one man assault would be what I would go with."

"I see…"

A brief, but noticeable silence came between them.

"Shujinkou… Is there more to this than you're letting on?" Yuri finally asked.

"What? Why would you ask that?" he calmly asked back.

Normally, a response like that could be suspicious in and of itself. It could be used as a way to deflect questions such as hers.

But that wasn't what made her even more suspicious; it was the calm way Shujinkou responded to her. It just didn't seem to be the way he would respond in their current circumstances.

"It just feels like that withholding information," Yuri answered.

"Come on, Yuri, am I really the type that can hide anything? Everyone I know can tell what I'm thinking just by looking at me," he reminded her.

Contrary to his intentions, his words only served to make Yuri even more concerned.

"If that's the case, then why can't I do so now?" she pointed out.

"That's…"

Shujinkou remained silent as he scratched his right cheek. His face was riddled with guilt and concern.

"…I want to believe that you have your reasons, but is now a good time to keep particular information to yourself?" Yuri questioned.

"I mean, I told you guys the most important parts I got from a mountain load of paper."

"If that's true, then why were you so hesitant to show us the he documents before discovering you were one of the only ones who could read it? When I thought about your actions and words, it seemed like you were most wary of me reading them."

"That's because…"

Shujinkou bit his bottom lip, preventing himself from saying anymore.

"You know, part of me is really happy that you refuse to lie to me but.. whatever it is you're keeping to yourself; I feel you would have been open about it not too long ago…" Yuri lamented.

"Don't say stuff like that… I'm already questioning myself… I seriously don't know I'm not an emotional wreck by now."

Shujinkou averted his gaze for a brief moment as he scratched his right cheek.

"Yuri… I…"

"Pardon me!"

The two turned towards the source of the bright and cheery voice. Walking towards them was a woman in a trench coat and fedora.

Before either of them could say a word, she introduced herself. "Name's Detective Anvia; the top ranked and hottest detective in town."

Shujinkou and Yuri stared at the stranger. Her upbeat attitude contrasted heavily with the previous dour mood.

"Anywhoo…" Anvia eyes trailed down towards Yuri and examined her from head to toe. "Okay, I see it."

"Ah… See what?" she queried.

"Long story, so let me get straight to the beginning: I've been looking into the case with you and your… um… nausea inducing, stalkery ex-teacher and discovered something fairly important."

"What?" Shujinkou inquired, his eyes lit with hope.

"I completely ran out of leads," Anvia said in a matter of fact manner.

Shujinkou didn't say a word. He didn't scratch his right cheek nor outwardly express any sorrow or disappointment. The only response he gave was not even a conscious action. Shujinkou's left eye twitching as if he was ready to snap was concerning.

But that was when something curious happened. Shujinkou soon looked at the woman in a peculiar manner. It was as if he was trying to find some kind of answer from her.

"But that was before I did some more digging," Anvia continued. "You see, I was looking into the disappearances of two girls named Natsuki and Sayori and found out that they're your friends."

"How'd you figure that out?" Shujinkou queried.

"When I heard you begging my fellow officers to believe you about the documents leading to your friends."

Once again, Shujinkou's left eye twitch. He opened his mouth but then closed it shut before he could say anything. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

After spending a minute staring at the screen, he sighed and stuffed it back into his pocket.

"Spam…" he said.

"Hate it when that happens," Anvia emphasized. "Moving on, I believe that their may be some correlation between the two cases and…"

"You want to get us off the street so you can give us the full story?" Shujinkou interrupted.

"Exactly; smart kid, aren't ya?"

Shujinkou turned to Yuri. "You good with doing so, Yuri?"

"It seems like the best decision."

"Great! Let's get moving!" Anvia cheerfully declared.

The detective turned around and was immediately struck down. Yuri was horrified, not just because of the sudden attack but also because the one who was responsible for it was Shujinkou.

He gazed at the droplets of blood at hat stained the exterior of the briefcase, looking as horrified as she was.

As if waking from a trance, Shujinkou's attention snapped towards her and he immediately squeezed her right hand.

"Yuri, we need to run!"

The moment the detective turned around, Shujinkou slammed the briefcase down on her head. As she fell on the ground, Shujinkou looked at the droplets of blood left imprinted on the case, horrified by what he had just done.

Without giving her a chance to respond, Shujinkou took off running, almost dragging her behind him.

Reaching for her hand and leading her some here else reminded Yuri of the time they almost ran into Akuma and the mall. Unlike that time, she didn't feel the same amount of comfort from Shujinkou whisking her away.

"Shujinkou… Why did you-?"

"That wasn't a detective," Shujinkou breathlessly answered.

"She wasn't? How could you tell?"

"It took a second and a scare for me to recognize her. I know she's not a detective because she's really one of the ladies I caught my dad sleeping with while married to my mom."

"That's…"

Hearing that invoked many emotions in Yuri.

Is that- Is that why you just assaulted her?" she asked.

"What?" Shujinkou shook his head. "No! No! She's one of the guys after everyone! She was probably going to lead us into a trap and then they would have all of us!"

"All of us…?" the implications behind those words were clear, but even so, Yuri had to ask, "Then Monika…?"

"Yeah… I mean, I don't know for sure. She just texted me that she was pretty much in the same spot that we're in."

Shujinkou looked behind them, his face contorting with fear and disbelief. Yuri glanced back, stunned by the sight of Anvia chasing them down.

"Okay, either Nivia is a terminator or she's related to Sandy Cheeks!" Shujinkou cried.

He then exchanged a brief glance with Yuri before looking down at his briefcase.

"Yuri, take this and get ahead of me."

Once again giving her no chance to speak, Shujinkou pushed the case into Yuri's hands and went behind her.

He isn't planning to…?

It was clear that Shujinkou was preparing to sacrifice himself to let her get away.

"Here goes!" he declared.

After those words, Yuri felt herself lifted into the air. No longer was she running for her life, now she was floating above the ground in Shujinkou's arms.

"Now!"

Shujinkou quickly turned to his side and dashed towards a nearby fence. In one swift movement, he jumped on top of the vent then launched himself over a fence, landing in a random backyard.

Giving himself another running start, Shujinkou launched himself against the fence and bounced off to give him enough height to soar to the other side.

He repeated this pattern again and again through 10 yards, finally tiring out after clearing the 11th one.

"Please tell me she didn't do the same thing and is right behind us…" Shujinkou begged aloud as he fell on his knees.

Yuri peeked behind them. There were no signs of them being followed.

"I think we got away for now," she informed him.

Shujinkou breathed a sigh of relief as Yuri slowly got on her feet.

"That… What you just did was pretty amazing, Shujinkou," she marveled.

"Yeah," Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as he stood up. "Really didn't know I had it in me… Guess people doing unexpected things in situations like this actually happens in real life. Anyway, we need to move."

Nodding her head in agreement, Yuri began to follow Shujinkou down the street.

"Forgive me if this is redundant question, but what's the plan for us now?" she questioned.

"The best I have is sticking to the shadows and staying ahead of Nivia," Shujinkou answered. "Problem is, she isn't exactly the only person to worry about."

Suddenly stopping, Shujinkou turned around and examined Yuri from head to toe.

"Alright, I'm rested up enough," he said.

"Eh?"

Shujinkou once again swept Yuri off her feet and took off running.

…

"I think we can take a break here…" Shujinkou breathlessly said, once again collapsing on ground.

Looking around, Yuri discovered that they were near a local canal.

"This was one of the places I used to come when I wanted to get away from everything," he said. "It was a peaceful place to return from my daydreams. Should be good place to rest for a second."

Shujinkou stumble onto his feet and stumbled towards the water. She thought he was just mindlessly staring at the water, but upon closer inspection, she discovered that he was solemnly staring at his own reflection.

"The name of the woman who was chasing us, Nivia… She was mentioned in the documents you read, right?" Yuri questioned.

Shujinkou nodded his head."Yeah."

"And the knowledge that there are others to worry about?"

"Yep."

"Ah… I don't want to sound ungrateful for you getting me out of danger or anything but, don't you think that would have been important to tell me or Monika?"

"…Yeah. I realized that after I got the text."

Shujinkou looked up and turned his sorrowful gaze to her.

"I'm sorry, Yuri. I keep not wanting to worry you guys. I know you guys deserved to know more and I should've gave more than a rapid bullet point list. It's just…

I wanted to believe that I was making the right choice for once and that such clear information would have helped solve everything right away. But it didn't…

Nivia wasn't exaggerating, I really did beg and plead but no one listened to me. They thought it was a joke; they wouldn't even consider the possibility that it was true. And now all I can do is help keep you ahead of anyone who wants to capture you."

"About that…"

Yuri hesitated to say what she wanted to say next. It was clear that Shujinkou was barely holding himself together emotionally, but she had to know.

"There was also something else that I've been thinking about. Whoever's taking us has gone after us when separated from the group and yet, you've been going off on your own the last few days. Despite presenting a few good opportunities, nothing has happened to you.

While I'm glad nothing has, it does make one wonder why. Taking us slowly one by one; is it convenience or something more? Knowing that and the fact that someone who was involved with your father is involved, it really seems like… That is to say…"

"I'm the reason everyone's getting taken?" Shujinkou said, finishing the line she didn't want to say.

All she could do is nod her head to confirm his words.

"…Yeah. I'm the reason all of this happening," Shujinkou sighed. "Surprising, right? I want to say I did nothing, but that's clearly not the case."

"Could this be someone's way of getting to your father?" Yuri hypothesized.

"Somewhat. I'd like to put all the blame on dad, but I can't in this case."

"But… Even though all of the facts point to everything that's happening leading to something your father was involved in, that doesn't explain why you seemed so wary of me reading the documents."

An uneasy look fell on Shujinkou's face as he scratched his right cheek. "That's because…"

A pair of arms reached forward and tightly wrapped around Shujinkou's neck. As Shujinkou was pulled away, Yuri was petrified by the sight of Nivia putting him in a sleeping hold. The sadistic smile that stretched across her face made it clear she wouldn't think much of killing him.

"It always leads back to your Jomei, doesn't it? Granted he probably would have done a better job or running away; I mean, look how well he ran and stayed away from you after you got your sister killed," she taunted.

For a moment, a hurt look flashed on Shujinkou's face, but that replaced by another after hearing what she said next.

"I think you'll be easier to take down than the peppy one," Nivia continued.

"Sayori…" he muttered.

"Are you going to beg for us to spare someone else like she did as she refused to go to sleep?"

Shujinkou face displayed nothing but pure fury as he immediately he grabbed her arms and wrenched them away him. He then took advantage of her stunned state to ran the back of his head into hers, once again forcing her to the ground.

"Yuri, run!" he yelled.

"But-!"

Shujinkou was suddenly lifted off the feet and slammed on the ground. Droplets of blood and spit flew out of his mouth as the shock from the impact hit him all at once.

"Where exactly would she go? You know her chances of surviving out there without you are even smaller than before," Nivia ridiculed. "Especially since she's a prime target herself."

"Eh?" Yuri fretted as Nivia approached her.

"You mean, he didn't tell you? I thought you were friends. Not surprising though, I guess the apple doesn't fall to far from the tree."

"Stop…" Shujinkou weakly demanded.

"What? You don't want me to tell her that this is as much her fault as yours, maybe even more."

Yuri took a step back after hearing that. "My fault…?"

"Don't you think the timing is convenient? A significant someone from your life goes on the lam and suddenly your friends start disappearing left and right," Nivia explained.

She never really considered that possible connection. Part of her wanted to believe that part of her life was done the minute he left, but the woman in front of her was clearly telling her who was heavily involved in her friend's kidnappings.

She didn't want to believe it, but the look of regret on Shujinkou's face confirmed her fears.

"No… That would mean this really is…"

"You kept questioning him about what's going on when clearly he was trying his hardest to not tell you that this is all pretty much your fault. The target put on your friends and your boyfriend's back was all because of you," Nivia mocked.

"Because of me…"

Yuri once again glanced at Shujinkou.

He didn't just want us to worry; he didn't want me to feel as terrible as I do now…

As the guilt started to consume her, Nivia stepped over Shujinkou.

"You see, doing something to get someone off your back can have unforeseen consequences," she continued. "Like…"

Nivia quickly pulled a handgun from her back pocket and fired a bullet straight through Shujinkou's stomach.

Yuri had always feared what could happen if she was ever vocal about her past with Akuma, but seeing a friend howling in pain from a gunshot wound was worse than anything she imagined.

"…you're boyfriend getting hurt. A bit ironic all things considered." A sadistic smile crossed Nivia's face as she looked down at Shujinkou's. "Maybe another shot for irony points."

"No, stop!" Yuri pleaded.

"Why? You're going to need to give me something to stop this catharsis I'm feeling."

"I'll-! I'll… I'll go with you… So please, don't hurt him anymore than you already have."

Nivia simply stared at her before suddenly stepping away from Shujinkou.

"…Fine," she answered in a bored tone. "We're running low on time as it is. Pretty sure I don't have to give you the usual spiel about what not to do as we move along to our destination."

"Yes…" Yuri answered.

"After you."

With no chance to make any sudden moves, Yuri could only hope that Shujinkou could get the medical treatment he needed as they started to leave.

"Wait…"

Turning back, both of them watched Shujinkou struggle to sit up.

"Stop… I'm the one who found the photos and gave them to Yuri. I'm Jomei's kid. I'm the reason this all is really happening. Do what you want with me, but please… just my friends go," he begged. "They don't deserve any of this."

"Umm… No," Nivia instantly denied.

Nivia jumped towards Shujinkou and stomped down hard on his bullet wound. After taking a moment to enjoy his screams, she kicked him into the water.

"Shujinkou!"

Yuri instinctively reached for the water, but was pulled back by Nivia tugging her hair.

"Alright, let's move," she ordered.

"But, you promised not to hurt him," Yuri argued.

"Well, now I can't hurt him anymore," Nivia snickered. "Now move it."

Defeated and forcibly dragged along the canal, Yuri could only look at the water and mumble.

"I'm sorry…"