Part 3: Sae, 13/05/2016
9:30pm. The sun has set and, in its place, a murky cloudy night with its brown hue and somewhat heavy raindrop accommodates the late shift workers, last minute travellers and night owls who may be working hard or hardly working. The lights illuminate the slabs of concrete making them look cleaner than they are and bounce back that light to provide some brightness at the current altitude I am. I'm not in the homely, loving Leblanc restaurant despite the fact that it's a school night with two more to go until my week's end. I expected to get the last little ounce of study time in before getting comfy under the covers, shutting off the lights and drifting away. Instead, I was presented with information I was grateful to know but at the same time, annoyed at.
"Thanks for coming on such short notice. I won't take up too much of your time." The porcelain doll greeted. I shook her manicured hand and responded to her with a reassurance. Indeed, my contact within the SIU, none other than Sae Niijima, all but recovered and powering through in her office. I didn't need to shake her up if she didn't know of that guy's surprise visit.
"It can't be helped." My journey from the train station over to the SIU headquarters was smooth enough. The trusty receptionist happened to be working the shift tonight so it made life easy for us both. Sae placed in a silent request that I be allowed up to her office any time she was in to make matters easier for me, provided I go through the visitor sign in sheet. Thankfully, the receptionist happened to go a step further and pre-filled it tonight. I made my way up to the prosecutor's swanky office and it remained the same clustered mess that it was the last time I came in. The towers of stacks upon stacks of binders, loose papers and post-its looked ready to sink their jaws into our bodies, before swallowing us whole in their bottomless stomachs. The slow, quiet whirling of the overhead lights grated in our ears and the moist air seeped its way into our noses. Sae made her way over to the other side of her desk, sat down and opened up a specific file. She'd gestured for me to sit down and I complied. Looking closely at her, it seemed her health hadn't improved much. She was still running on fumes given the bags under her eyes and had a look of stalwart determination to get this done.
"How is your neck, Amamiya-san?"
"I don't really feel the pain anymore. The scar's not going away though."
"With such tremendous force used, it's truly a miracle you've not needed a brace." Sae lamented. It seemed her emotion was genuine…possibly the parental warmth that allowed her to raise Makoto.
"And how about you? Have you gotten some rest in?"
"Where I can." She softly answered. Broaching this topic was not a desirable option so I dropped it there and then. She'd then presented a file for me to open and when I did, the contents of said file gave me a mixed bag of elation as well as worry.
"What the hell happened?"
"...An unfortunate case of wrong place, wrong time on his part." Sprawled on the ground was the almost corpse-like body of a fully grown man. The arms and legs were left in a mangled state with bruises of various severity all over. The swelling parts of purple, pink and peach paled in comparison to the face of the man in question. His oily black locks as jagged as thorns appeared wilted and far more unkempt than usual. There was barely any making out his eyes - the eyelids were so swollen, they almost fully covered them. Not to mention, his brown jumpsuit was torn to shreds. Saying it appeared in tatters was an understatement to what had happened. The name tag all but confirmed this was indeed the very same man who tried to take my life away. The very same man I'd turned into a puppet and who'd happily let anyone do anything to him for the sake of atoning.
"It's really him?" Sae nodded to my final check.
"Suguru Kamoshida, as of last night." Two weeks had passed since that public confession and now look at him. Hardly a figment of his former self and a walking punching bag for the other cellmates. Surely they had their fun making him their bitch and that alone brought some satisfaction to me.
"He dead?" I queried.
"..." Her silence was hopefully confirmation that the scum of the earth happened to finally breath his last in that moment. The sheer helplessness he made all of the students at Shujin feel with his sugared words and pearly whites…I hope he ended up smothered in it. Sae shook her head.
"I can see why you'd think that. He's under maximum protection in an undisclosed location. I can only contact him through video call going forwards and even then, those calls are screened thoroughly." That motherfucker's protection is bankrolled partially by his victims' families…any money they earn in their settlement case is already gone by the time they see it, if they even do.
"Alright. Could you explain why you've shown me this?"
"Look at his neck." Sure enough, I'd happened to see a very large scar around his neck, similar to the one he inflicted on me. What goes around comes around, fuckface…
"He got his just desserts." I stated.
"Look harder." Sae encouraged. He was strangled…what the hell else…oh! The times of the stills...someone was trying to get rid of him altogether.
"So this wasn't wrong place, wrong time…"
"Indeed, Amamiya-san. Someone wants Kamoshida dead - they knew enough about his rota, that he was in solitary confinement and chose a moment where he'd be alone." Could it have been his mystery backers who organised this? I couldn't find very much about them from what Futaba pulled up so that was no good. Worse, they'd probably had some sort of advance warning from moles they've planted all over so we'd be no closer to catching them.
"Who would know about his co-operation?"
"A few members in our department, for one. The prison that originally detained him were also informed of this and the facility that holds him now happen to know." That's a wide scope, alright…it could be anyone within this group.
"It doesn't really help much knowing the leak could be anyone. These are just suspicions, right? No one else has heard what you've got to say?"
"What do you think?" She screwed her face up in disgust that I'd even ask a question like that. Catching her change in attitude, she'd slipped back to her calm demeanour.
"Forget I asked. Could you continue?" I replied.
"The first and most important news: we will be moving our focus onto Shujin Academy this Wednesday. Your principal is already aware of this information but whether he has chosen to inform anyone over it-"
"Nothing at all." I put that hope to rest.
"Unsurprising." Sae rolled her eyes and continued.
"The matter of fact is, our team no longer wishes to wait to question anyone tied to the school seeing as the establishment's public presence continues to rise astronomically. Would you prefer for your statement to be taken on that date or earlier on?"
"Let's just stick with that date. Should I just come up here?"
"Whichever you decide. This leads me to my second news: there needs to be credible evidence that there are people behind Kamoshida in order for us to continue detaining him."
"The chain of messages isn't enough?" There were multiple coaches involved in this…Not one happened to accidentally slip up and name drop a big figure? I suppose I'd need the team to approach this from another angle.
"The charge of racketeering is being argued against by Kamoshida's estate." So someone isn't respecting his…well, my wishes. Must have been a family member trying to save their own skin.
"If that charge falls through, we cannot prove beyond reasonable doubt that Kamoshida had anyone who facilitated his actions and will need to transfer this case over to the relevant bureau. Our business with him would be finished." So that they could free him again? I don't think so.
"...Do you have the right to tell me this?"
"Begrudgingly, there is credibility to your theories, Amamiya-san. Reports to the CIB that were shut down rather sloppily buried provided enough of a lead. I have no doubt there is someone with significant influence involved - we must take our next steps carefully." Sae…you really were the right fit for this case.
"Excellent. I'm glad I was able to blindside you." The prosecutor chuckled, the pugnacious exterior that was normally always on softening a little.
"How rotten...never assume I'll bring my guard down so easily around you ever again."
"And vice versa. I'll see what I can uncover. We won't see each other for a while after my statement." How I'd come to eat those words. But I digress.
"...Why don't you consider the position you've found yourself in, Amamiya-san? No matter how this turns out, the case will reach its closure and Kamoshida will remain imprisoned. You can divorce yourself from this convoluted cesspit, spend the rest of your time here being a regular student and rest assured that whomever these backers are, they will meet a similar fate." Not an option. Not any more.
"...I'm too hands on for that, Sae. Not to mention, I may not even get the chance to stay in Tokyo." I replied. She seemed rather certain I was going to say something like this.
"It's something I highly recommend you to mull over wherever you may end up." Getting up to leave, I once again shook her hand and happened to leave some advice of my own:
"If you begin to feel dizzy, don't chug a coffee. Just head home."
"I won't repeat that mistake, Amamiya-san. Until next time." She responded as I closed the door and began to make my way back. Updating the others with this news on the train, a singular message that came my way ended up leaving me unsettled for the rest of the night.
Futaba: "Can you check your Meta-Nav logs? I hope I'm not seeing things."
You: "Sure." As I went over to the Meta-Nav and checked the search history, it turned out I wasn't hearing things. Timestamped at 19:24.76 on 11th May was a note stating 'A partial match found for search term Mementos'. You're joking…this stinking app with a mind of its own…fucks sake!
You: "You're not. I need time."
Futaba: "Not too long."