It was over. He had lost.

Snow had not fallen. Instead, it was Adam who walked away from his Eden that was S.

His face no longer obscured by his mask, Shindo trudged past Kikuchi.

"I'm sorry, sir."

Shindo sighed. "I thought I had forgotten-but then I remembered you teaching me how to skate. And I remembered what it was all about. So, you don't need to console me for not winning."

Kikuchi fidgeted. "No, you misunderstand, sir. I'm sorry about this."

Suddenly, the two of them were spotlit. Around them, previously hidden police cars turned on their flashing lights.

Some figures, lit from behind, came towards them. When they reached the edge of the spotlit area, they could see it was Kamata, followed by several uniformed police officers. "Evening, Mr. Shindo. Glad to see you didn't break your neck. That makes things much simpler. Hands behind you."

"What… what is this?"

She handcuffed him. "Ainosuke Shindo, you are under arrest for multiple counts of corruption, accepting bribes, blackmail, and using a government office for private gain. And since we don't need to go to the hospital first after all, we can book you right away."

"How dare you! My public affairs are above reproach!"

"That may be, but it's your private affairs that are going to send you to prison." She turned to the other man present. "Mr. Kikuchi, we appreciate your cooperation in this matter. The public prosecutor will be in touch with you regarding your testimony, per your immunity agreement."

Shindo turned to his lifelong underling. "You… you did this?"

"Yes. As I was saying, sorry. I hate to scold you, sir, but you really shouldn't have threatened me."

"I- I wouldn't have actually sold you out! It was an empty threat!"

"Oh dear, how distressing," Kikuchi said, not sounding particularly distressed.

"After so many years," Shindo said bitterly. "Does loyalty mean nothing?"

"It's true that dogs are loyal. But…" Kikuchi started walking away. "Abuse them enough, and dogs will bite their masters."


Author's Note

I was enjoying Sk8 the Infinity-up until the final episode. I hated it so much.

It was revolting that Kiriko, a character whose only focus was fighting government corruption got an unhappy ending, while Adam, an actual garbage human who abused everyone he could, and guilty of multiple felonies, got away with everything. But even worse, this was characterized by the series as a good thing.

I was hoping for a different ending. Since I didn't get it, I had to write it myself.