A/N: Hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas! I know that COVID-19 has been a land dump all ablaze, but I hope you all were able to experience even just a little bit of festive joy. My boyfriend generously bought me the entire manga series of "Bloom into You" and now I feel I owe him an enormous debt. My present to him of just one book seems a poor comparison. Yikes.


Chapter 7: Setouchi Chie

When Chie came into the drawing-room, she had an unruffled dignity about her. Placid and unyielding with a strong sense of duty that was familiar to me. An even-tempered bari-kyari, as I would normally say. Only unlike Mirja, her eyes had a playful and amused look to them. As if in her mind, she was laughing at herself, not at others.

Graciously accepting the cup of tea I poured, Chie asked, "I assume you, Etou-san, are taking charge of the investigation into Fumiko-sama's death?"

"Yes, Setouchi-san," was Kanami's reply. "Hiyori-chan and Iwakura-san are also offering me their assistance in the matter."

"Very well then. What can I do for you?" Chie asked.

"If you would be so good as to first show us your Toji ID handbook," Kanami responded.

Chie complied, allowing Kanami to make a few notes just like she did with Mirja's. "So, both you and Kitora-san currently attend the National Guard University. What are you both studying?"

"Mirja, if I remember correctly, is working towards becoming part of an institution focused on okatana research. She went abroad last year to England for some international program about it," Chie said, taking a sip of her tea. "Personally, I'm hoping to work in the Special Sword Administration Bureau. Maybe as a secretary or executive assistant."

Then, her gaze dropping to the ground, she added, in a lower tone, "Of course—that is once the bureau is rebuilt."

It happened again. All of a sudden, I wasn't looking at Chie anymore, but at four trains derailing and crashing on live television. The feeling I was left with was one that took the breath out of my lungs. Like as if someone whammed a sledgehammer into my chest. I could still see it all... The explosions. The millions of tons of noro spilling out and transforming into countless aradama. The Special Sword Administration Bureau being destroyed. The twin towers of the International Toji Headquarters crumbling to the ground, pulverizing everyone trapped inside.

I clutched my head with one hand, trying to hide the action by pretending to rub my temple. "It seems you and Kitora Mirja both have your lives all taped out then."

A faint smile came to Chie's lips, sad and slightly mocking. "Maybe we do indeed..."

Releasing a short cough, Kanami said, "Yes, um—please can you tell us your movements last night? The game you played with your teammates ended at around 9:45-ish, correct? What happened after that?"

"Well, at maybe a little after ten o'clock, Kiyoka-chan and I decided to go to the library and see what books there were. Well, I found quite an interesting one—a history book on the Meiji Restoration, to be precise—but Kiyoka-chan just sat down and started writing in a little book she brought with her."

"What was she writing about?" I asked, interestedly.

"I don't know. I didn't ask, nor did I see. I didn't want to be invasive. She seemed quite busy with it, so I just focused on my history book and didn't disturb her," Chie replied.

"Alright then. So, you stayed in the library reading your book and then what happened?" Kanami asked.

"At 11:15, Kiyoka-chan and I left. She went upstairs, I think, and I went back to the drawing-room and talked with Mirja. Maybe fifteen minutes after that, Kofuki-chan came in for another drink. And at about 11:45, I went upstairs to go to bed," Chie said.

"But you had a very rough night, yes? You mentioned this morning at breakfast that you didn't take your sleeping medication," Kanami said.

Chie set her teacup down on her saucer with a slightly abrupt motion. In the quiet drawing-room, it caused a rather noticeable clink in the stillness.

"Yes, I just forgot to, that's all. I can be quite absentminded about these things. In truth, I never wanted to take sleeping medication in the first place. However, with the stress of university and the occasional mission I must undertake, sleep is hard to come by," Chie said, then turning to me, "I'm sure you understand what I mean, right, Hiyori-sama?"

I did. And quite frankly, I'd give anything for a full night's sleep of nine hours. From the corner of my eye, I saw Sanae give me a sympathetic look before she patted my shoulder.

"Yes, I fully understand. I sometimes have to take medication myself—Drewell tablets, to be precise," I said. "They don't work all the time though."

"That's a pity. Perhaps your doctor should recommend to you the ones I use. I fall asleep within minutes," Chie lightly laughed.

I could only shrug. "Some people's reactions to different medications vary though, Setouchi Chie."

Meanwhile, Kanami appeared to be in deep thought. The pen she held above her notebook straggled across the page.

"You mentioned that you think Musumi-san went upstairs. Are you sure she did?" Kanami asked.

Nodding her head, Chie answered, "Oh yes. I am sure she must have. I could hear her footsteps going up the staircase."

"Did you actually see her going up?"

"N-No," Chie said, then with sudden vehemence, "but Kiyoka-chan went upstairs. I'm positive she did."

"Okay, Setouchi-san. I understand," Kanami soothed.

The older-sister aura Chie always possessed appeared to have been overclouded by impatient anger. It was strange that within seconds, she could so easily become a gentle creature to one rather hot-tempered. Chie narrowed her eyes suspiciously at my girlfriend. Her stony stare certainly had an overpowering effect and seemed to abash Kanami, who looked back down at her notebook.

Trying to divert Chie's annoyance from Kanami, I asked, "So, because you couldn't sleep well, did you ever get out of bed at any point last night?"

"Only once. And that was to draw a glass of water from the sink in my bathroom," was the response. "I had become terribly thirsty."

"You didn't leave your room at all?" I asked.

"No."

"So, what time did you actually fall asleep?"

"Maybe around two in the morning. I tend to toss and turn in bed when I'm particularly insomniac."

"And yet, it is curious...curious..." I muttered.

"I'm sorry. What is curious?" Chie asked. There was a snappish intonation to her voice.

"Hadn't you realized by then that perhaps you'd forgotten to take your sleeping medication? You said so yourself not too long ago. You fall asleep within minutes after taking them," I said. "Surely after hours of lying uncomfortably in bed, you'd have become aware of your mistake?"

A flush came to Chie's cheeks. She no longer was inclined to even try being friendly anymore.

"I just forgot, okay? Is simple heedlessness a crime?" she asked.

Kanami came to my rescue. "It is not, Setouchi-san. Hiyori-chan simply wishes to understand anything we investigators regard as—inconsistent. Change of subject...are you aware of Fumiko-sama's identity?"

"Well, of course. She was the Head of the Murasaki Family, one of great fortune. An annual income of millions, I heard," Chie breathed, contemptuously. "Sometimes one wonders where they got all that money in the first place..."

"I mean did you know that Fumiko-sama was actually the one responsible for the attacks on November 9?" Kanami clarified.

Half-rising from her seat, Chie exclaimed, "What? I heard that it was done randomly by those nineteen people."

"That was something Director Maniwa and I agreed for the public to be told so as to avoid panic," I admitted, with a twinge of guilt.

Turning on me angrily, Chie demanded, "So, you knew it was her all along and you didn't do anything?!"

"Oh, no, no, Setouchi-san," Sanae burst forth, clasping her hands together. "Hiyori-sama told Etou-san and I that they had little to no information at the time. Fumiko-sama was too deceptive and cunning. So, you see Director Maniwa and Hiyori-sama couldn't have done anything, Setouchi-san!"

Momentarily released by her peremptory anger, Chie leaned back against the sofa again. I did not blame her for her uncontrolled outburst at me. Most likely, if I was in her shoes, I would've done the same thing. Just like how years ago, I was so ready and willing to pin blame on anyone associated with my mother's death. Using someone as a scapegoat was far easier than forgiveness...

Drawing herself up stiffly, Chie said, at last, "I can't say that I'm sorry that she is dead then. In my opinion, she deserved it."

Her lack of remorse was understandable. However, there was something about her cold voice that must've caught Kanami's attention because my girlfriend cast a queer eye on her.

"This will be an uncomfortable question. I've already asked Kitora-san this. However, I too wish to ask you as next to her, you are probably second-in-command of your team," Kanami said. "Can you think of anyone amongst the Akabane Sword Team who would've wanted to kill Fumiko-sama?"

"After what you just told me, is there anyone who wouldn't have?" Chie demanded. "What she did to those poor people, their families and friends, the entire country, the world..."

Her words were deep, emotional, pleading... "For Fumiko-sama to just order for those trains to be used to murder thousands...she was evil, along with those other nineteen terrorists! The attacks of 11/9 were unforgivable sins!"

Tears sprang to Chie's reddened eyes and she took out her handkerchief to dry them. "And now for that bitch to finally be dead, we all have gotten justice... That's peace, real peace..."

All throughout this, Kanami, Sanae, and I remained quiet, hanging onto her every word. It was clear that she felt strongly about the disaster. One single day forever changed the lives of many...

When Chie finally calmed down, she took a deep breath and said in a firm voice, "In spite of all this, you cannot make me point a finger at any of my friends."

"You trust them wholeheartedly?" I asked.

"Of course."

Tapping her pen against her notebook, Kanami said, "You a sensible girl, Setouchi-san. Naturally, you have an intelligent mind. Which is why we must ask you: who do you think killed Murasaki Fumiko?"

"Who I think did it or not doesn't help confirm the truth," Chie replied, bitterly. "Your question is a waste of time. My opinion won't be of use in tracking who killed her. It is merely an opinion."

"Ah, but you do have one?" Kanami persisted.

Her face turning quite red, Chie was clearly on the edge of losing her temper. "It is not one that I can tell you. You have only my solemn word of honour that none of my friends nor I played any part in that evil young woman's death."

I thought that would be satisfactory enough for Kanami. However, it appeared that I was wrong for she only leaned in even closer. Kanami's face was devoid of its usual positive cheerfulness, now replaced by a look that almost seemed stern.

"You see, this is a crime that must have took tremendous planning, Setouchi-san..."

"So what?" Chie huffed.

With a light gleam in her brown eyes, Kanami murmured, "I think you already know what I mean, Setouchi-san..."


A/N: By the way, what Hiyori called Chie in the beginning, a "bari-kyari" is normally in Japan what you'd call a woman more concerned about her job than her personal life. Someone who works very hard and is on a solid career path.

In the next chapter, Mihono will be questioned. Until then!