"And that's the last you remember?" Kirigiri's pen skirted across the lines of her notebook.
"Everything afterwards is a blur." Naegi lies upright on the bed in a general hospital, alive but no so well. The bandages wrapped thrice fold on his head testified to that.
Kirigiri eyes him from her chair. It's a spectacle to be on the other side of her questioning. "Any idea who'd want to put you in a hospital…or worse?"
Naegi shakes his head.
"I'd normally take an account with a grain of salt, but with you it sounds believable." Kirigiri cracks a tiny smile.
"That begs the question of how our assailant broke in." The inquiry was brought by Saihara. The younger detective perched against the wall. "Along with their intentions. We can't confirm any stolen materials but...we found a number of valuables untouched."
"To be precise, everywhere but the living room and kitchen was spotless. Until we have your account, we'll have to rule out theft as a motive." Kirigiri added.
"If they had gotten in the door, I would have noticed." Naegi hadn't heard anything until it was too late.
"Your door doesn't have a lock." Saihara pressed his finger to his chin.
"There's a trick for opening it." Which he would have to change…
"I know, Chisa Yukizome informed me. That's careless, Naegi." Saihara reprimanded.
"It's not impossible someone could have slipped in unawares if they knew how. Or…" Kirigiri trails off. "Tell us about your guest. Before the attack."
Naegi blinked. "Enoshima?"
"Yeah. She's…definitely something." Saihara tips his hat.
"I don't think she has anything to do with this." Naegi said. Knowing his word alone wouldn't satisfy his peers, he follows a logical angle. "Not enough time. The attacker, they wore all black. It would have taken too long for Enoshima to get changed and come back. Plus, the figure didn't match her body type. And the eyes were a different color. Red."
Saihara and Kirigiri exchanged glances, then faced him with uneasy looks.
"What?"
"…our reports explain that you received severe blunt force trauma to your right temple. The weapon had to be no less than 4 inches in width." Saihara said slowly.
"I-I'm telling the truth." Naegi said.
Kirigiri replies, with less subtlety. "It's not that we don't believe you. However, you're lucky to be alive…but to retain such a clear image of the assailant? In your condition, it's unlikely. And we have grounds to believe so."
"And those are?"
"You are in Shingen General Hospital."A major hospital that dealt with severe cases...
Makoto's mouth forms an 'O' and his expression turned serious.
"...Togami was right to not be worried." Kirigiri said.
"…What'd he say?"
"He called you a cockroach and assured me you'd be fine and treated in no time. I thought that was quite a bit of faith, but now that you're awake..."
Togami could be so embarrassing sometimes.
"So…who's on the case?" Naegi asked.
"I am." Saihara said.
"Oh geez. Sorry about this, guys."
"Even in law enforcement, there's discrimination. One of ours was attacked. Nobody will take it lightly." Kirigiri declared with a silent ferocity.
"If we're going with that…shouldn't Saihara have been asking most of the questions?" Naegi rubs the back of his head.
"I've been recording the whole conversation." Saihara holds his ring finger out, the gem encrusted in the middle shines, forming a digital display. Briefly, the screen shows the department's insignia, then switches to a script.
"Shouldn't Saihara have been asking most of the questions?" Naegi hears his voice repeated back
"You two aren't working together?"
"Kirigiri requested Togami's permission to take on the case herself…" Saihara quiets at the stern glare he received by the woman. "Never mind."
"The request was denied, because of prior engagements." Kirigiri explains
"Still on the serial murder case?"
"Komaeda has been designated my temporary partner."
"Good luck."
Kirigiri smirked. "Disappointed?"
"How could I not be?" He says bitterly. "But even I've got to admit, things will get done quicker with him."
"...I believe this is all the time your nurse awarded us." Right on cue, the door to the hospital room opened. A nurse of similar age nervously walked in, holding a tray. In contrast, she focused a hardened stare at the detectives.
Kirigiri stood, her black jacket hanging off her arm. "Thank you for your time. I'll visit whenever I can."
"Before I go. Could you tell me more about your relationship with Junko Enoshima?" Saihara asked.
"We're just neighbors."
The pale-skinned male pressed a finger to his chin, giving nothing of his thoughts. "I'll be back tomorrow, Naegi." Shuichi's farewell was more committal, for understandable reasons.
When his coworkers left, the nurse, Mikan Tsumiki approached with his lunch in tow "Are you alright?"
"No worse than before." He replies. He'd been awake for less than 24 hours. Tsumiki served as his designated nurse.
"An interrogation this quickly, I can't approve it." Tsumiki frowned deeply. Naegi deduced she was passionate about her work.
"They're only doing their jobs. The more time passes, the harder it is to catch the suspect." Naegi said absentmindedly. The nature of his attacker had preoccupied his thoughts ever since he woke.
Who would come after me?
A ruckus disturbs his thoughts. He whips his head to Tsumiki, compromised in all sort of ways on the floor. The soup, along with whatever had been made for him spilled all over the young woman. It was hard to focus on that compared to just how she landed though!
"I-I'm sorrrry!" The nurse whined
Not like I can just look away. He left his bed and motioned for the towel hanging off one the doors. Then he knelt by Tsumiki "Here." He handed her the cloth to clean herself. The floor on the other hand was a mess not easily cleaned.
"Are you okay? No burns or anything I hope."
"It's fine, this happens all the time." Tsumiki sniffed. With the bandages all over her body, he readily believed her.
"May I remind you this is a hospital? What's all the noise-" In, came a woman of average height. Judging by the faded gray in her hair, accompanied by the face mask, she could've be mistaken a patient. However, there was nothing sickly or fragile about how she carried herself. Her voice elicited a certain dignity that could only be found in masters of their craft. "...Explain this."
"It was my fault, Doctor Kimura. My arms started shaking and I dropped my lunch." Naegi spoke up.
"...Please be more careful, Mr. Naegi. If you can't eat by yourself, our nurses are here to feed you." Seiko Kimura's mild irritation receded when faced with her patient. "Speak if you feel any pain." She pressed on the sides of Naegi's head. When the man remained silent, she continued. "It doesn't look like there are any complications...but we might have to keep you here a little longer if you're plagued by sudden weakness."
"Honestly…I thought my injury would be more severe. For example. As long as I'm here, I get a break from work."
"So did we." She gave him an unimpressed look. "Not as severe as we thought. You're healing quickly."
"It must be thanks to you and Tsumiki that I'm recovering so well…" Naegi's attempt at flattery falls on deaf ears. After a routine checkup, Kimura leaves. Although not before demanding that Tsumiki clean up.
Naegi felt a little bad watching the nurse mop up the floors. "Doesn't look like you get along…"
"I'm clumsy…but Kimura treats me better than my old supervisors did."
"Who were they?"
"She doesn't work here anymore."
"I'm feeling lucky since you came to visit." Naegi smiled, having grown bored of his 3 day stay at the medical center. He reached for a glass of water on his bedside. Kirigiri on the other hand, gazed at him with the stern look of a mother who'd begrudgingly come to accept their child's eccentricities, knowing nothing could be done about lecturing against it.
"I was worried you'd leave with more injuries than you came in with. You're stupid that way."
"You've been saying that since we met. I hope I'll get to impress you one day."
"You impress me plenty, but if you're looking to assist…" Kirgiri turned to the doorway "Have your friend stop glaring at me." Naegi's gaze followed hers, stopping at Enoshima standing by the doorway, looking none too impressed.
"Never seen her before." He deadpanned.
"Hilarious." Enoshima rolled her eyes. "Trying to get me jealous? Not bad. Not bad at all."
"You're mistaken." Kirigiri placed a glove to her chin, which Naegi noted was a habit of the detective when she was thoroughly examining someone.
"Yeah, you're right. I already know Naegi's a total herbivore." The blonde placed both hands at her hips and leaned over to glare at him. "You're awful. Even though I've been coming to visit as often as I can. Hell, I'm the one who called the ambulance!"
"Thanks for that…really. How'd you find me?"
"I left some of my cooking supplies back there and let myself in. The door was open a bit..."
Naegi grimaced. He'd have to do something about his lock for real now. "You didn't happen to see my attacker, did you?"
"Like I told the cops. All I found was a knocked-out cutie." Enoshima turns to Kirigiri. "Speaking of which…Sayonara's not with you?"
"Saihara is investigating elsewhere." Kirigiri replied.
"Too bad, he's real fun to tease."
"Enoshima." Naegi said in a warning tone.
"What's this? Are you getting jealous?" She squealed.
"E-Excuse me!" A high-pitched squeal signaled a new arrival. Tsumiki in her regular nurse's outfit...but was irregular in the sense that it was clearly one or two sizes too small. She carried a tray of glass cups.
Naegi braced himself, knowing of what was to come. And no sooner than 5 seconds later... an accident that couldn't be adequately described with words took place.
"What the...?" Enoshima froze. Even Kirigiri sat in pure bewilderment. Naegi turned around, hoping to preserve whatever of the nurse's dignity he could
*Cough*
Naegi coughed into his hand while Tsumiki was dealt with. "My throat's itchy." He whispered.
"S-Sorry for making you touch me." The wet nurse whimpered.
"No problem. I'm a girl who isn't afraid to handle broken-down garbage."
"Eeeeh?" Tsumiki squealed.
"But you know the saying, one man's trash is another man's treasure. And I'm feeling lucky." While Enoshima offered the blushing Tsumiki a handkerchief, Kirigiri stood up from her seat.
"I'll be checking up on you tomorrow again." She said, and promptly strolled by the girls, stepping over the puddle. Kirigiri gave Enoshima a sidelong glance on her way out.
…
"What's her deal?" Enoshima bristled.
"Kirigiri's like that with strangers. She doesn't mean any harm." Naegi explained.
With a displeased expression, Enoshima stalked over to him. "Why is it that you're attentive to everyone but me?" She drew close enough that her forehead almost touched his. He inched inched backwards, looking away from her.
"Let's say that's true. Maybe there'd be a very good reason?"
Enoshima blinked, and within seconds, started bawling. "Uwaaaaah! He hates me!"
"Naegi…bullying is not nice." Tsumiki actually bought those crocodile tears.
He wished he could have left with Kirigiri.
His salvation came in the form of two hard knocks.
"Excuse me, may we come in?" The voice, clear and firm, carried far into the room.
Naegi waved over to the stern-looking man in the white suit. "Good to see you, Ishimaru!"
Ishimaru sighed. "Polite as always, Makoto. We've known each other for years. It's fine to call me Kiyotaka." The nurse by the detective's side observed him with furrowed brows.
Naegi looked downwards, then beamed at the little critter by Ishimaru's side.
"Naegi!" A white baseball cap covered the toddler's wild hair, as red as the ruby on Ishimaru's finger. Once he saw Naegi, he sprinted over and climbed onto the bed with agility betraying his age. Naegi doesn't mind the dirtied sheets caused by his small friend's sportswear. Tsumiki might but she's still taken aback by Ishimaru's presence.
Not surprising.
"Been a while, Daiya. You're growing bigger every time I see you." Naegi lifted the boy into the air.
"Is this Owada's kid? The one you were talking about at the bar." Enoshima knelt by his bedside.
"Yeah… Daiya "Leon" Ishimaru." Naegi replied succinctly.
He also recalled Enoshima should have been passed out during that conversation.
"How old is he?" Naegi inquired.
"Ask him."
"Six." He only held up five fingers.
"Owada said Daiya was starting elementary this year." Naegi nodded.
The boy poked hard on Naegi's chest. "Call me Leon already. It's way cooler."
"Sure-sure. I'll remember next time."
"S-Sorry for interrupting!" Tsumiki let out the inquiries she'd been holding back. "A-Are you that Ishimaru?"
Ishimaru appraised the nurse. "I am a Kiyotaka Ishimaru. If you know another, there's little I can about that."
"W-What is someone like you doing here?" Tsumiki shook.
"Now I'm the one out of the loop. What's the big deal?" Enoshima glanced between the new arrivals.
"You don't know?" Confusion overtook Naegi. Enoshima was so strange. "Ishimaru's a politician who was…is en route to becoming a director."
"You don't have to be considerate about my loss, Naegi. It was a learning experience, and I'll be sure to beat Munakata next election." A notable determination accompanied Ishimaru's laugh.
The blonde circled around Ishimaru. "A guy like you can run for director when you're so young? I'm guessing you're either talented, have great connections, or both."
Naegi flinched. Oh boy.
"None of the above!" Ishimaru stunned Enoshima with the abrupt raise of his voice. "All of my successes were the fruits of years of labor, and the friends who stand by me!"
"Dad…" Daiya's call returned Ishimaru to his senses.
He coughed into his hand. "Pardon me. That outburst was unsightly."
Enoshima didn't seem deeply affected by Ishimaru's outrage. "It's not like I dislike passionate guys. What's a successful, hard-working stud like you doing getting it on with my favorite barkeep anyway?" The foxy blonde flirtatiously leered at Ishimaru.
The stalwart man tore his eyes away. "...Makoto. That's actually another reason I came to visit today. It's a favor, actually." Ishimaru said, troubled.
...
"Can we talk outside? The weather's nice today..." He stared pleadingly at Tsumiki
"…Alright." Tsumiki said.
Naegi was glad to be out and about…but…did he really need to be in a wheelchair?
"Have you seen Mondo around, recently?" Ishimaru asked, pushing Naegi forward, while Daiya was seated on the brunet's lap.
"Naegi's kinda been too busy getting his brains bashed out." Enoshima called out, walking further behind with Tsumiki. Evidently, not so far back or involved in a discussion with the nurse that she couldn't hear their conversation.
"How insensitive of me!" Ishimaru gasped.
"It's fine!" Naegi said. Well, it wasn't really for Owada. "Don't listen to her and tell me what you need to. Like always."
"Like always." Ishimaru repeated with a smile. "Mondo's been coming home a lot later than usual and I've had to leave Daiya with the babysitter a bit too often. You know him better than I do so I was wondering if you'd noticed anything off."
"Owada…huh? I've seen him recently and he was just fine." Naegi scratched his chin.
"Is this a scandal I'm hearing? Owada you dog." Enoshima giggled menacingly.
The wheel chair came to a stop.
"Ignore her. Owada is the last person who'd think of having an affair. He's really old-fashioned when it comes to his principles." Naegi explained. Said principles were generally towards women but hey, who's keeping track?
"Er...yes, you're right. I don't know what I was thinking."
"He's also horrible at hiding secrets or isn't that good at keeping his emotions in check." Although he was far better now than when they were in high school, but Naegi was trying to reassure Ishimaru here. A bit of an exaggeration couldn't hurt anyone. "If there was really a problem, he'd either tell you outright or you'd figure out enough to not even need to ask me."
"Correct again. Now I feel silly for ruining the mood." Ishimaru laughed, his mood lifting.
"So simple." He ignored Enoshima's rude…but debatably accurate, comment.
"Naegi!" Daiya clawed at Naegi's shirt, feeling ignored.
"What's up?"
"Who's the pretty girl?" He pointed over Naegi's shoulder. The detective angled his head backwards to follow the trajectory.
" I forgot to introduce you guys. She's-"
"Junko Enoshima, and I'm Naegi's girlfriend." The diva struck a pose as she lied introduced herself.
With a blank face, Ishimaru replied "I find that hard to believe."
Naegi snorted at Enoshima's deadpanned face.
"What the hell!?"
"I've known Makoto since college. He's never had the slightest interest in dating." Ishimaru reasoned. Naegi made no move to refute or corroborate the statement. Instead, he indulged Daiya in a game of the boy's choosing.
"For a politician, you're pretty open with spilling details on private lives."
"Honesty is the best policy. I can't lead the citizens of Hope's Peak if they don't trust me."
Naegi suddenly heard a crash and without even turning around, he brought the little boy's face to his chest to shield him from what was likely to be another of Tsumiki's freak accidents.
"What in blazes!? How did she end up like that?" A stupefied Ishimaru yelled.
"…Just pick her up, okay?" Naegi sighed.
"You're lucky Ishimaru's gay and Naegi's ambiguously asexual. Otherwise marriage might be out of the question for ya, Miki."
…Miki?
"N-Nooooo!"
He really envied Kirigiri.
*cough*
"There's something wrong with Naegi." Daiya called out to his father.
"No. Just a slight cough. No biggie." Naegi answered.
"Uh yeah, that didn't sound slight to me. Maybe you caught a cold."
…
Naegi turned to Enoshima. Like Ishimaru and Tsumiki, he was giving her similar, baffled stares.
"A…cold?" Daiya tilted his head.
"Uh yeah? Y'know, the sniffles? Hacking coughs. All that disgusting junk. Come on, we're in a hospital."
A blanket silence was her only response.
"Was that a joke? I don't really know the details..." Ishimaru awkwardly stated.
"A cold is like…a common sickness that people used to get. It caused them a lot of discomfort and sometimes weakness. It usually wasn't something to be worried about." Naegi explained, mostly for Daiya's sake.
"Can I get a cold?" Daiya scrunched his nose.
"You've never had one and never will." Ishimaru exclaimed.
Tsumiki nodded intensely. "The common cold was wiped out decades ago …I'm surprised you knew so much about it, Enoshima."
"They do say never to judge by appearances. Perhaps Enoshima is a scholar, or a historian?" To anyone else it might've sounded like Ishimaru was mocking Enoshima.
"Enoshima's a traveler from out of town. Don't be surprised if she's seen things you've never even heard before." Naegi interjected, sprinkling a few exaggerations on the details. He ignored his neighbour's gaze while jumping to her defense. "Actually that's probably the case. If there's one thing about Enoshima I know, is that she's full of surprises." Often bad ones but who's keeping score?
"A traveler. There really is more to you than meets the eye." Ishimaru nodded in approval. "Come to think of it. Makoto is very unlucky. If anyone can catch a cold, he'd have my bet." Ishimaru added.
"Hey now…"
"We're rooting for ya." Enoshima snickered.
"No…you shouldn't be able to catch a cold." Tsumiki's professional tone disrupted the jovial air. "There might be symptoms like a cold, but with our advanced immune systems, it would be a sign of a worse illness like...M0." She trailed off.
Ishimaru's words were caught in his throat.
"T-T-That's very unlikely though. Mr. Naegi was very healthy when he came in!" Tsumiki corrected herself. Not that she'd said anything wrong to begin with.
Naegi wondered what she'd gone through to make her so overly apologetic towards everything.
"Get better soon." Tiny hands rubbed Naegi's forehead.
"He's really attached." Enoshima noted.
"Ha! He's docile now, but that's because Makoto's around. Daiya's getting a really bratty attitude from Mondo." Ishimaru sighed. "When Daiya was younger, he'd never want to separate from Naegi. One time, Mondo and I actually had to let Naegi stay the night to calm Daiya down."
One grinning Enoshima later.
"What?" She was making him really uncomfortable.
"Husband goals."
Just before Naegi could counter with an equally snarky comment, he hacked a loud cough.
"U-Um…I'm going to bring Naegi back to his room. If you would find another time to visit…" Tsumiki advised.
"I'm sure it's nothing. I'll see you guys later." Naegi said, giving the child to Ishimaru.
"Don't you mean we'll come to see you?" Enoshima pointed to his cast.
He smiled lamely.
"Sorry for the noise, Tsumiki." Naegi said, being moved along by the nurse on a wheelchair.
"T-That's no problem. It's been very lively here." She answered, skittishly.
"I still feel like apologizing. What with Enoshima picking on you all the time."
"I-It's not an issue. She's just playing around, I'm used to it."
"You shouldn't be. If her name-calling goes too far, tell me and I'll get her to stop."
"…"
"Tsumiki?"
"I'm surprised you can get along with that person."
