Touma was leaning on his desk with his arms crossed, observing something that was not within his reach. He had recently been absent from his classes, and for the first time, Yashiro felt a strange sensation when she saw him. When she entered the room, she stopped short and the man turned his attention to her with a surprised smile, to which Yashiro responded with the same gesture. However, she could not take her eyes off the figure on his back, looking through the window. It was none other than Makishima Shougo.
The newcomer's eyes suddenly opened and she felt the crazy rhythm of her heart, although she managed to hide it with a brief and instinctive nod. Makishima was smiling and she perceived a strange enthusiasm in his lips, which seemed to want to shout the reason and yet did not. Finally, and with great effort, Yashiro entered and closed the door gently, feeling the gazes settle on her. When she turned around, she walked towards them and kept some distance. Silence was almost morbid, but then Touma let out a soft laugh and shook his head.
"¡Ah, Yashiro! I'm flattered you came to see me," the young man exclaimed in an energetic tone of voice.
At first, Yashiro looked at him with an almost palpable seriousness. She found it strange that Makishima was there, and something inside her prevented her from getting any closer than necessary. She could see the sincerity in the words and allowed herself to smirk, tilting her head without giving the matter too much thought. Touma moved away from the desk to go to Yashiro, and when he was in front of her, he wrapped one of his arms around her, while the other was left in his pant pocket. He let out another paused laugh that seemed to simulate seriousness, as he pressed the touch on her shoulder slightly. A mild grimace of stupefaction was drawn on Makishima's lips.
"I see I'm not the only one," Yashiro commented in a curious tone.
When she cast an expectant glance at the other man, he slowly raised his face as if he were being discovered. Touma seemed to sense the tension that was gradually building up in both, as seriousness returned to his face and he parted from Yashiro, albeit reluctantly. Touma had already mentioned her a few times that he had mistaken her for someone he had known for a long time, a strange feeling that united them despite being so different, as if they had studied together some time ago and were meeting again.
"Until a while ago there was no news about Ryoji Hashida, but now… he's famous everywhere. Can you believe it?" Makishima remarked.
Yashiro frowned staring at the floor, as she pictured the politician being turned into an altar, full of comments from curious teenagers who took it as a joke, or simply shared it to gain more followers in their different profiles. A complete madness, but it was really happening. Many news, in fact, became popular because of the jokes that were made about them. There were those who did not know how to talk except with a joke or a viral image, and unfortunately that was spreading more and more like an epidemic; the epidemic of spectacle.
"I'm not surprised he's gone so viral," Yashiro sighed crossing her arms. "Anyone would be dying to take a picture of him. These days, even death becomes a spectacle. In a world where insecurity is an illusion, when death comes to knock on the door the only thing it gets is smiles; for it becomes more and more difficult to tell the difference between what is real and what is not, to distinguish what is a joke from what death really means…"
She could see the confused glances of people as they passed by such a corpse, believing, under their own innocence, that it was a bad taste hologram. She could feel the sea of admiration in the mind of some, those who stopped in order to enjoy the extravagant figure that had been placed in front of their eyes, while they took pictures of it, open-mouthed.
"A jungle where each and every one of its inhabitants is linked to each other, pretending that everything is fine, when in reality, they have danger right under their noses. A constant game in which everyone must remain still and indifferent to adversity, if they wish to survive and not be absorbed by danger," Makishima added, raising his head.
"First one to move, reacting to barbarities, is dragged into the darkness," Yashiro continued, tilting her head to the side in a gesture of approval.
"You think the culprit will like it?" Makishima asked placing a hand on his hip.
Yashiro turned her head towards him and remained silent for several seconds, thinking about the question. Finding herself then in front of the deplorable figure she contemplated the surroundings, searching for reasons that could incite her to take the life of a politician, placing him in the garden of a restaurant. It could be due to an infinity of things, but the reason did not matter as much, since it was easy to find a suspect those days, it was only necessary to track his crime coefficient by the area where the crime was committed.
Everything had become so simple and spontaneous that reality sometimes seemed an illusion. Whereas in the past detectives had more relevant roles, nowadays it was enough to have surveillance cameras that could record how rotten people's mind were. She did not realize that Touma was observing her with a strange smile on her lips, as if the situation were quite amusing to him.
"If he worked that much with the body to transform it into an organic sculpture and exhibit it in the public area, it's because he's looking for recognition, to leave a message. Though I'd have chosen a more accessible place, like, I don't know… a square? In front of the Public Safety Bureau?" Yashiro mused, more to herself. "Can you imagine the reaction of the media?"
Touma slowly squinted, but said nothing. Yashiro realized that it was one of the few times he was seen so solemn. It was unusual for him and somehow, he surprised her. Makishima narrowed his eyes, nodding his head in a deep way. Yashiro, for her part, walked through the room with a peaceful rhythm as if listening to a melody in her mind. She ran her index finger across one of the empty tables, reflecting on her own conclusion.
Her eyes brightened when several images came to her mind, showing her the situation she had exposed. Touma leaned slightly forward as if her thoughts had been captured, and during a brief but penetrating silence, both analyzed each other until Touma decided to continue, shaking his head and letting out a whistle. Makishima seemed more entertaining than ever, and the smile on his lips exerted an almost frenzied momentum.
"What kind of message?" Touma was asking this time.
Yashiro caught the way his lips were left half open, either from surprise or self-absorption. She decided to close her eyes for a moment and saw herself in front of the imposing figure. She studied it with great delicacy, such a painter to his own work of art. Since she was so pretentious and pride ran through every part of her body, decided to place it in a garden where it could be contemplated for many passers-by, without these being aware of reality. It was like making fun of them for their ignorance, but also their innocence. However, it did not end there.
The man who had served her to satiate her pride must have had something that caught her eye. She remembered then what she had seen long ago in the nets. The politician who, with the help of money, had managed to falsify his crime coefficient and was therefore accused of corruption. Many people had criticized him and even created all sorts of gossip about him, especially when he dodged questions from the media saying he did not remember anything.
"Remember now?" Yashiro thought aloud, in a mocking tone of voice.
When she opened her eyes again, she realized that both were watching her with curiosity and enthusiasm. She had the feeling that it was not by chance that they both were there. Shibata Yukimori, the man under that identity, was not a person guided by emotions, by pleasures. He walked on a line that he himself had designed, although she was unaware of its true form. Touma Kouzaburou was just the opposite.
"You think he was victim of an ordinary person?" Makishima asked.
Yashiro grimaced in disgust, giving him an indignant look.
"An ordinary person would just throw him into a dark smelly alley. He would kidnap him for money. He would sell his organs," she paused and walked around again. "For me this person is a perfectionist, with knowledge in surgery and chemistry. He's not interested in mundane things like money."
Touma made a gesture of amazement with his lips, exaggerating the dramatic, and exchanged a look with Makishima opening his eyes wider, while the latter responded by frowning for a brief second. Then he returned to Yashiro, and suddenly added, "With that intuition, you might even be a detective someday."
Touma's brown eyes were immerse in her, sparkling in a somewhat peculiar way. Yashiro smiled at his joking tone, even though the commentary had become entrenched in her mind like a poisonous vine, and her gaze was fixed on the window. Touma seemed to notice, as he arched an eyebrow slightly amused.
"If given the opportunity, would you work for the Public Safety Bureau?" he asked.
Yashiro approached a few steps slowly, absorbed by the direction the conversation had taken, to strike him with her eyes. For a few seconds, Touma remained motionless in the same position, without blinking, until he gave up on the reaction of the young woman and let out an innocent and almost childlike smile, which made the mole on his cheek more visible. Yashiro sighed as if she had the responsibility of dealing with a small child, and raised her head for a few moments.
"Sometimes, big changes come from the most unexpected places."
Touma tilted his head during some seconds, his pupils seemed to have subtly dilated and his body straightened a few inches. She did not notice him tense, but he was quite surprised, perhaps even excited. Makishima, on the other hand, observed her with a growing darkness in his eyes, as if he did not recognize her words and voice. And then Touma succumbed to the sea of laughter that he had been holding in his throat for so long, filling the silence with a strange frenzy that was indescribable for Yashiro.