The rest of the day turned out to be pretty relaxing. There ended up being not much else to really say about what happened after that rather odd conversation with Bankei. Naoko managed to just enjoy himself for the rest of the day, which passed by fairly smoothly, up until the time where he was left waiting on that night's cartoon.
He didn't really know what they'd end up being shown, but that was nothing new. He was just hoping it'd be good. After what they got last time, it seemed to him like, if nothing else, they'd be able to expect something decent. When he got the message in his inbox, he opened it up right away, and sat back on his bed to watch. It turned out, that night, they'd been given another episode of that Purple Poltergeist webtoon that Kimi made. There were some obvious differences between the one they got the first night, and this one, though. Firstly, it was a numbered episode, so it obviously wasn't any sort of "proof of concept" like the first one. And secondly, it was…good.
Like, really good. Naoko was actually blown away. The animation was even better than what he'd seen from Kimi already. Not to mention that there was a nice plot to it, and the writing was good…There were even some voice actors involved in it. Quite a few really talented ones, too, each of which were named at the end of it, alongside everyone else involved, including Kimi herself.
Compared to what came before, it looked to be an impressively large-scale production for something that didn't even seem to be made for television. He could really see why it ended up being picked up for television, though. All that Naoko was wondering by the end of it was how he hadn't heard of it before.
Once the next day rolled around, Naoko was definitely interested in participating in the discussion they were sure to have about what they'd seen last night. It only made sense they'd talk about it, considering they'd done that sort of thing already. There was just one thing he had to do first.
Takeshi had taken care of Haru's needs since he volunteered to help. This time, though, Naoko felt it was only fair if he took his turn. All he had to do was stop by, hand him his breakfast, and be off. He'd done it before, and he saw no reason why he couldn't do it again.
There was just one problem, though. Naoko didn't know it until he opened up the door to the holding cell room and looked inside a bit, but there ended up being a problem that would make it so he couldn't just deliver Haru his meal.
…And that was that he wasn't in his cell.
Naoko was confused. Where the hell was he? He made sure he wasn't just just overlooking something, standing right in front of the cell door, but there wasn't anywhere he could've been. He was looking right in it, and it looked like, on quick inspection, that everything was normal. Well, except for him being missing, of course.
Was he let out? That didn't seem right at all. He was supposed to stay in there for at least another week or two. Did he break out? The door to the cell was closed, but Naoko grabbed at it, and he realized it was unlocked. But how? Naoko had to check something.
Next to the row of shelves, there was that large desk, built partly into an indentation in the wall. There wasn't much on it still, other than that lamp, a pot of red flowers, and…the box. The box was what Naoko was looking for. He set the plate to the side, and took the box. Opening it up, he noticed that there were only two keys inside, the first one being missing. Naoko was perplexed. Didn't Yori put it back?
It looked like Haru had gotten out. If so, what the hell happened to him? Well, he didn't see him on his way to the holding cell room, so maybe he was hiding somewhere. If so, where? Naoko wasn't sure, and he didn't exactly know where to start looking. He decided to start with the safest option available to him. He still had that transceiver in his possession, and while they were technically only supposed to hold onto it in case either Haru or Bankei needed help, there was nothing stopping him from using it then and there.
He started by trying to contact Haru directly. "Haru? Are you there?" he asked into the transceiver. No response. He tried another frequency. "Is anyone there?"
"Naoko?" a voice on the other end asked. It was Mareo's. "What's wrong? You sound a tad troubled right now."
"I'd say I am," Naoko replied. "Haru isn't in his cell. Do you know what happened to him?"
"What?!" Mareo exclaimed. "That's ridiculous. You're saying he escaped?"
"I'm not sure. It looks like he might've been let out," Naoko responded. "Do you know where he might be?"
"No, I have no idea," Mareo said. "I'll get everyone up to speed. You stay on the floor you're on and look around. If he's not in his cell, he could be anywhere."
"Got it," Naoko said. So, Haru had somehow gotten out of his cell, and was somewhere in the facility. This was very worrying for Naoko. He had no idea how he could've gotten out, and if he was out, then what could he have gotten himself caught up in? There was no way of rightly knowing until they found him. So, the only thing Naoko could do was do what Mareo suggested he do. Maybe he was still on the same floor.
Alright, then. There was the flower nursery, which Naoko passed by on the way to the holding cells. He looked, and nobody was inside. He checked the men's bathroom on that floor, and he wasn't in there either. He went through the library, seeing if he could've been in there somewhere, but no, he wasn't there either. Once he exited, Naoko was face to face with the north-east entrance to the physical activity room, so he checked in there.
…
Well, the room was by no means empty. There were things off to the side, like those lockers, that storage shelf, and not too far away from where Naoko entered, a pot containing a shrub filled with large, brightly-colored flower clusters…
Not too far away from that, though, there was something else. A dried stain which Naoko had seen before, and was thus very easily able to identify as blood. The stain was much larger than the last time he'd seen one like it, and was centered on a gruesome sight indeed. Not too far from the door he entered from, lying belly up with his arms limp at his sides, was Haru. He was dead for who knows how long, and his torso looked to have been oozing blood.
There was still something about the whole scene that made it worse than it otherwise would've been. And it wasn't even the fact that Naoko, even from the door, could clearly see the agonized expression on Haru's face. No, it was the fact that Haru's body was just the closest one to the door.
Opposite to Haru's body was yet another body, this one being more on its side. It was the body of someone Naoko remembered not seeing that morning but thinking nothing of. That someone was just a bit shorter than Haru, and not as built, but was, on cursory view, in a similar state as Haru was, blood staining their dark clothing and helping to form the dried pool of blood that encircled them both.
It was Hoshi. Of anyone it could've been, it was him. And he was dead right alongside Haru? Why? What happened to both of them? Why was Haru outside of his cell, anyway? It just didn't make any sense to Naoko.
He couldn't even dwell on the situation for long, as after finding himself freezing in place at the sight in front of him and fighting the urge to scream, an all-too familiar noise rang out.
*Ding, dong, ding!*
"WELL, THIS IS CERTAINLY UNUSUAL. I AM SADDENED TO REPORT THAT TWO BODIES HAVE BEEN SIMULTANEOUSLY DISCOVERED. NOW, THIS PRESENTS A STRANGE SCENARIO INDEED, BUT FOR THE SAKE OF CLARITY, I WILL MAKE IT CLEAR HERE AND NOW THAT BOTH DEATHS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AS BEING MURDERS. AS USUAL, ALL STUDENTS, TO ATONE FOR THEIR COMPLICITY, MUST INVESTIGATE. THEN, AFTER A SUFFICIENT INVESTIGATION HAS BEEN CARRIED OUT, A TRIAL WILL BEGIN."
That in itself hardly seemed like much to go off of. It was the same as they'd had before, just worse because there were two deaths. That meant that by the time it'd all be over, there'd be at least three. Obviously, Naoko wasn't looking forward to that third death, but…well, the alternative was that they could expect another NINE deaths.
That being said, by the time he could process all of that, Mareo's voice was coming through the transceiver again. "Naoko! Naoko, Where are you?!" Mareo asked quickly.
Naoko felt like he had no choice but to answer him. "I'm outside of the physical activity room on the third floor," he explained as clearly as he could. "I looked inside, and-"
*Ding!*
Naoko got cut off by the sound of a message in his phone's inbox. Based on his general experience, he had the distinct feeling he knew what it was. It wasn't exactly the best time for him to receive it, though.
"Based on your sudden silence, you must have received that notification as well," Mareo said. "Don't worry, we're on our way. Feel free to look through that message until we arrive."
From there, he went silent, leaving Naoko in a sense of great concern. As much as he would've liked to think that, at the very least, people weren't panicking too much, he couldn't be sure just listening to Mareo speak over the transceiver. For all he knew, people were just as shaken as he was, if not more. He felt he needed to do something until they arrived. Fortunately for him, Mareo had just given him a pretty good suggestion.
Naoko checked the message he'd just received. "IMONO Murder File 3," it was titled. As always, the title didn't exactly sugarcoat the situation. As for the contents of the message itself…
"The Victims' names are Haru Hagane and Hoshi Kurafuto. Both bodies were found in the physical activity room. Time of death for both is approximately 11PM. Both victims were found close by each other, killed via slice and stab wounds."
So, they were both dead since last night. Naoko had a feeling that that was the case. He could tell that the blood was dry, if nothing else, since, morbid as it was, he had a fairly clear memory of just what dried blood looked like. Also, it specified they had slice and stab wounds on their body. That was certainly what it looked like, also.
Naoko felt an odd sense of familiarity with the whole situation, actually. He wanted to take some time to think about it, but that idea was hampered by the clear sound of footsteps heading down the stairs and towards his location. He moved to get a view of the stairwell, and after a moment, could distinctly see Mareo, Yori, Eryu, Ishi, Kimi, and Takeshi stepping onto the third floor one by one. All Naoko had to do was wave them over, and they were right in front of him by the time he could blink.
"Naoko, it's good to see you're alright," Yori said calmly. "Are the two of them in there?"
"You mean the physical activity room?" Naoko asked.
"Indeed. Mareo said you looked in there prior to the announcement, so I can only hazard a guess and say that you found Haru and Hoshi's bodies in there."
"Well, yeah, that's exactly right," Naoko replied. Only after he spoke did he realize something odd about what Yori had just said. "Wait, you know who died already? Did you check the file, too?"
"I don't believe any of us did," Mareo said. "We simply counted heads. Everyone but them is accounted for."
"Then where's everyone else?" Naoko asked.
"You mean Mariko, Mine, and Bankei?" Eryu responded.
"Exactly," Naoko said. "They're not here right now. Aren't they coming?"
"I think so," Takeshi weighed in. "Bankei needs Mine's help going down the stairs, is the thing. As for Mariko, I think she's lagging behind."
"Gee, I wonder why," Kimi snarked.
This attempt at a joke by Kimi generated a rather predictable response. Pretty much everyone in the room turned to her disapprovingly. All she could really do was put her hands in front of her defensively.
"Alright, I'm sorry. I just thought it'd be funny."
"Regardless, that's one more day for you," Eryu responded annoyedly.
Kimi scowled, but didn't get the chance to say anything back. Everyone else was still there, after all, and that included Mareo, who waved to get people's attention.
"Poorly-timed jokes aside, we can't forget what we've been tasked with. It's unfortunate, but perhaps we should get started on this investigation."
"What about everyone else, though?" Ishi asked. "Are we just gonna start without them?"
"Not everyone needs to be hands-on with this investigation," Eryu curtly pointed out. "Just make sure everyone's safe and accounted for, alright?"
"Well, I mean, sure," Ishi responded, a bit defensive. "We can do that, no problem. I mean, I'm sure Naoko's got this. Don't you, man?"
"I guess I do," Naoko supposed. "I've done it before."
"Indeed you have," Yori replied assuringly. "And just like before, we'll be here if you need us."
Naoko didn't have any reason to doubt that, really. They'd done this before, so they could do it again. Then again, he felt like perhaps this time was a bit of a different beast compared to what had come before. Hopefully they could figure out just what had happened to both of them.
The first step was to go to the crime scene itself. Naoko, Yori, Eryu, and Mareo entered the physical activity room through the south-side door, the bodies and the surrounding area seemingly untouched in the time Naoko had stepped away from it. Still, he didn't really get a good look at the scene in the time he viewed it from the doorframe, which was why the four of them needed a more thorough look into it…a prospect that none of them seemed happy with.
"I can't believe this keeps happening," Eryu said with a grimace. "First it was Keiko and Michio, then Sasa and Yasuo, and now this. And all in the span of two weeks?"
"It is surprising, for sure. Then again, the circumstances behind these incidents have been anything but normal," Yori pointed out. "As worrying as these murders have been for me, I also feel as though if we weren't in this particular situation together, we probably wouldn't act so violently towards each other."
"That certainly makes sense," Mareo commented. "It's funny, though. I can't say I recall you seeming all too worried about these incidents."
"Hm?" Yori responded. "Well, that's not necessarily your fault. It's not as though I want to express my inner turmoil in the way I compose myself. That could easily worry those around me even more, and at this point I'd rather not do something like that again."
"I suppose that makes some sense," Mareo replied. "If it means anything, I wouldn't particularly mind if you showed yourself to be worried. I'm worried, that's for certain."
"I think we all are right now," Naoko weighed in. "I'd imagine you'd be pretty worried, especially since you'll be, well, examining the bodies and everything."
"That does sound unpleasant," Mareo agreed. "Though oddly enough, what especially worries me is that the prospect of doing so doesn't seem as unpleasant to me as I feel it probably should be. Do you think that means I've become desensitized to the presence of dead bodies?"
"Maybe," Eryu shrugged. "Honestly, at this point, that's more of a positive. That probably sounds really morbid, but otherwise, you wouldn't be able to help very much. Speaking of, though, it's about time we actually focus on this. Anything you can tell us right off the bat?"
Mareo looked a bit perturbed, but nonetheless tried stepping forward to investigate the crime scene itself. He looked down and pointed his finger between the two of them.
"Based on the position of the two of them, it looks as though they were facing each other, and then fell backwards. Obviously, there's a lot of blood between and around them, though there doesn't seem to be quite as much on Hoshi's right and Haru's left."
"Why's that?" Naoko asked.
"I'm not entirely sure," Mareo replied. "It could have something to do with the way Hoshi's body is positioned slightly towards his left-hand side. Otherwise, it's possible it has something to do with what happened at the time of the murder. I can't rightly say."
"What about the bodies?" Eryu asked. "Is there anything on them?"
"Well…" Mareo paused as he moved closer to the bodies, taking his time as he did so. He kneeled down to get a better look, and seemed to notice something, as he quickly began reaching out to Hoshi's body.
"Did you find something?" Yori asked.
"Indeed I did," Mareo replied. "Come closer, you three. I think you're going to want to see this."
Naoko, Yori, and Eryu did just that, stepping forward until they were within arm's reach of Mareo, who had just picked something up.
"It looks like Hoshi had been holding this in his right hand," Mareo explained as he held the item right in front of him. It was a straight-edge knife, the entire blade and much of the handle being soaked in blood.
"What the hell?" Naoko said. "If Hoshi had a knife…does that mean what I think it means?"
"Quite possibly, yes," Yori responded. "We could be very well looking at a murder weapon right now."
"That might explain what happened to Haru, then," Mareo said before motioning to the two bodies. "However, that can't exactly explain what happened to Hoshi."
"I think I know what might," Eryu interjected. "I'm taking a look at something." Within moments, he was moving to the opposite side of the crime scene, and inspecting Haru's body closely.
"Be careful, you might trample on evidence," Mareo warned him as he did so.
"You don't have to worry about that," Eryu replied. "I know what I'm looking for." He reached for Haru's right hand, and seemed to find something straight away. It turned out there was something in Haru's lifeless hand as well, and once Naoko got a good look at it, things really started to fall into place.
In Haru's hand was another knife, not too different from the first, but with a serrated edge. And as one might expect, its blade was also covered in a layer of blood. Considering what Naoko had learned about the murder from the file, and these two pieces of evidence, he was already getting the distinct feeling that he had an idea of what might have happened.
A/N: Well, this is something I haven't done before. A dead body reveal in the middle of a chapter. And this time, there's two of them! Obviously, it's been a while since one of these have happened, so apologies if I seem a bit rusty. Even still, though, this is just the beginning of the case, so expect some more discoveries before this mystery is solved.