A/N: Sorry, but no bonding time in this chapter. Special thanks to ? for reviewing! This chapter: can you smell the conspiracy?
"Izuru Kamukura, Izuru Kamukura," Kyouko Kirigiri said to herself as she flipped through her files. "What is Izuru Kamukura?"
It was Sunday night, September the 15th, and the lights of Tokyo had lit up the night once more. The screech of cars and the hubbub of tourists was still discernible even on the 38th floor.
The door to her office opened and in walked her husband, Makoto. Kyouko glanced up and saw that he was holding their less-than-a-year-old daughter, Sayako; she smiled at them.
"So," Makoto said, and he carried Sayako over to her mother, "how goes mommy's search?" He adjusted Sayako slightly so that she could look at her mother with vague disinterest. "Do you want to go home now, Kyouko?" he added.
Kyouko turned towards her files, looked at her family, and then back at the files. Then she stood up and kicked the file cabinet closed. "I have nothing on Kamukura," she said, "so it looks like a visit to Togami-kun is in order."
She turned the lights off and closed the door as she left. Maizono's weekend secretary replacement was in, and she was leaning on her desk and chewing gum; the evening detectives had already arrived too and were shuffling into work, nodding to their bosses as they went.
"Kirigiri-san."
Kyouko turned slightly to see, no doubt to her surprise, Nibashi Hayao, the chief of her forensics department and now a gruff, no-nonsense man, a far cry from his early days with the company. "I have something to report," he said, saluting.
"What is it?" Kyouko said. Hayao glanced between Makoto and Kyouko.
"Sir," he said, "the boys have sent me their report on our little investigation into the river car case. I thought you might want to know, inform certain members of the company."
"Well, the results?" Kyouko said.
"Based on dental match-ups, the woman is, at least, a certain Miwako Hinata, mother of Hajime Hinata," Hayao reported. He pulled out his phone, glanced at the readout, then stowed it away again. "We also believe that the man in the car with her is her husband, Takeshi Hinata."
"I see," Kyouko said, "I'll be sure to inform him, although considering how long ago the crash was-"
"Yes, sir, almost eight years is a long time," Hayao said. "However, we have found something puzzling, or rather, two somethings: one is the nature of the car crash, the second is that we're missing someone."
"What's wrong with the car crash?" Makoto said, and he shifted Sayako again.
"We found the wreckage of the other car with the Hinata's car, sir," Hayao replied, "it has Hope's Peak Academy's crest on the back half, yet the front half is missing. And the metal is twisted as if it were in an explosion. In other words, it appears that the front half of the car exploded."
Makoto's eyes widened; Kyouko remained stoic. "And the second problem?" she said.
"At the time, it was reported that a twelve-year-old girl went missing too, sir," Hayao said. "Hinata-san's sister. However, her body was not in the wreckage."
"We already knew about that, Hayao-san. She has already been accounted for," Kirigiri said. Hayao opened his mouth as if to say something, and then closed it again. "And why were these wrecks not discovered until last year?" Kyouko added. At this, Hayao shrugged. Kyouko sighed. "Very well. Thank you, Hayao-san."
"Alright. Good night, sir, I'll call and inform Hinata-san tomorrow," Hayao said.
"No," Makoto said, "I'll tell him. Alright, coming, Kyouko?" She took his hand and they entered the elevator, leaving Hayao to check his phone again. "I already put Saya-chan's things in the car," he said. Kyouko nodded. "How do you think Hinata-san will...?"
"I think he'll take it fine," Kyouko said. "But, I think this might also have something to do with Kamukura." They arrived at the car and she got behind the wheel while Makoto buckled in Sayako. Then he joined Kyouko in the front.
They drove home in silence and by the time they arrived home, Sayako was asleep, something that Kyouko was probably profoundly thankful for. While she loved her daughter, she likely also loved her nerves.
They pulled into the driveway at their house (which, by American standards, would be small, but hey, it's suburban Tokyo) and Makoto brought Sayako inside and put her in her bed. Kyouko, meanwhile, went to their bedroom and pulled out her computer, typed out an e-mail to Togami- "Meet me. We need to discuss something", or something like that- and sent it. Then she closed it.
Their bedroom was rather large, with a dresser, a TV on top of it, and a king-size bed with flanking bedside tables, and three doors: one going into the bathroom, one into the hallway, and one into a closet. The windows were covered with drapes, and the walls were a bland, tan color covered with pictures of Makoto's family, their school days, Sayako, and the Kirigiris with their friends. After all, most of Kyouko's money, and Makoto's money, went into the company and Sayako, not to mention daily bills and the like, leaving very little for interior decoration. Perhaps the sole non-picture decoration was a little black-and-white teddie bear sitting on top of the TV; its companions lived in Sayako's room and the car, all gifts from… Chihiro Fujisaki.
The door to the room opened and Makoto entered. He looked... worried. "You still concerned about Hinata-san?" Kyouko said, looking at her husband.
Makoto sighed and sat next to Kyouko. "Well, you know, I just think that I'd be really choked up to find out about my family being found after eight years," he said. Kyouko put her arm around his shoulder and then leaned on him. "I mean, you know, my parents-"
"I know, Makoto," Kyouko replied. "I don't know about my father, though, I mean, after he ran away..."
"I've heard about that plenty of times," Makoto said. "You would care about them, Kyouko, I know you would-"
"Just drop the subject, Makoto."
"Yes dear."
They sat in silence again, but that gradually dissipated as Makoto reciprocated Kyouko's earlier move. "Think... think we should get in bed?" Makoto said softly. "Or, are you feeling-"
Kyouko glanced down at her gloved hands. "...maybe later. For now, let's just get ready for bed." She stood up and entered the bathroom, trailed by her husband, and the world went black.
Hinata awoke from his very odd dream and noticed that a set of black cords were strapped to his eyelids and stuck in his ears. "What's- who- what's going on!" he sputtered.
In the darkness, Komaeda leaned forward, a laptop on his knees. "Shh," he said, "Nanami-san's asleep. You don't want to wake her up, do you?" He smiled. "I heard you guys have started patching things up too. Good job."
"Um, thanks?" Hinata said. Komaeda reached forward and began pulling cords off of Hinata's head. "What were... what were you doing?" he said. He could feel his eyes drooping despite his curiosity.
Komaeda smiled again, and Hinata vaguely wondered why Komaeda kept doing that. "Hajime, I just wanted to give you prior warning," Komaeda said. "It's just a little something one of my bosses cooked up. Lets you, ah, visualize your surroundings via our unpatented Monoscope."
"And why were you doing that?" Hinata moaned: what he really wanted to do was return to blissful sleep.
"I thought you might want to know the breadth of Despair," Komaeda said. "I mean, and tell you about your boss's progress with Kamukura and your parents' bodies being discovered too." Komaeda turned to the computer and clicked a button. "I doubt you want to see or hear your boss having sex either, do you."
"No, definitely not," Hinata said. "Komaeda, just- get out. What time is it?"
"Three in the morning," Komaeda said. "Good night- consider this our warning." And then Komaeda picked up the computer and disappeared as suddenly as he appeared. Hinata put his head on his pillow and decided to call Kirigiri and inform her about Komaeda's intrusion tomorrow.
He yawned and drifted to sleep again.
"Hajime-kun, wake up."
Someone, or rather, Nanami, shook Hinata awake. "Come on, come on," she groaned, "I need to get going soon, Hajime-kun. Don't you have an alarm clock?"
Hinata groaned and sat up. "G'morning, Chiaki-san," he mumbled. Nanami opened up the window drapes, letting the first glimpses of sunlight into his room.
"Were you up until three or something?" she said, wheeling around and imitating her friend Koizumi's "lecture" pose: hands on her hips and leaned forwards. A flowery smell told Hinata that she'd showered recently. "Well?"
"No, I, uh-" Hinata got out of his bed and stood in front of Nanami, who straightened again. "If you'll believe me, I had another visit from Komaeda."
"Impossible, the door's still locked and your wood block's... in..." she trailed off as both she and Hinata stared at the little wood block on Hinata's bedside table sitting behind the switched-off alarm clock; a quick check confirmed that Hinata's door was now free to slide. "Did you-?"
"No," Hinata said, "maybe I removed it yesterday while cleaning or something, and Komaeda's luck meant that he came and visited on the one day the door could be slid open."
"Yeah, maybe," she said. She grabbed the block and returned it to its groove. "In any case, I thought it was odd that you weren't up yet, but I have some places to stop before I get to work, so, bye." And she was off.
Hinata watched her go and then stared off into the rising sun. He had to move, fast- the night shift agent left at five, and according to his clock, it was already 5:29. He rushed to his closet and began pulling off his bed-clothes to replace with his janitor disguise, hid his gun and taser in their usual concealed pockets, put his police-and-Diet-approved gun license in his wallet, and pulled his iPhone out of the grasp of a little black-and-white bear doll on his bedside table.
The first thing he did was call Kirigiri and inform her about Komaeda's early-morning visit as well as the strange dream; like Kirigiri predicted, Hinata was not overly shocked at the fate of his parents, seeing as he had come to terms with their disappearance a long time ago and had always thought they were dead, and as such, preferred not to think about them.
"And your sister?" Kirigiri said, "What about her?"
"If she's gone, she's gone," Hinata said, "and there's nothing I can do. I'm glad she's not dead, but for now I'll just focus on work." He terminated his call and stepped out of the elevator to begin cleaning Masaru's floor, but as usual the people going in and out of the apartment consisted of Athens, Sparta, and Masaru's wife. Masaru himself was nowhere to be seen: he must've left while the camera was on duty or still be in his apartment.
Part of Hinata wished that he could be doing more... glamorous work, or at least more exciting work. When he first joined, before the whole wedding debacle, he investigated corrupt politicians and stopped corporate espionage; now, he was stuck by an elevator in a fancy apartment complex watching the comings-and-goings of one man that he reported to his boss every night. He knew that other divisions were doing equally glamorous work when it came to watching men like Masaru: the people picking through the trash or monitoring his legal trail, but they were paid to do that. He was an executive, for crying out loud!
And then, while he was berating himself mentally for having the entitlement of Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu, the elevator dinged open and Masaru's wife walked over to Hinata. "Janitor-san?" she said, her voice light, "you are coming for dinner tomorrow, yes?"
"Um, who are you, ma'am?" Hinata said.
The woman narrowed her eyes. "Minako Masaru," she said, "Mina for short. And you- your real name?"
"That's not important," Hinata grunted. Mina sighed and began tapping her foot.
"Listen, Hinata-san," she said, "it wouldn't be smart to reject our invitations." She glared at him, although Hinata was not shocked to learn that she knew who he was considering yesterday. "So then," she said, and she gave him a very toothy smile, "what would you like for dinner?"
"Uh... steak?"
"Fine, western food, of course," she said, "I'll need to run out and get some, and I'm not even sure Ryo knows how to cook it..." She walked off, talking to herself, and entered her apartment.
He frowned. She seemed familiar, somehow, as if she were a distant memory. It was not until his shift was done and the camera surveillance began that he realized why she was familiar: with a jolt, Hinata realized that Minako was his sister's name.
"You'd think you'd remember your own sister's name," Nanami observed that night, while they were both cooking.
Hinata shrugged. "Whatever I was hospitalized for in second year really screwed with my memory," he said, "remember how I thought your name was Tiki for a couple of months?"
"Unfortunately," Nanami said. "Still, you should probably go see Dr. Otonashi or Dr. Matsuda over forgetting something that important. It almost seems as if you have... no emotional attachment to her or something."
"Well, that went with the hospitalization too, I guess," Hinata said. He turned back to the frying pan. "Pass the salt, please."
Over dinner, he could tell that Nanami was still unnerved by his lack of care towards his sister, but to him, Minako had exited his life a long time ago and there was certainly no guarantee that Minako Hinata and Minako Masaru were the same person. Of course, besides her name, Minako Masaru also looked somewhat like Hinata's sister and sounded like her from what he could remember, but on the whole it wasn't exactly ironclad fact that they were the same person.
"So," Nanami said, "what happened with Komaeda-kun this morning?"
"He had me hooked up to a weird machine that let me see what my boss was talking about with her husband," Hinata said. Nanami gave him a look as if he were claiming that the moon landing was faked. He sighed. "Believe me, he was. Just ask Kirigiri-san- somehow, I knew about the car crash results and my missing parents being found before they told me."
"Hmm, that's strange," Nanami said, and the look vanished into a look of thoughtfulness. "I wonder why he was showing you that?"
"He called it a warning," Hinata said darkly, "twice. There was something about that dream that he really wanted me to be intimidated by."
"I see," Nanami said. Once again, she trailed off. "Well," she said, "can you think of any strange details in the dream?"
Hinata thought about the dream, but nothing seemed out-of-place. Except, of course, for the fact that he could see the Kirigiri home even though he had never been in it, but that was probably due to the strange machine that Komaeda had. "Nothing."
"I see." Nanami stood up and picked up her plate, even though she wasn't done. "I'm not hungry," she announced, "I'll just put this away."
"Okay," Hinata said. Nanami exited into the kitchen and, a few minutes later, entered back into the room and sauntered over to the couch and started up the Wii U. Hinata watched her go, and then returned to his meal and started picking at it.
Once he was done with dinner, he joined Nanami on the couch and watched her play Pikmin III again. "You know you can play instead if you want to," she said, but Hinata declined. He watched her play for a couple minutes before she said, "you know, what happens if Masaru's wife is your sister?"
"Then it means my boss assigned me to watch my brother-in-law, and based on what she said in my dream, she might know that too," Hinata said. He stood up. "I'm going off to bed, Chiaki-san."
"Goodnight, Hajime-kun," Nanami said, and she returned to her game.
Hinata walked into the little street-level café and looked around. "Hajime, over here!" someone called, waving to him. The speaker was Nagito Komaeda, Hinata's best friend of six years; he was dressed in his usual dark green hoodie and jeans.
"Hey Nagito-kun," Hinata said, taking his seat at the little wicker table with Komaeda, "thanks for coming out here on such short notice." He started fiddling with his engagement ring. "Let me ask you something: do you- what do you think would happen if I left?"
"Left?" Komaeda said, "What do you mean, if you left? Left what, your job, your home-" his eyes dropped to Hinata's hand, and he said, "-or Chiaki-san?"
"I- you know that those people that shot Naegi-san, er, Kirigiri-san, have threatened Chiaki-san now, right?" Hinata said.
"I know," Komaeda said. "You already told me." He smirked and said, "but do you really think Chiaki-san would forgive you?"
"I don't need her forgiveness," Hinata snapped. "As long as she's safe, I don't care what she thinks of me."
Komaeda sighed. "Hajime, I don't think this is a good idea, this idea you have," Komaeda said. "How do you know that this isn't exactly what they want?"
"Nagito-kun, I would walk into an obvious trap if it meant she was safe," Hinata replied earnestly. Komaeda gave him an uneasy look and his smile vanished.
"Hajime," he said, "do you really think she'll be safe if you leave?"
"Yes."
"You really, truly believe that?"
"Yes. Every night, now, I have nightmares where she's the one shot. I can't let that happen. I can't let her die, or even get close to dying," Hinata said. He grabbed his hair with his hands. "She's all I have, I don't know what I'd do if she died-"
"Hajime," Komaeda said, "I don't think you realize that sometimes there are worse things than bullets." He got up and walked away.
Hinata watched Komaeda leave, but made no motion to stop him. He had to protect Nanami at all costs, and by now, no one could convince him otherwise.
Hinata, still dressed as a janitor, took a deep breath and knocked on the door to the Masaru residence. He had already gotten the go-ahead from Kirigiri, and another KDL agent would be "maintaining" the elevator.
The door opened to show Masaru. "Welcome, welcome janitor-san!" he said, and Hinata heard someone roaring with laughter in a manner not unlike Hinata's old classmate Nidai further into the apartment. "Come in, we made steak just for you!"
Masaru's apartment was laid out much like Nanami's, except that where she had a TV room Masaru had an elegant dining room where three people were already seated: Mina, Akane Owari, and Nekomaru Nidai. "HINATA-KUN!" Nidai boomed, holding up a stopwatch, "YOU ARE THREE MINUTES LATE!"
Mina and Masaru flinched from the sound, Owari stuck her fingers in her ears, and Hinata winced in pain. "N-nidai-kun," Mina gasped, "please don't yell, we like our ears-"
Nidai apologized loudly, and then Hinata and Masaru sat down. Everyone save Hinata was dressed very nicely, an unusual site for Nidai and Owari considering their athleticism lent itself to sportswear in every setting Hinata had seen them in ever since his first year at Hope's Peak. As for Hinata, well, he was wearing a janitor's suit, as previously stated.
"Aren't you glad to see us?" Owari said, "it's been some time!"
"Not especially, no," Hinata said dryly. Owari and Nidai both scowled at him, and he said quickly, "you realize that I don't want to be here, right?"
"Well, don't worry," Masaru said, "Despair doesn't give you a choice." Nidai nodded sheepishly, Owari stared down at her food, and Mina kept staring at Hinata.
"I know," Hinata snapped, "and could you tell your wife to stop staring at me?"
"Do you think I control her?" Masaru said dryly, "Tell her yourself."
"Fine." Hinata turned to Mina and said, "Masaru-san, please stop staring at me."
"Don't worry, brother," she said calmly, "I'm just making sure that you're in good health."
Nidai and Owari began looking between Mina and Hinata. "How did you-" Hinata asked.
"The government decided I needed to disappear for some reason," Mina said. "So I got sent to live with a foster family. We met at Hope's Peak, and Ryo's grandmother decided to arrange for us to be engaged."
"And we thought you would get married first," Masaru added, "though that fell apart thanks to Despair, didn't it."
Hinata glared at Masaru and said nothing. He began cutting into his steak. "Well, what do you want with me? Are you going to torture me for information or something?" Hinata demanded.
"You're in no position to make demands," Mina replied emotionlessly. She also began cutting into her steak. "But no, we're not here to torture you."
"You seem to trust the steak," Owari pointed out. Hinata, who was about to eat the steak on his fork, set it down instead.
"So, you're both in Despair too?" Hinata said, and he pointed at Nidai and Owari with his steak knife.
"We all are," Nidai rumbled, "Despair's overcome us all."
Hinata snorted. "What, was Souda-kun part of Despair when he died?"
"No," Owari said, "and neither was our little, uh, actor friend when he died. But since then, they've been snapping up graduates of Hope's Peak."
"Including you?" Hinata said. Owari nodded, though she looked guilty.
"Don't worry, Hinata-san," Masaru interjected, "all we've done is recruitment."
An odd silence fell over the table. "Masaru-kun," Nidai said slowly, "why are you telling him about the cell-"
"I have already cleared it with Britain, if that's what you're worrying about," Masaru said dismissively.
"Why would Komae-Britain allow it? I thought KDL was supposed to be our enemies?" Owari said.
"It's not our place to question the boss," Nidai said calmly. "Even if his decisions are very odd."
"Besides," Mina said, "Kirigiri has a spy somewhere in Despair. It's the only explanation as to how she knows so much."
"As I was saying," Masaru said, "the Minato cell is running recruitment, money laundering, corporate espionage, blackmail, the works. Anything to enlarge our coffers and our ranks in time for the game."
Mina's impassive face didn't change, but Nidai arched an eyebrow and Owari furrowed hers. "What game?" she asked.
Masaru shrugged. "Something big the higher-ups are planning. I don't know much, ask Britain."
"Or Xiong Nu or Germany," Mina added, "Xiong Nu's the strongest of the cell bosses on the committee, and Germany's the only non-big boss or cell boss on the committee."
"Who's Xiong Nu?" Hinata said.
"He's the boss of the Shibuya cell," Nidai said. He looked uncomfortable and glanced at Masaru, who nodded.
"And Germany?"
"Someone who's part of the Monochrome project," Masaru said. "And that, dear brother-in-law, is all I'll say about Despair now. Now, please answer some of my questions, you know-"
"tit-for-tat," Mina finished, and Masaru nodded.
"So, tell me, how long has your camera been operating?" Masaru said. "I know it's there."
Hinata swallowed but said nothing. He reached for his phone and typed the quick-dial button that would alert the KDL agent.
"Messing with your phone, Hinata-san?" Masaru said. He sighed. "You're lucky the boss wants you at his wedding. Otherwise, I'd just kill you here right now."
Hinata heard a sharp rapping on the door coming from the hallway. "Well," Masaru said, "I'm sorry you didn't eat anything and didn't say anything, even though we told you so much. Please, come again." Masaru smirked at him as Hinata got up and left for the door.
As he opened the door to the dining room to exit in the hall, however, he heard a small click. He turned slightly to see Mina leveling a gun at him. "Not a word," she said coldly. "I think you'll find I have more willpower than Britain too."
And then Hinata smirked cockily at her. "Sister," he drawled, "if you fire, KDL will hear it and they'll know from gunpowder residue who killed me. And if you think you can kill me in my apartment, well, how do you think 'Britain' would like it if I died before his wedding?"
Mina's face twisted into a glare, but she lowered the gun, and Hinata left the room. The last thing he saw of Masaru's apartment was the little, black-and-white bear sitting on top of the shoe rack in the entry room.
A/N: And now everything's coming together. Review if you have any questions or comments! And also, perhaps, if you have a guess as to what Komaeda's real agenda is.