(A/N): Wow. I did not like this chapter. This chapter gave me severe writers' block. This was a really hard chapter to write, for some reason. Anyway, sorry about the delay, the next chapter shouldn't take as long. Thanks for reading!

Sol y Mar Hotel, Mexico City, Mexico,

The young man took a long gulp from his lukewarm water bottle, the liquid tasting salty from his sweat that had rolled into the water off his nose. It was disgusting, but nonetheless, the young man forced it down his throat. Overhead, the sun stood proudly on its pedestal in the midday sky, and threw its heat cruelly down onto the polluted, choking city. Countless vehicles clogged the roads, despite the heat of the day.

Conor Gillard hated the heat. It left him tired and bad-tempered and unable to do anything. After a long car journey that prolonged over two days, he was thankful to be in a hotel with working air conditioning. Now, he was lying down on a cheap, itchy mattress while a fan whirred weakly above him. Somehow, this was the comfiest Conor had been for some time.

"Hey. Wake up." Someone leaned over him. Groggily, Conor woke up, albeit reluctantly. A pair of blue, narrowed and irritated eyes was watching him.

"Huh?" He asked with a gaping mouth. In response, he was kicked on the leg. Hard.

"Ow!" He exclaimed loudly, much to the annoyance of the people next door, who began to mutter and complain in Spanish.

"There's no time for sleeping."

Conor pushed himself into an upright position. His companion had already walked away, hastily tying her blonde hair back and out of the way, lest it became a bother.

"You know," Conor refused to get off the bed as the young woman sat down behind a laptop, "you didn't really give a reason why we had to bolt out of the rainforest, travel to Mexico City and book a flight for Japan."

He got no real answer – just the soft typing of the keyboard.

"Sinead, come on." Conor did not have much patience in this weather. "Why are you acting so sullen? You're not normally like this."

He was right. Sinead Brown was by no means an irascible person, and was actually good-natured. Such outbursts of hostility were unusual from her.

For a moment, Sinead remained in stubborn silence as she continued typing. Finally, she spoke up, and her tone was grave.

"…I'm worried about John."

Her fear was unexpected. "What?"

"I haven't been contacted by him in a long time. The last time we spoke was in March."

"Sinead, I seriously doubt anything bad has happened." He tried to reassure her, but she remained unconvinced.

"I tried to contact him several times, but he didn't answer. Then I got a message saying he was on a training course, to do with hospital work. But I checked with the hospital, and they denied any such thing."

"What?" Now Conor was up and striding over to Sinead.

"Yeah. And because we got caught up in that business at the temples, he wouldn't have been able to reach me if he called me recently."

"Look…uh…" Conor scrambled his thoughts and logic to think of a good reason to explain this information. He could not think of one.

"…Well…have you tried tracking his credit card? Any paper trails he might have left behind?"

"…Since the 11th April, I've been able to track him, but from March 5th to April 29th, nothing. Not a single penny spent, no trace of anything…And…" Sinead inhaled sharply. "…John was in hospital for two weeks, it looks like."

Conor concealed his shock, poorly. "And before that?"

Sinead furrowed her brow as she typed away. Suddenly, she froze.

"…Conor." Her voice was almost a whisper. "…Can you access the 4XS case files for me?"

Conor grimaced. "That'll take a couple of days, at least. Why?"

Despite the suffocating heat, Sinead shivered.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Conor. A very bad feeling."

Shibuya Psychic Research Office, Tokyo, Japan

"We have no time to waste."

To Kazuya's insistence, we had changed our location and now we had arrived back at the office. However, Kazuya did not plan to stay there for long.

"This place could have easily been bugged as well, maybe while we were out, so we should leave as soon as possible."

He did not look open to argument, so no one spoke up. After a thorough search in the archives, we had come across Friedrich Howe's obituary. It stated that he died in a car accident, when his brakes failed and he crashed into a something. Other than that, there was nothing. Nothing on Chekskov or Williams, either.

As for Mattaku Psychiatric Ward, there was no other record of it that we could find. Not in the archives, and not on the internet. Apart from the report that Howe made, it was as if the ward was non-existent.

"Now, tell me again. During the time in which you have no memory, someone emailed all your work places and gave excuses to cover your disappearance. Correct?"

"Yeah. There should be an email from a man called Masaru Sato."

Mai nodded. "Mm, I remember seeing it."

"And apparently, Father Toujou received an email that was supposedly from you, Lin." Kazuya went on. "There should be a record of this. Can you check?"

Lin sat down in front of the laptop. "When did you receive this email? From Masaru Sato?" He asked Mai.

"Uh…March 20th, I think."

Lin typed quickly, and observed the screen.

"…I don't see it here."

"Not anywhere?" Mai asked, surprised.

"No. And there's no record that my account ever sent an email to Father Toujou."

"Really?" Mai stood behind him, looking over his shoulder. "Well, I know I saw the email from the hospital."

"It's not here now."

Kazuya frowned. "Do you think the account has been hacked?"

"That's possible. Unlikely, but possible." Lin told him.

"So unless someone actually came here and erased the record directly, the email account was hacked…" Kazuya looked thoughtful.

"What, is your email supposed to be unhackable or something?" Ayako asked.

"Well, it would be very difficult to hack it." Kazuya gaze the office a quick glance. "Either way, it spells bad news for us. We should leave soon."

"Already?" Mai asked with surprise.

"Yes. I don't want any more important information being overheard." As Kazuya said this, I noticed he glanced at Takigawa, who just stared at him.

"Well," Yasuhara spoke up, sensing the tension between Takigawa and Kazuya, "there's a park nearby, and lots of families go there, I think. I doubt colleague-san would try anything if we went there, it would be too risky for him."

For a moment, neither men said a word, and instead continued staring each other down. Finally, Kazuya replied to Yasuhara's suggestion.

"Good idea. We'll go there now."

The park was filled with people, but not overly crowded. Young children ran through the pine trees, while their parents watched on diligently. Couples strolled past the flower beds and small ponds, their arms linked together. A few individuals were pulled along by dogs that strained at their leads, while others simply walked alone through the scenery, occupied by their own private thoughts.

"Now," We watched Kazuya in a line as he stood with Lin, leaning against the back of a park bench, "we need to be extremely careful. All of us."

He looked at me. "John-san, I want you to continue staying at Bou-san's house. Make sure that you're always with someone when you travel around the city, so when you go to work or Church. Get your shift time changed at the hospital too; I don't want you walking around the streets at night anymore. Understood?"

I nodded obediently. "Got it."

"Good. Bou-san, make sure your apartment is secure. If colleague-san could get into John-san's apartment easily, then he should have no problem with yours, so increase your security."

Takigawa nodded solemnly. "Right."

"Now, Mai-kun, you need to start going to school more."

Mai bristled. "Are you trying to bring my intelligence into this or something?!"

"No. If something were to happen to you, if you were to go missing, the chances would be that you wouldn't be high on the school's priority list. They would assume you were at work, and it's not like they can check with your parents." At this, his tone became softer, and Mai stopped her aggression. Kazuya continued.

"If colleague-san could hack our email, then he could always pretend you were working on a case with us. Your school wouldn't question that, so you need to make clear with your teachers and your friends that you are going to be going to school for a while, no more working at the office." Mai began to protest, but gave up quickly. "That way, if something were to happen to you, then they would question it and you would become a higher priority. Actually, just to make sure, I want you to stay over at a friend's house. Will you be able to arrange that?"

Mai nodded eagerly. "Yeah, that'll be no problem."

"Hara-san." Now he looked to Masako. "You still need to be vigilant, but I would find it very surprising if colleague-san were to target you. You're a celebrity, and well-known on television, so your disappearance would definitely be noticed. Even so, make sure to do background checks on all clients you receive. If they are the slightest bit suspicious, turn them down. I know your television crew might disagree, but don't let them pressure you into taking any suspicious clients."

Masako nodded steadily. "Of course, Kazuya-kun." She smiled sweetly, much to Mai's annoyance.

"Matsuzaki-san, is there anyone you can stay over with?"

"Well…" Ayako examined her nails. "My relatives live pretty far away, so that's not very practical…I have a friend I could stay over with. Does it matter that much?"

"Yes. It is a lot safer being with someone else than being alone."

"Alright, I guess I could arrange something…will it be necessary to heighten all the security as well?"

"Possibly. As soon as you move in with your friend, the chances of you becoming a target will decrease greatly. However, I think it would be safer to increase your security anyway. Could you persuade your friend to do this?"

Ayako nodded confidently. "Easy."

Finally, Kazuya turned to Yasuhara. "Now, Yasuhara-san, since you're still a student, you're at much less risk. If anything were to happen to you, questions would be asked. Still, don't let this lure you into a false sense of security."

Yasuhara nodded calmly. "I'll make sure of it."

Satisfied, Kazuya turned to Lin. "If worse comes to worse and things get violent, I can rely on you to sort things out."

Lin nodded apathetically. "Yes."

"There may be a chance of guns being involved in an extreme circumstance, so be aware of that." Kazuya went on.

"Hold on." Ayako interrupted. "Guns?"
"Yes. There was evidence of this in that duffle bag. This is why we must be exceptionally cautious. If you see anything suspicious, anyone who looks out of place, tell someone immediately. Don't brush it off, no matter how small it may be. Understood?"

Again, no one argued.

I walked up the stairs of my apartment with dread. It had felt like a long time since I had last been here. Takigawa followed me as I led him upstairs to my floor.

"Have you spoken to the owner?" He asked as we walked.

"Yeah, don't worry." I told Chiaki Abe that I would be staying at a friend's house for a while, on Kazuya's request. I did not tell her much more, though. Now, we had returned briefly so I could collect more clothes.

Considering what happened the last time I had been in my apartment, I could not help but feel very nervous. At long last, we reached the door.

"Wait a minute." I took out a key ring, on which dangled four keys. Using them to open the large quantity of locks on the door, I cautiously pushed it open and peered inside. No one was there.

"That was a lot of locks you had there." Takigawa remarked as we entered.

"Yeah, I didn't use to have so many, but when I got out of hospital…I guess you could say I was a bit…anxious?"

"I think 'wary' would be the best word." Takigawa corrected my linguistic mistake.

"Ah, yes. Wary, sorry." Exhaustion was sapping my strength and concentration. I needed a decent night's sleep; Japanese was hard enough without the hindrance of fatigue.

After giving the apartment a quick glance over, I turned to the security alarm, which was buzzing insistently.

"So, this is the security alarm? Has colleague-san changed the number again?" Takigawa asked. Thinking back to my encounter with the colleague, I pressed in the number 011511, while Takigawa watched on. At once, it ceased to make any more noise.

"Well…" Takigawa began to walk around the apartment and observe everything with interest. I realised that this was probably the first time he had been in my apartment. Feeling awkward in his presence as he shamelessly investigated my belongings, I decided to set to work and gather the things I needed.

This was the first time Takigawa had been in John's apartment, so he took his time in examining the place. The furniture was not particularly fancy or expensive, but plain, simple and well-kept. Around the place, there were a few things lying out – a jumper left on a sofa, a pair of shoes tossed on the floor, a mug here and a glass there – though in comparison to his own apartment, Takigawa found the place pretty tidy. Pausing beside a small bookcase, Takigawa scanned the spines of each book, trying to read the titles. Unfortunately for him, they were all in English. He recognised some of the authors – John Green, Georgette Heyer. There were a few non-fiction books, too. One was on Japanese culture, the other on the Japanese language. There was a sturdy, thick book on Aboriginal Australian history, as well as more books on ancient civilisations that Takigawa could not understand.

Also on the shelf were a few photograph frames. Curiously, Takigawa picked one up. A young girl, perhaps Mai's age, stood facing a vast, turquoise ocean. Her head was peering back over her shoulder to look at the camera, with her hair being blown clear from her face by the wind. Whoever the girl was, she looked like a slightly younger, female version of John. Their faces were the same shape, every feature the same distance apart. The only thing that seemed different was her hair – as well as being much longer, it was much paler too, almost bordering white.

Who was she? A sister? Now that his interest had been piqued, Takigawa went on to examine the other photographs. The next showed two people, perhaps Ayako's age – a man and a woman, standing in front of a forest. The man was very tall, just smaller than Lin, and seemed well-built. He was dressed in casual, scruffy clothes, standing with his hands in his jean pockets. A handsome young man, he looked into the camera with a small smile on his lips. Like John, his eyes were blue, but this time his hair was a darker blonde, almost brown, and his face was defined and bold. Next to him, a woman stood at a similar height. Unlike the man, her clothes were messier and stained with dirt. Around her own neck was a battered camera. Her hair – dark blonde, like the man's – was neatly plaited; perhaps the only tidy part of her. With her arms crossed, she seemed irked to be in the photo. However, the corner of her mouth had twitched into a smile.

The third photo showed a winter scene. A blonde woman, maybe 25, was standing outside an old, intricate and large Church as snow floated down around her. She wore a scarf and a trench coat, with one hand in her coat pocket. The other hand was around John's shoulder, who looked rather surprised and almost flustered, yet flattered, that he was in the photo. The woman was taller than he was, and her face was more similar to the woman in the previous photo. Her hair was the same hue as John's, though.

The last photo was of an older couple, standing outside a large, detached house with the sun searing overhead. A man had his arm around a woman, while she beamed at the camera. The man looked more sullen than his companion. Their faces were lined with creases and their hair slightly greyed. Were these John's parents? Both were blonde haired and blue eyed. The woman in particular looked especially like John.

"Those are my parents."

Takigawa almost dropped the photo as he started. John was standing behind him.

"O-Oh, right. Sorry." He quickly placed the photo back down on the book case. However, John did not seem to be angry. He had a back pack slung over his shoulder, and a bible was underneath his arm.

"No, it's fine." He was saying. "I don't mind you looking."

Takigawa felt more at ease now. He pointed to the photo.

"So…those are your parents?"

"Yeah, outside their house in Australia."

"You take after your mother, it seems."

"Mmhm." John walked over. He pointed to the girl by the ocean.

"That's my younger sister, Amelia. She's 17, and she's standing by the Great Barrier Reef. She's hoping to study Marine Biology." He moved onto the next photo. "That's Katie and Peter. They're twins, and they're both 23."

"Are they your older brother and sister?"

"Yeah. Peter is a weapons engineer, and Katie is an archaeologist. They're at Redwood National Park in California."

"What about this one?" Takigawa pointed to the final photo.

"Oh, that's my cousin. She's called Sinead."

"Is she Australian? Like you?"

"Oh, no." John laughed a little. "She's English."

"You're on the photo, too." Takigawa remarked.

"Yeah." John shifted uncomfortably. "I was staying over at her house on holiday. We're outside the York Minster there. I was taking the photo, but then she insisted that I should be in it, too."

"It's a nice photo. Do you take photos often?"

At the question, John suddenly froze. "…Yeah…I do…" He turned around and hurried back to his bedroom. When he returned, he was carrying a camera.

"I take photos quite often, like you said." He explained. "So I was just wondering if I took a photo of anything important."

Takigawa immediately understood what John was wishing for – evidence of the situation that they could give to the police.

He hurried to John and looked at the camera over his shoulder.

"Well?"

John turned on the camera, which whirred into life. The floor, and both his and Takigawa's feet, appeared on the screen. John pressed a button, and the gallery flashed up.

'ERROR'

"What…?" John murmured under his breath. Carefully, he turned the camera upside down and opened the sim card slot. Ejecting it, he examined it carefully.

"…I think it's broken…"

Frowning, I swept my gaze across the apartment once more. Nothing seemed out of place…Yet something was off. If the colleague had been able to get into my apartment so easily, surely he would have searched the place for any evidence my pre-amnesiac self left behind. The broken sim card certainly suggested this. I knew the colleague had visited my apartment at some point, he admitted doing this, so had he decided to give the place a quick search while he was here? It would make sense if nothing was out of place; the colleague was a very careful man, after all. What if he had left a bug or another device here, like in the duffle bag?

I turned to Takigawa. "Well, shall we go?" I did not want to stay here any longer than was needed.

"If you're ready."

Soon, we were back in the car and driving. I was glad to be out of my apartment, finally. Even Takigawa's car seemed a lot safer than that place now.

"So, if we have time, I'd like to try and stop off at a locksmith on the way, and see what kind of security systems I can install. I know it's only 9, and the shops should be open for a little while longer, but the place I want to go closes earlier than the other shops." In busy places like Shibuya, shops were often still open at 9 o'clock.

"I'm sorry about all this, I'll pay for any locks you might buy." I offered.

Takigawa shook his head. "Don't worry about it, I'll pay. Some extra security won't hurt, I don't mind. Honestly." His words sounded sincere.

I looked at him, his attention focused on the road. Something about Takigawa made me feel more relaxed, and after the horrible flashback earlier today, it was something I definitely appreciated.

Almost reading my mind, Takigawa glanced over at me. "You look a lot better."

"What do you mean?"

He sighed guiltily. "I mean…after this morning…" I realised he meant the flashback.

"Yeah, I'm fine now."

Takigawa paused. "…Look. I'm sorry I missed that bug. I should have found it. I'm sorry you had to go through that memory."

"You don't need to apologise, Takigawa-kun. Really. It wasn't your fault. I should have been more careful. I should have noticed someone putting that mobile phone in my pocket."

Exhaling, Takigawa looked over at me as the car steadied to a halt.

"…I'm just glad you're ok now. We've got to be more careful from now on though. I'll make sure to give the apartment a thorough check when we get back." He said.

I hesitated. "Did I…mention Kazuki at all? During the hypnotic suggestion?"

"Briefly. You said he was staying at your apartment, and that he seemed anxious."

"What about…during the…"

Takigawa understood what I meant. "Yeah. You called out to him, I think. I know I shouldn't bring this up, but…do you know who…tried to take you away?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. But…I think they'd done it before. I knew what was coming, and I recognised that 'silent' room."

Takigawa shook his head. "Hey, let's not talk about this anymore. You've had to recount enough things today, am I right?"

I nod in agreement. "Definitely."

After stopping off at the locksmith and buying a number of locks to be installed, Takigawa paused before he started the car again.

"Hey…your hospital isn't far from here, is it?"

Now that he mentioned it… "I think you're right."

"How about we go there quickly, and you can change the time of your shift?"

"Good idea." The hospital was only five minutes away, and the traffic was light. By the time we arrived, it was only 25 to 10.

Inside, the hallway was busy with tired workers and limping patients. The waiting room was crowded, but the A+E was thankfully secluded. Among the workers, I glimpsed Leiko talking to one of the receptionist. She noticed me, and hurried over to me, giving Takigawa a puzzled glance.

"Hey, what are you doing here? Today's not your shift day." She asked.

"Actually, I came to change my shift time to something earlier." I explained. "Do you know if any times are available?"

"There should be." She smiled at Takigawa. "I know you. You're Norio, aren't you?"

Takigawa grinned. "The one and only."

"I thought I recognised you." She played with her hair. "I didn't know you two were friends. You should have told me, John-kun."

"Sorry, I guess it slipped my mind." Leaving Leiko to flirt with Takigawa, I hurried to the reception desk.

"Excuse me, but could I –"

"John-kun!" Amaya pulled me roughly away from the desk by my arm.

"A-Amaya-kun? What's wrong?"

"You need to see this." Her tone was serious. As she pulled me down a corridor, towards the surgery ward, I felt myself fill up with dread. Had there been another accident? Had someone been hurt?

Finally, she stopped me outside a patient's room. The door was closed tightly.

"What's wrong? Has someone…"

"You were talking about a man called Itsuke Watanabe, right? And you said he died in a car accident after his brakes failed?"

"Yeah…don't tell me…"

Amaya nodded solemnly. "After the same thing happened to Doctor Nakumura, and after you became so concerned with it, I decided to keep an eye out. I mean, car accidents are common, but failed brakes? That's pretty specific, and all in the same area. And then we got a case of one. I tried to ring you, but you didn't pick up."

"Thank you for looking out for this." I bowed my head gratefully. "Who's the victim this time?"

Amaya looked slightly puzzled at my choice of words, but she checked on her clipboard. "It's a man called Hayate Yoshida."

It felt like I had heard the name before. "Hayate Yoshida?"

"Yeah. He doesn't have any living relatives, so we've contacted his fiancée. She'll be arriving soon."

"How's his condition?"

"Stable. He wasn't driving particularly fast, so the crash wasn't as bad as the previous cases."

"Is he awake?"

"Last time I checked, he was sleeping." Carefully, Amaya pushed the door open. Inside the room, a man lay in the hospital bed, connected to wires and tubes. A heart monitor beeped softly in the corner. Bandages were wrapped around and around his head. His chest rose and fell with each breath. When I looked at his face, I realised at once who this was.

The door was pushed open again, and Takigawa entered the room.

"Hey, I've been looking for you. Where did you –" He stopped short when he saw who was lying in the hospital bed.

"Wait…Isn't that…" He breathed.

Gravely, I nodded. "It's the man who found me at the river with Rin Ikeda."

Takigawa swore under his breath as I continued. "He's called Hayate Yoshida. He was driving his car when apparently the brakes failed."

Again, Takigawa swore. "Why? What's the point in…" He froze. "Is it punishment to Yoshida-san? Because he found you and saved your life?"

"…I think so." The thought made me feel sick with anger. "Yoshida-san didn't deserve this. Neither did Ikeda-san."

As we spoke, Hayate suddenly stirred. Groaning, his eyes flickered open.

"…Wh…What…" His voice sounded strained. Quickly, I knelt by the bed.

"Hayate-san, it's me. Do you remember me?"

Hayate looked at me, and for a moment said nothing. After he had reassembled his thoughts, it seemed, he spoke up. "…Brown-san?" At the effort, he winced, and his face looked pained.

I nodded. "How are you feeling?"

"…I was in…my car…" Hayate ignored my question. "I couldn't…stop…"

"Hayate-san, don't exert yourself. You need to rest."

"And…and I crashed…" He carried on regardless. "…into another…car…are they…ok?"

I looked over at Amaya. She shook her head sadly, and mouthed, "We lost them."

Turning back to Hayate, I reassured him, "They're doing fine. Don't worry. But you need to rest now. Ok?"

Slowly, he nodded. "…Ok…" In no time at all, his eyes were shut and he was asleep again. There was still discomfort etched onto his face.

Standing up, I walked back over to Amaya and Takigawa.

"Why did you lie to him?" Amaya asked.

"Look how injured he is. He's in a lot of pain. I didn't want to add guilt to all that."

Takigawa nodded in understanding. "Who was in the car?"

"An elderly couple. It was a head-on collision, and they didn't make it." Amaya stared at me. "John-kun, what did you mean 'he found you at the river?'"

Now that I thought about it, I had not fully explained the situation to Amaya, or Leiko.

"Amaya-kun, in March…where did you think I was?"

"You were doing some work at your parish, right? Up until the 18th April?"

The 18th April was my first day back at work at the hospital. Something struck me as strange, though. "What about March 29th?" This was the day I was found and brought to hospital.

"Uh, I just assumed you were still doing your Church work."

"Amaya-kun, I was being hospitalised from March 29th to April 11th. Here."

Amaya frowned. "What? Here?"

"Yeah, didn't you realise?"

"No, I had no idea."

I thought back to when I woke up in hospital. "What about Nurse Honda? She was there when I woke up. Didn't she mention it at all?"

"No, she didn't say a thing. I don't think anyone knew."

Before we could say anymore, the door swung open and a distraught young woman ran into the room.

"Hayate!" She dashed over to his side and, kneeling down, grabbed hold of his hands. "Hayate!" Then, wrapping her arms around him, she sobbed quietly.

Silently, the three of us left the room, leaving the woman be. Once we were out of the room, Amaya asked,

"Was that his fiancée?"

I nodded. "Yes, that was Rin Ikeda. I didn't realise they'd gotten engaged."

"Look." Amaya placed her hands on my shoulder. "I don't know what's going on, John. I had no idea you had been hospitalised. And these car accidents…they're no coincidence, are they?"

I said nothing, so she continued. "What's going on? You need to tell me."

"I can't explain fully. I want to, but I'm too scared to. I've already put enough people at risk. But there's something I'd like to ask of you. Right now, I don't feel like I can trust many people at this hospital." I lowered my voice. "Doctor Nakumura was hiding things from me. I think he'd been bribed. Probably Nurse Honda as well. Who knows how many others have been, too. So can you make sure to keep an eye on Hayate-san while he's here? I have a feeling that he could be in danger."

"Danger?" Amaya's eyes widened. "Shouldn't you tell the police?"

"They won't listen to me. But please, make sure no harm comes to him." I didn't want another person dead because of me. "Most of all, be careful. Before you go in a car, make sure the brakes are working. Get an earlier shift during the day. And Leiko, too. Both of you, please be careful."

"Um…Of course. But…are you leaving?"

"I have a feeling I won't be able to come back here for a while."

"What?! Why?"

"Things have gotten dangerous for me here. I know I can trust you and Leiko, but there are a lot of people here who I can't."

Amaya was silent for a moment, before she nodded reluctantly. "Ok. There's a lot I don't understand, but I'm going to trust that you know what you're doing. I'll make sure to keep an eye on Hayate-san."

"Thank you. But most of all, please be careful."

"I will." Amaya pulled me into an embrace. I hugged her tightly, trying to fight the feeling that this was my last time seeing her. Ever since I had met her, Amaya had been a very close friend. She was the first not to treat me differently because I was foreign or because of my appearance, and in Japan, that was a rare thing. Whenever there was a problem, she was one of the few people I would confide in. And when it was Amaya who had the problem, I was the one who heard first.

Finally, we pulled away. "I have to go now." I told her, my voice quiet.

"I'll see you around." Amaya whispered.

Now, Takigawa and I stood outside the hospital, as the air cooled around us. I watched the building one last time, as people filtered in and out of the large glass doors, patients and workers alike. The hospital had been a place that could be exhausting and demanding, but the sense of satisfaction made up for that. Despite the hierarchy of doctors and the discrimination that I had met more than a few times, I had a lot of good memories associated with it. But at this time, the harsh, sterile smell that I constantly dreaded had dampened those memories.

"I don't understand." Takigawa spoke up. "Why do you have to leave? Why aren't you coming back to the hospital?"

"I don't think it was just Doctor Nakumura who was bribed." I began to explain my fear. "I spent two weeks hospitalised there, and yet no one seemed to realise this. The chances of that are too slim to be a simple accident. If colleague-san has someone working for him inside the hospital, then he might be trying to hide the fact I was hospitalised. I don't know what he's going to do next, but I don't want to be hanging around if he's up to something in the hospital."

"That sounds like the best thing." Looking over at Takigawa, he seemed to be quite sullen.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"I could ask you the same thing, you sound really…grim."

I sighed. "I just…if colleague-san did this to Hayate-san, it's because he saved me at the river. If he hadn't found me, there's no doubt I would have died."

"You feel guilty, right?"

"Yeah."

"Me too."

I tilted my head. "How so?"

"I should be helping you, and this just makes me feel like I've done nothing. You know?"

I knew how he felt – we were frustratingly falling behind the colleague as he continued with his schemes. All we could do was watch on helplessly.

"You've done more than enough, Takigawa-kun."

He looked at me and smiled. "You know, even in this situation, you're so…"

I waited for him to finish his sentence, but after a moment, he seemed to have given up.

Instead, he patted me on the head. "…You know what? How about we go and grab a drink? I certainly feel like I could use one."

While I did not mind alcohol, it was not something I was desperate for whenever I went out with a friend. But, right now, a drink didn't sound like a bad idea. "Well, ok then." After he had paid his parking ticket, I followed him to the car, where he examined it cautiously.

"I hope my car hasn't been tampered with." He muttered anxiously, sitting inside and turning on the engine. As he did so, he began to press down the brakes and test them.

Watching him from outside the car, I looked around nervously. The hospital car park was surprisingly empty tonight, with only a few cars here and there.

I tapped the car window. "Is everything ok?"

Takigawa winded down the window. "It looks like it. You wanna get in?"

As I opened the door, something made me freeze. The hairs on the back of my neck had suddenly raised, and the feeling of unease clutched me in a cold grip. Frowning, I looked back at the car park. Was someone there? Was someone…watching me?

"John-kun? You ok?" Takigawa called to me from inside the car.

"Umm…" I quickly slipped inside and pulled the car door shut. "I just felt…can you see anyone?"

"Errr…" Takigawa roamed his gaze across the car park. "…Well, I can't see anyone…"

"Hmm…" Even so, it troubled me. Takigawa seemed to pick up on this.

"Let's go." He clicked on his seat belt. "Car parks are really creepy at night."

"I blame those crime dramas." My comment made him laugh.

"Yeah, I'm half expecting either a bomb to go off or a murderer to pop up out of nowhere." He agreed, pulling his car out of the parking space. As the car sped up, I stared out of the window at the car park one last time. Was there really anyone there, or was it just me imagining things?

At that moment, I saw him, by the hospital doors. It was only a brief moment, for the car was already beginning to move fast. But in that moment, I matched his cold, icy gaze as he stood half-concealed by darkness. His mouth twitched into a mocking smile, and he raised his hand as if to wave.

Then the car moved on, and the colleague was snatched out of my sight.

"Wait." I tugged on Takigawa's sleeve. "Did-did you see that?"

Takigawa slowed down the car. "See what?"

"Colleague-san was just there."

"What?" Takigawa began to reverse the car. "Where?"
"Outside the hospital doors."

However, by the time Takigawa had driven back, the colleague was gone.

"Damn it." I scanned the area. "How does he move so quickly?"

Frowning, Takigawa stopped the car. "Shall we get out and have a look around?"

Somehow, at 10:30pm in a dark, secluded car park, a confrontation with the colleague did not sound like the best idea.

"…Maybe not…"

"You know what, I've got to agree. Let's go. But we know one thing for sure now."

"What's that?"

"Hayate-san's car crash was no accident."

"Yeah." The mention of Hayate filled me with guilt again. "There's no way, not with 'him' lurking around."

Shibuya Hospital Car Park

The colleague watched from the shadows as the battered car drove swiftly out of the hospital parking lot. Everything was working perfectly. Of course, there had been a few…mistakes here and there, a few hasty decisions that most certainly could have been improved. However, things were back on track now. It was most amusing to watch John's pitiful attempts to escape from the situation. Even now, he was trying to be so careful. But in the end, it would all be in vain. John was by no means a threat, even with the monk or the young professor helping him. Taking him down would be child's play. More than that, it would be enjoyable. For the colleague had a very good idea on how to make John suffer the most. And the colleague was eager for the day that he would shatter John's life easier than a shard of glass.

Not now, but soon. Very soon indeed.