Interlude 15: Murder Speculation Part 3

'God. If you exist, please don't take her away. She does not deserve such a cruel fate.' I repeated this prayer internally as me and Ayumi rapidly approached our destination. A certain high school that Ayaka attends.

To be frank, there wasn't anything special about this school. It wasn't anything special in comparison to an elite private school such as Asagami Academy. It was just a standard, common high school.

Except now, it was utterly unrecognizable from a typical high school. The windows were smashed, and the building looked like it could collapse as easily as Jenga wood blocks. But the past murder incidents have only occurred in either apartments or back alleys!

So then why did such a horrific tragedy occur here of all places?!

I couldn't answer that question as I had no time to even come up with an explanation as Ayumi parked the car. I then prayed to God, to anyone for that matter, that somehow, Ayaka was safe. And after that, we both got out of the car. It was pouring and my hair was already soaked as a result. But then…

"HEY! This is a crime scene! You can't be here so scram!" A police officer yelled after noticing us.

"I'm Ayumi Tachibana of Utsugi Detective Agency. And this is my subordinate, Tamaki Kitano. We have authorization from the chief of police himself to investigate." Ayumi spoke while maintaining a calm and composed attitude as she handed the officer her identification.

"Let me see that!" The officer spoke as he roughly took the id from Ayumi's hand. 'This bastard! I'll-eh?' My thought process was cut off as Ayumi placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a look that said, 'don't even think about it.' Which made me calm down a bit.

"Oh. I understand now. You two are the detectives. I apologize for my rudeness." The officer spoke as he graciously bowed toward us and did a complete 180 in terms of attitude.

"No need. Just tell us if anyone survived." Ayumi replied. The officer's eyes looked down for a second and then…

"Unfortunately, only two survived. They are over there." The officer spoke as he pointed toward a makeshift tent a few meters away. Without a second thought, I immediately dashed toward it.

"Tamaki! Wait!" Ayumi shouted but I could care less right now. I needed to know the truth. Was she still alive or was she-NO! I can't jinx it! I just have to know! I just don't want to lose anybody else!

I made my way to the tent and noticed a doctor guarding it.

"Hey! You shouldn't disturb the-" The doctor politely spoke only for me to interrupt him.

"Out of my way!" I snapped back and pushed him out of the way I then opened the tent and-

I noticed Ayaka resting her head on that Albert guy's lap. Saber's wearing regular clothes.

"T-Thank god." I muttered as tears of joy dripped from my eyes. Without thinking, I almost ran over and embraced Ayaka but-

"Just let her rest for now." Albert spoke in a low voice as to not wake up the sleeping young girl.

"H-How is she?" I asked while not knowing if I wanted to know the answer to that question.

"She's alive. That's what matters." Saber replied.

"You're right." I replied. A few seconds later Ayumi entered the tent.

"Ayumi, I-" I was cut off as Ayumi slapped me. I was completely speechless as this was the first time, she ever hit me this hard. Though before this I've managed to obey and remain calm under most situations. However, this was the exception.

"If I tell you to wait, you WAIT! Not only did you disobey my orders, but you also disobeyed that doctor's requests and pushed him! If you ever do something so reckless again, I will make sure that you are fired! Are we clear?!" Ayumi demanded as it was clear that she was trying to hold back from screaming at the top of her lungs because Ayaka's asleep.

"C-Clear. I'm sorry." I apologized and bowed toward Ayumi.

"It's fine. I-I mean, it's not-just don't do it again." Ayumi whispered as she calmed down. Silence occurred for about thirty seconds as I wondered why we were still here.

"Albert, you are strong right?" I asked.

"Of course!" Albert replied as he showed off his biceps. I'm impressed they are-

"Huge! Ah! He's so dreamy! I wanna take him home with me! OMOCHIKAERI!" Ayumi squealed in delight as I put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Ayumi, you're married." I reminded her of this fact.

"Boo." Ayumi replied.

"Anyway, carry Ayaka into Ayumi's car. It's not that far so you should be able to do it." I asked the young man in front of me.

"We can't." Ayumi whispered.

"What do you mean?! Ayaka went through hell! We can do the investigation afterward! Hell, I can do the investigation and you take her home! Or vice versa! Either way, she deserves to go ho-" I whispered only to be cut off mid-sentence.

"Like I said, we can't." Ayumi replied. Why the hell is Ayumi saying this?!

"Why not!?" I asked.

"Because she's being taken into police custody." Ayumi declared.

"SHE'S WHAT?!" I yelled out as I couldn't bottle up my anger anymore. 'Police custody?! You've got to be kidding me! After everything that she's gone through, she deserves a break from this!'

"It's a direct order from the chief of police, we can't disobey it." Ayumi replied matter-of-factly like it had nothing to do with her.

"But why?!" I asked.

"Don't you understand? They are the only two survivors of this incident. That makes them the top suspects. And since Ayaka has attended this school unlike Albert she has a motive. They are going to ruthlessly question her once she wakes up." Ayumi explained.

"That's bullshit! Ayaka didn't do anything wrong!" I yelled.

"Do you have any proof that she didn't?" Ayumi asked.

"N-No, but she would never kill someone! Much less all of the students and teachers!" I snapped back.

"That's not proof, it's only conjecture. The only way to prove that she's innocent is to find concrete evidence." Ayumi replied.

"Evidence?! What evidence is left!? There's no way to prove she didn't unless we search the school or what's left of it top to bottom!" I snapped back again.

"Exactly my point. And since everyone else who attended that school is either dead or missing it's only natural for them to think she did it." Ayumi replied.

"What the hell would even be her motive for doing such a cruel thing?!" I asked.

"They probably consider her as someone who was depressed to the point that she was suicidal, and she wanted to take everyone in the school with her to the grave. But at the last second, she chickened out from offing herself and that's why she is the only survivor. At least that's my theory." Ayumi explained.

"Don't tell me you believe t-" I spoke only to be interrupted by Ayumi.

"OF COURSE, I DON'T! Believe me, if I didn't care about this job, I would carry Ayaka out of here myself and stop anyone who was in my path! But I can't for three reasons…" Ayumi spoke as she paused for a second.

"…First, I've worked at this job almost half my life. It's the only thing I'm good at. I doubt I would be able to find another job. Second, it would destroy the agency's reputation and it would probably be dissolved as a result. Third and most importantly…" Ayumi continued as she stopped for a second to breathe and then…

"…I'm pregnant." Ayumi revealed as she dropped a bombshell.

"S-Since when?!" I asked.

"I only just found out a few days ago. I was keeping it secret so that I could surprise both you and Taro. If I were to do this, then not only would I irreversibly damage my future, but my husband's and my child's futures too. As a wife and soon-to-be mother, I cannot do that." Ayumi declared. Silence occurred for another thirty seconds until…

"Fine. That's ok. I understand perfectly. So, you don't have to do anything, Ayumi-senpai." I replied.

"Tamaki." Ayumi muttered my name.

"But. I could care less about my future. So, I'm going to do what I believe is right." I declared as I approached Albert but then everything went dark.

Tamaki fell onto the ground as she was knocked out cold by Ayumi through the use of pressure points.

"I'm sorry. But I won't let you ruin your future. I refuse." Ayumi whispered into Tamaki's ear as the latter couldn't respond since she was unconscious.

"Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do to help you or Ayaka. For that I apologize." Ayumi spoke as she bowed toward Albert.

"I understand." Albert spoke with a bright smile that pulled Ayumi's heartstrings. 'No! Ayumi, you have to remain faithful to Taro-kun no matter what!' Ayumi thought to herself as she slapped her cheeks.

"Before I go, I should warn you about what's going to happen next. They are going to take the both of you to the nearest police station and they are going to have you separated. This is so you don't have time to collaborate and come up with a fake story…" Ayumi explained.

"…Considering the fact that she's still a minor, they will give her a lawyer once this reaches court. But I can assure you that they are going to do anything and everything in their power to pin it on someone even Ayaka. Do you understand what I'm telling you, Al-I mean Mr. Pennyworth?" Ayumi continued.

"I understand. But I will protect her no matter what happens. I promised that to her. So even if I must sacrifice my life to do so, I will gladly give it up to ensure Ayaka's wellbeing!" Albert declared. 'So, so cool!' Ayumi thought to herself but made sure these feelings were not revealed to Albert.

"I can only hope that you will be able to fulfill that promise without having to sacrifice anything for it, and hopefully not your life. I believe no one should have to sacrifice their own future for anything even if it's something as grand as saving the world." Ayumi replied.

'I guess that makes me a coward, doesn't it? Ayumi thought to herself as she exited the tent and went to investigate not because it was her job, but in order to find anything that will prove that Ayaka is not a murderer. This was Ayumi Tachibana's way of atoning for her actions.