XV

Police arrested Toda two days later. Naoto got the call early in the morning, but she and Rise were already up.

"Where did you find him?"

"Patrol found him by the side of the Hokusei expressway," Ikehara answered, "He was completely out of it. He'd taken a descent doze of his own drug. We haven't really been able to get any coherent word out of him yet."

"So he hasn't said anything?"

"Just some more confusing drivel on repeat."

"Do you know what he said exactly?"

"Uhm, yeah, the arresting officer made a note of it, hang on," Naoto could hear the rustling of papers through the line, "Ah, here it is. He was saying: 'Izanagi. We are not complete. Unfinished. Forever.' Mean anything to you?"

"I'm not sure," Naoto started, "If he mentioned Izanagi there's definitely a connection to that video from Oba."

"Yeah. I figured as much. Probably, Toda saw himself as a god, I'm guessing."

"And he thought he was turning the others into lesser gods, it would make sense." Naoto finished the officer's theory. She turned to see if Rise was still occupied making breakfast. She'd rather give her an abridged version of this conversation later.

"In which case, he probably thinks his work is unfinished since we caught him before… ." Ikehara furthered the theory.

"If Toda was the one behind the murders, that seems to be a fair assumption, yes."

"You don't think we have the right guy?" Was Naoto imagining things, or did Ikehara sound genuinely upset at the notion?

"The evidence is overwhelming." She couldn't offer anything more to the police officer. She always had the habit of mulling over a case just a bit longer than most law enforcement.

"Yeah. Anyway, he should be sobered up by tomorrow. We'll get a confession out of him then. For now, I'm gonna go ahead and lift Ms. Kujikawa's protection detail. Will you give her the news?"

"I will. Thank you, Ikehara."

The officer hung up and Naoto hurried into the kitchen. She was greeted by the sight of a flustered Rise, who was struggling to flip a pancake. A plate on the counter displayed a startling number of previous failed attempts. It was probably partly because of that, that Rise loudly announced they would go out for breakfast to celebrate.

Over the past few days, Naoto had almost forgotten how famous Rise actually was now. When it was just the two of them, Rise was simply Rise. Out in public, however, Rise was still the former idol and action movie star. No doubt the recent harrowing events around her also contributed to the large amount of attention the duo gathered on their way to Naoto's favourite breakfast place. She hoped the owners, an adorable older couple, wouldn't be too put out by the hassle outside of the café's large window. Fortunately, no one came inside to bother them. At most, they took a quick picture of the actress from outside the window, gawking for just a moment longer before they went on their way.

It hadn't always been like this. Naoto remembered very well how often a loud fan had interrupted an intimate moment between her and her girlfriend. It seemed that Risette fans had quite a knack for vulgar behaviour. They'd come right up to ask for a picture or an autograph and one more than one occasion, they'd offer to replace Naoto as Rise's date. It hadn't bothered Naoto too much. In fact she found herself almost looking forward to hearing what new way Rise could come up with to get the most forward fans to back of.

"What are you thinking about?" Rise's voice snapped Naoto out of her daydreaming. They'd been sitting in silence for a while. Naoto was drinking tea, Rise sipped from some kind of pink fruit juice.

"Ah, I was thinking about when we used to go out like this." She answered with a soft smile.

"For breakfast?"

"Well, yes. Just in general. Going out." Rise was looking at her with her head tilted to the side.

"Like when we went out to dinner for my twentieth birthday?" Rise followed the question up with a small chuckle. They had been accosted by a man who had made an almost unfathomably lewd string of comments and suggestions at Rise.

"And you pretended you were someone else. What language was it again you tried to fake? Russian?"

"Icelandic. I didn't have time to come up with a better idea. You looked like you were ready to shoot the guy where he stood."

"I wouldn't have."

"Only because you didn't have your gun on you. Besides, my way got rid of him pretty quickly."

"It did. And after that I made sure he stayed away." Rise's eyes widened at the implication in Naoto's voice.

"You didn't… ."

"I did… I told Dojima to look into him. Turns out you weren't the first idol he'd harassed."

Rise pulled her face into mock irritation.

"Well. At least you didn't shoot him."

"Not that one, no." Naoto said and Rise chuckled. Their breakfast arrived.

"It was nice, though, having all of you looking out for me like that."

All of you, of course. Naoto had only been one of many that had witnessed how scary it could be to be so famous. She remembers how each member of the investigation team had always insisted on looking out for the others. It had been something truly unique. For a moment, a wave of guilt washed over Naoto. Should she have called them earlier? To tell them about the case? She's sure that when they find out, at least a few of them would call her to reprimand her for just that. When she and Rise first got together, she almost forgot about just how much her other friends cared.

Even when Souji had softly taken her aside to remind her, four years earlier.

Three months after graduation, the investigation team had had one of their reunions in Inaba. Chie had suggested they'd celebrate the occasion - all of them being in the same place at the same time for once - at Aiya. It had been the perfect occasion to finally tell everyone about their relationship. Rise had insisted on making a big deal of it. She had stood up from her seat in a grand, dramatic manner to loudly proclaim that "I am pleased to announce that I have finally succeeded in wooing one Naoto Shirogane. She is mine now. And I, faithfully, hers." She had ended the statement with a swooping bow, one arm pointed at Naoto who was trying to disappear into her seat.

"I knew it!" Chie had been the first to respond far too loudly for Naoto's comfort. She'd accentuated the words by slamming a fist loudly onto the table, rogue pieces of steak flying out of her bowl.

"How cuuuuuute." Teddy had started singing. The rest ignored him as they continued.

"Wow," Yosuke started, "I have to admit I'm surprised. I always thought that if any of us got together, it would be Chie and Yukiko."

"Wh- What's that supposed to mean?" Chie turned to Yosuke, and now it was Yukiko's turn to try to disappear, cheeks bright red.

"How did it even happen, anyway?" Kanji had asked with a strange look on his face. Rise started telling the story in far more detail than necessary. That's when Souji had leaned in closer to Naoto, a gentle smile on his face.

"I'm glad to hear it. Take good care of each other, yeah? And remember, we'll all still be here when you need us." He sat up straight once more, briefly squeezing Naoto's shoulder. The gesture had managed to lessen her embarrassment and she even managed to join in the laughter at Rise's elaborate tale.

Would it have made a difference now, though, if Souji and the others had been here? Would they have been able to help her see through the mess sooner? Would they have known not to trust Toda, unlike her when she first met him? And there it was again, that gut feeling. As she watched Rise eat breakfast, she started talking before she even fully realised it.

"You know, I thought Toda was innocent for a while." Rise looked up.

"Yeah? I guess he doesn't exactly come across as a crazed killer." The actress held her fork in front of her, apparently forgotten what she was about to do with it. Naoto mentally slapped herself in the face. She didn't have to bring this up during breakfast, not while Rise was in a good mood. Rise put her fork back down, quiet for a moment.

"Who did you think it was, then?"

"Matsuura and I had a list of suspects that-"

"I mean, like, with your gut instinct. Who did you think it was?"

"Hidemechi Shoda."

"Hide?" Rise sounded surprised. She picked her fork up only to set it back down immediately. "Did you… Did you find anything on him or something?"

"Hm. It didn't seem like a good use of our time to look into him. He had an alibi."

"He could have faked an alibi, or he could have had help, or… " Rise trailed of again.

"I thought about that for a while. Then evidence started pouring in pointing to Oba and Toda. Sorry, I don't know why I brought it up."

"I though it might have been Hide for a while too." Rise had said it so softly that Naoto thought she might have imagined it.

"You did?" Naoto put a hand over Rise's.

"Yeah, there was just something that always seemed off about him. He was weird to work with, like he was always distracted, or something. Everyone else said it's just because he's this genius but he always kinda gave me the creeps. But hey, maybe they were right. If he has an alibi, and police have arrested Toda… ." Naoto squeezed her hand, unsure of how to cheer her up. More talk about a case that was as good as closed wouldn't help. She said the first thing that came to her mind. "Remember when you told everyone about us at Aiya's?"

XVI

"Matsuura," Naoto greeted as she entered the policeman's hospital room. He'd been reading a book and as Naoto came over to sit in the chair next to him, she was amused to see it was a detective manga. "How are you feeling?"

"Good. Bored."

"Are they letting you out soon?"

"Well, they were going to, but my doctor's afraid I would ignore his order to take off from work for a few weeks."

"Because you would." Naoto knew Matsuura well enough.

"Oh yeah, I absolutely would. Anyway, I assume you're here to celebrate?"

"I came to see how you were doing." Naoto assured, because she had not come here with the intention of celebrating. Rather, she wanted to see if Matsuura shared her doubts about the case.

"So, Ms. Kujikawa's back home, then?" Matsuura said with a twinkle in his eyes that made Naoto's face heat up. She nodded. She'd only just dropped Rise back off at her own home before she came to the hospital.

"That's good. This one was particularly messy. I'm sad we couldn't help the other three."

"Yeah." Naoto agreed. She wasn't sure how to bring up the subject so she stared at the monitor next to Matsuura's bed for a moment.

"Come on then, out with it. Why are you really here?" Matsuura seemed to see right through her.

"I really did come to see how you were doing, but I was wondering if, maybe, you'd want to discuss the case some more?"

"Ah. Any details officer Ikehara didn't tell you?"

"No, it's more this… nagging feeling. Like something doesn't quite add up." Naoto knew she was sounding vague.

"Hmm. Gut instinct, is it?"

"Sort off."

"I've seen you have those before. You're not wrong often," Matsuura ran a hand through his hair, "You don't need to stop just because we've arrested someone. Why don't you go over all the evidence once more? Put your mind at ease." He said with a friendly smile.

"I doubt your department would be okay with me investigating their case any further."

"On the contrary, Shirogane. Investigate away. Ikehara is actually quite the fan of yours."

"What?"

"She seemed genuinely disappointed when they closed the case, actually. Until I told her she would get to call you about it. It's weird but adorable."

"I- I'm sure she's not-"

"I've even noticed she tries to dress like you sometimes. Not kidding," He laughed at Naoto's blush, "I'll call her. Tell her you're going to keep looking into things. Set you up with a temporary badge."

"Thank you," Naoto was glad he'd given up the subject, "Get well soon, okay?" She stood up and shook his hand.

"Count on it."

Naoto was pleased to see Matsuura had kept his word about calling Ikehara. When she arrived at the police station the next day, she didn't have to explain why she was there. The officer at the reception desk handed her a badge with her name already on it and led her to one of the interrogation rooms.

"Someone will bring Toda in soon. If it's okay with you, we'd like to have another officer present during your interrogation. Would you like anything to drink?"

"Yes. Water. Thank you."

The officer returned with a paper cup soon. Then someone led in Toda, cuffed at the hands and at his feet. His face looked absolutely down struck, as if he had only just now realised the gravity of the situation. When he looked up to see Naoto, he nodded to her in recognition. The officer guided him to the chair on the other side of a metal table. He tied the restraints around Toda's wrists to the table.

"Mr. Toda, I have a few questions I'd like to ask you. You have the right to an attorney, however, if you do not wish to speak to me alone."

Toda looked up at her once more. Eyes tired. The drug must have worn off long before.

"That's okay," He said, "I remember you. You… you don't think I did it, right?" He looked at her pleadingly.

"Mr. Toda, there was quite a lot of evidence linking you to these crimes. We can link you to each crime. We have evidence that you assaulted Ms. Kujikawa-"

"I did not attack her," His voice was suddenly louder. The officer standing next to him was watching each movement cautiously. "I was still a captive then. I know for certain because when he came back he told me."

"Who did?"

"Izanagi," There was that name again. Was Toda trying to get her of his track by inventing a new suspect? "He came in the night and he took me. When I woke up he was standing next to my bed. It took me so long to realize that that was not his real face. He was wearing a mask, and he was using something to change his voice. He told me that he was Izanagi, he was holding a gun. He forced me into a van. I'm not sure where he took me." Toda paused for a few moments.

"Go on." Naoto encouraged. The fact that she had not yet interrupted him had apparently been enough for Toda to continue making his case.

"I woke up in one of the studios. I couldn't see which one it was. They all look so similar. He had tied me to a chair and he told me to listen to this tape. This tape. It was those sentences the police are saying I said. It was those sentences over and over again for days. And then, I passed out. Or he drugged me, or something. They're saying I was drugged, when they found me. I can't remember feeling drugged but... When he finally untied me, I was so happy. He hugged me and for some reason I thought he was my friend. He told me I'd be safe, I just needed to go home. So he drove me for a while, and then asked me to get out. It was on the… uh-"

"On the freeway?" Naoto finished his sentence for him. Toda nodded.

He wouldn't be the first criminal to come up with a wild story to try to hang on to their innocence. However, she had witnessed firsthand how the drug could change people. The woman tied to Oba's bed, Oba walking calmly while he was on fire. If Toda was telling the truth, or at least some version of the truth, it would mean that the real suspect was still out there. She finally asked the question she had come here to ask.

"Noboru, could I see your arm for a moment?" His eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"My- my arm?" He asked.

"Yes. The left one. Officer, if you'd please." She motioned to the police officer who briefly undid the restraints on his hands. Toda took of his jacket, and lifted the short sleeve of his t-shirt up to his shoulder. Nothing. There was no mark where Naoto knew her bullet had hit. If this was not the man she had shot in that hotel room, it meant the man who'd attacked Rise was still out there.

Before Toda had even managed to put his jacket back on, Ikehara burst into the interrogation room.

"Oba Kenji's real body was just found in the river."