The Null Hypothesis, Part 1

One year later.

—Two secretaries were talking in the main lobby of a building. One of them was new to the company, so they were being shown the basics at the front desk. While there hadn't been many things to do, since it was a slow day, the new secretary was able to take things at their own pace, but that allowed for conversation between the two of them to fill up the empty gaps in their work.

"You know, I'd thought that being a secretary for one of the biggest conglomerates in Tokyo would have been a little more hectic. This is the main building, right?"

"There are more divisions to the Phoenix Conglomerate than I can count. We are here mostly because of necessaries. Most of the time, we do what I showed you before, redirecting the company's partners and customers to where they're supposed to reach. Basically, the job says secretary, but I'd say receptionist is more accurate."

"You won't hear complaining from me. That pay is really good for what I have to do. Not to mention, the company provides good perks and benefits too."

"It is certainly one of the finer points of the job."

The older secretary scratched their head.

"Though, when the higher-ups said that there was going to be a new secretary, I thought it was going to be someone that would be filling in the role of the big-wigs of the company. I heard that the position for his secretary is still vacant, even after all the time he spent here."

"His secretary? Who are we talking about?"

The older secretary leaned in after checking their surroundings were mostly empty; more importantly, if anyone had been coming over to them for any reason.

"You know about the CEO, right? Well, his son is someone that works at a high position here."

"Is that right?" The recruit rolled their eyes. "Figures. He's probably someone that's stuck-up that was given the job because of who he was, rather than his experience. That guy is probably running his mouth everyday, saying how great he is, rather than actually doing the job he's supposed to be doing. I bet he passes everything on to the grunts and then claims it was his work."

"The attitude might be right, but you would be absolutely wrong on the other assumptions."

The older secretary pulled up an image of the son on the computer. It was a photo from a news article where the son was first entering the business' scene. They managed to grab a photo of the white-suited man with the CEO, posing for the camera in front of the main building. He didn't exert the atmosphere of a businessman, having his black hair covering some of his eyes and ears, but the headlines were all that was needed to show its authenticity.

The veteran moved off for the recruit.

"Quarterly reports of the Phoenix Conglomerate, highest numbers met in ten years…?" they read. "Evidence proves that the influence of the prodigal son has broken company records with ease…? Stock value is rising to new records. Hey, hey. Seriously?"

"This was only when he was a few months into the job right out of university. I still remember how he basically took control of whatever he could get his hands on and change it. At the time, everyone was taken off their guard, but in the long run—no, even as short as two months after his arrival, massive improvements came around for the company. Everyone even got a raise from all the extra profits that the son was pulling in."

"Color me surprised." The recruit started scanning through the article for more details. "That was the last thing I would have thought to have happened."

"Yeah, everyone was worried when the son first stepped in. The CEO was still his father, so they had the same expectations as you did. Needless to say, he proved everyone wrong and he didn't hesitate in the process. He's a once in a lifetime businessman, but that does come with the caveat that whoever his secretary is, it's going to be hell."

"So he doesn't have a secretary right now? Who's been helping him manage everything?"

"He's been doing it all for himself. Scheduling his own meeting to attend, taking care of every call himself, tackling the finances, checking up on the conglomerate's partners as a representative, on top of restructuring the company with his father's approval."

"Damn. They say he's a prodigy businessman, but it's sounding more like he's a monster. Who the hell can keep up with that? Whoever gets that secretary job, I feel a bit sorry for them. They would have to keep up with the insane pace that the son is pulling in."

"It depends. I heard that the rumors are that the son wants to find someone more akin to an assistant, rather than a secretary. Still though, no one wants to be the one to see for themselves, especially with how picky the son is about selecting the person for that job."

The phone started ringing, so the secretaries stopped their conversation and went back to work. A simple greeting of welcoming the caller to the Phoenix Conglomerate before listening to see what their business was in calling. It wasn't much, but it was still honest work.

After passing some time, the recruit noticed someone coming out from the elevator. They widened their eyes as they glanced back at the computer, pulling up the article from the internet history.

"Isn't that him…?"

"He must be done for the day. Make sure that for anyone acquainted with him, you place them in a queue for him to attend to whenever he comes back into the office. Most of the time, he dislikes it when other people suddenly take his ongoing cases. Something about not trusting others to do it right."

"He certainly does sound like he has an attitude…"

As the recruit muttered that, the son leered at the corner of his eyes.

"What the fuck are you two looking at?"

"N-Nothing, Mister Murasame!" The veteran jumped in his seat. "I'm, uh, still showing the new recruit through the basics." The recruit couldn't even move from the fear, forcing the veteran to slowly turn them around. "Please, don't mind us!"

"Hmph!" Murasame returned back to his business and left the building.

The recruit slowly recovered from his anxiety.

"Wh-What the hell was that…? That did not sound like a prodigal businessman!"

"That's the thing about Murasame…" the veteran sighed. "Although he's got the skill to back up everything he does, there's always that one thing about him. He's far too arrogant and conceited for his good as well as that foul mouth of his. And yet, everyone puts up with it because of how good at his job he is. If people only know him from the streets, there's no way anyone could respect him."

The recruit slumped in their chair.

"You're telling me…"

-/SK-EV/-

The Phoenix Conglomerate is known as one of the most well-known zaibatsus, not only in Tokyo, but throughout the entirety of Japan. Even some corporations overseas know of their name and recently, its CEO was making his attempts to ensure that would be the case. The company was beginning to make their reaches over to the Americas in order to further expand the company's value.

Despite their large growth, there is indeed a secret that rests at the heart of the company. It concerns the family that runs the entire thing from the top, the Houou Clan.

They hide from the public the interests of the shinobi world, where once upon a time in the past, they used to serve the feudal lords of Japan's history. They were reliant on their skills of espionage, subversion and even assassinations, but time was not so kind to the shinobis. After the Meiji Restoration, the feudal lords were no more, causing shinobis to fade away from the people's minds. There was no more reason for them to exist anymore.

Or was there?

In modern times, the average civilian would not believe that the shinobi is a role that still exists, but within the shadows, they move. By the commands of those who employ them, they act.

The Phoenix Conglomerate is one who hides such secrets beneath the surface, especially because the family clan behind the company are a clan of shinobis themselves.

At least…

Most of them are.

"Right over here! Take this! Hyaahh!"

A weighted end of a kusarigama wrapped itself around a log, hanging from a branch with rope. Murasame held onto the chain and tugged onto it. It swung forwards, prompting Murasame to close the gap to slash with his sickle.

"There's nowhere else to—Ah?!"

Murasame tripped over his own feet and propelled himself forwards. He started rolling with that momentum until he crashed into another tree.

Within this forest, there wasn't anybody around to see his mistakes. It was why this place was where he liked to train. Once he set up his dummy, he could practice his techniques as much as he could.

"Haaa…" Murasame exhaled as he dusted himself off.

"You were lucky that time, but I'm not done yet! I still have my secret ninja art!" He lifted his weighted end and held out his sickle as he recklessly spun himself over to the training dummy.

"Hien Hosen! Mode Zero!"

—It has been about a year since he made his decision to work with his father and the business. Thankfully, there hadn't been much work he needed to do to prepare for the transition. After all, his father was already putting Murasame through university for studying business and once he graduated that year, he would already have a position at the Phoenix Conglomerate waiting for him.

While Murasame had been on the road to becoming a great businessman, it wasn't everything he wanted to achieve. Being a successful businessman was one thing, but he had never let go of his desire to be a shinobi. His father was rather exasperated at the sheer stubbornness, but Murasame would always prioritize the company first and foremost.

In that regard, his father couldn't have any complaints. Whatever Murasame wanted to do in his personal time, that was of no concern to his father. However, Murasame didn't like how there were always people in the household to ensure nothing went wrong if he chose to train there, meaning there were people to watch what he was doing.

He wasn't embarrassed by any means. What was he supposed to be embarrassed about? If anything, Murasame simply didn't like how there were people breathing down his neck while he trained.

That was it. And nothing else.

—As an unrelated note, Murasame found himself wrapped with his chains, lying on the ground. The secret ninja art hadn't gone the way he wanted it to go, as it did every other time he tried it out.

On the bright side, Murasame did this so often, he could free himself in well under a few seconds. Before long, Murasame was already back on his feet as he pointed his sickle at the training log.

"You aren't too bad! I applaud your craftiness, but your time is running out!"

Murasame always liked envisioning the fateful battles that shinobis experience, putting himself in the middle of the fictional action. Even if his attacks didn't hit the training dummy, it was enough for Murasame that he executed the action. It was like how children would play pretend, fighting as heroes against villains similar to the shows they play on television.

Though, any references to that around him would likely result in an agitated man.

"Hah… hah…"

For Murasame, this was also good exercise, even if he didn't do any of the attacks properly.

"I guess… hah… that's enough… for today…"

Since nobody came here in this part of the forest, he could confidently leave it there and expect to find it the next time he arrived. Even if it went missing for some reason, it was simply just a log, so it would be easily replaceable. It was still a little surprising that no one came by this area though. Given the luscious field against a riverbank, this would have been a cozy place to hangout with people.

It would always be nice for Murasame to finish up his water bottle as he sat down next to the river to rest a little. He could still get a phone signal here, so he used the time to catch up on anything on the news lately. It was always a good idea to keep an eye on the competitors of the business and make sure that they aren't pulling anything that could be detrimental to the Phoenix Conglomerate.

The prime opposition that stands in their way is the Wolf Conglomerate, but for now, Murasame doesn't feel like they're in the position to catch up to where the Phoenix Conglomerate is standing. He found himself smiling at the articles, reveling in the push he made at the company. It won't be too long until the Wolf Conglomerate will have its new successor in a few years, so while Murasame has the field, he might as well push the distance as far as he can.

"... Hmm?"

While mindlessly browsing his phone, he noticed something in the corner of his eyes. It was flowing down the river and it was caught between some of the rocks. If it was anything small, Murasame might have simply overlooked it as trash, but it wasn't.

It was as big as a person.

"... Wait a minute."

Actually, it was a person. With their head dunked underneath the water, all Murasame could see was the person's back, floating along the top. It didn't take long for Murasame to start freaking out.

"What the hell!? Hey! What do you think you're doing!?"

There was no response.

Murasame could very well stand around and do nothing about it. If he were to do that, the current would continue dragging that body down the river. Of course, it had nothing to do with him. If the person wanted to drown, that's not his business. On the offside though, he might have been questioned as to why he didn't do anything if he was discovered to have seen them. It would be a particularly rare scenario, but it wasn't impossible. The chances did look better if he were to ignore, so he tried to look away and pretend nothing happened. For all he knew, it could have been… a big fish! An unusually-shaped fish! It was an honest mistake, seeing it only from the corner of his eyes!

—And then bubbles started foaming near the body. Air had been escaping from somewhere.

That person was still alive.

"Ugh, come on! Wake up!" Murasame spat out. "Stop being a dumbass already!"

As the current started to push the person away from the rocks, Murasame could only think about where the river was headed to. It would have gone straight down towards the Tokyo Bay which was attached to the ocean. If the person refuses to wake up now, there isn't a chance that they're going to wake up in time before they drift out with no chance of being found.

"... Ah, fuck it! You owe me!"

Grabbing a hold of the weighted end of his kusarigama, he tossed it over to the body. Fortunately, he was accurate enough to get it wrapped around, but any second longer and it would have been pulled away with the current. Murasame tried to reel the body in, but found himself staggering forwards.

So a second passed, causing Murasame to be pulled with the current into the river. He, evidently, wasn't strong enough to help out.

"I was trying to avoid—Argh!"

His clothes were all wet, but now that it happened, he might as well play with what he has. He swam over to the body and grabbed on their arm before pulling them back to the shore. Murasame found himself out of breath as he started to realize why some people might not have liked this place.

One wrong step into the river and it was difficult to get out.

Murasame dragged the body up to shore and looked down to them.

"What in the world…?"

The person was oddly particular.

Their clothing looked like it was ripped all over the place while it was absolutely drenched. It even looked discolored from what was supposed to be a bright white. Other than a single piece of clothing, similar to a one-piece gown one would find at a hospital, there was nothing else to their name.

It was even tough to figure out this person's gender. Their skin was the definition of perfection and their white hair was long and silky. Their face was somewhat effeminate, but the underlying issue was the flat chest and the inconspicuous mount on the pelvis region. They should have been around his sister's age as well, perhaps being a range of being a year or two younger.

That was besides the important details though. For Murasame, there was a priority in mind.

"Hey, wake up already!" Murasame repeatedly slapped the person's cheek. "I didn't save you for you to die on me like this! If you die here, you're going to make me the most suspicious culprit since I've got fingerprints all over you!"

Thankfully, the person started coughing out water. They slowly opened up their red eyes, as they made noises similar to someone waking up from a good sleep. With an outward stretch, they… rolled over and went back to sleep.

"Are you kidding me!?"

As if a bubble popped, the person glanced over to notice Murasame at his wits' end.

"Finally, you noticed something! Hey! Get up already!"

The person tilted their head, but they listened to Murasame. Sitting upright, the person started looking around the area before unleashing a big yawn.

"... It feels like I've been sleeping for a while."

The person's voice sounded gentle yet rough, as if they haven't used their throat in a long time.

"I can assume so since you were on the brink of drowning."

"Drowning…?" The person tilted their head once again.

"You didn't realize you were drowning? Geez, have some self-awareness." Murasame scratched his head. "Anyways, you owe me one. I don't forget favors that are owed to me, so you better give me contact information, so we can arrange something down the line."

"Hmm?"

"As in your name and phone number? Or an email? Give me something here!"

"My name…? What's my name?"

"How am I supposed to know? I was thinking you would tell…"

Murasame flinched. "H-Hold on. You don't know what your name is?"

"No…"

The person started looking around again.

"Where are we? What's going on right now?"

"Great." It didn't take much for Murasame to make his deductions. "Looks like you've got amnesia. That's just my luck isn't it?"

"Amnesia?"

"It's when you can't remember anything in your past. It seems like whatever happened to you, you lost your memories before you hit the water. Though, I guess some of the after effects of drowning include memory loss from the possible brain damage you've got."

Murasame considered his options here. Although this smelt of bad news, it wasn't as if Murasame could consciously leave a person to fend for themselves here. If leaving them here isn't a choice, then what would he need to do? What was the correct decision?

"So how did I get here?"

"Again, asking questions that I don't have the answer to. If you want to know how you stumbled into that river, I can't tell you. I can tell you how you were saved though." Murasame smirked as he puffed up his chest. "You were rescued by yours truly right here! I saw that you were going to die and I couldn't stand around and do nothing about it, so I put time out of my busy schedule in order to save you from the brink of death! You should feel honored!"

"O-Oh, wow." The person started clapping nonchalantly. "That's amazing!"

"Yeah, keep the applause coming!" Murasame chuckled. "I was the one to save your life!"

"We're strangers, right? Have we met before?"

"This is the first time I've met you. I'm an important person, so I don't carelessly collude with people if it's not needed. I made a special case for this situation."

"You really helped me out despite that then!" The person glanced down to their fingers. "Though, that doesn't get me closer to knowing what I was doing before I was drowning."

"Does it matter right now? If I were you, I'd be grateful that I'm still alive."

"Alive…"

The person started spacing out.

"Something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing. At least, it's nothing I can figure out…" The person closed their hands. "I guess drowning can kill someone, doesn't it?"

"Uh, yeah?" Murasame raised his eyebrow. "Anyways, I have to figure out what to do with you. Since you lost your memory, it's not as easy as sending you back to your house."

"My house?"

"I'm assuming you live in Tokyo." Murasame frowned right after the words left his mouth. "Oh, right, memory loss. This is going to take some time to get used to, but hopefully, I don't need to invest that time…"

Honestly, this might have made things even easier for himself. If he can frame the situation as how it was played out, the logical conclusion was to bring the person somewhere where they are equipped to deal with situations like this. It was a bonus that the person got out from a drowning incident and just as that crossed Murasame's mind, something strange fell into place.

The person was in the water long enough to possibly suffer memory loss and brain damage, but once they were out of the water, it took a few minutes for their consciousness to return, along with the motor skills needed to move their body. He wasn't a doctor, but that sounded strange.

"Are you sure you lost your memories?"

"I can't remember anything, so… maybe?"

"Hnhh…"

It was probably for the best if Murasame brought the person over to the hospital. From then, the responsibility would be off his shoulders and he'll be hailed as a hero. Right now, that was all Murasame was thinking about this mysterious commoner, as a way to paint himself in a better light in public. Having a person with no memories show up in a river would surely make headlines and Murasame would be right at the top of it, name highlighted in bold as the savior.

"Alright, follow me. I'm taking you to people that can help you."

"You would do that for me?"

"I can't leave you here alone, can I? The reputation of Murasame Houou can't be tarnished by leaving a helpless person to themselves. I'm the greatest person you'll meet, so of course, it goes without saying that I'd help you out. As long as you remember my name, that'll be fine!"

"I can't possibly forget the name of the person that helped me out!" The person cheerfully bowed their head. "Thank you, Mister Murasame!"

"Ah, I like the sound of that!"

It wasn't as if he was devoid of people calling him by that honorific, but there was something innocently excited in the way the person said it, it drew a big grin on his face.

Murasame reached out his hand to pull the person onto their feet.

"I don't have all day. I'm a busy man, so get up on your feet and we'll get you some help."

"Right. I don't want to be the reason why an important person like you is held back."

As the person grabbed Murasame's hand, a slight shock stirred between their palms. They both let go at the same time, surprised by the jolt. Murasame frowned, glancing down to his palm. It seemed like a case of static electricity, but… it didn't make sense for something like to to occur here.

He looked over to see the person having a child-like groan from it.

"That… That stings…"

"Hey, that wasn't my fault."

"I-I'm sorry…"

"I'm pretty sure it… wasn't yours either. The natural world probably played a trick on us." Murasame grabbed the person's hand once more. "Come on. Stop playing it up and we'll be on our way."

"R-Right… Thank you."

This time around, there wasn't any shock, but Murasame could feel the person's hand. It was rather smooth, exactly how he imagined it from how it looked. He was surprised that it could stay like this after the person was in the water for a while. That… didn't make sense either. There should have been some wrinkles in the skin as if they were taking a prolonged bath.

"That's weird."

"What is?"

"Nothing. It's nothing."

Murasame pulled the person onto their feet as he guided them out to the forest. He called out his personal limousine to come around to the entrance of the forest, prompting them to make the destination over to the hospital. There hadn't been any questions on the other side, just as he demanded it, but as they continued down the path, Murasame needed to clear something up first.

"Are you a boy or a girl?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I'm a boy. You couldn't tell?"

"... I was just making sure that you can at least remember the differences there."

"Ah, that's a valid point! I appreciate the concern, Mister Murasame!"

Murasame sweated the rest of the way. There was no way that any regular person could have determined that this person was actually a guy.

-/SK-EV/-

"That is quite the story. We'll have her checked in once a nurse is available."

"Hey! I'm male, you know!"

The receptionist blinked. "O-Oh, my apologies. I misspoke."

"Why does the receptionist think I'm a girl? I don't look like one, do I? I mean, Mister Murasame was able to tell, so it couldn't be anything like that."

"Maybe it's your long hair?" Murasame asked.

"Guys can have long hair too, right?" the boy pouted.

"Well, maybe it's because I'm the smartest one in the room."

"It must be so!"

The receptionist mostly ignored their conversation at the front desk, but while Murasame had already explained the situation to them, the problem was starting to come around.

"You're saying that this boy doesn't have recollection of past memories, including their name, family and address. If that's correct, there may… be a slight problem." The receptionist looked a bit hesitant to continue. Murasame's presence as a powerful businessman with a sour attitude might have been something of a known topic of the streets. "W-We'll be able to run a few tests in order to check up on the boy's condition, if everything is well in his body, but if anything needs to be done…"

"If it's anything regarding money, I can cover it if needed. Don't you know how wealthy the Houou Family is? For myself, I've got more than enough money to spend and then some more."

Japan's health system was great for its citizens, but for everyone else outside of the special cases, it would need to be paid for. It wasn't to say that the boy's check-up would cost anything, since they're giving the benefit of the doubt due to his amnesia, but if the situation reveals that he was a foreigner that stumbled his way into Japan somehow, given it's surrounded by the ocean, then there would have to be someone there to pay for his expenses.

And besides, Murasame wasn't lying. He could drop money like this without even hesitating. If it was for the sake of his own publicity, it wasn't a bad deal in his eyes, especially if there's a chance that he wouldn't even need to pay a single coin.

"A-Alright, then I'll put you in as a dependent, if that's alright with you."

As the receptionist tapped around, creating a file for the boy, Murasame spoke up.

"Is there anyone missing from the hospitals?"

The question only came up because of what the boy was wearing.

"If you are to ask if this boy was someone that came from our institution, or anywhere close by, we don't have any records that point towards him, much less anybody that was reported to be missing in the first place." The receptionist glanced at the boy's outfit. "I don't recognize any hospitals that provide that kind of gown either. Most of them primarily use the same ones for consistency."

That was the most effort Murasame was going to put in for determining the boy's mysterious identity. If that didn't turn up anything, he'll leave the rest to the professionals.

"It's alright, Mister Murasame," the boy smiled. "Thanks for checking anyways."

"It's the bare minimum that I could have done," Murasame smirked.

The queue must have been short because one of the nurses called out for the boy to come along with her. As the boy went over, he looked back to see that Murasame hadn't moved.

"Y-You're not coming with me?"

"I told you already. I, Murasame Houou, am a very busy and important person. I've already overstayed my welcome when it comes to helping you out."

"O-Oh, I see." He looked a bit sad to see Murasame go, but he pushed through it. "Then thank you for everything, Mister Murasame! I hope we see each other again one day!"

"Yeah, whatever."

With a raised hand, the boy went with the nurse to presumingly do some testing. Murasame was about to turn around, but the receptionist called for him.

"Mister Murasame? I know you might be busy and all, but could you stay for a little longer? Since you found him in a river and everything, coupled with a severe case of amnesia, there is suspicion that there may be foul play involved."

"Excuse me? You think I did something to him?"

"N-No, not in the slightest!" The receptionist bowed, almost whimpering. "I had an associate contact the police department while I was dealing with the boy's paperwork and they're sending an investigator over to the hospital. Apparently, the investigator would like a witness' report."

"How bothersome. I can leave my number."

"The investigator requested for the meeting to be in person."

"... Ugh."

Murasame grunted as he took a seat for himself in the waiting room.

"This better not take too long."

The certain ambience took the room as everyone who came in felt like someone had died in the lobby. In actuality, it was just Murasame's presence growing a bit tired and when that investigator would get here, Murasame was already set to leave. It probably took around thirty minutes though, which made Murasame question the urgency that these investigators have. He was off work, but it didn't mean that he wanted to spend his free time waiting in a hospital.

He did have a second phone meant exclusively for games. Due to how compact and thin it was, he almost forgot he had it, so he played on that for a while until a man in his thirties walked in a navy blue suit and slicked-back hair. He scouted the area and when he saw Murasame, he walked up.

"You are Murasame Houou?"

"Last time I checked," Murasame grunted as he put away his phone. "What took you so long? I was told that you wanted the witness' report to be provided in person, but then you took your sweet time getting here? What gives?"

"Apologies, we had a few things to attend to, but I am grateful that you've stayed. Allow me to introduce myself."

The investigator pulled out his identification card.

"I am Masanori Endo, an investigator of the Tokyo Police Department, Crime Division."

Murasame stared at the card before looking over Masanori's shoulders.

"You came by yourself?"

"Again, it has to do with why I arrived later than I'd hoped. If I were to come with a few more people, you would have to be waiting for a little bit longer."

Masanori tucked away his card as Murasame sighed. "I don't really give a shit about what you were doing. You asked me to stay here for a bit, so go ask me questions now. Get to the point already. What do you want to know?"

"I suppose that you should be tight on time. We'll get started."

The investigator pulled out his notebook along with a pen. The questions he asked were straightforward. He asked Murasame to recount the events as he saw it, but even with that, Murasame was already prepared to deal with such questions. He couldn't say he was training out in the forest as a shinobi, since most of the police department are unaware of the shinobis as well. It wasn't as easy as leaving out the "shinobi" part and saying he was training because some weapons aren't permitted to be used outside of specific public places, despite how easy it might be to get them.

He excused it as a simple walk through nature. There shouldn't be anything wrong with that, but Murasame did have to point out where he found the boy. It probably wasn't a bad idea to point a little more upstream to protect his secret training spot.

Masanori noted everything down diligently. He never asked Murasame to repeat himself, even when the given report wasn't as slow as it could be.

"I still have a question."

"I've already spent ten minutes with you, almost bringing me to an hour of time I didn't expect to use inside of a hospital. Honestly, the kid could have told you most of what I said already."

"It will be quick."

Masanori flipped the page to start fresh.

"Did you notice anything strange?"

"... Strange? What do you mean by that?"

"Anything unusual? Out of the ordinary?"

Immediately, Murasame thought about the state in which the boy was discovered. However, there wouldn't be a good chance that the investigator would take him seriously. It was a mere observation from his own stray thoughts, after all. Murasame answered by shaking his head.

"Nothing I can think of."

"Are you sure?"

Was there an answer that the investigator was expecting? This was the first question in which Masanori tried to get confirmation on whether Murasame was remembering the events correctly.

"Well, if you consider the fact that he was functioning pretty well despite drowning moments beforehand as unusual, that would be the only thing that would fit the definition."

"I see." Nodding, Masanori wrote it down before closing the book. "Alright. That should be all. If there's anything I need, I'll be in touch with you, but if everything goes well, there shouldn't be any need to."

"Are you going to start asking questions to the kid?"

"I expect to not find anything worthwhile since he does have memory loss. It is more like we're waiting on the test results. Blood sample data, fingerprints, his current condition, anything that could lead to clues as to who he is." Masanori briefly glanced at the reception. "I'll come to pick up their paperwork tomorrow when everything is completed."

Masanori bowed to Murasame.

"With that, I thank you for your time, Murasame. We'll make sure that this case is solved."

"Can I go now?"

"Of course. Please go on your way."

"Finally."

With a grunt, Murasame picked himself up and left the hospital. He was supposed to be home a while ago, but it wasn't as if he had a certain curfew to uphold. He was twenty-three already, but at his age and demographic, relaxation is what was the most valuable.

There was still something that needed to be attended to later tonight though, so that might cut into the limited free time he had. It was a shame, but he couldn't control it.

He can make do with what little time he had. It wasn't as if this little distraction was going to change anything substantial, right?

That was what he had thought until he returned back to the manor.