"Good afternoon." the questioner greeted, shaking my hand. The SIU are onto their third day of questioning everyone and nothing will be left unturned by the time they're done. Our council room ended up the place where they were questioned. Some students would only take a few minutes whilst others would take around an hour. Putting my nerves to the side, I took my seat. Sis is in this mess because she's had to bail me out - I won't bring more shame onto our family, let alone scupper the hopes and aspirations of my cabinet…
With Kawakami and Maruki seemingly on the same page regarding my comfort, I had permission to have my statement taken directly at the prosecution office. Having entered a soulless room, I was greeted to an oblong grey table and two brown chairs of equal height in the centre of the room. There were two cameras in opposite corners of the cell meaning no blind spots. More important to me was the person seated - he was an older gentleman who held himself with stoic calm and breathed an aura of seniority from the dark blue tailored suit he wore right down to the slightly frayed spectacles. His short hair aside, those dark eyes told nothing behind those lenses and with a glance to his subordinates, they all but disappeared without a word needing to be exchanged. It didn't matter what their true angle was, nor did it matter who stood to gain the most from this. What mattered right now was staying the hell out of a cell.
"I won't waste your time and I expect you won't waste mine. Answer my questions and be on your way." He ordered.
"Alright." I replied.
"Walk me through what happened when complaints to Kamoshida were filed to your council." he requested.
"We would process the students as usual: the disciplinary committee would run a check into the person in question whilst we would get the teacher's side to the story."
"And how long went to this check?"
"2 weeks."
"And in these two weeks, was anything further done by your cabinet to facilitate the process at all?"
"Our door was always open to share anything that might help. Otherwise, my directive was to continue to address other open issues."
"When was the first time you met Kamoshida?" the gentleman asked.
"The 14th."
"What did you do for him to leave that scar? We already know about the investigation you led the day before in response to a friend's plea. It was rather senseless for it to devolve into physical confrontation the next day." he stated. Not mincing his words, eh?
"I pushed him into getting mad using everything that I knew mattered to him - from my friends' accounts, his short temper was a frequent thing. I didn't think it'd lead to that though."
"I would say otherwise. If you trusted in the accounts of your companions, it makes little sense to use the methods you did. Knowing just how brutal the training regiments were and how prone to violence the then head coach was, it crossed your mind and you acted on it."
"All I thought about was getting the time to put a plan together. Of the many things that disappeared, a dead student can't be explained away so easily." I responded. It was annoying that this man alternated between glances and jotting notes.
"Did it not occur to you something was direly wrong with the systems in place?"
"We were given various reasons each time why complaints couldn't go further. After having them checked, of course." I couldn't elaborate further for the sake of my cabinet.
"There's more to it though. The disciplinary committee who were meant to be independent, people who you chose to act on the school's principles, came back to your cabinet with the same end result. The same students making the same complaints multiple times and your team filing them multiple times. Several of the documents we have of such complaints have your signature of approval." I authorised my cabinet to use my signature if they needed to without having them run it by me…
"Our cabinet wasn't only focusing with Kamoshida. We had plenty of other issues to deal with. Vendor requests, club management and student staff meetings to name a few." I answered.
"If your cabinet was busy to such an extent, why didn't you request aid from the teachers despite being the representative of over 200 students? You were well within your rights to do so, just as you are now."
"...It didn't seem like they would care."
"So you felt that way over a prolonged period of time."
"Yes." I admitted.
"No one else bore witness to what took place in that room but a scar that size would be of great concern to all who saw. When and how did you manage to conceal it for such an extended period of time?"
"A friend helped me cover it up shortly after. Niijima-senpai had no knowledge of what happened and before she could insert herself into the situation, Okumura-senpai came along and stalled against her." The questioning continued:
"An interesting point to be made from this: drafted in to outwit Kamoshida, you had the opportunity to speak to a liaison of recognised standing and convince them to aid you - given the timings of the incident and the competency of the person in question, I find it hard to believe you'd conclude your account would be disregarded as falsifications."
"Her involvement…I simply couldn't trust her. Neither of us were really keen on one another and if I'm being blunt, she was nowhere near as useful to me as others who I turned to." I replied honestly.
"I understand that it would be hard to go to your sister with the hopes she could do something about it. But couldn't you have at least asked advice on what to do?"
"I…could have." Ugh…how can I argue against this question? I tell him that I didn't want to waste Sis' time and then it looks like I don't trust her…
"Of the many students who put their trust in your team, nothing other than stalling ever took place. Your role within this could be argued as one of the most blameworthy. Your actions didn't leave any meaningful impact for students who put their trust in you. It seemed your position was more important than anything." That isn't...it is though, isn't it? There's a lot to be said about just how much I play a part in these failings and how hard it will be to keep students here.
"No amount of work I do along with the cabinet will ever be able to restore the faith that students used to hold in their council. At the same time, I am not the person to blame for the actions of my teachers. I believe that I provided aid to the best of my ability where I could to the students that I could." I responded.
"Funny you say that. You had a chance to not only hear out the person who managed to stop Kamoshida but to obtain irrefutable evidence personally." Was he referring to Takamaki-san? She was too scared to speak up and Amamiya-san…I don't know. Pressing Yoshizawa-san for answers doesn't work…
"What do you mean?" Responding to my question wordlessly, he took out photos of Ren's scar. It remained as nasty as the first time I saw them - possibly worse compared to when I saw them on the TV.
"You missed a scar this visible just moments after Amamiya-san's scuffle with Kamoshida?" What?! Impossible! He had the scar from that day?! I couldn't keep my calm as the questioner seemed to have his next set of questions lined up.
"Did Amamiya-san request your silence? What did…" Hold on…who else went up to that rooftop?! There was Takamaki-san in a panic and Okumura who happened to head up shortly after me. When I went, he had no scar!
"When I went up to the rooftop, that scar was already covered up. A classmate of his was up there before me." He had Takamaki-san use her modelling experience to help him…that's the most plausible explanation. I wasn't even paying attention to how she felt and I don't think she was either. But why did Okumura show up then? It wasn't as if the two were friendly.
Pipipipi…The gentleman's phone rang and eyeing the number or recipient, it seemed he couldn't ignore the call. I wouldn't have expected him to leave so abruptly but the worry in his face all but indicated he was done. He immediately stood up, took the phone and left me with some words:
"...Know that I expect your full co-operation." Leaving the room, it seemed Sae would reluctantly carry on in his place. She sat down and carried on as if there was no change of questioner in the first place. They were listening in.
"What convinced your homeroom teacher to help you?" she asked.
"...I found out something I wasn't meant to."
"Tell me what this was! There's no use in protecting anyone at this point." Unlike her boss' calm demeanour, she opted for her usual aggressive broach.
"Her wrists. I figured she suffered physical abuse under him when they dated prior to joining Shujin. It was from that moment that I knew I could win her over. I revealed my scar to her at that point." She noted this down carefully.
"Moving onto the compiled evidence…was she ever aware of its contents?"
"She knew nothing of what I gathered." I lied.
"So he left you under the impression that he was gathering evidence?"
"Yes. I didn't know of what."
"What was there that you did know about him?" Are they trying to vilify Amamiya-san?
"He had something troubling him. There was always a hateful glint in his eyes - even if his words and actions were kind, he would hold that hate inside."
"Did he ever tell you anything about Kamoshida?"
"No. When his expulsion was the talk going around, I'd wondered how it could have been issued so hastily. I did take the chance to speak with him to ask about it. He remained extremely guarded."
"Why? Never mind your level of trust in her, this should have been the first thing to do. Given the scheme to bring him down, this move was as careless as it was outright dangerous to withhold!"
"She would have been too horrified and that would alert Kamoshida something was amiss. More importantly, I couldn't be sure if she still had enough lingering feelings to screw me over for him. It would also alert her to one of her students who would spill the beans in a way she couldn't handle it."
"Yuuki Mishima." She followed on.
"Kamoshida's loyal minion. I got the details from a friend about how he was a real wiz at computers and stuff. I caught him spying on me and with a little convincing, I asked him to bug Kamoshida's phone and remove it on my command."
"For someone who didn't have anyone at first, you sure seemed to have a lot of friends." She really did watch the interview. I couldn't really get into technical details but luckily, it didn't seem Sae was technically adept either.
"Well…it took a couple of days to flip him but we got way more than we bargained for."
"And if I were to ask him to corroborate your story?"
"He'd tell you the same." At least, he will now.
"...I think we're done here. Thank you for your time, Niijima-san." What?
"Already?" His assistant added. As the man shook my hand, it really was the end of my questioning.
"It seems no one trusted you enough to divulge anything useful to you...one piece of friendly advice: try to see the bigger picture around you." I…I…what can I do?
"Exactly what did you do to Kamoshida?"
"I called him out on his bullshit-" Sae clenched her fist, slammed the table and jolted out of her seat.
"That man barged into these doors and only begged for me to take the statement! This goes far beyond the realm of overwhelming guilt - you held that man under duress to do so. The Yakuza at least have the decency to keep their people still able to talk."
"Anything new out of him?"
"Don't deflect the question."
"I had Mishima do it again. His advice on blackmail went along the lines of usefulness and seeing as he was one of the closest to Kamoshida that, his weak personality would make Kamoshida lower his guard. Sure enough, it did. I got my message across how I needed to - I'll spare the details."
"You show no sign of remorse for your actions. Why are you supporting that school and that man...allow me to rectify my question to be as blunt as possible: what have they promised you?"
"You don't need to know."
"Whatever it is, the victims of his crimes will never see the most culpable parties accepting responsibility and you, someone who has understanding and experienced a sliver of what they went through, play an active part." Sae observed. How preachy. They were never going to be satisfied no matter what happened and nothing but undoing the acts ever could.
"But the same can be said for the SIU. Your department claims unbiased and total fairness yet has the nasty job of trying to redeem Japan's trust in her government and their competency. I can only guess that this is to try and once again shift blame onto the school. If anything, that's far more damning to the victims." I really didn't have a clue what the others were going through and Sae knew full well. She came to a conclusion of her own.
"...I see now. The interview was designed for the sole purpose of making the closure of this case as smooth as possible, saving the dwindling funds and public humiliation Shujin Academy undergoes." But didn't she realise how badly this affected her department taking on this case? Sure, her boss made the call to act but she could've recused herself and the case dies down.
"The funds of your department are so solely focused on this one paedophile that other important cases are being swept under the rug day by day. It this drags on, the next potential ministerial leader will dismantle, absorb and reimplement a department such as this one. Your boss holds the most blame for this sorry state of affairs but you should never have taken the case on if you hadn't thought this far ahead, Sae." That one hurt. She continued:
"Then provide me with something honest if Kamoshida is to remain in our custody. Telling you this alone is enough of a courtesy as it is. You are in as much danger as I am should we fail to hold him. If you have any respect for who I am, I need you to trust in me. Where those officers in Kumagaya did wrong by you, we will do right this time." What was there that I could tell her without compromising the team? No, that wasn't the right question. It was more on the lines of what is enough to make this woman happy to take this to her bosses? What was there that I could give her with the least number of people who could argue against it?
"How's Makoto doing lately?" I threw a distraction our way.
"Excuse me?" Family truly is a soft spot for these Niijimas…at least this one clocked on fast as to the fact I was stalling for time. If there were secret cameras, I didn't want to set off any suspicions.
"What of the Sakuras?"
"Eh…we're at odds. Futaba and I are in a much better place but Sojiro and I…it's rough. I know it doesn't help their case." The torture session…only his inner self and I knew what took place in that room. The others couldn't have spied…and definitely not Shido's kid. His ambitions and the plans he had for the industry were nothing the others remembered well enough, not to mention that the alibi has no mention of it.
"Kamoshida's true goal. He's never told anyone, has he? It was to become a head coach at Rio. I think you can tell how I found that out." Wordlessly gesturing to my hands, she'd all but understood too well. There was no hint of concern in her eyes.
"He was trying to regain the glory he received as a gold medallist and the things that came out of it. His coaches inspired the mantra that being marketable meant appearance and talent were equal to one another. Over time, losing his incredible form meant the former wasn't a possibility. At some point, he figured he wanted to be the coach leading Team Japan's volleyball teams to gold." A cross-check would probably confirm the majority of my statements as truth.
"In no way does that link to the mental, physical and sexual assaults that took place."
"In order to get that goal, he needed a means of building up acclaim. As far as I know, there weren't any sponsorship deals, agents or the like that he had at his disposal. So what better way than to follow in his coaches' footsteps? Be the guy who not only stands behind the athletes but has the eye for potential talent. The victims were the ones that met his mantra and if he could demonstrate those qualities, Team Japan would allow him a shot at Rio. But he couldn't convince an entire industry alone."
"And that's where the other coaches came in. Rather convenient but continue."
"The victims…it was what he had to offer: tickling their temptations, making them fall for his scheme and forcefully gaining their support through any means necessary. I don't know when it became sexual but regardless, it devolved into nothing more but their sick, twisted pleasures. Once he'd gotten enough students from Shujin in, he'd seek to remove the current head coach by getting onto the team and slowly whittling down the people he needed to, one by one. His ultimate spoils: the trust of the hottest athletes in the world and critical acclaim. His envy was his utter downfall in the end." I finished. Sae wasn't impressed with this.
"...How am I supposed to prove this magnificent tale? I have countlessly tried to find out his motivations but not one word about it has left his mouth."
"You wanted me to trust in you and I have. I'm putting myself on the line now that you are the only person who I've divulged what I got out of that man before his seclusion. If you find it so hard to believe what I'm saying, you go and get the damn answers out of him no matter what."
"..."
"The only thing I can think might work as a starting point is his former coaches." I had no idea about who they may have been so that was truly a stab in the dark. She still wasn't convinced…
"I was kidnapped. A few days ago. You're in danger, Sae. This kidnapper seemed to know who you were and how the credit was given to you for stopping Kamoshida."
"Lies! You're trying to provoke me a second time into acting-"
"You're the only person I've told." That was technically true. Mona happened to tell Futaba for me.
"He knows a lot of what I do and how I do it. He and his employer know so much…it's not an option to stop trying to get through to Kamoshida. If you go against what he thinks you're doing, he'll know I told you and he'll rear his head again. It'll be far messier." Sae was so furious that I'd inevitably dragged her into it for no good reason. It was 100% the most careless action I could take but what more could I do to get this bloody case over with? Futaba was busy cooking a means to counter this mystery man and not much more could be done in the meantime.
"...You vile child. Get out of my sight." She spat. I left the cell and navigating through the building, I found my way out.