—Chapter 20—Wednesday, May 11th, Late—

The doors to the paddy wagon opened, and Makoto was thrust inside, where she found she wasn't alone. The officers fastened her to the bench opposite a couple of her co-conspirators: Jiro and Ren were cuffed against the other wall. Ren smiled sadly, while Jiro turned his body so that she could see his tiny wave. She had very mixed emotions at seeing them there—disappointed to see that they'd been taken prisoner, but elated to know they weren't dead. The doors closed, and they were left alone in the dark. "Oh thank god you're alive," she said.

"Yeah, alive, but… was this a complete waste of effort?" asked Jiro. "Did we get anything from doing this, or are we all just caught and ass-beaten?

"Speak for yourself," said Makoto. "My ass is fine. My knuckles, on the other hand… Are you two alright? Where's Emi?" she asked.

"Hospital," said Ren, as his sling, evidence of his own injuries, hung uselessly from around his neck. "She's almost certainly got a nasty concussion. I wouldn't be surprised if she had a skull fracture, to be honest…"

"Oh no…" Makoto frowned in dismay.

"She was knocked out cold, but was at least conscious and talking to the paramedics the last I saw," added Jiro.

"What happened?" Makoto asked, aghast. "We lost you on the comm and heard gunshots. I went after the dean, thinking he was shooting at you from the bushes or something, but when I found him he was just watching."

"You found the dean?" asked Ren and Jiro simultaneously. "Please tell me you beat his ass," added Jiro.

Makoto shrugged quietly, but couldn't keep a little grin from escaping. "The cops have him now," she said. "Guys… I got him on tape, pulling a knife from his ankle. I… I think we got him."

Ren sighed heavily, his muscles relaxing into the cold metal wall. "Oh, thank fucking god," said Jiro, looking upwards.

But Makoto couldn't rest quietly with just that knowledge alone—she was still too anxious about the rest of her friends. "What happened to Emiko? She's in the hospital?"

"Yeah," said Ren. "Tetsuo pistol-whipped her."

Makoto was stunned speechless, her mouth hanging open. They couldn't see her in the dark of their cell, but they could guess why she was silent.

"Oh yeah, so, turns out Tetsuo's not dead," said Jiro. "So there's that."

"Pretty sure they took him to the hospital too," said Ren. "What the everloving fuck he was doing out of the hospital in the first place is anyone's guess. That he's not dead is also pretty curious…"

"Tetsuo's not dead…" said Makoto, in a daze.

"Yeah, so I guess that's… good news?" said Jiro. "It means the one person they could link you to isn't dead—except for the dean's wife, if they're still even thinking you did that. But if they have the dean, and the dean carries a knife, you may only be suspect number two at this point…"

"Small miracles," said Ren, deadpan.

"So," said Makoto, trying to sort out what had happened to everyone, "Emiko and Tetsuo are in the hospital, the dean is in custody, and we're under arrest. Anybody know what happened with Naomi? By the time my fight with the dean was over, she was radio silent, and then the cops took my comm system."

"You fought the dean?" the men said, again in unison.

"Sort of," she shrugged. "It wasn't much of a fight. I'd been watching him, videotaping him on my phone. When he revealed his knife, I must have made a sound, because that's when he noticed me and attacked."

"Please, please tell me you beat his ass," said Jiro, repeating his earlier request more emphatically.

Ren smiled in the dark. "Of course she did."

Makoto's hands were cuffed behind her, pressing into her back. "Ulgh," she said, expressing her disgust at remembering the state of her knuckles. "I'm pretty sure his blood is still all over my fingers…"

"Right on," said Jiro.

"That's my Queen," said Ren.

"'My Queen'?" said Jiro. "Is that a pet name or a code name? 'Cuz you say it like it's a code name… And I thought I heard her call you 'Joker' over the comm earlier… God dammit, if I had known we were going to take code names seriously, I'd have put in the effort to come up with something better than 'Sticks'…"

In the dark, Ren and Makoto smiled conspiratorially at one another. "You're not hurt, right?" Ren asked.

"No. I think he may have underestimated me."

"A critical error on his part," said Ren.

"Speaking of underestimating," said Jiro, "you should've seen what I did to Tetsuo. I fucking brained him with my bo staff—it was the most epic thing ever."

Ren nodded. "The fact that I wasn't watching right at the moment that happened may be my greatest regret of the night."

"That will definitely go down in the annals of history as one of my best moments," said Jiro. "Right there with the first time Naomi and I were together, and my record-setting God of War speedrun."

"I'm sorry I missed it," said Makoto. "The braining, not the speedrun," she clarified. "Though, I have to wonder: What the hell was he doing there? Was he the shooter?"

"Yes," said Ren. "I have no idea what he was doing there either, though. He said he 'had to' kill me… He almost did. If it hadn't been for the kevlar vest, and then for Emiko tackling him, I'd be on my way to the morgue right now."

Makoto grimaced. "Emiko tackled him? Jesus…" She sighed, trying to picture it all. "How are you, anyway? You were attacked again…"

Ren sighed. His shoulder hurt. His leg hurt. His chest hurt. His wrists were sore from where the cuffs were digging into them. He was pretty sure he had lines on his face from where Tetsuo had scratched at his eyes. But he was alive, and he wasn't on the run anymore. Sure, he was caught, but so was the dean. And he was here with Makoto. "I'm terrific," he said. He meant it.

—

At the police station, the three of them were processed and locked away, one after the other. Ren and Jiro shared a cell, but Makoto had one all to herself. She and the boys were separated by a wall of bars, but were otherwise together. There were no other prisoners in the cell block.

"This sucks," said Jiro, crossing his arms as he took a seat on one of the benches lining their jail cell. "Are we expected to sleep in here? This is where they put drunks and teenagers that get caught shoplifting. This doesn't even have a crappy prison toilet—what am I supposed to do if I gotta pee?"

"I think they keep the good stuff in the prison cells," said Ren. "You want I should ask them to transfer us?" he added sarcastically.

Jiro blew a raspberry at him. "No, I suppose not. I just can't believe we're in jail. No justice in this world…"

"If there was justice," said Makoto, "Ren would be in the hospital right now, too. You're bleeding." She gestured to the red spot growing on his calf.

Ren inspected his leg. "Dammit," he said. Grimacing, he carefully removed his coat so he could check on his shoulder. There was a red spot there as well. He slipped his arm back into his sling.

The door to the cell block opened, and a man in a dark gray suit stepped in. Makoto recognized him.

"Detective Naabe, was it?" she asked, as he stopped in front of their cells.

"Ms. Niijima," he said, greeting her with a nod. "Gentlemen," he added, giving Ren and Jiro a look.

"My friend here is bleeding," said Jiro. "I think it's pretty fucked up that he has to sit here and suffer while the actual bad guys are probably in nice cozy hospital beds getting medical attention right now."

"Mister Yoshinora was sedated by the hospital staff before I could talk to him," said the detective. "And Mister Watanabe… needed attention too. So, since you're here, and alert, I thought I'd talk to the three of you first."

"You recovered the knife at the scene where the dean and I were found, correct?" asked Makoto. "That's probably the actual murder weapon, you know. You guys took my phone, but I have him on video pulling it from a scabbard on his leg."

"We're working on a warrant to search your phones as we speak," said the detective. "But yes, we have the knife. We're investigating."

"Well, you're finally on the right track," said Jiro derisively. "It only took a group of amateurs to do all the heavy lifting for you, but at last, you see the light."

"Amateurs? And here I thought all of you were students at the Academy?" Detective Naabe grinned wryly.

"Yeah, well," said Jiro, "it's a good thing for you guys that the future of law enforcement looks bright."

"How did you find us?" asked Ren.

"You mean besides the people calling in reports of gunshots on campus?"

"Yeah," Ren nodded nonchalantly. "Besides that."

"Well, it helped that you gave us directions," said the detective, holding up a very recognizable piece of stationery dotted with hearts. The three inmates were transfixed at the sight.

Makoto stood up. "Where did you get that?" she asked.

The detective ignored the question, "What did you hope to achieve by meeting on campus with Mister Yoshinora?"

Ren had no reservations about setting the record straight. He got right to the point. "He's the serial killer—The Midnight Blade—and we were hoping that we could get him on tape admitting it," he explained.

The detective focused his attention solely on Ren, taking a step to center himself on Ren's part of the cell block. "You are Ren Amamiya?" he asked.

"Yes, I am," said Ren. "And I'm innocent."

"If you're innocent, why did you run? Why not turn yourself in for questioning?"

Makoto cut in, silencing Ren with an outstretched hand. "I told him not to," she said. "I knew that with his prior history, you would assume he was guilty right off the bat. I thought we needed more evidence of his innocence first."

"Aiding and abetting is a crime, Ms. Niijima," said the detective, cocking his head at her accusingly.

"Not if the person I'm giving aid to hasn't actually committed any offenses," she countered.

The detective scrunched up his mouth. "Well, interfering with a police investigation, then…" he replied, muttering.

"Whatever," interrupted Jiro. "Point is, he didn't do it, and all we were doing was trying to prove it. Turned out the real killer was trying to pin everything on him."

"And what led you to believe that Mister Yoshinora was the serial killer?" asked the detective.

"What he said to me after he brought me to his house so he could pin his wife's death on me, before trying to kill me," said Ren. "We also uncovered evidence tying him to Tetsuo's murder—or not-murder, as it turns out."

"—And if Tetsuo is alive, you must have known that!" interrupted Makoto. "He should know it wasn't Ren who stabbed him! What did he tell you? Did you even ask him?"

Detective Naabe frowned and bit his lip, trying to decide how much to tell them. "Mister Watanabe was unable to recall who attacked him."

There was a moment of stunned silence in the cell block. "Well, that's fuckin' great," said Jiro. "Is he playing dumb? Please tell us you've at least figured out that he was there to kill Ren tonight, right? He was there to kill him the first time, too—he'd been stalking him. I don't know how much of the alley surveillance footage you guys actually saw, but that meathead was lying in wait there—we even have pictures of him parked on the street outside our dorm hours earlier. That knife you guys found with Ren's prints on it was his."

The detective wouldn't say so, but he had already suspected as much. Between the report from the anonymous jogger putting him at the dorm the week before his stabbing, and what he had learned of Mister Watanabe's temperament just from speaking to him, he found it 100% plausible that Tetsuo Watanabe had been the aggressor. Of course, he'd felt pressure from the Chief of Police not to pursue that line of investigation, but detective Naabe couldn't just come out and say that.

He decided to shift the conversation away from that little wrinkle, and back to the dean. "If you had found evidence linking Mister Yoshinora to the deaths, why didn't you take it to the police? Why dangle it in front of him in some cockamamie attempt to get him to confess?"

The three inmates glanced at one another, a hint of sheepishness on their faces. "We may have implied that we had more evidence than we actually did," said Makoto.

"You tried to bluff a serial killer?" Naabe asked, genuinely surprised.

"Would you have taken my word over his?" asked Ren. The detective didn't answer.

"You have the note," said Makoto. "Was the photo still with it? That's really all the evidence we had linking the dean specifically to the scene of Tetsuo's dea—stabbing," she said, correcting herself. "That, and we knew that someone with access to the original security footage had doctored it. We couldn't tell who had edited the footage, but we knew it had been edited by someone."

"—Definitely," said Jiro, emphatically cutting in. "Once you know to look for it, it's so obvious that the footage was doctored."

"Looking at footage from another nearby camera, we saw him coming out of the alley," Makoto finished her explanation. "Once we recognized that he was the dean—one of the few people with access—we just knew."

"Also: He shot me," said Ren.

"A dick move," added Jiro.

The detective didn't say anything right away, silently contemplating all that he'd heard so far. He looked down at the calling card in his hand.

"He didn't give that note to you, did he?" asked Makoto, following his eyes. "How did you get it?"

"I'll ask the questions," he replied, dodging. "How did you get access to the security footage?"

Screwing up her mouth as she looked back at the detective, Makoto decided it was her turn to be evasive. "I'm sorry, but we should really have a lawyer present before we answer any more questions," she said.

"Your lawyer is on her way," said the detective, acquiescing to this bit of pushback. "She contacted us already."

Makoto blinked in surprise. "Our lawyer?"

"Ms. Sae Niijima. A relative of yours, I presume?" asked Naabe.

Naomi. She must have searched Makoto's purse for her sister's number. Makoto didn't relish having to explain all of this to her sister, but she was grateful for the assist, nonetheless. "Yes. My sister," she said, affirming the detective's guess.

"Well, she'll be here as soon as she can," he said. "I guess you're going to make me wait until then to tell me any more?"

"You guess right," said Jiro.

The detective sighed, looking them over. His eyes lingered on Ren, bloodied and bruised, lying uncomfortably on the jailhouse bench. "I've heard good things about you, Amamiya. Your teacher really came to bat for you today—assured me that you were innocent." Naabe paused before continuing. "He insisted there was no way you'd have missed your target…"

Ren's face softened at hearing those words. Mifune-sensei…

The detective studied him for a beat longer before turning on his heel and heading for the door. "Though, those glasses make you look like a hipster." He pulled the cell block door open and took one last look at the inmate before pausing to give his last remarks. "I'll see about getting you to a doctor."

The echo of the door as it closed rang through the room. When it had finally died, Jiro took a breath. "Dude, I told you, you fuckin' hipster…"

—Thursday, May 12th, Morning—

In spite of her exhaustion from the adrenaline crash the night before, Makoto had found it almost impossible to sleep. Quite aside from the fact that the bench she was laying on was terribly uncomfortable, it was painfully difficult to take her mind off of Ren. After the detective's departure, Ren had been taken away to have his wounds examined, returning a couple hours later with fresh stitches and a hefty dose of painkillers. He fell asleep soon after that, holding her hand through the bars, but she couldn't stop worrying about him.

Besides the meager LEDs on the handful of cameras lining the cell block, it was incredibly dark in there. Square windows near the ceiling led outside—their only connection to the outside world—but they were so small and so high up that they were practically ornamental. However, as the sun began to rise, blocks of light appeared on the walls opposite the windows, letting Makoto know that it was morning.

She was grateful that the night was finally over. Turning her stiff neck, Makoto looked at Ren. He had slept in his glasses, and his hair was more of a mess than usual, but his color was surprisingly good. She sat up and looked him and his cellmate over, who was snoring quietly on the bench opposite.

Disturbed from her assessment of him by a clack from the cell block door, Makoto turned to look. A familiar face came through, and Makoto lit up.

"Sis!" she cried. Jiro snorted at the outburst, and Ren stirred in his sleep.

"Makoto!" Sae hurried over to her sister's cell, followed by the uniformed police officer who had escorted her inside. She noted the blood on Ren's shirt and was immediately in prosecutor mode. "This man is clearly injured—why is he not in the infirmary?"

The officer grimaced sheepishly, "He was seen by a doctor last night, but there were orders to keep him here, from the chief himself—due to the subject's flight risk."

Sae glared at the officer, taking the offensive. "If you have violated this man's rights, I will have your badge."

The officer nodded and held his hands up defensively, as though he could ward off her ire with just his hands. He kept his distance, but did not leave the cell block.

Ren shook off his medically-induced slumber and pulled himself unsteadily up from the bench using the bars on his right, and then called to Jiro to wake him up, as well.

"Huh?" groaned Jiro, rubbing his eyes. "Is it pancakes?" he asked groggily, forgetting where he was.

"Wake up, Prince Akeem. Our lawyer is here," Ren said, before waving weakly at Makoto's sister. "It's really great to see you, Sae. Good morning."

"Good morning yourself," replied Sae, a smirk playing at the corner of her mouth. "We've got to stop meeting like this." Ren nodded at her, returning her smirk with a small smile of his own.

"Oh, Sis, I'm so happy to see you," said Makoto, meeting her sister at the front of her cell. "Did Naomi call you?"

"Yes, your friend called me last night. She had to call emergency services over something that happened with one of your friends. She suspected you would all get arrested, and it seems she wasn't wrong. Though I'm furious that Ren wasn't also taken to the hospital. Did you get any medical attention whatsoever?"

Ren nodded. "Like he said, I saw a doctor last night, then they brought me back here."

Sae responded by shooting a glare at the officer on watch, who again held up his hands in his defense. "Flight risk!" he cried. "Not my decision!"

"Was anyone else hurt?" Sae asked. "Your friend was light on details, but said your ex-boyfriend showed up?"

Makoto sighed. "Yeah, the ex-boyfriend that we thought had been killed… I'm so confused about what's happening right now, I'm not sure I'll be able to explain very much…"

"Don't worry about that right now. Step one is to get you all out of here, then we can piece together what happened after. Did they tell you why they arrested you?"

"No, but I guess that they assume Jiro and I are Ren's accomplices," she said.

"They have an obligation to inform you of the reason for your arrest within forty-eight hours," said Sae. "After that, if there isn't sufficient evidence to detain you any longer, they have to release you."

"So we're stuck here for two days?" asked Makoto.

"Up to two days, yes. If your only crime was being friends with Ren, then I'm confident we'll have you out of here before that much time passes—maybe even in time to get pancakes. You, however, might have to wait a little longer than that, though," she said, turning back to Ren.

"I'm sorry…" Ren started to respond, "They've got—"

Sae held up her hand to stop him. "Don't say anything more until we can talk alone," she said, tipping her head in the direction of the officer who was watching them. "We'll have a chance to talk more later. In the meantime, I'm going to see that you get some proper medical attention—and don't any of you answer any questions unless I'm there, got it? Now, I know you're not guilty of anything serious, but if you're not careful, they'll drum up some technicality to save face, and it will lengthen your detention. Trust me—it's what I would have done."

"Got it, Sis," said Makoto. "We'll keep quiet."

Jiro nodded, as he mimed zipping his mouth closed, and throwing away the key.

"I know I can count on you," said Sae, smiling. "Take care. I'll be back."

"Thank you, Sae," said Ren, looking grateful. "I'm sorry it had to be under these circumstances, but it's good to see you."

"Likewise, Ren. We'll talk again soon." With a parting wave, Sae headed back out of the cell block, the officer close on her heels.

Jiro yawned, scratching his head. "So, that was our lawyer? As tenacious as she is attractive—is it weird that I'm looking forward to this?"

—Thursday, May 12th, Midday—

A few hours later, Sae returned to the cell block in good spirits. The three friends had been passing the time with a variety of silly games. First they had played Bang, Marry, Kill with the prison guards, before Makoto tortured them with the Umbrella Game. Jiro was hoping to reset their code names in honor of the Wu Tang Clan, and was staking his claim to 'Ol' Dirty Bastard'. Makoto and Ren agreed easily enough to dub Emiko 'Raekwon the Chef'—'cause, you know, why not?—but their hearts weren't really in it when he tried to make them the 'RZA' and the 'GZA', respectively. Thankfully, Sae interrupted the game before Jiro remembered that 'Ghostface Killa' was also a member of the Wu Tang Clan, and wouldn't that be just the perfect name for Ren?

"Sis!" called Makoto, at Sae's approach, "Thank goodness you're here."

"Good morning," greeted Sae happily, "I have some good news."

"Oh, thank god," said Jiro. "Does this news include pancakes?"

"For Makoto, perhaps, but for you, I'm afraid that's up to your mom." Sae said those words with a look that made it clear that Jiro was in for a world of shit.

Jiro's face fell. "…My mom?"

"Your mom," she confirmed. "The fact that you're still a minor meant that she had to be notified of your arrest. She's waiting for you outside."

"Oh, fuck…"

"Yeah, sorry," she said, pivoting back to Makoto and Ren. "You two will be leaving here as well. After speaking with the police, I have negotiated your release on the condition that you remain in my custody and turn over your phone as evidence," she said to Makoto before turning to Ren, "and you will be transferred to the secure wing of the hospital to undergo observation while the police continue their investigation. I have assured them of your innocence and our intention to cooperate. Also, I went to see your friend, and she handed over a thumbdrive loaded with audio and video files that I'm sure will make a huge difference, if they actually contain what she says they contain."

"Sounds reasonable. Thank you, Sae," said Ren.

"I'll be right along to check on you at the hospital once you're settled," she said. "As for you," she said to Makoto, "I'd love to take you to pancakes, but I'm not sure we have time. I need to wrap things up here, and you need to get home. Sojiro sent a care package, and it's something you'll need to sign for."

"A care package?" said Makoto, utterly surprised. "What could he possibly be sending us at a time like this?"

"With that guy, I can't even guess," she said. "Anyhow, just be sure not to go anywhere once you're home—if you're not immediately available when the police come calling, that might compromise your freedom. If they do come, be polite, but don't answer any investigative questions without me there. Got it?"

"Got it," answered Makoto.

Sae snapped her fingers, and the officer who had been watching them approached, pushing a wheelchair in front of him. He unlocked Makoto's cell first, who immediately went to her sister for an enormous hug. Once the boys' cell was open, Jiro helped Ren into the wheelchair before stepping outside, offering Sae a hand to shake. The officer cuffed Ren's good arm to the wheelchair and started rolling him out of the cell block. Ren reached for Makoto with what little leeway he had, and she reached back to touch him.

"Hands off the prisoner," said the officer, scolding her away.

Sympathetic, Sae stepped in. "Give them a moment, for Pete's sake. They may not get to see each other for a while, and it's not as if you're in any tremendous hurry."

The officer grumbled but did not press the issue. Makoto took Ren's cuffed hand. If all she'd been able to steal had been a hug, she'd have called it a victory, but since the officer had told her "hands off", she decided to go in for a kiss—she was happy to use needling the officer as an excuse to get a little more of Ren before they were forced to part company. She held his face in her hand as she kissed him. When she was finished, she whispered quietly in his ear before pulling away. He responded with a soft-spoken "I love you too". In spite of the subtlety of the exchange, everyone in the cell block had heard. Jiro smiled, watching the look on Sae's face as she observed the two together as a couple for the first time.

"Okay, that's enough. Time to go," said the officer, pushing the wheelchair toward the door. Jiro, Makoto, and Sae watched them from behind as they receded from view.

"I'll visit you as soon as I can," called Makoto just as Ren and the officer pulled through the door. Ren turned his head to acknowledge her, offering only his lopsided smile as he turned the corner and was out of sight.

The three who were left behind stared at the exit as the heavy door fell shut. After a beat, Sae turned to look at her sister. "I heard that, you know," she said.

"We all heard that," said Jiro. "Even 'Officer Bang'."

Makoto blushed, but did not walk it back.

"Looks like things have moved quickly since we last spoke on this subject," said Sae, a mischievous glimmer in her eye. "You were so loath to talk about it before."

Makoto sighed. "I'm not prepared to talk about it now either, Sis. Let's just go."

"That's fine," replied Sae, moving toward the door. "I'm not just your sister now, I'm also your lawyer. We'll have plenty of time to talk later. I expect my client to be completely honest with me."

"I'd love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation," said Jiro, following her out.

Makoto gave a modest smile, bringing up the rear as the group left the cell block. Sae led them through the winding halls of the police station, back out to the busy reception area. It felt good to be back in a place where people were studiously working, too engaged in their own activities to pay Makoto any mind. She'd had enough attention for the time being.

"Jiro, here is where we part ways," said Sae. "I'm going to drive Makoto back to her house before going to the hospital to see Ren. You, on the other hand, need to go that way." Sae pointed out into an area of the waiting room that was further removed from the front desks.

"Uh, okay. Where's all my stuff though?" he asked.

Sae pointed once more into the waiting area. "Good luck," she said, taking Makoto by the arm and pulling her toward the side exit adjacent to the parking lot. Jiro winced, and headed off in the direction Sae had indicated.

Arm in arm with her sister, Makoto couldn't help but listen to the sounds of an angry mother loudly berating her college-aged son in public. As she took in his desperate attempts to quiet his mother's hollering, Makoto looked at Sae—her sister, her lawyer, her parental figure since she was far too young—and pulled her in a little closer.

—

Sae dropped Makoto off at her house and immediately left for the hospital. When she arrived, Ren was in the middle of having chest X-rays done, so she wasn't able to speak with him right away. While she waited, she opened her purse and pulled out her notebook, looking over the names of everyone involved. Emiko Tanaka was here in the hospital somewhere.

Sae slipped the loops of her face mask over her ears and stepped up to the intake desk to inquire. "Excuse me, I'm here to see Emiko Tanaka. Can you please direct me?"

The nurse greeted Sae with a warm smile. "Good day, miss, of course I can. And can you please tell me your name and relationship to the patient?"

"My name is Sae Niijima, and I'm her lawyer."

"Her lawyer, you say? Oh my, well, of course you can see her. She's in B wing, room twelve. There's a map on the wall over there to help direct you."

"Thank you." Sae stepped away from the desk, glanced at the map, and made her way to B wing. After a couple minutes, and only one wrong turn, Sae had found room twelve. The door to Emiko's room was open, and Sae could see a young woman lying in bed, a bandage covering the right side of her face. Sae knocked lightly on the door frame and stepped inside. "Miss Tanaka?"

From her elevated hospital bed, Emiko stirred. Her eyelids fluttered open as she turned her head to face Sae. "Yes? I'm Emiko Tanaka."

"Tanaka-chan, my name is Sae Niijima—Makoto's older sister."

Emiko's eyes got wider as the recognition set in. "Makoto's sister? Are you the prosecutor?"

"Mostly," she admitted. "Though I'm trying to do more and more defense work these days. I'll be representing you and your friends for the duration of this whole Midnight Blade business."

Emiko's face fell. "Oh dear," she said. "How is everyone? Are they in jail? Are they hurt?"

"Makoto and Jiro were freed this morning after I negotiated their conditional release. Ren is here in the hospital somewhere. He's having X-rays done, and since I had a few minutes, I decided to take this chance to meet you. We'll have a real discussion later, of course, but could you quickly tell a little about what happened?" Sae took her notepad back out of her purse, preparing to write.

Emiko relaxed into her pillows, a heavy weight appearing to lift from her. "Do they still think he did it?" she asked, a hint of lingering worry on her face.

"You mean Ren? Well, they're definitely not prepared to let him go yet, but just based on what they found last night, they're investigating Dean Giichi Yoshinora as well."

Emiko gave a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank heavens. We have so much more evidence, too," she said.

Before Emiko could rehash all the details of the case, Sae stopped her. "I spoke to Naomi this morning, and she gave me the whole story. She also provided me with the recordings you'd collected from the CCTV footage, which will be huge. And not only that, but the police are reviewing the evidence on your phones as we speak."

"And what about Tetsuo? He was—"

Sae held up a hand. "Mister Watanabe is here in the hospital as well—the police are aware of him, don't worry. A better question is, how are you? I'm told he struck you in the face."

Emiko raised her hand to her cheek, feeling the bandage that was there. "Is that what happened? I can't remember… All I can recall is a vague memory of trying to help Ren, and him calling to me. Was he hurt?"

"I don't think Ren sustained any serious injuries—at least not any serious new injuries," said Sae, "though I guess his X-rays will tell us for sure. You patched up his bullet wounds initially, if I'm not mistaken?"

"I… I did, yes."

"What was the last thing you remember clearly?"

Emiko considered this. "The gunshot," she said eventually. "I remember hearing the gunshot, and seeing Ren fall over. But then it gets… fuzzy. I remember somehow Tetsuo was there, and Ren was struggling with him. Then I remember charging in, but that's really everything." Her brow was stitched in thought. "An officer told me later that Ren was holding me, trying to keep me awake."

Sae finished jotting down these new details before clicking her pen closed and pocketing her notebook. "Thank you, Tanaka-chan, for speaking with me, and for saving Ren. Twice, it seems. Now, I think I should let you rest. You have a concussion—you even got a couple stitches in your cheek—but we'll talk more soon, when you're up for it."

"Please contact me if there's anything else you want to know," pleaded Emiko. "Ren can't go to prison for this—it isn't right."

Sae smiled. "I'll do everything I can for him. I'm optimistic though—I think you all did very well. Now, get some rest." Sae stood up from the chair she'd been using, turned, and headed to the door. "Good day, Tanaka-chan," she said, smiling as she departed. Emiko gave a single nod in farewell.

Sae checked her watch as she stepped confidently through the hall. Ren should have returned to his room by now. As she worked her way back toward the intake desk, she came upon some detectives whose faces she recognized from earlier that day. She approached them, presenting her identification. "Good morning, I'm Sae Niijima, defense attorney for Mister Amamiya and his friends. You are the detective leading the Midnight Blade investigation, are you not?"

"Yes, that's right. Detective Hotaru Naabe," he said, offering her his hand to shake. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Several things, actually," she replied matter-of-factly, accepting his outstretched hand. "I've had a chance to speak to Amamiya's friends—Tetsuo Watanabe attempted to murder Ren Amamiya last night. He also committed battery and assault. I hope you are treating Mister Watanabe as a suspect, and not merely a victim."

The detective sighed, not liking where this was going. "Yes, we are aware of Mister Watanabe's involvement in this case, and rest assured, we are investigating fully. We're also looking into recovering the school's security footage, but that's… going more slowly than before."

"My clients have provided me with audio and video evidence that we would like to turn over to you," said Sae. "You also have the cell phone video of Makoto Niijima, Jiro Kitano, and Emiko Tanaka already. You have plenty to review while you wait for the school's version of what happened."

"'School's version', huh?" said Naabe, shaking his head in amusement. "Well, I'd be grateful for the recordings," said the detective, genuinely relieved to hear that copious amounts of evidence would be materializing all on its own. "Is there anything else that I can help you with, Ms. Niijima?"

"I need to speak to Mister Amamiya as soon as possible. Is now a good time?"

"By all means," said the detective. "Kid won't talk to me before he talks to you anyway, so the sooner you see him, the better. If it will loosen his tongue a bit, you can tell him we're working on a warrant to search Yoshinora's house. We found traces of blood on the knife we picked up during his arrest…"

The smile she offered him was obscured by her mask, but he could see her approval in her eyes. "Congratulations, Detective, you're on the right track. I'll let my client know. Now, where can I find him?"

"Secure wing, room four," he said, pointing down another hallway.

"Thank you, Detective," said Sae, nodding at him.

"You're quite welcome, Ms. Niijima." The detective tipped his hat at her.

It was another few twists and turns to get to the secure wing, and she probably had to present her identification half a dozen times before she made it there, but she did eventually reach Ren's room. When she arrived, a young nurse was finishing up explaining his morphine drip to him.

"If it hurts too much, you can press this button here to add morphine to the I.V., but go easy—it won't add more than a certain amount over a certain time period anyway. Any questions?"

"No, I think I've got it. Thank you," said Ren.

"You're welcome, Mister Amamiya," said the nurse, but she didn't leave right away. She looked like she wanted to say something, but didn't know how to start.

Ren could tell there was something nagging at her. "Is there something else?" he asked.

"Well, not really. I mean, it's none of my business, but…" She gestured vaguely to his ankles, piquing Sae's interest. "And I thought I recognized your name…" said the nurse.

"You mean from the news?" he asked.

"Yeah…" she said. "I mean, I thought I'd heard your name when they were talking about… The Midnight Blade…"

Sae chose this moment to cut in, startling the nurse, who hadn't noticed her standing behind her. "Mister Amamiya was mistakenly identified as having been involved in that case, but I can assure you, he is a victim in all this."

"Oh!" cried the nurse in surprise. "Oh, I'm sure that's true! I mean, you can just tell… You don't seem like a…" she said awkwardly, unable to bring herself to finish that sentence. She just stared at Ren.

He looked at her, stuck on her words, and did his best to move her along. "Thank you," he said. "I'll press the 'call' button if I need anything else. Have a good day, miss."

"Oh! Uh, good. You're welcome. The 'call' button is just right there," she said clumsily, before excusing herself.

After she was gone, Ren and Sae looked at one another, each of them taking a moment. Finally, Ren had to ask, "Was she just being polite? Or can you really 'just tell'?"

"That you're not a serial killer?" Sae asked, sardonically.

"I mean more generally, but yeah, I guess. Can you really just tell if someone has the capacity to murder another person in cold blood?"

Sae sighed, and pulled a chair from the wall, dragging it next to the side of Ren's hospital bed. "You often have to sit with the person for a while to be sure, and your expectations can cloud your judgment, but she's not totally wrong. There are… feelings that you get about a person."

"And you can trust your feelings?" Ren asked. Madarame had seemed like a good guy at first. The dean had seemed like a good guy…

Sae could tell he was grappling with something. "Usually," she said. "It's easier to tell when someone is good than it is to tell when someone is bad. Bad can be very good at disguising itself, but genuine goodness often shines through."

"I guess I need to learn to look for the sparkle," said Ren facetiously.

"I think you're better at it than you realize," she said sympathetically. "In the real world, there just isn't an app you can say a person's name into to know whether they're good or bad."

Ren smirked. "Yeah, if only…"

"Anyhow," said Sae, pivoting, "why was she gesturing at your legs?"

"Oh," said Ren, looking toward his feet, "probably because that's where I'm cuffed to the bed. I have an ankle monitor on, too…"

"Still getting the suspect treatment, huh?"

"Seems so," said Ren. "Though, it's not as bad as I was expecting. They really haven't been in my face that much—I was expecting much worse."

"Well, the lead detective told me to tell you that they're working on a warrant to search the dean's house—they found blood on the knife they caught him with. Plus, they're feeling a little overwhelmed by all the evidence you guys collected, and we haven't even had time to hit them with all of it yet."

"Alright," he said, making a fist. "That's good to hear. I don't entirely know what's in all that evidence, but I know it'll paint a more honest picture than the one that's been out there thus far."

"Same," said Sae. "I don't have access to the cell phone video yet, nor have I seen what's on Naomi's thumbdrive, but I'll turn it over just as soon as I make a copy of it. Then I'll review it so I can get to work preparing your defenses against any laws it looks like you may have broken in obtaining it."

"Besides a little computer hacking, we had to 'borrow' some equipment from the school, at least some of which I'm sure we broke or lost…" he said. "I'm frankly more worried about what the school will do to us than I am about the police—now that I know they're taking the dean seriously, that is. I really don't want my friends to get in trouble for helping me."

"I sincerely doubt the school will come down too hard on any of you," said Sae. "This case is so high profile, and it was solved by students at the Academy—the school should be making poster children out of all of you. If they try to punish you, we can always just go to the media. They'll back off to save face."

Ren chuckled, but immediately regretted it, wincing in pain as he lay a hand to his chest. "Yeah, you're right," he said, trying to recover. He pressed the button to add some morphine to his I.V. drip. "I bet the fact that the dean turned out to be a serial killer is gonna be enough of a public relations nightmare for them already."

Sae watched him struggle through the pain of his various injuries. "I should let you rest," she said, standing up. "But you should rest easy. I'll take good care of you—all of you. I promise."

Ren laid his head back and let his eyes droop a bit. "Thank you, Sae," he said, taking a long pause to breathe deeply before continuing, though his ribs rebelled against it. "It's really… really a relief… that you're here."

Sae looked at him, watching as he let himself lower his defenses enough to finally drift into an uneasy sleep. She could only imagine the toll the last couple days had had on him, and she was glad that she could be there to offer him a sense of security. Affectionately, she laid her hand on top of his, careful not to disturb the I.V. jutting out from his wrist. Her little sister loved this man. By helping him, she was giving strength to her own family.

Without another word, she let herself out, closing the door silently behind her.

—Thursday, May 12th, Afternoon—

With a clack, the deadbolt slid back into the door, and a moment later Naomi was in her living room. The quiet emptiness of the space was eerie.

With an exhausted sigh, Naomi flopped onto her couch and laid down, putting her feet up on the armrest at the other end of the sofa. Normally, when Naomi was this tired, she would lie down and immediately reach for the TV remote—the background noise of a chattering television had always calmed her jangled nerves. But this had not been a normal school day, and right now, she just needed a few minutes of quiet.

After talking with Sae this morning, Naomi had actually bothered to attend her classes. Though, she did so more as an excuse to return the things she and her friends had borrowed (some of which were only "gently used") than to learn anything. The police had confiscated some of their communications equipment and Jiro's bo staff from the scene last night. The wheelchair wasn't where they'd left it, so that was probably lost forever—she didn't think the police would've taken it, but maybe she was wrong. It was the things they'd checked out according to the rules (the bo staff, the wheelchair) that they were going to be punished for failing to return. Ironically, the stuff they'd stolen wasn't tied to their accounts, so theoretically, Naomi could forget about it—not that she would.

What she really felt bad about was Momo's car. It had been towed, and Momo had already sent some angry texts to Naomi about it after the towing company called her. Naomi would have to scrounge up impound fees and some other olive branches to smooth things over with her friend and neighbor, but for right now, she couldn't worry about that. Naomi had escaped the night's ordeal virtually unscathed, but her friends were all either in a hospital room or a jail cell. Had she been hurt or detained right along with them, she'd actually feel a lot less guilty about how things had turned out.

Sighing, she pulled her phone from her pocket. She had several new text messages and unread emails that probably needed her attention. She tapped on her texting app, and decided to close it without opening anything—all the texts were from her mom, and it was clear from the few words that showed up in the previews that her mom had been watching the news. Those could wait. She'd have responded to a text message from Momo, but that was about it.

A cursory glance at her email revealed a flood of Google News Alerts: 'Students Arrested in Connection to Serial Murders', 'Campus Clash!', 'New Suspect Identified in Serial Stabbings', 'Blue Square Turns Red', 'Ren Amamiya: Criminal or Victim?'. The headlines just kept going. Sifting through those for anything she was actually interested in reading, she found emails from Makoto and Jiro. She opened Jiro's first.

Hey Naomi,

Holy fuck, what a night… We slept in jail cells like a bunch of drunks. Thank you SOOOOO much for calling Makoto's sister though, JESUS… I'd have been in jail for another two days if you hadn't called her, seriously. Of course my MOM had to be the one to pick me up from jail, so right now I'm in a totally different kind of prison, but at least here there are toilets.

Shit I think she knows I'm talkiong about her. Its like she's got evil mom magic and ALWYS KNOWS1!, I gotta go. Using her laptop, no phoen. Talk soon, luv you byeeee

-J

Naomi pushed out her lip, sympathetic to her poor distressed Ji-Ji-kun. But at least he was safe, and out of jail. She didn't know when she'd get to see or hear from him again, but that was, for now, a relatively small problem. She opened the email from Makoto.

Hi Naomi,

I just got home from the police station, and wanted to let you know we're all okay—well, I think we're all okay. Jiro looked bruised up, but was otherwise fine—provided his mom doesn't kill him. Ren and Emiko were taken to the hospital though—I haven't talked to Emiko, but Ren said that Tetsuo (!) pistol-whipped her—she's probably concussed… A bunch of Ren's stitches had popped out, and he was having significant chest pains—probably broken ribs from the gunfire… I'm not sure when either of them will be out of the hospital, but my sister said she'd keep us apprised.

Tetsuo and the dean are in the hospital too, but it sounds like they're at least under arrest. I got the dean on my phone pulling a knife and making threats, so, god willing, we got enough to put that bastard behind bars. The cops have my phone, which is why I'm using email. No idea when I get my phone back…

I think we can finally breathe now. Ren will probably be fine, and the cops seem grateful for all the evidence we're providing—the lead detective actually smiled at me when I left. And, my sister doesn't think the school will come down on us about any missing/broken equipment—if they even find out we took it. All that remains now is to see that the dean gets what's coming to him—also Tetsuo, I suppose. As hard as it was to believe that he was dead, it's even harder to imagine him actually being alive. If I ever have to talk to him again, I have no idea what I'll say…

I realized after I got home that I have a test tomorrow. I studied for it over Golden Week, but sheesh, I don't feel ready for it. I guess I could cram now, but I'm hardly in the place mentally for that. It feels silly of me to even be concerned about it—it's such a small thing, all things considered. Still, it feels like a good problem to have. A normal problem, and one I feel lucky to concern myself with. Just going to classes again is going to feel so weird… Ren is missing his first Advanced Blades class right now. His classmates will probably freak when he inevitably shows up, but I guess that won't be for a couple weeks, at least.

Before I close, I want to thank you for everything: For your guidance during the rendezvous with the dean; for calling my sister; for organizing the evidence we gathered. Everything. You've been amazing. You really took care of us, Naomi. Whatever happens, I'll never ever forget what you've done. You're a strong, wonderful person, and a cherished friend.

I'd say more, but the delivery guy just drove up—I'm expecting a package, of all things… Looking forward to taking a bath after I sign for it.

Take care. Talk soon.

-Makoto

Naomi stared at the closing line of Makoto's email for several seconds before going back and rereading the whole thing a couple times. Makoto was okay. Her other friends were okay. The bad guys were in custody. Naomi dropped her phone to her chest, grabbed a pillow from the back of the couch and held it over her face. It wasn't out of sadness, or happiness, or anger, but she was so overcome with emotion that she just started sobbing into the pillow. Eventually, she would fall asleep there, not to stir again until the next morning when her school alarm went off, reminding her to get up and go to class, as though everything was normal.