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Ayuna

One of the things Ryoko and I looked for when searching for this flat was large windows.

Sure, there were all the other, more mundane things that couples tended to look for when house-searching. Transport links, price range, closeness to our respective workplaces, how safe the area was, schools, shops, nightlife size of the actual flats. Well, maybe not schools that much-though neither of us had anything against children, neither of us had the desire to have our own-but we did look at all of those things.

Just that, as well as all that, I wanted large windows. Maybe not floor-to-ceiling windows like the front room windows I was currently gazing out of, but large windows that couldn't fail to show you the outside world. The people hurrying around on the ground, the other buildings, planes in the sky and the very sky itself. All of it had to be there, in easy reach of my eye-view. People who knew my history could easily connect the dots as to why.

"Hey, what are you doing up?"

Seiko looked over her shoulder at me, legs still swinging absently, the backs of her trainers hitting the desk legs. With a sigh, she jumped off, tugged down at her pyjama t-shirt and looked at me for a moment. With the windows boarded up, there was only the faint corridor light coming in from the door I had opened, and it wasn't enough to discern her expression, even if I could see that her pixie-cut was rumpled.

"Osamu. I could ask the same as you."

I shrugged, inexplicably embarrassed as I ran a hand through my own messy blue-green hair.

"Couldn't sleep. Just thinking…you know. " I shrugged as I came into the room. "That was a mess, all of it. Azami-chan, and Moeka-chan too….Moeka-chan! It doesn't make sense."

Walking over to the side Seiko was standing in, I leaned against one of the boarded-up windows and moved my hands in random gestures, trying to word what I was thinking, what my mind was churning up.

"The more this goes on, the more confused I am. I mean, why? What is he, or she…or they, even, getting out of this?"

Seiko had been bouncing slightly on her feet, a habit I was well used to, but now she became still.

"There are many different kinds of people in this world; it's hard to imagine what they're all like, even with how much we've seen." She said, after a moment. "There's probably some sort of reason for this, even if it isn't the type of reason that would make sense to us."

"I know that! Just…I'm scared, really, Seiko. Aren't you?"

Seiko opened her mouth, about to say some of the same reassuring things she said to the others, but then she paused, shook her head firmly, and then nodded. Then, she moved over to the same boarded-up window I was leaning against, but instead of leaning against it like I was, she faced it, put her hand against it. I thought of when I'd tried to prise away these boards, and the narrow escape I'd had from what had resulted.

"How long have we been in here, Osamu?"

"I…" the question took me by surprise. "Uh, a month, right? Something like that."

"That sounds about right, I think."

"Well, yeah, but that could just be this 'mastermind' messing with us!" I said, frustrated. "We might have been in here for longer. Maybe even shorter! We don't know anything!"

"Still, for now, let's say it's been a month."

"I…." I frowned slightly. "Sure?"

"So that's a month since we've last been out in the world, a month since we felt the wind, smelt cut grass, seen the stars." Seiko said. "It would be enough to turn most people mad."

"You haven't?" I offered. "You've been pretty sane, so far."

This close, I could see Seiko's mouth quirk up into a funny sort of half-smile. I recalled something she'd said before, about a matter of perspective. But she did not say that this time. Instead, she sighed, and leaned her forehead against the wood, avoiding one of the huge bolts. Still, I didn't imagine it was particularly comfortable.

"I hope one day we can all go outside and see the stars again." Seiko whispered. "I can't believe that happened only a month ago. It feels like it's been forever."

I rubbed my head, looked back across at the still-ajar door, and then looked back at my friend. Her eyes were closed now, but I was close enough to see how creased her expression was, a contrast to the calm exhibited around the rest of us.

"Hopefully," I said in the end, inadequately. "It won't actually be forever."

Mirroring Seiko's action all those years ago, I leaned my forehead against the glass, looked down at a world slowly waking up, sunlight already bright. Even so, the glass was cool against my forehead, a great deal nicer than a chunky wooden plank held together by bolts and inexplicably hard to destroy. I'd seen so many stars and sunrises and sunsets since we'd been released, sometimes making a point to, for Seiko's sake. I'd often wondered if the rest of us who had made it out did things like that, but I hadn't been able to ask, thanks to that promise.

Though, now, at least that was changing.

I had been waiting forever when I heard someone coming in through those doors into the reception area. I flicked my eyes up to see a woman with chin-length brown hair and a yellow knee-length sundress, tapping on a screen, presumably signing herself up. I waited a moment, and then I heard soft footsteps come and stop in front of me.

"Um, are you waiting for one of the teachers?"

The voice. Her voice. It was the same. Less of an accent now, but the same lilting softness to it. I looked up, and the orange-gold of her eyes was exactly the same. Of course, I'd looked at the social media, so it was not as if I'd gone blind, but I felt sure that photograph had been old. And besides, it was not the same. I had to check.

"Sadie?"

Now, it was her turn to have recognition hit her. It had been clear from the frowns she gave me that she'd been trying to place who I was. I hadn't expected her to be able to recognise me, as I had changed in some pretty significant ways since we'd parted.

"Aozaki-kun? Osamu Aozaki-kun."

As much as my deadname made me bristle, now wasn't quite the time. That, and it was not as if she could know. I somehow didn't think Sadie was into horror movies. I got up, wanting to hug her, or something, but then I held back. It wasn't the time for that, either.

"it's been a while, hasn't it?" I said, trying for casual.

"I…why?"

Why? What do you mean, why? But of course, I knew really. No doubt she'd kept strictly to the promise. Even without the loss of a twin or anything, she'd seemed only a few steps away from breaking the way Azami had. I clenched, thinking of what I'd learnt when I had tried to reach out to Azami. Hopefully, when I tried to find her again, she'd be in a better place. But for now, I had to focus on Sadie.

"Things have changed. We need to meet up again, all of us. Haven't you heard?"

Sadie had a deer-in-the-headlights look about her as she shook her head. She indicated for us to go outside, and once she'd said goodbye to the receptionist, we stood outside the door. I fought the urge to stand closer.

"I am not sure what you are referring to….Aozaki-kun." She said cautiously. "I haven't heard anything that would be…well, I don't even know. What's happened? Why are you here?"

And there it was, the crux of it all, the thing that had spurred me to take this effort. 20 years of turbulence and flailing, discontent at what we'd all decided, and yet I'd never really tried so hard to change it before. I closed my eyes, then opened them again, and said the words I knew were going to destabilise Sadie.

"They're thinking of re-opening Hope's Peak."

Sadie's eyes flared.

"They…they're what?" she trembled, holding tight to her bag. "They….why? After what happened?"

"I'm not fully sure," I said. "But they're hoping…okay, bad choice of words, they're aiming to open next school year. So, next April. "

"I…." Sadie's breathing had become shallow, her eyes wide, the trembling more violent.

"Sadie…." Appropriate distance be damned, I thought, as I stepped closer, reached out for her. She flinched wildly.

"I'm not Sadie." She said. "Not anymore!"

The last word became loud, and I noticed a couple of people stare. I hoped they wouldn't recognise me. I didn't often get stopped in the streets anyway, but it had happened a few times. And even with the news being so new, I was already feeling the effects of the increased spotlight. Thankfully, they just stared and went on their way.

"Sorry, sorry." I said, quickly, putting my hands up. "What do I call you then?"

Sadie looked at me wildly.

"Mai."

"Oh, your middle name."

She nodded at this, then tilted her head slightly. She seemed just a fraction calmer. Mai, I repeated to myself. Mai. I supposed that if I thought of 'Sadie' as a deadname, then it'd be easier to remember. Though, speaking of deadnames, I thought, I wonder what the others will make of…

"You're not really 'Aozaki-kun' anymore either. What do I call you now?"

"Ayuna." I answered, quickly, glad to get this out of the way.

"Ayuna." The way she said it, it sounded like she was rolling the name around in her mouth, feeling the shape of it. "That's pretty."

"Thank you. I'll try and remember your new name if you remember that. Though, I think 'Aozaki-kun' is more forgivable than 'Osamu', so as long as you don't do that, we're good."

"Alright then…Ayuna."

The ghost of a sweet smile, one that the memory of hit straight in my chest. I recalled her carefully packing food into a plastic container, holding out a snack of some sort out when I and a couple of others came nosing around. In a way, being separated from them was worse than the separation from the dead. At least it made sense why I could never see them again. But then Sadie-no, Mai, I had to remember that now-seemed to recall the situation and became drawn and cautious again.

"Is it…really true?"

"Yes, it is."

I turned around to see that Ryoko was up, yawning as she headed to the kitchen.

"Ayuna? Is everything alright?" Ryoko stopped abruptly, and crossed over to me instead. She stood next to me, looking out at the same views I did, though without the memories that came with it.

"Yeah, I'm alright, but I was going to bring something up with me for you." I said.

"I know, but I have to be up anyway. Deadlines." Ryoko pulled a face.

I couldn't help but smile wryly at that. At least I had no impending deadlines to deal with, on top of all of this. But now there was a much brighter spotlight to shelter my eyes from, and more pressure.

"I need to see them all again." I muttered.

"Your friends," Ryoko asked, leaning against me supportingly. "Are you going to try and track down more of them today, like you said you would yesterday?"

"Mhm." I said absently. "I have to look through my emails though, and there are some phone calls I need to make. Interviews, and the like. But that's definitely the aim of the day. We need to meet again."

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Ayuna." Ryoko squeezed my arm. "I'm sure they're all wishing that you hadn't drifted away, as much as you wish you hadn't drifted away."

Drifted away. There was so much about all of this I could never tell Ryoko, that nobody knew. I hated it, that I could not be honest with my wife, but that was how it had to be, in the end. Nobody could know, except the other six who had survived with me-that was what had been decided, and in the end, to follow that was all I could give them.

Most would have assumed that such a thing would bind us closer together, and indeed Ryoko had been surprised to learn I hadn't kept in touch with any of them. A simple drifting away was the only explanation I could offer that would explain it, without giving away the promise.

"Who cares about the promise anymore? I never wanted it, never!" I cried out. "I should never had had to agree to it. And I know you agreed to it pretty quickly, back then, but surely you didn't want it, either? We were classmates…no, more than that? For all our differences, we were all friends. Right?"

Mai frowned, but then nodded slowly.

"I…it was….it seemed like the best thing. Besides…"

Mai tapped her fingers against her lips, a gesture I remembered from before, when sometimes she could not quite recall a word. It didn't happen often-her Japanese had always been good, but with certain terms-especially specifically Lebanese or Brazilian cultural things, or some abstract concept-, she needed a moment to think of the words. It was strange to see how that had not changed.

"Everything hurt." she concluded eventually.

"Ayuna?"

"Oh!" I looked at Ryoko, who was regarding me with concern. "Sorry, breakfast!"

"I can…"

"No, it's alright, really. I got up to make it anyway, and then I…." I gestured to the windows, and Ryoko nodded understandingly.

"It's alright."

…

Over breakfast, we talked more, but about Ryoko's work and some possible projects I'd be working on in the future rather than the suddenly returning-past, or my plans to meet everyone. I cleared up while she got her things together, and then I saw her off at the door with a kiss, before retreating to my office. But instead of getting on with what I needed to do, I found myself going over to the windows, staring at a different view, but again, in a way, for Seiko. And to remind myself I wasn't trapped any longer.

"So, you do understand, don't you?" I said.

"I…I think so. But I don't…will meeting really help with that?"

"I think it is better than all of us sitting separately, isolated from each other. We were stronger together then, we can be now."

That, and perhaps we can finally set the truth free. But I wanted to wait until I saw all their faces again to say that, so I held it back.

"Will you help me, Mai?" I asked. "Please?"

"I don't really know how I can…."she said. "I've already given you my number and things…"

"Mai. Please. "

Mai wrapped her arms around herself, seeming 17 again. For some reason, it reminded me of the way in which Seiko would disappear for just a little while back there, to pull herself together. But then, Mai nodded.

"Alright."

I pushed open the top half of the window, leaned out slightly. The summer breeze smelt sweet, and I breathed it in, closing my eyes. Not just for Seiko, my closest friend, but Moeka, Akari, Kimiko, Sen'ya. All of them. All of us. And then, I let the breath out, and with it a vow.

"Let us meet again."

…

Juro

Normally, I loved my job. Not in the sense of walking in with a huge cheerful grin, ready to tackle the world. A lot of the time, the job was grim, and hard, and thankless. But I loved it. Usually, even with the most darkest and twisted of cases, there was a satisfaction that at least eventually, one day, there would be justice served, closure given. There was always the sense that at least there was one clear right thing to do, and that I would be doing it.

That wasn't the case here, though. There didn't seem to be a clear right. Yes, I wanted the chance to be able to find out just what had happened to those kids and why. But I also wanted Mai to be safe and happy. Her happiness had already been leached with just the news that the investigation would be opening once again, raking back over all those memories. I still hadn't told her about Akio yet, but I knew that wasn't going to help, and that it was only a matter of time before she'd need to know anyway. But…

Azami Kishinami had been more or less catatonic when we'd rescued her, Mai and the other survivors in the abandoned school building. Needing to be shepherded around by the others, barely speaking, usually just mumbling, unaware of her surroundings and glazed-eyed. There was something about Mai, when we'd sat out in the swing, that echoed that state. She'd woken up in the night, caught in a nightmare, even though she managed not to scream, and there'd been a scary, scary moment when I'd woken her up and she'd looked at me as if I was a stranger. She'd pulled herself enough to smile around the kids the next morning, and had insisted on going into work, but still, there'd been a glimmer, or rather a lack of glimmer in her eyes that made me worry-what if she was going that way?

This would already be hard enough on her anyway. How could I throw myself into this investigation the way I did every other, bringing it home and making it worse? How?

As I climbed up the stairs to Towa Central station, I sighed, and pulled myself together. This was why I was in, after all. Hopefully before the meeting, I'd be able to meet with a senior and ask to be excused. They couldn't refuse me, not with two close connections to the case.

"Good morning!" I called to the uniformed officer manning the front desk once I was in.

"Good morning, Detective." He grinned back. "How are you? How 's the wife and kids?"

"I'm fine," I said, lightly, as if this was the same as any other day. "They're fine, too."

"Good, good."

A few more officers in the room behind poked their heads out to greet me-some I knew vaguely, others I didn't know at all-before they disappeared again, working at the sorts of tasks uniformed officers-especially the newbies-usually did.

"And, well,-"

The door opened suddenly, and whatever my friend had been about to say to me died on his lips as a man most of us recognised as a senior homicide detective looked around the room. Eventually, he faced the Police Sergeant who was in charge of our cohort.

"Ishihara, I need five of your brightest uniforms ASAP."

Ishihara opened her mouth, and then closed it again.

"What is it you need them for?"

"The 78-B disappearances." He said, tersely. "I need five, Ishihara!"

A ripple went around the room-the 78-B disappearances. No elaboration was needed, we all knew what that referred to, and how already the case was proving to be confounding. I held my breath, wondering what would happen next.

"Well…" Ishihara frowned, and then rattled four names in quick succession-all officers who showed promise, as we all knew well.

Then she pursed her lips, looking around at all of us. I noticed some averting their eyes, other looking eager, others trying to stay cool. I was in that last category, but in truth, I was more like the second. Ishihara's gaze fell upon me, and I startled. She stared at me, and I felt myself go slightly red.

"Take Arisato-kun too," she said, turning back to the detective. "He's a bright one."

I continued on and upwards and wondered which uniformed officers we'd be pulling in to help us with the 78-B case, this second time around. And who would be picking them. I hoped that it would not be me.

Continuing upstairs, rather than going straight to the Captain's office, I decided to pop into the incident room that was being commandeered for the investigation. To my surprise, the board at the front was already being filled, and more things were being pinned up. By the Captain himself. I stood and watched for a moment as carefully, painstakingly, photographs of Class 78B were put up-a school ID photograph, along with one more casual photograph, given to us by family or sometimes friends. The Kishinami twins had one casual shot between them-the grinning selfie that had been taken on the mini-bus and posted to social media, one of the last communications any of the class made before they had disappeared.

There was also a copy of a photograph of Moeka and Kimiko standing together outside Hope's Peak on their first day, the year before they disappeared and died-Moeka beaming, bright pink flower in her black hair and arm around the more reserved Kimiko, whose green eyes seemed all-knowing. Body buddies- I remembered hearing someone refer to them as such, but I could not remember who. Perhaps it had come from one of the girls themselves? Still, body buddies. There was something painful about the carefreeness of that label, the way it played with sounds.

Apparently, Moeka's father had been the one to take that picture, but it had been Kimiko's father who'd given it to us to use. I remembered him coming up to this very incident room from the labs instead of going home for the night, face drawn, holding out the photograph like it was a relic, or a prayer, willing to give up something so precious if it would help. Of course, we'd photocopied it and let him have the original. In the end, it would be all he'd have of her. So much had been lost back then, and the photograph was just one symbol of that.

"Oh, hi! I'm Moeka Kamiya, my Dad's the Medical Examiner here. This is Kimiko, her dad's also in Forensics here, and she does stuff too, right, Kimiko-Chan?"

"Yes, that's right. I'm Kimiko Tsukuda, it's lovely to meet you…"

"Arisato. Juro Arisato. I've just been assigned here."

"Oh, a new officer? I've known most of the Forensics department since I was five, and of course, one of them is my father-Kenichi Tsukuda. If you haven't met him yet, you will. They're all really good at what they do, especially Dad." Kimiko said, brightening.

"You'll also be seeing Kimiko-Chan here a lot too!" Moeka piped up. "Though not me, so much, I'm following in Mum's footsteps rather than Dad's…speaking of which, I've gotta go now! Bye, Kimiko-Chan, Officer!"

"Bye, Moeka-chan."

The black haired girl swiftly ran away, and I was left staring at the blond girl, who seemed to become a little more sombre now her friend-or so I assumed-wasn't there.

"Well, I'd best be going. There's a skeleton for me to study. It was good to meet you."

"Uh…you too."

I blinked as Kimiko, too, disappeared, but in the opposite direction, down to where the morgue was. I certainly had not expected to be encountering a teenage girl in here. I made a note to ask someone about her (or both of them, for that matter), and continued on my way.

Just as the Captain pinned up the two photos of Mai (the casual one was of her at a performance, mid-spin, holding those wooden clappers up in the air), he appeared to notice me out of the corner of his eye and straightened to look at me.

"Arisato."

"Sir."

Taken aback for a moment, all I could think to do was walk over, and pick up a collection of papers, and help with the sticking up. But a few minutes later, I knew that I could not hesitate. The others would be arriving soon.

"I need to be excused from the investigation."

The Captain sized me up for a moment, his narrow eyes piercing.

"Why?"

"W-why?"

I had not been expecting that, but from the unchanging expression, I knew that he was utterly serious.

"Well, as you know, Sarah Mai Hashiri is now Mai Arisato, my wife…" I gestured towards the photograph of her. "On top of that, I've just learnt that my son is being accepted into New Hope's Peak. That would be a major conflict of interest."

"The answer is no." he said, without thinking about it.

"I-" I swallowed down an anguished protest. "May I ask why?"

"This is not a typical investigation. There was nothing orthodox about the case before, and there's even less so now. While you will not be expected to interview your wife, for example, your perspective and knowledge on the original case will be things we need. If things are uncovered during the investigation that, for example, make her a suspect, then of course we will follow more conventional procedures regarding close relatives of involved persons. Though, you're the last person to talk about that, really."

I knew he was referring to me having offered Mai a place to stay. And yes, while indirectly, that had led us to where we were today, I knew I hadn't done anything wrong. The love had come to be only after, after she was 18, after she had moved out, after getting back into touch after the move had caused her to drift away. He knew that, everyone on my team and in this department knew that. I took a deep breath, prepared to make my case further, when the Captain continued.

"Besides, we need all the help we can get. You were useful, back then, what with recognising the potential significant of the van accident, as well as other things."

"I…I see."

"That should settle matters for you. Now, since you're here early, you can help put up the rest of the incident board while I handle the digital aspect."

"Yes, sir."

Sorry, Mai.

We did just that, and gradually, the other detectives and other professionals drifted in, talking and sitting around the table. One of them came to me, and helped me put up the last of the papers and photographs.

"Looks the same as back then." He muttered.

"Does it?" I asked, conversationally.

Kenichi Tsukuda simply looked at me, the bags under his green eyes-identical to his late daughter's- seeming more prominent than usual. He slowly and deliberately pinned up one more sheet, then looked at the photograph of Kimiko-the solo one, rather than the one with her and Moeka, and touched it briefly, before going to sit down, curling his scarred hands around the coffee cup he'd left on the table.

"Alright, we'll get started now." The Captain announced, walking to the digital board. "As I'm sure you all know, Hope's Peak has made public their intention to re-open next academic year, not least by starting to issue invitations. They had of course, contacted us about the possibility of re-opening the investigation, but their determination to move forward does put pressure on us to do so."

"So, basically, the only reason that the investigation is being re-opened is because Hope's Peak wants free reign to put more children in danger." Tsukuda said. "As opposed to new evidence coming in, or someone making a confession."

"Neither of these things have happened though." Someone pointed out.

Again, he gave that hundred-mile stare.

"Tsukuda, please do not make me regret allowing you into this meeting, let alone the entire investigation." The Captain said.

"I'm not making anyone do anything," Tsukuda shot back. "I just don't want history to fucking repeat itself."

He sat back after that, taking a sip on his coffee.

"Well, regardless, we take what we are given." The Captain said. "And since we've been given this opportunity to actually solve this case, I expect everyone to work on it to the best of their abilities. "

"Who is going to be leading?" someone asked.

"Is it going to be Detective Arisato?"

"No, it won't be. However, I will be asking him to select someone from his team to be the lead. However, that is for the day-to-day details, as I will be personally overseeing the case myself."

You…will….I wasn't sure which of these things were the most surprising to me.

"I'll get onto that once the meeting is finished." I said, quickly, feeling myself blush.

"Very well."

The next part of the meeting covered the different possible avenues we needed to explore and reopen, including tracking down those originally involved, including the staff of the old Hope's Peak and various other witnesses. There were also the families, and the survivors themselves, to inform about the investigation, and support to be allocated as needed.

"I've already arranged for Kimiko's body to be exhumed." Tsukuda said at one point, when talk of the autopsy reports came up. "She would have wanted to be of use, one way or another. Though, her death wasn't one of the torture-based ones, so …"

Tsukuda clamped up after that. For a moment there was a respectful silence. After all, as I'd come to learn after my initial encounter with Kimiko, the girl had been a second daughter to most of the Forensics Department, and the relevant police departments that interacted with it on a daily basis.

"It will help, one way or another." I tried to be reassuring.

"Yes, well, as long as we actually get justice this time." Tsukuda muttered.

More points were discussed, including an official press conference that the Captain was setting up with Media Relations, that would, if all things went well, be that very afternoon. Eventually, the meeting began to wrap up, when unexpectedly, Tsukuda spoke up.

"Oh, by the way, Kamiya-san already knows."

There was a silence. Kamiya. There was no doubt about who Tsukuda was referring to. Tetsuji Kamiya, father of Moeka. That girl had not been quite an additional daughter the same way Kimiko had been-after all, as she'd said to me when I'd encountered her,-just a couple of years before the two of them would end up in Hope's Peak-she had focused more on her mother's side of things. But still, by virtue of being family of one of our own, she had become one of our own too. It was one of the few clichés of law enforcement that was true-that the harm or death of one of our own, and their families, always hit hard, and would always be pursued that much harder.

But, considering where we all were now, Tetsuji Kamiya must have thought that truth pretty flimsy.

"Just TRY to get rid of me. I'm not leaving without answers."

The words knocked around in my head, and it took me a moment to realise that the Captain had responded to Tsukuda, to his credit not rising to the slight taunt that was in the pathologist's voice, despite the fact he was holding himself very, very still.

"Oh, and how come?"

"I told him," Tsukuda said, evenly. "He would be finding out anyway, and does he not deserve to know? That, and he'd have got it out of either me or Harada-kun eventually."

"Wouldn't it have been better to tell him the same time as all the other family members?" someone asked.

"Once one of us, always one of us, isn't that what you all always say?" Tsukuda asked.

"I can't imagine that he's particularly mellowed out over the years, though." That same person objected.

"Would you have, though, if it was you?" I asked. "I think it was a kind thing for Tsukuda-san to do, all things considered. Though I can appreciate the fact it might cause complications."

"Yes, well…regardless of Kamiya's former employment here, we treat him the same as any other civilian." The Captain decreed. "That includes you, too, Tsukuda."

Tsukuda nodded at this, but it didn't take even a detective to work out that he probably wasn't. Or, at least, he'd interpret that in a way that suited him. After all, even if he was here, and Kamiya was not, in the end they had more in common than they didn't.

Luckily, the Captain swiftly moved on, and in time the meeting was finished. We got up to go to wherever else we needed to be, and I decided that I should look for Tsukuda, to say something to him. Something understanding and reassuring, so that he'd know he was not the only one who was being stretched in two directions –speaking of which, what would I say to Mai? Oh, well, I can't really do that until I get home…

But, by the time I turned to look for him, he had already gone.

…

Rieka

"MUM! I'm going to visit Uncle Matsuo!" I called out as I put on my red ribbon-bow sandals.

"Are you taking Nicky with you?" she called back from somewhere back in the house.

"Nope, he's at his friend's house, remember? The birthday party?"

"Oh yes, that's right. I'm so used to you taking Nicky everywhere!"

I rolled my eyes at that. Yes, I took good care of my little brother, but we weren't joined at the hip or anything like that. That, and the reason I was off to visit Uncle Matsuo wasn't just for fun anyway.

"But anyway," Mum continued. "Take care, and be back for dinner!"

"I will!"

I quickly picked up my cat handbag and opened the door, and left the house. As I rushed round the corners and across streets, the bells on my cat-eared hairband jangled, causing some people to stare, and a few others to be startled. Naturally, I apologised to the little kid I almost bumped into, but apart from that, I didn't pay them any heed. If they wanted to stare, they could stare.

Soon, I was at the house where my uncle lived with my aunt, and I rung the doorbell. It took a few moments, but soon, Aunt Chihomi opened the door.

"Oh, this is a nice surprise!" she said. "Come in, come in!"

"Hi, Aunt Chihomi!" I replied, coming in and taking off my shoes. "is Uncle Matsuo awake?"

"Yes, he's had a good day, overall. I can't stay to chat with you unfortunately-I am supposed to be working from home, but I'll get you some snacks real quick!"

"Who's at the door, Chihomi?" I heard my uncle ask, the words slightly muffled and stiff, but still understandable,.

"Why, it's your favourite niece!" I said.

"Oh, is that so? Come on in, then."

I grinned, and went to the living room while my aunt went to the kitchen. Matsuo was sitting in his favourite armchair, watching some random reality TV show-though I doubt he was actually watching it, because who actually likes that trashy stuff? But in any case, he turned it off once I threw myself on the armchair next to him.

"So then, favourite niece, what brings you here?"

I grinned, practically bursting with excitement at the news I had. I opened my bag and pulled out the letter I had received a few days ago, before handing it to him.

"You'll never believe this!"

Matsuo took it, and with somewhat trembling fingers, he opened the envelope and pulled the letter out. It took him a few moments to be able to unfold and smooth it out, but I didn't step in to help-he wouldn't have liked it. Once he had it open, he read it thoughtfully. Then, carefully, he rested the letter on his knee, and seared me with an intense look. I imagined that he would have looked at potential suspects in much the same way, back in the day, but it didn't faze me.

"It's jumping the gun a little, don't you think, already inviting students in before the investigation has even properly started?" He said, slowly.

"How did you-right, forget I asked that." I rolled my eyes. Use your brain, Riri!

"Yes, some old contacts phoned and told me about it." He said. "I obviously cannot actually investigate anymore, but I'm going to advise them where I can. I'll have to get all my old notes out."

"What about me? Can I have them?"

"You?"

"Yes, me." I leaned forward, played with my ponytail a little. "Don't you see, I'm in the perfect place to have a go at solving it myself."

Matsuo raised an eyebrow, but then nodded.

"I'm not surprised, somehow."

"Well, of course you aren't?" I said, huffily. "If you were still working, you'd be all over it! But since you can't, I may as well, right?"

But even if you don't think that, I'm going to do it anyway. UncleMatsuo looked as if he was going to warn me off, but then he shook his head, and thought a while more before eventually speaking.

"That case…nothing about it made any sense, even before we found them. After that, it made even less sense. It wasn't like any other mass-kidnapping or mass-killing case that I'd ever seen, or any that I saw after. And those teenagers….well, they were definitely hiding something. I don't think that they were guilty of anything, necessarily, but they were hiding something significant that would no doubt be the key to it all."

"But maybe they'll spill now? Like, it's been twenty years."

"I don't know about that, Rieka," Uncle Matsuo said. "Sometimes all that time going by without saying anything makes it harder to decide to change that. They might have doubled down on those secrets after all this time. So, whatever you do, you need to be careful."

"I'm not stup-"

"You need to be careful, Rieka. This isn't like the museum case you managed to crack, or any of the other ones you've worked with online. I can't stop you from digging-heck, part of me would be grateful-but whatever you do, be careful. Don't go off all renegade like your stereotypical damaged cop."

"Ugh, I hate that trope. It has its place, but not every law enforcement person needs to be, like, horribly traumatised to care about something."

It was not as bad as some of the tropes out there, but still. UGHHHHHHH.

"Have a team with you, or someone to work with." Uncle Matsuo continued, as if I hadn't said anything. "If I was healthy enough to dig into this, I wouldn't do it alone."

I forced myself to not lament horrific tropes and focused back on the situation at hand. And where, exactly, am I supposed to find a team? Still, my uncle knew what he was about, so I supposed I couldn't just dismiss it and carry on heedlessly.

"Sure, sure, I will," I sighed, before leaning forward. "So, can I have them, then?"

Uncle Matsuo gave a heavy sigh, and gave me a heavy-eyed look. Eventually, he sighed and closed his eyes.

"Alright then."

Just at that moment, Aunt Chihomi came in with a tray.

"Oooh, nice, thanks!" I said, eyeing the sweet treats on the tray, and grabbing one.

"Chihomi, do me a favour. Can you get the red shoebox from the cabinet? You know, the one the boots came in?"

"I know the one," Aunt Chihomi rolled her eyes fondly. "Why do you need it today?"

"I'm giving it to Rieka, of course."

"I…" Aunt Chihomi blinked, apparently taken aback, but then she sighed. "Do you not want to save it for your former colleagues?"

"Oh, nothing in there is anything they haven't got already. As for my own notes, they're all up here" he tapped his head. "Haven't lost my mind yet."

"Perhaps those notes could be photocopied? Or, I know, I'll scan them and send them back to you!" I exclaimed.

Uncle Matsuo thought about it, then nodded. Aunt Chihomi just shook her head, and sighed.

"Alright, I'll be back in a tick."

She left, and sure enough, she was back in a tick, brandishing the shoe box I had seen quite a few times during my life. But I'd never been allowed to look in it myself, let alone keep it. Every time, Uncle Matsuo had been in control of what was shown to me, and what he held back. I had the sense to realise that this was for a good reason. From what I knew, the entire incident had been horrible as well as mysterious. Still, I was a big girl now. That, and I was hardly going to back down now.

"There you go," she said, mock dramatically as she handed it over to me. "I'd better get back to my work now!"

"Alright, thanks Aunt Chihomi!"

With glee, I regarded the box, gripping it tightly as I examined it from all angles. It was more than a red shoe box crammed with papers and photographs and other such things. It was a puzzle. A bizarre, dark, messed up puzzle, and one with a big story behind it too. When I solved the puzzle, that, too, would be a big story.

And I couldn't wait to begin it.

…

With a big sigh, I took the last sheet out of the scanner, and then went back to the box, rearranging everything I had taken out so it all fitted in. It was tempting to do the thing you saw detectives in movies and all that doing, pinning everything up on a big board, connecting bits and pieces of evidence with red strings. I actually had a board on my wall that could do the job. But of course, my parents probably wouldn't be too pleased to see crime scene photographs on my wall, and most importantly, I didn't really want to traumatise Nicky.

That and my pin board was currently filled with cute postcards, and photographs of family and friends, and the occasional random trinket. Much as I was pumped for this mystery, I wasn't prepared to give that up.

Once everything was put away, I put the lid on firmly, and then took the box and put it in the bottom drawer of my desk, before then proceeding to email all the scanned things back to Uncle Matsuo, as I had promised. There were too many to send in one email, and even then it proved to be slow, so I wondered how best to kill the time. I wasn't quite in the mood to go back to my channel and check in on things today-there was no reason why my little break couldn't extend through to the rest of today. Perhaps I could scout on the amateur sleuth forums for anything, remind myself if anything there matched Uncle Matsuo's conjectures. The hill of orchestrated tragedies, he'd written about the location the class had been taken too, which was unusually poetic of him, if slightly inaccurate-best I could tell of the pictures it was a slight incline more than anything. But still, orchestrated tragedy sounded about right. As much as it was a little Captain Obvious to say so, it was clear that whatever had happened there, and whyever it had happened, it had been meticulously planned, even from before the announcement of the new era's name and the party that was supposed to have been held to celebrate it. It had been orchestrated.

I let out a breath, and leant back in my chair for a moment, before opening my top drawer and taking out my letter and looking for the information on how to sign up to the Student Portals. Opening a new tab, I entered the website, then followed the procedures to sign up, and then found myself on the home page.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, there was little about the actual tragedy itself, except a brief mention in a page about 'History' and a link to a press conference in the 'Videos' page (though, to be fair, the 'History' page had also mentioned that it was 'hoped that some closure will be gained in time for the grand re-opening ceremony'). For all they were making a big deal of it, who really wanted to mainly be remembered for something like this?

Well, they will be, if I have anything to do with it…

Not finding anything to capture my interested, I went to the forums. Not many people had signed up yet-presumably, not all the invites had arrived yet. There was an 'introduce yourself' thread, so I went on that and bashed out a few cheery lines before I then scrolled back up to look at the other introductions. The fact there was an SHSL Lucky Student this time around caught my eye, as I hadn't expected that, but apart from seeming nice enough, there wasn't anything particularly outstanding about him. Still, I made a point of memorising his name as I read a couple more introductions that didn't interest me at all, and then….

"WAIT WHAAAAAAAAATTTTTT?"

With the shock, I barely managed to keep my voice down. As it was, it was definitely more of a whisper-screech, but…him, he's going to be my classmate? UGHHHHHHHHH. I sighed, and rubbed my face.

"Well, I'll just have to show him, won't I?" I muttered to myself once I felt…a little calmer.

I clicked out of the thread, and browsed the forum pages in general. Something in the guidelines talked about 'getting to know each other' and 'organising possible meetups' and it made my brain whirr.

"Have a team with you, or someone to work with." Uncle Matsuo continued, as if I hadn't said anything. "If I was healthy enough to dig into this, I wouldn't do it alone."

A team…I'd thought it ridiculous, but what if it was easier to find a team? After all, I wasn't the only person about to be the first to attend New Hope's Peak. There would be others, and surely at least some of them would be interested. That, and I had to admit, it sounded exciting, being part of a gang roving around to solve mysteries. Like, all the best mysteries with kids or teens as the mystery-solvers-Haruchika, Scooby Do, the Famous Five etc. etc.-they all consisted of little gangs, a friendly crew to solve the mysteries with.

And I had the potential to find such a gang right here, at my fingertips.

I read through the instructions on how to create a new thread, and then I clicked on the relevant thing to bring up a new one. The cursor in the topic heading flashed, and I grinned devilishly once more, before putting my fingers back to my keyboard, and typing.

Hey, who wants to solve THE mystery?

Characters introduced this chapter:

Survivors
Ayuna Aozaki, former SHSL Radio Show Host (created by: Lupus Overkill)

Investigators
Kenichi Tsukuda, forensic scientist (created by: CandiedStars)

Prospectives
Rieka Amasaki, SHSL Booktuber (created by: Prince PokePersona)

Victims

Moeka Kamiya, former SHSL Mortician (created by: Treeja)
Seiko Yamamoto, former SHSL Director (created by: Lupus Overkill)
Kimiko Tsukuda, former SHSL Forensic Anthropologist (created by: CandiedStars)

Lots of OCs intro-ed this chapter! Wasn't quite expecting this to turn out as long as it did, but hey! If you're a creator of one of them, hope you like their debut appearances and think I did them right.

But anyway, first things first-I REALLY need more submissions, particularly Prospectives and Investigators (though I am definitely in need of more Victims). I'm pretty happy with the candidate pool for the remaining Survivor spots I need to fill in, but I am happy to get more options, so if you are working on a Survivor no need to stop until, well, the SYOC is closed. Speaking of which, I am officially extending the deadline by a week from the original, making the new one July 21st. Hopefully this will give everyone, regardless of if you're newly deciding to make an OC or still in the process of doing so, more than enough time. In terms of other types I'd like to receive-well, if you are interested in sending me a Survivor or Victim I'd prefer male or NB, but again, if you are already making a good female idea, no need to stop. I'd also be interested in seeing more Victims that were Killed rather than Blackened.

I'll be making a few more cast selections on the date of the old deadline, and possible one or two here or there in the week between that and the new extended deadline. Then I'll make the rest hopefully once I have closed the SYOC-speaking of which, as long as it is still July 21st in your timezone, you can still send it on the day itself. I will probably switch the plot summary to 'Closed' in the morning according to my timezone, but yeah, as I said, if it is still July 21st in your zone, send it.

That's all for now! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I look forward to whatever submissions might come to me.