This chapter ended up a bit longer than I expected, but we are getting even closer to the end! It's all very exciting, and I have to say I think I'm making pretty good progress, even despite the semi hiatus from two years back.

Also, I somehow failed to notice this, but the last time I updated this was actually on the anniversary of when I first posted this story here so...happy very very late fourth anniversary lol!

Kenichi

I looked up as there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." I called out.

The medical examiner who had been looking after Tetsuji's autopsy opened the door.

"You can come over now. Hanami Fuudou is here, too."

"Already?" I asked.

I was wondering why it was Hanami, rather than Tetsuji's sister, who had come to claim him, but I supposed I could always ask later. The examiner simply nodded.

"The body is ready to be viewed, but you said that you wanted to take Kamiya's next-of-kin in to do the identification."

"Yes, that's right."

I hadn't been allowed to have anything to do with his autopsy. Harada hadn't been either, given that he'd also had connections with Tetsuji in the past twenty years. But he, at least, had been put in charge of Kazutaka Oomori's autopsy. I definitely wasn't allowed anywhere near that, which was probably for the best. Nonetheless, I would make a point of trying to see him before his family came to claim him. There was a lot I needed to say to Oomori.

"Alright then, I'm on my way."

The examiner nodded and closed the door. I took a deep breath, and then stood up, straightening my lab jacket and then opening the door to walk through it again. When I got to the viewing area, Hanami was sitting in the seats reserved for family to wait. Her head was bowed, but when she looked up at me she looked almost exactly the same as she had the last time I had seen her all those years ago. Only the hair, now done up in a matronly bun, and a few wrinkles signalled the fact that the last time I had seen her was twenty years ago. Her eyes were dry, but she looked utterly drained of colour.

"Can I come in to see him?" she asked woodenly.

I started to reply, but she held up a hand to stop me.

"You don't need to say it, but does it really matter at this point anymore?"

There was no anger in her voice, no real emotion. Just a point, simply stated. And she was right, really. So, rather than say anything, I just gestured to the room, and went to open the door for her. I went to stand by the examination table where Tetsuji lay, covered by a sheet. Hanami quietly closed the door and came to stand next to me.

"Are you ready?" I asked quietly.

"Yes."

I carefully pulled the sheet down, enough to expose his face. I, too, took a look and was startled by how serene he looked. He wasn't smiling, not precisely, but he looked so much more content than he had been in life. He had been shot multiple times, and had sustained other injuries both in dragging himself towards Kazutaka Oomori and wrestling with him, and yet there was no trace of the pain that must have resulted from that.

"That's him."

I couldn't look at Tetsuji anymore, and instead scrutinised Hanami. Her face was blank, as empty as her voice had been but I watched as she swallowed, inhaled sharply. Her hands shook, even as she kept her arms right by her sides. Then, abruptly, she stormed out. I hurried after her, only to see her sit back in the chair she had been waiting in and buried her head in her hands. I went and sat next to her, wondering what, exactly, I could do to comfort her.

After a moment, she looked up. She was still dry-eyed, but pain creased her features.

"Tetsuji loved Moeka more than he loved me."

I waited.

"That was fine, of course," Hanami said. "When she was alive, that was fine. He loved her more than everyone and honestly, I could say that I probably loved her more than anyone too. What feeling he did have for me and I for him was enough, really. We were happy, with our quiet life and quiet marriage. After she died though, it was a different story, but I don't need to recount that to you again."

She sighed, and stared at the wall opposite her.

"I knew that after I divorced him he would just retreat further into his obsession, and when I heard about this investigation I knew he'd spiral even more. I didn't want to see it then, and I didn't want to see it now."

"You had to do what you had to do. You were grieving too, and he should have looked out for you."

"It could be argued I should have looked out for him, too. I just couldn't. Truth be told, at this point I'd accepted that we were never going to know what had really happened, and I'd told myself it didn't matter. It wouldn't bring Moeka back."

"I know. I know. It still doesn't bring Kimiko back, either."

Hanami looked at me appraisingly, tilting her head. Whatever she was thinking, she chose not to share, instead concluding:

"Still, I didn't dream that it would end like this."

"No, neither did I."

The two of us sat in silence for a while. After a few moments, Hanami said.

"Eriko-san contacted me, asked me if I could come down to identify him. She said she 'couldn't handle it' and after her, I am still technically next of kin. I'm sure you were wondering."

I made a non-committal noise.

"Anyway, Fuudou Funeral Home will take care of him. I'm not sure if Eriko-san will want him buried with their parents, or if she won't mind having him next to Moeka instead."

"He'd want to be beside Moeka." I said immediately.

"I thought so." Hanami said thoughtfully. "I'd want that for him, too. After all, it's not as if I wished him ill. How could I?I mean…"

She gestured vaguely with her hands, as if trying to physically gather her thoughts together. I waited, but became aware of footsteps and loud voices. At first, they were indistinct, but then the words became clearer:

"What do you mean 'we'll collect him tomorrow' is that is? Is that really it! Onii-san, demand a proper investigation! Our father doesn't deserve this!"

"It's not about deserving or not deserving-"

"Yes, he does deserve it!"

This last, angry voice was a female one and it was the owner of this voice who came into view first. She turned around quickly, dark violet hair fanning around her face, so I only caught a glimpse of a furious expression. But she was reasonably young, perhaps in her early twenties. The two men who followed her looked a few years older-one of them might have been thirty, and they had similar coloured hair and similar faces. The oldest just looked weary.

"Miyako, you shouldn't say that."

"Why not? It's probably true!"

"No, it's not! Father was honourable, he spent his life trying to help people-"

"Yeah, as a front to be a creep! Look, you'd both already left by the time I was fifteen, but you came back for the family parties, right? Didn't you ever wonder why I never bought my friends along, or why your uni girlfriends always looked uncomfortable and left early? And you, Nari-nii-san, you can say 'oh he was our father', but what about your girls? Especially Momoka-chan!"

I stood up, thinking I should intervene, and caught Harada standing behind them, looking unsure as to what to do.

"Don't bring my daughters into this!" the eldest protested, suddenly angry.

"Yes, exactly! And besides, Father's no pervert like they're saying, otherwise he would have done something to you! And he didn't, did he?" the middle brother said.

The young woman froze, and stumbled back. In side profile now, her expression was horrified, but I couldn't quite tell why. Could Kazutaka Oomori really have molested his own daughter? I took a couple of steps, and mouthed to Harada that he should go and phone up for help. He disappeared back the way he came, and I again attempted to approach the Oomori siblings when suddenly, the young woman spoke:

"I remember once, at the breakfast table, seeing Father reading something about a guy who had abused his stepdaughter, and him saying to me that it wasn't all that bad, really. When I asked why, he told me that it wasn't as if she was his biological daughter. Otherwise, she was at least pubescent, so what was the problem? Those were his exact words. Then he asked me if I wanted to invite some of my classmates around for a study session after school sometime."

She paused, looked at both her brothers. Then, in a half-whisper, she went on:

"So no, Nari-nii-san, Hiro-nii-san, he didn't do anything to me. But he easily could have done something to other people. He made my friends uncomfortable, but we went out, or to each other's houses instead, so he didn't get a chance to do anything. I think he might have done something to Momoka-chan, because she's adopted."

The eldest son looked hollowed out, and sounded it too when he replied:

"But she's still my daughter."

"I know. But I heard what he said that day. And because I'm the daughter, I've seen things that neither of you would even have noticed, lucky bastards you are. I…Nari-nii-san, ask her, please. Or let me ask her. If she's been keeping something in all this time, no wonder she's been acting up."

"Momoka's fourteen."

"It's still possible."

The eldest brother seemed to crumble, and both the other brother and the sister leapt into action, shepherding him to the seat that I had just vacated. They didn't seem to notice me or Hanami at first, instead focusing on their elder brother. The sister apologised, but the middle brother didn't say much. I looked at Hanami, and she nodded, discreetly making a phone-gesture to indicate she'd be in touch and walking away. If it wasn't for the Oomori children, I would have wanted her to stay (even though I wasn't sure why), but as it was I didn't want them to realise who she was and react badly. It wouldn't have been right.

After a few moments, they noticed me, and the middle brother sighed.

"Great, now we've embarrassed ourselves in front of some rando."

"Kenichi Tsukuda, forensics and all that. You know, the police here." I supplied 'helpfully'.

This made the older brother look up, frowning.

"Tsukuda…Tsukuda…as in Kimiko Tsukuda?"

I nodded once, and all three siblings gawped at me.

"Well, you must be pleased with all of this." The middle one said.

"Kazuhiro!" The eldest scolded. He looked at me. "I do apologise for my brother. He's grieving. As we all are."

"So am I. Then again, crime casts a long shadow. How old were you all back then? Elementary school aged?"

"Miyako was still pre-school."

Despite the weariness in his voice, he still stared defiantly at me. I glared back at him.

"So, it's not my fault your father's dead, any more than it's your fault that my daughter or Tetsuji Kamiya's daughter died."

Kazuhiro opened his mouth, and then shut it again. The eldest-I assumed his name to be Kazunari based on how he'd been addressed- sat up straighter.

"We're horrified by what he's alleged to have done, and as you might have heard, there's probably more to come. We won't impede the investigation-no, Kazuhiro, we have to keep cooperating and yes, I know, I'll deal with Mother. We don't condone any of it. But he was our father, still. I'm sure even Miyako remembers some parts of him fondly. "

Miyako bit her lip, but did nod at this.

"Like I said, crime casts a long shadow, and it just keeps going. The victims aren't just the people the perpetrator directly hurts. That doesn't mean we're on the same side."

It was then that Gabe appeared, coming from the same direction I'd come from.

"Hi there, is everything alright here?"

"Yes, yes, it's…it's fine."

Kazunari got up and sighed.

"Come on, we need to go. Organise the funeral and make sure Mother's holding up.

"I'll sort that," Kazuhiro said with determination. "You go back home, have a talk with Momoka-chan. Miyako and I will take care of things today."

"Uh, yeah, we will. Come on, it'll be alright, Nari-nii-san."

She linked arms with both Kazunari and Kazuhiro.

"I'll walk you back out, then." Gabe said. "We might be able to get you more information about what's going on, so I'll see about that for you too."

In his relentlessly friendly way, Gabe shepherded the siblings away, and I watched them go. I then looked back in the direction the siblings had burst out from, and thought about going in there myself. Harada would no doubt be there, but I could talk him around. Suddenly though, I didn't want to.

I thought perhaps it would be best to go work on other cases, and started to head to the labs, but then I changed my mind, and returned to my office. I sat down in front of the computer, and started to make my search. I had expected anything about what had happened with the seven children to have been kept in a subfolder within the re-investigation materials, but it had been dedicated its own folder instead. I wasn't sure I agreed with that. The only reason that this happened was because of Hope's Peak. If the school hadn't been reopening, they never would have met and if they hadn't met, they wouldn't have decided to go to Shirohata themselves and then Kazutaka Oomori would never have been interested in them.

If he hadn't been interested in them, and if he hadn't followed them, then we never would have known for sure that he was guilty.

In addition to what looked like an overall summary report, there were separate reports relating to Akio Arisato, Akagi Benbow and Akemi Koizumi. I hovered my cursor over the file for Akemi Koizumi and clicked on it. When it opened, I started to scroll through, and at that moment my desk phone rang and I reached for it without looking.

"Tsukuda." I answered tersely.

"Are you free now?" Gabe asked.

"I'm reading the report into Akemi Koizumi. "

There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment, before Gabe sighed.

"It's horrible, isn't it?"

"It shouldn't have happened. I knew that no good would come of Hope's Peak reopening. Tell me, are they still going to go through with that, after everything?"

"I don't know about that," Gabe said. "But Kyosuke Munakata has already released a statement denouncing Kazutaka Oomori, expressing his horror that the staff of the old school could have abused trust on such a scale and the usual things. He's also apparently sent flowers to the hospital where Akemi-chan and the others are staying."

"That's just words. Is he closing New Hope's Peak?"

"I-I don't know about that, Tsukuda-san. "

"No, of course you wouldn't know…" I sighed, frowned at the screen. "Akemi Koizumi hasn't told you what happened?"

"Well, to be more precise, she won't tell anybody what happened after he decided to take her into the room we eventually found him and Kamiya-san in. You can probably see she did share what had happened when Kamiya-san arrived, and on top of that she's shared the things Oomori told her about what he was planning to do to her, and the short walk to that room, right up to him deciding to take her in there rather than 'wait' until they got to the basement."

"But nothing about what he did in that room…"

"I've tried to interview her a couple of times, Nobu-kun has tried once, I got one of my female Juvenile Crime colleagues to try. But she's far too fragile and however we approach the question she always side-steps it and talks about before, and after. She's also got Mitsuhide Okita's family looking after her and they're being very protective of both her and Mitsuhide-kun. In any case, the results of the medical examination done on her have come through, so I'll be adding those in a moment but…well…they speak for themselves, I'd say."

"I'm not supri-wait, does she not have family?"

"She does, but her parents have…reacted badly, shall we say?"

I didn't respond after that, just reading and re-reading some of the descriptions of Akemi Koizumi's testimony. Oomori's plans for her in the basement were explicit, brutally so. I imagined the Akemi Koizumi from the incident board pictures sitting in a hospital bed, looking blank eyed as she numbly recited every ugly word, only to press her mouth closed and sink into that bed when asked to describe the moment words had become actions.

Gripping the phone tightly as the words started to swim in front of me, I thought back to the survivors' statement. I'd read every word, but lingered over the bit where it talked about how Kimiko had made Takaaki Jinsai promise not to tell me if she ended up the 'killer' of one of their 'cases'. Even with the clear descriptions of their ordeal, it had been that which had underlined the horror of it all for me. The implication had been she wouldn't have minded the others revealing the way things had ended up, since I wouldn't have had to deal with knowing she had done something horrible. The implication was she thought she wouldn't have minded telling the truth if she had survived. I did wonder if they would have so easily kept their silence for twenty years if she had been amongst them.

But maybe she would have. Maybe she'd have been as scarred by it all as Akemi Koizumi was now scarred. Maybe the guilt over being involved in the executions and not being able to prevent the other 'victims' deaths would have sewn her mouth shut and weighed down her shoulders. It wouldn't have mattered to me, not beyond being outraged on her behalf. I would have 'reacted badly' but not in the way Gabe had implied. Maybe more along the lines of Tetsuji, more than anything. I would not have been angry at her, I would never have blamed her or been disappointed in her.

In fact, I would have forgiven Kimiko anything, if it had allowed her to live.

"Anyway, I'm not surprised. Did the Oomori siblings tell you that there's a possibility he may have molested his fourteen-year-old granddaughter?"

Gabe made a strangled sound and then asked:

"Did they tell you that?"

"Blurted it out in my presence would be more accurate."

"He's evil. Kazutaka Oomori is evil. I only wish Kamiya-san hadn't killed him, so that we could throw the full weight of the law at him."

"If Kamiya hadn't succeeded, then I probably would have wound up killing him myself. " I said, bluntly.

"Tsukuda-san, that's…"

"It's so easy for Kyosuke Munakata to distance himself from Oomori now, but if he was alive I'm sure some sense of kinship over Hope's Peak would have had him on a completely different side. I doubt the full weight of the law would have been very heavy for him anyway, not with all his money and power."

"That's…" Gabe sighed. "Tsukuda-san, that's…"

"It's true."

Perhaps I was being unfair, to some extent. I knew that Gabe, Nobu and the others had worked hard and I knew that Superintendent Onoe was fair and unswayable. That didn't change the fact that the man who had kidnapped and killed my daughter had been able to get away with it because he was rich and powerful and because some of his power had come from an equally rich and powerful school.

And he had killed her. I didn't care that technically, it was Lilian Lao who had picked up a knife and stabbed her with it, as far as I was concerned she wasn't a killer. I couldn't be angry with her, anymore than I could be angry with the survivors for not telling anybody about what had really happened. It didn't change a thing. It was still Kazutaka Oomori who should have seen their innocent blood on his hands every time he looked at them.

Maybe he had, though. Maybe he had, and he liked it. All the more reason for me to have killed him, if I'd ever had that chance.

"Perhaps it is true. But he won't have the chance to hurt anybody in any way, ever again."

"No, he won't." I conceded grudgingly.

A moment of silence, and then I demanded:

"Tell me. Tell me everything you know about him."

And Gabe did just that.

…

Azami

"You can take the bathroom first if you want. I'll do the washing up."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure. "

I gave him a small smile, grateful. We hadn't talked about the news, beyond Eizo watching the group chat and sharing updates with me. I had peeked into the group chat myself, and left an encouraging message for Mai, Friede and Eikichi. The latest I had heard was that Akio and Akagi were out of surgery and recovering well, and Eikichi had met his niece for the first time.

We had, of course, also heard the biggest news, courtesy of Detectives Hirawa and Kurosawa getting in contact. But we had busied ourselves with mundanities, finalising our arrangements for finally heading home, including taking into account a final update that Shizuka was going to give us before we left. And when we hadn't been talking about that, we'd been talking about nothing much at all.

As I went to the bedroom to get my pyjamas, and then headed to the bathroom, I wondered when we would talk about it. I wondered how Eizo felt about it all, and more importantly, how I felt about it. I pondered this moment as I showered, and then dried myself off. Then I began to towel off my hair, and happened to glance in the mirror and thought I saw Akari.

I froze. For a moment, my reflection did too, and I was reassured, but then it blurred. My eyes filled up with tears, and through the wateriness, it seemed as if the reflection changed shape, tilted its head slightly.

Akari. Akari, Akari, Akari.

"He's dead, Akari." I whispered. "The man who kidnapped us, he's dead now."

I wiped my tears, trying to slow my breathing. Five things I can see, Four things I can touch. I bent to pick up my towel and hang it up. Three I can hear….two I can smell…I blindly reached for my pyjamas where they were hanging and put them on clumsily. One thing I can taste…

I squared my shoulders, and looked at the mirror again. It had steamed up, but the face looking at me was mine once again, and that made me feel oddly bereft. I pressed my hand to the mirror, my already wrinkled palm soaking in the moisture. In my head, I repeated what I had just told her. He's dead now. He's dead now. I still felt a little bit out of it, the way I always did when I had had to talk myself down from a panic, but it felt different now.

"He's dead now," I whispered to myself again. "He won't hurt anybody ever again."

I had not come here looking for justice. I hadn't really believed that such a thing was possible. The space in my mind had been taken up with the terrible, arduous business of surviving. Yet, I was starting to realise that justice was maybe what I had found. By putting what little voice I had behind that statement, by Kazutaka Oomori finally dying, being caught in the act of presumably trying to stage another killing game, justice had been found. Justice, a resolution. Closure.

There was so much we still had to find out, and I was still reeling from everything I had learnt. In all honesty, I was probably teetering on a precipice. One of the first things I'd have to do was schedule an appointment with Dr Sugita. Yet, this time, I could see myself climbing down from it. To use metaphors, it was probably still a little too windy up on that cliff for me to move, but I knew it would be dying down soon. It would calm, and the sky would become blue again, and I'd be able to climb back down.

I left the bathroom, intending to apologise to Eizo for taking so long, only to see that he was sitting at the table, on a phone call. He looked up when he saw me, and then said to whoever it was.

"Yes, I'll take a good look through your email. I have to go now-yes, yes, and you. Bye for now."

He hung up and placed his phone down.

"Azami. Are you alright?"

"I am."

I went and sat down in the chair next to him.

"Are you okay, though?"

He goggled at me, and then sighed.

"That was Munakata-san. He wants to organise a meeting with us before we go."

"A meeting?"

"About New Hope's Peak. It's information that he'll be releasing publicly anyway, but he wants a staff meeting first. Well, mostly staff. He wants us Survivors to go, and he's inviting those kids as well. Those seven students who went to Shirohata."

"How'd you feel about all that?" I asked.

"A-about the meeting?"

"I mean, I guess? But I mean generally, finding out what happened."

"It shouldn't have." Eizo burst out. "That should have never happened. I mean, Sadi-I mean, Mai's son and Benbow's son, that's….my god. And what he did to that girl, and the fact that Kamiya-san died trying to save her…"

I grabbed a hold of Eizo's hand as he trailed off, overcome. When he looked at me, I squeezed. I wished I knew what to say. Eizo sighed, and then covered our tangled hands with his free one. For a moment, he stared at the Monobear tattoo on his arm.

"But he died too," Eizo eventually said after a moment. "Which really infuriates me, because he should be alive so that he can get punished properly, have everything stripped from him, get thrown into jail, he….god. God, I sound so vengeful."

He lifted his free hand to rub his face, but then faltered. He looked at me, and his eyes widened in horror.

"I'm so sorry, Azami. I didn't even ask-"

"Yeah, you did. And I am fine. Or at least, I'm better than I thought I would be."

Eizo looked disbelieving. I didn't blame him.

"I am, really. But really, I should be the one asking this time, except I think I know the answer. You're not okay, really, are you?"

Eizo shrugged.

"No, but don't worry about that-"

"Eizo."

I had said it a little sharper than I'd meant, but I'd remembered to try and smile, so I hoped that had softened it. Or perhaps it hadn't, because Eizo's face creased, and he shook his hands from mine to cover his face. I floundered for a moment as he cried quietly, but then I had a sudden sense of clarity. Before I could tell myself that I could provide no comfort, that this was my fault too, I put my arms around Eizo and just…held onto him. Not too tight, because a little part of me was waiting for everything to crumble again, but enough to say I am here, it's alright now. At least, that's what I hoped I was communicating in this hug. I couldn't remember the last time I'd really, properly hugged anyone. David, maybe, but even then, even when I had flashes of comfort and happiness I'd felt like I was going through the motions. I had meant it all genuinely, but there had always been an emptiness.

There wasn't emptiness now.

After a few moments, I instinctively drew back, as Eizo wiped his eyes with the back of his hands and then looked at me.

"I'm sorry-"

"No, don't apologise." I said. "There's nothing to apologise for. This is…um…"

"Really huge?" Eizo suggested with a shrug. "Honestly, even I'm not entirely sure what I'm feeling."

"That makes two of us." I joked. "You know, I think it will be alright. It's kind of like things have been….underlined, haven't they? I mean…like when I saw Akari and everything fractured, that was a defining point, wasn't it? Something with a clear before and after. I think…I think maybe this might be the same. Don't you?"

"Perhaps. I just…I wish it didn't have to happen this way. New Hope's Peak was just a job to me, really. It doesn't feel so clear-cut anymore. I don't know if I want to do it anymore."

If I'd had anything to do with it, New Hope's Peak wouldn't exist at all. It wasn't Eizo's fault, nowhere near it, and I supposed in a way Kyosuke Munakata wasn't entirely to blame. From what I'd seen, he was committed to making the school a better place. Still, whether he liked it or not, it was still Hope's Peak. No matter what security measures Eizo had helped them to put in, no matter Munakata's good intentions, it was still trying to replicate the school that I had known. No good could come of that.

"You, of all people, have the right to walk away. But there must be a reason that he wants to meet with us. We should go, see what it is he has to say."

Eizo blinked at me.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really."

I reached out to take his hands again, and he stared down at them, before looking at me. I smiled at him. Suddenly, I really, really wanted to kiss him, but I made the decision not to. In the suddenly-accessible future, there was plenty of time for that. There was no rush. I had to hold onto that belief, pace myself. Still, that didn't mean I wasn't going to postpone any kind of peace. Not anymore.

"You asked me to think about trying, right? When you asked me, I really didn't think it would be possible but now, if you still want then I think I will be able to try. No, I know I will be able to try."

"Azami, that's more than enough for me." Eizo said, brightening.

"Hold on, I'm not finished. Before we can begin anything there's things I need to do at home, things that I have to sort out. But once that's done, I really do want to try. That means you should let me try and look after you, sometimes, too. That's what a relationship is, after all. Supporting each other, not just a one-sided thing."

Eizo looked confused again, and I blushed before muttering:

"Well, that's not to say I'll be any good at it. Still, I should try, right?"

I wasn't sure whether the noise Eizo made was laughter or a sob, and the fact he immediately hugged me tightly didn't make it any clearer. But I put my arms around him again, and let myself think how nice it was we were holding each other. How, strangely, powerfully wonderful.

There really were so many things to do. Climb the rest of the way down that cliff, untangle the knots in my mind under the guidance of Dr Sugita. Sit down and talk with my parents, thank them for being there despite how much strain it had caused them. Visit Akari's grave for the first time in ages so I could properly tell her that justice had been served. I needed to explain things to David, too. There was no future with him, even as the person I felt I could be now. Nonetheless, I had genuinely cared for him. He had deserved far, far better than what I had given him and what I could have given him. I knew he still didn't really understand and maybe never would, But he at least deserved a proper explanation, a proper apology and a thanks of his own, too.

I didn't think any of this would be easy. It was achievable though, I was sure of it. I would do all that I had to do, and then try out this strange business of really living, just as Akari would have wanted me to do. And hopefully it would be sooner rather than later that I'd get to kiss Eizo.

But for now, holding him was more than enough.

…

Juro

I had to see it all for myself.

Well, not for myself, so much as for Mai. When we'd bought Sachi back home, and put her to bed, we'd gone out to the swing bench in the garden and sat and talked about it. Mai didn't want to ever go back there to visit it, not even once it had been razed to the ground. I had been reliably informed that since most of Kazutaka Oomori's properties would go to his children, it would most definitely be destroyed once that aspect of the investigation was fully over. But before we had gone up to bed ourselves, she had asked me if I thought the ghosts would be gone now, and I hadn't been able to answer her.

I thought of this now, as I lay here, woken up from an indistinct dream. Beside me, Mai slept soundly and I turned to look at her. The moon was bright, even through our curtains. It seemed to make her face glow. She looked so peaceful, and I was so glad of it. I only wished there was something more that I could have done for her.

I wanted to see Shirohata for myself, so that she didn't feel she had to. If I could go and see it all for myself with all the crime scene markers and plants cut away from it, exposing it to the outside world, would that be enough? If I walked through the corridors she had walked through, the corridors my son had run through, and took a moment to remember that it happened and be glad that it was over, would that be enough? I knew that, even though she didn't want to ever go back there, she wanted to know that Shirohata was no longer a place of terror, but just a building.

I sighed, and gazed at Mai again, before putting my arm around her and snuggling close and falling asleep again. This question would wait until the morning, I was sure.

…

At the breakfast table, Sachi had what I thought was most of her craft supplies spread across the table. She was arranging them into piles according to a system that I couldn't discern, her frown of concentration incredibly comical. While Mai made breakfast, I sat down next to her, and tried not to laugh as I asked:

"What's all this for, then?"

Sachi looked up at me.

"I'm going to decorate Nii-chan's cast," Sachi says. "It's going to be the best, sparkliest cast in the whole entire world!"

"Oh, is that so? Well, you can't take all of this with you, we won't be able to carry it all."

Sachi sighed heavily.

"I know that, Daddy, that's why I'm choosing. Help me choose, please?"

"Of course. Now, let's see what we have here…"

I managed to help Sachi narrow down her craft supply choices, but the table wasn't cleared by the time the pancakes were ready, so we took them out into the garden to have a breakfast picnic, which delighted Sachi. We sat down on the grass with a blanket and everything and let her regale us with random stories about whatever popped into her head. When we were all done, she helped Mai wash up, and then cleared the rest of her craft supplies to take back up to her room. I then left her to play for a little bit before coming back down to Mai, who was busy packing lunch for all of us.

"I was thinking…" I started.

"Hmmm?" she asked, still focused on Sachi's bento box.

"I might not be able to, but if I could, would you like me to go to Shirohata for you?"

That made her look up, wide-eyed. I went over to her and put my arms around her shoulders.

"I won't if you don't want me to see it. But perhaps it might help both of us, knowing that it'll never be used to harm anybody ever again. "

Mai leaned into me, sighing.

"You'll be able to tell, won't you?"

"Tell what?"

"The ghosts. If they're gone."

"I hope so, yes."

I held onto her for a few moments longer, and then let go.

"It will depend on whether the Superintendent will let me go, of course. She might not. Still, I'll ask."

Mai nodded.

"That's fine. I appreciate…I appreciate that you'll try. Thanks, Juro. Really."

"Anything for you, Mai. Anything."

…

Mai left with Sachi to visit Akio in hospital, while I headed into work. After being stopped for a lot of small talk about how Akio was doing and how I was holding up, I finally made it to my office, where Evalynn, Nobu and Gabe were all gathered. We had a chat about different things, and then got on with our work for the day. Then, after lunch, I went down to the Superintendent's office to see if she was free.

When I got there, Shizuka was on a phone call, and held up a finger to indicate she would be done in a moment. I waited as she wrapped up the call, and then looked at me.

"Is everything alright, Detective Arisato?"

"It is, yes, thank you, Superintendent. Though, I did have a favour to ask."

"Go on."

"Would it be possible for me to go and visit Shirohata?"

Shizuka's gaze was piercing, and I found myself babbling:

"I'm sorry, it is a bit impudent to ask, so it's perfectly fine if-"

"You need closure."

I snapped my mouth shut, and Shizuka sighed.

"Sit down, Detective," she said, indicating a chair. "No need to stand on ceremony."

I picked the nearest chair and waited. She folded her arms and leant them against the table. I noticed she looked more tired than usual, but she was as steely as always.

"This case has had a big impact on your life. I do recognise that. I admit, I should have kept you away from it. There is a reason we keep close relatives of victims or perpetrators from being involved in cases, and that should have applied to you too. The Captain had thought it would be fine to keep you on in the aspects that did not directly involve your wife and her former classmates, but clearly it was not. I apologise for that."

"That's..that's alright, ma'am."

"It's not, but it is what it is now. The most important thing is that finally, we are getting close to answers. I'm sure that you must have particularly wanted them. I wish we could have found some answers earlier. I cannot say I have the same feelings about this case that somebody like you might have, but nonetheless it has been one I've always thought about."

I nodded uncertainly. Shizuka picked up a cup of coffee and sipped at it. A faint distaste flickered across her face as she put the cup down.

"To be blunt, it is a relief to know the truth, even if we do not know the full picture yet. Though, we are starting to get a clearer idea. For instance, that call was informing me that a search of his offices at both Oomori Electronics and the Oomori Foundation have yielded material not only linked to the Class 78-B disappearances, but a range of other unsolved murders and disappearances, as well as material that implicates him as the source of some of the materials uncovered in the Kagohara case."

Shizuka paused and adjusted her posture.

"Unlike you, I visited Shirohata when your wife and the other survivors were first rescued, but of course I never saw the room in the basement. Despite a thorough investigation, we were never able to uncover the truth. I cannot help but wonder if there was a way we might have been able to discover it from the outset that we somehow missed, despite everything."

She paused again, and I got the sense she wanted me to say something. So:

"I'm not sure about that, if you don't mind me saying, Superintendent. It sounds like it was well hidden and Mai and the others really worried about what people might have thought if they'd admitted what had happened."

"They still should have told us anyway. Nonetheless, it is not them I am displeased with. I never thought that they had been culpable in any way, and I still do not consider them to be."

"I-I'll be honest, that's a relief." I stammered.

I was also surprised, too. I was sure that she'd be more…condemning, especially where Mai's botched group-suicide-attempt was concerned. Shizuka was usually a stickler for such things. She smiled wistfully, though it was only for a brief moment before she was all business.

"You must wonder why I am being so introspective with you. The truth is, I think that a lot of us need closure, and for many, returning to where it all began can give closure. Obviously, I would not think of bringing either set of survivors to the crime scene, especially not while it is being investigated. There are procedures that must be followed. Typically, I would not let someone like you come either. However-"

She held out a hand to halt me, as I had started to get up, assuming I was being gently declined. Confused, I sat back down.

"I think I can trust you to not interfere with the investigator's work. Likewise, I myself will not be directly involved in the work onsite. However, I am going out there myself to see how that investigation is going. In the process, I am hoping for a certain kind of closure myself. You may accompany me. Meet me back in here at 12pm sharp."

It took a few moments for the words to sink in and then I leapt to my feet, bowed respectfully and thanked her. She simply reminded me to not be late, though again with a brief, wistful smile and then told me to put as much as I could do into other cases before leaving.

…

To my surprise, we were flown out, but I was too nervous to get much out of the experience of flying on a police plane. When we got there, we both suited up to avoid contaminating the crime scene, and we made our way down. As I had imagined, a lot of the plants had been cut away, and it was far easier to see the dilapidated building from the top of the incline than it had been from the old pictures I'd seen of it. When we got down there, there was crime-scene tape around and I noticed bright pink graffiti. I remembered Akio telling me Otsuka's plan, and inwardly I smiled. They had been so stupid, but I had to admire their spark. Though I wasn't imposing any punishment on Akio, given that he had already been punished by being shot, I would not admit that I'd thought them at least a little ingenious. Brave under the circumstances was one thing, but I didn't want to encourage further silly hijinks.

Though, in fairness, he's not that type of kid usually…I looked around me, imagining the kids traipsing down. They must have felt so optimistic that they'd find something and that it'd all be alright.

"Are you coming?" I heard Shizuka ask me.

I turned and saw that she was standing by the hole that Akio and the kids had walked through, and I nodded and went in. We made our way around the entire building, with Shizuka following the directions that the children had taken, according to Rieka Amasaki's and Otsuka Jihara's statements, which she had up on a tablet. Occasionally, Shizuka would stop to talk with whoever was analysing a particular area, or to take a closer look around. I sometimes looked at different parts of the room or a corridor while she did this, but did not go too far out of sight, as she had directed.

But as I did, I imagined Mai next to me. Not as she was now, but as she had been then, when she had still been Sadie. I imagined in a pink dress, one that she had been wearing in one of the many photos that had been circulated when she'd gone missing. This ghost-Sadie had cherry blossoms pinned to the bun that her hair was done up in, and though petals seemed to fall from them the flowers themselves remained intact. If for some reason I hadn't realised this was just my imagination, that was the biggest clue. Even so this imaginary Sadie seemed very real as she walked with us from place to place and told us things in her youthful voice, things I remembered hearing from Mai or others.

This is the kitchen, where I spent most of my time. Cooking was what I did best, and it felt like the only thing I could do. Even after Hatakawayama-kun died here, this was where I felt safest. Though, that didn't mean much, because nowhere really felt safe, Sadie said.

We never saw what lay beyond these windows, Sadie said when we stepped out into the courtyard, and Shizuka was told that based on some personal effects found on some of the bodies, these were most likely foreign workers who had either entered the country illegally or been trafficked in . They were all boarded up, and we were too scared to try pulling them down, not after the first time Aozaki-kun gathered a group to try.

This is where the cameras didn't see Friede-chan, Jinsai-kun and I, and where we first talked about killing ourselves and each other, Sadie said.

This is where we all saw Yuki-kun push Kazama-kun to his death and immediately act as if he didn't, Sadie said as we looked down from the railings that Teiichi Kazama had fallen through. He really didn't think he had done it, though.

And this is where…this is where…

Sadie fell silent next to me, as Shizuka and I approached the small room. There were investigators working in the room itself, and she went ahead and talked to them, and one called down the opening in the floor to tell us we were coming. Shizuka, naturally, went first and I went to follow, and looked over my shoulder. The Sadie-ghost hesitated though. I wished so badly I could tell her that it was alright, that it was over now. But putting aside the fact I didn't want anyone to know I was seeing ghosts of someone alive, this was Sadie from before she had become my Mai. She didn't know me yet. What comfort could I be to her? It's alright, I promise, I thought as loud as I could before reluctantly turning away from the sight of her anxiously bunching up the skirt of her dress and heading down the stairs myself.

When I got to the bottom, I gasped. Shizuka turned to look at me.

"Are you alright, Detective? Do you need to go back up?"

"No, I…"

I had to do this. For Mai as she was now and for when she had been Sadie. I took one step forward, and then another, and then I heard that youthful voice.

Those were our stands, which we had to be at when the 'trials' were happening, They were arranged in a circle. I stood between Lilian-chan and I would have stood beside Nanakai-kun, except his stand remained empty right from the beginning. Friede-chan stood on his other side.

I turned to look at her. Her outfit had changed, this time a mostly-white dress with floaty short sleeves, with purple at the hems. Her bun was now adorned with a matching ribbon, the ends fluttering in a wind that didn't exist. She walked to a different device, this one clearly something that somebody had been strapped into. I followed, as she pointed to a lever, and then to a bracket in the wall nearby.

We had no choice, she said simply. You know that, right?

I already knew that they had been threatened, and that there had been guns involved to enforce that threat. The injuries that Ayuna Aozaki hadn't given a convincing explanation for 20 years ago had been a result of the one and only time there had been an attempt to stop an execution. Clearly, Kazutaka Oomori had been committed many, many other crimes just to be able to commit this very worst of crimes. It was a shame he would never get to face true consequences for any of it.

But Sadie was waiting for an answer, so I nodded very slightly, and in my head I loudly thought:

I know.

This ghost-Sadie said nothing to this, and indeed said nothing at all. Instead she followed me, her eyes huge and watchful as I looked around at everything, silently trying to work out which device had been used to kill which classmate, and how, wondering how horrible it must have been for the remaining survivors to have to work them each time.

I'm sorry, I thought to ghost-Sadie. I'm so sorry that this had to happen to you.

She still said nothing, and didn't look at me for the rest of the time there. But when Shizuka told me it was time we left, she didn't follow us back up the stairs. And when I looked over my shoulder, she stood there, alone in the middle of the room, slowly fading.

But just before her ghost disappeared, she smiled and said one more thing:

Thank you.