Nobu

It was always a satisfying feeling to definitively close a cold case.

It wasn't something that always happened. In fact, it was rarer than movies and crime novels would have most people believe. Even this case was not so clear-cut, as it would now be feeding into an even larger cold case, made up of so many other smaller cases from both before and after it. The 2018 care home kids. The homeless men of 2007. The Romeo and Juliet runaways, the five girls who'd gone missing while camping. So very many cases that would no doubt be proven to have direct connections to Class 78-B. Nonetheless, the Class 78-B disappearances and murders were a case that I could say was now definitively solved.

Currently, I was helping to empty the incident room that had been used for the re-investigation. I had roped in Evalynn and Gabriel, as well as many other detective and uniformed officers as I could in order to get it all done faster. Once this room was empty, it would be given over to one of the current cases that needed it, and I would take everything down to the Cold Cases department or to the archives, and I would continue work on it.

It was a satisfying feeling, though at the same time my blood ran cold at the thought of how easily this ending could have been a tragedy. But at the same time, that very same blood boiled at all the times we could have caught him, and missed, simply because of the power he had held.

It did not matter, though. Or rather, it did, but getting the answers so that the left-behind could have answers mattered more.

The mood in the room, however, mostly leant to jubilant. After all, this was a huge solve, and there had been so much pressure to get that solve this time around. For many of the junior detectives and the officers, I knew this would be a significant point in their career. Nonetheless, there were some lingering traces of sorrow in the room. Gabriel, I knew, was still troubled by the connections to the Kagohara case, which I knew he would be assisting on-especially where any surviving victims captured in non-Hope's Peak footage were concerned. There was the shadow of Tetsuji hanging over all of this. He had been one of us, after all, no matter how far he had spiralled. There could be no satisfaction for him.

I wonder how Kenichi Tsukuda is? I thought absently as I put more things in a box. I knew he had gone to attend the funeral this morning, along with Harada and a few other forensic colleagues. His remaining family had requested a quiet, straightforward funeral, so The Captain and the Superintendent had gone along to represent us, and bought along a few uniforms both to offer condolences and ward off the media. I had signed a card, but part of me wished I could have gone too, but it was what it was.

A door slammed against the wall , and I whipped around to see Kenichi standing in the doorway, as if thinking of him had summoned him. He was still in a black suit, but the blazer was unbuttoned. His eyes combed over the scene in the room, and the gentle quiet in the room gave way to a sharper silence as all eyes turned on him in return.

"Sorry, door wasn't meant to do that." He said gruffly.

"Tsukuda-san!" Gabriel came forward, ever the peacemaker. "How was the funeral?"

Kenichi ignored this, however, and kept watching the room. I sensed he was calculating something, figuring out what it was he wanted to do or say, possibly even to think. Then, seeming to come to a decision, he strode in. The door slammed shut, but he paid no heed to it this time. It seemed like we were all holding our breath as he headed to the photographs that remained on the wall. The 'offcuts' from the Kagohara case were still there, including Kimiko's, and I watched him swallow, then grit his teeth. Abruptly, he yanked off Kimiko's and a handful of others, and then walked the small distance over to the candid photographs. With his free hand, he reached up and touched the photograph showing Kimiko with Moeka, and then turned his attention to the photos of the seven teenagers from the present-day.

"Was this all worth it?" he asked, without looking at any of us.

"Was what worth it?" another detective asked.

"All this…" he waved his hand at the pictures of the past. "Was it worth this?"

He then pointed to the pictures of the seven. Seven survivors were left behind, I thought, and then there were seven new youngsters caught up in all this. I was starting to see where Kenichi was going with this, but before I could answer yet another detective, a younger one, chimed in:

"It's not as if any of them died, so it's fine, isn't it?"

"Really now?"

Kenichi turned and looked at the young detective with a glint in his eyes that made them quake in their boots. They glared, and then defensively said:

"Well, it's not like they actually got abducte-"

"Oh, and that makes it fine, does it?"

Kenichi didn't shout this, or even growl it. Indeed, his voice sounded weighed down with exhaustion, but the way he stared at this young detective made them quake in their boots.

"Keep clearing up." I told them and the others who were gawping.

When they all still hesitated, I nodded at them encouragingly, and then waited until they continued packing files before addressing Kenichi again.

"With the exception of a few fools, nobody is saying it was worth it." I said. "Of course, this was always going to dredge things up, but nobody wanted the 'killing game' to be continued again."

"Do you think that was what he was doing?" Evalynn asked curiously.

"I do think so, yes," I said. "Based on what we've found, making these 'snuff movies' was a lucrative hobby and side-hustle for him but more than that, it was a compulsion. It must have frustrated him deeply to have to cut off this one in the middle, and not be able to distribute it at all. Of course, given the attention these disappearances ended up garnering, and the fact that Hope's Peak closed, there was no way he could resume it in the immediate years. Some of the attempts he made over the years are likely his efforts in trying to replicate something as close to it as possible, but none of it would have been close."

"Because they had nothing to do with Hope's Peak. And then they decided to open up a new one, only for him to come back out of the woodwork and yes, we've caught him now, but was it worth it? We can't even punish him."

"No, but Kamiya did, didn't he?" Evalynn said thoughtfully.

Kenichi around to look at her. She sighed, and explained:

"Kamiya punished him. I mean, he gave as good as he got, right? And he's like you-if we're taking the divine justice route rather than the lawful route then it's right that at least he got to do that before he died. "

"Divine justice?" I asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah. And you," she pointed at Kenichi. "Stop glaring at me. I'm not saying it was worth it or anything like that. Of course, it isn't! But the case is over now. It's never going to happen again, is it?"

"If people hadn't wanted to re-open New Hope's Peak, then it would never have happened again!"

Ah. So that was what this was about. I couldn't say I blamed him. Perhaps Hope's Peak as a whole had not orchestrated the plan to kidnap, kill and film Class 78-B, and they had not created Kazutaka Oomori's evil. No, that had come from deep within him, and most likely would be traced back to his childhood. Nonetheless, it was Hope's Peak culture that had allowed him to go unchecked, and actively covered up his crimes once they'd discovered them. It was Hope's Peak that had continued protecting him, so that he could use his so-called good name from there to cover up more crimes.

On the other hand, it had been proven without a doubt that Kyosuke Munakata had not had any knowledge or involvement in any of that. The only thing he was guilty of was a strong sense of idealism where Hope's Peak was concerned, but he had already been implementing safeguarding measures. I also knew there were going to be further changes made to New Hope's Peak that would distance it from the old one. I fully intended on looking those up once the official announcement had been made, and asking Juro what Mai had told him about it.

Still, I didn't think that would satisfy Kenichi. I wasn't so sure it satisfied me, either. Perhaps unravelling Kazutaka Oomori's years of terror would end up satisfying us. I'd just have to wait and see, though.

"You're right."

I was surprised that Gabriel hadn't said anything for a while, but watched as he came over to Kenichi, box in hand, and held it out.

"You're right. But it did all happen in the end, didn't it? And no matter what, we can't undo it. So…so let's put everything away now, where it belongs. Yeah?"

I smiled inwardly. Gabriel had said it a lot better than I could have. Kenichi didn't seem convinced, but he shook his head and dropped the photographs in his hand into the box. He then turned and took it off of Gabriel, and continued pulling photographs off of the wall.

…

Shizuka

While the incident room was being dismantled, in a room nearby I was doing a final dismantling of my own. I was under no illusions that it was completely over. Firstly, we had to start a whole new investigation into Kazutaka Oomori, one that would be a headache considering we would have to cooperate with the police forces of a large number of areas. He had also committed a large number of different crimes as a means of facilitating his various abductions, assaults and murders, and all of that had to be unpacked as well. He'd had collaborators, though some had been under duress, such as the two trafficked Vietnamese men who'd shut Akio Arisato and his friends down in the basement at Shirohata. Any surviving collaborators needed to be tracked down too and dealt with. There was of course the rest of the Kagohara case on top of this.

Of course, it was not just the investigative side that was now 'over'. The suffering of the survivors was not immediately erased just because a culprit had been found and eliminated. They had to deal with the new understanding of their ordeal that had resulted from finding that culprit, and know that there was more that they would be learning about it. They would have to field extra attention from the media about the case, and of course face scrutiny for why they hadn't told the truth earlier. They would not be facing that scrutiny from me. I could tell myself that I would have told, but I could never be sure of that. None of the hardships of my life had come close to what they had experienced, so I could never know.

For the most part, the survivors sat close together. Eizo and Azami held hands, a detail I noted with interest and a quiet sense of satisfaction. However, Friede distanced herself from them just a little, and Takaaki lay on the floor. Though, when I arrived and sat opposite them, he re-positioned himself so he was sitting cross-legged on the floor. I placed the file that I had only just had time to gather on the table. Then, I begun:

"Thank you for coming along. I can confirm that we're considering your case to be solved. While there are some unanswered questions, largely regarding the resources that Oomori had to facilitate this 'killing game', those are being treated as part of the larger case relating to all his crimes. That is only beginning, but we have managed to find some things already from searching his offices and residences."

"Do we know anything about why?" Ayuna asked. "I mean…why he did it?"

"My understanding is that Kazutaka Oomori had an interest in snuff movies. I take it that you would be familiar with the term, Aozaki-san."

"I am."

Ayuna's mouth pressed into a thin line for a moment, then she turned to Azami and Takaaki, who seemed the most confused, and explained:

"Movies where the on-screen deaths are real-as in, the actors die when their characters die."

"That's right, yes," I said. "We're still investigating his background but it appears Oomori had sadistic and predatory tendencies, and that he combined those with his interest in films. He used his family's connections to schools and charities to find some of the victims of what may have been previous 'film sets', and of course the strongest connection he had was to Hope's Peak."

"So…we really were unwilling actors?" Eizo asked. "He really stole Yamamoto's script for that purpose?"

"Did he sell the movie?" Friede asked.

Everyone looked at her with some surprise, and she stared back at them almost expressionlessly.

"What? He sold the bathroom shots, didn't he?"

"That's a good point. Why go to all that effort just for something that he's viewing alone? But is that really the case, Superintendent? Is our ordeal out there on the internet somewhere?" Eikichi asked.

"All indications are that it's not the case, because your specific movie was unfinished." I said. "Though naturally many of the events in Seiko Yamamoto's script differ to what actually occurred, in the script nobody survived and so it can only be assumed that he wanted that commonality to remain as well. Therefore, when you were rescued, the movie wouldn't have been finished and wouldn't be sellable. With that being said we are still looking, and that will be part of the investigation into Oomori, but all indications are that the rest of the 'game' recordings are not on the internet."

"Akio said-"

Mai started, and then paused. After a moment, she started again.

"Akio mentioned that when he…Kazutaka Oomori…when he…well, when he did what he did. Akio told me that he mentioned that there were seven of them, just like there were seven of us and that editing technology was more advanced, so they would do."

I nodded, having already been aware of this from the testimonies.

"If…" Mai continued. "If we had told the truth twenty years ago, none of this would have happened. So we should have spoken up, right?"

From the silence that followed, I could tell that all of them had wondered this, one way or another. It was not as if the thought was wrong. However, it was not a thought that served anyone at this point anymore. On top of that, their testimony alone would not necessarily have been enough to get Kazutaka Oomori caught and sentenced. Somehow, I did not think they would have been as certain of his guilt back then, and with the exception of Ayuna he would not have figured high on their lists anyway. There was also his power and influence to factor in. Even with how things had actually turned out, if the only difference had been his survival, that fact alone might have made things even more difficult than they already were.

I told them all of this straightforwardly. I did not see any point in beating around the bush. I thought they would appreciate the honesty.

"In all honesty," I said. "Although it can't be denied that confessing at the time would have been better in the long run, the responsibility for catching him shouldn't be placed on your shoulders, not at any point during these past twenty years. That responsibility was ours, and we did come up short with it."

"So, we're not going to prison then?"

This question from Takaaki resulted in Eikichi glaring at him and Ayuna exclaiming:

"What are you talking about? Don't be daft!"

"Somehow, I don't think we'd be gathered like this if we were about to be arrested." Azami said.

Her tone was unexpectedly dry, and clearly it surprised the others too because they all stared at her before Ayuna then looked at me and demanded:

"Well?"

"No, none of you are being charged with anything. You were victims."

You all have been punished enough, I thought but didn't say. That would perhaps be a touch too sentimental, after all. Still, what I had said was clearly enough, the relief visible on all of them. Many shoulders sagged, and Eizo and Ayuna both leant back on the sofa. However, Ayuna sat up again almost immediately, a thought seeming to occur to her:

"Will I get Seiko's script back?"

"I'm afraid not for the time being, as it is a major piece of evidence. However, I do have something to show you all."

I opened the file and took out the two photocopies I had managed to make, and set them down.

"From Oomori's home, we managed to recover some of the personal effects of your deceased former classmates. Amongst them, were a scrapbook belonging to Lilian Lao, and a series of papers that most likely belonged to Kimiko Tsukuda. Both of these have written descriptions of what occurred in Shirohata, which corroborate the statement that you gave in to us. However, both came with an additional letter."

These, I pushed over to them before adding:

"The letters were addressed to you. Though, Jinsai-kun, in your case Kimiko Tsukuda's letter is specifically for you."

"Me? Why?"

I simply nodded to the letters, and let the survivors read them both. I, of course, knew exactly what both had said. Lilian's had been one of the pages of her scrapbook, and said:

My friends, I have something horrible to confess to you, although I rather hope you won't see this. For I am the traitor. I delivered the motives that made Moeka-san kill Akari-san. I am the one helping Monobear behind the scenes. It is me, it is all me. Why would I betray you like that, though, when you are my friends? If you find me out, that's what you'd ask, right?

It's simple, you're not my sisters. My sisters, who bought me up outside the confines of normal society, who were all I really knew before I came here and met you. They might not be blood, but they are still my family. I suspect Yuri-san and Yuki-san would understand something of that, right?. Sadie-san, too, with your grandmothers. I choose my sisters over you, I have to. I do not know who the person behind the Monobear is, but I don't want to risk them finding my family and hurting them. I don't want to lose what chance I might have to get back to them.

That is why I am going to kill Sen'ya Ochiai tonight.

You all heard him. He had worked it out, more or less. I don't know what his next step will be. It is kill or be killed in this place, whether you like it or not. And my sisters are the most important thing in the world. There is no other option. If anyone discovers me, I shall have to kill them also.

Still, you are my friends. I have enjoyed knowing you all for all this time. The lessons we attended, the meals we shared. The parties, dancing in the rain. And right until that man with the gun, wasn't this trip wonderful too? Even if I die, I will always remember you all trying to quiz me on popular music and how much fun that was. But if I can help it, I won't die.

I will spare you the details of what, exactly, I am going to do to Sen'ya Ochiai. I do not want to be cruel-I only have to be. And so, I am sorry for this, my friends. Please know, that I still did care about you all very much. I will mourn you for the rest of my days, and I will make sure my sisters always remember you. Goodbye.

Kimiko's was shorter:

Takaaki Jinsai,

This letter is an act of fortune telling. In writing it, I am predicting that you will get through this ordeal, even if I do not manage it myself. Of course, it would be ideal if we all survived. There wouldn't be any need for these notes. I might gather the courage to tell my dad and the world what has happened myself.

If someone else kills me, pass these on. Our families still deserve some closure. I don't know what I would want if I end up snapping instead. A good part of me still stands by what I asked you to promise me, but the other part of me thinks of all our families. So, I'll leave it with you. I know my account will be in good hands that way, whatever happens.

I'll leave it with you, because I have decided that you will survive. Of course, this letter will not actually make it so. Nonetheless, I can hope. So, please survive, Takaaki. Survive and take this to Dad for me.

Yours sincerely,

Kimiko Tsukuda

I gave them the time to read those letters. Mai read out Lilian's, but Takaaki kept a tight grip on his letter until eventually Ayuna snatched off of him and read it out. Once she had, however, she handed it back. He gripped it with both hands and then looked at me.

"We get to keep these, right?"

"You get to keep those. That's a photocopy. The originals do count as evidence, still."

"Which is why I won't get Seiko's script back." Ayuna said.

"That's right, yes."

"Well, at least we have these," Mai said. "It's nice to have something of them. But anyway, Superintendent, thank you."

"Hmm?"

"For ending this for us."

I blinked, not quite expecting it. Though I wasn't sure why. It hadn't been the first time a relieved victim or family member thanked a member of the police for the work done on a case. It felt different this time though. I didn't want it to be too different though. For all that there was still so much to do, this needed to be a definitive end, even if only for them. So, just like with any other case, I said:

"It's just part of the job. But you're very welcome."

…

Mai

Juro was waiting outside when we left the police station, and I ran to him, hugging him tight. He held onto me for a moment, then let go and regarded me seriously.

"How did it all go?"

"it went well, but…"

I turned and looked at the others, who were all watching me.

"This is your husband?" Takaaki asked.

"Yes, this is Juro." I said with a smile.

"Yes, hello. Well, um, I'll leave you all to say your goodbyes, and then I'd like to take Mai home."

He took a few steps away, flashing me a reassuring smile. I gave one in return and then, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear, turned to face my friends. We were all gathered in a haphazard circle in the street. I wondered what to say.

"So…this is it, then." Eizo said. "I guess we're all going our separate ways. Though, it's not the last time we'll see each other…."

He grinned at Azami, who blushed a little but then also smiled. Immediately, Ayuna pointed at them.

"Hey, hey, don't think I haven't noticed you snuggling up to each other. Have you ended up back together or something?"

"Not so much together, yet. But we're going to try it." Azami explained.

"Well, you look pretty 'together' to me, so I'm sure it'll all be fine." Ayuna said.

"Yes, I agree." Eikichi said. "Still, what about the rest of us?"

"Well, we can't not see each other again, can we? After this, it wouldn't feel right." Takaaki said.

"Perhaps we should make a promise to that effect, then." Friede suggested.

Ayuna scoffed:

"Yes, because that worked out so well for us all the last time."

Friede flinched, and I opened my mouth to defend her but she looked at me and shook her head with a rueful smile before addressing Ayuna again:

"I know. I do remember that I was the one who brought up the idea in the first place. That's why I want to make a new, better promise."

"One that's basically the opposite of the old one?" Takaaki said.

"Well I mean, I guess. If the idea of the promise is 'see each other again' then that is the opposite of 'never see each other again'." Eizo said.

"Perhaps it doesn't need to even be that specific." Azami said.

"What do you mean?" Eikichi asked.

"Well, I assume we're forgiving each other for what we had to do, or what we didn't do, back when we were trapped? In the end, it was about survival, wasn't it?"

We all looked at each other for an uncertain moment, but eventually everybody nodded and I said:

"Yes, we are."

"Then, why not forgive ourselves for what we had to do once we were out of it? Yes, things turned out as they did but twenty years ago, when we were still reeling…we should forgive ourselves for what we had to do as the people we were then. Because in a way, that was for survival too."

"Huh. There's a thought." Ayuna said slowly.

"When did you get so wise, Azami-chan?" I asked.

Azami shrugged, suddenly looking embarrassed. Ayuna laughed and shook her head.

"Yes, that really was wise. I think you're right. We just did what we had to do, but now it's over. We can really, properly put this behind us."

"Look, I'm not against seeing all of you again. It might even be nice. But I have a life to live and begin. I need to focus on my family. So I won't be doing a big gathering like this for a while." Eikichi stated.

"I need to focus on my family for a while too, especially while Akio's recovering." I added.

"Well, it doesn't have to be that complicated, does it?" Takaaki responded. "We can go up to meet each other, in smaller groups or pairs or whatever. Like you two will obviously be meeting up if you're going to try and be a couple."

At this, he pointed at Eizo and Azami, but then he said:

"Keep in touch. That's all we need to do, right?"

This was met with nods and other expressions of agreement, and then I said:

"Yes, let's keep in touch. But one day, we should all gather as a group…for one thing, I'd like to actually cook a meal for you. And maybe you can all get to know my children properly."

"Well, I like the sound of that!" Ayuna said.

"So, is that the new promise then? If we're going that route?" Eizo asked.

"'Keep in touch'….yeah, I like that as a promise." Azami said.

"Let's properly swear to it!" Ayuna said. "Like the way we'd probably do if we were still kids. I mean, there's too many of us for a pinky promise but like…a hands-in?"

"Hands-in? Really?"

But though Eikichi scoffed, he was the first to put his hand in the circle. I held out my hand and put it on top of his, and then everyone else followed suit, with Friede the last. Then, with laughter in her voice, Ayuna said:

"Alright then everyone, repeat after me: let's keep in touch!"

"LET'S KEEP IN TOUCH!"

We raised our hands and our voices and then started laughing, as if we really were still that group of carefree teenagers. For a wild moment, I even saw the others. Lilian, Kiran, Moeka and all the rest, laughing with us. But then those ghosts faded away, just as they needed to, and it was just us again, slightly breathless and earning concerned looks for a few passers-by and one rather annoyed looking pigeon.

"Alright then, goodbye."

I stepped back and watched them leaving, all in slightly different directions, until the hustle and bustle swallowed them up. Then, I walked up to Juro and linked arms with him, and said:

"Let's go home now."

aaaaand here we are, at the end of the main story! I double-updated this with Kimiko's recollection chapter, as it ties in to this chapter nicely but after that there's three more recollections and then an epilogue. So it's not completely over yet, hehe. Nonetheless, this is a defining point of the story so...I hope you've enjoyed it! Give me your thoughts on it, all your thoughts!