Change the Ending

by TheRoseShadow21

It has been nearly a month since the last Hope's Peak student disappeared, and every investigation has reached a dead end. But when one of the students turns up dead, all parts of the school community find themselves caught up in a killer's twisted story. But will any of them be able to change its ending before it's too late? (SYOC CLOSED, rated M to be safe)

14. A Most Suspicious Weekend, part 2

I wanted to get this chapter up before Kawaakari CB Year 2 starts in just under a week, since I'm participating in that one. I'm not planning to put this on hiatus or anything, at least not at the moment. But obviously doing the story for that will take priority since there's a deadline and all that. Also getting to participate in a CB, and one that's a second iteration of my absolute favourite CB is like the absolute dream. So, as long as life allows, I intend on putting my all into it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. There's plenty here for you all to chew over, that's for sure...

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Sakichi hadn't allowed them to explain. At least, not at first. Almost as soon as he'd demanded to know what they were doing he'd shook his head and looked up and down the corridor before decisively stating:

"Not here."

"Then where?" Keiji asked immediately.

Sakichi did not answer, instead using hand gestures to usher them away from the offices and back outside again. Though it was not a particularly bright day, Clio found herself blinking rapidly at being back out in the light, even though it was only the archives that had been dim. It was only once they were near the gates that Sakichi said:

"Under the circumstances, I think it'll be best if we go to my office."

"D-don't we need to sign out, first?" Clio asked.

Sakichi stopped and glared at her, but though she was a little scared, she found herself digging her heels in and insisting:

"I want to sign us out properly."

"I'm sure he's coming back anyway- "Keiji complained, but Konoha cut him off.

"No, we can sign out. It won't take long."

Sakichi sighed heavily, and then trudged back over to Reception. Clio rushed after him, and once he had signed himself out, she did the same as quickly as possible before stepping aside to let Konoha and Keiji do the same. There was no receptionist at the desk today, and she felt oddly glad of that fact.

Once they were signed out, they were taken to Sakichi's car.

"It's up to you who sits in front," Sakichi told them. "Or you can all squish up in the back."

"I don't think two relatively tall people in the back is going to work." Konoha remarked.

"Then, I'll go in the front." Keiji decided.

Konoha raised an eyebrow, but then shrugged.

"I assume you're fine with that?" she asked Clio.

"Yes, sure."

When they got into the car and took off, Sakichi asked:

"We're not discussing this properly until we're inside. But what I need to know is, did you get spotted?"

"No!" Keiji said, aggrieved.

"We managed to hide in time," Konoha elaborated. "And it didn't sound like they'd realised anybody else had been in there."

"Alright. That's something."

But apart from that, the drive was silent.

Clio wasn't paying too much attention, so she wasn't sure how much time had gone by, but they eventually pulled up outside a tall grey building that looked like it housed a number of different businesses. She saw signs for a cram school, an accountancy firm and a dentist.

Then, there was the third floor, given over to Case-Enders Investigations. Sakichi's detective firm. Inside, it was smaller than expected, but clean, with a reception area of sorts where a man sat, busily typing away. He looked up, and nodded at Sakichi, before giving the kids bewildered looks.

"How's the background check on Shiranui going?" Sakichi asked.

"It's almost done," the man said. "Shall I print that out, or send it to you?"

"Both." Sakichi said. "Hopefully I'll have time to look through before he arrives. If he arrives."

The assistant nodded, and then said:

"How did it go at the school?"

Again, the assistant gave Clio, Konoha and Keiji bewildered looks. Sakichi looked at them too, narrowing his eyes, before saying:

"It didn't go quite as I thought," he said. "But I may have found something anyway. When Kuroki-san comes, let him through. If Shiranui arrives, tell him to wait until I'm done with these three."

"Ah, right, got it."

Sakichi then gestured to them, saying:

"Come through this way."

He led them into one of the rooms, and as he went to his desk and booted up his laptop, he indicated that they should sit. There was a two-person settee that looked second-hand, and what appeared to be a black leather computer chair (a twin to the chair at Sakichi's desk). Naturally, Keiji went for the computer chair, sitting on it as though it were a throne or something along those lines. Clio had to supress giggles as she and Konoha exchanged looks, but they both sat down on the settee. The cushions were a little flat, but it wasn't entirely uncomfortable. Nonetheless, Clio felt uncomfortable, but that had nothing to do with seating arrangements.

"So" Sakichi explained after a beat. "Explain what you were doing."

"Well, we were looking for unsolved cases that could have something to do with the ones from now." Keiji said. "In case there was a connection that may have been overlooked."

"What makes you think any connection was overlooked?"

"Well, we don't know that" Keiji said. "But it could have been, couldn't it?"

"But it doesn't look like there were any cases that were unsolved, as such," Clio added. "Just ones that had question marks around them. Including…"

Clio hesitated, and then said:

"Including your son."

Sakichi flinched. He opened his mouth to say something, but Clio hurriedly interrupted to say.

"I'm sorry," she said. "About him. I'm sorry that happened."

Sakichi blinked at her, apparently wrong-footed. Then, gruffly, he said:

"You're not the one who needs to apologise."

Then, his brow furrowed slightly:

"How did you come to discover Haruma's case?"

"It's in the Tragedies and Disasters files in the school library." Clio said.

Between the three of them, they explained the research they had done the night before, and how that had led them to both Haruma Enjou and Tae Furukawa. They also explained how they'd decided that they needed to go into the Student Archives for more, and how they'd been looking through the relevant years' folders before hearing the sponsor families' women coming in.

Sakichi nodded as they talked, occasionally stopping to make notes on his laptop. From time to time, he also stopped to look at a small photo frame that was sat just to his left. It was one of the few personal touches in the room, alongside a wooden coatrack with a few scarves and coats hung on it. Clio wondered who was in the photograph. She wanted to ask, or even look at the photograph itself. But she knew that'd really only be for herself, to make herself feel better about Sakichi. He would not seem so intimidating if she knew that he missed people, too.

Of course, it wouldn't be right to ask that. So, she had to think of something else.

"Do you think…" Clio had to think of how to refer to Haruma for a moment. "Do you think Enjou-sempai was investigating something to do with Furukawa-san?"

Sakichi stroked his beard thoughtfully, and then asked:

"What was the article that you saw in the Tragedies and Disasters section?"

"It was just an article about how a homeless man had been arrested in connection with her death, which had previously been thought an accident…"

"And that was it?" Sakichi asked.

"You could just see this for yourself, you know," Keiji scoffed. "In the Tragedies and Disasters section."

"Yes, but how much was there?" Sakichi asked. "A single, throwaway article, right? Just enough to say that it's in their records, that anyone can look it up?"

Keiji's mouth pressed into a mutinous line, but then he nodded.

"So, it's something like that, huh?"

"Something like what?" Sakichi challenged.

"A conspiracy." Keiji said, sounding doubtful.

"Is that all you think it is?"

"Well, I get why you would want it to be Hope's Peak's fault, considering your son. Even a cursory look told me the case was shoddy, but-"

"After this morning, how can you think that? This is not grief talking. I've reviewed this case front to back and I know Hope's Peak Academy played a part in this!"

"Yeah, but it could just be them." Keiji challenged. "Why would Hope's Peak as a whole want to kidnap and murder a bunch of students as a whole? It makes no damned sense!"

"What about Furukawa-san," Clio jumped in. "What was she…did you know of her?"

Clearly somewhat disarmed, Sakichi stared at her for a moment, and then said:

"I didn't have very much to do with her, no. Not apart from occasionally making sure she didn't get busted for breaking and entering. She was also part of Haruma's wider friendship group. Though I don't believe they were dating or anything like that. Haruma wouldn't waste his time on dating."

Sakichi shook his head, as if appalled by the thought, before continuing.

"That's by the by, however. I don't know what he was investigating when he disappeared. I do remember when Furukawa-kun died, though. It wasn't right, Haruma said. But though I aided him, we didn't find anything. At least, not back then."

"Do you think he found something, then?"

"I have no idea." Sakichi gritted out. "All I know is that he found something about someone. And whoever that someone was did not want it getting out."

"That 'someone' is probably many someones," Keiji concluded. "Specifically, the Izawa family, the Suwasaka family and the Motowari family. To say nothing of whoever it is they're protecting."

"You acknowledge that, but not that it could be Hope's Peak who is culpable."

Keiji visibly gulped as Sakichi glowered at him. Clio, too, shrunk back, thinking of all the times Sakichi had stood with her by the front gates, asking her to remember. Of him coming to the Student Café the day she'd found Seren, asking her if she really didn't know anything or if she was merely keeping quiet because she had been ordered to.

And she really hadn't known anything. Not back then. She couldn't say Hope's Peak had been the warmest place to be after all of this. She couldn't say that the school had done anything to make her feel safe. Even so, she hadn't really, truly imagined the possibility that they could be complicit until she had been jammed behind that cabinet, trying to muffle her breathing and her beating heart. Now she was colder than she ever had been, with that knowledge settled across her like newly fallen snow. Yet, even with that knowledge, she still felt like she knew nothing.

Nonetheless, she thought. I should try to say something, shouldn't I?

Clio took a breath, shrinking slightly when Sakichi noticed and turned his sharp gaze to her. She wrapped her arms around herself-as if the coldness was something that came from the outside, as if it were something she could easily protect herself from-and said:

"Well. This person, they're not just any person. They're probably a woman, based on what they were saying. And this woman, she has to be connected to Taro Enoshima specifically."

Sakichi considered her, stroking his beard briefly before saying:

"Talk me through whatever they said that makes you think that."

"Okay, um-"

"We can do one better than that!"

Clio jumped and noticed Konoha narrow her eyes at Keiji's smug interruption. However, neither of them said anything as the Tactician brandished his phone, before dramatically lowering his voice to proclaim:

"I recorded it."

Sakichi's eyebrows flew up, before he slowly produced a business card from the pocket of his jacket, which he then pushed across the table.

"Send me that recording."

Keiji nodded and there was a moment of silence as he did just that, before staring challengingly at Sakichi, who looked at his own phone and nodded. At that moment, the door opened and Hirotaro walked through. He didn't appear to notice them at first, but he then stopped dead and studied them.

"Ah. It is the two of you again." Hirotaro stated.

"Um, hello? What about me?"

"I did not see you at the scene of Ottillie Nylund's attempted abduction." Hirotaro told an indignant Keiji. "So, I cannot include you in that statement."

Keiji scoffed at that but said no more. Hirotaro studied him, and then returned his gaze to Clio and Konoha. Though, Clio couldn't help but feel that he looked at her more than Konoha. She tried her hardest to not shiver, but she still felt so cold.

"What brings you to Enjou-san's door, then?" Hirotaro asked.

Before any of them could answer, Sakichi said:

"I caught them snooping when I was attempting to investigate the Student Archives myself. Although, your suspicion was correct, Kuroki-san. I spotted Nanako Motowari's car on my way in, and the door was unlocked."

"I thought so. And I assume that these students weren't the ones responsible for unlocking the door."

"I could have picked the lock, easy!" Keiji boasted. "Unfortunately, it was already open. "

Hirotaro nodded, and then said:

"From the way you are holding your phone out, I surmise that you managed to record the interaction you inadvertently eavesdropped on. May I listen to it?"

"Sure!" Keiji said, puffed up with pride.

He pulled up the recording and pressed play.

"Oh good, Yamaguchi-san's left this unlocked for us as she said she would. That's a relief."

Clio kept her eyes fixed on Keiji's phone as they all listened to the recording play out, holding in her breath until the final set of footsteps faded away. As Keiji pocketed his phone smugly, she looked at Sakichi and Hirotaro. The former looked stormy, turned inwards, considering everything. She supposed Hirotaro also looked thoughtful, but there was something…something…

Sakichi frowned at that and started to say:

"That's ridiculous, stop trying to-"

Hirotaro put up a hand to stop Sakichi, and then leant over to whisper something to the man, whose blood immediately seemed to drain from his face. As Hirotaro straightened, for a glimmer of a moment Clio thought she saw his thin lips curve into a smile.

But if he had smiled, it disappeared as quickly as she'd noticed it, and his face became blank once more as he turned to greet the police.

As if realising that Clio was thinking of him, Hirotaro's eyes flicked over to her. She couldn't supress her shiver at how clinical his gaze seemed. He kept that gaze on her for a moment longer (a moment too long) before then turning it on Konoha and Keiji in turn. I wonder, she thought, do they feel it, too? But then, Hirotaro returned his attention to Sakichi and stated:

"This could prove to be useful."

Sakichi frowned, and asked:

"How so?"

"Well, you and I both know that Nylund-san is not going to be as…enterprising as these young people have apparently been."

This did not feel like a compliment, not when uttered in such a toneless voice. Hirotaro then turned to the three of them and continued:

"I suspect that however Enjou-san here tries to warn you off, you still intend on digging yourself."

"Well, of course we are." Keiji said. "We're SHSLs, after all."

"Is that the only thing you're relying upon?" Hirotaro asked him,

"What's that meant to mean?" Keiji demanded.

Hirotaro didn't respond immediately, but instead tilted his head slightly in a way that reminded Clio of the faint smile. Then, after the silence threatened to have become too deep, he said:

"If you think it's only a title bestowed upon you that's going to get you results, then I don't imagine that you will get very far."

"Yeah, that answers nothing. What the fuck is that meant to mean?"

Keiji stood up, glowering, but faltered when all Hirotaro did was stare at him, his expression barely changing. Keiji blinked, and opened his mouth to say something, only to snap it shut. He did remain standing and glaring, though. One of Hirotaro's eyebrows rose briefly, and then he said:

"You all could be useful, nonetheless."

"Useful how?" Konoha asked.

Clio saw Sakichi give Konoha a sharp look, then direct the same look at Hirotaro, before then saying:

"Kuroki-san, we should talk about this."

"We can do, yes." Hirotaro said. "In the meantime, it would be useful to have eyes and ears in the school. You all live in the dorms, correct?"

"Yes." Clio said.

"There you go, then," Hirotaro said. "They can move around the spaces we cannot. Come across things that we cannot. Clearly, they have managed to do that already…even if only, apparently, due to their 'Talent'."

"Are you going to help us, then?" Keiji demanded, getting a second wind. "Because you must know more than we do, being the 'proper' detectives and all. And you're employed by the Izawas. Aren't you mad that they seem to know more about this than you even do? I mean, who is this woman they're talking about in the recording?"

"You should leave that to us-"Sakichi started.

"I might be able to answer that."

Clio jumped when the form of a strange man filled the doorway. Tall and lean, his amber eyes seemed to glow. His hands were shoved in the pockets of his jeans and his arms and torso were covered by his jacket and a loosely wrapped grey scarf, but it was clear he was heavily tattooed.

Behind him, the assistant could be heard exclaiming:

"Hey, sir! I told you I had to knock first!"

"Don't worry about it, Itokawa-kun," Sakichi called out, voice clipped. "So, you decided to show up."

The man looked like he was going to respond, but as seemed to be his way, Keiji jumped in first, saying:

"Who are you?"

"Who are you?" the man asked in return, eyebrow twitching.

"That's none of your concern."

Sakichi stood up abruptly. It wasn't clear whether he was talking to Keiji or the man. The man continued to study them curiously, but he said no more. Sakichi, however, told the man:

"They're just leaving," he said. "You can take a seat wherever. I'll get my assistant to drop them off back at school, but then we'll talk. It's long overdue, after all."

"Yes, it is." The man said stiffly.

"No need, Enjou-san" Hirotaro said. "I am able to drop them off."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Hirotaro said. "It will not be out of my way, especially as I do already have to leave."

"You do? Already?"

"There may be an IP employee who is willing to talk, at last. It is best I get to them before they do. It will not be out of my way to stop at Hope's Peak on my way there."

Clio would have much preferred it to be Sakichi's assistant who was dropping them off, or even Sakichi, but she supposed she couldn't be picky.

"That's very kind, Detective." She politely said.

"Will we get to ask you questions?" Keiji demanded.

"You can certainly ask." Hirotaro answered, simply.

But that doesn't mean we're going to get any answers. Clio exchanged a nervous look with Konoha, who nodded back, also looking wary.

"Don't do anything else stupid." Sakichi told them as they got up to leave.

"I…we…won't?" Clio stammered out.

Sakichi nodded. The strange man in the doorway moved out of their way, and went to sit where Clio had been sitting. He kept his eyes on her the entire time. Despite the brightness of their hue, there was something stormy in there, Clio thought. Something troubled. And also, she mused, something familiar. I don't know what, but something familiar.

As they left the room, she heard Sakichi say to the man:

"I'm still surprised. I did not think you would come. You did not, the last time."

"Yes, well. I could make excuses, but what's the point? All I know is that if I don't try again, Hope's Peak will harm my child. And I know that Hope's Peak harmed yours, too. That's why we're in this mess in the first place."

Whatever Sakichi said to that, she couldn't hear, because they were further away now and the door had closed behind her. In a worried silence, they all trooped out to Hirotaro's car. Clio remembered seeing Ottillie getting into it, and for some reason, that memory made her shiver again.

"Are you alright?" Konoha asked quietly.

"Mhm."

Once again, Keiji got in in the front, and Konoha and Clio in the back. Keiji geared up to start asking questions, but Hirotaro said:

"Run me through whatever it is you told Enjou-san. You had also better send me the recording and images that you sent to him as well."

"Could you not get them from Detective Enjou himself?" Konoha inquired. "Aren't you two working together?"

Hirotaro met their eyes in the rearview mirror.

"Where did you get that impression?"

"Well, when Nylund-sempai…." Clio started.

"So, are you working against him, then?" Keiji asked, interrupting. "Are you hoping to steal information so you can solve the case before anyone else? I imagine the Izawas are putting heavy pressure on you to solve this."

"I am working to solve the case, and that is all." Hirotaro said. "Now, if you could send me that. I have stored some of my business cards in the glovebox there."

Keiji huffed, but then opened the glove box and took out a couple of business cards. He held out two in the gaps between the seats, and Clio and Konoha each took one. Some moments of silence went by as they all concentrated on sending the photographs they had taken. Clio sent the pictures she'd taken of Haruma Enjou's records, but just as she was about to send the pictures of the 1986 article, she paused. She flicked up a glance at Hirotaro, concentrating hard on the road ahead. She thought to herself that he'd be annoyed if she sent him something so irrelevant, but deep down she knew that wasn't the entire reason she didn't want to send those to him. It was because of that smile, which she couldn't forget. So she decided to leave it, then swallowed and said:

"I've sent it."

"I have, too." Konoha said.

A few more seconds passed, and then Keiji also announced that he had sent what he'd found, before then asking:

"What about Ottillie Nylund, then? Forget whatever the deal with Sakichi Enjou, what's the deal with her?"

"What do you think?" Hirotaro asked in return.

"You have something on her, don't you?" Keiji grandly proclaimed. "You must do, otherwise why else would she do what was basically a honeytrap?"

Hirotaro's expression barely changed, but as they stopped at a red light, his gaze fixed itself on Keiji. Clio supposed that the cold detective was turning thoughts over in his mind, considering how to respond. What he did come out with, however, was not anything she could have expected.

"Do you know the circumstances of Seren Nishiya's disappearance?"

"She was last seen in the early hours of January 7th, coming out of the downtown bar The Lotus, which, despite being higher-end, is known for turning a blind eye to underage customers from Hope's Peak. Seren was a semi-frequent customer there, and staff remember seeing her for most of the evening, although there are contradictory reports of her exact movements. She disappeared into an alleyway next to The Lotus to smoke after getting turfed out , but the cameras they had set up there were broken, and so Seren was never seen again."

After Keiji rattled this off, he stopped to take a breath. Clio then piped up:

"Why do you ask, Detective?"

The reply he gave was:

"If you really are committed to uncovering the truth, see if you can deduce the truth of this. Then we can discuss matters again."

Keiji huffed at this, and sounded like he was gearing up to say something else, when Konoha cut him short.

"Leave it," she said. "There's no point."

Keiji glowered but did indeed leave it, to Clio's relief. The rest of the ride passed in silence, and Clio looked out of the window. And all the while, her thoughts churned and churned.

…

Even in the midst of the busiest cases, Shouichi liked to make sure that his detectives and officers did have some semblance of a work-life balance, and he didn't often ask them in on Sundays as a result. He himself would still come in on a Sunday even when a case was not so complicated, simply for something that gave structure to the looseness of weekends. Despite that, he did for the most part, try to practice what he preached, to be a good example.

But some cases didn't allow for such niceties, and this was one of them. He did have weekend plans for later in the day. But first, he had an interview to conduct. Just as he finished reading through his notes and looking at the evidence they were going to confront Tomoka Suwasaka with, Tsukasa poked his head around the door.

"Suwasaka-san and her lawyer are here," he said. "I've already shown them to the interview room, and Officer Sonoda has offered them refreshments. We're not taking a softly-softly approach, are we?"

"No," Shouichi said. "We are not veering to the other extreme just yet, given the delicacy of the dynamics here. However, we have to make it clear that money and status aren't going to be excuses to cover things up or let them slide."

"Got it!" Tsukasa said earnestly. "Then, Chief Inspector, I will do my best!"

Shouichi gave him a nod, and then stood up, gathering what he needed. They strode down to the interview room, where Officer Sonoda was waiting. She nodded at them, and opened the door, ushering them through before closing it behind them.

Tomoka sat with a woman of a similar age to her, both of them looking prim and proper in conservative skirt suits (blue for the other woman, deep red for Tomoka) and their hair in neat buns. But whereas the other woman looked a little harried, ink stains at her fingers and wariness in the creases of her face, Tomoka was almost perfectly poised, sipping at a disposable cup of tea while the other woman scribbled.

Shouichi politely introduced both himself and Tsukasa and ran through some of the basic formalities. When that was done, Tomoka Suwasaka crisply said:

"I am only here because I believe in the importance of authority in this society. These days, people forget what it is to respect authority. Nonetheless, I will not be taking any slander lying down, and I will let my lawyer step in if she deems that you have crossed the line."

The lawyer quietly introduced herself as Manami Misumi, but said no more. She seemed surprisingly meek for a Suwasaka family lawyer, but Shouichi wondered if she was only being meek now so as to have more of an impact later. That was neither here nor there, though, he supposed.

"I have no interest in crossing lines, Suwasaka-san," Shouichi told her. "Only in determining where your daughter and the other students are before any more of them die."

A flicker of something across her face, and then it became blank once more. Shouichi wanted to interpret that as pain, to try and think of her charitably. Being one of Hope's Peak's sponsor families didn't mean she couldn't be as distraught. Hadn't he himself seen that grief and worry and pain could take all sorts of shapes over the course of his career so far? There wasn't necessarily a 'right' way to be devastated by something.

But perhaps there is a wrong way, he thought. Whether there was one or not, though, the fact was that discovering Tomoka Suwasaka's name on those medication boxes meant something.

"Shall we get on with this, then?" Tomoka asked crisply. "I understand that this has something to do with the fact that I have Fuyuka Kiyomizu as one of my patients."

Shouichi nodded to Tsukasa, who took out the photographs of the medicine boxes that had been prescribed to Fuyuka Kiyomizu, clearly showing the label that showed that Tomoka had prescribed the medications in question. Tomoka studied the photographs and then looked up.

"Suwasaka-san, do you know where we discovered this?"

"I am assuming that since you've arrested Kiyomizu-kun, that you found them in his residence? That does not strike me as terribly unusual."

"While we did find them in the house, it was not in the expected place. Indeed, these and other items were found in a parcel that Akira Kiyomizu had been due to deliver to an unknown recipient, which had been unopened."

"How do you know he did not just steal some of his sister's medication for the purposes of selling it on? That is, regrettably, something that happens, and the family is under financial pressure. Indeed, that is why I have reduced my fees for her. That, and I feel she is a promising case. Of course, I cannot say any more than that. You understand."

"I do understand," Shouichi said. "However, it is my understanding that you do not often reduce your fees, even for other clients who may also have financial struggles."

"Well," Tomoka said with a raised eyebrow. "If I reduced my fees for every single patient, then I wouldn't earn anything at all. I do need to make a living, after all."

Given the Suwasaka family background, Shouichi somehow didn't think being more charitable would particularly hurt her finances, but that wasn't what he was here to comment on. Instead, he motioned to Tsukasa to take out the next bit of evidence, saying:

"So you did not reduce the fees in order to compel Akira Kiyomizu to do favours for you?"

"If he is saying that, then he is even more of a degenerate than I had dreaded," Tomoka said. "These young people these days, so undisciplined and determined to blame everyone else but themselves for their own faili-"

Tomoka went quiet as she looked down at the printouts of the text messages. She made a show of frowning over them, her perfectly manicured nails tapping against the desk occasionally. A moment went by, and then another, as Tomoka went back to the first page, and read through again.

"Do you have nothing to say to that?" Tsukasa asked.

Tomoka's gaze flicked up at him, but she didn't look up properly. Not for a moment. Instead, she seemed to be considering something. Then, slowly, she pushed the papers back towards them, and then said.

"I'm not pleased that somebody would be abusing my trust in such a way, I can say that. Whoever this is, they are simply using my name to further their ends. You can look at my phone records to ascertain such a thing, though I can assure you that won't be necessary."

"So, I'm assuming that you do not own multiple mobile phones?" Tsukasa asked.

"Well, I have one for work purposes and one for my family, since I do not like to mix business and personal matters."

To Shouichi's interest, he noticed that this statement was met with surprise from the lawyer. She didn't say anything, but her brow furrowed and she stared at Tomoka for a moment, before noticing Shouichi staring. She reddened slightly, and then cleared her throat and said:

"My client has stated her willingness to cooperate you regarding her phone records, should that prove to be necessary. If you have another line of questioning, I suggest you move on with that."

"If we may," Shouichi said. "Could we ask how many people would know that you reduced your fees for Fuyuka Kiyomizu and her family? Or, to make it a broader question, who would have known whether or not you have reduced fees for particular patients?"

"My secretary, of course."

This was said almost immediately. Tomoka studied both Tsukasa and Shouichi, and then said:

"Although, I have been wondering about her. She can be somewhat flaky, and she has been leaving early recently, claiming a family emergency. Plus, she's a young person from a poor background herself, and who knows what she's doing because she feels the need for extra money?"

"If you have had these suspicions, have you confronted her about them at any point?" Shouichi asked.

"In all fairness to her, she is an incredibly reliable and efficient secretary, recent behaviour notwithstanding. I must concede that even though she leaves early, she usually makes sure most of what she needs to do is done, and if not then she will get to it as soon as possible. "

"And yet you suspect her of impersonating you to blackmail Akria Kiyomizu."

"Well, did you know they went to the same high school? In fact, the same one that had that awful furore around those kidnapped boys a few years back, do you remember? Both he and my secretary would have graduated by that time, but I'm sure it must have had an impact."

Tomoka blinked, and then said:

"In any case, it is not just the impersonation that I suspect her of. Those drugs…well, she oversees the refilling of prescriptions under my instruction. However, she's more than capable of filling in the orders, and all of this time, I have believed her to be competent. If she is fudging the numbers, then, well…"

Tomoka laid out her hands against the table, as if to say, well, what can you do?

"Very well," Shouichi said. "Could I have your secretary's name, please?"

Rather than answer, Tomoka turned to her lawyer, who produced a sheet of paper from her briefcase. This appeared to be a photocopy of a personnel file for one Hanae Matsuda, aged 24. Shouichi studied it, taking in the details it provided, and looking closely at the headshot provided, of a solemn looking, neat-haired young woman. Shouichi wondered why it was that the lawyer had had it with her. Had Tomoka prepared for this eventuality? Or did she really believe that it was in fact her secretary who was trying to blame her.

"Thank you for this," he said, passing the document to Tsukasa to put away. "I can assure you that we will look into that. Now we will move on with another line of questioning. Could you tell us where you were around these dates and times?"

To make things easier, Shouichi had prepared a list of the times he wanted to ask her about. Namely, the dates and times surrounding when the bodies of Seren Nishiya, Chiara Kai and Kaida Adachi. Though the specific culprit had been arrested in relation to Ottillie Nylund's attempted kidnapping, he had included that time too. He had also found the date that Nazuna Kurihara's presumed attempted kidnapping had occurred on and included that too.

"What is this?" Tomoka asked sharply. "Are we not done here?"

"What makes you think that?" Tsukasa asked.

He sounded a little too taunting, and Shouichi gave him a look, as if to say, be careful. Tsukasa nodded at him and held back.

"Well, I've made it clear that it has to be my secretary who is behind all this, haven't I?"

"Regrettably," Shouichi said. "While your testimony is valuable, we will need to look deeper and find corroborating evidence in order to build an airtight case and ensure the best chance of rescuing the remaining kidnapped students."

"That's, why…" Tomoka's nostrils flared as she crossed her arms. "I have contributed so much to psychiatric science over the years, and to society at large, and this is how I get repaid? I do not have time for these….baseless insinuations. Can you not see that this is a pointless inquiry?"

Shouichi waited a beat, not just in case Tomoka was about to begin a tirade, but so he could think about what he would say. When she merely stared at him mutinously, he started:

"Suwasaka-san, I understand that it must be distressing to be implicated in a case where your family member is a victim-"

"Excuse me?"

"However," Shouichi continued, pretending he had not heard the interruption. "Given the significant way in which your name has come up, it would be remiss to not thoroughly investigate."

"Are you implying that I am somehow involved in this tawdry mess, then?" Tomoka demanded. "Despite what I have told you?"

The lawyer murmured some soothing words, but they went ignored as Tomoka stared Shouichi and Tsukasa down.

"As I said, we are investigating. That does sometimes mean asking uncomfortable questions. However, let us leave this question aside for now. I don't know if you noticed from our photographs, but the boxes we found were not just of medications that were prescribed to Fuyuka Kiyomizu, but also of another person. What can you tell me about her?"

"She's not a relevant patient, despite her unfortunate name." Tomoka stated dismissively "And I have nothing more to say to you on that matter. This is an irrelevant waste of time. You should ask my secretary, as I have been telling you."

"And we can assure you that we will be doing that. However, we would appreciate it if you could answer our question."

"Which one?" Tomoka asked. "You are asking me an awful lot of questions, none of them seeming particularly pertinent. This is feeling a lot like harassment."

"Why are you so reluctant to answer these questions?" Tsukasa asked. "It should be a simple matter to give us a brief summary of who this Junko Enoshima is."

Tomoka's eyes flashed in frustration, and she leant forward, hissing:

"I do not appreciate this impertinence. I could have your jobs, do you know that?"

"Would that not prove that we are right, then?" Shouichi returned.

He knew this crossed the line, or at the very least edged awfully close to it. He took a breath, reminding himself to be careful. Nonetheless, he wasn't going to let himself regret saying that. There were more important things at stake here, after all. And he, too, was frustrated at Tomoka circling around and around.

"Suwasaka-san," the lawyer cautioned. "They have nothing on you. I'm going to recommend they either arrest you or terminate the interview."

"Yes, that would be wise." Tomoka said, leaning back slightly. "However, in the interests of being cooperative, I'll say one more thing."

Frustratingly, Shouichi knew that they would indeed have to terminate the interview. He knew that all the little bits of evidence they had could, in some lights, be viewed as circumstantial at best. He would simply need to dig further, and deeper. For now, though, he said.

"That will do, although we may need to talk to you on another occasion. What is it you would like to tell us?"

"Well," Tomoka hesitated, but only perfunctorily. "I don't want to be seen to be a gossip-monger; you understand. However,…"

She tilted her head slightly, in a mannerism that would have better fitted a younger woman. Or a teenager, like her daughter. Shouichi got the sense that she was playing with them, but he refused to play.

"It will be up to us to determine if the information you have to give is of relevance."

Tomoka gave a sharp nod, and then said:

"In that case, I suggest you look into the Motowaris. Not just the parents, but the daughter too."

"And why is that?" Tsukasa asked, before Shouichi could do the same.

Is that…a smile? Shouichi wondered. It was hard to tell, but nonetheless there seemed to be something there. But it disappeared quickly, Tomoka returning to the very picture of composure as she said:

"Because they're killers, of course."

"Suwasaka-san, I strongly suggest we leave, now-"

"And what grounds do you have for saying that?"

Tomoka looked like she might have been about to answer, but whether she was going to give genuine information or not remained to be seen, for at that moment there was a knock on the door, and then it opened. Hirano entered the room and said:

"Sorry, Chief. It's just…"

"If you excuse us a moment." Shouichi told Tomoka and her lawyer.

Tsukasa indicated for the recording that the interview had been paused, and then he followed Shouichi out. Holding onto the door handle, Shouichi asked Hirano:

"What is it?"

"Dr Kudo's confessed."

"Confessed?" Tsukasa exclaimed. "To…?"

"To falsifying prescription records and keeping certain medications aside. He claimed that they were picked up by a young man. Not Kiyomizu, but a different young man. We've got a description, though it is rather generic. He was told that they were for someone on the run from the law, who needed to be kept under the radar. He's also confessed that he's a close associate of the Izawa family and the Motowari family, and that although it was the Izawa family connection that got him into this arrangement, the Motowari family were used to threaten him into compliance if he wavered. "

The Motowari family are killers, Shouichi thought. That's what Tomoka Suwasaka had just said. Could this be what she had meant?

"Why did he agree in the first place?" Tsukasa asked before he could voice the thought.

"Gambling debts. He's also been cheating on his wife, usually at business gatherings with Itsuo Izawa."

"So, blackmail." Shouichi stated. "Has he named Tomoka Suwasaka in his confession at any point?"

"Unfortunately, no."

That doesn't seem right. There's a connection, after all. They have mutual associates, both of them have implicated the Motowaris. But Shouichi realised with a heavy sense of defeat that it looked like that for the time being, they would need to let Tomoka go. And that did not sit so easily with him.

"Have we formally arrested him?"

"Yes."

"Good," Shouichi said. "Then, once Suwasaka-san has been sent home, gather everyone who is here back into the incident room. It looks like we will have a number of new lines of inquiry to pursue, after all."

…

When they got back, Keiji made it clear he was going to return to the school library to do some more research. Clio thought it would be interesting to join him, but she had something else she wanted to do.

"I was going to go and get my purse and things and then go out shopping. I need to get the envelopes for the condolence money, and I want to order flowers."

Konoha nodded at that, and then said:

"I'll come with you, actually. Let me go and get my things, too."

"If you get an opportunity to find something out, don't pass it up." Keiji ordered them. "But apart from that, fine, do whatever you want. See you later."

Keiji strode off with barely a backwards glance.

"We should probably mention something on the group chat, don't you think?"

Clio turned to Konoha quizzically.

"I know we were waiting for Tuesday," Konoha explained. "But given that we've just ended up assisting two detectives, it might be wise to say something. Especially as Izawa-san's supposed to be helping us too."

"Do you think that's going to cause problems?" Clio asked. "I mean, the fact that all three detectives know we're trying to investigate things ourselves."

Konoha frowned, and eventually pronounced:

"I don't know. But I think we need to be careful of Detective Kuroki."

"Oh good." Clio couldn't hide the relief. "You think so, too?"

Konoha nodded.

"I have no doubt he's a good detective. I've been reading up on him, too, a little. But there's something there…or no. No. Rather, it feels like there's something not there. If it's not about the case, it's not there."

Clio wasn't sure she agreed with this, but she didn't disagree with it, either. She didn't know what it was that so unsettled her about Hirotaro Kuroki, what it was that had made her hold back the 1986 article and the memory card-

Wait. The memory card.

Her hand crept towards her pocket, and she searched for the words to tell Konoha. But the older girl's attention was taken by something further away. Clio squinted, and realised it was Ottillie.

"While I'm not necessarily eager to spend more time with Detective Kuroki, I am wondering about what he said. The Lotus Bar that Matsumoto-san mentioned, from its description it could be that Nylund-san frequented it too. "Konoha remarked.

"Are…are you going to ask her about that, then?" Clio asked.

"Yes, I think so." Konoha said. "There's a reason the detective bought it up when Matsumoto-san interrogated him about Nylund-san."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Clio offered.

Konoha considered this, then shook her head.

"No," she decided. "I think that she might think of it as an ambush if it were both of us. I don't imagine she'd particularly favour me or anything, but perhaps I'll have better luck one on one anyway. Don't worry, I'll still come with you."

"Well, I mean, I don't want to impose or-"

"Clio-san," Konoha interrupted with a sternness that took Clio aback. "I'm coming with you, alright? It might take me a bit longer to get sorted out, that's all."

"Oh…well, then, thank you."

"No problem. I'll see you later."

And with that, Konoha strode off in Ottillie's direction. Clio sighed, and turned to make her way into the lobby of the dorm building, only to be confronted with a delivery driver carrying a large paper bag looking rather befuddled and asking:

"Do you know where Yuuto Oshiro's room is here?"

"I…um, is that delivery for him?" she asked.

"It is, yes," the delivery driver said. "I'm supposed to take it straight up to his room, apparently."

"Is that even allowed?" Clio asked, without thinking.

The delivery driver gave her an exasperated look and said:

"Well, how would I know that?"

Clio opened and closed her mouth a few times, and then sighed.

"Have you contacted him to say it's arrived? He might need to come down."

Mostly, because I'm sure it's going to cause more trouble if another man is seen on our corridor…she thought wearily.

"Of course I've contacted him-"the delivery driver huffed.

"Yeah, well, there's no point."

This came from another girl, who appeared to be leaving the dorms. She had stopped at the very bottom step and regarded them with curiosity.

"How come?" Clio asked.

"Well, I'm pretty sure he hasn't left his room at all since last night."

"He…hasn't? Like, at all?"

"No," the girl said. "But that doesn't bother me. The guy's scary."

With that, the girl disappeared. Befuddled, Clio turned to the delivery person once more, and said:

"Well, I can take it up. Do I need to pay?"

Some of the wind had been taken out of the delivery person's sails, and he just shook his head and said:

"It's fine. Oshiro paid via the app. I'm taking a picture and having you sign for it, though."

"That's not a problem."

It's just one more record of my activities, Clio thought, this thought also weighing her down. Once the bag of food was in her hands and the delivery driver had left, she trudged her way up to her dorm corridor, walking right down to Ena's room. Then, she knocked and waited. When there was no response, she knocked again.

"What?" an irritated snarl responded.

"Oshiro-sempai, it's me, Clio." she said. "I've got your food."

"Oh. Right. Great. Just leave it there."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm fucking sure."

"But…Oshiro-sempai…have you really not left this room since last night?"

"What the fuck is it to you?"

What is it to me, Clio wondered. She looked down at the bag of food. There seemed to be a lot of different boxes in there, all from the same fast-food chain. It seemed more than somebody could eat in one day, and she wondered why Yuuto had ordered that much.

"Well, I'm not going to fucking eat it all in one day, am I?"

Clio reddened to realise that she had voiced that thought aloud, but she was still curious, so she asked:

"What will you do with it all, then?"

"…For fuck's sake, there's a mini-fridge in here, okay? I bought it for Ena."

"You're really not coming out?" Clio asked, her voice small. "What about the memorial or the funeral?"

There was a silence, and then a heavy sigh.

"Just leave the food there, alright, Fujita? And…thanks."

It didn't feel right to leave it at that, but Clio felt out of her depth. So, she carefully set the food down outside the door, and returned to her own room. But the moment she closed her room door, her concerns about Yuuto faded into the background as she remembered the item she had in her pocket, the one she hadn't told anybody about yet. As she unzipped the pocket of her cardigan and reached for it, she thought maybe it isn't a memory card at all, Clio thought to herself. It would have been a waste of time if I'd said something and taken it out only to…oh.

She looked down at her open hand, and the object that was undeniably a memory card lying there. Oh, she thought again. Oh. She closed her fingers around it, and then stared at her fist, wondering what to do. It didn't look as if the memory card would fit into her phone or her laptop. Or maybe it would, but she instinctively felt it wasn't a great idea to do either of those things. Maybe Junpei would have a camera or something that it could fit into. It was, after all, a camera's memory card specifically, if this really had been the memory card that both the sponsor wives and Sakichi had mentioned. If she kept it until Tuesday, and then they all looked at it together when they met up after the memorial service (or, the funeral, in Keiji and Konoha's cases). But then there was the question of where to keep it. She couldn't just leave it in any old place.

In the end, she looked through the stationery collection she kept in her drawers, and pulled out an envelope, dropping the memory card into it and closing it up. She frowned at it, wondering where it should go. Then, she had a brainwave, and tucked the newly filled envelope back into the pile of empty envelopes. There, she thought, hidden in plain sight. That should be fine, right? Someone like Keiji would have a better idea, probably, but she wasn't sure she wanted Keiji in her room or making comments on her room.

Clio shut the drawer and stared at it, and then decided to take off the cardigan. Suddenly, it felt tainted. Though she didn't strictly need to, she shoved it in her laundry basket, and went to her wardrobe to grab another cardigan. She usually liked picking out her clothes, but it suddenly felt like a paralysing choice. In the end, she went for a pink cardigan with hearts printed all over it, and little pink rhinestone buttons. I'll need a jacket, won't I, she thought. She thought about taking her frock-coat, the one she'd bought with Fukue, but left it there, hanging next to Fukue's frock-coat and went for one of her raincoats, this one striped in different shades of pink and a little bit of purple, too.

I don't really have any black clothes, do I? she thought. Or at least, nothing really good enough for a memorial or funeral. Should I go and buy something, just in case? But, what if that makes it true?

Once she had put on her coat and made sure she had what she needed, she checked her phone. She was vaguely aware that her phone had been buzzing all of this time, and when she looked, she saw that all the messages were from the group chat.

Nazuna_Kurihara [12:35 2023.02.26]: You did what?!

Nazuna_Kurihara [12:35 2023.02.26]: What made you think that was a good idea? I can't believe you would do something so dangerous, to say nothing of stupid!

Nazuna_Kurihara [12:35 2023.02.26]: And to think you left without telling any of us. What if something had happened?

Keiji_Matsumoto [12:36 2023.02.26]: uuuuuuhhhhhh, you ARE aware that you would have tried to stop us?

Nazuna_Kurihara [12:36 2023.02.26]: Of course I would have tried, but that's hardly the point. Did you not consider your safety at any point?

Konoha_Kagematsu [12:36 2023.02.26]: in all fairness it isn't like we expected three sponsor families to walk in and implicate themselves

Konoha_Kagematsu [12:36 2023.02.26]: though that is fair

Nazuna_Kurihara [12:36 2023.02.26]: ….

Nazuna_Kurihara [12:37 2023.02.26]: Well, what's done is done, I suppose.

Nazuna_Kurihara [12:38 2023.02.26]: Clio-san, Kagematsu-san, if you have time to wait, I'll be done at quarter past one. I could do with the change of pace, if you were willing to have me accompany you. Though it would still be work, since I have to arrange ordering the flowers that the Student Council are sending.

My_Number [12:38 2023.02.26]: That's fine by me!

Konoha also sent a message indicating she was fine with Nazuna joining in. Clio stood in the middle of her room, watching a few more messages pop up. Keiji and Konoha, talking about just how cautious they needed to be, Junpei mentioning how it had all sounded exciting and how he was a little sad to have been left out, but how he probably wouldn't have been able to help anyway. He also mentioned having looked into Hope's Peak true crime books and had found only a couple of small self-published ones online. Digging deeper, it seemed like Hope's Peak had fought against any attempts for any mainstream publications of books that solely focused on tragedies at Hope's Peak. If a book or a show focused on, say, domestic abuse, and one of the cases mentioned just so happened to involve someone from Hope's Peak, that seemed to be more or less alright. However, that case couldn't be used as the main focus, or it seemed like Hope's Peak would sue.

This revelation, of course, had Keiji excited. Clio read through and put emoji reactions against some of the messages. Nazuna followed suit, though she did type a few words. But most notable in the chat was not any of the messages that were typed, or even the use of emoji reactions, but the absence of any reaction from Yuuto. Not even anything to rile up Keiji.

Clio bit her lip, then eventually messaged Yuuto separately.

My_Number [13:03 2023.02.26]: Oshiro-sempai, are you sure you're alright? If you need to talk, I can listen. Or if you want more lollipops, I can buy them for you.

It got read almost as soon as it was sent. But no emoji reaction popped up. No speech bubble with a pulsing ellipsis showed up. When Clio gave up on staring and put her phone away so she could head downstairs, her phone did not vibrate.

And when she left her room, Ena's room door remained resolutely closed.

…

Nazuna seemed frazzled when she met them outside the Student Council building, though she brushed it off when both Clio and Konoha asked. However, it was only once they had arrived at the florists' and placed the flower orders (Nazuna's and Clio's to be delivered to the school, Konoha to come in and retrieve hers en-route on the day)

"There have been some disagreements about whether I should go to the memorial or to the funeral."

Nazuna was studying some red roses as she said this, and Konoha asked:

"How so?"

Nazuna sighed, and then as they all started to leave the shop, she admitted:

"It is felt…it is felt that the Student Council should show up at Kai-san's memorial service in order to represent the school."

"But most of the school are going already anyway, right?" Clio asked.

"Yes, that is true," Nazuna said. "Although I understand why Hope's Peak would want to show up for the family, considering the relationship there."

"But I'm guessing you would have preferred to attend Nishiya-san's funeral?" Konoha guessed.

Nazuna nodded stiffly.

"Ushiroku-san disagreed. But we already know that Nishiya-san's funeral is going to be smaller. And surely, someone should represent Hope's Peak."

"So, what are you going to do?" Clio asked.

"That's a good question," Konoha added. "After all, you ordered two arrangements, did you not?"

Nazuna sighed heavily, and said:

"I'll initially attend Kai-san's, and then I am hoping that at some point in the proceedings, I will be able to leave and attend at least part of Nishiya-san's. Even if it is only long enough for me to briefly pay my respects. Now, we need condolence envelopes, is that right? "

"Yeah," Clio said. "I'm getting one for each, then Kagematsu-sempai's taking the one for Nishiya-san's funeral for me."

"Then, the department store it is. Shall we walk there, or get the bus?"

"Hmmmm. Let's walk there but get the bus back." Konoha decided after a moment.

"Yes, that sounds good to me."

So, they walked, and though it was a little chilly, it was still rather nice. They chatted about idle matters-the weather, schoolwork, how annoying Keiji could be-and they also decided that once they had sorted out their envelopes, they should get lunch at the food court. As they turned a corner, though, somebody coming out of a block of flats across the road caught her eye. The ashy hair made her think, Fukue-chan, until she realised that the person was taller and broader in the shoulders, and also a boy.

"Is that…Hideru-san?" she asked.

"Hideru-san?" Konoha asked.

"Yeah, he's Fukue-chan's older brother. He's the closest to her in age."

"Oh," Nazuna said. "They must be quite close, then?"

"Um, well…"

Even though Fukue was not the eldest child, she still had all the responsibilities of the eldest child, and then some. Hideru, and the other two older siblings, sisters Kazuno and Natsuki, had all avoided that as much as possible, crying 'parentification' without realising that was exactly what they'd set Fukue up for. That, and Hideru was more interested in tinkering with his motorbikes or hanging out with delinquents than doing anything useful anyway.

Still, he was Fukue's brother, for better or for worse. Clio hadn't seen much of the Amari at family since the days immediately after her disappearance. Fukue's mother Kumiko had screamed at her for not 'being a better friend' and at least then, Hideru and Kazuno had been there to drag Kumiko away. Admittedly, it had been more so that Kumiko wouldn't make a scene and cause trouble rather than because they had worried about Clio, but it was something. And Clio was sure that, even if it was in a selfish way, the family must be missing Fukue, must be worried about her, especially the little ones.

The road was surprisingly quiet, so Clio readied herself to call out Hideru's name, but then she realised that he was getting on his motorbike, which now had a large box attached to it, rather like the boxes used by food delivery drivers. However, this box did not bear any logos at all. Has he got himself a job at last? She wondered. It was something that Fukue often despaired over. She watched him put his distinctively patterned motorbike helmet on and then check the box one more time before hopping on the motorbike and driving off.

As usual, he revved his motorbike more than he needed to, and it wasn't long before he was almost an indistinct blob in the road. But then he made a side turn that surprised Clio:

"That's the direction we'd take to Yama-san's house!"

"It is?" Nazuna asked.

"Didn't you say that Amari-san was the one who'd been helping this Yama-san before? Maybe her brother went to check in on her because of that?" Konoha asked

"Hmm, maybe…it's not really something he'd do, though…"

"Do you want to go and check in on her yourself?"

Clio considered this, and then shook her head.

"Yama-san didn't reply to me yet, and if Hideru-san really is going that way, then maybe it's fine."

"Well, I suppose you would know the situation best." Nazuna shrugged. "Anyway about what happened when Detective Enjou found you. I know I have the best chance of understanding what actually happened if it's coming from you two rather than anyone else."

Clio and Konoha exchanged looks at that, and Clio tried very hard not to giggle. Konoha, too, looked like she was holding a smirk. It was, after all, a fair assessment of Keiji. Clio took the lead in explaining as best as she could with Konoha interjecting here and there. When they got to the part about the mysterious tattooed man who'd turned up at Sakichi's office, they reached the department store.

"Oh, there's the map." Konoha said as they stepped through the doors, pointing.

They headed for the map of the store affixed to the wall just by the doors, but though Nazuna frowned at it, it didn't seem to Clio like she was actually looking at it.

"Kurihara-sempai," Clio asked. "Are you alright?"

"Describe the man to me again?" Nazuna asked.

At the same time, Konoha said:

"There's the stationery section, and there's the gift section."

Before Clio could respond to either of those statements, one of the members of staff approached them and asked what they were looking for. Nazuna told them, and the staff member directed them to the gift section. As they walked there, Nazuna repeated:

"Describe the man to me again?"

"Why?" Konoha asked.

"Honestly? I don't know. But perhaps hearing the description again will help."

So, Clio went through it again. From the bits of the tattoos, she'd seen to the amber eyes and dark hair and the forbidding aura. The heavy weight that he seemed to carry. The strange, loaded things he'd said to Sakichi. Nazuna considered all of this as they browsed the gift section on the way to the enquiry desk, just in case they saw the right types of envelopes themselves.

"So, he must be some sort of witness to something…. was a name mentioned?" Nazuna asked.

"Shi…Shira-something, I think?" Clio said uncertainly.

She looked to Konoha, who also looked like she was trying to remember.

"Yes, that sounds right. Shirahata…no, not that. Not Shirano either. Shira…Oh, wait! I have it. Shiranui."

Nazuna frowned at that.

"Shiranui? I'm guessing that's a surname, then?"

"Well, presumably."

Nazuna's frown only deepened, as she asked:

"Why do I know that name?"

"You know it?" Konoha asked.

"Yes, but I don't know why…"

"Is there anything that I can help you girls with?"

This came from the lady who was standing at the counter. She regarded them with some scepticism, and Clio self-consciously tugged at the hem of her coat. Nazuna brushed off her deep thoughts and took the lead, politely and briefly explaining what they were looking for. Clearly reassured by Nazuna's brisk and competent manner, the staff member became all smiles and was quickly able to help them.

Once they had selected and paid for their envelopes, they thanked the lady and quickly left the store, making their way to the nearby food court. They separated briefly to order their food. Clio was the last to get hers, owing to the longer queue at the stall she'd selected. But as she carried her tray of food, she stopped, her attention drawn by a stall selling crepes with a variety of fillings and toppings. She'd been there a few times, mostly with Fukue and sometimes with Luca too.

It would be nice, she thought, to have crepes with Fukue-chan and Luca-kun again. To have them with someone again. But she shook the thought off, and went to join Konoha and Nazuna at the table. As they began eating, Nazuna kept repeating the name Shiranui to herself, occasionally also asking:

"Why do I know it?"

"I could look it up." Clio offered, taking out her phone to do just that.

As she was about to however, her phone buzzed with an incoming text. Curious, she opened it:

Yama_san [14:40 2023.02.26]: Hello there. I do apologise for the delay, I do hope you weren't worried. I am a little bit under the weather and would not want to pass it on to you. However, I am sure I will be alright in a few days time, and it would be lovely if you could visit.

Just as she finished reading that message, another two came in:

Yama_san [14:40 2023.02.26]: I understand from the news that you will be busy with a funeral on Tuesday. What a tragic business this all is. However, at least being able to observe these rites will allow the family to definitively end this chapter and move onto the next. It is important, you know, for lives to have clearly defined beginnings and endings.

Yama_san [14:41 2023.02.26]: Ah, but here I am rambling like the old lady I am, Apologise, Clio-chan. If you are able to visit me, how about Wednesday, if that works with you? The afternoon would be lovely. I had another helper drop of some food and toiletries at my doorstep earlier today, so I am alright for supplies. However, I am a little low on treats, and it would be lovely to have some of the days newspapers. It is nice to be able to hold a physical newspaper, you know?

Clio looked up and said:

"That's Yama-san. She wants me to visit her on Wednesday. She's learnt about Kai-san's memorial on the news so she knows I'm not free that day."

"Wednesday…after school, I assume?" Nazuna asked.

"Yeah, she said afternoon."

"Then, I'll make time to accompany you."

"I will too." Konoha said. "If only for curiosity's sake. I'll ask the questions about the woods…hopefully that will keep Matsumoto-san happy."

Clio looked at them both, and smiled:

"Thank you. I used to go with Fukue-chan before she disappeared, and then afterwards…there wasn't anyone I could ask."

"Fujita-san, you could always have asked me." Nazuna said, suddenly severe. "If you ever need somebody to accompany you somewhere else, ask me."

"Or me." Konoha said. "While I'm around, anyway."

Clio thought she might cry, but she blinked back the feeling and smiled again. She thanked them once more, hoping it was enough. Then, she went back to doing what she was originally going to do. However, she deflated when she was met with what looked like endless search results for the name 'Shiranui' all of them so wildly different there was no way to work out if any could be relevant.

"Don't worry about it," Nazuna said when Clio showed her the results. "I am sure it will come back to me."

She sipped from the glass of juice she had ordered, but then she exclaimed:

"Oh!"

At the same time, her glass appeared to slip and hit the side of her mouth. Nazuna yelped and slammed the glass down before putting a hand to her mouth.

"Kurihara-sempai!" Clio exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

Nazuna nodded, but winced as she kept her hand to her mouth, muttering something. It took Clio a few moments to realise that she was swearing, rattling off a list of swear words that would probably put Yuuto to shame. But when Nazuna caught her staring, she went silent and reddened briefly before clearing her throat and saying:

""Excuse my language, my dad always said that cursing helps with pain. I'll be quiet."

"No need. I've heard that wisdom myself. But more importantly, did you break any of your teeth?" Konoha asked.

Nazuna shook her head. Konoha regarded her sceptically and then got up.

"I'll get you some ice."

As she got up, Clio noticed a few people watching curiously. Nazuna also noticed and sighed.

"This is really embarrassing…it's honestly nothing. "

"It's fine." Clio said.

It didn't take long for Konoha to come back with a small sandwich bag filled with crushed ice-cubes. She passed it to Nazuna and sat back down, finishing her own meal while Nazuna held the bag of ice to her mouth. Clio realised that she still had a little bit of food to finish, so she did the same, then cleared away their rubbish and trays. Once again, she stopped to look at the crepe stall again, once again wistful. But she shook the feeling off once more and when she returned, Nazuna had put down the ice, and was now fiddling with her plait. Konoha nodded to acknowledge Clio, then turned to Nazuna and asked:

"So, what was that about?"

Nazuna sighed, and said:

"To be honest, I'd need to go back and double-check. It might not be the case. But if it is, then I've remembered why I recognise the name."

"Double-check?" Clio asked.

Nazuna looked as though she wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to say anything, but then she did:

"Kagura's things. I'd need to check Kagura's things before saying anything."

Konoha drummed her fingers against the table, and then said:

"Alright. You'll bring the information to the meeting we're supposed to be having, I assume?"

"I…yeah. If it does come to anything, that is."

Nazuna sighed, then squished the bag of ice cautiously.

"We should give this back, shouldn't we?"

"Yeah, probably." Konoha shrugged.

"And we should probably get back too, shouldn't we?"

"Probably." Konoha said.

Clio did not agree or disagree. Instead, she twisted around in her chair, trying to see if she could spot the crepe stall from here. When she did, she looked back at Nazuna and Konoha and thought to herself: they're not Fukue-chan or Luca-kun, but they're someone all the same.

"You're right, we should get back. But…"

Nazuna looked at her curiously as she faltered.

"But what?"

Let's get crepes together, she thought, repeating the words over and over in her head. Practicing them, almost. Then, she pointed to the stall, and said those words aloud.

…

Shouichi called his girlfriend the moment he was able to leave the station.

"Shiyuri, hi. I'm sorry, but you've probably noticed that I'm running a little late."

Shiyuri's familiar laugh came down the line as she said:

"Actually, I hadn't, because I'm also running late. I finally got a burst of inspiration for this chapter that's bugging me-ah, I'll tell you when I'm at yours. In any case, don't rush. It's that case, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is."

"Then, you can tell me about that, too. Well, as much as you can tell me, anyway."

"I might just do that. See you in a bit, then."

Shouichi smiled to himself as he hung up, but the merriment was short-lived. He and his team had managed to speak to both Hanae Matsuda and Junko Enoshima. Tomoka's secretary turned out to be a single mother who'd had some of her childcare fall through, accounting for some of the times she'd left early. She also confirmed that recently, Tomoka had wanted her to leave the processing of prescriptions to her personally, and only file everything away. She'd agreed to get the records for the relevant medications to the police when she was next in work. Hanae Matsuda also had strong alibis for the dates that Seren, Chiara and Kaida had been found.

The patient with the famous namesake on the other hand, was a baffling one. Not because of who she was. She seemed to be an ordinary woman, one who held down a stable office job and had a busy social life despite her anxiety disorder-something she credited to Tomoka Suwasaka. However, she'd never had issues with her medications going missing, which seemed to suggest that extras were being ordered. One of his detectives had visited the pharmacies that both Fuyuka Kiyomizu and Junko Enoshima had collected their prescriptions from, and both reported break-ins and the occasional discrepancy between delivery orders and what they'd received. The pharmacies' staff had all been cleared of any wrongdoing, and since the patients had received the correct amounts of medication, they hadn't thought it to be anything bigger than perhaps a strange bout of petty crime.

There had also been an attempt to track down where some of the other toiletries that had been found in the package could have come from, but it had proven to be a dead end. They had also gone to Towa South Station and retrieved footage of the delivery lockers, and though they had already spotted Kiyomizu there at some of the times he'd recalled delivering parcels, they were yet to go through all of the footage to see who had picked up the lockers. Staff at the station had been encouraged to keep an eye out, though, and to call if they saw anybody using that specific locker, which was still marked as being used.

And that wasn't even the half of it.

Still dwelling over all of that, he reached his apartment block. On his way up to his flat, he bumped into some of the residents who lived on his floor-a family with two young children, who were clearly coming home from doing some shopping together. The two children grinned at him, the younger one eager to show him the toy she'd gotten for being so good and helpful-a bubble machine shaped like a dinosaur (the bubbles presumably coming out of the dinosaur's mouth when it turned on). He praised the bubble machine and the little girl's efforts, and then the older brother wanted to show him the plush unicorn with the light-up hooves and horn that he'd been allowed to buy. He also chatted briefly to the parents, and since they had apparently done a larger monthly shop, he helped them carry some of it to their door, before continuing on to his place.

Once in, he quickly showered and changed into something more comfortable, before heading to the kitchen and laying out what he'd need to cook for dinner tonight. Just as he'd put on his apron on over his blue t-shirt and black trousers, the doorbell rang.

"I've bought desserts," she said. "Because you never think of them."

Shouichi didn't comment on this, because it was, regrettably, very true. Instead, as Shiyuri took off her shoes and followed him into the kitchen, he asked:

"What did you get?"

"Salted caramel cheesecakes, and some strawberries."

"That sounds good. If you put them in the fridge for the time being."

"Sure thing."

She did that, and got herself a glass of juice, making herself comfortable as she sat to watch him cook.

"What are you making this time?" she asked.

"Just a katsudon rice bowl, nothing fancy."

"Well, I've never been the fancy kind of woman, so that works for me."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. So, how have you been?"

As he made the food, they chatted lightly. It was only once he'd made the rice bowls and brought them over that the conversation turned to his case.

"What's your gut feeling on this one, then? I've never had anything to do with Hope's Peak, but even I can see that their reaction has been…somewhat questionable."

Shouichi snorted.

"That certainly is one way of putting it. "

Shiyuri tilted her head and then asked:

"Do you think that they're actually culpable?"

"See, that's the frustrating thing," Shouichi explained. "It's nothing new that they don't really want to do anything to properly protect their students. At least, not at a whole. I can admit there are individual staff who do care and who are trying, but it's stacked against them. But there's a lot of connections. A number of the families who sponsor Hope's Peak, their names keep coming up with some of the new leads that we've got. Yet, it's never quite enough, especially not enough to justify cracking down on them."

"You mean, not enough to justify it to your highers-up." Shiyuri commented wryly.

"Yes, there's that."

But put together, it all added up. When Shouichi had gone to talk with Arashi Kudo himself, the man had admitted a 'professional association' with Tomoka Suwasaka, though he had been quick to claim it was only ever to talk over medical matters and occasionally to treat Tsubame Suwasaka in the past. Apparently, the girl was 'clumsy' but also 'scared of hospitals' which was why very few of these reported illnesses and injuries had made it into any official medical records. That was a giant red flag on its own, just not one that marked out the crimes relating to the kidnapping. Nonetheless, he couldn't leave it entirely alone. So he had referred that particular detail to Social Services and the Domestic Abuse department, determined that whatever ended up happening with Tsubame and the kidnappings as a whole, that this at least would get followed up.

He'd had to leave it aside apart from that, though, because Arashi Kudo had also elaborated on why the Motowaris had been used as a threat to keep him in line. The reason, however, was so outlandish that Shouichi couldn't quite believe it. He'd had a hard time saying it aloud when ordering a deeper background check, had a hard time thinking it when going back over the footage of Ririka, Alexis and the Motowaris discovering Kiyomizu. And he even had a hard time believing it when Arashi Kudo's parting words had been:

"Look into Iwao, Isao and Ikue Izawa."

Which he had, but only long enough to discover they were also related to Inori-an uncle and two cousins, respectively, and that they had been missing for almost four years. He would have dug deeper, except any efforts to communicate with Inori's parents had been so thoroughly stonewalled, the only option would have been to compel them with the law. Which, of course, the higher-ups were still reluctant to do, even with the medicine boxes and the prior connection of Tomioka.

And then there were the other things. The taunting notes left with each body. The texts that Nazuna Kurihara had been getting. The wildly different causes of death each time. The list Ririka had found. There were so many pieces of the puzzle, they should have all been enough to form a clear picture. Yet they didn't.

He expressed this sentiment to Shiyuri. Since she was chewing a mouthful of rice, she didn't immediately respond, but she nodded, then took a few moments to chew before then sympathetically saying:

"That's hard. That's really hard."

Shiyuri then scrunched up her face, and admitted:

"I was going to say, I'm so glad the serial killer in my current book is normal, but then I realised that's not really how that works. "

"You're not planning on a book based on this case, are you?"

"What do you take me for, hmm?" Shiyuri asked, though without heat. "Of course not. Especially not any time soon. It's too raw at the moment, isn't it? It wouldn't be right. Writers may take inspiration from things that happen in real life and all, but not like that. On top of that, the creep fancies themselves some kind of writer themselves, right?"

It had been inevitable some reporters would find out some of the details they'd tried to keep back. Thankfully, those hacks hadn't discovered every pertinent detail, only the vague strokes, but even that was bad enough. Which was why, though it was rather akin to closing the gate after the horse had bolted, Shouichi only nodded to answer Shiyuri's question. She pulled a face at him, clearly aware he was thinking this way, and then concluded:

"I wouldn't want to be feeding their ego and inspiring them to commit more weird murders. Well, either that, or offend them and end up their next victim. Besides, I'm having enough trouble with my current book to even think about what to write next."

"Tell me about that, then" Shouichi said, glad to change the subject from his work to hers. "Didn't you say you had a burst of inspiration, earlier?"

"Well, yes, but that was short-lived, sadly…"

…

Shiyuri had ended up staying the night. That hadn't been part of the plan, but Shouichi didn't mind it so much. It made up for the fact that he'd been running late and gave them more time together. And though he would be back in 'work mode' soon enough, it was nice to switch off for a little bit longer.

He made them both breakfast, and they sat down and ate it, talking about everything but work. As with the night before, Shiyuri insisted that she do the washing up while he assembled his lunch out of some of the leftovers.

"Do you want some?" he asked her. "Or do you have plans for lunch?"

"Well, I was going to nip out to the café once I started getting a little stir-crazy, but if you're offering…"

"Alright then."

And so, he served out an extra portion for Shiyuri. Once the washing was done and she'd gathered her things together, he walked her to the door and handed the lunchbox.

"Thanks, Shou," she said, taking the box and stashing it in her bag. "I'll wash this out and get it back to you."

"There's no rush. Don't worry too much about it."

"Nah, it's fine. Once things get crazy, it will be a good excuse for me to come and see you."

"I'll make some time. It might not end up being much, but I will."

"Yes, yes, I know." Shiyuri said. "I get it, you know that."

She grinned at him, and he couldn't help but give a small smile back.

"See you later then, Shiyuri."

"Yep, see you later. Tell the rest of your team I said hello."

"I will."

They kissed briefly, and then Shiyuri left. The moment Shouichi had shut the door behind her his phone rang. Assuming it was one of his detectives, he answered it without properly looking at the screen:

"Hello, this is Kiyofuji-"

"Ah, have I caught you at a bad time, Chief?"

The last of his weekend feeling drained away abruptly. Not because of who it was, but because behind Ichizo's cheerful voice, he could hear the familiar background noise of crime scene investigators bustling in the background.

"Not at all, Izawa-san," he said. "What's the matter?"

"Ah, well…you remember all that hullaballoo on Saturday, don't you? I heard the charges are being dropped for the time being, but I don't blame Enjou-san for that…anyway. Regarding what she told us both, I assume you know about the previous IT Manager, Tsukiko Shinsato?"

"Yes, that's right. We have been looking into her."

Given everything that had transpired since then, he had to admit it probably had been lower down on the priority list, especially since background checks into some of the admin staff had pinged up some discrepancies in finances. There were plans to get them in for interview today, he knew, and he was leaving those in his detectives' capable hands.

"Right, yeah, of course," Ichizo said. "So am I. Or, I was. I came down here yesterday, and she wasn't in. One of the neighbours told me that she was out, so I thought like, you know, okay, I'll come back later. So I did, but again, no answer, and no helpful neighbours to tell me anything. In any case, I decided to do some other things, but I thought, I'll need to try one more time. So I come along today, and the door was broken in, and then the neighbour comes down and sees the door and basically goes oh shit, so she's not just moving out. And I could rehash that conversation, but the point is, whether she's moved out or not, someone's ransacked the place like they did with Ririka Enjou's office. And worse, too. "

"Worse? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, just, quite literally, the state the flat's in is worse than Enjou-san's office was. I think it'd have been neater if a tornado had torn through, you know?"

"Izawa-san." Shouichi said, trying to be patient.

"Right, sorry. Well, it's not that much, really. She could still be alive…but, there's blood splattered across the walls."