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)

18. A Memorial to Remember

Ririka had slept through two of her alarms but woke up at the third. As she blearily rolled over in bed to turn it off, she thought I don't want to go to work today. She hadn't gone back after what had happened on Saturday, but she was sure that Rin had. And even though she had no idea what he knew-if, as Ichizo said, he had really been the one listening at the door-she was sure he wouldn't have held back on telling people that he blamed her. And who could blame him for it? In a way, she was to blame.

"Enjou-san, may I trouble you for a moment?"

"I…what is it, Adachi-san?"

"I need to take this call urgently, but Misa hasn't arrived yet to collect Kaida. Can you wait with her by the side gate? That is, the one located near the caretakers' building?"

"I…"

Ririka looked at Kaida, who gave her an earnest smile and a shallow bow, and thought once more of the list, Kaida's name second-to-last on it. She'd tried not to worry too much about her, since she knew that Rin and his soon-to-be ex had been keeping a very close eye on her since the risk had been realised. But that didn't mean she could walk away.

"That's fine, of course."

"Right, you stay with Enjou-san until your mother turns up. Hopefully, it won't be too long."

This last sentence was laced with contempt, and Kaida clearly realised it, for she flinched ever-so-slightly. Rin didn't seem to notice though, already striding back into the building, mobile pressed to his ear. Ririka sighed, and turned to Kaida.

"Hello there, Adachi-san," she said. "Did you have a good day today?"

"I did, yes, thank you!" Kaida replied. "You know, on the way to school today, I saw an owl?"

"You did?" Ririka asked. "That's rather unusual, isn't it?"

Kaida nodded, almost puppy-like in her eagerness, and as they headed to the gate, Kaida regaled her with owl trivia, including how a group of owls was known as a parliament (which Ririka had known) and that owls did not truly have eyeballs, but instead had eye tubes (which she definitely had not known).Ririka also learnt that apparently owls could rotate their back-facing fourth toes, which Kaida had apparently witnessed for herself when seeing this owl.

"So," Kaida concluded as they sat down on a nearby bench. "It was fun that I saw an owl on the way to school today."

"Did your mother or father see the owl?"

"No, Mum was on a call to her divorce lawyer while we were in the traffic jam, but even if she wasn't on a call I couldn't distract her while driving."

Kaida looked momentarily sad, and Ririka had the urge to suggest looking out for other owls. Except, that felt rather like something she'd do with a younger child, and though Kaida had a young air to her, she wasn't about to insult the kid's intelligence by acting as if she actually was a younger child. Instead, what she settled for was:

"Perhaps you should tell her about it when she gets here."

"Yes, perhaps." Kaida said. "I hope she will be here soon. Dad will be angry if she arrives too late."

Kaida bit her lip, her eyes going wide:

"I'm so sorry, Enjou-san," she exclaimed. "I shouldn't have said that!"

"Don't worry about it, I won't mention to your dad that I said that."

Kaida nodded, and then sighed.

"I think I should do some of my homework while I wait. Is that alright?"

"Of course. I will check emails while you are doing that."

Ririka gave her a smile, and Kaida smiled cautiously back, before fishing out a textbook and a lilac pencil case out. Ririka noted that the pencil case had frog-shaped stickers on it, and a sprig of a dried flower of some sort threaded through the zip-pull. Some time went by as Kaida diligently worked through the homework and she looked at emails, but there seemed to be no sign of Kaida's mum arriving or of Rin having finished his call. Ririka wouldn't leave, of course, but she did wonder what was taking so long.

As she did, however, she heard a shout, followed by more and immediately jumped up.

"W-what's going on?" she heard Kaida ask tremulously.

It didn't take long for the source of the shouts to come into view. Three students, brawling. One of them she recognised as the boy who sometimes helped her with network security issues, being both a student and a contract employee, thanks to his Talent of SHSL Red Teamer. The second boy, she didn't know, per se, but in the past few days had seen him wandering around in such a way that made her imagine him as 'haunting' the grounds. It was not the first time she'd seen him turn on someone while doing this, but the first time that there was a full-on brawl. The third student wasn't one she recognised at all. Regardless, she knew she had to do something.

"Asano-kun!" she called out, hoping to get the attention of the one she knew. "Asano-kun!"

He didn't seem to notice, but that was likely because he was trying to avoid the blows of the second boy, the haunted and haunting one. Asano looked slightly bewildered, as if he had no idea quite how he'd ended up in this situation, which Ririka thought was typical of him. Asano could be quite cheeky at times, and had tested her patience regularly. Clearly, he'd decided to test this boy's patience, to his cost. How a third student factored into this Ririka didn't know and decided she didn't care, not just yet.

She cast her eye about for another adult in close proximity, but found none. However, there were now other students gathering, some of them cheering the fight on, others filming it. She thought of running to get someone from security, or even any other teacher, but realised that could take longer than she'd want. Sighing heavily, she turned to Kaida.

"Stay right there, and if you see your dad or another member of staff, call them over, alright?"

"O-okay!"

Ririka steeled herself, trying to appear as stern as possible. Then, she strode towards the fight.

At the time, Rin hadn't come out and said it, that he blamed her. If anything, he'd turned his ire on the three boys-Asano and the third (whose name she still didn't remember or particularly care to remember) looking sheepish, the haunted boy just sinking further into his own haunting (though not without belligerence). It had been suggested that perhaps Kaida might have gone off on her own to try and get other adults rather than staying put, but that hadn't been verified either way. All it came down to in the end had been that Ririka had had a golden opportunity to keep Kaida safe, and she hadn't. And perhaps Rin wouldn't be able to blame her as much as she blamed herself, but it was different now.

The sweet, earnestly polite girl who'd rambled on about owls to her was dead. And all Ririka could remember was Rin promising to hold her responsible for that. It would be worse if he had learnt of the list, and if he knew that Kaida's name had been on it. She didn't want to face him, but she had to. She wasn't guilty of having actually done anything, just of not having done anything. And now both a private detective and the police knew about the list, so it was not as if she could call it a secret anymore.

It was when she had just finished making her miso oatmeal and was about to sit down and eat it that she heard her phone go off. She picked it up and saw that it was Hope's Peak's main number calling her. She answered it cautiously, and said:

"Hello, Ririka Enjou speaking."

"Ah, yes, Enjou-san," a young female voice called. "This is Yamauchi. I'm just calling to let you know that you won't need to be coming into work today."

"I…that's…why?"

"Under Saturday's circumstances, we think it would be best if you did not come in, so as to not attract undue attention, shall we say? Especially not after your little chat with the police."

"B-but, my office was broken into!" Ririka exclaimed. "That's not my fault!"

"Are you sure about that? All accounts suggest that you left it unlocked."

Ririka's hackles rose at that, but she took a deep breath, closing her eyes.

"The police would have finished with it by now, surely?" she eventually asked.

"It is still cordoned off," Yamauchi said. "It is a disruption."

Ririka exhaled and rubbed her forehead.

"I suppose that it would be difficult to work in a cordoned-off office," she said eventually. "Then, I trust I can work from home today?"

"I, well, that's-"

Ririka waited, and eventually, Yamauchi sighed and said:

"I suppose that would be fine, yes. We'll keep you posted. Though of course, you will be expected to attend the memorial tomorrow."

Ririka had a range of choice retorts to that, but bit them back and opted to simply say:

"That's fine, thank you."

She hung up, and then stared at her phone.

"Well," she said to herself. "I suppose I don't have any real rush, do I?"

Putting her phone to the side, she sat down to eat her breakfast. She barely tasted it, but didn't find that she cared either way. She took her time clearing up as well, before getting her laptop and anything else she'd need back to her dining room table, setting up for a day working at home.

Ah, she thought, I should let Fujiwara-san know.

She logged into her work emails, then pondered on the wording. Eventually, she typed:

Fujiwara-san, I'll be working from home today, since my office is still being looked at by the police. I am hoping I will be able to come back tomorrow, however. Try not to worry too much, and if you need anything please email me.

She read it back to herself. It didn't feel like enough, but what could she do? Sighing, she sent it, and then went through a few more work emails, before checking if any tech incidents had been logged. She worked through some of those she could solve remotely, and then decided to take a short break when she heard a loud knocking at the door. She stiffened, and then hesitantly got up and walked to the door. She put her eye to the peephole and then stared.

"Dad?"

She stepped back to open the door, and stared at Sakichi, repeating:

"Dad?"

"You didn't come into work today?"

"No, I got told I shouldn't come in today, because of my office."

When Sakichi stared at her, she sighed in irritation.

"Weren't you there?" she asked. "I didn't see you before I went to the police station on Saturday-but you may as well come in."

She stepped aside to let him in, and as he went to sit himself down, she locked the door. She saw that he'd sat himself on her sofa. He tilted his head slightly, his deep-set eyes assessing her carefully, even as he unwound the scarf around his neck and draped it carelessly over the back of the chair, before then loosening his tie.

"Just spit it out." She told him. "What do you want to ask me."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what? About the office break-in?"

"Why your office?" Sakichi demanded. "What's to be gained from that, rather than, I don't know, the Principal's office or his meeting rooms?"

Ririka sighed and came to sit down. She didn't say anything at first, not even when he glared at her. After a few moments, though, he looked away from her and around the living room, before eventually saying:

"You don't have a television."

"I don't need one. If I want to watch things, I can stream them."

"Yes. The twenty-first century." Sakichi said sardonically. "But that's hardly important. Did this break-in have anything to do with the fact you had copies of the threats Seren Nishiya sent to you?"

"No…"

Ririka hesitated, then decided it didn't really matter anymore. The matter was already out, after all. And so, she told him, quietly. He didn't interrupt through any of it, but when she was done, he asked again:

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I…"

"Ririka, why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know…I, I just…does it matter I didn't tell you? I did tell someone, in the end."

Sakichi made an indecipherable noise at that, and then sat back in his chair. Ririka stared at him, then got up and asked:

"Do you want tea? Coffee?"

When he didn't answer, she got up to make a tea for herself and a coffee for him, more to settle her own thoughts than anything else. She brought the two cups back, handing Sakichi's to him. He raised an eyebrow but accepted it. Ririka sat down, and sipped a few sips before asking.

"Do you remember how I found out about Nii-san's death?"

Sakichi gave her an odd look.

"I must have told you when I got home. Or when you called me about…about your mother."

Ririka shook her head.

"Then…?"

"On the TV. He was covered with a sheet when it was broadcast, at least."

Sakichi looked confused for a beat, but then his eyes widened in surprise. He stared at her, and she stared back. She didn't want to explain herself-surely the answer spoke for itself. And what did this change anyway? It wasn't as if either of them could go back in time.

Sakichi eventually lowered his gaze to his coffee, but he didn't drink it. Instead, he said:

"I was not aware of this."

"No, you wouldn't have been."

This earnt a raised eyebrow, but then he looked up and said:

"Haruma's case might be connected to this case, as it happens." He said. "So, you need to be careful. Especially if it comes out you're his sister."

"That's going to be somewhat difficult to hide, considering your presence."

Sakichi huffed but nodded at that. He then gulped his coffee, and said:

"I need to ask you a favour."

"Of course you do," Ririka sighed. "What is it?"

"There's a few students I need you to keep an eye on, if you can."

Ririka narrowed her eyes:

"I assume you want me to report to you if they…do what? Are they suspects?"

Sakichi shook his head.

"They gave us a rather unusual lead, and I suspect they're going to keep investigating. Kuroki-san, I know, wants to utilise that. Which is fair enough. However, there are enough students in danger at the moment thanks to Hope's Peak. I can't just leave them to it."

"That's unusual of you." Ririka commented.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Forget it," she said. "Just tell me who they are."

"Clio Fujita. Keiji Matsumoto. Konoha Kagematsu."

Two of those names, she wasn't sure of, though she had a feeling the final student was one who was only notable for typically being out of the country. Clio, on the other hand…

"Clio-san's one of them?" she exclaimed.

"You know her?"

"Somewhat, yes. She's a nice kid. Very independent, sometimes…too much so."

She immediately regretted saying that. She didn't think her dad understood how it was possible for a child to be too independent, given the weight he'd put on her shoulders in her own childhood. But again, what was the point of saying that? It wouldn't turn back time. So, she just said:

"Never mind. She's been through a lot with all these disappearances. It makes sense that she might want to try to look into things, though I wouldn't have expected it of her…alright. I'll see what I can do. But I'm not making any promises."

"That's fine. I should go now. I have an investigation of my own to take care of, after all."

"I'll see you out."

It was probably far too obvious that she couldn't wait to get him out of there, but she wasn't sure she cared. Once she shut and locked the door behind him, she had to lean against it for a moment before shaking her head, and returning to her dining room table. But she couldn't concentrate on work anymore, so she browsed for any articles about the disappearances and murders. A lot of the recent ones were about the upcoming memorial for Chiara Kai, as well as Tomioka's arrest and the resulting scrutiny on Izawa Pharmaceuticals. Kiyomizu's arrest had also generated a lot of articles, but most of them regurgitated the same information.

Likewise, the true crime forums and the fan forums for Hope's Peak also tended to share the same articles and rehash the same information, along with vague descriptions of having seen police around the school. Someone had uploaded a shaky, blurry video of Rin and Misa arguing in the wake of Kaida's discovery, and she was surprised that it hadn't been taken down. Even if it had been in a public space, even if Rin had gotten his secretary to break into her office, he didn't deserve that.

Luckily, there was an option on the relevant site to report inappropriate content, so she did that anonymously, and then kept browsing. Then, something on a thread about the school's sponsor families caught her eye:

OMG, somebody had posted, did you all know that the Motowari family are actually HITMEN

This had been posted by someone whose username was TheThirdTwin, and predictably, it was followed by a flurry of comments either asking for proof or exclaiming variations of 'OMG'. TheThirdTwin had responded with a bunch of Wikipedia articles about high-profile people who had died in mysterious circumstances. They also posted an article about a group of people known as the 'Jigoku family' who were apparently a family of hitmen, though the article wasn't sure whether they were an urban legend or not. Either way, with these links, TheThirdTwin hadn't provided any elaboration. That should have been enough for Ririka to dismiss it out of hand, and for the most part, she was still inclined to think this person was just seeking attention with these claims.

But she also remembered the day Chiara's body had been discovered, and how fast Shinji and Nanako Motowari had run, the way they had run. The way they had acted the whole way through.

"I'm so sorry, Enjou-san," Kiyomizu said. "I can't, I'm not supposed to-"

He cut himself off and blinked rapidly, and Ririka saw why. Nanako had reached the stranger and had grabbed his arms in an attempt to restrain him. Although, attempt seemed the wrong way of describing it, since she had no hesitation in doing so. Unfortunately, the stranger managed to break away from her grip, hitting her quite hard in the face before running off into the woods. Nanako groaned, but stayed upright, and barely grimaced. She made to go after him, but her husband called to her.

"Nanako."

There was a warning in his voice, but Ririka couldn't work out why. Nanako turned to look at Shinji, glaring briefly before her expression became calmer, but icy. She instead marched up to Kiyomizu and asked:

"So, it's you, is it?"

And there could still be any number of saner explanations for all of that, none of which were: they're actually hitmen. Ririka would accept any of those explanations over the idea that hired killers were walking around in a position of power at a school, of all the places. And yet, she couldn't quite discount that explanation, either. Not completely.

I'm losing my mind, she thought to herself.

At a loss for what else to do, she attempted to do some work once more, and got through a couple more tasks before her concentration drifted again. She got up to heat up some of last night's leftovers for her lunch, and ate it standing up by the kitchen counter when she heard her phone going off. With a heavy sigh, she put her lunch down and went to answer it, frowning when she saw Alexis' name on the screen.

"Burton-san?" she asked when she answered.

"Ah, Enjou-san," Alexis said. "I hope that I am not disturbing you."

"No, no, I was just having lunch. What is it?"

"Are you available to meet later?"

"I…suppose so. Is this about my office?"

"No, that's all in hand. When you come in tomorrow morning, we'll talk you through the new electronic lock that we've put in."

"You've put in an electronic lock?"

"Yes. We got it fitted on some of the other office doors too, just to be on the safe side. The Motowari family donated them."

Considering what she had just been thinking about, this sent chills down Ririka's spine. She wondered if Alexis had noticed the same disparities that she had on that day. Managing to stammer out a vaguely appropriate response, Ririka then asked:

"So, what about?"

"It's probably not appropriate for me to be discussing this while I am on school grounds. "

"Where should we meet, then?"

"I do not wish to inconvenience you too much, so perhaps somewhere that's a halfway point between you and the school?"

Ririka thought about this, then named a couple of cafes that came to mind. Alexis didn't know the first one, but she did recognise the second one that was suggested, and so they agreed to meet in an hour's time at that place. When the call ended, Ririka stared at her phone in befuddlement before shrugging and setting it down again. She'd turn up to this meeting, see what it was about.

But first, she had to finish her lunch.

…

When Ririka arrived at the café, Alexis was already there. This was not particularly surprising. What was surprising, however, was that Benkei was also there. When he spotted her, he gave a big grin, but it was strained, and he jiggled his leg restlessly.

"Well hello there! School simply hasn't been the same without you! I hope you won't be working from home for too long."

"I shouldn't think so, no."

On her way, Ririka had received a text message from Sakichi, stating that it looked as if her office had been finished with. She'd wait for official confirmation from Hope's Peak, but she didn't think they'd have too much reason to keep her away any longer after that.

Well, unless Adachi-san says different, she thought.

"Do you want to order anything?" Alexis asked her.

Ririka blinked, then shook her head and sat down:

"I'm alright for now. What was this about?"

"Have you heard from Kiko?" Benkei asked.

Kiko. It had been a while since she'd heard Tsukiko referred to by that name. She knew, of course, that Tsukiko and Benkei had remained friendly even after their romance had fizzled out. But since that had had very little to do with her, she'd not really thought too much about it except on the few occasions Tsukiko mentioned him. But the clear panic on Benkei's face wrong-footed her. Instead of answering Benkei she took out her phone and looked at her phone history. Ten calls, gone unanswered. Then, her messages. Those, too, had gone unanswered. Unread, too. She stared at the most recent message, a simple call me back when you can, and swallowed before saying.

"No, I haven't. Why?"

"Something bad's happened." Benkei said.

"I've just heard about this myself, but Shinsato-san has not been seen or heard from by anyone for a few days. A detective who went to see her raised the alarm, and police found signs of a struggle."

Ririka had no idea what to say to that. She looked down at her phone, and then put it away again, her hands shaking as she did so.

"So…they think she's been…kidnapped?"

"They're treating it as a missing person's case, yes," Alexis said briskly. "It's not under the Towa City police's jurisdiction, of course, but given the potential link I believe that the two forces are cooperating."

"The link…being me."

"Well, this makes it clear without a doubt that what was found in your office was to do with Tsukiko, rather than with you." Alexis said. "So that is something."

"Do you…do you know what it was?" Ririka said.

"No…?" Benkei said. "I just know it was like, pretty dramatic, clearly. And Ichi knows, right?"

"Not exactly," Alexis said. "But I think I've got the gist from Adachi-san. Speaking of which, are you going to press charges?"

Ririka shook her head.

"I think under any other circumstances, I would. But now that his daughter is dead it wouldn't feel right. He's going through enough already."

"Maaan, you're a better person than I am." Benkei exclaimed.

"The secretary isn't grieving, though," Alexis said. "There is nothing to stop you from pressing charges against her, especially as she was the one who physically broke in."

"No, it's fine. I don't want to make too much of a fuss."

Alexis didn't look like she agreed with this approach, but she nodded and conceded:

"Fair enough. That is your choice, after all."

"So, did you come here just to tell me about Tsukiko-san?" Ririka asked.

"Essentially, yes," Alexis said. "But also, to talk about her. It's troubling to me that not just one member of staff, but two have had involvement in the disappearances. It makes me wonder which other staff could also be involved. Enjou-san, I understand your father thinks the school may be involved too."

"That's right." Ririka said.

"That's wild, man," Benkei said. "Like, serious conspiracy-theory shit. But, like, they've seemed pretty relaxed about it all. And it was a shitty thing to do with that first announcement, you know, when Nishiya-san was found? I had one of the kids ask me if I could do it, next time. So, I'm going to. Though hopefully I won't have to. But also…you know, they had a bunch of sponsors in today, looking around the grounds and talking about that…you know, the school expansion?"

"They're making plans for that? I thought it was still going under consultation?"

"Yes, well…I guess most of the responses have been favourable, somehow? Anyway, man, the way they were talking about it was just like…so cold. You know, I actually have a recording!"

"A recording? Why?" Ririka asked.

"You recorded the sponsors and senior members of staff?" Alexis asked at the same time.

"Ah, no," Benkei scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Had a couple kids ask me to record a dance routine for them, and they were like, in the background."

Ririka raised an eyebrow at that, and asked:

"Do you have it?"

"Actually, yeah," he said. "I promised the kids I'd take a proper look-through myself to see if there's any advice I can give them to make their dance even more awesome. Though, they're still pretty awesome already-look, you'll see."

He took out his phone and tapped a few buttons. Alexis narrowed her eyes and asked:

"You saved a video of students onto your phone?"

"Relax, Alexis, this is my work phone."

To prove this, he momentarily brandished another phone-this one in a sparkly pink and blue case with a roller skate shaped phone charm hanging from it-before putting it away and continuing tapping at the work phone (in a clear case decorated with a variety of stickers, a 'B' shaped phone charm hanging from it). After a few moments, he turned it around to Ririka and Alexis so they could both see the screen. He plugged in a multi-earphone jack, and two sets of earphones, so Alexis and Ririka could take a set of earphones each. Ririka put hers in, and settled in to concentrate on the video.

The students in the foreground of the video were pretty attention-grabbing, and it was hard to hear much of anything given the music they had playing and the appreciative babble of the gathering audience. But just out of shot, walking down to the opposite end of the corridor, there were a group of mostly-indistinct suited figures. Ririka recognised Jin Kirigiri amongst them, and thought she could pick out Itsuo Izawa, Ichiko Izawa and Tomoka Suwasaka too. No Motowaris, she thought, and again felt cold.

Over all the background noise, it was therefore hard to hear what was being said, but Ririka concentrated hard, and just about managed it:

"Well, they are certainly lively." One of the sponsors she didn't recognise said. "They do say the young are resilient, don't they?"

"That they do," Kirigiri said. "And Hope's Peak students are particularly resilient, given all they have already achieved and all they will achieve. We do our best to not let anyone stop that."

"Not even a few inconvenient deaths." Tomoka Suwasaka said.

"It's a dreadful business, especially since she chose to take so many sponsor children-" another sponsor lamented.

"I assume it was to ensure everyone's silence." Tomoka Suwasaka said. "Don't you?"

"You'd think…but Masaru Ono doesn't know anything abou-neither did Kai and Bernadini. But regardless, hopefully she's satisfied now and she'll let it be. - her demands, aren't you?" another unknown sponsor queried.

"Of course he is," Itsuo Izawa said before Kirigiri could answer that. "He has as much to lose as we do. If they were to find out that he was as-as Enoshima-san, then his reputation would tank and he would lose everything, including the backing of his wife's family."

"The wife knows nothing, right?" Tomoka Suwasaka asked.

The music and a sudden eruption of laughter obscured what was said in response to that, but when the noise died down a little, they could hear a little more.

"This expansion-money, even with her at the helm. More than enough to compensate-thankfully, most of the other missing are of little consequence, even with their titles. The Motowaris would do well to remember-"

"-weak, now. Losing their edge. Even T- has noticed this-their secrets-take the heat off of us-scape-"

"Yes, yes. Now, we should probably discuss staffing. To make it seem like a comparable experience, some of our staff should probably be teaching there, too, yes?"

Kirigiri gave a high, uncomfortable laugh as he said this, and it was at this point they disappeared out of sight and earshot of the video, which continued on. Benkei, however, stopped it, looking pale.

"Okay, I didn't listen that far into that, but….maaaaaan. Holy, what, how,…."

Benkei spluttered incoherently and then sighed. Alexis looked sharply at him as she took out her earphones.

"How many other people know about this video?"

"Well, the kids I filmed, obviously, and me, and now you two. Those people…they all saw me too, but they just like, smiled and nodded at us as they walked past!"

"They probably assumed that they were talking quietly enough to not be picked up on, especially not with all the background noises." Alexis said.

"Your microphone quality must be quite good." Ririka remarked, taking out her own earphones.

"Oh yes, these are state of the art, these are!" Benkei boasted. "You need the best to get the best out of your music, right? That, and you can't have a party if the sound's all fucky, you know? Excuse my language, haha! But yeah, top of the range speaker, microphone, and camera for all my tech!"

"You need to make sure those students don't share the video as-is, especially not with that conversation playing in the background." Ririka said.

"Well, I mean-"

"You heard what they were saying," Ririka said. "Do you think they'd want to know that someone actually heard them? What do you think they'd do if they thought it was getting out?"

"But, I mean, like, half of that doesn't even make sense-"

"Doesn't matter. Think about it. Students are turning up dead. Think about it, Utada-san."

To his credit, Benkei did appear to think about it. And after a few moments, his colour seemed to be leached from him. He opened his mouth to say something, and then shut it.

"Could you send that to me?" Ririka asked. "Perhaps to Burton-san as well. Oh, and you're friends with Izawa-san…Ichizo-san, that is?"

"Yeah…yeah," Benkei scratched his neck. "Yeah, this is Ichi's kinda ballpark, right? Suspicious stuff like this?"

Ririka just nodded. Benkei bit his lip, and then tapped busily at his phone for a few moments, before nodding grimly.

"All done."

He then sighed and flopped back in his chair.

"Maaan, that drained me. I need to do something to get my groove back. Shall we go out to karaoke?"

"It's the middle of the work day." Alexis told him, bluntly.

"Oh, maaaaan, don't be such a downer." Benkei pouted.

Alexis just gave him a look, and Benkei pouted almost childishly. But just as Ririka was about to wonder what Tsukiko had ever seen in Benkei, he seemed to shrug it off and said:

"Well, let's at least order something from here. Cake? Milkshake? Go on, both of you. Let it be my treat!"

Ririka sighed, but despite herself and everything she was worried about, she couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Go on, then."

…

The day of the memorial started off cloudy, which Clio thought was fitting.

She got up early, dressed in her school uniform, did her hair and put in her plainest ear studs (which were small, silver and flower-shaped, but which would hopefully look plain from a distance). A large group of students were all making their way to the venue together, and Clio was planning to be a part of that group. Nazuna was going separately, with the Student Council, and as for Yuuto…well, she still didn't know.

Which was why, instead of going to get breakfast, she went to Ena's door and knocked. She hadn't seen Yuuto all day yesterday, but she had mostly been busy with the café, and going through more past cases with Junpei. He'd also managed to dig up some information about the sponsor families, including the mysterious disappearance of Inori Izawa's uncle and cousins, and rumours that Social Services had been called to Tsubame Suwasaka's house multiple times when she'd been a young child, only for whatever case had been called to be dropped. They'd also found odd rumours circulating about the Motowari family being hired killers, but this seemed to be difficult to substantiate, only ever popping up on forums and on clickbait news-sites that lifted their stories from such forums. Clio didn't know if any of that stuff was relevant, or even how it could be, but in the group chat, Keiji had said that at the very least it proved that they had plenty to hide.

Apart from that, though, they hadn't made that much headway with the investigation. Clio had found herself watching the staff, especially looking out for Ririka, only to discover from an upset Yuzuho that she'd been working from home. Still, she'd watched the staff, only to come up short because she'd had no idea what she was looking for. She just knew she had to look for something. Anything.

She was about to knock on Yuuto's door again when it swung open, and Yuuto glared down at her. He looked like a ghost to her. Paler than she'd ever seen him, the circles beneath his eyes more prominent, his face somewhat gaunter than it had been the last time she'd actually looked at him. However, his hair was neat and he was dressed in a well-tailored black suit with a black tie.

"What?" he almost snarled.

"I…um…I was just…"

Clio lowered her eyes, and stepped back, murmuring:

"Sorry. I just…I wasn't sure if you would be coming."

"Why the fuck wouldn't I be?" Yuuto asked.

She looked up at him once more, uncertain. She thought maybe his scowl was his normal one, but she wasn't sure. There was something there, or maybe it was that there was something not there.

"You're going, yes? To Kai's memorial?" he asked.

"I…yeah. Because Luca-kun can't."

"Right."

"Um….how are you getting there? Are you travelling with the school?"

Yuuto scoffed at that:

"I'm getting a taxi."

He tilted his head slightly, then abruptly said:

"You can come with me."

"Ah, that's, no…"

"Come with me," Yuuto said. "It'll be quicker."

"Ah...is that…are you sure? I'll pay you back."

"Don't be fucking stupid. It doesn't cost that much."

Clio wasn't entirely sure what Yuuto thought 'not much' was, but she was starting to have a feeling that his definition was rather different to what most people's definition of 'not much' was. Still, she couldn't quite let it go.

"I'm not a freeloader. I can pay my way. Even more so now, since I don't pay Mum rent anymore."

The last bit had slipped out, and her eyes widened when she realised it. Yuuto narrowed his eyes at her, and said:

"You don't need to pay me back. Now, are you coming or not?"

"A-ah, already? What about breakfast?"

Yuuto considered this.

"At the café?"

"N-no, I was just going to make something in the kitchens. "

"Alright, then."

…

In the taxi, things were silent. Yuuto took his sketchpad out of the bag he carried and was sketching something in it. Clio didn't want to pry, but from time to time, when Yuuto shifted his position subtly, she saw glimpses of what he was drawing, but it confused her somewhat. For what she saw looked like a map of a city, but not any that she recognised. Rather than a typical city centre, crammed with buildings, the middle of this city looked like it was dominated by a park, illustrated with flowery archways and a fountain in the middle. She watched, fascinated, as Yuuto sketched a train hurtling along on overhead tracks around the city's borders, added in silhouettes of children playing in the park, began to draw a large hospital. He took the same care that she'd seen him taking when he'd had sketched possible ideas for a memorial to Seren. Instinctively, she had a feeling that this imaginary city was a memorial too-but she couldn't figure out what for.

And she knew she couldn't ask.

Instead, she pretended to look out of the window, while also sneaking glances at the drawing whenever she could. When they reached their destination, she was so mesmerised by Yuuto drawing in yet another blossom-laden tree on a street that she jumped when he flipped the sketchbook shut. His eyes met hers, and she flinched. Rather than being angry, though, he seemed to look inwards for a moment, seeming sad before he shook his head and just put his sketchbook away, turning his attention to the taxi driver in order to pay them.

Clio stepped out of the taxi, and as she waited for Yuuto to finish dealing with the taxi driver. As she did, she looked over to the entrance of the concert hall, where two suited people stood, presumably waiting to admit people into the hall. By the door, there was a large board informing people that the hall was closed in order to host Chiara's memorial, accompanied by a picture of her. Clio looked at the photograph, one of many Chiara's official shots, this one of her wearing a blue dress. Clio wondered if it was the same one she had disappeared in. She thought it could be, but she wasn't completely sure.

Once Yuuto was done, he came over and asked:

"Are you going to wait out here?" he asked. "Or go inside?"

"Um…what are you doing?"

"I need to meet Kai and Bernadini," he said. "So I've got to go. You could probably wait in the lobby, rather than out here."

After a moment, he added:

"It would be safer inside."

Clio nodded, and followed Yuuto inside. He approached someone standing in at a desk holding a large black condolence book and another smiling photograph of Chiara, this one in a heavy gold frame. After talking to them for a few moments, he was directed down a corridor, and disappeared. Clio looked around uncertainly, and then went over to sign the condolence book. Some people had already signed, none of them being names Clio recognised. She assumed them to be other friends of the Kai-Bernardini family, or people in the performing arts business.

Carefully, she wrote in her name, then tapped the pen against the paper thoughtfully before then adding: on behalf of Luca Fontana, because if he could have been here for Kai-sempai, he would have. She considered her words, then nodded to herself, and stepped back.

Some students had started arriving, as had some teachers. She spotted Ottillie amongst them, but the older girl either didn't notice Clio or just decided to ignore her. Clio was fine with this, mostly, though seeing her did make Hirotaro's words from Sunday ring through her head once more. Clio waited for some of them to finish signing the book, before following them to where they were directed. As she did, though, she spotted Ririka coming in with a couple of the other members of staff. Hesitating, she ultimately decided to go over, since neither Junpei nor Nazuna had arrived yet, and she hadn't yet spotted any other familiar faces she could sit with.

"Enjou-san!" she called.

She was mildly disconcerted to hear someone go: "Enjou-sensei!" at almost the exact same time, but then she spotted Yuzuho arrive and realised it was her. Ririka startled and looked first at Clio and then at Yuzuho before giving them both a small smile as they stepped to the side of the condolence table.

"Fujiwara-san, Clio-san," Ririka said tiredly. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Enjou-sensei," Yuzuho said immediately. "Are you coming back to school now?"

"I am, yes. My office has been sorted, so there is nothing to worry about."

"But who was it?" Clio asked. "I mean, who broke in? It was one of the other teachers, right? Or, someone who works at the school. Maybe…maybe Yamaguchi-san?"

Ririka gave her a sharp look at that, while Yuzuho mostly looked confused.

"What makes you say that?" Ririka demanded.

"I…um." Clio gulped, realising she might have said too much. "I just….I mean…."

Ririka appraised her, and then said:

"Never mind. I assume what you mean is, it's less likely that it was an outsider."

"I…yeah. It would need to be someone with access, right?" Clio stammered.

"Right. But the matter is in hand. You don't need to worry about it. But, Clio-san, why did you name Yamaguchi-san?"

"I….your dad didn't tell you? Detective Enjou, I mean?"

Ririka narrowed her eyes at that, and slowly shook her head. Before she could say anything, however, Yuzuho butted in:

"Should we sit down now?"

"Yes," Ririka nodded decisively. "We should get inside. I'm sure they'll be wanting to start soon, and it is getting busier out here."

So, they did that. As they went and found themselves seats, Clio noticed Yuuto standing and talking with the couple she assumed to be Satoru Kai and Giulia Bernardini, and a couple of elderly adults she assumed to be grandparents or other relatives. They were all engaged in deep discussion, and Yuuto was showing them something in a folder. Yuuto was the most composed Clio had ever seen him since meeting him, and though she was sure the dark circles and paler-than-usual complexion were apparent, it didn't seem like anyone noticed anything else off about him. Though, she supposed she couldn't expect Satoru or Giulia to really notice any sadness from Yuuto, given that they were mired in their own grief.

Once they were seated, Ririka asked:

"Has anything happened with you, Clio-san? Something you want to tell me? Have you been talking to Enjou-san about his theories?"

Clio thought it was strange that Ririka didn't refer to Sakichi as 'my dad' or 'my father' but assumed she was trying to be formal about things, since she was a teacher and Clio was a student. Regardless, she wasn't sure if she should mention anything about Sunday to Ririka. She knew, at the very least, that Keiji wouldn't be pleased if she did. Instead, she said:

"Well….I mean, he does ask me a lot about Fukue-chan. If I remember anything. But…"

She looked at Yuuto, who now turned to the photo slideshow displayed on the screen on-stage, pointing at that, and then at something in his folder as he talked to Giulia. He seems alright now, she thought, but is he actually alright…?

"Enjou-san," she started. "Can I tell you…can I tell you about something else?"

Ririka considered her.

"Something else?"

"Yeah…Oshiro-sempai, he…after Adachi-san was found, he…so, he moved his things into Setsushi-sempai's room and stayed there."

"Right…?"

Ririka didn't sound like she understood what the issue was, but before Clio could clarify, Yuzuho interjected:

"Oshiro-sempai went to the girl's corridor?"

"No, we're not on the girls-only corridor."

"Oh! You're on the other one. That's alright, then." Yuzuho shrugged. "Perhaps he just wants to feel closer to her. They were close, right?"

"The thing is," Clio said. "He stayed there. Until this morning, he didn't come out. He ordered food in-I took it up to him when the delivery person got there."

"He didn't come out at all?" Ririka checked.

"Not at all. To be honest, I didn't think he'd come out today at all. And afterwards…"

Clio hesitated, then said:

"Afterwards, we're supposed to be meeting with a few others. Ito-kun. Kurihara-sempai. But I'm not sure if he'll even come."

Yuzuho blinked at this, and asked:

"Kurihara-sempai, I know, but Ito-kun is…"

"Junpei Ito, in the first year. SHSL Vlogger." Clio supplied. "He's best friends with Naruhito Ono, the SHSL Inventor."

"Oh! So you've all lost someone."

Yuzuho blinked after coming to this conclusion, then said:

"I'm sorry."

Ririka still didn't say anything, as she was now watching Yuuto. He seemed to have finished talking, and he went to sit down near the front. He sat straight-backed, still, perfectly composed. With his back turned, Clio couldn't tell if he was alright or not. She didn't think Ririka could tell, either, because after a moment longer, Ririka turned to Clio and said:

"To the best of your knowledge, do you think Oshiro-kun will respond well to being asked to meet with the counsellors or anything along those lines?"

Clio shook her head once, firmly.

"I thought so," Ririka said thoughtfully. "Then, we'll leave that for now. I'll keep a closer eye, and I'd ask you to do the same. If you have any more concerns about him, do bring them to me."

"I…thanks, Enjou-san."

"How are you coping, then, Clio-san? This can't have been easy for you, either."

Clio opened her mouth to answer, but that was the point at which the overhead lights dimming, a spotlight shining on stage, and Satoru Kai coming up to the microphone. So rather than answer, she turned her attention to the stage, and waited for the memorial to begin. And that was probably for the best.

She didn't really know what to say, after all.

…

Seren's funeral had been uneventful, which was a relief to Shouichi.

He had been concerned, that given Seren's reputation and the furore around Tomioka's arrest, that journalists or other rubberneckers would try and intrude. He hadn't, however, seen any signs of that. On top of this, the funeral home's security were incredibly competent. We won't be having any of that nonsense here, one of them had said.

There were not that many attendees. Seren's parents and siblings, of course. A few people whom he learnt were either colleagues of Seren's parents or neighbours, as well as a few people Seren had known through the theatre and play-writing world. There were also a number of foreigners, whom Shouichi assumed came from Wales. Some of them had bought their children with them, which surprised him a little. He didn't know how the school year ran or what the rules were for taking children out of school over there. But he supposed that wasn't important, in the end. Still, he looked at those children and tried to match their faces to the ones in the photograph from Seren's last happy time. If he hadn't been trying to do that, he might not have noticed two more people slip in and head to the condolences table.

And their presence was more surprising than that of the Welsh children.

He'd have expected Clio, perhaps, or maybe someone from the Student Council such as Nazuna. But he hadn't expected Keiji, or the tall girl (whose name he thought he knew, bit couldn't be sure of). He watched as Keiji left a large, elaborate bunch of black and red roses tied with gold ribbon on the table where other bouquets had been left. That was one of the unusual things about this funeral, that the Nishiya family were accepting flowers at the ceremony at all. It was apparently because Seren had liked flowers a great deal. The intention had been, apparently, to leave them by the gravestone once she was buried.

And that had been the other unusual thing-that she was going to be buried. Apparently, this, too, had been one of her final wishes. She'd wanted to be buried just in case her body held evidence against her murderer, and she needed to be exhumed in the future. Her parents had agreed, but only in an attempt to humour her, never imagining they would actually have to bury her. Honouring that wish, Shouichi heard them say to one of the Welsh friends (in English, which was how he understood), was the least they could do for not having believed her.

The coffin was pure white and wreathed in more flowers, the standard photograph sitting on top. It appeared to be an official school portrait, and for some reason, that made the boy grimace. His companion gave him a warning look, and he glared at her before they both went to sit down, near the back. Shouichi studied them for a couple of moments. While the girl was wearing school uniform, her blazer looked so brand new it was almost stiff. Keiji, on the other hand, was in a smart black suit, and every so often while waiting for the ceremony to start, he patted his hair as if he was making sure it was still presentable. Though, once it had, Keiji's hands did at least still, instead ending up clenched into fists by his side.

Now the ceremony was done, the parents lingered to thank people for coming. Seren's siblings and the Welsh children headed outside, and Shouichi decided to do the same. Though he had signed the condolence book and handed over the condolence money, he didn't want to draw too much attention to himself. That, and there was plenty to be getting on with where the investigation was concerned. Amongst other things, he was waiting for the detectives in

However, as he left, he heard Keiji say:

"Did you see anything?"

Shouichi stopped and turned around to look at Keiji, who gave him a challenging look. The girl stood next to him, side-eyeing him but otherwise calm.

"What do you mean?" Shouichi asked.

"Perpetrators show up to funerals, don't they?" Keiji asked. "Because they get a kick out of it, or whatever. Is that what you're here for?"

"I suppose that could be one of the reasons, yes."

"So?" Keiji demanded. "Did you see anything?"

Shouichi didn't immediately answer, as he stepped out and to the side to make way for some of the funeral-goers who were now leaving. But once they were gone, he said:

"No, I didn't."

"That's good, isn't it?" the girl asked. "It wouldn't be right for something to happen during the funeral."

Shouichi nodded at that, and then decided now would be a good time to check that he did remember her name:

"If I may ask, am I correct in thinking you're Kagematsu-san?"

"Yes, that's right. Konoha Kagematsu." Konoha confirmed with a small nod.

"Are you any closer to finding out who actually killed Seren?" Keiji interrupted.

Konoha did not look impressed by the interruption, but this did not appear to stop Keiji:

"You caught her stalker, but not her killer, right? They're separate people, even though the cases ended up connected in the end. "

"That's right, yes."

"Seems like it was foolish for the police to not follow that up more closely when she disappeared in the first place."

"Matsumoto-san." Konoha warned.

"What? It's true! They probably missed loads of clues when each student disappeared."

"But still-"

"You might not be wrong about that." Shouichi admitted.

"Might?" Keiji raised an eyebrow.

Shouichi didn't dignify this with an answer, and when this became clear to Keiji, he huffed loudly. At first, it didn't seem like he had a response, but then he said:

"It goes without saying that probably if something had been done differently, nobody would have died. I like to think that I could have advised the police on that, if I had been called on. I have been brought on by the police before, you know-"

"I don't think the Chief Inspector is particularly interested in all your accomplishments at the moment."

Keiji glared at Konoha, who just raised an eyebrow at him again and said:

"Besides, I don't think that's what you want to be telling him about, is it? Not really."

Keiji now frowned thoughtfully, before then turning back to Shouichi.

"The thing is with Seren, it's so clear to see how things could have gone differently. Do you want to know the ways?"

Shouichi nodded, and Konoha raised her eyes to the heavens, muttering something that sounded a bit like: you're just going to tell us anyway. And sure enough, Keiji barely paused before continuing:

"So, there are three scenarios for Seren's case. Well, if you're getting right down to the nitty-gritty, there's a lot more than three, but that would take too long to go through, and most of them aren't really relevant. But the starting point for all of this is that, everything up until Seren got taken happened exactly as it actually did."

"Right…." Konoha said sceptically.

Keiji narrowed his eyes at her but went on, lifting a hand to count off the scenarios on his fingers:

"The first scenario, she didn't get kidnapped. Perhaps whoever actually took her tried, or Tomioka tried, but they didn't succeed. That, obviously, is a best-case scenario, especially as it means someone could have been caught and that would have had a knock-on effect on the other kidnappings and murders.

"Then, there's the second scenario, in which she did get taken exactly the way she had done, but she didn't die first. And yes, that's a scenario that can branch out into a million other scenarios, but that's a moot point. Most of those can't be predicted because we simply don't have enough information. Well, we don't."

At this, Keiji stopped to point at himself at Konoha before belligerently saying:

"You, clearly, have more than we do."

Shouichi nodded at that, but did not offer any response to this statement, clearly designed to get a reaction out of him. Instead, he asked:

"What is the third scenario then, in your estimation?"

The effect was immediate. Keiji seemed to shrivel into himself, his eyes going hard and his hand falling back to his side. His voice, too, changed, lowering and becoming heavier as he said:

"The third scenario is the one that actually happened. And I just have to live with that."

Ah. Shouichi felt he understood, then, what else Keiji was telling him without actually telling him. It was surprising to discover that, in a way, Keiji was quite similar to Yuuto. Both of them such angry, grieving boys. If only they could come together over it, instead of fighting, Shouichi thought. Then, hearing the sound of strident footsteps approaching them, Shouichi turned to see a third angry, grieving boy approach them.

"You came."

It wasn't entirely clear whether Ianto was addressing Shouichi, Keiji or Konoha at first, but then the middle-schooler asked:

"Do you attend all the funerals? Of crime victims?"

"If it is feasible for me to do so, yes." Shouichi answered.

Ianto's gaze could have bored holes into Shouichi as, after a hesitation, he demanded:

"Nobody came, right? To, oh, I don't know, egg the funeral?"

"That would be low." Konoha commented.

"Who are you?" Ianto asked immediately.

Konoha introduced herself and Keiji, and then said:

"I didn't know your sister. But it didn't seem right to let her go un-mourned."

"She's not un-mourned," Ianto scoffed. "Look at us!"

"Un-mourned was the wrong word, fair enough." Konoha said immediately. "But it wasn't right that nobody from the school was going to come. And he-"

"Forget me." Keiji said immediately. "I'm just here, because, well-"

He swallowed, and then shook his head.

"I'm just here."

Ianto looked suspicious at this, but then something seemed to click for him, for he perked up and exclaimed:

"You're the guy who dropped off those fancy-ass flowers, right?"

Even knowing something of Keiji's feelings, it was still surprising to see his cheeks go red as he scuffed the ground with his foot and retorted:

"I did, yes. What of it?"

Ianto looked astonished at this, as he asked:

"They are like, the exact thing she'd have liked. So, did you like, like my sister then?"

Keiji stared at him, and then asked:

"Do you really think it matters now?"

Ianto opened his mouth to respond, but then shut it abruptly. Keiji scoffed:

"Of course it doesn't. What happened still happened, didn't it? No matter what we would have wanted. And tell me, how do you think feelings will solve the case?"

"Matsumoto-san." Konoha said quietly.

"What?"

"Do you really think that's the right thing to say to her younger brother?" Konoha asked.

Indeed, Ianto had gone red, clenching his fists. Shouichi readied himself to step in, but then Ianto just shook his head and said:

"Okay, so, like, screw you. But also…thank you. For whatever the flowers mean."

He then stormed off back to his sisters. Konoha gave Keiji a pointed look, which he seemed to be ignoring just as pointedly. Shouichi asked them:

"Would you like me to drop you off back at the school? It would not be any trouble."

"I've got to-"

"That would be good, thanks," Konoha interrupted Keiji. "But, first…did Kurihara-san come?"

Keiji seemed wrong-footed by this question, for all he did was blink at Konoha. Shouichi was also intrigued, and asked:

"Was Kurihara-san meant to come along?"

"Yes, she was going to try and slip out of Kai-san's memorial once the main bit was over, so she could come here. I would have thought she'd be here by now, so it's unusual she didn't."

"Well, perhaps she got caught to traffic." Keiji said.

"Hmmm…."

Konoha frowned and took out her phone. She pressed a few buttons, and then frowned:

"Oh, she just tried to call. Hold on."

Konoha called back, and then held the phone to her ear. After a few moments, she went:

"Hello?"

A moment, and then:

"Did something happen?"

There was something in the way Konoha tensed that made Shouichi watchful, but then his own phone went off. He answered, and was immediately greeted with:

"Chief, another student's body has turned up!"

Well aware of Keiji and Konoha's eyes on him, Shouichi calmly said:

"Give me the address, Detective."

Once the address was given, he told the detective that he would be there as soon as possible and hung up.

"I am very sorry," he told the two students. "But I am going to have to rescind my offer to drive you back."

"Another body has appeared, hasn't it?" Keiji immediately demanded to know.

Shouichi hesitated, but then nodded. He didn't think fobbing off either of them was going to particularly work.

"That's all you know, isn't it?" Konoha asked.

"It is, yes."

Keiji didn't look pleased at this, but Konoha placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. This only seemed to disgruntle him more, but all he did was huff. Shouichi said goodbye to them both, and then strode away. As he left, he heard Keiji grumbling something about wanting to have asked about Seren's last sighting, but while that intrigued him, he knew he had more urgent things to worry about.

…

Clio found Junpei after the memorial, looking a bit confused. It seemed to take him a moment to even recognised her, which he profusely apologised for once he had worked it out.

"It's very…loud and confusing in here."

"You're not wrong about that," Clio agreed. "Let's not worry about it. Is your aunt waiting outside?"

"Um….let me check my phone?"

As Junpei did so, Clio heard Yuuto call to her. She turned, and he said:

"I can't take you to Ito's house, since I have to finish up here."

"Oh. That's…that's alright, I was going with Ito-kun anyway."

"Well then, that's fine."

Yuuto looked as though he was about to say something else, but then he seemed to think better of it and just stalked off. During this time, Junpei had apparently started a phone call, but he quickly ended and said:

"Aunt Kanna's outside."

It was a relief to leave the theatre and head to Kaniza's car, though the opera music that had been played throughout the memorial still rang in her head. Though, when Kaniza asked them about the service, Clio didn't say that. She just said how Giulia was also a talented singer, and that all the songs had been either Chiara's favourites or her biggest hits, and how that had been nice. Even if it had been too much, it wasn't as if it was a lie to say that, either. Junpei added a few comments about the refreshments, and how fancy it had all seemed. Thankfully, though, for the rest of the journey Kaniza kept up a stream of small talk that had nothing to do with the memorial, or even about the deaths.

When they all arrived Junpei's home and Kaniza opened the door, they were approached by a cat. White and very fluffy, she (or he, Clio wasn't sure), he ambled slowly towards them and then stopped dead in the hallway, staring at them. Enchanted, Clio knelt down and held out her hand.

"Hello there, kitty."

"Oh, that's Shiro!" Junpei said. "He's a little shy of people, but I'm sure he'll like you."

Junpei went over, bent down and picked Shiro up before scooting over closer to Clio. Surprisingly, Shiro didn't protest at being picked up, but did look a bit peeved. Tentatively, Clio stroked the top of Shiro's head, then scratched behind his ears. This made Shiro purr in satisfaction, and Junpei giggled:

"Oooh, you found Shiro's weak spot. I bet he's gonna be friends with you now, right?"

He let go of Shiro, and sure enough, the cat snuggled right up to Clio. She scratched behind his ears again, then picked up the cat as she got up. He was quite heavy, especially as he snuggled, but Clio didn't mind.

"I used to have a cat when I was little, but not anymore."

"How come?" Junpei asked.

"After my dad died, it just wasn't possible to keep a cat."

She could feel herself on the brink of explaining more. Such as the day she had come home from kindergarten and wondering where Strawby was (she'd been too little to pronounce the English word 'strawberry' correctly, which was what the cat was supposed to be called) only for her mother to say that if I have to be alone now without comfort, then why should you get to have comfort, huh? It was after that day that her mother's more introspective moods had become angrier, directed mostly at Clio for being something that she still had to take care of, something that prevented her from sinking right into the centre of her grief. It was that moment that had led them to the point where Clio paid her mother rent from the money she made with odd jobs and prize money.

For some reason, she found herself wanting to explain that. But at the same time, she didn't, either. She'd let enough slip today. Luckily, both Junpei and Kaniza seemed to interpret her hesitance as sadness, as Kaniza then said:

"That must have been hard, I'm sorry to hear that." Kaniza said.

"Yeah, me too!" Junpei said. "That's so sad! But you can come here anytime and be friends with Shiro, if you like."

Clio smiled slightly.

"I'd like that."

She was then taken to meet Stitch the rabbit(who was also adorable) before she then followed Junpei into the kitchen.

"We can take snacks up to my room, right, Aunt Kanna?"

"Yes, yes, but, Junpei, you have a guest. At least take it up on a tray. Now, remember, I'll be working from home for the rest of the day, so I'll be here if you need me. My door will be left slightly ajar if you need help, but try not to disturb me unless you really need to. "

"That's fine, Aunt Kanna! We'll be totally fine, right?" Junpei asked as he fiddled with his watch, presumably to put a reminder in.

"Yes, that should be fine. Thank you, and sorry for the trouble."

"Oh, no trouble at all." Kaniza said cheerily.

Kaniza poured herself a glass of juice and then left the kitchen. Clio thought about offering to help, but she had Shiro in her arms and so she leant against a counter and watched Junpei as he took out a tray and then assorted snacks from various cupboards. She noticed that on some of the various doors and appliances, notes were carefully taped, either listing the contents of the cupboards or instructions on using various appliances. She also noticed a list of notes taped to the back door, which seemed to be reminders to make sure it was locked at night, and instructions for when to let the cat and rabbit out and when to let them back in.

"You ready?"

Junpei lifted up the loaded tray and grinned, and Clio nodded.

"Sure!"

She was led up the stairs to Junpei's room, bright and colourful, with piles of cushions and plushies on the bed, and a variety of cameras and other shiny bits of tech on the desk. He had a pinboard much like the one in her dorm room, though it wasn't as messy as hers. Though some of the photographs overlapped each other, there were mostly lists of reminders. She also noticed a calendar on the desk, also with reminders on it. Indeed, under today's date, either Junpei or Kanna had written IMPORTANT: CHIARA KAI MEMORIAL SERVICE with the venue's address written underneath it. There were also notes on the cupboards and drawers, again reminding Junpei what was stored in each one.

"Shall we sit on the floor, or the bed?" Junpei asked.

"I think the floor might be better, so we don't get too many crumbs on your bed."

"Oh, yes, good thinking!"

Junpei looked around and snatched a folder off of his desk. He put that on the floor, then put his laptop on the folder. He then joined Clio and Shiro on the floor. He opened up the laptop to boot it, and once he did, Clio noticed that the desktop background was a selfie of Junpei with Naruhito, both of them grinning at the camera and wearing silly paper hats. Naruhito had one of those party horns and had been in the middle of blowing it when Junpei had taken the picture.

"That was on my birthday, the one just gone." Junpei said wistfully. "It was still nice out, so we went to get milkshakes and then went to the arcade, and then we came home and Aunt Kanna had ordered takeaway from my favourite burger place…I have more photographs…look."

Junpei went into his files, immediately finding an album that appeared to solely be dedicated to his sixteenth birthday. As they went through the photos, Clio giggled at the silly faces both Junpei and Naruhito were pulling in the pictures, as well one of Stitch sitting in a pile of wrapping paper and Shiro wearing a party hat and looking confused. But then they got to the end, and Junpei moved onto another album, flicking through pictures at random until he stopped on another one of Naruhito, standing with a number of Hope's Peak students in the labs. Some Clio thought she recognised, some she didn't

"That's the Science Club," Junpei told her.

"Oh!" Clio remembered suddenly. "He was the leader, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, that's right. He became Club President at the end of his second year. So, just before I joined. He was super excited about it…and so was I, for him. But I think he was more excited than I am when he found out I'd got into Hope's Peak, you know? I think he liked it there up until then, but his dad's like…pretty strict, you know? All super-serious and stuff. And he's a former SHSL too so, like, pretty big boots to fill. It was hard…he wanted his dad to be proud of him but like, he's not much like his dad either."

Junpei puffed out his cheeks, and then said:

"Still, when I got here, he like, really helped out. Got me maps, made sure I had my timetables all loaded onto my phone and watch and everything, showed me around and looked out for me. We had loads of fun, too. I don't think it would have been as easy to settle in here without him. And now…"

Clio squeezed his arm comfortingly, and said:

"I can only imagine. I'm sorry, Ito-kun."

Junpei gave her a quizzical look:

"You don't need to be sorry. Your friends are gone too."

"I know," Clio said. "But you've known Ono-sempai a long time, haven't you?"

"Yeah…"

Junpei nibbled on a snack, and then asked:

"So, um…what were we meant to be doing?"

"I think we were supposed to be going through what we'd found out and trying to find out some more…but nobody else is here yet. Funny. I would have thought Oshiro-sempai would be here, at least."

Junpei looked at the time on the laptop screen, and frowned:

"Yeah. Surely Nishiya-sempai's funeral should have finished by now. Was there something else that was going on that I forgot about?"

Clio shook her head and was about to suggest checking to see if anybody had said anything on the group chat, when suddenly her phone went off. She fished it out of her blazer pocket, her fingers brushing against the memory card and the 1986 article she'd tucked away safely in there when getting ready that morning. Her intention had been to tell them all about it here, where it'd probably be safe. But that would have to wait.

She frowned at Nazuna's name on her phone's display, and even more so at the sudden flurry of notifications coming in from the Second Year group chat. But those, she decided to read after answering Nazuna's call:

"Hello?"

"Clio-san, where are you now?"

Nazuna sounded harried, out of breath. There seemed to be a lot of chatter in the background, but Clio couldn't make out any of it.

"I'm at…Ito-kun's house. We were all supposed to meet there after the memorial or funeral, remember?"

"Ah, that's…." Nazuna sighed heavily. "Right, okay. You won't make it back in time, will you?"

"Make it back in time?" Clio asked.

"For the assembly. But wait, of course, you don't know. That's why I'm-sorry, hold on a moment…Ushiroku-san, can we just leave this to Utada-sensei? I need to go to Clio-san."

"Fujita-san can come here, or someone can tell her about it afterwards." A crisp voice said, cutting through the chatter.

"Ushiroku-san, do you hear yourself?!" Nazuna exclaimed.

"Woah, she's in Curry-san mode!" someone said.

"How dare you, Kurihara-san?!" the first voice exclaimed, anger cracking it.

"No, how dare you?" Nazuna exclaimed. "Do you really think that that's the decent approach to take? Perhaps for the rest of the school, this is fine but as the Student Council-no, as decent human beings-we owe this much courtesy to Clio-san. So, if you don't mind, I'm going."

Nazuna then switched to addressing Clio once more:

"Clio-san, Ito-kun. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Kurihara…. sempai," Clio stammered out. "What is it? Why do you need to…oh."

Suddenly, a realisation. Who? Who is it? Fukue-chan? Luca-kun? Both? Who…?

"I have to…I can't wait. I need…"

She got up, grabbed her bag and fled, ignoring both the sounds of Shiro's startled mewling and Junpei calling after her. She flung open the door, just about remembering to call out a 'thank you' to Kaniza in case she could hear, and then she ran. Even though she didn't know the area, she'd observed enough of it while being driven to Junpei's house that she thought she knew which way she needed to go. But not much thinking was involved in how she ran and ran, not looking at anything apart from what was ahead of her, waiting to see Hope's Peak.

She had no idea how much time had passed when the familiar entrance loomed in front of her, reporters already milling around. That made her falter, just a little bit, and suddenly spikes of pain shot through her feet and legs, making her stumble. But despite the pain, she caught her footing, and pushed forward, shielding her eyes as cameras were turned to her. But members of security, including Alexis, came out of the building to chase them off, with Alexis ordering her to get inside.

"Clio-san!"

Nazuna, Yuuto and Konoha appeared, with Nazuna on the phone.

"Don't worry," she said to whoever it was she was talking to. "She's here now."

She hung up, and immediately exclaimed:

"Clio-san, what were you thinking?"

Clio just stared at her, because where did she begin with that question? Unfortunately, Konoha had another that she didn't know how to answer.

"Don't your feet hurt?"

Clio stared down at them dumbly. Yes, they did hurt. It was pretty clear why. But even so, she didn't know how to answer. But as she swayed, trying to stay upright on those painful feet, she managed to ask:

"Who…who is it?"

All three of them looked at her. They just looked at her. Nazuna stepped forward, and tried to say:

"Come on, let's go inside."

"Who?" she asked in a strangled whisper. "Please."

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Yuuto said suddenly. "She needs to know now."

"But-"

"It's Amari." Yuuto cut Nazuna off. "It's Fukue Amari."

"F-Fukue-chan?" she repeated. "It's Fukue-chan?"

"Yeah." Yuuto sighed, suddenly looking tired. "Yeah. It's her."

Fukue-chan. It's Fukue-chan. She turned back to the gate, to the cacophony just outside it, remembering that day. When she'd stood outside, waiting for Fukue. When I looked right at her, right at her, but didn't see anything. I wonder, will I see something now…?

She tried to step forward, but her feet couldn't take it. But just as she slipped, she heard Yuuto swear, and hands grabbing a hold of her, lifting her off of her feet and carrying her. She barely had it in her to protest. She was vaguely aware that it was Yuuto carrying her, that Nazuna and Konoha walked on either side of them like sentries, with Nazuna briskly scolding anyone who dared to stare. But even though she looked around her, she didn't see who was staring. She didn't see where they were going.

All she saw was all she had not seen:

Fukue-chan.